The Calamity House

Chapter 8~Anne

Anne warily grabs a pink-branch like item, which Sprig claimed was edible. She stared at it and opens her mouth, taking a bite. It vaguely reminded her of the barbecue-flavored Pringles she had had on Earth. 

'Mmm, this is pretty good,' she said to her new companion as she chewed. Sprig nodded, and he looked quite proud of himself. 'I know, right? But first...how in the Titan's name did you get here?!' it was obvious he had been bursting to ask this, and the Demon stared at her with a mix of fascination and curiosity. 

'Dunno. One minute, I was in my world, and the next, I was here...' she said with a hint of sadness. 'I..I don't know how to get home,' she continued as she sat on a log beside Sprig, 'Or if I can even get home..But, that's enough about me. How 'bout you? What are you doing out in the woods?' she asked him, wanting to steer the two out of the subject.

Sprig jumped off the log and beamed up at her. 'I'm proving that I'm responsible!' he said in his usual upbeat tone. 'Oh, yeah? How're you gonna do that? Also, what's a Titan?' she added. 

Sprig suddenly looked uncomfortable and it seemed as if he couldn't find the right words. 'Uh..' his explanation did not come out of his mouth, due to loud yelling being heard. Anne turned around to see a mob of beings similar to Sprig thundering towards them. A short one with a hat and a squat one resembling a toad were leading them.

The shorter one's eyes widened at the sight of the two. 'We've found it! We've found it!' he cried out. The toad-like creature turned his head around, and yelled to the rest of the crowd, 'Come on! We've got 'em!' 

Before Anne could process what was happening, many (surprisingly strong) beings swarmed her. Occasionally, she nearly brushed her hand off the fire of the torches and got a poke with a pitchfork. 'What?! Stay away from me! Let me go!' the rioters tie her up and she screams. 

Sprig leaps over to them, shouting. 'No! You've got it wrong! She's just a human!' unfortunately for Anne, nobody seemed to be listening to him. An older Demon who looked vaguely similar to Sprig walked over with a dark purple-pink small Demon on his shoulder, smiling. 'Well done, Sprig! You actually got it, I gotta say I'm impressed.' a light in Sprig's eyes appeared after this, but he still was trying to explain this was all a mistake.

Anne felt stabs of betrayal in her heart. Of course, she shouldn't have trusted a creature from another world - and now she was going to probably be eaten. A monster made of rage awakened inside of her, and it was because of Sprig.

'Dude, what the heck?! I thought we were connecting!' she exclaimed in anger to the Demon. Sprig looked at her desperately, clearly distraught. 'N-no! This wasn't my plan! Let her go!' he said to her and to others, trying to pull her out of their clutches. 

Suddenly, a large, green, mantis-like creature similar to the red one seen earlier swooped down upon them, roaring. Anne's captors seemed scared of this creature just as much as her, as they gasped and screamed.

The toad-like creature, who seemed to be in charge, got to the front of the crowd. 'Mantis formation, everybody! Quickly now!' he commanded, his answer being shouts of 'Yes, Mayor Titanstool!' 

All the rioters got into a formation. The mantis stared them down, and for a moment, it seemed like it was going to strike. But it then let out a whimper and flew away. 

The elderly Demon who had been speaking with Sprig earlier spoke first. 'We scared it off!' 

Her captors erupted into cheers, the one she now knew as Mayor Titanstool raising his fist into the air and saying, 'We have power!' 

The celebratory mood was instantly stabbed and left to die as a larger, red mantis came down upon them. The small Demon on the old Demon's shoulder sighed. 'We didn't scare it away, that thing did!' the elderly Demon nodded. 'Yeah, that makes more sense.'

The larger mantis screeched at them and knocked over a few villagers. Panicked cries filled the area, 'It's gonna eat us!', 'RUN!', and 'HELP ME!' being the most common. 'NO!' cried Anne, as she mantis grew closer. She didn't know lots of things about this world, but she did know she didn't want to die in it.

She felt something tug at the ropes tying her, and turned her head over to see Sprig untying them. 'What is this, another trick?' she said irritably, but let him continue untying her. Sprig ignored her comment and finished untying. 'I'll distract that thing. You get out of here.' he said firmly to the human. 

'Wait! Hey! Sprig!' she called out desperately as the Demon charged towards the mantis, and he drew a yellow circle in the air, while Anne watched in awe. A small fragment of fire emerged from the circle and hit the mantis in the eye, which made it shriek in pain and fury. 

Sprig cried out victoriously, but this was short lived; the mantis, with renewed rage, struck at him with the obvious intent to make him die painfully. 

For a fraction of a second, Anne hesitated. She couldn't just let the one who helped her escape die. She ran towards him and grabbed the mantis' arm, grunting with the effort. She stared at Sprig and her eyes, for a split second, flashed blue. 'Do something!' 

'Oh! Right.' Sprig said and he grasps the rope that once imprisoned Anne. He runs around the monster quickly, Anne still struggling. She does not see Sprig fail, but she hears his noise of defeat. Realizing she'll have to take a risk, Anne lets go and rushes to Sprig, running over and trapping the mantis, fully trapping it.

The mantis was screeching in rage, but Sprig kicked it in the head and it silenced slightly. 'We did it!' Anne and Sprig said in unison as the town cheered. 

'Up top!' she says to Sprig, who proceeds to use his tongue to do so. 'Ugh, that's gross.' Anne said disgustedly. Sprig simply beams.

Mayor Titanstool approaches them. 'Well, since that's settled, what do we do with the monste- wait...' he observes her ears. 'A human?! Oh no, the coven will come in and search the town for this, let's chase it to Bonesborough instead.' the crowd agrees and begins chasing Anne, but Sprig jumps in front of her. 

'Stop! She means no harm! We should take her in! She is alone and scared, please, we don't need to tell the coven.' he begs the crowd. Mayor Titanstool actually laughed at this. 'Are you crazy? The Emperor's Coven will come and take her away and we'll all be blamed for this!' the crowd yells in agreement. 

The elderly demon from earlier stepped forward. 'Don't worry. I'll take 'er in. We'll make sure the coven won't find 'er. And besides, I'll be keepin' an eye on 'em...both of 'em.' he said to the mayor. Anne felt a stab of gratitude towards this Demon; whatever this Emperor's Coven was, she didn't like the sound of it. 

Mayor Titanstool looked warily at the elderly Demon. 'Well, you have it your way, Hopediah.' he then addressed the crowd. 'Pack it up, we're going home.' all of the Demons begin walking back towards their supposed home. The elderly Demon approached Sprig. 'That was quite responsible of you, Sprig. The whole thing was really, really dumb, but just that last bit was responsible.' he said, almost certainly referring to the fight with the mantis. Sprig beamed, disbelief in his eyes. 'You- you think I'm responsible?' he chocked out. 

The elderly Demon nodded. 'Sorta.' Anne, no longer able to wait, began speaking. 'Hey, this has all been super cool and stuff, but just gimme a map so I can find my way home.'

The elderly Demon shook his head. 'It's too dangerous for you to leave the town without somebody. The Emperor's Coven will find a a human like you fascinatin', and they'll be wantin' to study you.' he said to her. 'So, for now, you're with us.' 

Anne hesitated, but eventually nodded. The elderly Demon smiled slightly. 'Alright kids, let's go back now.' he scooped up the baby Demon and began walking into the woods, Anne and Sprig following quickly. 

'So, Sprig, what's the scoop about this place? What's the"Emperor's Coven"? There are many questions I need many answers to.' Anne said to Sprig. The Demon laughed and began telling her all about the Boiling Isles.