One Strange House

Chapter Four

  "Your grandmother's marion sent for you."

  "My grandmother's marion?? What do you mean? A. She was from my world, B. She died of old age, and maybe crazy, C. I shouldn't even be here!" I blurted out. Father Ka sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, and he suddenly looked about a hundred years older. Had I done something wrong?

  "Look," Father Ka told me, "Be quiet and I will explain. Sonny, you, yes Jeff--"

  "It's Jake. I'm Jake, and she's Marceline."

  "I have approximate knowledge of all things now shut up boy I said to be quiet," Here, Jake and I shared a look like is this guy senile? and hoped he hadn't noticed, "Jake, have you yet seen a shadrahk?"

  "No," he replied.

  "What?! They're literally everywhere!!!" I accidentally yelled.

  Father Ka continued, "That is exactly my point. They're everywhere, but only people who have a bloodline infused with that of an Abatonian can see shadrahki, which really are everywhere. Marceline, your grandmother was from Abaton. She did not like the cycle in place here, so she chose to escape. You can escape the same way, but we need this cycle, and now there's a force which is threatening it's continuation. That's why she chose to contact you. We have no means of death other than the cycle, and this force seeks to utterly destroy it. You see, she believes you can stop it. She believes that you can save us. Tell me, are you up for the challenge? You can only hear the beast's legend if you decide to help us. If you do not, I'll just help you leave instead."

  "Let's lea--" I was interrupted by a swift kick to the shin.

  "We'll do it. What's the legend?" Jake interjected, ignoring a dirty look from me. Jerk.

  "Splendid! EMMA? EMMA WHERE ARE YOU DEARY??" Father Ka yelled at the top of his lungs.

  "Beside you, Father," she muttered looking somewhat disturbed.

  "Fetch the tablet go on get it," He looked like a four year old on Christmas. I decided to make use of her time and get some information.

  "So, Father Ka, why is it that you stay down here underground?" I asked after waiting ten minutes to ensure she was far enough away not to hear.

  He looked directly at me with his blind milky eyes, and replied, "Because I don't want to die." A minute later, Emma was back and handed him a stone tablet. He brushed some dust off of it
and began to read.

In the beginning, there was a young boy. In this time, there were still odd beasts and magics of all sorts, but he was a special case. This boy was born with one eye completely black, and the other a milky white. He was blind in one eye, yes, but the other eye could see fine. Many believed he was a demon, while still others believed he was a god. Back then, death did not exist. It was unheard of for people to die. He liked this. He couldn't handle losing a toy; what if he lost a friend? The boy didn't have many friends; most of the kids were cruel and mean because of his rare power and eyes. So, the boy honed his magic over time. He could conjure from his creations, so he took an old rucksack and made a strange doll-like character. It was stout and round, and approximately four feet tall. He used paint to give it a face. He called his new friend Marion, and after many tries, succeeded in giving it life. They grew very close, and eventually he forgot about the others and devoted all his time to maintaining Marion. He wanted a friend with his special magic, another conjurer, so he infused Marion with his power. They wanted another friend to join them, so together they made a pure black creature from other animals. Charred flesh, the eyes of an owl, and the fangs of a predator. They had grown twisted over the years. Bringing it to life, they gave it another sort of power. A form of conjuring, where you conjure an emotion. This is what gave it such a hypnotic gaze. They named their beastly new friend Shadrahk. They were together for a very long time, until the boy grew into a man. The townsfolk alienated him still, and eventually this effected him so heavily that he couldn't handle it anymore. He hung himself. Filled with vengeance and hate, his two friends used their magic to control people. They would conjure the emotions required to cause group suicides, showing the people the tragedy they had caused. Creating the emotions, though, infused that person with some of the magic. If they were dark and twisted, they became a shadrahk; charred flesh, jagged teeth, and large hypnotic eyes. If they were good and pure, they'd become a marion. And thus, death as well as the cycle was introduced. Once enough of the shadrahki and marions were created, the original two friends saw the destruction they had caused. They knew the boy would be disappointed, but they were even more upset at what the townsfolk had driven him to do. They made a compromise; in 3,000 years, a great beast of their own creation would rise up and wipe out everything. The shadrahki, the marions. The humans. They couldn't risk the cycle accidentally restarting; everything will go. Once the beast has risen 3,000 years from the beginning, it will then be the end.

  "The 3,000 year period is nearing it's end. They are tucked away in your grandmother's house, creating their beast. The shadrahk that lured you here was the original friend. It sensed your bloodline, as well as a marion wishing for you, and trapped you here. You must get back and stop them. In one month, it will rise up, go through the pit, and kill us all. Please, you're our only hope," Father Ka desperately told us.

  "Well I guess we have no choice then. What'll it take?" I replied, much to Jack's approval.

  "Everything."

~~Sorry for a short chapter everyone, I just thought now was a good place to end it!