Harper (NaNoWriMo 2014)

Chapter 12: A New Angle

The week went by slowly for Cirrus. 

Agonizing. 

It felt longer waiting for the days to pass by than it did years, back when she’d first discovered the prophesy.

She spent her time reading and rereading her materials. Analyzing and reanalyzing those cryptic words. Harper was an idiot, she was sure, yet that thing he’d said…about how perhaps Hacos should be released, rather than killed…it had stuck with her. She had believed the solution to be the latter for so long, and she still stubbornly held onto it, yet Harper had been…surprisingly…logical with his thoughts. She definitely saw his point.

But, Hacos was evil. And even if the demon god was destroyed, she knew evil would still find a way. It had found its way even when the devil was locked away. What else could explain the violent way in which she had lost her parents?

Cirrus had, admittedly and quite fortunately, been too young to remember that event. But she had been told by her aunt that it had been quite horrible. 

Her aunt…she had to bite her lip to keep back the tears. Yes. How else could you explain the death of her aunt, but with the inherent nature of the bad and evil in people? Even with centuries of relative peace, terrible things had still happened, albeit on a smaller scale. Perhaps killing the bad god would help alleviate that. Introduce only good for a while.

Of course, ‘killing’ was a strong word. Cirrus knew you couldn’t completely get rid of a god. But you could demolish its form. Force it to start anew. Suck away its power and magic, so that it would take it even more centuries to rebuild. That was the goal. The hard part was the plan. 

And that’s what Cirrus had thrown her efforts into. Figuring out the ‘how’. She’d thought she’d had a rough idea, but after meeting Harper…she had to start all over. A deadbolt like him would need a complete rethink. A new angle. 

And this was all dependent on IF he chose to help them. 

If….

Cirrus was pretty certain he would. At least, that was the vibe he gave off before he left. Yet still she stayed up at night, staring up at the high ceilings, or sometimes even the stars, worrying and panicking that he wouldn’t. That even if they dragged him through, he’d just sit cross-legged on the carpet, arms crossed, nose in the air, and say “No” to everything. Not even try. And what would she be able to do about it? What could she do? Wring her hands and beg and plead over and over until she was sick to her stomach?

Despicable. Humiliating. It made her nauseous just thinking about it. 

One night she had even cried, so terrified at the prospect of what would happen if he refused. Or failed. The sight of seeing her world crumble before her eyes, unable to stop it, completely shook her, and Agile had to snuggle next to her, wrap his arms around her and hold her tight, stroking her short hair and whispering lullabies into her ear so that she could finally fall asleep. 

The legos did provide a nice distraction, now that she knew how to use them. The most she’d really been able to make were stairs, or chairs, or beds. Blocky things. She kept Harper’s helicopter and car intact, marveling at how he was able to make something so complex…as well as how he was able to take these blocks and make them look rounded. 

Finally, the week passed. Packing a knapsack, Cirrus went over the possible outcomes. 

Situation A: Harper runs away. Perhaps leaves the location entirely. She and Agile would have to spend days tracking him down. When they find him, he’s still stubborn and doesn’t want anything to do with them. They drag him back through a portal. He still stays stubborn. They don’t feed him. He finally does what they want in exchange for food. Possibility: Likely