The Return | Cricky [C]

Chapter XXXII: God of Hate

a/n:

quick side note before this chapter starts, i'm basing manson and twiggy's appearances off of late 90s/early 2000s era manson in this story

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We stayed the night at an inn along the shoreline. It was pleasant, and allowed me to feast on a fresh human. Some lone fisher or something, I was too starved to bother getting their life story. Ricky forced me to be discrete as to not upset our pirate friends whom held a no killing policy. I was famished enough I could've ate a whole crew's worth of fishermen. Thankfully, being on solid land meant my stomach had calmed and I was able to dine on my beloved's sweet blood.

I may have drank a little too much from him because he fell asleep soon after. He's so desperate to help me that he never looks after himself. If he'd just tell me to stop, I would. It wouldn't upset me or anything. Just this once, I'll overlook it because he needed the rest. I doubt he slept much on the boat. He was too worried about me.

When dawn broke, it was time to set out towards the demon lord's home. Ricky was holding it together quite well, on the outside. Then again, so was I. For all I know, he could be just as nervous internally as I was. Johannes seemed just fine, and something tells me, he isn't one to mask his emotions. And Twiggy, well, his default expression was distress. He stumbles around and whines to himself like a child often. It was endearing, in it's own bizarre way.

Sebastian and his younger brothers would also be joining us on our walk. They left the rest of their crew with their ships. Apparently they'd utilized our request for passage as an excuse to deliver cargo to merchants in Autica. Their men would be busy selling and trading goods in local towns while we were facing the enemy. Their lack of bloodshed may have made them kinder than most pirates, but at the end of the day, they were still pirates. Money was bound to be their main focus.

I hated this place. The constant motion of the surrounding trees and other plant life disoriented me so easily. An energy emitted from the depths of the soil that felt so disgusting. I couldn't wait to be back inside shelter.

"What's wrong?" Ricky asked me when he noticed me holding my head.

"It's nothing." I replied, "Let's just keep moving."

"No." He halted, grabbing me by the arm and pulling me to a stop as well. The others followed, glancing back to see what the hold up was. "What's wrong?"

I sighed, "The energy here, it's making me feel sick."

Ricky glanced over to Johannes, seemingly desperate for a solution. Right, I forgot we'd told him my dirty little secret. It didn't worry me too much. He'd shown us nothing but loyalty and compassion.

Johannes clapped his hands together once, declaring, "Walking is talking too long anyways! I have a much better solution." He snapped his fingers, and like just like that, Twiggy and the pirates vanished into thin air. Suddenly Johannes jumped, exclaiming an "Ouch!" He opened his palm to reveal he'd shrunken them down to the size of ants. "Don't poke me. It's quite rude. I assure you, you're in safe hands. At your standard size, you're too big for any of us to pull you into the shadow realm."