The Onyx Prince

File 5

March - 19 - 1979
Heindenskee, Eldora.

Alexander finds his way home.
-The Watcher


File begins:

Three hours prior


Alex could see green and red lights. They didn't belong in a blizzard.

"Help..."

He closed his eyes. Someone would find him.

There was no way he was letting Pig eat him.


Present time


Alex woke up in his bed. He blinked away the grogginess as he tried to piece together what had happened to him. What had been happening to him.

"It was all a dream."

Alex jumped and his head fell back on his bed to see Pig's familiar beady eyes. It was hovering above him.

"I hate you. Were you there the whole time?"

"Yup. I watched you sleep."

"That's weird."

Alex rolled over and hopped out of bed. He winced when his feet hit the floor.

"My skin hurts."

"Well, you almost froze to death. I'm surprised you survived."

He rubbed his hands. They felt weirdly itchy and very dry. It made Alex realize how thirsty he was.

"I'm going to get something to drink."

Pig was very amused.

"You're extraordinarily stupid. Even for a kid."

But Alex was used to Pig's verbal assaults and didn't pay them much attention.

"You stay here. I'll be right back."

"Absolutely not. I want to see this."

"Why do I even try?" Alex wondered out loud. He blinked the grogginess away some more. "I'm exhausted."

Alex left his room and headed downstairs. On the way, he passed the library. The door was hidden so it wasn't obvious. Mr. Clark told him to never show anyone the library, especially not any government officials. Especially never anyone from the Empire. But last night had been the first time he saw any, and they were already dead.

Wait.

Alex was halfway down the stairs when he turned to Pig.

"Those lights. The green and red lights. Did I really see those, or was I hallucinating?"

"I don't know what you saw. I know what I saw."

Then Pig started laughing again. Alex felt uneasy.

"How did I get back home?"

Pig laughed even harder.

"You're in for a treat."

"I'm serious, Pig." Alex whispered furiously. "What happened?"

"Find out for yourself. I'm your omen of impending death, not some kind of personal assistant."

Alex wasn't sure what happened, but he was sure whoever those lights were, they weren't Mr. Clark.
Alex felt a pang of regret as he remembered turning back. Maybe if he had kept pushing forward...

No, he would've died. He wasn't even sure how he got back home. Except that it had something to do with the people making those lights.

"Hello?"

Alex froze.

"Pig!" he hissed. "Did you hear that?"

The bird was laughing so hard now Alex felt the sudden urge to hide, or run away from him, or something.

"I can hear you, you know."

The urge was realized. Alex ran back up the stairs. He stopped halfway.

"I'm a coward." he thought miserably.

Then he ran the rest of the way up.

"Hey!"

They were following him. He ducked into the library and slid the hidden door shut.

"What..."

Alex held his breath.

The mysterious person was starting to freak out.

"Did you just disappear into a wall? No, that wouldn't... Oh my god."

Pig buried his beak in his feathers to keep quiet. Alex was doing his best to keep quiet too. Then he noticed the door was open just a crack.

"Never show anyone the library."

Alex stepped softly over to the door. He tried easing it closed.

It wouldn't budge.

Frustrated, Alex pushed it harder.

Thump.

The mysterious person screamed and Alex listened as they made a mad dash for the stairs.

Pig cackled the whole time and Alex frantically motioned for him to stay quiet.

"Pig!"

"What?" it snapped back.

"You're being too loud!"

"So?"

"So, this library is a secret. So, I don't want them to find me."

Pig cocked its head. "They already found you." it said very seriously. "I think they are a government agent."

"Great. That's the worst thing they could be."

"Oh no." Pig reminded him. "They could be from the Empire."

"Stop it. I'm not that stupid. What would the Empire be doing here?"

"What were they doing outside?"

Alex got very pale.

"I'll go check." Pig whispered. Then it winked at Alex. "You're welcome."

"Wait!"

Pig melted into a formless black shadow and slipped through the crack of the hidden door. He never left, he just kept stretching. Alex closed his eyes and prepared for the worst.

"Psst. I see them."

Alex opened an eye. "What?"

"I left my mouth here. My eyes are in the kitchen."

"You can do that?"

The mouth that Pig left behind wasn't a beak. It was a human mouth. Human-like, at least. It was too wide and the teeth were too square. It was mostly flat, like the rest of Pig after he had stretched himself out.

"Just a little farther." Pig whispered. "Hold on. I need this back."

His mouth vanished. Alex was left feeling more than a little disturbed and very worried.

"BOO!"

Alex jumped, but downstairs in the kitchen the mysterious person screamed.

Pig popped back into the room like a rubber band. It was cackling again.

"She was so scared." it giggled. "That was the best prank I've pulled in a hundred years."

"She?" Alex asked. "Never mind. You just blew our cover."

Pig rolled its eyes. "No. I just scared her out of the house."

"You shouted "boo." The Empire's Army is lethal. She's going to march back up the stairs and kill us!"

"Oh yeah. You're right."

Alex leaned against the wall and slid to the floor. "We're doomed."

Pig eyed him and licked his lips. "You really mean it?"

"No!"

Both of them were annoyed so they went back to ignoring each other. After a while, Alex began feeling really nervous.

"She's not doing anything."

"Maybe she went into shock."

"Knock it off!"

Alex stopped and sniffed the air. "I think I smell smoke."

Pig was having the time of his life. He bounced around in the air excitedly.

"I scared her so good she's burning the house down. I bet she thinks it's haunted."

"Pig! This isn't really my house! Mr. Clark is going to kill me if I let it burn down. No, I'm going to be burned alive before I ever see him again."

Alex was pacing back and forth, in full blown panic mode.

"Why would she burn down the whole house?"

"You should've seen what I did." Pig said deviously. "I'd burn this house down too. I bet she thinks it's cursed."

"You're cursed!" Alex screamed.

He covered his mouth in a useless attempt to muffle his voice.

Downstairs, he heard sobbing.

"Leave me alone! I'm sorry!"

Pig physically removed its mouth to keep quiet. It kept bouncing around the library like a possessed rubber ball.

Crash.

It was knocking books from the shelf. The smell of smoke was getting stronger. If the house was really on fire, Alex had to get out now or he'd die. He waited a few more minutes to give whoever invaded his home enough time to get out first.

"I've got to stop the fire."

Alex slid the hidden door open and ran down the stairs. He was a coward, but he hoped it wasn't too late.

Alex pushed the backdoor open and was met with even more smoke. He coughed as he navigated the room by memory and made his way towards the kitchen. There was a door that led outside, and a sink he could get water to put out the fire with.

He stopped when he saw the green light.

Alex remembered the green and red lights he had seen in the blizzard right before passing out.

Then he saw her.

And she saw him.

The color drained from her face.

"It's you." she stammered.

Alex was frozen in place. The smoke billowed around him. She wasn't from the Empire's Army. She only looked a little older than he did.

"Leave me alone! I tried to save you."

What was she talking about?

"I gave you medicine. I wrapped you in warm blankets. I didn't know what else to do!"

She was crying and Alex almost felt bad, except for the fact that his home was on fire and if he didn't put it out right now, it might be too late.

He finally said something. His voice was raspier than normal because of all the awful smelling smoke.

"What are you burning?

Her eyes widened. "You can't get any closer. It's herbs."

Cautiously, Alex took a step forward.

"Stay back! I know about ghosts. On Casper, they burn sage to keep evil spirits away."

"Did you..." Alex was gaping at the floor. "Are you burning all the kitchen spices?"

She stared at him.

"I didn't have sage."

Alex stared back.

"Who are you?"

"I won't answer your questions!"

Alex flipped on the kitchen lights, and suddenly they could both see each other much clearer.

"Yes you will. This is my house."

The girl had straight blonde hair and bright green eyes that she narrowed as she stared back at Alex.

"Oh. You're not a ghost."

"Yeah. And who are you?"

She glared at him. "Get out."

"Did you hear me? I said this was my house!"

"Like I believe that. I saved your life, so do me a favor and get lost."

"Why'd you bother saving me if you were going to be so rude?"

"I saved you because I'm nice. I'm asking you to leave because of that."

Pig was hovering above Alex again. He hadn't even noticed.

"Oh, that's just Pig."

"I don't care what name you gave it. It's evil."

"Yeah, I know that."

Pig was no longer bobbing around. It was sulking in the corner.

"Pigrescent." it hissed. "My name is Pigrescent."

She looked away as if seeing it was too much to bear.

"I know about those. That's a Doshino."

"A what?"

"That's what they call them on Wanako. That world is crawling with Doshino and Doshinta. They are soulless creatures created during battles."

"Someone's smart." Pig loomed in the corner. "Don't tell this idiot too much. I don't like know-it-all brats."

She raised her hand threateningly. "I won't let you tell me what to do."

"As if you could stop me."

"Stop it!" Alex shouted at Pig. "You're creeping me out."

"So?" Pig hissed. "This little girl is annoying me. She was more fun when she was screaming."

The room was bathed in pale green light as she stood her ground.

"Try me."

"You might be smart, but you don't know everything."

Pig's features separated like they were being pulled apart. He didn't look like a bird anymore. Alex wondered why he ever thought Pig was a bird. He didn't even know what Pig was.

"Stop it." Alex said again. This time, he spoke calmly.

Pig turned to look at him.

"Oh?"

"No one's fighting in the kitchen. I already have to clean up a bunch of burnt plants. Pig, try me if you want. See how much fun today's favor is."

Pig hissed and curled back. "I hate it here."

The green light fizzled out.

"I didn't need your help."

"You don't know that." Alex said simply. "You might have a name for what Pig is, but neither of us know what it's capable of."

She didn't seem to care if he had saved her or not. She looked like she trusted him even less now.

"You can control it?"

Alex shook his head.

"Barely."

"Did it want to make a deal with you?"

"...Yeah."

"You're stupid. What was the deal?"

Pig was getting more agitated the more Alex spoke to the girl.

"I'm starting to wonder how bad this favor could really be." it snarled.

Alex paused and considered Pig's cautious threat. "We'll talk about it later."

"No, we won't."

Pig was really upset, and Alex was starting to get annoyed too.

"Why?"

"Because my safety matters too."

"Our deal doesn't involve other people. It lurks around me to see if I..."

Pig was staring straight at Alex with a terrifying expression of anger.

"It doesn't matter. If I do something, it'll kill me. Every day I don't, I get to ask it a favor."

"But it hates me and I don't feel as safe around it as you seem to do. So you can leave."

Alex wasn't sure what to say. Then he was.

"No."

The girl's frustration was now directed at Alex.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. Now I'm going to clean up the mess you made in my kitchen, and then I'll decide if I'm letting you stay here or not. If you have a problem with that, you can go outside with whatever's killing everyone."

She looked him up and down, then turned and walked out. Alex didn't know where she was going, and he was more than a little irritated with the idea of her snooping around his house.

Pig flew up to him.

"I liked what you did there." it whispered into Alex's ear. "Very nice."

"This is all your fault."

Pig was offended. "Why's that?"

"You scared her, and then you threatened her."

"Oops. Let bygones be bygones. Anyways, are we kicking her out?"

"We?"

Pig stopped chattering and performed some exaggerated act of emotion. "We're a team with stuff like this. It's important to share some goals."

"Uh-huh. Sure."

Pig kept on going. "You know what you should've said to her? "Try me." When she said that I nearly ate her."

"You call me a brat all the time. Oh wait, I just remembered. You want to eat me too. But we're still a team, right?"

"Right!"

Pig flew around the kitchen as Alex swept up the ashes.

"She's way more annoying than you."

"Oh really?"

"Yup. I wouldn't have even offered her a deal, just pop! Down the hatch she goes."

Alex kept sweeping.

"So why did you offer me a deal?"

Silence.

Alex looked around.

"Pig?"

For the first time since Alex made that deal, Pig wasn't hovering around him. Pig had vanished.

Alex finished sweeping and dumped the ashes in the trash.

"Wow, that girl is so annoying. She's the worst."

"Yeah!"

Alex stood by the trash. Pig was somewhere behind him.

"Hey Pig," he said casually. "You're back."

It didn't say anything in return.

Alex stood facing the window, and for the first time in over a day, the long night was breaking and clouds parted for the rising sun.

"It's finally dawn." The words just left his mouth as he heard the front door open.

End of file.