On The Surface | An OCTale Sequel

6) The Fellow who Speaks in Arrows

After eating another slice of butterscotch pie downstairs, I hug Guidea before leaving for the lab again, with a slight limp in my step.

Eventually, I make it to Impact and Castellar's house. I knock on the door with the knocker.

Impact replies flatly "Who's there."

"Ice cream." I giggle.

I hear him perk up.

"Ice cream who?"

"Ice cream if you don't let me in!" I hear Impact giggle from the other side. "Come in then." I find the door is already unlocked, so I let myself in.

Impact starts to snooze on the sofa, and I quietly sit next to him. I then lean close to him and whisper "Boo." He then jolts up and screams an ear-piercing scream, which gets louder as he turns to face me. A tall skeleton with an uncanny resemblance to Impact walks out of the kitchen holding a coffee mug, takes a sip, and then spits it out as he sees me.

A few minutes later after everyone has calmed down and my ears have stopped ringing, I ask the tall figure his name.

"DR. WEBDINGS ASTER. BUT YOU CAN CALL ME WEBDINGS." He says, whilst signing something I assume to be the same thing with his hands. He seems to be an uppercase like Castellar.

I turn to Impact. "So the experiment worked?" He smiles and nods.
"Seems so. And you came out of it alive! Your determination is really limitless, Tyler, you weren't lying!" He chuckles in relief. I grit my teeth.

I slowly say "Well...that's not entirely true." They both look at me weirdly, and then I show them my soul. Webding's eyesockets widen as he sees the magic infused with it.

"OH MY! A WIZARD! CHILD, HOW LONG HAS YOUR SOUL BEEN LIKE THIS?" He remarks.

"Hmm...around an hour? I was hooked up to an IV drip full of magic and now my soul is like... this." I confirm.

"IMPACT, NOTE THIS DOWN." He orders. Impact rolls his eyes, mumbles "I'm not your assistant anymore...", and gets his notepad and pen out from his jacket pocket.

"SO YOU'RE AN ARTIFICIAL WIZARD? THIS IS INTERESTING TO SAY THE LEAST. WE SHOULD RUN A FEW DIAGNOSTIC TESTS." He nods towards Impact, still signing away.

Impact then proceeds to have a silent conversation with him in their weird sign language. Webdings seems to cringe a little at Impact's words, suggesting he is butchering it.

They then nod in agreement, and Webdings gestures for me to stand up. The three of us then head to the lab.

I notice the machine is under the sheet once more, and the blueprints that are usually laid out on the desk are in a roll tied up with an elastic band.

Impact pulls up a seat for me to sit in, and Webdings dismisses him. "Don't worry. He's a good guy. You'll be fine. He likes talking about his family if you get uncomfortable." He whispers in my ear, and then winks before leaving. Webdings watches the door close, and then turns back to me.

"SO CHILD, WHAT IS YOUR NAME?" Webdings asks, holding a clipboard and pen.

"My name is Tyler!" I chirp.

"I SAID YOUR NAME, NOT YOUR NICKNAME." He replies flatly. I blink a little, before mumbling:

"....Jesse Tyler McRey......"