Chapter 2

The Mysterious Mouse

Grey sat there astonished. Many years ago, he had told his childhood friend that monsters could not speak to humans. All of the books that he had read said the same. Monsters were incapable of human speech, although there were some theories that monsters could understand it. It appears there were some things his books got wrong.

"Ciara! Is the mouse talking?" asked Grey. His mind refused to believe his ears. Ciara looked at him blankly, scraping the sludge off her clothes. She had seen Grey capture the mouse and wondered why he had not killed it yet.

"What are you talking about? The mouse is in your hand, Grey. Kill it already."

The mouse covered it's head with its paws and trembled.

"I don't want to die," it spoke again.

Grey began to feel sorry for the mouse. He gestured for Ciara to come closer. Oswin was still laying next to him unconscious. Grey's hands felt around the ground until it touched his chest. Oswin was breathing slowly as if he were just sleeping.

"No, I can really hear something. Listen."

Ciara walked up to Grey and sat next to him. She gave the mouse a funny look. It was squeaking and making all sorts of noises, but none of it was intelligible. She shook her head confused.

"Grey, I hear nothing. Are you okay? Did you get hit in the head?"

Ciara placed her hand on his forehead.

"It doesn't feel like you are sick. You’re bleeding, though. Did you cut your hand?"

Grey could feel a little pain in the hand that held the mouse. There was a little blood near his thumb near where he had given blood for the quest

"I think I might have scratched myself on something on the ground."

He had crawled on his way over to the mouse. Something sharp probably pricked him on the murky stone floor.

"So only I can hear the mouse?" Grey’s thoughts began to spin.

Ciara raised her eyebrow and looked closely at the mouse. "So what is it saying?"

"It’s telling me not to kill it."

"Does it have a name?"

Grey turned towards the mouse.

"Mouse? Do you have a name?" he said, politely.

"Y-You can understand me?" said the mouse, surprised. "My name is Ham. Please let me go! Don't grill me up. Or do bad things to me."

Mice were truly afraid of humans. There were many stories of how humans would eat and torture mice for no reason!

"What are you doing here?"

"I was searching for food, and then you attacked me!" cried Ham. "I thought I had found a good home too. It got all messed up."

The mouse looked at the spot where the pile of mud used to be. There was nothing left but a few pieces of scattered wood.

"Well," said Grey, "stop making houses here."

"Wah."

"It's dangerous. And there are people who want to kill mouses here. Didn't your mother teach you better."

Grey began to lecture the little mouse on the dangers of the world. He did not know why, but he liked this mouse. There was something funny and familiar in the way it talked to him.

"Why are people trying to hurt us?"

"Because they are on a quest," replied Grey in a matter of fact tone.

"A quest? What is a quest?"

"It's where people are given money in order to do something. You know, I am on a quest too. I was told to go kill some mice and that's why I am in the sewers."

"Kill mice?! But why? Why would you kill me."

The mouse remembered why it had been captured in the first place! These humans had attacked it! It began squirming and squeaking wildly.

"Mice were causing trouble at a human shop, so someone wants all the mice dead."

Ham gasped in shock.

"But, I wasn't at a human shop today!"

"It was a few days ago."

"Oh, then maybe I was..."

The mouse looked sheepishly off in the distance.

"But even if I did do something. You shouldn't kill me over it!"

Grey felt the blood drain from his face.

"Well," replied Grey. "I won't kill you."

Even before he had said the words his mind had been made up. He was a good person, and killing a mouse that was talking to him would definitely be a bad thing. His heart was sure of it.

"Really!?"

The mouse’s eyes quivered in the torchlight..

"Yep. I won't kill you, but-" said Grey, raising his finger, "can I ask you a favor?"

"Yes," said Ham, bowing her head. "You can ask me anything. Just don't hurt me."

Grey shook his head. "I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to know more about you? I have never spoken to a monster before."

"Oh," said the mouse. "You definitely won't kill me right? You won't say just kidding and kill me right? The cat's always play games like that."

Grey giggled. "I am not a cat! See. I'll let you down. Just don't run away? Let us talk like two normal people."

Ciara began interjecting as she saw Grey putting the mouse down..

"Shush. Don't scare her."

“But -”

"Shushhhh!" whispered Grey. He placed a finger on her lips. "The mouse is going to tell me something."

"What is the mouse going to tell you?" whispered Ciara back.

"About other mice."

"O-Okay..."

Ciara gave Grey a strange look, but quieted down. She looked at the mouse on the ground, scrubbing its fur clean of dirt. While Ciara did not believe Grey, the mouse was acting rather strangely.

Ham bowed to Grey.

"Thank you, kind human. Um..you wanted to know about mouses right?"

"Yup," replied Grey back eagerly.

Ham nodded and began to explain.

Originally, mice lived in the meadows or grasslands, but as humans started building over their homes, their burrows became covered by bricks which gradually formed the sewers over several years. It took a while for mice to adjust. Ham said their father never really got used to the dirt and mud, but as a young mouse this sewer was all Ham had known. They loved the smell of it, and the food that sometimes fell from the upper levels down to their nest.

Ham also talked about how mice got stronger. Mice were usually a low level beast. They were born with a tiny life seed near their heart. It allowed them to do simple magic such as running faster or concealing themselves in one's shadow. However, it was very difficult for a mouse to get stronger magically and physically, since one wrong move often got them killed. But if a mouse was able to survive their first five years, there was a good chance they would transform into a higher level mouse beast.

"I could become a dire rat or a stone rat," said Ham. "Then I'll really be something strong. One bite from me and even you humans would not be so happy."

A high level mouse could infect their enemies with diseases and poison! Grey began to see why the quest was so urgent. If one were to leave a nest of mice alone for too long, there would be many high level mice that could kill hundreds of people.

"What happens when you transform?" asked Grey. "Does your body change?"

"I am not sure. The only one I know that has transformed is Blue. They’re the boss of our colony. They’re a stone rat. They are much bigger than me and have even defeated a human guard! They are really strong."

Ham tapped her feet, her tail swirling behind her. Ham spoke happily about famous mouse heroes. Mouse heroes! Grey had not thought monsters had heroes of their own, but Ham talked about them the same as Grey about his own. He began to see why he liked this mouse.

"But even Blue isn't as strong as some of the other mice! There was Swiss! Oh! They were a very good mousey hero," said Ham. "Bright and yellow like the sun, they fought off cats and men and would always return with a sack of food. They say that when you see holes in cheese, that is because Swiss was there! That's why they call it Swiss Cheese!"

"Haha," laughed Grey. He did not think cheese had such a history.

"So why did you go into a loom shop? If you did not cause problems there, then there would not be a quest asking to kill all the mice."

"Well," said Ham, twitching her whiskers. "I have not heard of any loom shop. What do they do there?"

"They make stuff for clothes there."

"Oh, I have been there once, but since there was no food I did not do anything. It might have been another mouse.

"I see. Do you know who else might have went there? Maybe, if we find out who is causing problems we can find a way not to kill all the mice."

Ham pondered a bit. She placed her paw up to her mouth. "You can speak to Blue. I think they will know what is happening."

"I see. That sounds good. Ciara could you wake up Oswin. I'll explain as we walk, but I think I might have a way to help solve our quest. "

"Hmmm. Okay. But you must tell me how you did it," said Ciara, curiously. She had never seen someone talk to a monster either and wondered if she could do the same.

Ciara splashed water on Oswin's face. Oswin woke up with a startled look.

"Oswin wake up! We need to follow this mouse," said Ciara.

"Mouse? Where?"

"This mouse here."

Oswin looked at the mouse sitting politely in front of Grey.

"Hello," said Ham, bowing its head. The mouse looked up at Oswin and squeaked.

"The mouse!! Catch it!!"

Ciara slapped Oswin.

"Let me explain..."

~~~

In a remote village, a man with hair as white as snow walked to his horse. Villagers parted for him, not daring to make eye contact. At his side was a long sword. The light glistened off the surface of the blade and gave it a sheen of running water, as if a river flowed from the the hilt of the sword all the way down to the tip.

A few of the children in the village who were playing tag looked at the man with open eyes. Their mouths gaped before being shooed away by their nervous parents. He paid them no attention. They were blades of grass parting in the wind. Insects.

Yet, something strange happened. A villager carrying a bucket suddenly stopped moving. It was a move so sudden his eyes subconsciously moved towards the man. Foot mid-step, bucket perilously tipped over to one side, drops of water suspended in the air.

The birds stopped chirping. The leaves stopped falling. Everything around him went still and silent. Time had stopped. No...this was not time. This was an spell. The world melted before him, replaced by a scene of purgatory. The heavenly cycle, Samsara, the wheel of reincarnation. The eyebrows of the man furrowed. Godrealm.

The man readied his sword, drawing it in front of him.

"Who dares!" he boomed. His voice carried power, shaking the earth beneath him. A dark laughter echoed on the wind. It seemed to come from all directions, mocking the captive adventurer where he stood.

The world shifted, the ground became replaced by field of knives. The man swiped a knife with the tip of his sword. Impact. All these knives were real. The ground erupted. The knifes spun in the air and shot towards him.

Hands raised, an incantation. "Breaking Cascade. The White Wave."

Moisture coalesced in around him forming a dense wall of water. The knives struck and pierced through the wall, cackling maliciously before dissipating beneath the magical pressure of the watery defense.

The sword wielder felt a force begin to eat away at his mana.

It can be said there are two ways to penetrate a person's defense. One was with brute force, the other was by causing damage to a spell's internal structure. The knives seemed to operate by the latter. The damage was severe, forcing him to expend even more mana to keep his defense active.

The man leaned down on one knee and pressed his hand on the ground. "Sweeping Waves. The Deep Abyss."

The ground beneath him turned into water, and he sank below. Stopping near the bottom of his manmade reservoir, he collected his magic.

Specks of light appeared around his fist. He opened his palm and they gathered into a ball at the center of his palm, taking on the shape of a small white cloud. Little lightning bolts sparked from its surface. He tossed the cloud up, using magic to propel it to the surface of the lake. As it reached the surface of the water, the cloud erupted into a web of lightning bolts.

"Charged and Discharged. Flash Point."

Sparks no bigger than one's pinky spread across everything within a mile of the lake in a gentle rain of electricity.

A shadow by the edge of the lake swiftly moved back.

"I found you."

The man propelled himself from the lake and launched himself at his attacker, bringing his sword upon his opponent's head.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Editor's Notes:

OMG. WHAT IS GOING ON?!?!?!?! Enjoy :D :D :D

Sorry for the delay :D :D :D <3 <3 <3