In front of the right door, the rescuing duo discussed a plan.
"Just tell him we're here to deliver something. He will let us in." Suggested Puzu.
"Then?" Asked Taddus.
"Then we improvise."
Taddus agreed and knocked at the door.
Few instants later, a hologram of the evil wizard Vitruvius appeared in front of them and they both screamed in panic: "the sorcerer!"
"Very funny." Said the wizard, clearly annoyed. "What do you want?"
Taddus stuttered, "we are... we have... we come from... for a delivery!"
"That's great. My door camera is broken; I can hear you, but I cannot see you through my projection. Would you be so kind as to tell me what is it that you're delivering?"
Taddus looked at Puzu, waiting for a suggestion. "A fridge!" Yelled Puzu.
"A fridge?" Repeated Taddus.
"I'm not expecting anything of the sort. Is this a prank? Are you sure you're not delivering that cordless massaging vibrator I ordered a while ago?"
"Vibrator?" Asked Puzu perplexed.
"It's for massaging purposes!" Yelled the wizard in distress. "Listen, I didn't buy any refrigerator. If this is a prank, I will cast a spell that turns you inside out! And by that, I mean that your interiors will become your exteriors and that your exteriors will become your interior! Is that clear?"
"Not really," confessed Puzu. "How's that possible?"
"Basically," Vitruvius explained, "your face goes in, and you can see yourself inside, which would be your ex-outside, anyway. Same things for your organs, which will be outside. Real problems come when you go for number two, which won't come out, it'll come in."
"No, sir." Intervened Taddus. "It isn't a prank. We got a fridge."
"Deliver it then. Sixteenth floor. Thanks."
"Sixteenth? You do have an elevator, right?"
"Of course, I do have an elevator. What am I, a barbarian who climbs stairs? It's just out of order, momentarily."
"Is that a joke?" Asked Taddus annoyed.
"If I wanted to make a joke, I would have said something funny like 'a guy has to deliver a fridge climbing stairs like a barbarian to the sixteenth floor.'"
"But that's not funny." Complained the prince.
"It is for me. Man up, do your job. I'll open the door."
Vitruvius projection disappeared and the door opened.
Now, we are pretty sure you would expect the ascension to be a smooth and easy one. Without perils and obstacles like swapping on a puddle of some mysterious oily goo, or a dragon bursting in from the window. Puzu really likes dragons.
Perhaps, you would expect Mrs.Cathrina, the widow that lived alone in the apartment on the tenth floor, to pop her head out and create troubles for our adventuring heroes. She always looked at Vitruvius with suspicion, wondering what evil the evil wizard was up to. In turn, Vitruvius did not trust her either, he wondered what went on in her apartment, always so silent, always dim-lit. Once, coming back from the grocery store, the elevator stopped at the tenth floor (that was the day it broke) and, coming out from it, Vitruvius noticed Cathrina's door to be slightly open. Curious like a cat, he peered inside. What he saw, cannot be told. Literally, as we said Cathrina's place was always dim lit and Vitruvius could not see a thing. Nothing at all. Just a strong and foul odor of burnt cypress.
At the end, knight and squire, king to be and peasant covered in manure, reached the wizard's floor without complications, except a couple of cramps.
The moment of truth was waiting for them behind that door. There they were, at the end of their journey. Or it was at their own end?
But that wasn't the question, the question was: to ring the bell or to knock?
Puzu, under inspiration, had the idea: "I ring, you knock."
Knock knock; dring dring.
The door opened slowly, very, very slowly with a screeching sound very, very creepy.
A buff of hot air invested them; it was difficult to breath.
For the first time in all his life, Puzu had to ask: "what is this smell?"
It was as if the place hadn't been open to fresh air for ages. That and teppanyaki chicken flavor chips.
"I am here!" Boomed the wizard's voice from the darkness and when we say darkness, we don't mean dim lit like Cathrina's place. We mean very, very dark, like black; you know?
A/N: Hi there, if you liked this chapter and if I made you laugh, giggle or just chuckle a bit, please consider giving it a vote.Thank you!See you in the next Part.
