Among the Ashlands in the midst of the Grand Forest, neighboring the Fairy Queen's Fairy Circle Major, lays the grand Chateau Du Ciel, a large Versailles-style castle of the family Du Ciel, the ruling family of the Ashlands. As the Spin Sisters approached the grand banquet hall in a mechanically concurrent manner, they began to banter back and forth, speaking as if they were both one person, yet talking also directly to one another.
"Warring states full of hate," began Heather to her twin sister Helen.
"Trying to avoid a grisly fate," replied Helen.
"But when will they arrive?" Asked Heather, and they simultaneously opened the large French doors, revealing the large expanse of the grand banquet hall. They parted and each took a seat at one of the ends of the expansive table.
"A question, for which we both strive," Helen replied, also pondering the same question. Combing her long straight hair, she stared intently at what could be her mirror image at the other end of the table, if not for the difference in eye color; Helen's icy blue eyes contrasted with Heather's mossy green.
They could both hear the clicks of a guard's heels approaching the door, and they both smiled wickedly, turning their heads simultaneously to look at the door. The doors swung abruptly open, and the guard peered malevolently inward. He was terribly furious at the prospect of these two mundane humans being able pass through the security of the vampiric estate.
"Foolish humans, stumbling into the Du Ciel estate; your fates are sealed." The guard's red eyes shimmered and he bared a demonic look to the two humans, who did nothing but chuckle lowly at his advance. "Absolute fools," The guard smiled. "You do not know of the real danger you are in."
"Real danger," stated Helen through her cackles.
"From such a pathetic stranger," Heather replied, and they both laughed even harder.
"You disgusting, wretched fools!" The guard was getting increasingly angrier.
"You keep saying we're fools," Heather began.
"But in fact, you're the real tool," Helen finished, and they cackled once more. The anger in the guard began to swell, and without another word he lunged for his pistol, which only made the two teenagers laugh even more boisterously. Pointing the gun at them, they began to calm down their laughter, and they looked at each other with more malicious smiles.
"Double, double," said Heather.
"Toil and trouble," said Helen.
"Fire burn," said Heather.
"And Cauldron bubble," said Helen.
At the last word, the guard suddenly burst into flame, and the two girls laughed more devilishly this time. They looked intently at each other while the guard screamed and writhed in torturous feelings, and ignored the cacophony of cackling flames and screaming pains. Combing her hair, Helen stood up and approached the man while Heather watched.
"By the light of a setting sun," announced Heather from the table.
"Now the spell is good and done," finished Helen in a whisper, and she touched the forehead of the man. The fire stopped and where the guard once stood was a pile of ash and charred flesh. Turning back to Heather, Helen approached and combed her long black hair.
And then Heather and Helen Spin ambled out into the hallway and through the halls, setting out into the Ashlands.
***
The body of the late guard was discovered minutes later by none other than the Du Ciel princess; Celine Du Ciel. She instantaneously informed her mother and the other guards of the murder, and the queen ordered her guards to search the Ashlands to find the one or ones who infiltrated the castle and committed the treason.
And so then the guards spread out into the eternal twilight of the Ashlands. They began their search through the dismal desert of dead grass and gray trees which littered the Ashlands, and stomped their ways through the dusty towns filled with silhouette souls.
***
After taking a few minutes to make sure his mother hadn't followed, Theo took the bat-Nicolas off of his shoulder and placed him on a small tree stump. Of course, Matilda had followed, but she was keen on making sure that Theo wouldn't see him.
"Let's get you back to normal," Theo grunted while pulling his wand out of his pocket. With a quick flicker of words and sparks, Nicolas transformed back into his human self, though where his clothes went when he was a bat he wasn't sure.
"Thanks," Nicolas answered, stepping off of the stump and approaching Theo. As soon as he did, Nicolas caught a feeling that they were being watched; that anxiety-ridden feeling of uneasiness. The ephemeral feeling left after Theo caught Nicolas slip once again.
"Just can't keep on your feet, can you?" Theo teased, and the two began walking together through the wood. They walked on, and Nicolas began to use small talk in order to avoid the feeling of fleeting eyes. The feeling was just a dark shadow in the corner of his mind, but it was looming nonetheless; perhaps Theo's mother had followed? It was unlikely; they would have heard or seen her by now, as Theo seemed peculiarly observant in trying to make sure that she wasn't making this a party of three.
After a little bit, Theo pulled out his map and energetically whipped around the compass as well, muttering softly to himself (though Nicolas suspected that he was also making sure the whisper could be heard by him). His nose stuck in the map, they continued on like vagabonds through the canopy-covered conglomeration of wood.
"If we take a right in a few yards..." Theo muttered as Nicolas looked upon the map with him, the two following the instructions imperatively. "What do you think, Nicolas?" Looking upon the map, Nicolas realized that it made no fucking sense.
"To be honest, I have no idea what to think of this map," Nicolas admitted, and Theo nodded. The lines, to Nicolas, were squiggles that didn't seem to be able to stay put, moving constantly about the page. "It looks like fucking bullshit to me." Theo snorted quickly and then covered his mouth in embarrassment, blushing like a sunset of bloody water.
"Well, you're not wrong," Theo admitted from behind his hand, chuckling softly and then placing his mask over his face once again. His wariness seemed to ease, Nicolas noticed, as if he consigned something that was plaguing him mentally into the depths of oblivion in the expansive sea of the mind. Something like that, probably. Maybe.
They continued through the woods for a while, at least an hour, when Theo groaned an angst-ridden teenage noise. Nicolas' thoughts instantly went to the worst case scenario: they were lost in the middle of the woods.
"We're lost in the woods aren't we?" Nicolas hummed; his tone a bit miffed at the situation in general, though Theo took it the wrong way and became defensive. Theo's demeanor became rigid and hard, juxtaposed interestingly against the firm, tall trees and soft, leafy ground; His tanned skin flushed and his eyes became darker.
"Bite me, shit-nut," Theo flared, and Nicolas turned around; he wasn't angry anymore, he was just surprised at the stranger who had shown him so much kindness being so easily ticked when Nicolas became annoyed. Theo adjusted his demeanor after realizing that Nicolas hadn't directed the statement towards him; he realized that at Nicolas' genuinely aghast expression towards the sudden spark.
After a few minutes of staring, Nicolas spoke. "I'm sorry," He hushed sincerely, declaring the argument as an ephemeral quarrel. Theo sighed lightly and lifted his hand; Nicolas held his out too and they shook. Nicolas couldn't tell if the other boy was smiling, but he hypothesized that it was likely.
Progressing through the forest, they walked at a steady pace in a direction different than what they were before. And although Nicolas couldn't read the map, he made sure that Theo double checked the information on it every few seconds.
It was about twenty minutes after their quick skirmish when the two suddenly heard a voice behind them:
"Freeze, treasonous villains!"
YOU ARE READING
Star Child
Paranormal"I tried to drown my sorrows, but the bastards learned how to swim," - Frida Kahlo. In the middle of the night, Nicolas Tsukino spots a shooting star that seems to be approaching the nearby woods. Overcome with a numb curiosity, and against his bett...
