Fable (on hiatsu)

14. Awakening

I woke up feeling fuzzy. My thoughts were fuzzy. My blankets were fuzzy. My plushies were fuzzy. My sight was fuzzy.

And then I kind of woke up. I watched the light streaming into my room with a mild feeling I'd forgotten something. It didn't feel very real, amidst all that fuzziness. In the hall, outside my room, I heard someone walk downstairs on their tippy-toes. I guessed they were trying to be quiet, since they thought I was sleeping. Some part of me wondered blandly what day it was. Well, yesterday was a Thursday... so... Today was FRIDAY?! I sat up suddenly.

I had school today.

I tossed my blankets of me and padded downstairs, with a worried frown barring my face. I heard noise from the kitchen and figured it might be Mom. I walked in and was taken aback. It was Grandma! She was boiling water and the yummy smell of chicken broth floated in the air. I took a step in, making the floor creak. Grandma turned around, her wizened face smiling at me.

"Well, look who finally decided to wake up!" She cackled, the smile wrinkles on either side of her eyes deepening, "It was the first time you've ever decided to follow your brother on his treks, was it?"

All of a sudden, everything came back to me. Last night’s walk, wandering the forest, lost, discovering the festival, the dance, the bun, meeting T'Ka, or T'Ko or something. I must have looked shocked, because Grandma suddenly looked a wee bit worried.

"Is something wrong, Kyuu? Did something happen in the woods?"

"There was a... a festival of some sort..." my voice sounded crackly, like old paper being folded. "And I was lost, but some guy who looked and sounded like Craft found me and he brought me to Craft... and I think I fell asleep." I realised, mortified. How had I gotten home?

"Where is Craft?" I exclaimed, worried.

"Right behind you, nut bar," he replied in my back. I swiveled and peered into Craft's green eyes with surprise. He wore a pony tail, carelessly hanging over his chest. He was wearing his PJs and big fluffy slippers. He looked tired and worn out. "Good morning, Grandma." he continued to our grandmother.

"Good morning, Craft. Did something unusual happen last night, at the Equinox Festival?" She asked in a motherly fashion.

"The what?" I blubbered at them.

"The Equinox Festival. That's what was being celebrated last night." He explained patiently, then yawned deeply, "As for something unusual happening, the only thing on that front was Kyuu." He frowned, his emerald eyes darkening under his brows "She stalked me from the house to the festival grounds. I don't even know how she managed to follow me!"

"Well! So you didn't invite Kyuu to the festival?"

"No. Its way too dangerous for someone who can't even protect themselves to be there! Not to mention she probably couldn't see the Spirits' true forms!" Craft took a deep breath. "You wouldn't believe the scare I got when I saw her there! If they had known she was human, they would have-" He stopped mid-sentence, coughing awkwardly, "Well, let’s just say, it wouldn't be pretty."

"Stop talking as if I'm not there, already! And what's so dangerous about a cosplay festival?"

"It wasn't cosplay, Kyuu." Craft said, after a slight pause.

"What do you mean?"

"... They really look like that. They weren't wearing costumes." He rubbed his eyebrows. "Look, I wouldn't be telling you any of this, but you ate something prepared there, right?" His eyes bore into mine. I wriggled under the stare.

"I, uh, I ate a bun..." I stated, sounding more than a little out of my depth. "But that's all! I swear!"

Craft grimace. "It doesn't matter how much you ate. As long as you digested one food item from the Shadows of Reality, you'll gain the Sight. Its actually a pretty well-known, sure-fire way to gain the Sight.'

"What is this 'Sight', you're talking about?" The word obviously held importance to him. I could almost feel the capital letter crowning the term.

"Its the ability to see and hear... the Supernatural." He said the word with such ease, I barely noticed what he meant, till a while after he said it.

"Oh, great. Is this some kind of lame Greater Scheme, to pull a prank on me, or something?" Grandma's eyebrows knit into a knot above her nose.

"It is as real as the stars at night and the Sun during the day, Kyuu." She said testily. "This is not some joke. Your brother is telling the truth, and you are the only other human he's told outright, up to now. You are in grave danger now."

Grandma's words hung in the air. Their certainty fracturing my peaceful, shallow world to pieces.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Merry Christmas everyone! Thank you to all those who have supported me up till now, you mean so much to me! If you ever want to ask me about anything on the story, feel free to! I will answer as soon as possible.

If you like any of the chapters, please vote and/or comment! Thanks and have some awesome holidays, guys!