Chapter forty-eight—Surprises of celebration
The morning bore a warm, humid sunrise. The sky was a gentle pink, with hints of bright orange and vivacious reds. The grass was wet, as though it had rained, but there was not a puff of white cloud in the sky.
I had awaken long before, but I was sitting outside on the steps, my feet deep in the grass and in my night clothes. My hair was bedridden and surprisingly long, now reaching down past my chest, pretty much five or six inches past my shoulders.
Monks were starting to take their early walks, with their stick-like staffs and yellow and maroon robes. Most of them had beards, but were bald as a mole.
I noticed that people only seemed to come out of their cottages when the light of the sun peaks all the way across the tall mountains. It seemed as though people here were afraid of the darkness; I, myself, have thought that something strange loomed eerily in the night. I’ve gotten shivers while I slept- but of course, I have been thinking it was the cold.
Well, it doesn’t seem very cold, considering that the temperature at the moment was quite balmy.
As if on que, Fiona seemed to poke her head out from the window, which strangely brought out a sweet essence to my nose, like frosting. Strands of auburn hair fell past her face, which made it seem to glow with the light of the sunrise behind her. “Mary, are you alright, dear?”
“Yes, I’m fine.” I smiled kindly. “I’m just enjoying the scenery.”
I saw her eyes waver to the sun’s direction. “How long have you been out here?”
It took a large might not to roll my eyes; she might have thought it was rude. “I have been out here since the sun has risen.”
Fiona nodded, and I saw her relax slightly. Even she has the night jitters. “Come inside soon, sweetheart, its warmer inside. I’ll be making breakfast soon.”
Soon after Fiona left, it was Abby who had beckoned me inside. She had a strange grin on her face, which made me think that she was up to something rather mischievous. It was her prank face.
Halfway inside, I took her wrist cautiously, and asked: “What did you do?”
She did an impressive blank face. “What do you mean?”
Her voice was too innocent, and I smirked, walking inside with her at my tail.
When I stepped inside, I had to blink twice. My mouth gaped open when I heard everybody shout. “Happy birthday!”
I felt myself redden in embarrassment, now knowing that I had forgotten my own birthday. There was a small cake on the dining table, and a balloon tied to one of the chairs. I realized that when I had been outside, they must have secretly made the cake. That’s where the sweet smell was coming from!
“H-how’d you all know?” I gasped, giggling, and rather shocked.
“I recall of you telling me your birthday once.” Abby smirked, with her arms crossed. “I’m surprised you didn’t see our master plan on throwing you a surprise party.”
I didn’t say anything, considering that I didn’t want them to know that I had forgotten it was my birthday. I mean, who does that? It was a small party, but it was the thought that counts. “Thanks, a lot.” I laughed. “Nobody has done this for me before.”
“We’ve got a whole bunch of things planned.” Sophia exclaimed quickly, all in party-mode. Now that I think about it, she can be quite the social butterfly, for a master huntress. “We have cake, presents, and Fiona said that there’s going to be a carnival this afternoon to thank Moodha, a wise spirit whom they worship.”
“Moodha brings peace.” Natalia’s voice sprang out of nowhere, almost dreamily. I glanced at her, and she was carrying a basket of blankets to the living room.
I sighed. “Isn’t it a bad time to be having fun? Shouldn’t we plan things out, in case Malistaire attacks?”
“Mary, all we have done is plan, work, fight, and plan again. It’s been an overall pattern of learning new things that want to kill us, then we take action, then we learn more crap, then we fight for our lives again.” Nikki sighed, staring at me sympathetically. “I understand how you want everybody to be safe, but don’t you just want to have fun once and a while?”
I grimaced. “Wow, you really thought about this.”
“Well, last night was kind of like a wake up call.” Abby smiled, patting me on the back. “We need some more fun in our lives.”
I smiled, not wanting to ruin their ideas. “Alright, but only for today.”
“Yippee!” Sophia clapped, and she lit the candles of the cake with her fingers. “Let’s have cake!”
I laughed, sitting in the chair with the balloon on it. Closing my eyes, I wished for hope and that the Fates will help us do whats right. Blowing out the candles, I grinned at the smoky smell of sweet, blown out birthday candles. Cutting a piece for everyone, I got the piece that had a frosted on butterfly.
Chewing, I treasured the soft, yummy taste of cake. I hadn’t had cake since I was twelve! It was a tragedy… Smiling, I realized that my lack of cake problem was now fixed. (As if it was very important to me…)
When cake was finished, I wasn’t let off the birthday bash quite yet. “Presents! You need to open mine, or you’ll die!” Sophia pretty much hurled her gift at my face, which I had to block with my fast reflexes.
“I see that, considering if I hadn’t blocked my face, I would have needed plastic surgery.” I grinned, tearing off the Christmas wrapping (Which strongly confused me, considering it was the month of June).
Sophia was jumping up and down in her seat like a jack-in-the-box, while my sister’s held their gifts eagerly. Opening the present, I gasped.
“Do you like it?” Sophia stared at me, trying to catch every bit of my reaction.
“Oh, Sophia.” I smiled, holding it up. “The scarf is beautiful.” It was a golden, shimmery scarf that looked as though it costed a fortune. “How in the worlds did you manage to obtain this?”
“It was a friend of mine who had it.” Sophia smiled. “You remind me a lot of her, so I think she’d want you to have it.”
“Thanks, Sophia.” I put the scarf neatly back in the box, and took Nikki’s gift. Shaking it near my ear, it sounded heavy and thick. Opening it, I almost rolled my eyes in the irony. “A book!”
“A book for runes.” Nikki replied, smugly. “I know how you like to study.”
“And I know how you like to read.” I said, giggling. “I suppose we can share it?”
“That thought might have come up once or twice.” Nikki winked.
“Open mine-!” Abby thrust her present into my hands. It was light, and thin.
“Haha, alright.” I put the book back in the box, and began to unwrap Abby’s present. She bit her lip, and I gaped at the present.
“Do you… Like it?”
“It’s…” I blinked. “It’s a blast from the past, that’s for sure.”
Nikki took it out of my hands and she cocked her head. Sophia leaned towards us, looking at the picture as well. “It’s Abby and Mary and…” Nikki spoke slowly.
“Richard.” I finished for her.
“Ooh, so that’s him.” Sophia frowned. “He’s cute.”
“I had noticed.”
Abby looked slightly hurt. “Don’t you like it?”
I looked at her, surprised. “I love it! It brings back memories.” I hugged her, and she wore a huge smile, her eyes now sparkling.
“I’m sorry to interrupt this cute little gift-unwrapping, but it’s almost noon.” Fiona pointed to a clock and my eyes widened. Had time really went by that quick? “The carnival shall be starting in an hour or so.”
“Brilliant!” Nikki exclaimed, jumping up from her seat. “Lets make Mary pretty!”
“Hey-!”
“Prettier!” Sophia fixed for Nikki, winking at me. They took my hands, and led me into my bedroom. Nikki ran for her chest, taking out the leftover make up from Marleybone.
In a half hour or so, my hair was in a thick braid with flowers cascading messily within it. I wore a white skirt, and a green tank top that fit my posture quite well. Nikki was wearing a skirt as well, but it was black and she wore a shirt that showed off much of her belly. (Which was flat and perfect—not that I’m jealous or anything…) Sophia wore jeans, which was totally not a surprise, and a black shirt that showed off her belly as well. It was as thought we were in the country!
We heard music outside, and in a flash, all of us were out and about in the carnival. There were samplers, like last time we explored, but this time we were able to eat as much as we wanted for free. Lanterns were lit for when the dark came, which made all the eeriness go away, and there were people dancing with each other in large circles and little kids drawing on the sidewalk with cheap chalk. People were flying impressive dragon kites, and doing manga portraits, and some were riding horses through the pastures.
Of course, there were the turn offs: few couples making out in the romantic atmosphere of fun, a few monks who ended up drunk, and something on the ground in the corner of that shop over there that I did not want to know about.
Nikki and I bought some new merchandise from a nearby store while Sophia was checking out some boys near the horse range. Abby and Natalia were somewhere in the midst of hundreds of people, dancing or studying or whatever the hell they liked to do.
Suddenly, everybody rushed to the sides of the streets. Squishing past the people, I managed to make my way, thinking that it was some party float boat or something. However, what stood in the street was a large white cow in imperial armor, sitting on a white stallion… A strange sight to behold, considering that he was a cow, but something told me that this was no time for jokes.
“Fellow citizens, this is an emergency!” The cow’s voice was deep and strong, along with slightly scary. “The emperor has been attacked by a curse, and is very sick!”
Gasps rang out through the crowd, and I knew that this carnival just went from amazing to dead right terrible. I even heard a little girl crying.
“Malistaire has been sighted, and everybody needs to calmly make it back to their cottages, and lock their doors and windows immediately.”
My eyes widened, and the first thing I knew I had to do was get the imperial soldier-cow-guy. I saw a blob of fiery red hair, and I knew Nikki was as freaked as I was. Feeling somebody grab my arm with a cold grasp, I turned and saw the frightened eyes of Sophia. “Where are the others?” I shouted.
“I don’t know!” She yelled through the mass of destruction and screams.
We pushed past people, trying as hard as we could to get to the guard. It was hundred’s of people going the opposite way, and it was becoming frustrating. Using my might, I used magic to push people out of my way. People shot menacing glances at me, but I actually managed to catch up with the guard right when he was about to leave towards the palace.
“Sir!” I shouted through the noise, and he turned his large head towards me. I noticed he had a bull earring thing in his nostrils. “I’m Mary Ravengem, and I need to know where Malistaire is! Everybody is in danger if my sisters and I don’t keep him at bay.”
“He left immediately when he poisoned the emperor!” The cow snarled. “As his daughter, you are not welcome here!”
He threw an unexpected amount of magic at me, knocking me backwards. The crowds of people made me fight to not get trampled, and Sophia and Nikki came to my rescue to help me up. However, it was too late, and the guard disappeared in the mass of growing fire from the knocked over lanterns from the newfound wind that seemed to encourage the raging fire.
“We need to get out of here!” Nikki shouted in my ear, and I was barely able to hear her.
“We can’t leave Abby and Natalia all alone!” I shouted back.
“We won’t be!” Sophia shook me. “Natalia knows her way back. We need to get out of here!”
I panted, protesting. “What about Malistaire!?”
“We can’t do anything about that, Mary.” Nikki replied with a strange grunt after being pushed by a large horse rushing by.
I nodded, blocking the growing tears of leaving Abby and Natalia behind in the riot. Turning towards Fiona’s cottage, we ran.
