A Story To Be Told (Croo short stories)

What's Your Ask?

[Alitia, character workin babey]
[Spoilers for... listen if ur not nom or chris don't read this until book like 12]
[no it's not rune]
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It was a quiet, cloudy evening. After meeting at a local bar, they had gone back to her apartment for another round of drinks. Nobody would be able to disturb them there.

She was a teacher from Angelwood. Present at the Thanatos man's invasion of Alitia, where all of the schools united as one. A complete failure of an invasion.

It was why he had chosen her. She must've seen something that his friend had missed. They were busy fighting in a war, after all.

Omen Harkness put down his half-empty bottle and looked into her eyes, his still covered by his sunglasses. He never took them off. Too dangerous. "So... did you see anything out of the ordinary?" he asked her, "What about with those mercenaries? I've never seen all of them fight together before."

"Yeah, I did find that a little weird," the teacher agreed, "I mean, why call them, specifically? We could've called everyone nearby. I guess one of them did come in handy..."

"One of them... Hm?" Omen echoed, "What was that? Why did they come in handy?"

"She was able to release the other students from possession. That Luce kid was able to do so as well," she replied, "I didn't think we'd find another person like that... the other headteachers certainly didn't do anything similar to that."

Omen cursed under his breath. Starlight. And a recent blessing, at that. At least he managed to get something out of this.

He stood up and took off his sunglasses. "Well, that's all I needed to hear. You're cute but, uh... I don't go for teachers. Too nerdy."

The teacher stared up at him in shock. "Wh-What are you... wait... wait, I know your face! I recognise it! Why do I...?" she muttered, practically jumping up out of her seat as she realised.

"It's not like you'll remember any of this," he chuckled, leaning against the table. "How's your drink, hmm?"

She glanced at her drink, then back to Omen. "No... what did you do, you monster?!" she cried.

"It's not poison! Just a dash of my own creation," he shrugged, "Retcon, an amnesia pill. Mixed with a sedative. You won't remember any of this."

Before she could reply, the teacher slumped back into her chair. Her eyes fluttered, soon closing completely. The pill had taken effect.

Omen chugged the rest of his drink before throwing it in the bin. He couldn't let her know she was drinking with someone, after all. Besides... it would've been a waste of a drink.

He pulled out his burner phone and sent a text to a number he knew off by heart. 'DAWN'

——

"Uncle Omen!"

A day or two later, Omen was greeted at the door by Nebula Denholm. Even if they weren't related by blood, she had referred to him as her uncle since she was a toddler. Admittedly, he could've been a better uncle if he wasn't preoccupied with his current mission.

"Heya, kiddo," he smiled at her, ruffling her hair. "You're looking pretty smart... been taking care of your dad?"

"Yep!" Nebula nodded, "Father didn't tell me you were coming, though... what took you so long?"

Omen took off his rucksack and handed it to Nebula. "Here. I didn't stop thinking about you, kid. There's a gift from every place I've been to. Like... a souvenir."

"Wow... thanks! I, um... I missed you. So did Father," she said, inviting him inside. "He's just finishing a book. He'll be here soon."

Sure enough, Karver Denholm popped his head round the corner. He smiled when he saw Omen. "I thought it would've taken you longer to get here... it's nice to see you again."

"We have a lot to discuss," grinned Omen, "But, ah... I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to spend a little time with my niece. She seems to have missed me."

Karver smirked. "She was asking about you everyday... she enjoyed those, uh, 'selfies' of yours, too. With the landmarks in the background."

"F-Father-!" Nebula cried, a blush rising in her cheeks. "I-I didn't... I'm sorry. I only recently taught him the phrase. He still finds it weird to say."

——

Later that night, Karver pulled Omen into a dark room and locked the door. Nebula was busy looking at her many souvenirs and putting them on display. She had spent most of her time talking about the new display case Karver had built for her, specifically for Omen's souvenirs.

"So... Shira," Karver began, eager to hear what Omen had to say. "You say you finally found something?"

Omen flashed a picture of a blonde woman and passed it over to Karver. "Woman called Lianna. You might've seen her fighting against that rat man. Apparently, she was able to stop the possessions... you and I both know what that means."

"Her Starlight blessing," gasped Karver, "It's... it's recent. It would've worn out by now - not enough to dispel a possession, anyway. So you think she...?"

"I think Shira appeared more recently to this woman, next. I mean... there's no other explanation," shrugged Omen, "She chose to come back and give her a blessing. I'll make sure to find out why... and if we can... do anything of note to force her to come back."

Karver chuckled to himself. "And we'll be waiting for her when she comes back... I won't let her humiliate me again. Shira deserves to pay for what she did to me - along with her stupid group."

"We can take a selfie on their graves!" Omen half-joked, elbowing Karver lightly.

"I... Hmph," Karver appeared to be actually thinking about it for a moment. "It wouldn't be a bad idea... not like they'd get any markable grave. I'd burn them
all to dust, along with Shira. I'll have to see if we can find the right moment."

Omen wasn't exactly sure how serious Karver was being, but he went along with it. He was his oldest and closest friend, after all.

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boomer Karver
- hatty