Contract with a Star (On Hold, Possibly Forever)

Nari Knocks Out a Creeper

            Deep into the night, Nari woke to yelling. It was a girl’s voice, and it was familiar. The strange thing was, the rest of the house seemed silent. Then Nari realized it was Rena, and no one could hear Rena besides Nari herself. Nari sat up quickly and looked around for her intangible friend.

            “Nari! Nari, Miya needs your help! Get up, get up, get up!” Seeing Nari sit up, Rena started urging her out of the room. “Nari, come on! If you don’t hurry, Miya won’t survive! Come on!” Nari ran after Rena, heading down halls she had not travelled before. She came to a room with the door slightly cracked. There were muffled noises coming from inside the darkness, and Nari peeked in with stealth born from years of tracking random animals.

            The bedroom was a larger version of Nari’s, but Nari focused on the person standing at the side of the bed, and the legs thrashing on the bed. Without hesitation, Nari took an empty decorative vase that stood by the door and slammed it into the intruder’s head with a great force. The figured crumpled like a broken doll, the thick ceramic breaking loudly.

            Nari stepped over the man to get to Miya, who she assumed was on the bed. A pillow lay halfway across her face and she was not moving. Nari followed Rena’s instructions and resuscitated the girl using an old Techie method involving pushing on the chest and blowing into the mouth. Miya gasped and coughed and choked on air as Nari stepped back to give her room, accidently pressing a heel into the man’s neck.

            “Did you,” The girl’s voice was hoarse, “Just kiss me?” Miya was still breathing hard as she asked the rather ridiculous question. Nari looked to Rena for help, but she was crouched down beside the body, poking it with ineffective fingers. Nari had to shrug her shoulders, she couldn’t think of a lie to tell. As Miya scrambled to the other side of the bed to hack up any imaginary diseases she could have received from kissing a poor Forester, Nari turned back to see what Rena was doing.

            “Figures Mayin would be the one to resort to violence.” Rena stood up and wiped her hands off, like she had actually dirtied them. Instead of asking Rena who Mayin was, Nari did the more physical thing and kicked the unconscious form hard enough to bruise, but it did turn him over. It was the cousin. Unnoticed by Nari, Miya had crawled back over to see what had tried to kill her.

            “Of course Mayin would find this the best solution to the problem.” It was almost creepy to Nari how Rena and Miya seemed to be holding a conversation, so Nari asked a question.

            “So what are we going to do now?” Nari should have realized that Miya would think the question was addressed to her and would answer, while Rena was obligated to answer any questions asked of her by Nari. Nari ended up hearing,

            “I’m going to run away.”

            “Why would you run away?” Nari was confused and Rena rolled her eyes, but the question was directed to Miya, who gave her an odd look.

            “I didn’t say I was going to run away, Narinx. I said I was going to scream. But, before I scream, you need to get out of here. I don’t think I could repay you for saving my life, but under no circumstances may a commoner kill a noble.” Miya looked at Nari sternly, like she was a naughty child that had hurt herself trying to steal a cookie. “You need to disappear from this country, permanently. Call that horse of yours.” Miya got up calmly and opened the window to provide an exit for Nari.

            “That necklace, give it to me.” Rena said, taking over Nari’s voice box. She had taken over Nari’s body almost completely, sharing the eyes with Nari.

            “What?” Miya was startled by the request. She stopped to stare at Nari.

            “That necklace you wore the first day I met you, I need it. I would think it would be worth the price of your life. Give it to me.” Rena held out Nari’s hand, waving the fingers for emphasis.

            “And if I refuse?” Miya’s entire demeanor had turned cold. She obviously did not like the way the common Forester felt Miya owed her.

            Rena and Nari looked down at the prone body. “I’ve already killed one noble, what’s one more?” There was a wicked grin on Nari’s face, and Miya stepped back in actual fright. Huffing in cornered frustration, she went to her nightstand and took out the necklace. Before handing it over, she said,

            “You know, I have more expensive jewels than this old necklace. Besides, there’s nowhere in Onyx Country you can sell this without it being recognized, so if you need some quick cash…” The girl trailed off, obviously reluctant to part with the gold trinket.

            “Trust me, I have no intention of selling this.” Rena snatched the necklace out of Miya’s hand. When she touched it, a bright light flashed out from the gold before dimming to a soft orb and travelling up Nari’s arms and into her forehead, where the contract mark rested. Rena quickly went through the window to where Eleia waited with Nari’s bag in her mouth. Pausing on the windowsill, she said, “Oh, and he’s not dead, so you might want to scream now.” Rena winked and jumped, running across the lawn to grab the bag from Eleia and hop on her back, the necklace still clenched in her hand.