Tomes of Nevermore: Shattering Light

Chapter Eight: Broken Dreams and Scattered Memories

"I can't believe I'm going to be a knight!" Ty said jumping around the pillow floor of there treehouse smacking the giant stuffed animals with a stick as if it was a sword. "I've been waiting for this my entire life. I'm gonna slay giant monsters, go on adventures, kiss princesses and collect jewels and live in a castle, and I'm gonna be the strongest knight ever. Remember when he smacked those assassins in the head? It was incredible I can't wait to be that powerful. I can't believe I'm going to be even more powerful because I can't die. Do you think he knows king's and queen's? Who am I kidding he's old as death's abyss he's probably even met gods! I can't believe this is real life!"
"I can't believe you woke up before me." Tarah said rubbing her eyes to the sound of her blasting alarm.
"I didn't sleep." Ty said already dressed in normal clothes that didn't seem very befitting of a skeleton as he bounced his head off of the painted walls of their treehouse. "Staying up all night is the best way to wake up early."
"You're going to collapse." Tarah said shaking her head as she tapped Pal on the side. "What did you even do all night?"
"No I woke Pal and had him make me energy candies while we played video games. The candies didn't work though because I don't have a stomach." Ty said as he took off his one arm and held it like a bat.
"Great you know how Pal has trouble staying on charge when he's being bothered." Tarah rubbing her mech. "Poor thing was probably up all night. Come on Pal we need to get up and we need you to make us backpacks so we can pack our things. We'll have to leave for the temple as soon as possible if we want to make it by sunrise."
"Five more minutes best friend Tarah Weird. I have not charged enough to exist and function properly." Pal said as he rolled over onto his side. "I was having a beautiful dream about a whole moon full of stickers made of flowers. Blue flowers and flame stickers are the bestest."
"They most certainly are Pal. But I didn't know you dreamed Pal." Tarah said.
"You have never asked best friend Tarah Weird." Pal said slowly waking up.
"Woo hoo!" Ty shouted as he held his arm like a bat and tossed his head up into the air. As his head came down Ty took a powerful swing sent his skull flying across the the treehouse.
"This is bad!" Ty said his head shattered the only picture Tarah and Ty had of their mother.
Tarah's eye immediately filled with tears as she watched Ty's head and the picture of their parents fall broken. Though Tarah was crying, all she felt was rage. Taking deep angry breathe she rushed over and punted her brothers head away sending him to bouncing off the walls before he crashed into his own body and fell into pieces.
"Mom I'm sorry." Tarah said as tears fell onto the broken glass still in the frame.
"I'm sorry Tarah." Ty said in a sad tone. "I... I really didn't mean it..."
"I know you didn't! Just shut up!" Tarah shouted at her brother now completely balling her eyes out as Pal finally rose with a loud mechanized yawn.
"Best friend Tarah Weird." Pal said as he flew over to her. "My scanners have detected you are sad and fluids is leaking from your tear ducts. Are you sad?"
"No Pal." Tarah said crying. "Just leave me alone."
"But my scanner senses that you are sad. A friend never leaves a friend when they are sad." Pal said as an arm stretched out of him and rubbed Tarah's back. "There there. Everything will be fine best friend Tarah Weird. Is it the broken picture frame making you sad?"
"No it's not even that." Tarah said holding the frame to her chest. "We're leaving the place mom built for us to live. The place where we fought to live. The place where so many good and bad things happened to us. It's almost like we're leaving mom."
Ty looked down in sadness at the giant mural he painted of their mom holding the two of them in her arms. Until now he'd been so distracted with leaving he hadn't even thought about it the way Tarah had felt and he wished he never did because for the first time in his entire life and even undeath Ty didn't dream of becoming a knight. Instead he just wanted to stay in his nice safe treehouse he'd become accustomed too.
"There, there best friend Tarah Weird." Pal said wiping the tears from Tarah's eye as he laid an egg. Tarah opened up the egg  and inside was a little book full of pictures of the tree house, even a picture of the picture of their mother brand new set into the elegant cover.
"I am sorry that I could not make have a picture of your mother." Pal said in sad robotic tone. "Also I am sorry that I never got to meet her. She seems like a very great woman. I love the mother of my best friend Tarah Weird because my best friend Tarah Weird loves her mother. Ty Weird says Tarah Weird acts just like her mother so her mother must have been amazing. I am sorry I did not get to know her, but I am happy to be there as long as you need me. I promise best friend." Tarah began to ball her eyes out.
"You appear to be leaking more fluids from your eye?" Pal said backing away scared. "Have I caused you more distress?"
"No Pal. These are happy tears. I love you so much thank you. My mother would have loved to meet you too." Tarah wiped the tears from her eyes and kissed Pal on his glass dome. "And I love this place. But Mom wouldn't have wanted us to grow old in the grove outside of The Clockwork City in the same place she left us. It's our time to move on."
"Forget this place." He said in a blubbery tone as he clenched his fists. For once Ty was glad he didn't have actual organs because that was the only thing that kept him from crying. "It's just a big stupid house full of soft pillows and toys and pictures and stupid books and memories and..." Ty fell to the padded floor. "I hate you both for making me feel this way! Stupid little mech has to be all emotional when I'm trying to be a knight! Knight's don't miss their mothers!"
"Everyone misses their mother, stupid! Just shut up and get your bony behind over here and give me a hug before I knock you to bits again." Tarah shouted as Ty came hobbling over and wrapped his skeletal hands around Tarah and Pal. In that moment they all shared a much needed cry."Mom would want us to keep going. She'd want you to be brave and to follow your dream."
"And she'd want you to get out and see the big world you've been reading about. You know you want to go more than anything. Whether it's for me, whether it's for you, whether it's for the ghost boy you were talking about in your sleep. It doesn't matter why you do what you wanna do just do it." Ty said with a weeping laugh. "She'd want this for us. If she were here she'd probably kick us out and make us leave." "We'll make you proud mom! I promise!"
"We promise." Tarah agreed. "Maybe one day we could even come back here. It will probably be infested with squirrels by then. Unless someone moves in once we're gone. Do you think someone will move in once we're gone?"
"Who cares. We're squires. Adventure is our home now." Ty said standing up. "Let's get going.  I've had enough feelings for one day. Now just I wanna punch something!"
Though Tarah was not nearly as sure of her brother she knew this was what she needed to do. Afterall, absolutely nothing could be worse than being alone again.