C'thelli's Demonic Orphanage

6

The sun beat down on the village like a hammer on an anvil. Feimo basked in its heat as packs of humans wandered from shop to shop and busied themselves in the fields. All of them were adorned with grey patches of sweat, fanning collars, and red faces. "So why am I not allowed to go back yet?" Feimo asked Vivian as they mindlessly walked about the square. They had been left alone while C'thelli flew off with Robin and Hanley. She held her finger up for patience. "Ok, yeah, you got it. I'll just wait for you to finish your message. Don't forget your commas," he said. 

He was starting to get bored. First he couldn't sleep, and then he was dragged down to the house of the enemy to listen to some chump in fancy robes speaking gibberish. The man couldn't even look the right way! At least the echo effects were a nice touch. But now here they were, standing in the middle of some nameless town, unable to head back and collapse onto the kitchen floor for some much needed rest.

And of all the people he could have been left with, it was the gloomy wraith who was obsessed with that communication gem of hers. After another minute of her grubby fingers tapping away on its surface. His curiosity overpowered him. He just had to know what these things were all about, and who knows, maybe she'll act like a normal person once he had it. 

Coming up from behind, he snatched the gem from her hands, "Thank you," he cheered as he hurried away from the outraged apparition. The object was cold and jagged in his palms, as if the sensation of death brushed against his fingertips while a vigorous chill ran up his spine.

Ignoring the terrifying feeling that swept over him, an amazed smile crossed his lips as he finally understood the excitement that swept Vivian. A green tablet of light appeared before his eyes from the pointed edge of the gem. A number of correspondences were displayed under the names 'Elise', 'Louis', and 'You'. From what he could see, the letters were in mid discussion on the topic of favourite flowers. 

"You like roses? I figured you were just as dead on the inside to be honest," he said. 

"Give it back," she demanded in her usual monotone voice.

"Heyyyy, girlfriends!! ^^" he typed on the gem with a snicker. 

"So who are these people anyway?" he asked. There was a silence in the air that hadn't been present before, muting the hubbub of the streets. When he looked back up towards her, a dark aura had enveloped her. No, it was enshrouding the very world, turning the bright day into a blanketed night. 

The soul source of light was the wraith's dozen eyes blinking in his face. "You will give it back!" she shrieked with a hundred voices, each with the tone of a razor's edge. "I can make you feel a thousand deaths. All at the same time," she added, and judging from the stench of rot emanating from her cloak, he believed her.

A wave of regret tingled inside of him. Not the sympathetic kind, but the self-preserving type that forced a "sorry" to eep from him as he feared for his life. He handed the gem back to the wraith's open hand. When the cool object left his grip, he felt Vivian's blazing eyes burning into him like a raging fire, and wondered which one he was supposed to look at?

"Fine," she said, seemingly calming down as the black space that had enshrouded them retracted back into her. "We'll talk. Happy?" she muttered with a sigh. 

"Very!" Feimo gave an uneasy grin as he waited for her to put it down. It's green light glimmered through her hand as she demanded to know what topics he wanted to discuss. "Why're we still here in town?" he asked.

Vivian floated past him, "Because, madame C'thelli needs time to prepare," she said as she floated down a busy hight street. Shops spilled with people and bakeries fumigated the air with the scent of freshly baked baguettes and honeyed pastries.