Devil's Paint; A Fairytale

Day (3)

     He was going to get his stuff and leave. He wasn't going to take any chances around Letitia.

     Nuri snickered loudly as Icarus tripped over a tree root. "Ha, ha, you're really something, aren't 'cha?" Icarus groaned low, sliding down a short, rocky incline. "I'm sick of you!" He thought hard, "Get out of my head!" The demon blew him a mental raspberry.

     Finally, after ten long, insult-filled minutes, Icarus stepped out of the tunnel and into the underground forest of wood district. Each district produced a different resource, for all to share; Wood district's was, quite obviously, wood products. Icarus' own district, grass, offered up agricultural products.

     The forest filled the cavern to the brim, fed by steady streams of sunlight flowing in from cracks in the rock ceiling high above. This was a place where Icarus usually felt safe and happy, but now, everywhere he went there was constant fear. Perhaps, he thought, this is how that man from star district felt all those years ago.

     "Hah, I remember Ignace," Nuri chortled, "He had no sense at all. Can't just start out killing people off, too much suspicion. Don't you worry, Pretty-boy, I know how to pace myself." Icarus frowned, ducking under a branch. "Stop calling me that."

     "How about... No."

     Icarus simply had nothing left to say. The trees opened up into a very wide clearing, a pond at the center. On a bench by the far side of the water sat a very tall blond woman dressed all in green. She cradled a block of wood in one hand and a sharp instrument in the other. She looked up as Icarus approached, smiling. "Oh, hello Icarus!" She greeted, standing and brushing the wood shavings off her pants.

     "Hi Elisbet," Icarus replied, "Is Letitia here?"

     Elisbet paused. "I sent her out to get a shirt darned a few minutes ago," She said, "But she'll be back soon. Why don't you wait for her in the house?" The sisters' house was a long low hut, made of lumber and thatching and split into four separate rooms. The first room was where Letitia slept and kept her numerous musical instruments. A single candle lit up the gloom, casting dusky shadows over the walls.

     "She likes these music things a lot, right?" Asked Nuri. "They're her most important possessions!" Answered Icarus, instantly regretting it. "Good," Said Nuri, "Pick one and burn it." Icarus couldn't even imagine it. "You don't understand," He pleaded, "If she lost even one of these, it would break her heart!"

     More wild laughter. "That's fantastic! Hurry up, burn one of them into dust!" Without even wanting to, Icarus raised a hand and pressed it to a small, beautiful harp on the table beside him. Within seconds, there was no evidence to show that the instrument ever existed.

     Not a moment later, Letitia bounced into the room, purple skirts flowing. Icarus prayed she wouldn't notice the absence of the harp, and sure enough, he was able to retrieve his bag and leave without incident, Nuri cackling in his head all the way home.