22: The how and the what

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C:

Hatter found his gauntlet with special lenses and pulled it out of his backpack. The entity's head perked up at the question. He blinked, his gaze slowly losing itself as his mind recalled that precise moment of his life. He smiled dreamily, then stood up from where he was kneeling and silently walked to place his back against the wall, standing next to Mandara.

-"It's a rather long story to tell, yet it's short enough to sum up without omitting many details ... " Hatter whispered back, as he rigged his tool by calibrating the lenses and adjusting it with some switches.

"I was still a little bit savage and irrational back in those days, I got myself trapped in the Void by accident, couldn't find a way to escape from there, and felt extremely lonely. Until that one faithful day when a portal magically opened as a tiny window of the outer world. It was fuelled by imagination, the one that only children have. I peeped through it every day. The scenery and emplacements changed over time, but something, maybe it was glitching, somehow it stopped shifting places and stayed still.

There was a school. Lots of boys and girls ran around, screaming, laughing, it was like any other regular learning institution. However, there was that one kid on the playground that wandered around purposelessly.

I didn't pay much attention to that at first. It was none of my business. The little girl was playing pretend by herself. She was a loner who sparkled with great imagination. I saw her try interacting with other children, it seemed unnatural and difficult. So I decided to keep her company without her knowing it." Hatter breathed in and out as he took a pause, distractedly polishing the circular glass structures with his handkerchief.

"It turned out that her imaginary friends were entities that somehow entered the human realm. I was utterly shocked when that child turned over to the portal, squinted before saying 'Hi'. She was able to see me through the one-sided window and now reached out her hands to retrieve me as she had realized that I couldn't get out. The impact broke the thin barrier between the Void and Earth. I exited my prison.

At first, I was a little hostile to everyone, but soon enough I settled down and followed Cherry wherever she went, helping her out when she struggled or cheering her up when she was sad. The adults merely noticed my presence and tended to omit the fact I existed, it did not bother me in any way. Years passed since, and I am her only guardian entity remaining." He looked back at the sleeping teen in the bed, softly smiling.

-"I wish she stayed longer as a happy little ball of energy ... life made her mature a lot quicker and she's now lost, tormented by the world and its problems. "The angelic entity's face darkened slightly as he said those words.

He sighed, then put on the now prepared gauntlet on his right hand and flexed his fingers. "Nonetheless, I'm truly glad we met you and your folks, I remarked right away how Cherry was so bubbly and joyful." Hatter let out a brief chuckle.

M:

"Well, I guess we just have that effect on kids," Mandara remarked, "they are always so fascinated with us, especially our wings, that it can usually be pretty overwhelming when they start hounding us."

Mandara looked over to Cherry's sleeping form one more time with a smile, then he let Hatter leave first before closing the door. They were making their way back when they bumped into Poland and Chandeler.

"There you are, Chandeler was getting worried about Hatter so we were coming to check on you," Poland said.

Mandara chuckled in amusement that Chandeler was worried so he decided to have a little fun with that, "fear not, Sir Chandeler, for we had laid to rest the dreaded monster of cherries, it was a fierce battle and we barely made it out with our lives, but Sir Hatter had vanquished the beast and lead us to victory." He said in his royal voice, causing Poland to giggle.

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