3; 56 Figures of the in between watch over you

A young girl wakes up in a dazed confusion, “what was that light? It seemed to almost be real” the girl quietly says to herself before making her way over to the nearby window across from the bed, she swings the double pains open in a big shoosh.

“It feels so weird to finally be on my own. I almost never see the rising sun anymore these days, such a beautiful sight. Well guess I might as well get ready”, she says to herself before looking back to her room.

The small room is clean and tidy, everything is all organized and put in the right places, although there doesn’t seem to be a trace of any of the modern technological conveniences that we take for granted now days.

The young woman, Crystal, is eighteen years of age, the age where young people move away from their parents to start their own lives in this world. Her hair is a light pastel purple, it flows and offshoots multiple times down her back and ends near her hips. Her eyes are a deep, full magenta.

Crystal walks over to her closet and swings the door open to reveal a collection of various frilly but not exactly fancy dresses, out of the corner of her eye she spots her favorite outfit. It has a small frilly blue skirt with small ribbons hanging off the sides, the top is a deep blue color with short poofy sleeves covered with a small black colored vest. She takes her clothes and begins to get ready for the day.

While in the bath she starts getting lost in thought, she can’t get the feeling that the dream actually meant something, but what could it be? Suddenly a young woman around her age bursts through the door, an excited glee washed over their face.

“Crystal! Today is the big day!”, ecstatically shouts the girl, “what the hell Holly?! Don’t you ever knock?”, Crystal says in a frustrating embarrassment.

Her face beat red as she sinks further down her soapy bath. “Oh sorry Crystal I’m just so excited hehe”, Holly cheerfully remarks back, “then get out, get out!”, snarled Crystal before generating a gust of wind blowing Holly out of the room and slamming the door behind her.

“Wow she is such a grumpster in the morning. What was she even so mad about?”, Holly says while sitting, perplexed in the hallway.

Even with being slightly older Holly holds a much more youthful appearance than Crystal does, her face is small and round and her chest is still under devolved like a small child’s. Her hair is short and bright blonde as the sun, much closer to a white than a blonde. She’s short with a slightly plump figure.

Her clothes seem to shout with as much excitement as her personality, the bright stockings and small crop top match her vibrant hair, while her contrasting black mini skirt is a deep black layered with frills. Multiple hair pins hold her up on one side while on the sides they’re held up into short twin tails and her eyes shine in a vibrant bright blue glaze.

Well before Crystal is finished getting ready Holly is already pacing at their door, “I just wonder what kind of jobs we can get, maybe we can be shop owners, or blacksmiths, or maybe we can be secret spies, or be part of the royal guard, eeee or maybe even adventurers willing to explore the world and save it from evil”, Holly says to herself squeeing with uncontrollable excitement.

Crystal skips into the room only to be perplexed by Holly’s rambling, “I don’t think we’ll get all that exciting of jobs Holly, we don’t need to be disappointed now”. Holly retaliates with a small pout and happily skips out into town with Crystal walking behind.

The crowds of people thicken as the girls make their way further into the city center, in the middle of the stuffed market is a sign full of commissions, some for daily work and others for permanent jobs of various types.

“Oh there it is, looks like we just made it, there’s only a few left we better act quick” Crystal said to Holly unaware she’s already wandered off.

Holly stares at all the fruit vendors produce, anything from apples, oranges, melons and much more, “I’ll take that one and that one, that one, that one, ooo and that…” Holly said gleefully while filling her arms with various seemingly random choices of fruit.

Meanwhile Crystal takes a look at the jobs available she notices a familiar face next to her, “Oh hey there Sigma, long time no see huh” Crystal quietly says while blushing, Sigma stares back at her in confusion while taking a mercenary commission off the board.

He has a slightly larger than average height shy a little of 6 feet with a fairly athletic physique. His hair is short with dark brown almost black hair with a clean shaven face and his eyes are sharp with a hazel color.

All his clothing is a dark formal like combat uniform that’s slightly torn all over but not dirty, his pockets seem to be filled with all kinds of various items gathered over a long span of time.

“Uhh who are you exactly?” Sigma replies with a bewildering stare, “ehhh what?! But we grew up in the same village together!” She flusteredly snaps back to him.

“Crystal! CRYSTAL HEEEEELP!!” Holly screams as Crystal continues to ignore her as she struggles to balance the absurd amount of food she bought. Crystal continues to stare at Sigma in hopes he will start to remember her.

“Um sorry to put your sight seeing trip short but I have to go, I’m very busy this time of year” Sigma says to her before walking away, “No wait, please!!” Crystal cries out, but it’s too late. With her face completely flustered she can’t believe she would embarrass herself in front of dozens of people like that. Crystal finally turns over to Holly to notice just how many things she bought.

“Holly what are you doing?! I told you we just need food for today” she annoyingly groans out to Holly. She looks back to Crystal perplexed, “But but we’re gonna need lots of food if we’re gonna be going out on grand adventures Crystal” Holly happily replies back. Crystal’s eyebrows sink as her face sulks along with it, “Holly I told you not to do that, and besides they hardly ever accept women anyways, *sigh* now look at what you did, there’s only one job left on the board” Crystal leans up to the page analyze the writing on it.

The last listing reads, “Two ranch hands needed at the Alpha ranch--” Crystal reads off the page before Holly cuts her off, “ooooo we get to take care of cute horses, piggies, doggies and sheepies” Holly ecstatically says with starstruck eyes.

Crystal continues to read further on, “Your duties will include cleaning the animal stalls, staff bathrooms, and general maintenance” Crystal adds, before suddenly getting cut off again by Holly, “Whaaat?! We can’t do that eeeeeeewww! Anything but that!” Holly states in absolute disgust, dropping all the fruit on the ground suddenly “Well have to, we’re behind on rent and not to mention someone spent all our money on damn fruit” Crystal scoffs annoyingly to Holly, “Hehe sorry Crystal” Holly says in a slight blush.

Later on in the day the girls make it over to the ranch, as they make their way over a large hill it starts to come into sight. In a shock they notice that it’s not just one ranch but several spread over thousands of acres.

An almost ghostly fear instantly wipes over Holly’s face in realization of all the work that they would be doing, "On second thought maybe we can give someone else this job hehe”, she nervously says trying to walk away before getting her hand gripped by Crystal, “Oh come on Holly we gotta at least give this place a chance” Crystal says with a confident smile on her face, she continues towards the ranch dragging Holly’s feet on the ground all the way there.

When the girls make their way to the front gate they notice that it’s guarded by a young woman, she looks to only be in her early 20s despite that she looks entirely capable of guarding the whole ranch by herself.

The young woman's hair is short with a reddish brown with matching deep brown eyes. She’s wearing a combat outfit much like how Sigma’s looked with the biggest difference of being mostly white instead of black.

On her left side rests a small sheathed sword, its hilt is extremely ornate looking to be a solid gold decorated with various gems. Crystal nervously paces up to the large steel gate, “Are you two here for the job posted today?” She quickly asks the girls before they get to the gate, “Um why yes, how did you know?”, Crystal quickly replies.

She looks back to them with a smile on her face, “Well of course, I was the one who made the job posting, the name’s Ruby, Grand Captain of the city guard, hired by the House Master herself to guard the ranch. She’s out at the moment but I would gladly bring you in to meet her assistant”, Ruby happily says with a soft smile before opening the gates.

As the girls walk around they can’t help to think that things look a little empty, they see a few workers around but not nearly enough for a ranch of this size. The girls come across a huge manor, it’s solid dark brick construction gives off a feeling of intimidation.

When the door opens it reveals a spacious main hall, various intricate sculptures line the walls all down the room. The girls are guided through more hallways each with just as fancy decorations as the last when finally Ruby stops at a large door, “The assistant of the manor is right beyond this door, she is already expecting you”, Ruby softly says to the girls.

Crystal slowly makes her way into the room with Holly following behind, the room is more dimly lit than most of the rooms, only a few candles are lit with the window in the back fully blacked out with curtains. The figure of a woman sits at the desk, it’s too dark to really make anything out, “Um it’s Crystal and Holly, we’re here for the job”, Crystal nervously calls out. The figure looks up suddenly, time feels like it freezes for a moment.

“Oh is it still dark ha, my bad let me fix that, I hate working with lots of lights around”, She says with a smile before her eyes give off a soft pink glow, fire appears around her hand before shooting out to the candles around the room giving the space a warm bright glow, the girls look in amazement at what they just saw. The girl stands up from the desk and starts walking towards them, “Allow me to introduce myself.

I’m Ali the assistant to the master of the manor”, she says to the two girls. Ali has a much more plump and mature figure than the girls with her chest being bigger than the average girl’s, she looks to be around her mid 30’s with more softer and rounder features.

Ali’s hair is a deep golden blonde, with something curious sticking out at the top, Holly stares intently at it while ignoring every work that is said to her, “wait a sec, I can’t take you seriously like this”, Holly says while tugging on the cat ears on the top of her head. “OW OW OW, what the hell, those are real!” Ali shouts in pain.

Horrified Holly jumps back in fear, “Oh I- I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you Kitty”, Holly says in shock. Ali looks back at Holly dumbfounded, unsure how to even respond, she grasps her hands on her dress, it stretches all the way down to her ankles splitting into multiple layers. The dress is delicately decorated looking to only be affordable to only the wealthiest people. “No it’s my fault, I know I look weird because usually my kind don’t live around here”, Ali quietly states.

The room falls into silence for a minute, Ali’s face almost seems to hold a feeling of shame, “oh don’t worry Kitty I think you’re great”, Holly gleefully replies with an ear to ear smile. Ali’s face shifts from a sensation of shock to a gentle soft smile, “The day is still young girls, why don’t I show you around the ranch”, Ali confidently says, leading the girls out of the room.

The hours seem to flash by as the girls work through the day and into the night, they both plop onto the ground covered in dirt and dust, “Ohhh god it feels like I have manure stuck in my unmentionables! Can we be done now please!” Holly weeps out while teary eyed.

She grabs her skirt and desperately tries to wipe off all the mud that has been caked into it, “Don’t worry Holly, I’m sure Ali will let us clean up before we go”, Crystal says to Holly in a dull voice. Suddenly the girls get a weird feeling in the pit of their stomachs, the air feels cold but also on fire at the same time.

The space around them is shrouded in a vial of thick black clouds. Their heads feel a relentless pounding sensation as the both stare speechlessly into the void in front of them before a figure steps out of the clouds, their body is covered in the same clouds as the surrounding area, it’s face has no features besides a large pair of white eyes that give off a bright white glow.

Despite her head feeling like it might explode from the pain Crystal stumbles onto her feet, “Stay back Holly I won’t let this THING hurt us! Gale!”, Crystal shouts before letting out a flurry of wind so fast that it has the cutting power of a knife but when the wind reaches the figure it goes right through it as if the figure wasn’t even there. Crystal gets more desperate as the figure slowly encroaches on the girls, she unleashes further flurries of furious wind to no effect, Crystal’s screams of desperation start to scratch away at her throat while the pain in her head starts to become too much to bear. Holly stares at the two, her mind overwhelmed while her face is covered in tears of total fear.

The figure lifts up it’s hand to retaliate, a superheated ball of plasma appears, but just as it’s fired towards the girls another girl drops in from above and deflects the beam back at the figure destroying it instantly while making the clouds vanish in the process.

“Sorry it took me so long to get to you two, are you okay?”, she says to the girls. “Who- who are you?”, Holly quietly says with a nervous quiver in her voice, “Oh it seems like Ali didn’t even bother to describe me to you two, I’m Neon, the Master of the manor”, Neon says.

Her short dark purple hair shines in the moonlight. She stands tall with long heels, and holds a very authoritative appearance by wearing a formal black dress suit who’s length goes down to right above her knees. Her eyes are wide and full of life as she watches over the girls.

Crystal looks over to Neon in frustration, “Yes, but what the hell was that?! You never said this job would come with a risk to me and my friend’s lives!” Crystal yells out her voice still scratchy and hoarse from before. Neon’s mood sorrows looking at how much the event affected the girls.

“That is what is known as an illusion, I can’t control when and where they will appear. I thought that I was able to clear them all out, but it appears that I was mistaken. This place was given a curse a long time ago and is always covered in these illusions, I thought I got rid of them long enough to be gone for a few days but I guess I misjudged the power of this curse. Watching over you girls I can tell that you both have tons of potential, Ruby tries her best but I can tell she is getting overwhelmed guarding this whole place all by herself. Would you be okay with me training you to become honorary guards of the ranch?” Neon says to the girls holding out her hand.

Crystal reluctantly reaches out her hand out to meet Neon’s, “I doubt I will impress you that much but anything is better than ranch work I guess” Crystal sternly says to Neon while holding onto her hand tightly. Suddenly Holly’s eyes light up with excitement as she runs up to Neon, Whaaaa?! We really really get to be super powerful warriors?! I CAN’T WAIT!!”, she shouts with the same excitement as a little kid getting candy, “haha, well I see you at least have spirit, but I think getting cleaned up and well rested would be more important.” Neon says to the overly ecstatic Holly.

After the girls finish getting cleaned up they say their goodbyes to Neon promising to be back first thing in the morning to begin their training. While back at their appointment the girls ponder over the events of the day, they lie in beds on the opposite sides of the quiet room only illuminated by dull candle light.

"What do you think tomorrow will be like Crystal? Like maybe we will get cool weapons, or maybe new battle outfits, I wonder what crazy powers we will learn, it sounds so cool", Holly says while slowly nodding off to sleep. "I just hope I can be powerful enough to protect you, it felt like it was gonna be the end back there." Crystal says while holding back tears, she shifts her head over and notices Holly is already fast asleep, Crystal cracks a small smile before closing her eyes and falls asleep.