“More interesting?”
Quinn looks around, as if trying to think of something.
Ask how he gets his hair like that. Or: Ask how he talks so assertively.
“...How do you get your hair like that?”
“Oh this, you like it?”
“Yes, it looks nice.”
“Hehe, thanks. Honestly though, it didn’t take much. It got done up this way, a couple days before school started back up again, and has stayed the same, since.”
“I see.”
“You know, maybe you should try something with your hair.”
“I’m good.”
“Are you sure? I mean, you certainly strike me as the type, who doesn’t do much; however, you still also seem like it might interest you, somewhat.”
“Not really...”
Ask about advice on how to get girls. Or: Ask about advice on how to get guys.
“...”
Time starts ticking down. “God, why?”
Lucifer, sat at a different table, sneezes.
“Hey Alastor, any advice on how to get girls?”
Quinn’s whole face is twitching.
“Hmm, an unexpected question, though, not unwelcome, per say. Let’s see, in your case, just be yourself.”
“Oh, wow, how original.”
“I mean, that should scare away most of them, right off the bat. Meaning the selection left, should be easier to work with.”
“How pragmatic.”
“Then, don’t be afraid to be a little more intimate.”
“Excuse me?”
“Open up a little more. No need to hold yourself away.”
Alastor moves his chair next to Quinn.
“Here, act like I am the person you like.”
“I don’t really...”
“You look nervous already, you want that showing through?”
“Uh, no.”
“Wrong answer.”
He points to his own face.
“Look at my face, it’s a little nervous, a little excited, and happy. Channel that type of energy, since that will be more real. No need to put up so many airs.”
Quinn examines the boy’s face. “It has all that going on? Is he sure?”
Alastor leans in closer. He slowly raises his fingers up to Quinn lips.
“What-”
“Shh.”
He hushes Quinn, then spreads his lips and face around.
“What are you doing?”
“Your face is back to its natural position, keep it there.”
“Okay thanks for a lesson, I will take it to heart.”
Quinn says in a stagnant voice.
“Are you sure, I could get more personal with it, if you so desire?”
Yes. Or: Yes Please.
Quinn looks at the choices, with vacant eyes. “This isn’t a choice. It was rigged from the start.”
“Yes, tell me more.”
“Hmm. Nah, maybe some other time. I can see you are busy with something.”
“Really? Alright then, thanks for that.”
Quinn gets up.
“See you, Alastor.”
“See you, Quinn.”
Quinn begins heading towards Neri’s place, once more. He arrives.
Yell out, to get her attention. Or: Just walk in.
“...I don’t like either of these.”
Quinn tries thinking this one over, taking his time, up till the timer hits ten. “I would be super anxious about just standing here yelling. However, it probably would be bad to just enter her house unannounced. Meaning, one is bad for me, and the other is bad in general.”
Quinn clicks the first choice.
“h-Hey.”
Quinn practically whispers out.
“Hey!”
Quinn winces back, already somewhat flushed.
“Hey, Neri!”
Quinn covers his face, eternally screaming.
“What’s up?”
Quinn looks up, seeing the girl standing in the gateway, drenched in sweat.
“Oddity.”
“I see.”
She is taking deep breaths in and out. “Okay, that wasn’t so bad.”
Touch exposed sweaty stomach. Or: Feel her lungs as they fill with air.
Something snaps inside of Quinn. He gives a broken smile.
“Hey, can I poke your stomach?”
“Sure.”
Quinn slowly moves his finger out to do so.
“Thanks.”
“No problem...Why?”
“Oddity appeared, and I keep getting options to pick from, and have to do one of the two choices.”
“Oh. That doesn’t seem good.”
“No.”
“What was the other choice, for that last one option?”
“Can we focus on trying to solve the problem.”
“...I see.”
She looks away.
“What do you see? I don’t think what you see is correct, at all!”
“Options... Why did this manifest in the first place? Were you struggling with choosing something?”
“Not that I remember...”
“If that’s not it, then what?”
“Maybe, a targeted oddity ability.”
“Who would target you, then?”
Quinn thinks about the strange people he has met recently.
“Specifically? No idea.”
“When did it start?”
“When I woke up?”
“What if you go back to sleep then, and see if it changes?”
“...Hmm.”
“That might work.”
Lucifer says.
“Huh, really?”
“Well, some oddities like this, can’t sustain themselves, forever. Especially, if this is the work of a specific ability. If that’s the case, then it would either be a matter of time, or perhaps a trigger to undo it.”
“I see.”
“What?”
Quinn explains.
“That does make some sense. Though, what type of trigger might it be? Maybe the number of questions answered? How many are you at?”
Quinn thinks about it.
“Eleven.”
“Meaning it won’t be ten, then.”
“Ho? I see, maybe she is onto something.”
“What?”
“Hmm, does it feel like, it has gotten weaker, since this morning?”
Quinn focuses in.
“...Actually, I think so.”
“Meaning, it is either time, or number of uses.”
“I see.”
“Hm?”
“It most likely is time, or number of uses.”
“I see, well that’s good. At least it’s an oddity that takes care of itself, then.”
“Yeah.”
“Though, have any of the options been dangerous?”
Play in traffic. Or: Climb a tree.”
“...Neri, I need to go climb that tree.”
“I see. Want some pointers?”
“I’d prefer if you didn’t watch at all.”
“Aren’t you like super strong now?”
“I am no more athletically gifted, though.”
“Hmm, I’m sure it won’t be that bad.”
It was that bad. Quinn struggled for the next hour to get up the tree, getting covered in wood and sap as he did it.
“f-Finally.”
“Good job!”
“Thanks.”
He says, feeling bad about his performance. “Though, seeing her looking so happy, that I did it...”
Tell Neri how you feel. Or: Jump out of the tree.
“Lucifer help.”
Lucifer appears next to him.
“Hm?”
“Can I survive this drop?”
“Definitely, just don’t land on your head... That’s the best option?”
“If I live, sure.”
“What’s the other one.”
“I don’t want to say.”
“Oh...�
��
Lucifer gives a look.
“I feel like the two of you jump to extremes, way too fast.”
Quinn looks down, seeing Neri. “Maybe I should just...”
“No.”
Quinn musters up his courage. “I’m not going to do it, under these circumstances.”
“Neri, run back from the tree.”
“Why?”
“Quickly.”
Neri runs back. Quinn chooses the second option. Relaxing, he hangs down, and then jumps from the tree.
“Huh?”
Quinn hits the ground on both feet, then falls over onto his side.
“Ow.”
“Are you okay?”
“...Yes?”
Quinn tries to get up, but feels a sharp pain in his right ankle.
“No.”
He falls back.
“Hang on, don’t put pressure on anything.”
Neri ducks down next to him. She moves his arm over her shoulder.
“Come on.”
They get up.
“I’ll look at it, inside.”
“Thanks.”
Quinn feels rather uncomfortable. “This is starting to hurt, and this whole thing just feels dumb.”
He glances to the girl helping him inside. “I’m at least glad that I have some help...”
Quinn’s eyes travel down the arm around her shoulder, as he thinks this.
Scream. Or: Squeeze-
“Neri cover your ears.”
“Okay.”
Neri covers her ears, and Quinn let’s out a scream.
“Better?”
“Yes...”
Neri sets Quinn down onto a couch, and gets some wrappings.
“This isn’t so bad, you probably just sprained it. Maybe, a slight fracture?”
“Okay.”
Quinn watches at the girl, as she starts wrapping his leg.
Pat her head. Or: Wrap your foot yourself.
Quinn doesn’t get time to read the whole thing, before patting the girl’s head. Neri looks up.
“Another option?”
“y-Yes.”
After he answers, he comes to realize, that the number of questions he got, was going to be fifteen.
Chapter 6: Dreamer
Quinn is sat at his desk, going over lines of code. He looks like he’s deeply concentrating. Over time, a slow burn frustration bubbles up.
“Ghhh.”
As he gets up from his chair, the desk melts away, as does his chair. He’s walking down a path of white light, within a black void. He crosses his arms, as he walks.
“How to deal with oddities?”
As he walks this path, images of the previous oddity encounters begin to play out, on either side of him.
“Why oddity?”
As he reaches the end of the oddities he has dealt with, shadowy figures take their place, dancing around, with twisted smiles.
“Must overcome oddity, without being oddity.”
When he reaches the end of the path, his attention is grabbed.
“Alastor?”
“Take a seat.”
Alastor is sitting in a wooden chair, with his legs crossed, and his hands together. The scene looks as if, it is being lit by an unseen overhead light. The floor seems to be concrete. Across from Alastor, is another wooden chair. Quinn sits down in the chair.
“What are we doing?”
“Having a nice conversation.”
“I see.”
“It seems like you’ve been through a lot recently.”
“You could say that.”
“I also understand, that you seem to be deliberating over a few different options.”
“Yes.”
“Though, it also seems like, you aren’t even sure of what those options are.”
“That is, correct.”
“You know why?”
“No.”
“Come on, I know you do.”
“...”
“It’s because you’re scared of them. Running away, from the truth of the situation. Trying to keep both sides of it, at the same time. Instead, you’re just standing there stagnantly.”
Quinn looks around, tuning out his words.
“Where are we?”
“Where do you think?”
“Inside my dream.”
“Very good.”
“A dream, okay.”
“You seem like, you’ve calmed down.”
“The stakes in a dream, are low.”
“Do you not put much stock, into the idea that if you die in a dream, you die in real life?”
“Not really, no.”
“Then, if something, or someone, tried to kill you in a dream, you’d just let them?”
“...No, I probably would not.”
“You see, isn’t that interesting. How one’s reaction, emotionally, can be so different, then how they logically thought it out.”
“Sure.”
“You know, I feel that way, from time to time.”
“You do?”
“Indeed. Even though, I know that some people have good reasoning, including myself. I still can’t help, but feel at times, that I have been abandoned.”
“I see, I’m sorry.”
“Yes, you are; but also, you are not.”
“Huh?”
“Don’t you get it?”
“No.”
“Of course, you don’t.”
Alastor is massive within the void, his bulbous eye looks onto Quinn.
“You can’t do anything right or wrong.”
Alastor stands behind, the now standing, Quinn. He wraps his arms around his back, and whispers into his ear.
“You’re scared to run away from oddities, you’re scared to embrace them. So, you stand in the middle. Not as a bridge; but simply as someone hiding in the shadows between the two points.”
Alastor raises his palm up, with Quinn on top of it.
“On the highest level, and the lowest.”
He aggressively drops his hand down. Quinn begins free falling through the darkness. Alastor calmly walks around the boy, as he free falls. Each step a stronger, more aggressive tap.
“It’s easier to die with a clean concise, then actually do the work to fix the problems. It’s simpler, to hope someone else will make the decision. Yet, you still want to be there, and stand up as if you did it!”
They both stand at the bottom of the void, eye to eye.
“Telling Neri, you would tell her about the next oddity, and then not doing it. What was that about? Simply just a lie.”
“I wouldn’t.”
“Of course not. In your mind, you were doing the right thing. You want the illusion of partnership; but don’t want the responsibility, that comes with it.”
“That’s...”
“You can’t say how you feel; but you also can’t move on from those feelings. Standing still, as to keep both options alive.”
“I’m not-”
“Wanting everything to work out, wanting both results to happen, no matter how impossible they might be, no matter how they conflict.”
“Please-”
“When did it all start, it was back then, wasn’t it? You trusted him, and what did he do?”
“Stop it!”
Alastor and Quinn sit side by side in the classroom, together.
“Tell me, what do you want, Quinn?”
“What I want?”
“I’m sure a few things come to mind; but I want to know what the most pressing, most important, thing to you is. What do you want, right now?”
Quinn looks down, with tired, empty eyes.
“I want my soul back.”
“I see.”
Alastor gets up and walks to the door.
“Then, shall I tell you how to get it back?”
Quinn looks up, practically jumping up in his seat, with a look of excitement and desperation.
“Yes!”
“It won’t be simple; but if you
want it back, go through this door.”
Quinn stares at the boy for a moment.
“This will get it back?”
“No, this will simply allow you to take the first step.”
“...Okay.”
Quinn gets up.
“This is all I have to tell you. That soul of yours, of course it can’t survive for long, not here. It will end up in Purgatory. A place difficult to enter, nearly impossible to leave.”
“You mean, my soul will be there?”
“Yes.”
“And, if I find it in there, I can get it back.”
“That will be down, to how you, and your soul feel, during that time.”
“I see. Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet.”
“Alright.”
Alastor opens the door for the boy.
“Oh, and Quinn.”
“Yes?”
“It was fun, being able to be around you, even if it was for a short time.”
Quinn turns around, with a sad, confused look. Though, as he looks back, he falls backwards through the door. As he falls away from Alastor, he catches a glimpse of his face. “Such a sad, distant smile.”
Quinn hits the ground.
“Ow. Wait, that didn’t actually hurt.”
Quinn gets up, stretching his fingers. “It seems my cognitive abilities have improved.”
“...What was all that about?”
Quinn looks around. He’s in a serene forest, at night. He looks up, seeing smoke in the air.
“I guess, I’ll head that way.”
Quinn starts heading towards the smoke. As he gets closer, oranges and yellows bathe the forest, from the fire causing the smoke. He walks towards the opening, seeing the back of a figure. “I can’t really make them out.”
As he steps out into the opening, the figure disappears.
“Hm?”
Quinn sees something in his peripheral vision. The look of a face, slowly moving over his shoulder, into sight. First a sharp nose, then wide open, golden eyes. The head starkly turns, facing the boy.
“Disturbing my sleep, you have some nerve.”
Pure fear drenches Quinn’s body, as he recognizes the face, of the Oddity Hunter Lilith. Quinn falls back away from the hunter. He lands onto the ground, looking up at the woman. His whole body is shaking.
“Hmmmm, you look familiar...”
Her eyes move back and forth, from one side of her eye sockets to the other. Then her lips purse together, leading into a smile.
“Oh, you’re the devil boy.”
As her eyes illuminate out, and her twisted smile crossers her face.
“I guess, you wanted to die, sooner than originally planned.”
At this point, Quinn becomes aware of the shift, that has started taking place, since his presence had been found out. The trees twist and contort, as if they were a madman’s laughter bearing down upon him. With the night’s shadows dancing along to this off-key toon, a terrible stilted rhythm. The moon cracks, leaving a pitch-black face, as unnatural as it is, it looks as if it was always smiling that way. “I have to do something; but it’s hard to move. Honestly, it’s hard to breath... Not that I need to... Oh, maybe.”
Oddity Specialist: Purgatory Page 10
