|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2011 11:04 pm
A-Nine stepped through the doorway and out into the void beyond. It... tickled, kind of like a sneeze. Well, maybe not exactly like a sneeze, but it was the best approximation her mind could make. In any case, it was weird.
She curiously flexed her hand in front of her face, marveling slightly at having no physical presence and yet somehow knowing her hand was there. Hm. If she was still here, perhaps...? She looked around for the rest of Phoenix Squad, wondering if she could sense them somehow, even though she couldn't see them. They were all holding hands when they stepped through, after all. They should be nearby.
But there was nothing. A-Nine bit her lip. This wasn't what she thought death would be like. The door beyond the lounge didn't lead to the start of some new grand adventure, or even to a hotel lobby. Somehow, it was disappointing. "Why did it have to be this way?" she said aloud.
Her words reverberated and bounced back, louder than before. She could hear echoes, out in the soft pastel nothingness. Sounds and flashes that weren't there, and yet she could still sense them somehow. A-Nine closed her non-existent eyes and tried to focus.
Someone was calling her name.
--------------------------------
"Ennéa!"
She uncurled slightly, peeking out from under the table where she had fallen asleep. Everything felt like it was made out of pudding. Thick, slow, gloppy pudding.
She could see her mother's black pumps as her mother clacked up and down the hallway of the funeral parlor. "Ennéa, stop hiding and come out right now. Do you hear me?"
Ennéa hunched back under the table and pulled the tablecloth down once again. She sucked her thumb in the gloom. Mommy was probably angry that she had left the service. She didn't want to go back though; everyone was crying. Yaya had covered herself with her handkerchief and was wailing. She had never seen her grandmother do that before. It scared her.
"Ennéa?" her mother called out again. Ennéa held her breath and didn't budge. Eventually her mother sighed and wiped at her eyes, fumbling in her pocket for a tissue and blowing her nose. The older woman took one last look around the room before giving up and leaving.
Only then did the little girl move out from under the table, creeping slowly like that giant octopus she saw at the aquarium. She kept her eyes on the door her mother had used and scurried to the other end of the room, going out the other set of doors.
It was another hall like the one where Daddy's service was. There was even another casket in the front, just like Daddy's. Ennéa grabbed the hem of her black dress and twisted it nervously. Was there someone in it? Part of her was tempted to leave, but she didn't want to go back to where everyone else was. Mommy would probably scold her and then hold her hand much too tightly, making sure that she sat still next to Tobias like a Big Girl while everyone prayed for Daddy's soul. Ennéa hated it. She didn't want to be there.
Couldn't they just go home so everything could be normal again? Ennéa didn't want to think about things or look at Daddy's still face in that casket. She got a cold feeling in her tummy whenever she did. Surely once they got home everything would be okay. After all, the priest had said that Daddy was in Heaven and that they would all be reunited someday. Daddy's business trips always seemed to last forever but he always came home, usually with a small souvenir for her. Ennéa wondered what sort of souvenirs they had in heaven. Nice ones, she bet, like wings or harps.
Wings were probably dangerous and for big kids, but next month she would be in first grade and all grown up. Tobias got a bicycle earlier this summer when he graduated from elementary school... maybe Daddy would give her wings for graduating kindergarten? It'd be fun to be able to fly around like a bird...
There was movement up front near the casket and Ennéa blinked, momentarily distracted from her daydream of flying with the kites down at the park. There was a large black ball, shiny like a black balloon, hovering over the casket. Where had that come from?
The ball seemed to sway as if it blown by a breeze, even though the room was silent and still. Ennéa looked at it curiously and then looked around for a string or something holding it in place. There was nothing she could see, yet the ball's movements grew faster until it was practically vibrating above the wooden lid. Then, with a sudden sharp movement, the ball plunged down into the casket.
Ennéa bit her lip and twisted the hem of her dress even tighter. The ball was scary... but she was curious.
As she watched, the lid jostled about and then opened with a forceful shove, knocking the casket's floral arrangement to the floor with a loud clatter. The noise was shocking in the still room. The hairs on the back of Ennéa's neck stood on end. There was a woman in the casket and she was moving, trying to get out. She scooted in a strange slow way, clawing at the casket's lid, and making an odd gurgling noise.
But then she froze and slowly raised her head to look at Ennéa. The woman's eyes were milky white and sightless, but she stared at Ennéa all the same. She raised a finger to her lips, much like how the school librarian did when Ennéa was being too loud, and then cracked a wide grin.
Somehow, that smile was horrible. Ennéa spun around and ran back out through the door.
She thudded into her brother out in the hallway with a loud "Ooof!"
"Ennéa!?" Tobias said, frowning. "Where were you hiding? Mom and I were looking for you everywhere!"
Ennéa clung to her brother's black suit jacket and buried her face into his side. Her nose was running and making a snotty stain but she didn't care. She couldn't seem to stop shaking.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2011 11:06 pm
Ennéa. A-Nine rolled the name around in her head. That was her name. Huh.
A-Nine remembered that day. It was a terrible day. She was six and her father had just died. It was also one of her first memories of seeing things. Things that no one else saw. She had sobbed and hiccuped the story of what she had seen to her brother, and he had gotten help. But when the mortuary workers went to investigate, they found nothing out of the ordinary save for the knocked-over bouquet. The woman's corpse was still there, perfectly laid out and still. There was no sign of a floating black ball anywhere.
Yaya had pinched her hard and scolded her for that. 'Playing around corpses and telling stories', she had muttered, while crossing herself. 'Can you not see how hard it is for everyone right now, eh? Behave yourself.'
But of course she couldn't behave herself, not when the monster in the closet was really real and growled at her every time she reached in to get her coat. Really, her grandmother had such unrealistic expectations. Her mother was no help either. She was always exhausted once she got home from her second job, and any time Ennéa tried to talk to her she fell asleep on the couch. In fact, the only person who ever really listened to her was Tobias...
------------------------------------------------
"...and then I saw that shadow again -- we were getting jump ropes for recess, you see -- and I saw it waaaay far back, hiding behind the chairs in the storage closet. Christina said she didn't see anything and called me a creepy liar but Anne believed me. She's nice." Ennéa skipped along, carefully avoiding the cracks in the sidewalk.
Tobias chuckled. "Anne sounds like a good friend." he said. He shifted his grip on both his backpack and Ennéa's, reaching out to hold her hand as they crossed the street.
"Oh, Anne's not my friend." Ennéa said carelessly. "She only plays with the other girls and they don't let me play with them." She paused. "You're my friend though, Tobias."
"Why won't they let you..." Tobias trailed off. He was frowning slightly, just like Mom did when she was worrying over the bills. He looked like he wanted to say something more, but instead he gently bopped her on the head. Ennéa giggled. "I'm not just your friend, I'm your brother, squirt." They turned the corner past the old convenience store and continued walking, nearly home. "So then what did you do? Did you laugh at the shadow just like I told you to?"
"Yep!" Ennéa grinned. "It didn't really disappear but it ran away, out through an air conditioning vent. Like a mouse!"
"Good." Tobias said. "You know, laughing works for all scary things, not just shadows. Like the monster that hides in the trash chute." He tugged affectionately on her ponytail. "Next time you hear it scratching around you should show it who's boss rather than just dumping the trash in the hallway and running away. That monster can't possibly reach up and pull you down the chute if you're not scared of it."
Ennéa bit her lip, "If you say so." They entered the apartment foyer.
"I know so." Tobias paused and fumbled with his keys, fighting with the ancient lock to their mailbox. Ennéa waited for him at the foot of the stairs, looking nervously up into the gloom.
"The Man Who Isn't There is back again." she announced staring at the figure in the shadowy corner of the landing above them. Ennéa didn't like him, even though he never moved or spoke. Something about the silent figure made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. A lot of shadows did that, especially in the quiet of the night or when she was alone. She could just sense them creeping out, extending their long fingers, and slithering just out of sight when she turned her head. Ennéa shivered. She quailed at the thought of laughing at the man. Would he really disappear? Maybe he would just get mad at her.
But then Tobias was beside her and took her hand in his, warm and reassuring. "You wish, you wish he'd go away?" He asked, quirking an eyebrow at her. Ennéa stuck her tongue out at him. Tobias smiled and gently whacked her with the mail. He then sobered, "Just laugh. Shadows can't get you if you're not scared. Promise me you'll try, okay, Ennéa?"
"O-okay." Ennéa said. "I'll try." She straightened her shoulders. "I promise." Hesitantly, she started up the stairs.
"Good." Tobias said. "And you know...The Man Who Isn't There can't catch you if you're fast enough!" He started running up the stairs. "C'mon, slowpoke!"
"H-hey! No fair!!" Ennéa shouted and raced after him. She ran past the man without a second thought.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2011 11:07 pm
A-Nine sighed, feeling a pang in her chest. How could she have ever forgotten her brother?
When she was younger, it was only with her brother's reassurance that she was able to ignore the shadows' hissing and chittering. She could do brave things, like go down into the basement and do the laundry, even with the flaming monster that wailed and screeched and burned inside the furnace down there. She could walk past graveyards even though there were shades that hovered over the tombstones and followed her when they noticed her looking.
But things changed when Tobias graduated. He had moved out of the house to a college on the other side of the country where he had gotten a scholarship. Mom was proud of him. Ennéa stood in his empty room and felt the shadows creep all around on the edges as she cried.
That was also a bad day, A-Nine remembered. That desolate and lonely feeling was worse than any other she had experienced -- well save for maybe the squishy room. Or that time she came back as a zombie. She shivered.
The echoes were buzzing around her now, flying to and fro in a swarm of memories. Was this what people meant about when they said they saw their whole life flash before their eyes before they died? A-Nine tilted her head. But wait, wasn't she already dead?
----------------------
Ennéa stood at the foot of the stairs, staring up at The Man Who Wasn't There. She closed her eyes, "Go away." she commanded, and then opened them again. Nope, no change. She sighed and shifted from foot to foot. For the longest time the man really wasn't there, but now suddenly there he was again, standing silently. And creepily. Ennéa didn't want to walk past him.
But. She had promised her brother she would try to be brave.
Anyway, she was in junior high now. Much to old too be worrying about shadows and monsters. Ennéa shifted her book bag and took a step up the stairs. And then another. She clenched her teeth as she walked past the man. Another flight of steps.
There was a soft scraping behind her and Ennéa tensed "Just keep trying." she said to herself. "Laugh and they'll disappear."
She turned and loudly laughed into the darkened stairwell. "HA! HA! Ha----" her laugh cut off with a strangled wheeze. The man was standing right behind her, a step below on the stairs, his dark and faceless form radiating menace.
Ennéa threw her book bag at him.
The bag whomped into the shadowy man, startling them both. The shadow man pinwheeled and fell down the stairs, landing gracelessly on his backside. Ennéa watched frozen, unsure whether to run or laugh, as the shadowy figure stumbled to his feet and rubbed his rear. He glared at her for a moment -- or glared as much as a creature with no face could glare, and then hobbled, with much affronted dignity, over to the shadowy corner of the landing and disappeared.
Ennéa shakily sat down on the step she was standing on and stared at her book bag. The zipper had broken and her books were strewn all over the lower steps. She didn't care though, she had scared away The Man Who Wasn't There all on her own! Without Tobias.
She had learned to ignore most creeping shadows and creatures over the years with Tobias' encouragement and careful distraction. And the smaller ones she could send scurrying away if she whipped about and glared or made loud noises. But she had never tried it with the bigger shadows, she was too scared to...
Wait. Ennéa blinked, insight suddenly dawning. That was what Tobias had meant! Don't be scared. She grinned and headed up the rest of the stairs to the apartment.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2011 11:10 pm
If only things really were that simple. A-Nine smiled ruefully at her past self. They weren't, of course.
But oh, she could remember how exhilarating that day was... to finally and firmly realize (or so she thought) that she could handle all the shadows -- not just the small ones -- that had hung over her all her life. And she could do it on her own, without needing Tobias to hold her hand.
Once she learned not to fear, the skulking, shadowy creatures she had once tried so hard to ignore suddenly became morbidly fascinating. She watched them as they slunk around on their own mysterious business, sliding in and out of cracks and dark corners.
She began writing notes and observations about the odd things she saw, like the yellow slime monster that lived in the bathtub drain and drank the dirty bath water, or the arm that sometimes dangled down from the kitchen cabinets when Ennéa went to get her cereal.
She studied them, pretending that she was a naturalist like the ones she saw on tv, only instead of wild animals on the savanna, Ennéa observed the shadow creatures. They never showed up properly on film though, which was a disappointment to her. The odd creatures always blurred or were just little dots of white so that nobody could see what they truly were. Mom just smiled her pained smile and humored her. Yaya scolded her and flat-out refused to look at them.
But that was okay, Ennéa filled spiral notebooks with doodles and sketches to go along with her observations. Someday, she was going to publish her book and become rich and famous. Or maybe she could be like that crocodile guy, and have her own show where she wrestled with shadows. If only she had a cool pith helmet - then things would be perfect.
She floated along in her daydreams, totally distracted by her own shadowy fantasy world.
------------------------------
"Merry Christmas!" Ennéa gleefully handed Tobias his present and then craned over her brother's shoulder as he carefully unwrapped it.
"Huh." Tobias examined the large spiral bound notebook and then flipped through a couple of the pages, "You got me a used journal?" he asked, looking at her quizzically.
Ennéa bounced in excitement on the couch seat next to him. "No silly, it's my book! Look through it again!"
"Oh, I see." Tobias chuckled and turned a couple more pages, pausing to study Ennéa's picture of a tall slender shadow person standing in a copse of trees. Ennéa beamed, she was especially proud of that picture. She had worked hard drawing the slender person's squiggly arms just so.
"I've been studying the shadow people, you see." Ennéa said excitedly. "I kept our promise and tried my best not to be scared and you were right, there really was nothing to be scared of!" She settled and pointed to the next page with her entry about ceiling spiders. "Most of the shadows run away when you stand your ground, though some of them do try to bite. I've only got bitten once though."
Tobias's brow was furrowed. "You mean... all the shadows we used to pretend about when we were kids?"
Ennéa nodded. "Uh-huh." she paused, "Though not pretend! I know you couldn't ever see them but that's why I made this book! So you, and Mom, and everyone else, could understand what I mean. Someday I'm going to get it published and be a famous naturalist, like David Attenborough, only for monsters and ghosts and...." She trailed off and bit her lip. Tobias and Mom were looking worriedly at each other. "You... don't like it?" she asked.
"This is what I was talking about." Their mother murmured. "She's gotten so disconnected."
"Yeah." Tobias said. He was looking at her with such an odd expression.
Ennéa looked back and forth between her mother and brother. "What?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2011 11:12 pm
That was the start of when she started seeing Dr. Hill for counseling, A-Nine remembered. Funny, she had never realized it was because of that book. She had only meant it as a gift to her brother to show him that she was fine on her own, that he didn't need to worry about her so much. Instead it all backfired and everything went topsy-turvy.
Dr. Hill was a nice lady though. During their sessions, Ennéa got to sit on the squeaky leather couch in her office and talk about whatever popped into her mind. The doctor didn't make fun of her or fall asleep when Ennéa talked either. It was nice. The only other person who ever really listened to her was Tobias.
Dr. Hill had asked to see the book, and praised it after she had read it. She never gave it back though. A-Nine idly wondered what had happened to it, though it probably didn't matter now.
More echoes. A-Nine sighed. The incident with the book happened when she was fourteen. Surely there wasn't much more for her to remember? It was all starting to make her head hurt.
----------------------------------------------
There was somebody outside the door. Ennéa could hear the sound of footsteps and someone softly humming. She opened her eyes and stared at her closed door. It was almost 3am, so it couldn't have been Mom. Mom had switched shifts several months ago to work night shift. She wanted to be around more during the day, she had said.
'And to keep an eye on her' was what she didn't say, but Ennéa knew.
Maybe Mom had gotten off work early? Ennéa slid out of bed and hissed as her feet touched the floor. It was like ice. The heater must have gone off again. She could faintly see her breath by the dim light of the street lamp outside her window. The building's old radiator sometimes had problems during the winter. Probably that pesky fire monster knocked the flame out again.
Oh wait, she wasn't supposed to think about things like that. Ennéa shivered and grabbed her robe. Crossing the room, she opened the door.
Out in the apartment hallway was a goat with a woman's face. Ennéa stared at it and the goat woman stared back. It was a horrid looking creature, even beyond the ugly human face; half of it inky black and the other half bone white, like the surface of the moon. It was deeply unsettling somehow. Quickly, Ennéa grabbed the baseball bat her mother kept by the door in case of intruders and brandished it warningly. "Get out of here." she told it firmly.
The goat-woman smiled slowly, showing a glimmer of fang. "Oh. You must be that child," the creature said softly, "I've heard of you."
"I- Huh?" Ennéa said, momentarily nonplussed. She wondered if she was somehow still dreaming. Shadows and monsters sometimes talked, but usually it was just mimicking human voices like a parrot. This one, though, was looking directly at her with an unwavering gaze, its rectangular pupils showing sentient and malicious awareness. It made Ennéa's skin crawl. She felt like a tiny bug being examined, even though she was easily double the goat creature's size.
The goat-woman pushed past her into the apartment, pale specters flowing after it like careful attendants. Ennéa shied away from them, shivering at the icy coldness of their passing. Usually shades didn't stray far from graveyards. Why were they following this creature...?
Ennéa gasped, covering her hands over her mouth. One of the shades looked like old Mrs. Vasquez from 304. The shade ignored her though, dumbly stumbling after the goat creature and working its mouth open and closed like a dying fish.
She whirled on the goat-woman, who was disinterestedly inspecting the kitchen. "Who are you?! What did you do to Mrs. Vasquez??" she yelled, wiping her sweaty palms against her pajama leg and tightening her grip on the bat. "Let her go or else I'll sock you one!"
The goat-woman stared at her and then guffawed. "Do you really think you could you could hit me?" She threw back her head and howled with mirth, capering about before jumping atop the dinner table. The shades swirled around her, rattling the dishes in the cupboards.
"Listen here, child," she said. "Your paper-thin bravery may cow lesser creatures, but I can smell your Fear." The goat-woman licked her lips and smiled her horrible smile. "It smells like ripe-rotten plums and despair." She jumped down from the table and advanced upon Ennéa.
Ennéa tried to back away, but she tripped over the rug and fell hard. She flinched as the goat-woman continued talking. "Ever since your kind looked beyond the fire into the darkness, we have existed." The goat-woman was close now, close enough to smell the rot on her breath. Ennéa squeezed her eyes shut and trembled as the creature leaned in, close to her ear. "We will always exist." She purred. "And you are merely a morsel, to be consumed whenever we wish. Do not fool yourself into thinking you can master us."
Ennéa whimpered softly and curled in upon herself. She couldn't move, she couldn't think. All she wanted to do was run, escape this horrible creature. But she felt so weak. It was hopeless. She couldn't do it.
The goat-woman laughed nastily. "Come!" she cried to her ghostly train. And in a whirl and whoosh of noise, they phased through the wall of the apartment and flew up into the night.
-------
Silence fell in the apartment. Ennéa uncurled and stared at the wall. She needed... she needed...
She flung herself up and grabbed the phone off the kitchen counter. Her hands were shaking but she still managed to dial that familiar number.
"...Hello?" her brother mumbled sleepily.
"Tobias!" Hearing her brother's voice loosened the cold, terrified knot within her. Ennéa started sobbing.
"Ennéa?!" His voice was alarmed. "What happened? Is everything okay?"
"I-I saw a monster or something worse than a monster, I don't know -- but it wasn't like any other I've seen before!! It talked to me. And, and, I just --- it. I'm scared, Tobias." she hiccuped.
There was silence on the other end and then Tobias sighed deeply. "Ennéa, calm down. You know none of that is real."
"B-but it was real!" Ennéa fidgeted in nervous agitation. He didn't understand and somehow she couldn't put into words the horror of what she had seen and felt. Everything was just a swirl of chaotic buzzing. She paced and gripped the phone tightly.
"No, it wasn't," Tobias said firmly. "You just had a nightmare. Calm down."
"I wasn't dreaming! I wasn't!" she cried. How could he say things like that? Something crunched under her foot and Ennéa paused to stare at a broken cup on the kitchen floor. The goat-woman must have knocked it over.
"Look, Ennéa, it's..." Tobias paused, presumably to check the clock. "It's almost five o'clock in the morning where I am. I was up late studying till two last night, and I have a very important midterm today. I know you're scared, but shadows and monsters don't exist. Remember? Mom and I talked to you about that last Christmas. That's why you're seeing Dr. Hill."
"It was real! It was!" Ennéa stomped her foot. Fresh tears were stinging her eyes. Why didn't he believe her? He always did before. "Don't you believe me??"
Tobias didn't answer her.
"You believe me, right?" she demanded again, a new type of fear suddenly clenching her heart.
"I'm going to call Mom real quick, okay Ennéa?" Tobias finally said. "Hopefully she can get off work early. Try to calm down in the meanwhile, okay? I'll call you right back."
"Tobias!"
"No, Ennéa. Just.... no." And with that he hung up.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2011 11:13 pm
A-Nine closed her eyes, tears streaming down her face. She ached. What good were memories like that? As horrible as the island was, she almost preferred her cheerful ignorance. At least then it didn't hurt. At least then she wouldn't have to remember that Tobias didn't believe her after all. He never did. He was just humoring her... trying to protect her.
A-Nine groaned and hunched in upon herself.
She had gone to see Dr. Hill again after that. Her whole story of that night and everything else had come spilling out, and she had wept and howled on that stupid leather chair that squeaked whenever she moved. The world was full of shadows she couldn't fight -- she couldn't even defy -- and nobody believed her.
But then that wasn't true, was it?
Dr. Hill had nodded. She passed Ennéa the tissue box and then said that she had a colleague, a friend of hers, that Ennéa should talk to. Shadows were real. Ennéa was right - but she was wrong to think she was utterly powerless. Her colleague could help her learn. Did she want to try?
A-Nine remembered now. It was a tipping point, like all the other snippets of memory buzzing about, she realized. Flashes and echoes of all things that had happened, choices she had made, to lead her up till now.
She had answered yes, she wanted to fight. Even though Tobias didn't believe her, she had promised him once, that she would try her best to be brave and face the monsters and laugh. She wanted to keep trying.
Heh. That was a spectacular disaster. A-Nine - Ennéa - smiled wryly to herself. Nothing she did ever turned out right.
Another echo drifted out of the nothing. Ennéa started, it was A-One's voice, Phoenix Squad's leader. Her squad.
She sighed with a wistful pang. She never realized until just now, how much he reminded her of Tobias...
"It's okay," the echo whispered. "You tried. That's all I would've asked you to do. Try your best. Because that's all we can do. Right?"
"Yeah boss, you're right." Ennéa whispered. Gathering her strength, she straightened herself up and with one last effort, pushed the gloom and sorrowful memories that buzzed around her away.
"I tried." She said to the suddenly quiet nothingness. "That's all I could do." Satisfied, Ennéa closed her eyes and drifted.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun May 01, 2011 12:53 am
"Ennéa!"
A voice calls your name. It sounds so far away...
"Ennéa!"
You look up. But you can't see anything. The voice isn't one you recognize either. Are you imagining things?
"Ennéa! You will die if you don't fight! Rise up and be born anew; claim your weapon and fight! Don't let your teammates down now!"
You can't see anything. But slowly the sensations of touch come with the chill; scent and taste are now dominated by salt. Tears? No, there's a particular tang to them that reminds you of the sea. What did the voice tell you to do? Reach out and grab your weapon? Now, if only you could remember what your weapon was...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun May 01, 2011 3:12 pm
Someone was calling her name.
Ennéa scrunched her eyes tighter and rolled over in the pastel nothingness. She felt like a wrung out washcloth, limp and dry. Why were these echoes buzzing around her still? What more was left? She wished she had a flyswatter.
The voice was persistent though, growing louder until she had no choice but to focus on it. She opened her eyes and looked listlessly up into the nothing, listening.
'Rise up and be born anew...' The voice was saying.
Ennéa bit her lip. But she had tried her best already. Tried and failed. What more could she...
Oh. She drew a sharp breath. Of course, she could keep trying. It wasn't over yet. That was the whole point, wasn't it? Try and try again. This was just a set back.
Silly her, thinking death was the end of all things. She sat up, "Yeah!" she cried back to the echo. "I won't let my team down! I'll keep fighting!"
Ennéa Petrakis got to her feet. She closed her eyes and reached out, trusting the echoing voice. Claim your weapon...
She gripped a solid handle that fit her hand comfortably. Ennéa hefted her weapon and opened her eyes. It was an axe. "Ooh! Neat!" she said, grinning.
She tightened her grip. A phoenix rose up from the ashes and she would too.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun May 01, 2011 5:22 pm
It wasn't just a weapon. It was her weapon. There were plenty of other axes, but this one... this one was her own personal weapon. It was just like she imagined it: big, massive, and sure of itself. Whenever her faith faltered, her axe was there to back her up. It wasn't afraid of anything. After all, it was an axe. Not just any axe. It was also stylish. ((Please head over to THE COVE thread HERE, READ THE PROMPT CLOSELY, and post a response to it. Thank you and congratulations! ))
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
