Second World

Chapter 25

"Mama!"

What?

As I get up from the ground, I watch the little bear wiggle in delight on my palms. I watch her lean to a side and wrap herself around one of my thumbs, hugging it.

Just then, her gaze strays to the side and I look to see Zacturre with a defeated look on his face.

"Papa!"

What??

Zacturre groans and facepalms himself. "Great. Everything is ruined. It's all your fault!" He points at me and I return with an incredulous look.

"Me? What did I do?"

"You were too loud and woke her up!"

I scoff at the ridiculous accusation. "Excuse me? If I remember correctly, you were the one who went 'Wahahahaha, it's alive!' not too long before I arrive."

"This took me days -days- for me to finish and you come in here and mess up everything!" Zacturre continues, pointing at the toy in my hands. "She was meant for Papa Ricky and Rita and you blew my whole plan like it was nothing!"

"Why are you yelling at me?"

"Because you interfered! If you had just left it alone, this wouldn't have happened."

"It was falling off the table!"

"You could have still saved the situation by closing your hands. But no, you have to go open them up and let her see you."

"What's wrong with that?"

"She's meant to see her guardians at first sight!"

"And how would I have known of that??"

"Mama? Papa?" A tiny voice sounds from the toy and I look to see a worried gaze on her face.

The sight triggers my mind into a flashback of peeking through a gap left by a door. Angry yells echo from inside the room and shadows of silhouettes fall on my face, moving aggressively.

As fast as the memory came, it was gone in a split second.

"Hey," I speak softly, cradling the little toy in my hands. "It's okay." I stroke its vanilla fur, poking the round belly, and it rolls over with a laugh. Then, I see it let out a yawn. It curls up into a ball and slowly snoozes away. "It's going back to sleep already? But it just woke up..."

"After that whole ordeal, of course, she'll be tired out. She wasn't even supposed to wake up in the first place." Zacturre remarks.

Something enters my vision and I look to see a sphere-shaped container with a small cushion at its sides and bottom being handed to me.

"It's her cradle," Zacturre says and without a word, I carefully tuck the toy inside.

It's just big enough for it to fit in.

"What's...going to happen to it?" I ask and Zacturre sighs irritatedly.

"You can have it."

"Me?" I blink in surprise. "But you said it's for Papa Ricky and Rita."

"It's meant to remember the first persons it sees and get attached to them. They'll become inseparable so I can't give her to anyone else. I can't do anything to fix this mess." Zacturre combs through his hair with an annoyed look on his face.

"Ah..." I respond. This isn't the worst-case scenario but it isn't a good outcome either. I don't really see the bad side of this though...

Zacturre gives me a look then he suddenly flicks his fingers on my forehead.