Fate of the Blessed
Chapter 9

Shanti

I watched silently from my hiding place as Deimos blew a fine gold dust into Amara’s face after the mean woman had punched her. He then lifted an unconscious Amara with ease into his arms, as if she was no lighter than a feather. That awful woman, Nemesis, trailed after him, a victorious smirk on her face. I’d like to see that smile wiped off her face. Horrible old witch. I let a sob escape from my lips at the prospect of never seeing Amara again. Another strangled sob left my lips at the notion of Connor dead. We were all becoming friends but now I’m all alone; I let my mind wander back to the first time I woke up here.

I want my mummy.

With a groan, I opened my eyes as something squishy squelched underneath me. It moved every time I did; I thought I might have been floating in the ocean, bobbing up and down when my eyes slowly came into focus, and I lay on a beanbag in a bookstore and from what I saw, the place was empty; When I sat up, an intense burning filled my chest. An almighty cry left my lips, and I started bawling; the pain was that bad, as if little hot needles were piercing my chest. I was unable to breathe; I took in deep breaths to calm myself, but as soon as it had come on, it went away. I pushed myself to my feet, shaking as I did so, as my bones had turned to jelly.

The bookstore itself was weird. It was all in grey tones, like the old movies I watch with my daddy. I let my mind wander to our favourite movie “Hunterwali” and Fearless Nadia, my favourite Hindi actress. Another sob escaped my lips at the image of not seeing my Daddy to watch it again, but I stopped and sniffed back my tears. If she could be fearless, then I would be too. I straightened my back, puffing out my chest and let out a tentative “Hello?” but got no response. That was strange. Where was everybody? I tried to figure out really hard but I couldn’t remember how I got here.

A soft chuckle came from behind me. I spun around so fast I made myself dizzy. I froze. Before me sat an old, wizened man with a large straw hat perched on his head. He was leaning on a cane that was resting between his legs. His dull brown eyes sparkling with amusement.

“How have you ended up at my crossroads, little sparrow?” he mused. I stood there, not knowing how to answer, because I didn’t know what he was talking about.

“Hmm, interesting. You should be in Midgard” he was speaking as if talking to himself. I continued to stand staring at him, dumbfounded. What a weird old man.

“Where am I?” I said, after replaceing my voice. He pulled himself up from the overstuffed chair he was lounging in and plodded to the window, gesturing for me to follow him. I did as he commanded and stood next to him at the window. We both looked out when I noticed a little bookshop on the corner of a dusty crossroads. I could see nothing else beyond the road, everything else was dark. I felt at ease with the old man and safe in the bookshop.

“It would seem Aeron is neglecting his job and not looking after his souls properly.” he was talking to himself again. He moved away from the window.

“You shouldn’t to be here.” He waved a dismissive hand. I moved towards the door, putting my hand on the handle, pulling it open. I was expecting the dirt road outside, but it opened to a lush green forest with a small run-down cottage sitting in the middle of a clearing. I saw a man, no older than 20, standing on the porch where he was leaning on the railing.

“What is your name, mister? I’m Shanti.” I said as I turned back around to face the old man.

He let out a hearty laugh “I know, my name is Papa Legba. Now off with you, you cannot linger any longer.” When he saw my hesitation, he fished into his pocket and produced a tattered library card, thrusting it into my hand before pushing me out of the door.

“If you need my help, you can use my library card to summon me, but use it wisely, for I will only come to you once.” He slammed the door in my face. I stood clutching the card tightly in my hand, too stunned to do anything as I looked at the space the door once lived. A rustle resonated behind me. I turned to replace the man from the cottage standing in front of me. I shoved the card into my pocket before I thrust out my hand for him to shake.

“I’m Shanti.” I stammered. He smiled and told me his name was Connor. He took my hand, leading me towards the cottage, telling me everything was going to be okay and that I would be safe here.

I snapped back to the present. I sighed and flopped to the floor, letting out a huff of defeat. Conner would know what to do. They said Amara was important, that she was different? I have to replace out what they mean it might bring my friends back? Who was I kidding, how useful was a 10-year-old? What was I going to do? Dazzle them with the rock collection that my mum helped me put together. I sat with my head in my hands, quietly crying for what seemed like forever. If I could just melt into the cold metal and disappear, would this would all be over? Fat chance. I thought really hard it made my head hurt. What would Fearless Nadia do? It came to me with a ping.

“Maybe Papa Legba will know!” remembering the card in my pocket, I let out a little squeal when I jumped up, which made me stop in my tracks; my hand clamped over my mouth, I made sure nothing else nasty was lurking, ready to eat me. I rushed to get back onto the street, the wood of the Boardwalk slapping against my soles as my little feet ran as fast as they would go until I was out of the creepy fairground. I stopped at the entrance, huffing and puffing.

Which way do I go again?

Tae-Seong

My head pounded as I sat in an upright position. I was lying on a pavement in what appeared to be an abandoned street. The outline of a fairground formed in the distance. My entire body was stiff and sore, but I still forced myself to my feet, placing my hand on my forehead to quell the swimming sensation as a sudden pain shot through my side. I swayed, then righted myself, standing there until the intense burning in my ribcage subsided.

I wasn’t a stranger to a dangerous situation, but this felt different. I was an undercover detective in my native South Korea. I guess my target found out? But, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t actually remember how I got here. I laughed bitterly; I don’t even know why I took the job. I cautiously looked about, trying my best to keep to the shadows. I certainly wasn’t in Seoul anymore. I spun in a slow 360 to work out where I was; it was no use as there was nothing I recognised. How did I even get here?

“What is going on?” I said in Korean.

I headed up the street, taking cautious steps, shaking my head. I needed to replace some clues to figure out where I was. Up in the distance, something caught my eye. I stopped to focus. It looked like a little girl, no older than 10. She looked lost, frightened. I took a deep breath and walked her way. Why was she the only one about? So many questions swirling about. I had to be careful I didn’t want to scare her anymore, but I didn’t want to babysit, either.

This just keeps getting better and better.

Shanti

Could it be? I stared into the distance. Connor? Excitement built within me. I knew it; he was just playing! Connor wasn’t dead. I couldn’t contain the excitement within me as I hopped from foot to foot. I took off running to get closer, but my initial joy soon turned to disappointment when I realised it wasn’t him. I slid to a halt, my shoulders slumping as I let out a huff.

This man was taller, slimmer. His jet-black hair spiked up in places. I stopped. Connor’s hair was much lighter. He walked a few steps nearer and then he stopped, too. His almond coloured eyes bore into mine. Nervous butterflies flitted about in my stomach as I didn’t know whether he was bad, like the two that took Amara. Tears welled in my eyes, but I swiped them away. Fearless Nadia would never let someone scare her like this. Despite my words of encouragement, nerves still formed in the pit of my stomach. His icy demeanour didn’t seem friendly to me, so I gulped, praying that I hadn’t run into another one of Aeron’s friends.

Please, please don’t be with Aeron. Please don’t let my luck be that bad.

The man stopped in front of me, huffing, a frown clear on his face. “What is your name?” he asked in heavily accented but well-spoken English. I guess he was a straight-to-the-point kind of guy.

“Shanti, what about you?” I said, averting my eyes from his questioning gaze. 

He silently pondered for a moment before giving her his name “Tae-Seong”.

Not giving much away, huh?

I swallowed again, wiping my sweaty palms against my grubby mint green pyjama bottoms. When he saw my discomfort he crouched in front of me, so he was eye level. He was attempting to be more approachable. It wasn’t working. I took an involuntary step back from him when his hand shot up to grab my arm; I gasped, but his touch wasn’t as firm as I’d initially expected.

“Where are we, Shanti?” his tone was harsh, but he was trying to appear gentle. It mustn’t be a strong point of his because he was failing miserably on the friendly scale.

“The mean witch woman said we in somewhere called...” I tilted my head upwards, as if pondering hard. I impatiently tapped my foot, willing the words to come to me.

What was this place called again?

“Err, Mid-garden, Mill-gard, Midgard!” I was so scared I was having trouble getting my words out.

Tae-Seong looked at me, then turned to walk away. I could tell he thought I would not be of any further use to him, that I was going to slow him down. I had to stop him so he wouldn’t leave me here alone, perhaps if I told him about Papa Legba or the Magissa!

“Please, Mr. See-on.” I pleaded, pronouncing his name wrong. I ran in front of him and put my hands up to stop him.

“Please, my friends, they need help. I need help,” I sobbed and sunk to the ground as the despair hit me hard.

“One’s dead, like really dead. The other they have taken her and I don’t know what they’re doing to her.” My voice gradually rose until it was high pitched by the end of the sentence, but he just looked at me with indifference. 

Why was he being so mean? 

“You don’t want my help Shanti, I’m not a very nice man.” He stepped around me and began, once again, to walk away. I tried to think fast, “Papa Legba, I have a card or Magissa she would help? Please, I’m 10, I’m not too young, I can be useful, please don’t leave me.” Words were tumbling out of my mouth so fast I thought I would not stop.

He let out a heavy sigh and slowly turned back around to look at me. My red-rimmed eyes were begging with him. I felt his resolve dissipate; he shrugged his shoulders before crouching down again so we were eye level. 

“Tell me everything.” He sighed again like he was going to regret, and I did.