Another Online: Clockwork Read online

  Once my spell was over, Oracle clanged to the ground. She staggered up and ripped the pot from her head. Her mask was broken once again, revealing her mechanical face. “I will strike you down for that,” she whispered just loud enough so I could hear it. Oracle then took the pot and tossed it at Xor’s face. Xor may have been strong, but she was not fast at all. Xor took the pot to the face and the force of the strike sent her spinning off her feet. Before I had time to see where Xor landed, I found shards of glass flying right at me. Oracle was kicking and slashing the larger bits of greenhouse glass at me. Thousands of shards of glass penetrated me. My health went from bad to worse. I couldn't take much more of this.

  Hell’a darted at Oracle and did a flip, kicking her into the ground with the downward force of her spin. Oracle took the hit like a champ, but it did stop the torrent of glass. I took this moment to fly into the air, I had much better dodging abilities airborne. I pointed at Hell’a and muttered, “Shadow Swarm,” and shadowy tentacles erupted from Hell’a, each taking an opportunity to strike Oracle. Right after I finished my spell, I saw that Xor was holding Renny in one of her hands and Renny was holding a long thin bit of metal with a point at the end, like a makeshift spear. Then Xor tossed Renny at Oracle. Renny flew at Oracle like a red rocket, the spear pointed at Oracle’s center. Oracle turned to look at the sound of air rushing off the Imp missile right as the spear penetrated her. She shrieked in a robotic cry of pain.

  I thought that was the end of it, but Oracle grabbed Renny out of the air and redirected him right at Xor, who once again couldn't do much to avoid the attack. Renny and Xor collided backwards in an Imp tumbleweed into the rubble of the greenhouse. Embers emitted from my mouth as I snarled another spell, “Firestorm!” The fireballs honed in on Oracle who jumped and slid, avoiding the blasts. Truly, I didn’t care, the point was to get her attention so Hell’a could do her thing. Hell’a, with her swarm of shadow tentacles, used my distraction to slide under Oracle and slam into her underside, knocking her into the air. As Oracle went up past me, I smiled and simply said, “Hi there.” And on the way down past me again, I cast what hopefully would be the end of this fight. “Algid Soul.” The torrent of cold cascaded out of me, and by the time she hit the ground, she was an Oracle popsicle.

  I landed and slumped, breathing hard. I managed to sneak out the words between each heavy breath. “Done, with, today.”

  “Ow…” I heard Xor call, tossing Renny off her. Renny landed gracefully and brushed off his tattered little butler outfit and slicked back his long hair.

  “Well, that’s one way to get the pent up anger out,” Hell’a mused as the shadow swarm evaporated away from around her.

  “Really, ow.” Xor stood up, glaring at the frozen Oracle. “I chose to be a handmaiden to avoid combat. And this thing had to roll in and mess everything up.”

  Milly popped her head out of the hole in the dining room and shouted, “Is everyone alright!?”

  “We’ll live,” I groaned and lay on my back.

  “Good…” Milly looked behind her then back to us. “I think dinner is going to be a bit late today. Unless you are okay with Steak Tartare.”

  I started laughing, I couldn't help it. “That should be fine.”

  Hell’a moved over to Oracle. “Var, what should we do about this one?”

  “Dungeons.” I gave a wave of my hand as I said it. “We need to figure out what her deal is.”

  “Xor, Renny, give me a hand with this.” And with Hell’a’s words the three of them dragged Oracle off.

  I was left alone, lying in the rubble. It wasn’t a pleasant place to lie down but right at this moment I really didn’t care. I looked at the stars, I don't know for how long. I just enjoyed the mellowness on this insane day.

  “I keep finding you lying in the most interesting places,” Gelm said softly, taking a seat on a pile of bricks next to me.

  “You seem to keep finding me after I take a beating.” I rolled slightly to the left so I could see the old necromancer.

  “Well, I thought you should know I just finished the protective spells over the city.”

  Again, I started laughing. “Oh, by the Void, you couldn't have finished that earlier?” My laughs grew and grew. I grabbed at my gut and I was laughing so hard. “Your timing sucks.”

  “It seems that way.” He glanced around the mess that the day's events had caused.

  My giggles finally subsided enough for me to talk normally. “What a day.”

  “Of late, it seems like all your days are filled with problems.”

  “Things go from boring to insane in no time flat.” I let out a sigh. “But that’s life.” I slowly sat up, chunks of rock and dirt flecked off the back of my coat as I moved. “What did you end up doing with the protection spells?”

  “Couldn't do anything huge. It’s more like a series of spells in different parts of the city. Like a spiderweb, each strand protecting the area but not the whole.” He took his fingers and placed them across fingers on his other hand, making a web. “Most spells are protection and dedication. The buildings can take more of a beating now and if there are attackers, whoever holds this will know about it.” He pulled a stone out of his pocket. He held out the stone for me to take his old bones cracking with every movement. I grabbed the stone and an odd sensation came over me. It was like the city was a part of me. I could feel the people moving around, like they were little bugs moving across my skin. Each building was like a new body part. It was amazing and unsettling all at the same time. I shuttered and grimaced. “That is an odd feeling.”

  “I’m used to it. I can feel that with the Undead all the time.”

  “Sounds disconcerting.” I frowned and put the stone in my pocket.

  “It is what it is.” He looked up to the sky. “The stars are starting to come out.” I looked up also. He was right, the dimming light was giving way to the stars. “It seems we are destined to enjoy each other's company under the night sky.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Whenever we have something important between each other, it is always under the night sky. The night you added me into your fold, the night of the party where we celebrated the Undead and Vampires joining the Red Empire, the battle of Stone Keep, and many more. All set under the twinkling of the stars.”

  “Never thought about it.” I paused and thought about what he said. He was right; everything involving him was at night.

  “Well, my Queen, the past few days of enchanting have tired me out, if you will excuse me.” He stood slowly and smiled. “Good night.”

  “Good night to you too.” I followed his lead.

  We parted ways and I walked up to the absolute mess that was my bedroom. I could have used one of the guest rooms, but this was mine, damn it. I pushed the loose feathers into a pile, tossed a sheet over them, making more of a nest rather than a bed. I was about to lay down before I realized someone was missing. Princess Stripes, my plush tiger that I somehow managed to bring into existence, was on my bed when it exploded. Did that bitch kill Princess Stripes?! I frantically looked around my room for her. Eventually finding her on top of a dresser covered in more feathers. I let out a sigh of relief as I pulled Princess Stripes close into my chest and the two of us laid down in the nest. I pulled myself into a ball with Princess Stripes nestled in between my breasts and my arms. “I really hope tomorrow is less eventful than the last few days,” I whispered to Princess Stripes, “but knowing my luck, I wouldn't bet on it.” The prompt to sleep didn’t come up, guess this mess no longer registered as a bed. Instead, I drifted off to sleep, the world falling away from me, leaving dreams in its stead.

  Chapter 14

  The Pit

  I sat at the dinner table, pouting and refusing to eat. It was all I could think to do to let Mama and Papa know I was very upset at them. How could they do this to me?! I didn’t want a sister, I really didn’t want one that did nothing but cry. I hadn’t slept at all because of all the crying she did. “
Kiddo, please eat your dinner.” Papa looked tired, there were big circles under his eyes.

  “No,” I told him. I crossed my arms and looked away from him. “Not until you send her back where she came from.”

  For some reason Papa started laughing. “Your Mama wouldn't much enjoy that.”

  “I don’t care what Mama would like, Ella needs to go away.”

  “Well, she’s not going anywhere. So you have a choice here, kiddo, eat your food or sit at this table letting it get cold.” He leaned in so I had no choice but to look at him.

  “I’m not eating!” I looked to the ceiling so I didn’t need to look at him.

  “Fine, gives me more time to read.” He leaned back in his seat and pulled out his book reader thingy.

  “Could you read me a story?” I said hopefully, I loved it when Papa read me stories.

  “Sorry, kiddo, only good girls get stories read to them.”

  “I am a good girl!” I gave him a mean look. How could he think I wasn’t a good girl?!

  “Good girls don't demand that their sisters go away. Also, good girls eat their dinners.” Papa took a sip of his tea and didn’t look at me, his eyes on that dumb book thing. “I also hear that good girls get hot chocolate with marshmallows in it after they eat dinner.”

  “What?” I loved hot chocolate!

  “Maybe even a cookie, but those are only for the best girls around. Ones that are nice to their baby sisters, Mama, and Papas.” He leaned back and took another sip of his tea.

  “I…” I thought about it, Papa was trying to get me to do what he wanted, he wasn't hiding it or anything. Maybe I should not do what he wanted just to show him how mad I was! But then, I do love hot chocolate. “How much dinner do good girls need to eat?”

  “At least half of it.”

  “Even the bug meat?” Uncle Vegar told me that all the meat we ate was made of bugs and that is so icky, I didn’t like bugs at all.

  “Even the bug meat.” He didn’t look at me.

  “Ugh…” I frowned and closed my eyes, shoving in the bug meat that tasted like chicken. I chewed as fast as I could and swallowed.

  “Hum… I’m starting to get the feeling there may be a good girl in here, but wait, there is still a lot on that plate.” He glanced at my plate. I let out a sigh and ate my food until all the vegetables were gone and half of the bug stuff. I looked at the plate and then to Papa. Papa then turned off the reader thing and moved to the kettle, poured some steaming hot water into a cup, then some soy milk and finally the chocolate powder stuff. “Okay, kiddo, it seems that you have proven yourself good, but if you want to show that you are the best you need to give Mama a hug and kiss, and then kiss your sister.”

  “But Papa!” I really didn’t want to kiss the dumb baby.

  “I don’t make the rules, I just follow them.” He mixed all the stuff together to make the hot chocolate. I frowned; he was lying, Mama and Papa did make all the rules.

  “Ugh, fine.” I turned around and left, heading to Mama and Papa’s room. At least Ella was sleeping in there and not my room. I peeked into the room and saw Mama sitting on her bed, Ella in her arms. She was asleep for once. Why couldn't she just sleep through the night so I wasn’t so sleepy all the time? “Mama,” I said to let her know I was in the room.

  “Oh, if it isn’t my little Sugar Dumpling.” She smiled at me, but she looked super sleepy also. “Ella just fell asleep so be extra quiet, okay?”

  “Fine.” I moved into the room and lifted myself next to Mama on the bed. I looked at Ella and then Mama. I decided I needed to know something. “Mama, why did Papa laugh when I said we should send Ella back where she came from?” Mama also giggled at that, what was so funny?

  “Sugar Dumpling, remember when I told you Ella was inside Mama?”

  “Yeah.” I nodded.

  “Well, if we sent her back she would be right back inside me.”

  “Why is that bad? She didn’t cry when she was inside you.”

  “Sugar Dumpling, Ella got too big to be inside Mama.”

  “How could she be too big? She is tiny and you are huge.” I looked at them both, confused.

  “There is only so much room inside me for a baby, and anyway, I wouldn't want Ella to stay in there forever.” Mama smiled at me.

  “Why not?”

  “Well, she wouldn't be able to do anything if she stayed in there.”

  “She doesn't do anything now. No, she does do something, she cries, a lot.” I shook my head.

  “That may be true, but soon she’ll learn things just like you did. She’ll start talking, walking and playing.”

  “How soon?” I hope it will be very soon; this whole crying thing was very dumb.

  “Well, when I say soon, I mean a few years.”

  “Oh…” I leaned back and pulled at my hair. “That's forever.”

  “Okay, I’m going to put her in her crib now, do you want to give her a kiss before she goes in there?” Mama leaned Ella to me.

  No, I didn’t want to kiss her, but I did want a cookie. “Yeah, okay.” I kissed Ella on the forehead and then pulled back so she wouldn't wake up and start crying again.

  “How about one for Mama?” Mama leaned her cheek to me and I gladly gave her a kiss. As Mama put Ella in the crib, I slid down off the bed and moved down to the living room. Papa was in the big comfy chair with his reader thing, a cup of hot chocolate, and a cookie. “Okay, kiddo, jump on up and I’ll read you a story.” He pat his lap. I ran as fast as I could over to him and sat down on his lap. I took the drink and sipped at it. I learned the hard way not to gulp it down, doing that hurt. As Papa pulled up the story, I took a bite of the cookie and nestled into Papa’s warm stomach. “Once upon a time, there was a girl named 2244.” I blinked, what was her name? That was a crazy name. “She was once happy living with her Papa in the world of real things. That was until the evil wizard Gearsoft sent her away to a world that wasn’t real.” I shifted, uncomfortable in my seat. “She was forced to be a slave in a shop doing the will of the Wizard.”

  “Papa, can we read Treasure Island instead of this?”

  He continued like he didn’t hear me. “Day after day, the Wizard would tell her what to do and if she didn’t he would hurt her.”

  “Or maybe James and the Peach?” I went to take a sip of my drink, but something was wrong. The cup was empty.

  “For fifteen years, she worked every moment. And for every moment, the Wizard watched her.”

  “Papa, stop it.” I tried to get off his lap but he held me in place. “Papa, let me go!”

  “Sorry, kiddo, I can’t.” He moved the reader away from his face and instead of Papa it was something else. It was one of those unblinking mannequins. “You need to stay here forever.” The thing stole Papa’s voice!

  “NO! Let me go!” I pushed away from it, but as hard as I tried I couldn't get away.

  “Var, what in the world are you sleeping in?” My eyes jerked open. I turned to face Xor standing over me. “You know you are covered in feathers?”

  “Yeah, I know,” I lied.

  “Sure you did.” She held up a hand to help me up. I sighed and took her hand. I grumbled. Why couldn't my dreams, or flashbacks, or memories, or whatever the hell they were, be nice? Why did every single one of them end in horror? And that one was particularly vivid, like it was really happening right then. I took a few steps and left a trail of feathers behind me in my wake. “So, I have good news and I have bad news. what do you want to hear first?”

  “Give me the bad news,” I moaned as I stripped off another set of clothing that I had destroyed in the last few days. I found Xor holding out a black draped blouse with red rhinestones and black palazzo with swirling red and gold designs up and down the leg. “Going with black today?”

  “We often go with the red clothing. I figured it might be a nice change of pace.” She then held out a brand new trench coat, one that was black, golden designs of thorns all along the tails, with an open bac
k. “So here's the bad news. The damage to the castle has been worse than we thought; the tower that is next to the chapel is about to collapse. We currently have all of our construction crew trying to avoid such a thing. It seems we're going to have to move you out of your bedroom to be able to fix all this mess.” She gestured to the holes in the wall, floor, and ceiling. “But Alexander said that the device is still fine, whatever that means.”

  “And the good news?” I slipped on this new jacket. It was thinner than my previous one but more like a light bathrobe of silk than a jacket.

  “The prisoner who did all this is currently awake. Ral is speaking to her right now.”

  “Ral, who thought that was a good idea?” Ral was a capable warrior but interrogator she was not.

  "She was the one guarding the prisoner so she just kind of ended up talking to her. Maybe you should get down there before anything bad happens. "

  "Maybe I should…” I was going to head to the door but then realized just stepping through the hole in the wall was actually easier at this point. Once I got in the hall, I stopped, looked over my shoulder and gave Xor a small smile. "Thank you so much for your assistance. And are you sure you don't want to join the military? After the skills you showed off yesterday, I could easily find a place for you to fight for the Empire."

  "Thank you, but no, thank you. I've given up on being a warrior. What you saw yesterday was hopefully a once-in-a-lifetime thing." She gave me a smile and a little bit of a wave. ou should probably get going before my sister does something stupid. "

  "Probably a good idea." I was going to go down the hallway, down the stairs to the dungeon, but there's already a convenient hole in the floor that goes to the dining room which could easily get me to the staircase closest to it. So I jumped on the hole, getting a few quick flaps of my wings before I hit the ground to slow my descent and touchdown in the dining room. It didn't take me very long to get the rest of the way to the dungeons. "Foolish child, you think I would tell you anything?" I heard Oracle's voice echo down the long corridors of the dungeons.