Tomes of Nevermore: Shattering Light

Chapter Seven: Making Friends

"I don't think her or her brother are monsters." A mysterious voice said. "I do not think that anyone is good or bad. I think it is the actions a person takes that are either good or bad. And the actions a person takes are the decisions the mind has made. So I believe people choose to be good or evil in the moment."
Tarah picked her throbbing head up from the ground and looked at the most perfect mass of animus energy she'd ever seen in her entire life. It was a giant emerald colored knight in perfect form from the waist up holding a giant sword and shield like a beacon of glowing protection. The energy was so thick and powerful even Tarah's mech eye wasn't able to scan what was inside making creating the monstrosity.
Suddenly the armor began vanish, unveiling a skeletal form inside of the armor. Then the skeleton vanished and finally it was just a thick emerald colored energy that again slowly faded into nothing.
At the center of this mass of energy was a tiny creature covered in gray fur with a knight's helmet on his head. He was hunched over, holding a polished wooden cane. He wore thin boiled leather armor, the sort that was easy to move around in. Wrapped around his tiny body was a cape black as the energy Tarah was going to used to nearly kill the priest.
Wearing no grav shoes at all, the tiny man leapt up in the air, his cape aflutter behind him. He landed all the way on the other end of the tomb. Tarah looked into the furry man's giant adorable giant green eyes, the only thing that could be seen of his actual face through carefully placed slits of the helmet that covered the rest of his face. Tarah could tell that even though the man was resting on a cane he didn't need it.
The cane the man was holding looked to be worth more than her entire treehouse and everything she'd eaten in the last year all put together. The staff was made of three different kinds of different colored strange woods from all over the world. One was as black as night with tiny specks of silver all sparkled through like distant stars in the sky, the other wood appeared to have actual stars naturally formed inside the mysterious sky blue bar, each star was a different vibrant color, the third part of the staff was a bright shining golden wood. All of them had living wood carvings that danced and fought in constant motion acting out crazy battles and romantic scenes from old legends, some of which Tarah had read and recognized.
"It is very nice to meet you Tarah Weird." The tiny man said bowing before her like any noble knight should. "I am truly sorry to interrupt but would killing that man have made you happy?"
"What?" Tarah said backing away from the man into the wall. "How did you know my name?"
"Well it's practically written across your face young lady." The tiny man said. "But I ask again would killing that man have made you happy?"
"No. I mean yes. I mean he deserved it!" Tarah said trying to explain herself.
"I do not doubt that Tarah Weird." The tiny man said looking at the men in gas masks all beaten and unconscious. "But no matter how much a man deserves it, it is not your place to decide when he dies. You cannot give the man back his life, then you should not be willing to take it away."
"But he took my brothers life away!" Tarah said looking around the room for her brother.
"And for some reason a god has decided to give it back to you." The tiny man said bowing a second time. "Forgive me young Tarah Weird. My name is Sir Omi Hall, I am a knight and it is my duty to protect at all cost. No matter what, I must do what is right."
"So you protected that horrible man?" Tarah said getting angry as black energy began to bubble around her.
"No young Tarah Weird." Omi Hall said. "I was protecting you from having a life on your hands. Such pains can never be washed away. Your brother knows this, that is why he never allowed you to destroy anyone for him no matter how weak he felt. He cares a great deal about you and doesn't want to put such a pain on your chest."
"How do you know so much about me?" Tarah said beginning to rub her throbbing head. "Where is my brother and my mech?"
"Calm yourself Tarah Weird. As I have already said, everything is written across you face if you know where to look." He said with a wink as he pointed to his giant adorable open eye. "Your brother and your adorable little mech are just fine. My squire is tending to them and the priest as we speak. I do apologize for hitting you so hard. I'm sure I don't have to tell you how hard animus can be too control."
"How in the name of all the gods living and dead did this furrball have so much animus?" Tarah thought to herself. "I've only seen so much power in lords. Could he truly be a knight?"
Omi Hall pushed the long bangs away from Tarah's face. "You have hurt enough child. Causing more hurt will never ease your pain, I promise you. I was only trying to help believe me. Let yourself heal." A lone tear ran down Tarah's face, the first tear she'd wept since Ty had come back to life. But this was a different sort of tear, it wasn't a sad tear or even a happy tear. It was like a realization tear. "You have such a pretty face child. A smile would be a crowning achievement for it. Believe me a smile goes a very long way."
"How would you know you wear a helmet." Tarah said not truly asking a question. "You know who I am. Who are you? What are you?"
"You're a clever girl." The tiny man said. "Must be from all those books your eyes have told me you've read. I am from a race called something very impossible to pronounce in the common speak. As far as I am aware I am the last one left of my species as we were all wiped out by a famine brought by extensive laziness. At one time my people would conquer entire kingdoms with a smile and our adorable faces. We were simply too adorable to kill, it has been proven. So too fight fairly I wear this helmet. I also didn't die out with my species because I was not lazy as they were because I was a knight for a god who is now dead. Perhaps I should have died with my race or my god but for whatever reason I live. My species also live a very much greater time than you humans and because of this it is not necessary for us too have many children. This is also partially why we died out. A shameful end truly. But did you want to spend time asking funny questions or did you want to come with me to your brother. He may not be moving just yet."
Tarah didn't know what to do. She contemplated attacking the small man while his back was turned but when she looked down at the broken gas mask on the ground she realized that Omi Hall was right, strange as he may be. If she attacked him or if she killed those men she'd be just like them. Even if she wasn't just like them for doing it it was way too close to them for her ever be comfortable with. She'd hated those men and she knew if she was ever like that then she'd just hate herself too. Already she wasn't happy with herself anymore pain could only worsen those feelings.
There was a young man standing beside Pal and the charred skeletal remains. He wore a black cloak just like the Omi Hall did but his had bright white flames at the bottom and was held together by a black steel heart emblem. His hair was white as a fresh fallen snow and his eyes were an unnatural glowing green. He wore a stern look on his face but that was only visible upon close examination as his hood was pulled up covering as much of his face as wholly possible.
Pal was floating around above the white haired boys head panicking about what had happened to Tarah and Ty. Tarah rushed over to the black smudged ground and kneeled beside the blackened bones of her brother.
"How do you feel?" Tarah asked after seeing the bones quake and the skull cough as they lied in a mismatched pile. "Can you talk?"
"Yeah." Ty said as the skull choked up ash and his broken off hand wiped the grime from his eye sockets. "But I... I don't feel at all."
"You've burned off all of your nerves Tywin Weird." Pal said as he scanned Ty's skeletal figure.
"How on earth is he still alive?" The boy in the cloak said picking up Ty's broken off foot as the toes began wriggling around.
"Don't touch that!" Ty shouted as his broken off hand hopped up and down reaching for the foot as the boy held just out of the hands reach.
"He's made a deal with death." Omi said taking the foot from the boys hand. "He is a zombie. Or I suppose in this instance a skeleton. I suppose."
"I won't be for long you big eared furry little freak!" Ty said slowly putting himself back together on the ground. "Just wait until I get back together."
"Now now Tywin Weird." Omi said with a smile. "With an attitude like that how do you expect me to make you a knight?"
"A knight?" Ty said forgetting about his foot in Omi's hand. "What do you mean make me a knight? Who are you?"
"My apologies." Omi handing Ty his foot. "I am Sir Omi Hall. This is my squire Alister Wildeheart. I must say I am very impressed with you and your sister. But, I believe that both of you though extremely talented, do not possess the necessary means to hone your skills on your own. So I decided to intervene with your fight. I hope you can forgive me I'm sure you would have had it handled."
"I'll handle you old man!" The priest cried as he charged at Omi from the rubble that he laid in. In his hand he held a silver dagger. "In the name of the almighty Caligan your light will be mine worms!"
Without ever even looking, Omi spun around and smashed his carved wooden cane into the man's face knocking him unconscious. "It is very rude to interrupt." Omi said as he landed on the priests plump round stomach. "Though I guess from all of your perspectives I interrupted all of you. Isn't life full of all of these funny inconveniences. But where was I?"
Tarah was growing impatient. "What right does he have to tell us what is right and what is wrong?" Tarah thought. "This little fur ball has practically beaten up everyone here and he wants to tell me that what I'm doing is wrong."
The priest opened his now black eye and gave Tarah a wicked smile stewing up all of the hatred she'd felt before the small man distracted her.
On the ground near Tarah was a sword half rusted from age. But just sharp enough to put an end to the priest. Tarah knew she'd only have one shot to kill him before Omi Hall and his apprentice Alister stopped her, but atleast she didn't feel as though she would be killed. She touched her metal eye with her metal arm. Though she could feel with both of them it never did feel the same as having a real arm or eye and she knew it never would again. She looked at the charred skeletal remains of her twin brother putting himself together.
"All of this was because of him." Tarah thought as she picked the rust sword up from the ground. "But he'll never hurt anyone again."
Before Tarah could even make a single move the boy in the black cloak with the white hair and glowing green eyes vanished without a single trace only to reappear a moment later with his hand on top of Tarah's, both of them wrapped around the rust sword. His hands were as cold as his hair was white. She turned around and looked at his horrendous green eyes and felt a fluttering stir in her stomach.
"Though I agree the man should lose his head for what he's done my master has deemed it wrong to take the life of such a monster." The boy said as his hand became transparent and floated through hers sending a cold tingle through her entire body as if it was falling asleep. Horrified by the tingling sensation Tarah dropped the blade and the boy gave it a throw to the other side of the room.
"What..." Tarah said backing away in horror as a purple wall of misshapen energy formed around her.
"Stay away from my sister you freaky old man!" Skeletal Ty shouted as he finally put himself together and tried to to punch the white haired boy in the face. The white haired boy took one look at Ty as he charged at him and made his entire body transparent. Ty swung his fist as hard as he could and fell straight through the boy and flat on his face and breaking himself into pieces.
"Hey! What in death's abyss are you! I'll knock your block off, just stay visible and fight me like a man." Ty shouted trying to put himself back together.
"If I fought you I'd end up pounding you into dust and then you'd spend the rest of your miserable immortality in a jar." The white haired boy said not even looking at Ty.
"Honestly young Alister why must you insist on taking the violent route so often." Omi said. "One must not take a life because one can never return that life."
"I disagree master." Alister said throwing the sword at the wall. "Can we leave now? I don't see why you wanted to stop at this miserable place. We're supposed to be traveling north."
"There is no rush for such things." Omi said calmly. "We're making new friends."
"I will kill you!" The priest said with a cough triggering Omi to calmly bonk him on the head again, blackening his other eye and knocking him unconscious.
"No. No you will not." Omi said scratching his big furry ears poking out of his helmet. "Now where was I? This sort of thing always slips my mind. Such a trouble. It's why I never seem to be able to get anything done. For a master knight I can be such a fool."
As Omi began to laugh, Alister, the white haired boy, grew an angry look on his face. "Master we have to train. You said that we needed to come here for something. Something happened can we go now?"
"Of course we can." Omi said clapping his hands. "I suppose with such a long journey ahead of us we'll have plenty of time for the tedious "how's and why's". For those of you who do not know," He looked at Ty. "How's and why's is a phrase that explains our reasonings for what we're doing. But right now is not the time for that. Right now I must make Tarah and Tywin Weird both my squires and they must go and gather their things so we can "hit the happy trail". Hitting the happy trail means go gather your pointless belongings friends we have adventure to embark on."
"How did you know I didn't know what all of that meant?" Ty said finally getting his bones in the right place. "And what do you mean make us squires? And what do you mean adventure? What in nevermore happened while I was on fire?"
"These things were told by your faces and actions young Tywin Weird." Omi said. "You must open your mind to the feelings of others. Once you finally understand how another feels such things become a great deal easier to predict my friend. For example, Alister is very unhappy with me and wants me to stop talking and get on with his training, and your sister is taken back by Alister and the entire situation in general. You, you don't know enough to care about anything besides the fact I said you can become a knight."
"You're right." Skeletal Ty said in an excited voice with a boney smile. "I've always wanted to be knight."
"Could I come please Omi Hall?" Pal said laying an egg and handing it to Omi. "I do not wish to leave my best friend Tarah Weird or My friend Tywin Weird. Plus I have never been on an adventure. Adventure sounds very interesting."
"Who said we were even willing to become squires and go." Tarah said defiantly. "I don't want to offend you but talking to weird strangers is how kids get kidnapped."
As Omi opened the egg his big eyes lit up with glee from inside of his helmet. "Why these are real gummy knights!" Omi said stuffing the contents of the egg in his mouth. "I haven't seen them since I was a lad!"
"I scanned you and knew they were your favorite." Pal said.
Omi stuffed his mouth with the gummy soldiers and felt them squishing around with glee as the moisture in his mouth woke them up and they began ripping themselves apart as they fought each other and evaded Omi's teeth as he chewed.
"Why this is an extremely important robot." Omi decided. "He will most definitely be coming as well."
"Who do you think you are just telling us what to do like that?" Tarah said angry no one had listened to her the first time she said something. "You're not our parent! You don't get to decide what we do. My brother Pal and I get along just fine without you."
"I never said you didn't young Tarah Weird. But I believe there is much for me to teach you and your twin brother. I'm afraid I have already decided." Omi said as he crossed his arms. "The two of you will travel with the group until the time when I decide otherwise. Once I say otherwise the two of you may decide for yourselves what you wish to do."
"I'm going." Ty said giving Tarah a fiendish smile with his blackened skull and turning away before she could tell him how stupid he was. "So he's like some shaggy dog wizard knight or something like that. What's your deal you weird disappeary, white haired, cold skinned, ugh..." Ty's eyes got big. "I know it you're a vampire!"
Alister swung his fist and knocked Ty's head clear across the room, scattering his bones across the floor. Ty's head rolled beside one of the unconscious people in gas masks.
"Why you blood sucking freak of a teenage fantasy! Once I absorb this jerk I'm going too..." Ty shouted as Omi picked up Ty's skull. "Hey put down! I'll bite your fingers!"
"No, no you will not." Omi said looking Ty in his empty eye sockets. "Can you still see boy?"
"Of course." Ty said.
"Curious." Omi said with an interested face. "I'm afraid there will be no more absorbing of people. As I have already said twice today and will only say this one final time today, you may not take a person's life away if you cannot give it back. It is not your place to decide who dies. It is not fair and it will only add to the pain in this world. There is already enough killing in this world without you adding to it."
"But I rot and fall apart." Ty said. "I'm always in an incredible amount of pain until I absorb people. Absorbing people makes me stronger." Ty's body had managed to put itself together very quickly without the help of his head. He flexed to show how strong he would be if only he hand bones.
"You seem plenty strong to me." Omi said. "Even as a pile of bones you're undead strength seems to be unwavering. Does it still hurt?"
"Actually no." Ty said as Omi handed his head to his body and he placed it on his shoulders. "Why wouldn't it hurt anymore though?"
"Because you no longer have any nerves stupid. The mech already said that." Alister said. "There's no way for you to feel if you have no nerves. It only makes sense."
"No one asked you vampire." Ty said cracking every bone in his body. "I could get used to this. Especially if I don't have to kill people anymore."
"I am not a vampire!" Alister said vanishing and appearing directly behind Ty facing the other direction. "I'm possessed. Call me a vampire one more time and you won't ever find your pieces to put back together."
"Possessed. You mean you're a ghost boy?" Tarah said having read an ancient story about one who had existed years ago. "That means that you're soul is stronger than the ghosts soul that tried to possess you and..."
"And I feed off of it's powers thus making me the perfect merger between life and death." Alister said smugly. "Clearly it's easy to tell which of you has the brains in the family."
"I disagree about whose the perfect merger." Ty said walking away from Alister. "Skeletons and zombies are way cooler than ghosts anyway. What can you even do besides just disappear like a coward? It's overrated really. I can like not die and junk. Oh and threaten me again and I'll show you who's the perfect merger of life and death first hand."
"Would you both stop fighting? Honestly who do boys have to always act so stupid and macho around each other? It's stupid." Tarah said tired of the boys threatening one another.
"Pick a team Tarah." Ty said arrogantly. "It's team zombie knight vs team ghost knight." Ty looked at Alister. "No one likes ghosts anyway."
"That is quite enough." Like I said there will be plenty of time for that debate. Probably when you are both actually knights for example. Besides there is a third choice." Omi said looking at Tarah with his big bright eyes. "There is the girl with a very powerful animus. Your strength greatly surpasses mine at your age young Tarah Weird. You are very sensitive to the world. You feel deeper, like a poet. Will you come with us?"
"She's coming." Ty said taking off his head and bouncing it off the wall. To his delight it came right back like a super ball. All of the sudden he was bouncing his head up and down all over the place, taking far too much glee in the situation that any normal child at the age of sixteen. "I've decided and Tarah and I always do things together. Plus we can bring Pal he will make us anything we want. Right Pal?"
"Of course I will Tywin Weird." Pal said. "I will do anything to make friends. Oh please can we go on an adventure best friend Tarah Weird?"
"Aw. Aren't you the most adorable little glass dome on a metal box anyone has ever seen." Omi said petting Pal as if he was a dog. "Then we ride on the morrow after morning training. We will take our mech mount for the trip so no need to worry about a vehicle."
"You have a mech mount?" Tarah said excited, though she was still very weary about the decision she had never actually agreed to in the first place. But her twin brother had agreed, which was feeling she was always used too. Ty was the rambunctious, crazy, fun one who got himself killed, and Tarah was the safe secure one who had to carefully plan out every move she made and couldn't go on without her more outgoing brother. Or at least that's how Tarah convinced herself she felt.
"But of course we have a mech mount." Omi said. "Best we do get going though. Time is of the essence is it not Alister Wildeblood? We shall embark on the morrow after a good night's rest."
"Aw but I don't WANNA go to bed!" Pal said in his sad mechanized baby voice.
"Why does a robot need to sleep?" Omi asked.
"He doesn't he just needs to charge and he calls that bed because he wants to be more human." Tarah said being the one who understood Pal the most. "Come on buddy you know you're battery is getting low because you're getting cranky."
"Curious little mech." Omi said.
"I am not cranky!" Pal said as he came crashing to the ground. "I am excited I have four whole friends now!".
"Poor Pal." Tarah said picking him up in her arms like baby. "Looks like we're walking back Ty."
"Very well it has been decided then. We shall train and then leave on the morrow. Leave the cultists here. When they wake up they will have several bruises to think over. Let them continue with their miserable lives. They will be hunted by a man who is after their bounty and arrested soon enough. They won't be getting very far." Omi said stepping down from the priests stomach. "Be at the bottom of the steps of the temple at sunrise tomorrow for your inductions as my squires and your first day of training. Bring everything you will need for the trip as we will leave right after training. It's going to be a long journey north