“Well, go do that then. I have no idea what you want with me, but I am here for very important work. Goodbye!”
Griffin decides to chance another look into the window again, and much to his disdain, the child climbs on his back.
“Get off of me.” Griffin whispers as to not arouse suspicion from inside the house.
“But I gotta see what you’re looking at. Oh… do you have a crush on Constance?”
“What? What is a crush?” Griffin takes the opportunity to shake the child off of his back, who falls to the dewy grass with a small thud, but remains unfazed.
“It means, you wanna kiss her or something.” The nauseating child waggles his fingers in Griffin’s general direction, as if to cast some sort of a spell on him.
“I am fairly certain that is not the case. Move along, now.” He reaches for the window again, but the child latches onto his leg again. “Oh, not this again! You are utterly despicable and odd. It’s a pity your mother puts up with you.”
“Oh, Ma! She’s probably looking for her butter! Well, I should go get that for her. See ya later, Nobody.”
Griffin audibly exhales as the treacherous child lets go of his leg and disappears around the side of the simple, small home. Leaving him alone to his very important task, Griffin again manages to peek in the window without the family detecting him. But his efforts are mostly in vain, as the family appears to be eating breakfast in almost complete silence. The only sounds he can hear are coming from the infant humanoid at the end of the table as his mother silently feeds him some sort of lumpy-looking food.
“Well, is no one going to speak this morning? I was not made aware of any vows of silence in effect.” The father in the house made an interesting comment, but no one besides his wife seemed to hear him. How odd that is. Have the children spontaneously gone deaf?
“It seems, there is just a lot going on in their minds right now, Ezekial. We’d best let them be.” She motions to her two daughters, the elder of which seems especially withdrawn, while her younger sister seems to be quiet more in solidarity than with a concern of her own.
“Perhaps. But I would also appreciate the chance to socialize with my children before a long day in the fields.”
Griffin notices Constance continuing to sit in utter silence, despite her father clearly wanting to speak to her.
“Ezekial, it seems they have fallen silent at the moment. Pray leave them be, I am certain this too shall pass.”
The patriarch of the family grumbles a bit before angrily tossing his napkin on the table and storming out through the front door.
Griffin turns away from the window momentarily, once again feeling like an unwanted interloper for spying, especially on something so personal and private. Clicking on his communication device, he decides to ask Evander about it again.
“Evander, remind me again what exactly I’m looking for? I’m just watching her eat breakfast in silence at the moment, and I don’t totally see the point of that.”
“Griffin, any moment at all, could be the moment when history changed. You’ve got to be as vigilant as you can and watch for that. Tell me the time coordinates as soon as you see them on your external device, okay? This is of extreme importance.”
He sighs. “Evander, I know. Believe me, I do. I just feel rather out of place doing this.”
“Well of course you’re out of place! You’re an immortal Upperworld being spying on a teenage female humanoid in Puritan America. Of course you’re out of place. But that’s no reason to avoid your task. Both Onyx and Luna are relying on you. The Upperworld is no longer in jeopardy as it was, but there’s still a major problem at hand. And there’s something I haven’t told you that has been a development since you’ve been gone.”
“Oh?”
“Onyx is… becoming irritable, and the side effects of the throne are coming to the forefront. He is in a lot of discomfort, and his body isn’t handling the current as well as we’d like. I haven’t told Luna anything about this as I don’t want to scare her, but I’m worried it might overtake him.”
“Wow. That’s… concerning.”
“Indeed. So we need to get those coordinates, and then get you back here as soon as we can. Got it?”
“Yes, of course. I’ll just try to become more comfortable with being uncomfortable, I guess.”
“That’s all you can do. And I think I speak on behalf of Luna and Onyx when I say they are extremely grateful to you for this.”
“It is my honor to serve. I’ll talk to you later, I should keep moving before that pesky humanoid finds me a third time.”
“There was a second time?”
“Well, yes, but it was nothing to concern yourself with. Just keep on being there for Luna and Onyx. They need you too, I’m sure.”
Evander sighs. “Will do. Over and out.”
CHAPTER 10
“You shouldn’t have said that to her, you know.”
“Oh really? And why not?”
Evander sighs. “You can’t see that she’s distraught enough not being able to touch you and seeing you in so much discomfort? Why would you make her feel worse?”
“Because I feel worse than she does. I don’t recall noticing her hair burning her scalp or her glowing eyes giving her migraines. And she’s still mobile… she can walk around and do whatever she wants. I am stuck here, Evander. This was never what I wanted.”
“I know that, Onyx. That’s why we are working tirelessly to set you free, don’t you know that? That’s why Griffin is risking his own life by time-traveling, and we don’t even have any real idea what could happen from that because it’s never even been done before. You don’t see that? You know, for a retracted humanoid who has the capacity to read emotions better than just about anyone else in the Upperworld, you’d think you’d understand. But no - you are just as callous and bitter as Zephyr himself was.”
“Don’t you dare say that to me!” Onyx’s eyes and hair both grow as bright as Evander has ever seen them. Onyx winces under the extra heat and burning he feels.
“I will say whatever I want to you! We’re supposed to be close friends, Onyx. We’ve worked alongside each other for centuries! So, I will tell you whatever I want and as uncomfortable as it is, I will say what needs to be said. Well, anything short of unseemly Earth jargon, because you know how I feel about that.”
Onyx’s gaze softens as he realizes how harsh he must sound, but the pain and worry he feels quickly upsets him again.
“That may be so, but regardless, I have never been so distraught in all my centuries of existence.”
“Oh, you don’t know the half of it.” Evander sighs. “Onyx, have you seen a mirror recently?”
“What do you mean?”
Evander motions for a nearby screen to detach from the wall it is usually stored on, and then moves it closer to the throne. With a click of a button, Evander turns it on and sets it on Reflect Mode, so that it can show Onyx what he looks like.
“Evander… what’s happening to me?” His voice softens completely now, at a loss for what he’s seeing. It’s undeniable now, what’s happening to him. His skin is almost completely pale now, and his glowing eyes have started to sink a little deeper into his head, with dark shadows all around them.
“Onyx, the current is overtaking you. We didn’t know this would happen, and we were hoping it wouldn’t. But I’m thinking it’s because you weren’t predestined to hold this position.”
“Is it… permanent?”
“As long as you are on that throne, I’d say so.”
His hair and eyes dim significantly as a single tear slides down his cheek. “Does Luna know?”
“I’ve refrained from telling her anything, it’s not worth it to upset her at this point.”
“But she has a right to know!”
Evander rubs the back of his neck as he pauses. “Be that as it may, I worry that information of that nature would put her into a very unhealthy emotional state. She’s still doing very
important work in the Sorting Room, you know. And the last thing we need is another malfunction.”
Onyx opens his cavernous mouth to speak, but no sound comes out. Instead, he just closes it, nods almost imperceptibly, and then slumps back in his chair.
“I am grateful to you, Evander.”
“For what?”
“For taking care of her when I can’t.”
“It is my honor, my friend. And while we’re on the subject of that, I hate to say it but perhaps your outburst toward her earlier was a little uncalled for?”
His hair glows a bit brighter, and his eyes widen in embarrassment. “Well, no! I mean, she was with that Earthling for a while. And he was, helping her, I guess. But I should have been the one to be there with her! I hate that he… got that time with her that I didn’t.”
Evander shrugs. “I suppose, but like you said - he’s going to die, and you’re not, so who has the upper hand, really?”
Onyx frowns at the harshness of his own words. “Well, when you put it that way, it’s a bit morbid, don’t you think?”
“Well, you’re the one who mentioned it first.”
“I know, I’m kidding, Evander.”
“Kidding?”
“Yes, that’s humanoid speak for… oh never mind.”
“Okay, fair enough.”
The two friends just stare at each other in silence for a few moments, wondering what they should do or say next.
“You know, it’s going to be okay. I don’t want you to worry, Onyx. We’ll find a way, somehow.”
“I appreciate you saying that, Evander. But I really doubt that you can, at this point.”
“What do you mean? We have Griffin watching your mother for any signs of choosing to alter the narrative, and those coordinates are going to set you free -”
“Maybe. You mean maybe they’ll set me free. It’s all theoretical, isn’t it? You really have no idea if it’s actually going to work. For all I know, I might really be stuck here indefinitely. Right? Tell me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think I am.”
Evander looks down at his feet, suddenly finding the spotless white marble floor of the Grand Hall to be much more interesting than conversation. “I guess… you’re not wrong.”
“Exactly. So stop pretending it’s definitely going to work, because we just don’t know that yet and I don’t want to get my hopes up. Most importantly, I don’t want Luna to get her hopes up just to be disappointed.”
Evander slowly nods, and then turns to walk out of the Grand Hall.
CHAPTER 11
“Girls, you shall not ignore your father like that. What has gotten into you both?”
I exchange a tired, sad glance at my sister, who has the same sort of blank stare on her face. Baby Jedidiah just keeps eating his mush breakfast, always the oblivious one. I take it upon myself to speak, even though I really don’t want to.
“We’re both… processing what was discussed yesterday.”
Mother nods, and uncomfortably looks out the window. “I see. Well, do be more respectful to your father in the future.” She doesn’t press the matter, and I can tell that she likely isn’t thrilled for me either. Unfortunately, fathers often chose husbands for their daughters. Mothers don’t seem to have any real say in it once a deal has been made and hands have shook. I know that all too well now.
“Well, what are you girls planning for today? Have you done your chores yet?”
I nod, even though I haven’t. I’m in no mindset for chores and I don’t plan on forcing myself to do anything I don’t want to, at least for the next two weeks. They’ll own me after that, but for now, I am my own. Probably for the last time ever.
“Yes Mother, I already collected the eggs from the chickens, milked the cow, and swept the barn floor.”
Mother smiles at Fae. “Thank you very much, Fae.” Then she picks up Jedidiah and disappears out of the kitchen and into her bedroom, likely to freshen up for the day.
“So what are you doing today, Constance?”
I smirk at her. “Absolutely anything and everything I want.”
Fae’s eyes widen. “What exactly do you mean?”
I wink at her. “They may own me in two weeks, but for now, I am all mine. And I intend to make the most of the time I have.”
She tilts her head. “And is Ma and Pa okay with that?”
I fight the urge to laugh in her face. “That’s just the ticket, Fae - they don’t get a say in the matter. I don’t get a say in the matter of my marriage to that miserable lump of goo and fat, so they don’t get a say about what I do for the next two weeks. And I have found a great deal of peace in that sentiment. For the next two weeks, I am taking my life back, Fae. And I’ve never been happier.”
Fae’s eyebrows seem to make a run to hide in her overgrown bangs. “Well, uh, okay Constance. Whatever you need to do, I guess that makes sense.” She gets up from the table and goes toward our bedroom, and then returns momentarily with my head covering. “Oh, and you forgot this earlier this morning. Here you go.” She hands it to me, and I promptly let it fall onto the kitchen table. You’d think it was laced with poison, the way that garment makes me feel. But I opt to wear it anyway in broad daylight, as I’m going out today and don’t necessarily want any extra attention on me.
Then I walk right out the front door of our house, and put my sights on Finn’s house. I think it’s time I just told him how I feel. It’s now or never, quite literally. I smile and wave politely at our neighbors, even the nauseating Johnson family as all their obnoxious children seem to be loudly fighting in the back of their wagon on the way to market.
And then, I reach the door right near my own home, and look around the yard for his familiar head of medium-brown hair crowning a gorgeous face and a muscular body. I’d recognize him anywhere. He’s the kind of person that I barely allowed myself to admire for a long time, as mother told me those urges were wrong at my age and that I should go spend more time at church instead. But now, you’d better believe I didn’t care about any of that anymore. I’d still have to be strategic about it though.
I spot him hoeing the soil for planting, likely trying to get the brunt of the physical labor done before the sun gets to the height of its heat for the day. His eyes meet mine, squinting a bit to keep the rising sun out of them. I manage to smile and wave, blushing and relaxing my posture a little as the warm breeze gently tugs at my skirt.
He immediately pauses his work and walks over to me. I notice for the millionth time the way every one of his muscles flexes and relaxes in sync - the boy himself is a beautiful, mechanized wonder. I feel my face heating up, and I quickly look away, hoping the blood collecting under the skin of my rosy cheeks dissipates soon.
“Good morning, Constance.”
I look back at him, and meet his gaze, swallowing the lump in my throat and hoping he can’t hear how fast my heart is beating.
“Good morning, Finn.” We stare at each other wordlessly for a minute, Finn wiping some sweat off of his already-moist forehead, and me breaking eye contact while suddenly finding my shoes to be the most interesting matter at the moment.
“Did you come by for something? Need some sugar again like last week?”
I smile but shake my head. “No, it’s not that.”
“No? Well then did your pa need to borrow another tool of some sort?”
“No, it’s not that either.”
He shrugs his shoulders. “Well, what is it, then?” He scratches the back of his head, awaiting my answer. But even I didn’t know how to give it to him. So I say something borderline ridiculous, because I ran out of things to stall with.”
“Come with me.”
I can see a smile pulling at the edges of his lips. “Come with you where? I was just doing some yard work…” He’s hesitating to agree to just drop everything, but I think I know how to get him away from it for a a little while, at least.
“Just come with me, please? I just… wanted to show you my favorite thinking
spot.”
“A thinking spot, you say? And what exactly would we be… thinking about?” He takes another step closer to me, letting his breath mingle with my own more frequent exhales.
“Anything. Anything at all. It’s just nice to… get away from all the chores, and expectations sometimes, wouldn’t you agree?”
He shrugs his shoulders. “I wouldn’t know, I guess I’ve never really been away from it.” He pauses to look back at his house, and nods.
“You’ll come with me?”
“Sure. I guess I could use a break. I’ve been working like a dog the past few days.”
I smile, and start walking down the road wordlessly. I hear his hurried footfalls follow mine, and try not to blush when I feel the warmth of his hand find my own.
CHAPTER 12
Griffin watches as Constance walks off away from her house, with a boy in tow. Not completely sure what to make of that, he opts to follow them - while remaining incognito, of course. And staying under the radar has become even more difficult as of late, since the young humanoid has been pestering him. Regardless of the past annoyance the young humanoid has caused, Griffin resigned himself to follow Constance by casually walking along the buildings and trying to blend in with the growing foot traffic and midmorning noise. Just as his shoulders relax a bit and he starts to actually breathe again without panicking too much about being noticed, the unthinkable happens.
“You! You’re the one my son has been talking about!”
Griffin turns around to see a very harried mother staring him down with her hands on her hips, flanked by a stained and wrinkled apron. her hair is bedraggled as well, with curls springing all around her face like an angry lioness. “I am not so sure what you mean. I must be going now, though.” He tries to turn away, but no such luck - the woman has her hand clamped tightly around his wrist. What is it with this family and their death grips?
“You’re coming with me.”
The Rise of Onyx Page 9
