Chapter 3-1

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Kiwi groaned and opened his eyes, body aching everywhere. He grimaced as he twisted his back, feeling the scabs of his wounds popping underneath the bandages. After recovering from the brief discomfort, he glanced around the room.

Sune’s bed was already vacated and the covers lay neatly folded on top. On the table sitting between their beds was a pitcher of water and a small plate of fruit. Mouth watering, Kiwi lumbered over and snatched up the plate in his hands, wolfing down strawberries and apple slices. He washed everything down with a few mouthfuls of water before continuing his feast.

The door slid open with a slam, making Kiwi jump with a start and hide the plate behind his back. Sune entered the room, still dressed in his black robes, white scarf, eyepatch, and rice hat.

“Relax, boy. No one’s going to take your food from you,” said Sune.

Kiwi took out the plate and continued ingesting the fruit at an unhealthy rate.

“We’re having a change of plans,” said Sune, sitting on his bed.

Kiwi responded with a nod and loud chewing.

“They want one of us to protect Lady Autumn,” Sune said. “They want the other one of us to stop the poisoners at the top of the waterfall.”

Kiwi nodded again, gobbling away.

“You’re going to have to protect Lady Autumn,” said Sune.

Kiwi stopped mid-chew, eyes wide. “Bugh ahg caugn faught!”

“Stop eating!” Sune roared.

Kiwi swallowed and set the empty plate on the table. “But I can’t fight!”

“I very well know that,” said Sune, casting a very dirty look at Kiwi. “But there’s no way around it in this situation. Besides, no assassin in the right mind would attempt twice in two nights. It’s suicide.”

Kiwi tried to calm his breathing, but he couldn’t do anything about his heart, which threatened to bounce out of his chest at any moment.

“I’ll be heading out to prepare now,” said Sune. “Red will come get you when he needs you.”

“You’re going to the waterfall again?” Kiwi asked. “This is just like an assassin trying twice in two nights. It’s suicide!”

Sune snorted. “This time I won’t be burdened by anything, so I’m willing to bet things will go differently.”

Kiwi lowered his head with shame.

“No matter,” said Sune. “After tonight, I’ll take you home.”

“You think the assassin won’t come again after tonight?” Kiwi asked.

“Our job was not to stop an assassin,” Sune said, standing and walking to the door. “Our job was to fix the lake.”

Before he left, Sune turned back to look Kiwi in the eye.

“Don’t let anything happen to Lady Autumn.”

Then he was gone.

-

Kiwi sighed and lay down on his bed, wondering what he was going to do to waste the whole day away. Might as well nap, he thought to himself. Right as he closed his eyes, the door slid open once again, causing Kiwi to roll off his bed and crash to the ground.

“Blasted peanuts!” roared the man in red armor. “Are you still in bed at this time of day?”

Kiwi winced at the magnitude of the man’s voice. “You’re Red?”

“I am not Red!” shouted the man. “I am Sir Rowan Forthwind, humble guardian of Lady Autumn, glorious goddess who rules over Mora!”

“Okay, Red,” said Kiwi, holding his back and hauling himself back up onto the bed. “What can I do for you?”

“I am not Red!” shouted the man, glaring at Kiwi with beady black eyes hidden in the huge gray bushes that were his eyebrows. A similar gray bush covered the man’s entire upper lip.

“You’re an old man!” said Kiwi, eyes bulging. “Why are you dressed in armor?”

“I am not an old man! I am Red!”

“You’re Red?” asked Kiwi.

“I am not Red!” roared the man, slamming his hand against the doorframe.

Kiwi grimaced and put his hands over his ears.

“It is night! No sleeping! Time for work!” shouted Red, stomping over and grabbing Kiwi by the back of the neck.

“Wait a second,” said Kiwi, arms and legs hanging freely in the air. “It’s morning!”

“It is not morning!” Red roared, hauling Kiwi out of the room.

Kiwi hung limply in Red’s hand as he was dragged throughout the halls of the palace. Through the windows, Kiwi could tell that the sun was indeed in the process of setting. Must’ve slept through the entire day, he thought to himself.

Upon coming to the blue doors of Lady Autumn’s room, Red ignored the guards and slid the door open. “Bodyguard!” Red shouted and deposited Kiwi in a heap at the entrance of the room. Before Kiwi could protest, Red slammed the door shut.

Kiwi clambered to his feet and scratched his head. Not knowing how a bodyguard was supposed to act, he sat awkwardly against the door, wondering when all of this could be over. Sune was right, he thought. I’m really not cut out for the working life. I just want to go home.

There was a crash from behind the dividing curtain, making Kiwi jump to his feet. Heart thudding, he slowly approached.

“Hello?” he called. “Are you okay?”

No response.

Kiwi’s eyes widened and he dropped to a crouch, grabbing at his hair. What’s going on? Did the assassin just attack again? Is Lady Autumn dead? Will they blame me for this crime?

Not able to bear it any longer, Kiwi grabbed the curtain and yanked it aside. Sitting at the center of the room was a little girl who looked to be a couple years younger than Rin. She held a teapot in one hand and was in the process of pouring tea for a large stuffed bear sitting in a small wooden chair. And for some bizarre reason, she was trying to pour the tea blindfolded.

“What are you doing here, dog?” the little girl asked, voice cold as ice. Despite the menace oozing in the tone, her voice sounded vaguely familiar.

“Y-you’re Lady Autumn?” Kiwi stammered, glancing at the plain brown dress she wore and her plain brown hair that was longer than she was tall.

The girl stood there for a moment, frozen. Then she dropped the teapot and began fidgeting back and forth. “Um…yes! Yes, that’s me! Lady Autumn!”

Kiwi looked at her flatly. “You’re lying.”

“No!” said the girl, gnawing anxiously at the hem of her dress. “I would never take my Lady’s name so casually!”

Kiwi put his face in his hands. “Can you just tell me where the real Lady Autumn is?”

“I’m the real Lady Autumn!” the girl snapped.

“No, you’re not!”

“Yes, I am!”

Kiwi had more than enough experience dealing with rebellious little girls. He stormed forward, reaching out to grab her with outstretched arms. Before he touched her, the little girl’s mouth twisted into a snarl and she whipped around, punching Kiwi in the midsection.

Kiwi rolled his eyes at the pitiful impact, right before something exploded out of the girl’s fist and through his body. Body convulsing with pain, Kiwi collapsed to his knees, clutching his stomach and whimpering.

“Don’t touch a lady like that,” said the girl, giving Kiwi a cold stare. “Creep.”

Kiwi wallowed on the ground for several moments before he was able to form a coherent thought. This little girl isn’t Lady Autumn…so what happened to the real one? And who is this little twat?

“You’re annoying me,” said the little girl, jabbing Kiwi with a foot. “Go away before I make Red take you.”

“Go away?” Kiwi asked, managing to stand without vomiting. “Red brought me here to protect you!”

“You protect me?” the girl asked, giggling. “You couldn’t even protect yourself with that weak demon you have!”

“Don’t talk like that to…” Kiwi paused and blinked. “What?”

The little girl smirked. “Surprised? Even though I can’t see, I know more about you than you can ever imagine.”

“Of course you can’t see,” said Kiwi. “You’re wearing a blindfold.”

“…I’m blind.”

“Oh,” said Kiwi. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it,” said the little girl. “I’m Possessed with a bat demon. It helps me detect things with echolocation.”

“Ah,” said Kiwi. “That makes sense.”

The two sat in amicable silence for a moment.

“What a second,” said Kiwi. “You said you were Possessed?”

“Mhm.”

“By a bat demon? And you can use echolocation? What the frick is that supposed to mean?” Kiwi asked, brain finally processing the words coming out of the little girl’s mouth.

“You’re pretty slow for a Possessed,” said the little girl, retrieving her teapot. She continued pouring tea for her stuffed bear.

“Possessed?” Kiwi said, very confused at this point. “I’m not Possessed.”

“That’s odd,” said the little girl. The tea had long brimmed over the edge of the cup and was now spilling onto the table. “You’ve got some strange demon in your right arm.”

Kiwi’s eyes widened as he remembered the night where he had fought against Plunkett. When his right arm had seemed to have an agenda of its own, trying to grab Rin through his conscious thoughts. Could it be true?

“Um…” said the little girl, shy once again. “Is the teacup full? I can only really see solid objects.”

“No,” said Kiwi, immersed in thought. Am I really Possessed? Why haven’t I felt anything besides that night? When did it happen?

“Is it full now?” the little girl asked, shuffling her feet. “My arm is tired.”

“Let me pour,” Kiwi said absentmindedly. He took the teapot from her and continued to pour the tea in the already filled cup. If it’s really true, then I might be able to -

“Where’s Lady Autumn?” Kiwi asked, setting the teapot down. “I need to talk to her.”

“I’m Lady Autumn!” said the little girl, starting to fidget with her hands again.

“I see what’s going on now,” said Kiwi, rubbing his chin. “You’re just the decoy for the assassin. It’s a smart idea, but no offense, you look nothing like a lady.”

The little girl lashed out with a foot, hitting Kiwi in the shin. Kiwi tried his best to keep his composure while hobbling a safe distance away from the girl.

“So what if I’m a decoy?” said the little girl. “As long as -”

“Well I’m going to go,” interrupted Kiwi. “I don’t want to be sitting here all night looking after a little brat.”

“You can’t just leave me!” said the little girl, hurling her teacup at him. Kiwi unsuccessfully tried to dodge, instead getting burned by scalding hot tea.

“What the frick is wrong with you?” Kiwi roared, trying to fan himself. “Why are you so violent?”

The little girl ignored him, instead turning around to sulk with her stuffed bear.

“Whatever,” Kiwi muttered. He pulled the curtain aside and walked to the blue doors, sliding them open to come face to face with Red.

“Where are you going?” Red shouted, even though his face was only an inch away from Kiwi’s.

“Um…I must relieve myself,” said Kiwi.

“Ask Lady Autumn for a chamber pot!”

Without giving Kiwi a chance to respond, Red shoved him back into the room and slammed the doors shut.

Muttering choice words under his breath, Kiwi went to the other side of the curtain and looked around. Besides the small table in the center of the room, there was just a bed on one side of the room and a wardrobe on the other. There were no windows to be seen.

“Lady Autumn must really not live a very luxurious life,” said Kiwi, pulling open the wardrobe. There were only a couple of dresses and what looked to be wigs. A festival mask lay on the floor of the wardrobe.

“What are you doing in there?” the little girl asked sharply.

Kiwi slowly reached down and picked up the mask. This mask was completely white except for cat’s mouth and three whiskers on each cheek, all drawn in red ink. Looking at the mask, Kiwi could only think of one thing.

“Do you know anything about the Ghouls on top of the waterfall?” Kiwi asked.

“Ghouls?” the little girl asked. “It’s as Baru the messenger said. The only Ghouls are in the lake.”

Kiwi didn’t even have to turn around to know that she was lying. “With your vision you should know better than anyone that there aren’t any Ghouls in the lake.”

The little girl was quiet except for her dress gnawing.

“You must be in league with the Ghouls,” said Kiwi, hands tightening into fists. “First you fabricate the assassination attempt. Split up Sune and me. Then you take each one of us down.”

“That’s not true,” said the girl in a small voice. “Not all of it.”

A cold fire began to burn in Kiwi’s chest as he turned around to glare at the little girl. If they’re working with the Ghouls, they’ll know that Sune is coming. I need to get to the waterfall now!

Trying to keep his breathing in check, Kiwi began walking to the door. However, he felt slight resistance as the girl grabbed hold of the back of his tunic.

“Let go,” growled Kiwi.

“W-why did you decide to become a Possessed?” the little girl asked hesitantly.

“I told you, I’m not Possessed,” said Kiwi. “I’m the first person to ever fail the trial. You’ve probably heard of me at some point.”

The girl paused, quiet. “What happened?”

Kiwi glanced up at the ceiling and sighed. “I couldn’t kill a cat.”

After a long moment, the girl released his tunic. “You’re going to need a disguise.”

“What are you talking about?” Kiwi snapped.

“Trust me, you don’t want them to know your face,” said the little girl. She walked over to the wardrobe and pulled out a white dress with pink flowers, a wig of bright red hair, and the white cat mask. “Put these on.”

Kiwi’s upper lip curled up in a sneer. “Are you out of your mind?”

“If they know your face, it’s over for you and anyone you love,” said the little girl. There was not a hint of jest in her voice.

Kiwi stared at her for a moment. Then he stormed over and snatched the disguise from her hands. After struggling for longer than he wanted to admit, Kiwi managed to pull the dress on in a semi-correct manner. Casting angry glances at the little girl, he tied the dress at the waist with a black sash and pulled the wig of long red hair over his head, struggling to push it off of his face. Lastly, he took the white cat mask and tied it behind his head.

“You happy now?” Kiwi growled, wondering how ridiculous he looked.

“It’ll be enough,” said the little girl, heading over to the door of the room. Kiwi tried to follow her but faceplanted as his knees got caught in the dress.

“Piece of garbage,” he muttered, reaching down and tearing the dress so he could move his legs freely.

As Kiwi was still clambering to his feet, the little girl grabbed one of the doors with both hands and slid it to the side. As expected, Red stood in the doorway, blocking it with his massive body.

“Where are-” Red sputtered to a stop. “Blasted peanuts!”

The little girl gave him a gentle tap with her fist. Black flame exploded from her hand and launched Red backwards, sending him tumbling into the wall on the other side of the hallway. As the two guards turned in surprise, the little girl dashed forward, faster than any human could, and delivered a punch to the midsection of the first guard. The man was blasted backwards, screaming in pain. The second guard grabbed his spear and thrust it at the little girl’s back. The little girl shifted to the side in an instant, snatching the shaft of the spear in her hands. With a quick push, she shoved the spear’s butt straight into guard’s stomach, knocking the wind out of him. The little girl finished it off with a quick punch to the temple.

“What are you doing standing around for?” snapped the little girl. “Go!”

Kiwi gulped and nodded, charging down one of the hallways. Immediately, he ran into a group of three guards on their way towards the screaming. They paused in surprise when they saw Kiwi.

“Assassin!” one of them shouted. “Assassin!”

The three guards charged at Kiwi, lowering their spears. Kiwi’s first instinct was to run, but this time he halted himself. You’ve got some strange demon in your right arm, he remembered the little girl saying. Gritting his teeth, he turned and threw his right fist at one of the guards.

Before his right fist connected, the little girl flew in over his head, wisps of what looked to be black smoke emanating from her body. With a single swing of her fist, the black fire exploded out of her hand once again, sending all three of the guards crashing to the ground.

“I had them!” said Kiwi.

“No you didn’t,” growled the little girl. “You weren’t even using your demon.”

“Huh?”

“Hate is the trigger for your demon!” said the little girl. “If you don’t have hate, your demon will never come out!”

Kiwi didn’t have much time to think about that as he followed the little girl down the hallway. After fighting through several more small clusters of guards, the two of them turned the corner into the foyer of the palace. In front of them stood a force of thirty guards, all armed and ready for combat.

“Shit!” said the little girl. “Roaches everywhere!”

“Watch your language!” Kiwi hissed. “Eight year olds aren’t supposed to talk like that!”

“When they charge us, run straight,” said the little girl. “Also, I’m twelve.”

“Run straight?” Kiwi asked, eyes bulging. “Are you mad?”

The little girl smiled. “Not mad. Just a little sad.”

“Sad?”

“Sad that someone like you had the courage to do something I couldn’t.”

The guards let out their battle cry and charged towards the little girl and Kiwi. Heart thudding in his chest, Kiwi watched the men approach through the slits of his mask. Can I trust her? I don’t know anything about her. I don’t even know her name!

As the first guard reached them, the little girl let out a bloodcurdling scream and her body exploded into black flames. However, this time the black flames did not disappear. They surrounded her like an aura, coating her entire body. She turned back to Kiwi, teeth gritted in either pain or concentration.

“Run.”

The little girl erupted forward, swinging an open palm at the first guard. A blast of black energy larger than any that Kiwi had seen detonated from the hand, sending anything in its path flying. Path now cleared, Kiwi squeezed his eyes shut and began sprinting after the little girl.

Faster than he could’ve imagined, Kiwi reached the entrance of the palace. The door had long been blasted open by the little girl’s power, and the evening breeze welcomed him.

Loud shouts sounded from behind him as more and more guards poured into the foyer, charging at Kiwi. But Kiwi wasn’t concerned about them. He glanced over his shoulder at the little girl. The black flames no longer emanated from her body and her shoulders heaved with exhaustion.

“You need…to go…” the little girl gasped, holding her chest. “They’re coming.”

The guards continued to approach. Taking a deep breath, Kiwi made up his mind. He reached down and picked up the little girl, cradling her in his arms. But before he could run, the girl pushed against his chest and forced herself out of his arms, dropping back to the ground.

“What are you doing?” Kiwi asked frantically. “They’re coming!”

“Go,” said the little girl. “I can…delay them.”

“You’ll die,” whispered Kiwi.

“I’d rather die…than live the life I’m living,” said the girl, turning away to face the incoming threat.

Kiwi watched her for a moment. Through their brief time together, he still didn’t know much about her. He didn’t know her name, where she was from, or why she decided to help him. All he knew was one thing.

“I’ll be back for you,” Kiwi said.

Then he ran.