Staring up at the plain marbled ceiling a young minotaur calf sighed then turned and shifted in his bed.
It had been like this for half an hour now. In bed by 8, lights out for the whole house by 10. Yet despite his usual bed time sleep seemed to allude him.
Shifting left then shifting right the minotaur calf tried to get comfortable. For awhile this continued, the constant shifting of positions, trying to find a spot or manner of lay that would allow the embrace of sleep to take him. But no matter which way he turned the bed seemed to lose its softness. Sheets rustled and became wrinkled, covers were tossed off then back on, over and over this went on for minutes until finally the young calf threw his comforter off with a irritated sigh.
It was going to be one of those nights, it seemed.
Hopping off bed and walking towards a shelf, he picked up the clock. "8:45 p.m." the time read, Asterion stared at it with his bottom lip out in a pout.
Correction. It was going to be a long night.
On cloven hooves the young calf returned to his bed, sitting down at the edge and drummed gently on the mattress with slim sturdy fingers. What was a calf to do when they couldn't sleep? He wondered.
His eyes looked towards the door. The door that led out of his bedroom. Ears perking Asterion tried to listen for any signs of movement outside. Hearing nothing, he rose, moved to his door, opened it and then peaked down the large hall. The dark, empty hall that went in only one direction was all that greeted him.
"...Hello?" he whispered to the dark, only to be answered by silence. Glancing towards his mess of a bed (a mess that would surely upset Miss Fold and Miss Firm, maids that ensured he woke up on time for school), he bit his lip.
What was a calf to do when they couldn't sleep? He pondered. The answer seemed simple.
Perhaps he'd get a glass of water.
Silently, once his bed had been remade, he closed the door with a cautious click and moved down the dark hall, treading carefully as he went.
It was not long before stairs came into view, given vision from the dimness of a sleeping household by way of the adjacent windows granting moonlight to shine through.
Carefully, Asterion focused on every step. Moving with skill, of which he imagined would have impressed Zhou Lee the displaced prime ape assassin of the Treasure Plane comic series. Inch by inch he moved carefully forward, cloven hooves barely making a sound as he entered the larger corridor and gave a cautious glance to the door just ahead of him.
Mother would not be pleased if she knew he was up past his bed time. She had already checked up on him twice as he had been preparing for bed, now he feared a third possible visit especially when the big day was so near.
But, came a thought, the early signs of rebellion as Asterion felt his resolve crumbling, eyeing that door where mother dearest might lay asleep, I can't sleep. Surely a walk or a glass of water will do me some good to get some rest?
Well, the young calf thought. He couldn't fault that reasoning. Yes, a glass of water would be just fine, mother would not be so upset if she knew he was having a bit of trouble sleeping. She and more importantly, his nanny and head of the servant staff, Early Rising, would surely understand.
And if they don't, well...that's fine also. I'll be a bull soon anyway and having a longer bed time is what big bulls do. And with that thought in mind, screwing up his courage, the calf moved as silently as possible down the spiral stairs towards his destination.
Step after step after step Asterion went down the winding case till finally on the fifth step down-- like a speaker phone being turned on and some horrible jerk loudly clearing their throat, he heard a creak. A creak so loud it might as well have been someone obnoxiously blowing their nose in the middle of a conversation.
Confidence wavered, but did not completely crumble when he saw no door opening or no voices calling him back to bed.
Fate however seemed content to taunt the rebellious calf with creaks now and again. Every few steps Asterion would cringe at the slightest sound his hooves would make at even the tiniest of noises on the old old wood. Noises sounding much louder in a place that had retired for the night. The creak would carry off up into the air the moment his weight settled, going up the moonlit staircase, and hopefully die out before it hit his beloved adult supervisors ears.
He wondered when mother intended to have these stairs replaced with something sturdier and frowned at the prospect that maybe she had left the creaking wood as it was to make it easier to pick up on his occasional post-bedtime snack thefts.
It's not my fault Madame Early makes such delicious chocolate chip. The young calf pouted as he recalled that one time he'd been caught with his hand in the literal cookie jar.
Creak
Freezing, Asterion heard movement as he stepped off one stair and quietly onto the second floor of his family home, the staff floor/ guest quarters. That specific creak had not been one of his.
Tension found its way beside him and snuggled up for warmth.
Looking around frantically, sure that perhaps someone had seen him descend from the staircase and was coming to stop him, Asterion panicked and hid behind the nearest abutment, peaking through the arch as the creaking grew louder.
Through the dimly lit halls faintly illuminated by wall mounted luminglow, Asterion spotted a adult Pegasus mare approaching. Mane a vibrant ash grey, eyes a pale ice blue, coat orange gamboge. The young adult mare who had her mane done in a bun was bereft of her uniform but wore the standard black and white collar that bore the heart-shaped insignia that all domestic workers of the house ought to wear. She trotted on and on, leaving the west wing belonging to guests and visitors and approaching the east, where the domestic workers stayed. Nearing the entrance hall where he hid himself.
Creak after terrible creak, oh how Asterion sometimes loathed the creaking, the mare grew nearer and nearer, her hoofsteps now clearly heard over the thin carpeting. Asterion slid deeper into the few shadows of his hiding spot, slowing his breathing as the maid suddenly stopped just at the entryway where he hid in the corner.
This was it. The game is over, Asterion thought. The worst thing of all was that he hadn't even made it to the kitchen this time and it seemed already, he was being thwarted! Oh, how he could curse the heavens, for it was no doubt his hoof poking out at just the right angle to be seen in this darn dim light. Miss Dusty would approach any second now with a cocky grin, knowing (wrongly) that he was stealing sweets once more (which for once he was not) and then send him back up the stairs, off to bed.
That is till she stopped and sneezed.
"Oh! Well, excuse me." Dusty sniffed...then sniffed again. Lifting a hoof up she dabbed at her nose once, twice, then wiped her hoof across her nostrils. "Augh", she scowled, wings out to enhance that look of disgust. "Ew...", she wiped her hoof across the carpeted floor then with a polite cough moved on, hoping that nopony had seen that. No doubt to retire for the evening.
Silent, thankful that the creaks had alerted him of Miss Dusty's presence at all Asterion sighed quietly then once he had glanced back to see the coast clear, approached the stairs and slid away.
Sadly, some steps still creaked in mocking even as he went.
Sometimes it was easy to forget just how old this place was.
Goodlove Manor was a gift, or to be more precise, a gift given to their family because no one else had really wanted a house belonging to what rumor or legend had it, were owned by a bunch of demon cultists. The land this manor had been built on and sat on was old as old as when King Zack, Princess Rashida's father's ancestors had established themselves as the head of the aristocracy The manor had been given to Chance Goodlove a long long time ago and had undergone multiple refurnishing and reconstruction as it had been passed down from family head to family head ever since ownership had been stripped from distant relatives and placed into the Goodlove family's hands some centuries ago.
With the Merrywills stripped of their noble status and banished for their crimes the Goodloves had been given their home instead as payment for helping put an end to the insubordination of the once powerful noble line. A history lesson he had been taught, but one he had never bothered to question.
Now that he thought about it, it was a little odd to be thinking about the Merrywill branch now of all times. They were a family that, as far as he knew, were first cousins, or something like that.
Actually were they first cousins? he paused. He shook his head, Family trees are weird.
The Merrywill Family were family he had never met. Family that had never gotten along well with his own ever since that quarrel all those centuries back. Then again there were other branches he had never met aside from them. Other family members that were often mentioned in passing whenever he overheard mother speak native on the phone.
Then again, he wouldn't want to meet a Merrywill. They were one reason the family image had taken a beating and whatever it was worth, a branch that he was certain Aldebaran would be disappointed in.
Now that he thought about it if he recalled correctly, the Merrywill family were originally the ones in charge of these regions. Barons of the land they were once upon a time, before they had been stripped of everything and cast out of Minos for their transgressions.
"The Merrywills were naughty", Asterion whispered absentmindedly as he made his way through the first floor, heading for the stairs at the end of the hall.
They upset the Crown and not just the Crown, they spooked the Royal Monarch, the Sun Demi of Equestria, Princess Celestia. Princess Celestia had not been pleased with the Merrywill family. A history lesson that, said something about the Princess of the Sun being able to sense the darkness within the Merrywill family and their hearts; their dark, sacrificing virgins and dipping their bread in the blood of their enemies, hearts.
He shivered. Certainly just legend.
The Solar Princess had been furious with the Betsy Merrywill, the head of the household and this had sparked suspicion with the nobles that had been invited leading to a debacle and eventual scanning of the manor.
Or at least that's what history said.
Mother said different.
Apparently, the Roys never knew anything about the Merrywill family's morbid religious actions. The day it had been discovered was the day the Merrywill family had hosted the Princess and (back then) the Roys (who were nothing more than rich wealth merchants, recently stepping into nobility in those times). The intent, according to history, had been to welcome the Sun Princess and the rest of nobility around Minos to a rousing feast over diplomatic discussions. Especially since the Merrywill family had finally wiped out recent competition in the form of Dingo travelling merchants in the area.
Things had gone along so well, at least till they hadn't and a servant Princess Celestia had brought with her had confessed of some rather disturbing sights they had seen in a warehouse some distance away.
And sure, technically speaking, the Sun Demi had no business prying in what another country's diplomats worshipped. Especially if she had been invited to engage in friendly conversation by said diplomats. Minos was a nation that welcomed multiple religions after all, ostracizing none, unlike the sphinx of the past that ruled them who ostracized all religions and taxed you to death if you weren't with them.
The nation was nothing like Equestria's sycophantic cozying up to the Royal Duo, in fact the Sun Demi and lost Lunar Demi were just that. To true Minosians the Royal Pony Sisters were demis, beings chosen by Solaris, the sun Spirit and Eclipta, the Lunar Spirit, to manage the functions of the cycle since the Age of Chaos had passed. The sisters or to be specific Celestia was respected and seen as a honored servant of the Solaris, one of the highest standard.
She was, however, not worshipped. Nor was she seen in the same high respect that Her Royal Highness' subjects seemed to hold of her in variations across city-states back on her own land. Most pony dominant lands seemed to disagree with this view point but well...oh well.
History says war was waged that day. That all nobles fled the home, tail between their legs upon charging down the warehouse, ignoring the protests of Besty Merrywill, her sons, and their servants. Once the truth had been discovered most of the aristocracy had leapt into the air, jumping onto the chariots they had came with and returning to their lands. Had the Merrywill family been weaker, defeating them would have been easy.
The problem was one couldn't because they owned the most land back then. Therefore they had the most control in resources. This discovery of their dark abode, should have ruined them, but the Merrywill were smart. Instead, both the Sun Demi and various nobles lit the match for battle. The Bloody Executions Over Murdock Castle those battles were known.
Mother had insisted that a bloody battle did occur that night-- however it was not after the truth had been discovered but during. Only half those that joined the initial merry welcoming of the Sun Demi to the region made it out alive.
The Goodloves, being family, and lowly bodyguards to the Roy family, ultimately ended up being the ones to handle the issue when everything went peachy. When all was said and done, the Merrywill family had been judged, punished like the misbehaving calfs they were being, and then shipped off to some distant land in Zebrica or Thestralia. The details were not clear where.
What was clear is that misbehaving young ones had to be punished if they continued to misbehave and wouldn't listen to reason.
Asterion hoped that mother and Madame Early would understand he simply had trouble sleeping if by chance, one of them happened to find him down here.
Stumbling into the large entrance hall, heading towards the kitchen, Asterion flicked a switch and on the lights came. He looked around the large room, searching for something then found it. Moving forwards he grabbed a stool and with a huff lifted it up to act as a stepping ladder. With another huff, he stepped up and reached for one of the cupboards, grabbed the glass, and hoped down, careful not to make too much noise.
Fetching his water from the tap he finished it with one long gulp, rinsed his cup and returned the glass.
It wasn't even the big day yet here he was, nerves a mess. He looked towards the bird themed clock that sat on the checkered wall to his right. Three more hours, he frowned and let out a small quiet groan. The day could not end soon enough. Picking his stool back up Asterion returned it to its rightful place.
Listening to the tick-tock of the clock the young calf fretted on what to do next. Drinking that cup of cold water had not helped in the slightest. In fact, he felt sleep even further from his grasp.
Why am I so nervous Asterion wondered. He was excited, happy, but also...a tad scared. Turning 12 is such a big deal.
The biggest deal of all one might say. Other nations celebrated turning 18 or 25 or had religious customs for the celebration of younger ages, Minos however had this. This sacred custom that tied them to their ancestors from before the Age of Chaos and Pre-Sphinx rule.
At school, in Marvin's Academy, there were so many that he would hear talk about their big day or reminisce when it was some younger colt or filly, cock or hen, dragon or some calf's big day. It often seemed a bit weird in all honesty. The kind of excitement he noticed others slightly older than him would have about their big day, whether it had past, was upcoming, or like him, was to happen in the next couple minutes always seemed just a bit off when he looked at his own family.
And maybe, that was why he was nervous. Because the big day was coming. And as was the Goodlove family tradition no one breathed or hinted at a word of what type of Lesson, what kind of Challenge he was going to face when all the merriment was said and done. No one ever talked about the Lesson or Challenge, the tutelage that was normal for every young one's Coming of Age.
He had friends that were a few months older than him. Friends who said different than what his family did.
It was normal to leave hints or clues to the challenge one must face. Required even, some had said.
But no, not a word had been made about his own. Just when he thought he might learn something, there seemed to be nothing.
The Rite of Adolescence, the Lesson of Time or as others might call it: the Challenge of Passage, was a carefully crafted test that the elders of one's family would oversee. Even now as he threw glances at the clock, he knew relatives like his aunty, cousins, and grandmother were here. All of them to witness him take the test.
Failure was virtually impossible, the test was designed to teach a lesson. To show you the importance of responsibility as it fell on all adult shoulders when they entered the socioeconomic mess that is adult life.
Whether it was braving the darkness of the night alone for the first time ever to buy something for the family with a sum of money clearly more than needed; indulging in the alcoholic beverage for the first time and waking up with a splitting headache and nausea to learn the consequences of intoxication; being jumped by hired friends of the family to give you a good scare and make you think on how to handle yourself in a fight-- the test was designed to teach.
Perhaps it was because he wasn't sure what he would be taught.
The Lesson was just as important as the celebration and the honor. So it was strange to Asterion that his friends were given hints or clues at what they might face, while he was left to wonder. Though, then again, it was probably just as strange to them as it was to him.
"8:50 p.m." the clock read. Sighing he made his way out of the kitchen and into the living room. Nobility may have enjoyed luxurious furnishing but mother was not the kind to gloat. The living room was simple, a fire place with dying embers no doubt from whoever had been down earlier to ensure everything was in order before lights out. A warm light brown decorated the walls in a similar checkered pattern with varying hues for every square. Plain dark red rugs lay against the light blue floor, and seats were strewn everywhere across the large living room with the bookshelf in one corner, the fish tank in another.
"Hello Reese." Asterion said to the tundral fish as it swam in circles and did a flip upon his entry. "Can't sleep either hm?"
Reese did not reply, but he did gobble up the salt that Asterion sprinkled into the tank.
Turning towards the nearest couch Asterion hopped up, wincing when he sat. "Oh..." he stared at the long, slim brown and black tail with the reddish tip that waved at him from under his legs. "Sorry." He smiled sheepishly, and oddly enough his tail wagged in response.
Closing his eyes and squeezing them tight, Asterion did that thing his mother taught him to do. That thing that made him just like every other minotaur. He focused his will, concentrated the ambient energy on his tail, and gave it one command.
Blend.
And when he opened his eyes, his tail was gone. Gone, but still there if he focused and flexed the muscles that gave it movement.
That was another thing about normal Minotaurs, Asterion thought. Two things actually.
Minotaurs couldn't manipulate magic. In fact very few species across the world, according to his unicorn tutor Complex Theory, couldn't manipulate magic naturally. Artificially, it required the right elements be brought together.
Still wouldn't compare to a unicorn though. Or a deer.
This was why arcanotech was where Minos thrived more than anywhere in the world.
Artificially? Any creature with the right materials and knowledge could craft a wand or a thauma manipulation device (TMD), though it would take a certain level of understanding magic theory before it could be used effectively.
Most creatures didn't bother with the artificial route. Learning magic took time and effort. Why spend Moons learning magic when you could just do something else just as effective, like say, buy a gun?
Besides it was precisely because one couldn't manipulate magic like unicorns, deer or the odd sort-- them, could. It was not a part of their anatomy, so it did not come as easy. Not that learning magic himself had been easy.
It was just that there was no biological factor that granted the same access a unicorn could have to magic for most creatures or whatever it was that deer or they did to manipulate thauma particles.
So what was the point? Why learn the complexities of runes unless you wanted to be a runecrafter? Why bother with a wand or a spell-shard (magic infused gem), when you now had to study the means of synching it to yourself on top of learning magic theory if you didn't know how to synch it to yourself automatically upon use.
Minotaurs especially fell under this category like many other creatures. At least the normal ones did.
The question of why a Unicorn horn could tap into magic but other horned beings couldn't when the fabled Tirek (a centaur who was depicted having horns) among other creatures, had been asked for centuries. Researchers said it had something to do with the grooves of a unicorn's horn. A minotaur, buffalo, a goat, a elephant; their horns were just horns. There was no mana-neuro system connecting it to the body that tapped into ambient magic and conducted it into the complex nature of spell-algorithms like a maestro in a band of musicians.
Their horns were just horns.
Just like his stubby little pointers were just regular horns.
But his body, his being, his essence, his very existence it was something else entirely.
Asterion flexed his tail and felt it move, passing through the couch easily as if it weren't there.
He wasn't normal. None of the Cupid branches were. That had been made clear since birth. There was a reason the Goodlove family (and the other branches he believed) hired private, personal doctors.
Looking behind him, his now invisible tail phased through couch, damaging nothing.
And there was another thing.
"Minotaurs don't have tails either."
Awakening, Asterion opened his eyes to stare up at the early morning clouds. Clouds painted white and red and orange in various shades as they drifted on by.
Staring at the sky he shifted on his bed, turned to look at the alarm clock and then with a weary blink looked back at his ceiling.
Staring at the sky reflected by the stone of his room in a mock mirage of a skylight always helped him drift away into a steady peaceful slumber. Shifting on his mattress the young calf got comfy and prepared for just a few more seconds of laziness...till he realized something felt off.
…Wait...
Immediately he sat up in bed once it settled just where he was. Looking around, he found for some reason, that something was most certainly off. It wasn't the posters of fictional characters from books, movies or comic books; it wasn't the books in the shelves of his study. Nor was it anything else in his room.
When did I come upstairs? he wondered looking around. He couldn't recall climbing the many stairs up to his room last night but for some odd reason, he felt he had.
The possibility that somepony or someone had found him dozing off and then sent him on his way to his room wasn't impossible. But that would also mean if that were the case then Madame Early and his mother would most certainly be--
Wait what time is it? Asterion jumped out of his bed and looked at the time. 7:19 it read and immediately he sat back down throwing nervous glances at the door. If they knew he had tried skipping his hours last night he wouldn't doubt that they wouldn't be happy about it. He wasn't a morning person in the slightest and it showed.
Madame Early was probably going to give it to him any minute now and Asterion couldn't help but slump at his imminent doom clambering up those steps and opening his door with the twins any second now. As his mother's best friend and virtually the one that had taken care of him on mother's many business trips away from home, she would be quiet miffed to find him intentionally skipping out on well-needed rest, especially when he had learned how difficult it could be to pay attention in class when your eyes drooped every twenty minutes or so during a lecture.
Or how hard it was to lie when there was a drool puddle on your desk.
As if Discord himself had made some personal vendetta against him, the very pony of his concerns knocked twice against his door and spoke:
"Aster, my sweet birthday calf," he flinched, "I hope you're awake mister! Come downstairs you don't want to be late for school. Today is a half-day in case you've forgotten so hurry! Oh," the sound of hooves clopping paused, "you also have a visitor! A friend from school I believe."
"Well at least she doesn't sound angry", he muttered quietly to himself. Wait, from school? His posture straightened as he looked at the door with confusion. "Did you say a friend from school has come...here?"
"Yes!" Madame Early replied cheerfully.
Asterion couldn't help but stare at the door in silence at this revelation and the odd lack of surprise his aunt seemed to display at the prospect of someone visiting the household at all. None of his friends came to his home, ever. In eleven years of his life, not a single friend of the family came to this home outside of relatives of his own or the workers that helped manage the estate. His home had been built on a hill in the middle of a forest not far from the city that sat at the bottom. It wasn't difficult to reach his place, it was just no one liked to.
Or rather it was bad luck to.
And when he thought about it, Asterion couldn't fault them. The Merrywill's had played the noble role heavy to the point entering their terrain without a slip of permission or a member recognized by the family was on grounds for punishment. It had been ingrained in the lower city folk, as well as all other terrains Isaac Merrywill had annexed into his control. The lower classes stayed where they belonged unless the betters called them. And if they didn't, there was often some form of trouble.
The shift in power had done nothing to better this. With the public knowledge of what the Merrywill family worshipped known, the Goodloves had dug their own grave by accepting the land of those that feared their cousins. Even if there had been a few attempts to remedy this sort of thinking, it had done little. Allies of the Merrywill family, before they became sycophants, had slandered the enemies of their strongest ally until it became obvious they weren't going to be the new nobles in charge when the fists and daggers were called to arms. Some of those rumors had encouraged many of the family branches to look elsehwhere for home. It was the reason why they hid what they truly looked like behind illusions or the most skilled transformation magic one could get their hands on. Demons were a superstitious fear of Minos for reasons unclear dating back to the periods of when Tirek had once roamed the lands with his centaurs and gargoyle guardians. There were rumors that demons once walked the world among mortal kind.
And like any rumor or legend there was a bad side that just couldn't be ignored and outshines everything else.
The worst of all the rumors to survive was the curse of the land. Once you stepped foot on the property you could be cursed by any member of the family, directly linked to the heir of the estate. That hex could be anything the caster wanted it to be since the land itself was used as a medium to perform it and it would follow you till your death, only those blessed by the family heir were immune to the cursing.
For several of the workers in the servant staff, Asterion knew four that had asked for the blessing from Madame Early or his mother to ensure that no ill will would or could befall them. And since learning of that little rumor, true or not, from his very own classmates Asterion had always known life in the manor would never be quiet normal ever again.
For the second time since he awoke Asterion felt a strong compulsion building within that said something wasn't quite right with this picture he was staring at and he should probably do something about it.
Why would anyone come to a cursed land owned by a suspicious family with ties to insidious and malignant relatives of a dark historic past? Why would they take a risk like that? These questions floated through his mind.
In the past he had found it silly. His family were not bad people. They were kind. But superstition was superstition and it was hard to convince someone that believed something otherwise when they weren't willing.
He still couldn't help but doubt this news however. None of his friends would ever step foot here. They had said so without having to say it. He knew no one would come here.
But for some odd reason, a voice. A tiny one. In the depths of his head whispered at him to stop nitpicking every detail, and just go with the flow.
For some reason, he listened. And let negligence be his sword.
"Ah" he said for a lack of anything else to say. "I see." He looked at the clock. 7:24 a.m. "Well then... I'll be there as soon as I am done bathing."
Madame Early chuckled happily. "Good to hear you're up early for once my sweet," he heard her sweetly say. "Be sure to hurry dear." The sound of her hoofsteps faded away almost as quickly as they came. No sooner was the sound gone did the young calf turn to the familiar door that led to his bathroom, just across the room and went inside.
Putting aside the strangeness of a classmate or friend coming to his home, Asterion chose to focus on the task ahead.
With a clap of his hands the lights turned on bathing the bathroom in its iridescent glow. Hooves barely making much noise along the bayona ceramic tiled floor Asterion moved to the sink first, looked into the wide mirror and smiled widely as he grabbed the flossing-line to begin proper hygiene maintenance. Once that was done, he brushed his teeth, rinsed then moved down the bathroom to a nearby closet.
Disrobing he placed his robe along the hangar, shut the closet door then moved to the bathtub where it lay on the rightmost side of the large bathroom. Adjusting the temperature once the tub had been filled Asterion stepped in once the temperature was right and sighed as he settled into the bubbling bath.
"Ahhhhh" he sighed. Nerves from the previous night fading away with the warm water, the watermelon and mango scented shampoo and the frothing of bubbles as he sunk into the large, semi-circular tub.
"Oh that's right." Closing his eyes Asterion focused, concentrating with a moue he undid the magic bound to his tail and with a swish to the left, sighed again when it rested in the warm water.
Two knocks sounded from the white wooden door just three or five minutes later after he had soaked and Asterion couldn't help but smile just a bit wider; appreciative of all the staff that he had come to consider as friends and in other cases family. Always making sure he stuck to time.
"Miss Fold, Miss Firm?" He asked, eyes still closed. "Is that you? I'll be out in a bit, I got in not too long ago if you're just checking up on me."
"Ah, well, actually" the feminine voice stammered from behind the door. There was a pause as if to compose themselves. "...It's um, Delicate, sir. Delicate Rose?" She asked and then waited.
Delicate Rose? He pondered the name as two hands cupped a handful of pinkish bubbles and soapy water. Puckering up the young calf blew and watched the bubbles fly from one point to the other.
"Delicate Rose", he muttered quietly in thought though the words had a bit of an echo in the large room. Ah yes... raising his hand up again Asterion blew on the bubbles and smiled as he watched them soar. Delicate is a unicorn filly; She had a red mane with red fading highlights that grew white at the tips, a honey orange coat, and jade green eyes. He recalled meeting her briefly, several months prior. "You don't have to call me that name you know." Asterion chided in a mock serious fashion, though the humor in his voice made it clear he found her manner of addressing him amusing. "Mom did say its unnecessary for the staff in general to use our titles, but I'm certain Madame Early would have told you that those in my age group don't have to use my title to address me. I encourage it even. It makes all of this seem" he frowned at the distaste of the word, "forced. We're not royalty you know? The days of feudalism ended five centuries ago in Minos and I personally would like to avoid such seriousness, after all, we all share the same household. We're practically neighbors!"
"Um, yes...sir?"
"Asterion." He smiled, reaching up to a scrubber that hung on a rack to begin his bathing. "I would like it if you called me Asterion. No 'sir', 'lord' or 'Prince' or anything of that sort." He instructed now serious. "The Goodloves gave up their seat so that the Heartstone family could take care of things when the Officials of Taurus was being formed by the Head Crown. I don't know the details but given our reputation after the Battle of Babalaga, it was a wise move we didn't get involved. Our title is just a record of history, much like our crest, and much like most of those that descend from nobility and aren't an official part of parliament. So please, Asterion from now on."
For a moment nothing was said and Asterion paused in the mechanics of his bathing to turn and look at the door as if he could see the young filly, blossoming into a mare just as he would be ascending as a true bull of Minos.
He smiled when she sighed a breath of relief after several seconds of strenuous silence. "Thank you s-- Asterion. I...first time meeting you officially and all after Madame Early's interviewing and I'm just a bit nervous you see. I've never been before real nobility before."
"Perfectly fine", Asterion smiled. Glancing back to the door for a brief second before turning away.
"Madame Early sent me up here to let you know your guest will be joining us for breakfast, sir. I, um, just thought I'd let you know is all."
"Thank you Delicate! I'll be done in a few."
She giggled. "Y-Your welcome Asterion." He glanced to the door again. Delicate's voice seemed...off when she said this. "Always happy to be of service." She continued, the strange inflection he'd picked up on seemingly gone. "I'll be waiting for you in the hall to escort you downstairs when you're done." Then she was gone and he heard the door click with a gentle click.
Humming as he worked, Asterion popped the plug off and waited for the tub to fully drain. A quick rinse later and he was toweling off. Stepping out of the tub he toweled down, retrieved his robe, then wiping condensation off the mirror to better see himself he began tying it up.
For one brief second, as he tied sash around his waist and tilted his head down to make sure he was doing it right, his eye caught a flicker of something in the mirror.
With a start Asterion turned to his closet and stared at it.
Nothing.
Swiftly he grabbed the closet door and yanked it open.
Empty, save for a few hangars.
"Heh," he chuckled. Eyes lingering for just a second longer. Waiting, watching. Expecting to see something or someone pop up. Still, nothing happened.
Shutting the door quickly, Asterion grabbed his lotions and quickly left the bathroom.
Delicate Rose smiled upon meeting seeing Asterion and with a polite bow of her head the two went down the hall together.
For a ten year old filly Delicate was certainly more mature looking than he could remember. If he recalled correctly equinal races tended to mature physically at a faster rate in youth than any other species. By 10 a pony was virtually physically on par with a 13 or 15 year old Minotaur, and after that the aging process tended to slow down or something along those lines. By the time a pony was 14 they could virtually be on par with a nineteen year old minotaur, with the mental maturity to seemingly match.
Asterion found he rather liked Delicate despite this subtle difference in appearance. Sure she looked a bit older but she was nowhere on par with the mature appearance he knew many of the older ponies like Miss Duster or Miss Croissant sported.
Delicate was a nice young filly and seemed eager to be helpful. A bit on the timid side but kind all the same. Like most ponies or any quadruped sapient, she was a tad on the shorter side now that he was growing up. Height wise, she was a full head and shoulders shorter.
"So what's it like first day on the job?" Asterion asked in friendly conversation as they took the stairs, one at a time.
"Oh its wonderful!" Delicate gushed, and for a second time Asterion noted that strange warble or shift in her voice but when he looked at her with a raised brow, she giggled and it was gone.
"Really?" He played off the strange sense that was slowly returning to him. Smiling he asked "How so?"
"Well..." Delicate trailed off, and so did that light shift in her voice as she bit on her lower lip while they walked down the stairs. "It wasn't quite what I was expecting. I expected things to be a bit more...difficult, different even. Not what I was told at all or what I had been expecting. Certainly not at all like...well, this." She beamed at him. "I will say I'm delightfully surprised and glad to meet you at last."
"Oh?" He asked concerned. Wondering just what it was that his aunt Madame Early had been doing in her interviews to those petitioning to work in the manor.
"Oh! Oh no, don't worry!" Delicate smiled apologetically, waving her hoof around to dissuade him before pausing to let the young master go ahead first down the next flight of stairs. "It's not you or the house, honest! I've heard all those nasty rumors about your family and I don't care at all about them you can be assured about that! I just...well, I don't know. I guess Madame Early made it sound like working here would be this harrowing, cumbersome task."
Confused beyond repair Asterion tilted his head to the side and looked at the filly as they touched ground on the bottom floor. "Why would she think that?"
"Uh, nothing just--"
"Aster!"
Turning Asterion looked in the direction of the kitchen. "Come over here and get your breakfast, you'll be late if you spend too long dear!"
"Coming Madame Early!" Turning Asterion reached out and grabbed Delicate's retreating hoof and gave the young filly a squeeze with the shake as he beamed at her. "It was nice to meet you Delicate, I'll see you at the party?"
Smiling widely Delicate Rose nodded as Asterion removed himself from the main entrance hall. "I wouldn't miss it for the world!" She waved.
Then when Asterion turned, without even taking a step, he was in the kitchen.
The kitchen was oddly gloomier than he remembered it. For some strange reason, details of what it looked like before and why he felt it felt off escaped him.
Asterion moved through the kitchen, watching staff members trot back and forth with bowls, plates, or cutlery as the breakfast meal was prepared. Oats with dried raisins, bread with honey, freshly squeezed oranges from the manor's own grooves, and warm cookies pulled out of three different ovens were handed out to staff members who all wore smiles and then they trotted out to the exit on the far left and disappeared into the dining hall.
"Aster!"
"Oof!" A crushing hug enveloped him.
"Happy birthday my sweet little calf!"
"Thank you mom" Asterion said, looking up from his mother's chest. "I hope your morning has been well?"
Two kisses were planted on his cheek. "It's been wonderful" she smiled. "Go on and eat dear, I'll be joining you shortly. And say hello to your friend, she's been patiently waiting to meet you."
"Ah yes" he smiled, hiding the odd feeling that welled within him, "Madame Early said it was a classmate?"
"Yes" mother replied and beamed. "Now go on", his mother released him and he was shooed out the kitchen with a few more staff that were carrying serving trays that held marmalade in glass jars, Apple pie, and bowls of strawberries with cream on the side.
Entering the dining hall Aster walked through the short corridor into the main dining room where he watched smiling ponies that he now realized he didn't recognize entirely, move from place to place as they arranged the table. Confusion and concern was suppressed out of instinct as his tail curled into his side warily, and staring at a particular mare wearing the collar and uniform of the servant staff, Asterion found his head suddenly ache when he tried to recall who she was and what her name was. Her face looked blurred, distorted even the longer he stared at her as he watched her work.
She paused, seeming to notice him staring and looked at him.
To Asterion's wide eyed terror, she had no face. It was a blur, a mangled mess, distorted and warped. Features flashed as if they were trying to arrange themselves into something recognisable and the more he looked at it the faster his heart rate soared.
"Sir?" she said in a strange voice Asterion did not recognize. "Is something wrong?"
He took a step back, revolted, perturbed. Sweat began to form and a burn was starting to tickle his eyes as Asterion fought the urge to blink--
But he did.
And when he opened them again he saw Jade Tea staring at him with a look of confusion on her face. "Asterion? My goodness what's wrong you look pale sugarplum! Are you alright?"
"I..." he swallowed then licked his dry lips. "I... I'm fine" he said but he knew he wasn't. He couldn't remember what had scared him so much but looking at Jade he felt his concerns fade. "I'm fine, I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me." Taking the offered napkin to wipe away the sweat on his brow, neck and arms, Asterion sighed a breath of relief.
"Feeling better?" Jade asked with a sweet smile.
"Much, thank you."
"Hello" came a voice suddenly.
"...Hello" Asterion said awkwardly, wondering when somepony had entered and if she, he presumed from the voice, had seen his embarrassing gawking. Clinks and tinks happened all around him as servants finished dressing the table and setting things in order, and before he even knew it both he and his guest were alone.
"Aren't you going to sit?" the feminine voice said from behind a pineapple at the end of the table. "I've been so very interested in meeting you."
"Me?" he said in confusion. The voice somewhat familiar. "I'm sorry but I feel like I recognize your voice. Have we met?"
She giggled and then two clawed hands emerged, looking as if the pineapppe itself had grown arms. The hands gripped the pineapple in scale hands and moved it to the side, revealing two reptilian sapphire eyes peeking behind the table cloth down at him. "Not officially" the voice teased and there was a twinkle in her eyes. "But you should at least recognize me, I'm almost offended you don't remember me" the voice said, her eyes narrowing.
Staring in perplexion Asterion wracked his brain in the attempt to figure out who this was. She was familiar but not in the same way a resident at his own home was familiar if he were to pass by them in the store. It was hard to explain but he still had this strange creeping feeling something wasn't quite right.
It faded as his eyes widened when he remembered the name.
"Sizzle?" he asked in awe. "Sizzle from history class?"
She smiled lightly. "The very one."
Sizzle from history 204: interspecies conflicts. Sizzle was a somewhat rambunctious dragoness. Dragons in particular were actually very common, some migrating from the west into the Eastern Territories from what he had learned in class. Minos actually happened to be a place where some dragons migrated too and stayed. Usually inhabiting the few safe desserts that were under governmental protection. Sizzle, was one such migrated dragoness and as such she had been a bit of a spectacle in class the first few months. She had moved from the dragon lands into Minos a year ago and he had seen her around the school grounds but never actively said hi to her because it was rare they ever interacted.
Sizzle had her friends, he had his, they had been strangers. At least till this year had started and Asterion learned they were in the same history class.
He didn't know why, but he'd taken an interest in the dragoness. Maybe it was her attitude or maybe he really did have something of a crush on her like his friends teased. She was easy going and free with her friends, not so much around others. Bordering somewhere on the lines of a introvert Sizzle was a different dragon when she was in the right crowd. Playful, loud, sassy, jocular, but put her in front of strangers and she was meek, quiet, and distant or aloof one might say. He was glad she had been warming up in class but this...
Without realizing it, Asterion realized he had been staring a little too long. The heat went to his cheeks and immediately, he looked away.
"I saw that" Sizzle grinned, accussingly pointing her index claw digit and wagging it. "You do that a lot in class y'know? Stare. Especially when you think I'm not looking."
Tugging on his white button-up shirt to get a bit of air the young calf couldn't help but feel as if someone had turned up the heat. Maybe it was just because there was a dragon in the room. "I uh, don't know what you're talking about." Asterion replied as he moved to a seat directly opposite his guest so they were face to face.
Sizzle snorted. Small puffs of black smoke flowed from her nose and vanished into the air as she hid her mouth to stiffle the chuckle. "Oh yeah, right. Sure you don't."
Insistently, "I really don't," Asterion assured as he grabbed a serving bowl of grapes and strawberries.
Sizzle didn't respond. She merely smiled in that oddly sweet way for a reptilian of the Fafnir race and grabbed a plate of her own, taking oatmeal cookies and munching away as she piled them on.
"So um," the calf began timidly after minutes of friendly silence, popping grapes into his mouth and chewing silently he eyed herhis companion as she continued to wolf down cookies with table manners that he was sure would make his mother smile despite the lack of etiquette.
"Um Sizzle" he said louder, trying to get her attention. He regretted it immediately because he ended up swallowing his sip of water too hard as he watched those sapphire eyes turn and focus back on him with rapt attention. In a cracky voice, "w-w-what brings you here?" he smiled sheepishly.
"I just wanted to be the first to wish you a happy twelfth" Sizzle smiled. Reaching over for a cookie she paused, eyes never leaving Asterion for a second before she smiled, and took a strawberry. "Why? Didn't anyone tell you I was here?" she asked, placing the strawberry on her extended tongue, letting it roll off her tongue for a moment and then lapping it back into her elongated tongue's clutch she slurped it into her maw.
Oddly fascinated by that display, Asterion forgot to respond until he noticed that Sizzle was looking at him, waiting for a response.
"Oh uh um," he coughed unsure of what had become of him. Under his coat his cheeks were ablaze and no doubt the yellow splotches that painted his cheeks were turning red. "I uh- yes, they said someone was waiting. They didn't tell me who though. I was a bit surprised honestly, still sort of um...am..." he trailed off and watched her get up and circle the circumference to him. In one easy sweep of the hand Sizzle swiped up a bowl of strawberries and as she moved closer towards him from her seat, he couldn't help but feel like she was the powerful predator and he was the prey.
Picking a strawberry that was particularly large and plump Sizzle took her time eyeing it then eyeing him, before she slowly bit into it. "Go on" she said with a slurp of the juices. "I'm listening."
"Uhhh, yes" the calf continued, eyes switching from strawberry to the maw dripping with strawberry juice at the the corner of her lip.
"Aster?" she snapped her claw digits and he blinked. "You were saying?" she said with a raised brow, not even trying to hide the smile.
Clearing his throat Asterion tugged on his shirt, using it to fan some air over his neck. "Sorry, um I'm just a bit surprised you came here is all. It's uh...rare we talk outside of class."
"And the group projects we recently have been assigned together, yes..." she said her smile fading as she picked up a blackberry and eyed it with a distant stare. "... Did you...Did you not want me to come?" she frowned, stopping her careful approach around the table and looked at him from the corner of her eye. Her features becoming almost angular as she glanced at him.
"No no no! Not that at all! I'm actually very happy you came all this way--"
"You're happy?" she asked and with a devilish smile threw the berry up into the air and snapped it up as she continued her stride around the table towards him.
"I, well uh" fanning himself with his uniform shirt Asterion realized that perhaps he had just been played. "Well of course I am" he said hoping the banana yellow splotches on his cheek bones weren't giving him away. "I'm always happy to spend time with my friends" he muttered.
"Mmmmhmmmmm" Sizzle hummed disbelievingly. "Suuuure."
"It's true!" Asterion replied, eyes narrowing. "I hardly ever have anyone visit my home, it was just a surprise is all" he said rising. "I...we don't get many visitors up here you see..." ears dropping and eyes falling to the table where a hand rested Asterion drummed his fingers lightly. "It can be a bit sad...especially when I think about it."
Unable to see it on her face, Sizzle paused with a look of surprise and then she too frowned and looked away.
"I'm sorry." His ears perked up at those words, for a second he heard it. That second voice that was barely audible enough to be considered a whisper. "I didn't mean to upset you" Sizzle's voice clearly said, the inflection gone.
Eyes widening Asterion turned to look at the dragoness standing just around the corner in front of him. "No, no, oh I'm sorry" he apologized and smiled to match it. "I just- it's nothing. I suppose I'm just a bit stressed out what with the party and everything after."
Perking up at the mention of a party, the lime green dragoness grinned at her companion. "Looking forward to it?"
Rubbing his slightly sweaty neck, Asterion fumbled for the words. Yes, he was. But at the same time he was also concerned. He had no idea what sort of challenge his family had planned. Grandmother Renee had not even shared any kind of advice for him to watch out for. It was odd, but then again so was his family.
"Awww cheer up you!"
Looking up he smiled at his taller friend. As she moved towards him sporting that impish grin, he couldn't help but notice just how she sauntered forwards.
If there was one thing that had Sizzle always stealing his attention, it was the way she walked. It wasn't anything ostentatious, it was a subtle sway that she had in her steps that just worked perfectly in sync with her long slender tail. It was an eye catcher, and his biologoy classes told him exactly why. Growing up could be such a bother.
"Want a strawberry?" Sizzle asked in a husky whisper as she leaned in, a twinkle in her eyes.
He gulped. There was that feeling again. That sense that everything wasn't as it was, it was stronger now. Powerfully so, like being woken up with salt or a bad stench. With every passing second as he looked up into those beautiful, captivating, sapphire eyes Asterion could feel his heart racing.
"I uh" he gently smacked and licked his drying lips. "Uhhhh--"
"Say yes, please?" Sizzle pouted cutely. "You did keep me waiting this long, the least you could do is..." she leaned in now grinning and he could feel her breath as she drew nearer, the hotness of her dragon breath caressing his face as she drew near and said "take a tiny bite."
Plucking a strawberry she bit into it, then offered the same to the sweating minotaur calf.
Soaked in sweat, Asterion gulped. He took a step back and then he tripped over something catching his hooves, fell backwards into his seat and found himself stuck to it as the predator lunged on its prey.
Sizzle approached with a look that made Asterion's heart race. "I'll take a bite" he said as his heart pounded. Cheeks flushed he wasn't sure where this was going but he found he oddly liked this side of Sizzle greatly.
"Really?" she paused with a skeptical look. A adorable pout forming on her lips.
"Really" Asterion answered. His unseen tail wagging in disapproval.
"Good" Sizzle purred in a most feline way. Giving the strawberry a salacious lick she leaned in, offered it up and then slowly moved it towards Asterion's opening mouth.
Against his understanding or will, his tail grew three times its length, still wrapped in magic that made it unseen and untouchable, and to his and the dragoness' astoundment, the strawberry was smacked from Sizzle's claw before the bitten berry could touch Asterion's lips.
"Oh-" Sizzle frowned at that surprise. "Odd" came that whisper of an inflection again. "I guess no strawberry." She said placing the bowl of strawberries down, the subtle whisper gone.
"O-oh" Asterion breathed more than said. He closes his eyes and counted to ten, trying to calm the pounding in his ears.
"I guess a kiss will be just better!"
"What?!"
"You don't want to?"
Stuttering in surprise, "N-n-no!" he blurted out. "Of course I would love to!" clapping his mouth shut Asterion wished he hadn't said that.
Without saying a word, Sizzle grinned devilishly. Gentlt she peeled his hand away without any resistance and Asterion allowed it. His heart thumped against his ribcage, his mind rushed a hundred miles a second. What had brought this on? Why was she acting like this? Why the sudden interest?
Feeling her breath Asterion's lips trembled, they were so close now. He could feel her eyeing him up and down, taking glee in his reaction. Some part of him hoped this was a prank. A joke. A elaborate one. One she was really dedicated to and oh my gosh this was real, it was really happening--
Awkwardly he felt two hands grab his head and before he knew it there was a warmth against his lips and Asterion's eyes glazed over.
Blinking he looked into Sizzle's closed eyes at least until she opened them. Her sapphire eyes widened, dilated, became slits and there was a dark green tint to her cheeks that he couldn't ignore showed she was just as embarrassed as him. Or at least he hoped. Something stirred inside him and he felt odd for a moment before that feeling was forced away in a manner that left him almost breathless and dizzy.
They didn't move, they just stood there like statues, lips pressed together eyes wide and watching each other, then Asterion found the oddest thing for a second that made that feeling in the pit of his stomach churn.
He didn't need to breathe.
The kiss broke and he started breathing again. He felt dizzy, his legs were spaghetti, he wobbled and wasn't sure when he'd gotten up from his seat but he wobbled on them and found the world swaying.
"Wanna um, do that again?" Sizzle whispered.
He nodded with a dumb grin and they did. This time, neither holding their breath.
The terrible feeling that had been building in him faded with this second kiss and Asterion opened his eyes to find Sizzle staring back at him with those beautiful sapphire--
He stumbled backwards. "Sapphire" Asterion touched his lips as he broke away from the kiss, a trail of saliva breaking between them as he backed away.
"What's wrong?" Sizzle asked with confusion.
"Sizzle doesn't have sapphire eyes." Asterion stated grimly, numbly. "Her eyes are indigo blue."
'Sizzle' stared at him in stunned surprise. "How?"
The feeling that he'd been getting since he woke up suddenly made sense now. The second voice, the dark thing he had seen in his closet. Hand shaking Asterion touched his lips as he stared at the reflection of himself on the tile floor.
"Who are you?"
"Aster--"
"Who are you?!" Asterion shouted. "Where am I?"
"Take it easy Asterion!" Sizzle snapped back in equal alarm. Her eyes now indigo. "You're freaking me out!"
"No!"Asterion said backing away, the dining hall darkening all around them. The food turning rotten, the sky growing dim and dull, the paint on the walls peeling and fading. "Who are you and where am I?"
Sizzle frowned, rose from where she had been kneeling in the moments of their intimacy and dusted the dust off her scales. "Well, I have to say that was a surprise. But" the fake Sizzle touched her lips and grinned, "I must say, I didn't think I'd actually like you."
"What?" Asterion asked confused, alarm growing. "Who are you? What have you done to me? How did you get inside the manor?"
"I'm certainly glad we met now." the copy continued. "Now I think I understand what he meant when he said your family were difficult to fool. I'll definitely be keeping my eyes on you" the voice that was no longer Sizzle's said with the accompaniment of sapphire eyes. "I think I might actually come to like you" she winked.
Unable to take this anymore, Asterion chose his best option. He took off down the exit and heard the fraud Sizzle shout after him, "you won't want to leave honey! It's dangerous out there!" she called after him.
Asterion didn't listen.
Running through the hall of darkened doors, he turned behind him to see hundreds of eyes open in the shadows of the now dimly lit hall that led into the large foyer of his household and from the doorway the false Sizzle stood behind she remained watching him.
"Make sure he doesn't escape" she pointed after him.
And with a blink, a hundred hands of shadow shot like arrows after him.
Asterion's heart pounded in his chest as he ran right for the only door he could see as hands made of shadow snapped and swiped to grab at him. He was vaguely aware of his tail lashing out, swatting the hands nearest him as he ran, evaporating them or breaking them into pieces and forcing them to reform.before giving chase.
"Aster!" he heard that feminine voice call after him just as he shakily grabbed the door.
Grimacing and blinking away the sweat, with unknown strength, Asterion forced the door to open as he slammed his shoulder into it, just as seven hands of shadow swiped to grab at where he had been.
As he fell into the doorway, he saw her. Sizzle, with sapphire eyes waved goodbye to him. Blowing a kiss after him that formed a heart with horns, his family crescent, mouthing the words:
"See you again sweetums--"
The chase was on.
Hundreds of scorpions the size of a fist charged after Asterion as he emerged fell into a desert.
"Oh no!" he cried and tried to get back in the way he came, the door however was gone and no where in sight.
"Shit!" he swore, uncaring of the consequences when there was no adult supervision to berate him. Asterion took off running through the hot dessert, hundreds of scorpions chasing after him. Hissing in anger as they gave chase.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" screamed a llama that startled him as it ran by his side. "Scorpions! Why did it have to be scorpions!" he screamed.
"Where am I?" Asterion yelled at his running companion.
"SSCORPIONS!" Screamed the llama. "I hate scorpions!" he shouted as they ran.
This is madness! Asterion huffed and puffed. Nothing makes sense! It's like I'm in a dream or something!
"Ow!" he hissed as a slap was delivered to him by his tail. Asterion scowled and looked at the thing with a glower at its misbehavior in this current situation of life and death. He didn't need this right now. "What?"
"Well no need to get snippy" his tail said, sprouting lips, a mouth and apparently the ability to talk.
Stunned, Asterion's pace began to slack as he looked at the appendage and the first sting to his leg was delivered, making him pick up the pace.
"Really now" the talking tail tutted with a refined and rich deep voice. "How long does it take you to realize this is all a dream?" it chided.
Wincing at the pain in his leg, Asterion scowled. "I can't believe I'm getting scolded by own my tail."
"Believe it buddy, the sooner I snap you out of this the better for us both."
"What does that even mean?!" he shouted over the angry shrieking of his llama companion. "This is a dream?"
"It's all been a dream. I've been trying to warn you ever since you woke up but your mind kept falling for the distractions. You had the evidence, that girl, whoever she was, was not working alone but still. Even a child could have figured this was dream by now with all those clues...then again I can't really blame you" the tail grew said with a frown and shook itself with a sense of sadness. "Today will only be the start of its effects."
"What effects?" Asterion shouted in confusion, ducking when he caught sight of a glob of green stuff being hacked at him by some of the scorpions in the front. It landed on a cactus and sizzled as it ate away at the plant.
Picking their paces up Asterion felt fear hit him as he saw the cliff at the edge they were being herded towards.
"If you don't find a way out of this dream soon, your consciousness is going to be hurled into another dream if you don't figure out an exit soon!" his tail warned over his shoulder.
"Why should I believe you!" he snapped. "Even the Sizzle that kissed me wasn't real. For all I know you could be a Dream Devourer trying to lull me into a false sense of security so you can feed!"
"I'm not!" the tail scowled, showing off its fangs. "And I can assure you, yes that Sizzle may have been a fraud, but the person behind it was real."
"What did she want with me?"
"How would I know?" the tail snidely replied.
"Aren't you here to help me?" Asterion asked with growing frustration as they neared the cliff. "Then help me!"
"Remember what Complex Theory said" his tail instructed. "Dreams are magic because they are created byinherent magical beings. All dreams, in theory, are connected by the dreamscape. If that witch pulled you into her dreamscape or whoever was helping her, and you stumbled into someone else's--"
"Then I can make my own path out!"
"And you better hurry" his tail warned forebodingly. "We're getting closer to the edge."
"You aren't helping!"
"Common sense never does till it's often too late."
Growling Asterion focused. Please he stumbled and then hissed with something painful hit him and began eating at his clothes, fur and skin. I need an exit!
He opened his eyes, nothing happened. Panick set in and Asterion stopped, skidding to a halt at the edge of the cliff.
"Phew--"
"-ate scorpions so much they're just so-- oof!" and the two both tumbled over the edge. Screaming Asterion concentrating as he yelled without realizing.
If the dreamself was hurt injuried there would be no harm to the body in the real world. But every dream had some sort of impact on the waking, and while dying in a dream would simply wake another person up Asterion was now aware he was in a dream and he had no idea what effects would join his mind in the waking world if he didn't figure this out now.
Water from the ocean peppers with pointy rocks came rushing to meet him.
"Come on- think of a way out! Think of a way out! Think of a way out! Thinkofaway--"
Falling through a door Asterion rose with aches and pains all over his body. Panting heavily he took a second to collect himself then sat up, his tail rising to his shoulder as he sat there.
Wherever there was.
Pant "who-" gasp, "what are you?"
"I'm you..." his tail said to him. Not that Asterion could see him with his eyes closed.
"Me?" he pondered in confusion, thoughts a mess. "How?"
"I am a piece of you. The small part of you that knew from the moment we woke up that this was all some sort of trap. I can't blame you entirely though. Today..." his tail frowned, "is the day...after all."
Startled by the way that had been said Asterion opened his eyes and found himself in front of a fireplace.
"Why did you say that?" he asked shakily.
His tail turned to face him. "Say what?"
"Yous said "today is the day", what do you mean?"
"Your birthday" his tail responded. "It's going to be or is to be today."
"Yes but why did you say it in that way!" Asterion snapped.
"I..." his tail frowned. "I dont know. It's just a feeling." Asterion knew what he meant. It was a feeling he felt too. A bubbling feeling that made him feel uneasy. The reason he'd been feeling increasingly uneasy for so long.
Staring at his tail with the aid of the fire's light Asterion rubber his hands nervously together. "...who are you?"
"I told you" his tail stated flatly. "I'm you."
And then the door opened and they both turned to look at it.
Running inside was a giant carrot with arms and legs. He peeked behind him despite having no eyes and then quickly shut the door.
Upon turning and noticing Asterion and his tail the three stared at each other in silence. Awkward silence before something that sounded like metal glanced just beyond the door.
Freaking out the carrot rushed forward. Asterion jumped back in alarm as the walking carrot rushed past him and virtually threw open the door before rushing off into the darkness.
"Strange" said his tail. Though Asterion had a feeling that he should join the carrot as they looked into the dim halls it vanished in.
"Where are you!" bellowed a voice the two immediately recognized.
"Is that--"
"It is" Asterion answered.
"Its Geoffrey" the two said as one.
Geoffrey entered the room twice the size of a normal griffon and the male looked around. Holding a knife with bits of carrot and vegetable bits sticking to the steel. Seeing Asterion the griffon's eyes narrowed as he scowled.
"Who left these mushrooms out here?" the sous chef to the house bellowed. "Damn it, I keep telling you lot to keep the vegetables in the freezer but somehow I always find something missing from my bloody kitchen!" moving forward Geoffrey went to grab Asterion--
And Asterion took off running after the carrot.
"Get back here you nasty turnip! You'll be soup whether you like it or not!"
"Didn't he call us a mushroom earlier?"
"Shut up!" Asterion yelled as he ran through the halls. Each unlit torch he passed by flashed yellow flames and illuminated ahead of him as he ran through the halls that were very much starting to look like his very own home.
Turning a shop corner Asterion looked behind him and then "oof!" slammed into something.
Rubbing his rump he looked up and found himself staring at a rather frightened onion.
"Why is this happening to me?" Asterion groaned rubbing his temples.
"I told you, if we don't find a way out of here- we'll be here for a while."
"It's easy for you to say but hard to actually do! Complex only tutored me in the theory behind dream magic, I've never actually used magic in a dream before! I don't even know how!"
"You did it earlier in the tub." His tail reminded him.
"I did--" Asterion stopped. "...I did."
"There you are!" a shadow fell upon him. Raising his blade Geoffrey lunged to cleave the young calf in two. Rolling out of the way Asterion spread his legs and cling[/b) the cleaver fell right where his tunic started, several inches away from cutting him in half.
Without a second to waste Asterion bolted down the hall.
"Get back here!" Geoffrey growled. "I'm going to have a word with those twins about letting the kids sneak into my kitchen for a snack before lunch! Always stealing my bloody vegetables the lot of them!"
"How do I do it?" Asterion huffed as he ran down the hall. Sweat stained his pits and his clothing latched onto him as he ran. "How do I use magic here? I can't feel anything here, there's no energy it's just--"
"Empty" his tail finished wisely. "Yes that is a problem. "Oh, duck."
"What?" Asterion gasped as he glanced behind him.
"Duck!"
He dove and hit the floor, skidding along the ground. A blade flew over where his head had been in slammed into the wall his hands came at a stop at above him.
Scambling away Asterion dove into a room and his tail slammed the door shut.
Breathing heavily, Asterion tried to calm down as he surveyed the darkness. With a blink, his eyes adjusted and he could make out shapes. "Where are we."
"Not certain."
He felt his tail pull something and soon light came on.
Several carrots, two green peppers, a onion and olive stood trembling in the corner.
"Oh dear..."
"Yes this doesn't look good does it" his tail replied observing the large supply closet.
"What do we do now?" panick creeping back into his voice.
"Relax!" his tail chided. "We simply--"
The door knob rattled violently as Geoffrey checked it out. "Ah ha! I know you're in there! I can smell the green peppers!"
Three carrots smacked the green pepper on the back and it rubbed its shoulder apologetically.
"I can't believe this!" Asterion said pacing up and down, the vegetables giving him space as the door rattled with Geoffrey's efforts to get in. "Done in by my own cook. And he thinks I'm a turnip!"
"Not the weirdest thing we've been called though."
To that he had to agree but still! This was bad! Looking nervously at the trembling vegetables that were comforting each other Asterion stopped his pacing and just stood there and sighed. Here he was panicking about himself, when just over there- these vegetables were terrfied. Sure, this was scary for him, but to them this was real.
He frowned and looked at his hands. If only he could feel something in here. This must what it feels like to be completely cut from magic or in a dead zone. He couldn't feel any magical energy or even the presence of it here. It was odd, weird even.
"I'm sorry" he said outloud as the door shook violently and he flinched when the cleave sliced through and Geoffrey's eye looked around from behind. "I don't know what to do" he frowned at the vegetables. "I can't help get us out of here."
"Just you wait!" Geoffrey bellowed from behind the door, a second hack shifting it from its hinges. "I'll be teaching you lot a lesson soon enough! Nobody steals from my kitchen! Ha!" the blade sunk in and the door trembled dangerously causing Asterion and all the veggies to wince.
A hand patted Asterion on the back and when he turned he was surprised. It was a carrot, probably the same one that he had met before- he felt for some odd reason.
The carrot patted Asterion on the back affectionately and then hitting its...chest? With a fist, it raised that fist high and shook it.
Asterion smiled slightly, "I appreciate the help."
In that same instant the door broke open. Collapsing into the ground Geoffrey squeezed his beak through and inhaled deeply.
"There you are you little hooligans" he growled. "Just wait until I get my talons on you. It's soup time for all of you!" Grunting Geoffrey began pushing and shoving his way inside, but as he began squirming through the gap in a horrifying boneless display, he got stuck. Half in- half out.
Asterion picked this moment to charge.
Yelling a battle cry that caused his voice to crack he yelled "chaaaaarge" as he and the carrot launched themselves at the chef.
Geoffrey turned immediately to the sound and with a scowl the griffon swung his cleaver down, cutting right into the path the two headed towards.
Grabbing the carrot Asterion closed his eyes and wished he could be elsewhere just as the blade came down and when he opened his eyes, they stood high above one of the many empty supply shelfs, watching Geoffrey from above.
"You did it!" his tail cried. "Teleportation!"
"I did?" from the enthusiastic hugging of his carrot friend, he did.
Geoffrey was not as amused. With a piercing avian cry and wriggler violently forwards and with a creaking and groan the wall exploded as he pulled himself free.
"No more silly games!" Geoffrey shouted. "You're going coming with me whether you like it or not!"
"Never!"
Screaming Geoffrey swung his cleaver down at the duo, who jumped from.shelf to shelf and grabbed whatever object they to chuck at the griffon. Geoffrey smacked some away and took some blows head on. He kicked at the veggies attacking him on the ground and swatted with his tail at the reinforcements joining.
Jumping up onto the griffon's face, pepper shaker in both arms, Asterion took his opponent's surprise to his advantage and shook pepper into his eyes.
Screaming an avian cry as he swung widely and a talon grabbed Asterion as he lost his balance, the griffon threw him up into the air as the veggies below pulled on string as he lost balance and fell. The battle continuing as the giant writhed and the veggies attacked him with toothpicks, forks and spoons. Asterion went soaring up above and landed on a shelf, but his moment of peace was short lived as a blade went flying and sliced one of the supports to his shelf causing all the contents on it to topple with him to the ground.
Shrieking as he fell towards the sky Geoffrey roared as the battle raged on. Asterion flailed madly, trying to teleport once more but with his fear overwhelming him he merely felt something surround him then vanish just as quickly.
"Close your eyes!" his tail commanded as the ground rushed to meet him.
Forcing himself to over the howling wind he obeyed.
"Good! Now, 3...2...1... Think of an exit!"
He opened his eyes, the ground was feet away, and then--
Gasping awake Asterion fell onto the floor, startling Dusty who jumped back with fright.
Eyes bloodshot, heart pounding, covered in sweat, Asterion looked around wildly, unable to hear anything but the sound of his own blood rushing through his ears.
"Asterion!" the faded low voice of Dusty became clear as he wildly spun and fell back on shaking legs to the floor. Dusty pinned him to the ground eyeing him with great concern. "Goodness! What happened?! Should I get your mother? Madame Early? Oh my spirits you look so pale!" Dusty fretted.
"I--" s gurgle stopped Asterion dead.
Panicking Dusty waited for him to finish.
He never did. With blinding speed Asterion bolted towards the kitchen and slid on his knees in the dark to grab a trash can.
"Blrh!"
He heaved, vomitted chunks of dinner, and then when he was finished, finally catching his breath- Asterion's eyes rolled into his head- and the last thing he heard was Dusty scream.
Author's Note
Took my multiple tries to get something out for this. A lot of drafts were scrapped cuz i didn't like where they were going, but I think this one did a bit better.
Stay tuned, the birthday is only just about to begin.
