Welcome New Lives

Aftermath (Part 2)

      As Mario heads closer to the house, he notices Riba standing by the doorway waiting for him. Mario then starts walking a bit faster and gets to the doorway where Riba is standing.

Mario: Hey Riba, good morning!

Riba: Morning, my love! 

   In almost an instant, Riba grabs Mario and hugs him tightly. 

Mario: Hehe, I see you noticed the breakfast I prepared! Did you like it?

Riba: (letting go of Mario) I always enjoy your cooking. And I read your note too. It's really sweet that you wanna give me a day off, but are you sure you-

Mario: (stopping Riba) Ah- Let me remind you that you had to take care of every single thing around the house, including me, with small breaks in between. I just simply want to return the favor. (He playfully elbowed Riba's arm)

Riba: But you were sick, and you couldn't really do much... I was fine with taking care of you and other stuff.

Mario: Well, now you're getting an official break! I'm not turning back  on this.

Riba: Heh, alright, fine.

    Both of them went inside and Mario started eating some breakfast. Riba made himself some coffee, grabbed a book, and sat down in the kitchen with Mario.

Riba: Soo, anything you wanna do today?

Mario: Uhh...OH! Empty stopped by earlier! She said that she has something to tell us. 

Riba: Hm..Is it something important..?

Mario: She didn't say. I told her she could tell us after we ate, but I don't know if she's actually going to come.

Riba: She never said a specific time did she?

Mario: No.

Riba: Well, whatever she has to tell us, it's probably not that impor- (he gets stopped by a small knock on the backdoor)

   Riba gets up, and goes to answer the door. When he opens the door, it's raining, and he sees no one there. He then hears a meow and he looks down to see a cat. (A cat...? Knocking on the door?)

   It was a strange looking cat. One Riba has never seen before. It was all white, had dark grey eyes and a collar with a bell on it, around its neck.

Riba: Oh...uh, hello there.

???: Mow.

Mario: (turning around) Who's at the door?

Riba (with the cat in his arms) It's a cat.

Mario: (with a confused look on his face)...There was a cat knocking on the door?

???: Yes, I was.

Riba: What the-?! (In an instant, Riba drops the cat and backs up.)

   The cat lands on its feet and starts shaking the rain off. Then, all of a sudden, the cat looks down and closes its eyes. A white light starts circling around it, like a tornado. In a few seconds, the light stretches out into a little bigger tornado, the size of a little girl. Then it fades. And Empty is revealed.

Empty: (her hearts, a bright glowing yellow) Surprise!

Mario and Riba at the same time: Empty?!

Empty: Yeah. I can turn into animals. 

Riba: Jeez Empty, you scared me..

Mario: Me too!

Empty: Sorry, not sorry. Thought I surprise you guys alittle. 

Mario: Well you certainly did.

Riba: (trying to move topics) Uhh...hey, what made you stop by again?

Empty: I have something to tell you guys. I was gonna tell you guys now but, I figured it'd be good tell you guys later in the evening. 7 pm this evening, come back here and then we'll talk. 

    Empty teleports off again, leaving Mario and Riba with extremely confused looks on their faces. Also, a cliffhanger.