Melon Balls

Chapter Two: Origins

Cassandra pulled Victoria aside and said, "Victoria, I think you should stay and listen to the story. That way Taylor won't have to repeat the entire thing to you; if she decides to tell you."

Sitting on the purple recliner was Cassandra, crossing her legs and meshing her fingers on top of them, as Taylor lay down on the sofa with her legs sprawled across Victoria's lap next to her.

Cassandra began to delineate the ancient history of the Grimley family name. "Dark magic is typically associated with beings of pure evil. This is a different case. For countless generations, us, the Grimley's, who are not evil, have been studying and enhancing this type of magic. Some could say that our family actually traces back to the origin of Darkness, but no one knows for sure... All was well until my great grandfather made a terrible mistake that would heavily impact our family for generations to come once a year. He felt something lacking about his studies. So he decided to create a living organism at the end of the year, to do his bidding, or to protect him. Crafted from bones of deceased strangers, a simple skeleton was perfect for the job. The skeleton was animated by my great grandfather's powerful magic. He named it Mort, coming from a prefix meaning dead. But things took a turn for the worse. Dark magic is not a simple structure, but a complex system of functioning organs and pumping blood. It turned on him. There must have been too many complicated variables, or perhaps he did not center all his attention on reanimating the dead. Mort realized his true soul, composed of pure evil, and decided to embrace it. He snapped one of his own ribs off, leaving a sharp, tapering edge. The bone sliced right through the neck of an innocent man. Blood sprayed onto the skeleton. A monster was born. Having no remorse about what he had done, Mort escaped the dungeon and began to wreak havoc amongst the small village filled with defenseless townsfolk. The piles of corpses were accumulating at an alarming rate; while simultaneously, townsfolk attempting to rebel were killed by having their skulls crushed, hearts wrenched out, and strangled by their own intestines. Mort's malignant nature caused him to scavenge the carrion and bones of the villagers, and implement it on and around his bones to give him a more ghastly and intimidating appearance. Not only was the size of the skeleton augmenting, but the desire to kill was, as well; the bone fragments, torn muscle, and rotten organs distorted Mort to a horrifying extent. Continuing the killing spree, he began to develop a fully functional brain capable of thinking and speaking. He even changed his name to Morcalvus Necrolvum to sound more intimidating; basically an enhanced version of his previous name, but with more dated words meaning death and skull. Something had to be done to vanquish the monstrosity. At the time, my great grandfather had two offspring, his daughter was away at the time; the other one a young male adult. The words scared and confused didn't even begin to explain his emotions then. After the loss of his father, he was devoted to banishing Morcalvus to another dimension; for killing him was near impossible. Hours passed before a spell was discovered to banish creatures to other dimensions. Morcalvus was not very mobile, due to him being a festering pile of flesh and bones from his past kills; that means he was still barely in the vicinity. My grandfather confronted Morcalvus, and ostracized him from humanity to a desolate land of cold darkness; but died in an agonizing fashion in the process. What he wasn't aware of, was that Morcalvus is fully capable of performing Dark magic. My grandfather was immobilized, then tiny slits about his body expelled streams of blood being manipulated in midair while it hardened and sprouted pronounced barbs wrapping around him and lacerating vital arteries. Morcalvus committed himself to escape that portal the same day each year, because that's when the opening is most vulnerable. The day before the end of the year on the following year, my grandfather's sister visited to check on her sibling. Hearing the unfortunate news from a survivor, she became infuriated and concocted a new plan to prevent the annual terror. She created magical skeleton keys that add additional security to the portal that guarantees no annual escape. The next night, my grandfather's sister attempted to put her plan into action. Morcalvus leapt out of the portal, about three times bigger than last time; meaning he assembled walls and grounds of flesh and bone out of magic to become more robust and grotesque. Morcalvus was fought back into the portal after causing only a minimal amount of casualties. He was sealed up once again, and the mouth to the other dimension was heavily locked. After the victory of the Grimley ancestor, the keys were dispersed around the world, guarded by the Key-Keepers. They protect the keys from harm until we need them to inspect Morcalvus each year to ensure he is still present and secured. There are ten keys in total. I sort of switched the specific location of them, but they are still in the general area. I have done this for years, and I haven't told you. But now I want you to carry on the family tradition, Taylor. Please? Potentially the whole world is counting on you."

Seemingly moved and excited by the tale, Taylor responded, "Of course I will, mother. I've been waiting for something similar to this scenario to occur. I have always felt like I had some magical potential. It's so exciting to just comprehend my magical capabilities! My widest fantasies are now morphing to reality! But I'll only do it if I can bring my friends, you give us staggering weapons and armor to defend ourselves from danger, and perhaps locate a spell that will let me bring Arbydrus; because his ectothermal properties will definitely interfere if I bring him... Please mother."

Arbydrus is Taylor's pet green tree python, whose bond with Taylor is as sturdy and trusting as a redwood tree completely composed of steel. Fortunately, Cassandra respected Taylor's requests and offered to go pick up Rachael with them, and locate a spell beforehand to permit Arbydrus' access to the quest.

"Go pack your bag, Taylor. This will surely take at least a month. Thankfully, tomorrow is the beginning of The Final Month, so you will have thirty-one days to complete your mission before the end of the year! We'll stop by your house Victoria, so you can pack and tell your mother this magnificent news!"

Though the girls were unaware that the journey would take a month, Taylor was generally unfazed. Victoria on the other hand, felt queasy contemplating the possibility of her and her friends' death on this mission.

Victoria inquired, "Cassandra, is there any chance that we would get killed?"

"Oh, yes, definitely. But try to survive, okay? Taylor, down in the basement, I want you to grab the few spellbooks. They'll be of utmost importance."

Taylor proceeded to the bookshelf within the basement scanning for useful looking spellbooks. She glanced at the spines of two different books. Both of them related to enhancing things and and attacking things; things that Taylor enjoys. She glanced through many pages and became intrigued with excitement. She double checked the shelves for any other spellbooks, and every last bit of her attention was caught and positioned on the spine of a book completely on the subject of erotic spells. This made her feel uncontrollably feverish. She slipped all three into her purple, substantial bag in a methodically neat manner, then headed towards her room back upstairs. As Taylor entered her darkened, cryptic room, a gush of humid air swept against her body. This was due to Arbydrus' desideratum of humid air; mimicking his natural habitat of a tropical rain forest. Taylor frantically rummaged through her room in search of paper and pencils to draw with; it is a hobby of hers to draw. After packing clothes and other obvious essentials, she sprints to the door, ready to leave for action.

"Oh wait, I can not believe I almost forgot." Taylor discerned.

She stuck her hand underneath her mattress and pulled out a few dozen condoms.

She smiled; which rarely happens, and cheered, "Finally, all set. I'll be back later, Arbydrus. Love you, bye."

Scurrying quickly and quietly to the living room, Taylor witnessed Cassandra and Victoria politely chatting. They descried Taylor with her bag by her side, seeming slightly gloomy, as usual.

Taylor approached her mother, "Mother, I've packed my bag. Let's go grab Rachael."

The girls were lead outside into the shaded driveway covered by mossy oak trees. Cassandra jammed her keys into the ignition and waited patiently as Taylor spoke to Victoria outside the car.

The girls hugged, "Hey, um, I won't let anything happen to you, Victoria. I promise. I know this all can be perceived as ridiculous, but... I have a tradition to fulfill, and I want to fulfill it with you."

Victoria blushed, and smiled, and didn't let go for a few seconds; her warm body was heating up Taylor's. They entered the car and began to drive to a more rural area, where Rachael and her family live.