Chapter 19 Teeheespresso

After a few minutes worth of walking, Derek led Pom Pom to what looked like a cafe. Starbeans Cafe was what the sign over the door called it, and overall it looked pretty snug. It looked like a place Pom Pom would hang out at if she happened to be vacationing to the Beanbean Kingdom under much more pleasant circumstances. Of course, that did beg the question of what exactly Derek planned to do here. Nothing that Pom Pom's mind cooked up to answer that question made sense, if anything making her confused more than anything else.

The two of them stepped into the cafe. Pom Pom looked around, noticing that there were no people in the building at all. Made sense; the panic everyone was experiencing would mean nobody would be available to have a simple cup of coffee. Still, it didn't make Pom Pom feel good. If anything, the lack of customers in a place that probably brimmed with customers normally left her with an eerie feeling.

"Come over here," Derek said. Pom Pom saw that he had walked across he room, standing next to what looked like a coffee maker. Curious, she went to join him.

"Alright." Derek smiled. "The thing I want you to do is fairly simple, Pom Pom." He gestured toward the coffee maker. "I want you to make five teeheeespresso drinks."

Pom Pom did a double take. "That's it?" When Derek nodded, she raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Well… there are a couple of reasons." Derek scratched his scalp. "You see, I sprayed your party members with a very special spray. Not only does it knock you out, but for about three hours after you finally wake up, you experience a case of amnesia." Pom Pom blinked at him, making him shrink back. "I know, I know, it's not exactly the best thing to use. It does deter people from robbing my store, because how could they possibly do so if they don't remember it?" He sighed. "But given your mission, it would be very inconvenient for them to fight a case of amnesia." He gestured toward the coffee machine. "Luckily, there is a way to combat that. If you give the people a teeheespresso immediately after they wake up, then it zaps the spray out of their system and prevents them from experiencing amnesia." Derek smiled. "I want you to make some drinks for the hammer bros and Princess Wendy."

"Oh." Pom Pom smiled. "Sure, I can do that." She stepped toward the coffee maker before something occurred to her. "Wait. You said you want make five drinks, not three."

"Yes, I did. Those two extra drinks are for you and me." Pom Pom stared at him, and he just grinned at her. "It'll be a while until I get to drink coffee again given how I'm going to be hiding from the darkness down in my store's basement, which sucks for me cause I LOVE coffee. This is just me thinking ahead. And as for you… well, you strike me as someone who would benefit from a drink like that."

Pom Pom smiled. "Oh, I get you. Yeah, I can definitely do that!" She looked toward the coffee maker. "So… how do I do this?"

"There's a bag of beans and some blend recipes next to the coffee maker." Pom Pom looked, spotting the two things Derek was referring to. As she walked over and started looking up the blend recipes, Derek laughed. "Back in the old day people had to hunt down their own beans and bring them to the cafe themselves. Was a total nightmare; I'm so glad that we now have this new system."

"Yeah." Pom Pom squinted at the recipe. "Okay, fifteen Woo beans and ten Hee beans… that's simple enough."

With that, Pom Pom got right to making the first drink. She stuffed the required amount of beans into the machine, got a cup, and the liquid poured in after she pressed the button. Just based on the smell alone, Pom Pom KNEW this was a strong drink. She felt like bouncing off the walls just from the aroma and the aroma alone.

"Alright…" Pom Pom moved the cup away and put a lid on it after the machine stopped. "Now to do that four more times…"

She got right back to work, and time wore on. Now, maybe this was simply because of the mission that she had to partake in, but it felt like the brewing process was taking forever. She kept her eyes on the machine, almost as if she could will it to move faster telepathically. The seconds ticked by and turned into minutes, and the minutes ticked by while threatening to turn into half an hour. Pom Pom whimpered, feeling squirmy all over as she waited for the third drink to finish brewing.

"So, who exactly is the person who is going to help you stop the darkness?" Derek asked.

Pom Pom frowned. Part of her was grateful that Derek was trying to make conversation, but at the same time… how exactly could she explain this?

"It's an old friend of mine." Pom Pom had to use self-control to not recoil at that sentence. "She has experience with the Shadow Sirens and might know how to stop them."

"Really? That's interesting. Is she a demon hunter or something?"

"Uh… no." Pom Pom sighed. "She's actually one of them." Derek's jaw dropped when she said that, causing her to cringe. "I know it sounds crazy, I know it sounds unrealistic, but… I encountered her when I was a kid and we… well, we connected."

"Huh." Derek's mouth turned up in a smile. "That's... actually pretty intriguing. The fact that you were able to befriend a creature who was previously evil and were able to bring out the good in her… that's really cool."

Pom Pom snorted. "Right. Don't I feel special." She moved the third cup away and replaced it with the fourth. The feelings she had regarding Viv were rearing their ugly heads once again, creating a borderline unbearable experience. The fact that Derek was willing to believe what she said and not call her insane was a very faint silver lining.

"You know, you aren't the only person I've heard of who befriended a Shadow Siren."

Pom Pom gasped, unsure if they heard that right. She nearly knocked over the coffee cup, her heart pounding. "What? You're joking, you have to be joking!"

"Nope, I am not," Derek said. "There was actually an incident that occurred here in the Beanbean Kingdom four years ago."

Pom Pom swerved around and placed her hands on Derek's shoulders. "Tell me! PLEASE!"

Derek chuckled as he carefully lifted Pom Pom's hands off of him. "So, there was this Kong who moved to the Beanbean Kingdom about four and a half years ago. His name was Bink, and he was… he was what most would call a businessman."

"A Kong? A businessman?" Pom Pom asked with a blink.

"Mmhm. He was very sophisticated all things considered." Pom Pom turned around and placed the fifth cup under the machine as Derek continued speaking. "Sure, he was also greedy and would literally kill in order to get his hands on treasure, but… well, what businessman isn't?"

"I see." Pom Pom frowned. "And he came across the Shadow Siren?"

"He did. They spent the next two years together." He frowned. "I didn't see them myself, but other people have. Apparently, this Shadow Siren was the only person who Bink could really trust. He got along with her better than anyone else on the planet."

Bile filled Pom Pom's mouth. "You don't say." She turned back to the coffee maker. "What happened to them?"

"I… honestly can't tell you. One day, they were seen going about in Bink's hometown, the next, they were nowhere to be seen." Derek frowned. "It's possible that Bink might've died. If that's the case, I don't know how; he was relatively young."

Pom Pom gripped her hand into a fist. "I bet the Shadow Siren had something to do with it."

"Believe it or not, you're not the only one. Many people have been spreading rumors since that day, saying that the Shadow Siren killed him in his sleep." Derek shook his head. "There's no way to prove it though, which in my opinion is for the best. It really doesn't matter what happened, and honestly, some people dedicate WAY too much time to trying to figure it out."

"Yeah." Pom Pom turned back to the coffee maker, relieved to see that the fifth drink was ready. She took it off the machine. "So, what do we do? Do we dress these up with anything specific?"

"Just sugar and cream," Derek said. "Nothing too fancy."

"Right." Pom Pom looked and saw a container with half-and-half cups and sugar packets on the other side of the coffee maker. She went over and started opening them. She grunted as she put the first half-and-half into the first cup. "It's not worth it. Thinking about what happened between Bink and the Shadow Siren." She sighed. "Thinking about the Shadow Siren in general isn't worth it."

"You say that even though you were friends with her?"

"I say that BECAUSE I was friends with her. After she left me, my whole life fell apart. Only recently have I been figuring out how to pick up the pieces." She grunted again. "And this story only solidifies my opinions. She ruined other people's lives, not just mine. Viv is way too much trouble than it's worth. I would say I'm glad she's out of my life, but that wouldn't even be accurate. I want to forget her. After I find her, I am never going to THINK about her again." She looked, seeing Derek gawking at her. She immediately shrunk back. "Sorry, that was a bit of a tangent."

"Yeah," Derek said with a nod. "Clearly, you have a lot of complicated feelings about this."

"More than I can count." Pom Pom paused, cringing. "And I know I just said that I don't want to think about her, but at the same time, I do. The month that we spent together as friends still gave me some of the best memories I've ever had." Pom Pom sniffled and dried her eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm so lost, so confused, and… well, I don't know about anything anymore. For the longest time, I thought Viv was just a figment of my imagination, and only recently have I found out that she actually existed. And… I don't know how to feel. I don't… I don't know…"

Derek's brow furrowed. "I'm really sorry." He paused, staring into the second cup while wearing a contemplative expression. "Maybe… maybe you going to find her is for the best." He looked at Pom Pom. "Maybe this is the universe's way of finally giving you a break. Maybe you encountering Viv again is a way that you can finally find closure. Finally start to heal."

Pom Pom sighed. "I hope so. I don't know if it'll be enough though; my life has been hell for the past ten years. It's going to take a long time to heal."

"True. But… wouldn't it be worth it? Wouldn't the peace you get from finally and definitively moving on be worth all the trouble?"

Pom Pom paused. "Well, I hope so. But at the same time… I kinda doubt it."

"I see." Derek got right back into dressing up the coffee. Pom Pom did the same thing, not saying anything. There was nothing she could say anymore. She didn't want to say anything. She didn't want to speak or think; life became way too difficult when she did either of those things.

Eventually, she and Derek finished with the coffee. Letting out a breath of relief, they both put some lids on the rest of the cups. "Well! There you have it!" Derek laughed and went up to the counter. Despite the fact that nobody else was in the coffee shop, he put some coins next to the cash register. After letting out a breath, he picked up a tray, brought it back over, and stuffed four of the cups in it. "Well, come on, Pom Pom! Let's go wake up your friends!"

Pom Pom nodded, picked up the last cup, and followed him out.