Findatur
Not many know the true story of Findatur. Those who do know are the ones who witnessed it with their own eyes, yet it is locked deep within their souls. Memories of better days when she was her true self. When she was a bright-- beautiful entity, with scales as white as the clouds she flew and lived in, flying among the blue sky. The light shone down upon her and favored her every whim, with the essence of the sun itself shimmering through her very scales. Her wings were once a bright pastel yellow and pure. As pure as an angel.
That was what she used to be-- an angel.
An angel that resided in the Celestial Plane. A place far, far out of every living dragons reach. Even the deities could not touch it, nor did they know it even exists-- who could say it did? Places like these only exist within draconian legend and faith. Faith… the very thing that drove Findatur's existence.
You see, among many others of her kind she was rather spectacular. Able to perform miracles of the highest caliber, to weave threads of light into her stitches of creation. Many other angels were in awe at this power. That was her job after all, to spread light and faith into the wayward souls of the world in spectacular displays. A smile on every dragons face was her goal. Crafting gifts, bringing opportunities, spreading joy, all whilst the receiving dragons would never know she was there. They never thought to question the sweaters and socks they'd find under their nests. Or the toys their hatchlings would get their claws on. Whispers of her power spread, all the way to the top. The other archangels under the guide of the sun agreed to one thing: she was ready to join their council. She was strong, energetic, eternally optimistic. With a song in her voice and a story in her heart ready to tell. Ready to help the most down on their luck dragon reach their dreams. It was her calling, and she enjoyed every second of it.
However, that was millennia in the past. What happened, you ask? She met up with a demon, a trickster in everyone's eyes. He was charming, knew card tricks, and wound himself into her heart. With soft words he strung her chords just right. He showed her all it was to be a demon; a slithering spirit of the underworld. The opposite side of her coin. He wrought chaos to all the dragons he whispered to. As the days passed, they spent more and more time together. Findatur became enraptured by him and did all she could to impress him, to his amusement. Truly, he did care for her. He showered her with gifts, praise, and like many others marveled at her power. She knew he was not evil. Demons, after all, are not inherently bad. Rather they just exist to keep the balance.
It was she herself who dove too far. His unique demonic gifts struck her fancy in a way it was never meant to. She started asking him questions, and when she went back into the clouds at night, she started researching nefarious things. There had been no word from the archangels in so long after all, who knew what they were up to? Would she get the position? And, my, imagine what she could do for her clients and the other angels if she just dug a little bit… deeper.
Downward she went. Researching incantations, blood rituals, learning to work and weave with the fires of the underworld. The things she could do, the joy she would bring to the downward souls she watched over.
The demon's excited praise turned to worry as the days passed. He'd check on her, wondering what would become of her and what she had been up to. Only to find her neck deep in books and terrible curses. Worried coos, requests-- eventually even pleas went into one ear, and out the other. Her once pristine, white and prismatic scales slowly started to shadow into a grey. Once she had a bright, and gold aura, now being muddled with the power she was working with.
Not soon after the other angels started to notice. They cowered in her presence and shied away from her. Nobody would talk to her, they started distancing themselves. Word got back to the archangels and they decided to intervene. This of course was not the first time an angel decided to delve onto an unruly path, and it would not be the last. Perhaps, they thought, it could still be corrected. When the sun was high over the celestial plane, Findatur found herself surrounded by the archangels. Poised carefully, she spoke dutifully and cautiously, assuring them everything was fine. This was of course a change from her usual attitude, which was once bubbly. Behind her she carved runes with her tail and an illusion was cast. Her scales once again a pristine glow. Of course, an aura is harder to mask and the other angels took note of this. But the sense of unbalance was not strong, not yet, and they left her to rest-- to decide what course of action to take. Findatur broke many rules and this was a crime not to go unpunished. However everyone knew, it must be handled carefully.
Unease fell over the celestial plane. The dark matter that touched Findatur took great pleasure with it. Findatur herself went along with it, diving deeper into her studies. She obtained scrolls from her-- rather concerned-- demon. Scrolls that would allow her to venture to a place that was forbidden by all costs, in an effort to improve her magick. The void is an unruly place.
In the void, findatur found great and terrible things. It was the in between, the unholy unbalance that hid far away from the other planes-- one could say it was an entire element of its own. In the back of the angels mind all she could think of was the joy she could bring. Yet the thought crossed her mind. Hadn't she seen enough? Acquired enough? It was risky going any further, and her old friends were becoming wary.
She had to know more.
Taking the essence of the void, even such a small fragment as she had, would be her downfall. She left the void gate a changed dragon. She held power now, power and knowledge that could shake whatever she touched. The power to destroy so easily twisted its way into her scales. The demon was there on her arrival, and seeing her state, decided that was enough.
It is not often a demon presents themselves to the archangels. Especially not on a note of peace and concern. He told them everything. How Findatur's scales were turning shades darker. The cracks of pure light that ran through her veins now tainted with the underworlds fire. All of the scrolls, research, everything. Of course he was to blame for this initial downward spiral, but he didn't realize.
She had such good intentions.
Shaken to their core, the council forgave him and sent him home. They had more pressing matters to attend to.
Deep inside her fortress of clouds a storm brewed. Findatur reveled in the new power she had obtained. Yet, she didn't notice how her scales were no longer white. Or the rippling of lightning and thunder that rose from her home. All she could hear was the ringing in her ears.
Inky blackness covered her vision,
and before she knew it,
she was hurtling towards the ground.
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Faelle & Avel - Commission for Jabbloo
Obligatory I do not own the characters! Just the writing. This is an old commission I dug up since I’m currently in the process of transferring all my old stuff to Tumblr for organizations sake. Enjoy!
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Sun shone in through the windows, peeking through the clouds right onto the bed of the unsuspecting individual who was filling the room with snores. A green mop of hair jostled out from under the blankets; soon following was the person it was attached to. Avel grumbled in his sleep and tossed around in vain to get the sudden piercing heat away. During his struggle, a loud knock came from the door. The man grumbled some more, his snores being cut off and he thrashed around in his blankets. Another knock. Despite his efforts, the only thing he managed to do was tangle himself up, and when he tried to move his legs onto the floor, he slipped and fell with an audible and ungraceful thud. A giggle came from the door and it clicked open. Avel didn’t look up, his face firmly embedded in the floor, and he didn’t need to.
“G’mornin Faelle.” He grunted, wiggling his arm free.
Faelle grinned and kneeled beside him. She looked him over as he struggled to get his other arm out. With a shake of her head and a strong grip on the blankets, she ripped them off, and Avel tumbled free. “I would say you woke up on the wrong side of bed today, but you didn’t even wake up on the bed!” She chuckled. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah. My question is, who the hell puts a bed right next to a window that threatens to fry you every morning?” He exclaimed, gesturing to the bed which he thought should’ve caught on fire by now.
The girl laughed and started to dust him off. He scowled but didn’t protest, his head still fuzzy. “Well you’re lucky it’s the last time you have to sleep on it! We’re leaving today remember? It’s why I came to get you.” She grinned at him as he started to his feet. “And~ I’ve got a very neat place for us to go to next!”
“Thank the stars, they’ve shown me mercy.” He hauled himself onto the bed and his friend promptly threw his clothes at him. Grunting, he stared down at the clothes then looked back to her face, his head spun for a moment, and what she said re-played through his brain. Faelle grinned wider. She reached in her pocket and pulled out a flyer, waving it around. Avel took it before she could speak and scanned the page. He looked up and raised an eyebrow at her, but sighed.
“Now get dressed~!” She chirped and bolted her way out the door, slamming it behind her.
Some hours had passed. Faelle hacked through the tallgrass, a knife in her hand and her tail twitching. Avel walked slowly behind her as he re-read the flyer, his eyebrows scrunched together. The grass around them stood as tall as both of them, bright golden and blinding in the sun, with an abnormally thick stem. There was no wind yet it seemed to be shrinking away from them. Faelle went to slash another few stalks down to no avail. Sweat beaded down her face and she pursed her lips. Her companion stopped and looked up from the paper, his expression unchanged.
“I thought you said this place wasn’t that far?” He spoke up finally.
Faelle huffed, and with another strike brought the grass down. “It’s not much farther!” She straightened her stance and leapt over a ditch, her ear twitching as she heard Avel muttering behind her.
“Are you sure we’re not just going to get mugged? A magic circus or whatever out in the middle of nowhere seems sketchy.” He stared at his friend pointedly. She may not have been looking but she knew what look he was giving her, and shrugged. “Look at this flyer Faelle, look how insane these guys look. I want to punch one of ‘em.” He gestured to the artwork surrounding the text. Bordering the page was purple and gold artwork, with people donning jester attire of the same color, complete with gray masks that represented different facial expressions.
“I know, you’re right. But look!” She looked back at him and gestured wildly at the paper. “Don’t you want to see some magic Avel? Professional, fun magic?” Faelle grinned and wiggled her eyebrows before turning right back around. “If they’re sketchy and all that, we can leave okay?”
“I know I’m not going to convince you otherwise, so fine.”
Faelle twitched her tail high and kept forward. Her friend watched as she kept hacking away. Her tail fell slowly, her swings becoming slower, sweat prominent on her head. Avel sighed and stepped to her side, gesturing towards the knife. She blinked and opened her mouth, but her companion narrowing his eyes made her put it into his palm. Smiling, she stepped back as he picked up where they left off.
The grass cut off abruptly to reveal a clearing. Tents stood with flickering lights, carnies hopped around, and milling about were just a few passerbys. As the two gaped and almost unwillingly stepped closer, the atmosphere turned foggy and the sky faded into a deep shade of purple; the stars all but gone. They scanned the area and then glanced at each other. Faelle charged forward- and Avel trotted behind, his eyes darting around. Farther they went, the more the grass faded into the heavy fog that seemed to encase them all in a separate dimension. Sounds of laughter and whizzing of magic filled their ears. Approaching the tents the entire area seemed lit up, with signs pointing to various attractions. A small carnie no taller than three feet bounced over, waving his arms in the air, his mask wore a grin.
“Greetings!” His voice was high pitched and squeaky. Faelle turned to him with a smile.
“Hello!” She crouched down to his height. “Your outfit is so cute!”
The smile on the mask seemed to grow wider, and an ear piercing chuckle came from it. “Why, thank you! Now what brings you and your friend here, miss?”
Avel, cut from his wide-eyed stare, slumped and plastered an annoyed look on his face from the sudden attention. Faelle rolled her eyes and twitched her tail, beckoning him over. He stood next to her, preferring to stare down at the imp.
“We’re travellers and wanted to see what kind of things you guys had to offer! Is there anywhere you can direct us first?” Faelle said.
The carnie hummed and tapped his chin, before hopping up and cartwheeling over to the nearest tent. He posed and gestured grandly at the sign, exclaiming, “How about our house of magic mirrors? It’s a classic, everybody loves it!”
Before either one of them could get a word in, they found themselves being practically thrown in through the curtains, and soon it was pitch black as they closed behind them. Avel sighed and muttered along the lines of, “and this is where we die.” A nervous chuckle came from beside them as Faelle nodded. She turned to feel behind her, trying to tug the exit open. Lights lit up from the ceiling, shining down on hundreds of mirrors all facing in their direction. Both shouted from the sudden assault on her eyes. They froze, staring at the sight, the mirrors wobbled back at them. One by one they flew into the air. Light beams reflected off them in a blinding sight, and slowly, a few landed in front of the gaping individuals. Their reflections stood in all the mirrors, and Faelle stepped forward to trace her fingers over the glass.
“Okay. That’s impressive. I wonder what else they do besides… fly around.” Avel said, squinting at one of the mirror images, and as it mimicked him he stuck his tongue out at it.
Faelle hummed and flicked the glass. The reflection stopped. A grin formed on its face. With a yelp she jumped back, raising her fists instinctively as the clone stepped out stumbling, its legs folding in like jello as it got its bearings. “You spoke too soon!”
From the other mirrors more reflections were pushing their way out. Avel shot back from his clone, its upper half emerging. It wiggled out and stumbled closer, and Avel threw a punch that phased right through its head. He shivered, pulling his hand back, he flexed it while the sudden chill blazed through his arm. Faelle watched from the corner of her eyes and reached forward herself, her fingers going straight through the reflections arm, and her eyes widened.
“Well we definitely have our answer!” She let out a breathy chuckle, and her friend's eyes shot to her with his eyebrows raised. “I remember now; it’s an advanced form of Imaging magic, Y’know how I was trying to learn it a long time ago.” The reflections stopped and stood up best they could.
Avel’s lips pursed and he turned back to his doppleganger, cringing. “That certainly does not make them any less creepy.” He saw his own face pout back at him.
Rattling started up again. The two looked behind the mirrors blocking their view to see the others fly up- only for them to shoot down with a clash- they surrounded them. One by one, more reflections formed and dragged themselves out of the mirrors like zombies. Some waved, others just stumbled closer.
“Wow.” He breathed. A small smile on his face as sweat beaded down his forehead. He reached his hand out and stuck it into an images arm, the fiery chill shooting through his fingers again, he chuckled.
From next to them Faelle giggled as one of her clones puffed its tail up, looking like it had just been electrocuted. “There’s no way I look that ridiculous when I get mad.”
“You do, actually.”
“Hey!”
They laughed at the mirror images making faces. They reflections danced back, and hastily they melted back into their respective mirrors. With sudden speed, the mirrors flew back, screeching as they slid, and the lights faded out. Shocked silence fell over the duo as the tent was plunged into pure darkness. A high pitched laugh came from outside as the curtains were withdrawn and they could see the outside, and in the doorway was their carnie friend, who made their re-entrance by bouncing to them.
“Greetings! Did you two enjoy yourselves?” He grabbed the two by the hands- which Avel struggled against- and dragged them outside, giggling. “I hope you didn’t find things too unsettling~!”
With a grunt Avel tore his hand away and absentmindedly wiped it on his tunic. “Yeah, it was cool.” He grumbled.
Faelle trotted alongside the carnie as her companion trailed behind them both, a wide grin on her face and her eyes sparkling. “It was fantastic! What else do you guys have around here?”
The smile on his mask twitched and he kept bouncing forward, the bells on his hat jingling, leading them to a place where there were a handful of individuals milling about. Food trolleys lined up around the tents and in groups. They were selling various things such as drinks, snacks, and various substances of deep fried, edible, heart-attack.
“I figured you two would work up an appetite after messing around with those mirrors!” He hopped onto a cart and adjusted his boots, his eyes boring into theirs. “Anyway, I’ll let you two go now to figure out things yourself. But remember! There’s a show coming on in the main area later.”
Faelle nodded at him. With that the carnie hopped down, and vanished into thin air leaving nothing but a puff of purple smoke. She gave a few quick claps and Avel chuckled from behind her.
“That was a pretty cool exit wasn’t it?” She turned to him, who shrugged and was currently sauntering up to a corn dog stand. Puffing her cheeks up she walked over, and leaned on the counter.
Snatching a corndog from one of the open display cases, Avel raised an eyebrow at her. “What?”
“Lighten up! You know you’re having a good time.”
Again he shrugged, his lips twitching. “We haven’t been mugged yet, so that’s a good start.” Faelle gave him a look. “So the effects are impressive! Doesn’t mean we won’t get mugged later.” He munched on his food, and out of the corner of his eye the cart worker poked his head out, seeing the ransacked display. Rummaging in his pockets he swiftly flicked some coins onto the counter.
Her stare quirked into a smile. “See you are having fun! Now let’s go see what else they have here!” She flicked her tail up in the air. Grabbing Avel by the arm, she dragged him off to the nearest BBQ stand. He let out a breath he had been holding. The corndog man gave him the stink eye.
With stomachs full they walked around taking in all the sights. Passing by traditional fire eaters, and more outlandish spellcasters, even shapeshifters. Card tricks were being performed to small groups of people. At one point, an entire herd of rabbits came charging out from a bystanders hat- which Faelle promptly ran after- and hardly anyone noticed the carnies laughing behind a sign. They were like imps, skittering here, there, and everywhere. One with the mask of a crying face stopped and stared at Avel for an uncomfortably long time. He averted his eyes away to watch his friend. A wisp of mana floated in her hand, her eyes sparkling as she fidgeted with it. The young mage in front of her chanted in a language neither understood. Words spoken, the wisp melded into her hands leaving bright, blue runes that floated on her skin. She watched as they shifted around, and wiggled her fingers, looking from every which angle. “May you have good fortune for the rest of the evening.” The mage whispered. Avel shifted closer, peeking at her hand.
“Would you like a charm?” The mage looked at him. His doe-eyed look faded and in its place bored eyes looked back at the mage. But slowly, he held his arm out. Instead of blue, pink mist enveloped his arms and snaked its way to his chest, runes formed snugly on his wrists like bracelets. Avel tilted his head as they danced around.
“You look like you could use some affection.” The mage spoke again, smiling and scratching the scruff on his chin.
Avel shot up and elbowed the giggling girl next to him. She let out an “oof” and opened her mouth, but he elbowed her again.
“Are you trying to say something?” He suggested, a smirk growing on his face.
The spellcaster raised his eyebrows and fidgeted with the sleeves on his cloak. “Well no I just saw it in your aura-”. A sudden finger on his lips silenced him. Avel slouched against the taller man’s side, fluttering his eyelashes. Faelle was red as snickers escaped the hands clasped over her mouth.
“I dunno….” Avel paused and looked at his fingernails. “What’s your name?”
A fierce blush covered the mage’s face. He stepped back, leaving Avel to almost fall over. “Erm… how about, if I see you a second time tonight, I’ll tell you.” He managed to spit out.
The other man frowned. “Is this some sort of ‘test of fate’ or something?” The mage nodded. “Fine, deal.”
The mage cracked a forced smile. “Great! See you… maybe.” With haste he twirled his robe and vanished in a massive cloud of blue smoke.
The two coughed violently from his exit, before Faelle busted out in a fit of laughter. Avel rolled his eyes at his friend clutching her stomach and practically falling over. “Wow! You laid it on thick!” She cackled louder and threw a rough punch to his arm.
He flinched from the blow and chuckled with her, rubbing his arm. “Do you think I properly scared him off?”
She stopped and gasped, shaking her head. “No! You might actually have a chance!”
“I doubt that sincerely. I only did it because he walked into it.”
Their display had attracted the attention of some passerby’s, who shuffled by and tried their best to avert their gaze. Some were laughing. Avel started to grit his teeth, Faelle’s giggles being drowned out by the sound of the crowd around them talking. Darting his eyes around he saw carnies camouflaging and lurking around the rooftops. He felt he had never turned on his feet faster, gesturing for his friend to follow, who was still grinning foolishly. They took some off-road turns around tents and over fences and bushes. Faelle had quieted down noticing her friends tense shoulders. After some walking they ended up in the back of the carnival grounds. Avel sighed and slumped against a wall, his eyes closed. Faelle put her hand on his shoulder and jostled him a little. “Did you get nervous?” She spoke gently.
“Mmhm.” He rubbed his face with his hand. “Saw the little muggers coming after us, and we had caused a bit of a scene.”
They sat and breathed for a moment. Faelle patted him on the shoulder and proceeded to look around. In front of them was a light grey brick wall that looked unending in each direction. Vines traced the walls and all lead into a massive clump- with an obscure opening behind it. She nudged her companion and he squinted at it, his eyes shifting around as she went over. Brushing back some of the vines revealed a faded wooden sign, covered in dust, which Faelle took to clearing away. It stated in red paint: OUT OF ORDER. Under it there was the word “maze” that was slightly scratched out. Sifting past more of the plants, it looked like an abandoned graveyard inside, with victorian-like architecture and more foliage revealed by torchlight.
“Hey~ what do you think is in there?” She stuck her head in further.
“It’s out of order for a reason you know.” He said, leaning over her shoulder. “It could be another one of their tricks! We should go in and have a look around.”
Avel crossed his arms and gave her a pointed look. “It is out of order Faelle, it looks creepy and I doubt anyone still goes in there.” He stepped back, shaking his head and scowling.
“Look, yes, this whole place is a little sketchy, but it’s nothing we can’t handle!” She exclaimed. “Besides the torches are lit!” Avel opened his mouth to protest, but Faelle put her hands on her hips and, smugly, took one step backwards so she was fully enclosed in vines. Protest dying in his throat, he sighed and trudged in after her.
“I really have to stop letting you drag me places.”
They creeped in further. Old vines and cobwebs tickled Avel’s shoulders, and he went to brush them off only to kick up grime hanging from the plants. His companion squinted at the amount of dust and brushed her hand over the walls. They turned out to actually be a dark, almost black, grey. She sneezed as the dust floated down to her level, wiping her nose as she turned the corner to a dead end. There, in the corner barely visible from the torch at the end of the hall, was a skeleton. Yellowed ivory stains covered the bones. Faelle staggered back and flung her hand over her mouth.
Avel grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her into him, humming. “You think it’s a prop?”
“It looks pretty real to me….” She shrugged him away and crouched forward. The bones appeared more and more rugged as she got closer, and peering over it in the light there was no familiar shine of plastic.
“Maybe that’s why it’s out of order, someone died in here.” Eyes darting toward the entrance, he slumped against the wall behind him. “That’s a sign that we should, y’know, leave now.”
Faelle scooted backwards. Her ears pressed against her head as she turned away, about to round the corner with her friend. Clicking came from behind them. Then popping. The duo looked and stopped cold. Click, tap, pop, creak, the skeleton made its way to its feet, and was tap dancing its way over. Complete with a top hat which it pulled from behind its back.
Avel and Faelle proceeded to book it through the maze. “Oh hell no, I am NOT doing this today!” Avel shouted. Faelle picked up a rock and chucked it at the bones as they rounded another corner, almost slipping and smacking into a wall.
They ran through a four way intersection, down a small flight of stairs, deeper into the maze. Roses grew on the walls the further they went, and they slowed down to not prick themselves on the many thorns now surrounding them. The dark sky that could be seen above them was completely blotted out with vines by the time they reached another turn. They peered behind one of the three turns they could make- a wall of thorns suddenly sprouted off the walls behind them. Completely blocking their exit. They leapt back and immediately turned to their choices. A moment passed of silence and gritted teeth. A glint came from one of the pitch black hallways. Glancing at each other, the duo decided to proceed that way.
“I told you it was a bad idea to come in here.” Avel said, cringing as he glanced behind them. In response Faelle absentmindedly rubbed her arms.
Suddenly the corridor in front of them went dark. Clicking and tapping came from the distance and echoed off the walls, coming closer and closer. Familiar popping of limbs filled their ears. They scrambled back only to knock against the thorn wall, letting out yelps, as a bony foot came into the light. Coming into view was the skeleton from earlier, with a permanent smile on his face and the top hat now on his head, twirling a cane in his fingers. He tipped his hat. “Hello!” Before anyone knew it, he had his grin in their faces, holding a hand out. “I’m Stan the Stand-Up-Skeleton-Man! Boy, you two sure are rude, running from me like that earlier!”
Slowly, Faelle smiled, reached out, and shook his hand, which ended up being much more forceful then she expected. “We’re so sorry about that! We’re kind of on edge right now.” Avel shuffled away as much as he could, staring at the magic talking skeleton with a rigid stance. He completely ignored the hand gestured towards him, muttering along the lines of “what kind of name is Stan anyw-'' before a palm smacked over his face cut him off. The skeleton took his hand anyway, shaking it gleefully.
“That just won’t do! I know, it’s probably because you’re down here. I’m used to it because I’ve been here for hundreds of years but it’s probably very dreary for you two! Come, let me show you the way out!” He jumped ahead of them without warning. The thorns opened up for him and he strode into one of the dark corridors, gesturing for them to follow. Like the thorns, the torches too reacted, lighting the way for them.
Despite himself, Avel was looking the skeleton over and wondering. “So you’re a stand-up? You tell jokes?”
“Oh yes! We’d love to hear some!” Faelle chirped, looking at the skeleton with a now huge grin as she jumped to his side.
“Indeed I am a comedian! Although, I’ve been down here a while… I’m afraid I’m not quite as -humerus- as I used to be.”
Silence, and the sound of two pairs of footsteps where the skeleton expected a ba-dum-tss to be. His never ending grin quirked higher. The third pair of footsteps, Avel, stopped behind them, and if the skeleton could feel he would feel Avel’s breathing down his neck. His face was in a disapproving scowl as Faelle bit her lip to try and hide her smile.
“I regret asking.” “Avel seems to think you don’t have a funny bone in your body!”
“That’s it, I’m done. I might as well go live out the rest of my existence with whatever other talking skeletons are down here. I’m sure they can at least tell better jokes.
Stan let out a loud guffaw. “Nonsense! The other skeletons down here don’t appreciate my jokes either, they don’t have a sense of humor!” He shook his head as he led them down another path. With a tap of his feet, a tile under him was pressed down like a button, and the sound of grinding stone rumbled through the corridor. Light could finally be seen at the end.. “Besides, we’re almost there.”
Begrudgingly the green haired grump kept following them, all while Faelle was laughing and pinching his arm. More moonlight filtered in. As they neared the exit, the thorns and vines also thinned, leaving a not so dusty grey wall. It almost looked polished. Stan kept cracking bad puns as they stepped into the sunlight. He stopped his jokes only to gesture wildly as tents and carnies came into their vision. They had exited right in the middle of the carnival. A fountain sat next to the hole that had just opened in the ground. The carnies were all wearing frowns as Stan wiped the dust off himself. Avel heaved a sigh of relief and slumped back, warily watching the small clowns, while Faelle busied herself with thanking the skeleton and inspecting the hidden door.
One of the carnies stepped forward. “Why, hello! What is all this?”
“Ha- well, we found this place and were really curious- “ Faelle was cut off.
“It feels so good to be out of there!” Stan exclaimed, cracking his bones. “The better question is why did you close it down at all! It gets so boring!”
“Yeah! It was really cool, I’m sure there was a lot of stuff we didn’t get to see!” A loud cackle followed. One of the carnies was doubled over, another one snickering next to him. A pink glow materialized in the snickering one’s hand, writhing its way over to Stan, he was enveloped in the mist and lifted up into the air- a loud “wheee!” came from the skeleton. Avel finally looked up from scowling in the corner, his lips parting open and a sparkle flashed through his eyes, but as he looked down at the carnies his knuckles tightened.
“You guys should of seen the looks on your faces!” The carnie cackled. Stan was being twirled in the air like a puppet on strings, giggling. Avel squinted at the display and piped up. “So, are those skeletons down there actually real?” Stan was twirled in the air as another carnie spoke. “Indeedy they’re real alright! They have been down there for who knows how long.”
Faelle paused from her wonderment and turned away from Stan, her ears flicking. “Wait so, you’ve been using them as props…?”
“They love it!” As they spoke, the mist around Stan faded, and the skeleton slammed onto the ground with a grunt, his skull popping off. “We give them life again. They haven’t been out in a while though! They usually stay down there. But they’re perfect for playing pranks!”
“That seems kind of mean….” Faelle muttered, looking at the now flattened skeleton. She crouched down and started pulling him up to his feet, which he smiled at her and promptly re-attached his head.
Before anyone knew it, Avel was standing in front of the carnies, glaring down at them. He smiled lazily and socked one of them in the face. They flew back only to crash into the others.
“Avel!”
He looked back to his friend and shrugged. “I told you I wanted to punch one of them. Re-animating the dead is kind of creepy.”
One by one, the purple bowling pins got to their feet. All their masks wore smiles now as they rubbed their head and turned to the perpetrator. Avel nudged his head in the direction of the exit to Faelle, before briskly walking away. Gaping, Faelle threw herself to her feet and flung Stan over her shoulders, running after them, while giggling started behind them.
The carnies had charged. Waving their wands and stamping their feet, they threw bolts and mists of various colors at the duo. “Welcome to the Main Event!” They hooted and hollered. Avel started running now. They both weaved and dodged the bullets. Somehow, not one had hit. Passerby’s leapt out of the way and turned their heads as carnie’s shot fireworks into the air.
“What were you thinking?” Faelle scolded from beside him. Her teeth gritting when a flash went by her face, Her friend was smiling and looked back, giving the carnies a salute before completely gunning for the exit. A woman yelled, and Faelle was pulled out of her intense glare. SLAM, they crashed into each other. Faelle skirted and rolled her ankle, barely catching herself. Her eyes widened and she reached for the woman, grabbing her arm before she could completely hit the ground. Mouth opening, the carnie's laughter cut her off.
Stan suddenly jumped off her shoulders. “I’ll help her!” He loudly proclaimed, pushing Faelle forward.
She started running again, and when she looked back, Stan had already brought the dazed woman to a seat. Smiling apologetically to her and to everyone else who was staring as she passed. But, not looking where she was running, she slammed right into Avel’s back. The man almost toppled under the sudden force, grabbing his friend by the shoulders, he scowled. Faelle squinted at him, a silent question, and he gestured in front of them. Carnie’s were surrounding them. All were laughing. Fireworks still flew into the air.
“Okay, what do we do?” Faelle squeaked.
Avel’s eyes scanned the crowd and landed on the wizard from earlier. With a lazy smile he waved his hand. The wizard jolted. He shuffled his feet, moving to turn away, only to pause and sigh. Following his gaze, Faelle elbowed Avel in the side and squinted at him. He waved her off, gesturing to the situation around them while giving the wizard a wink. All of the patrons of the carnival were staring and chuckling. The carnies drowned them all out, laughing and shooting fireworks, dancing around them.
Rolling his eyes, the wizard nodded to Avel. With a wave of his hands, blue mist swirled in front of the two, lightning crackling among it. Faelle reached forward only to have her hand jolted, but she shuffled closer. Surrounding them the carnies paused and their masks flipped upside down.
The cracking of lightning got louder. Faelle gaped as the magic mass formed a circular shape. “Is he making a portal?” She shouted. The shifting colors opened finally, revealing a village on the other side.
“Guess so!” He gave the wizard another wave and winked.
Fizzing and crackling, the image in the portal was almost fully formed. One of the carnies leaned forward and moved their head around, before cackling. “Now is not the time to be flirting Avel!”
From the crowd burst Stan, waving his arms. Patrons shouted from the sudden skeleton, leaping back, as he pushed his way into the circle. “Goodbye!” Carnies glared at the intrusion and ran forward. Closing in, the portal zapped open. With one last wink to the wizard, Faelle laughed, grabbing his arm and hauling him to the other side.
They crashed onto the pavement. When they looked up, it looked as if nothing was ever there. The sun was back. Townsfolk looked up from their tasks, sighing, some stepping forward to get a close look at the scene. From one of the market buildings came “did that wizard poof someone in here again?”
Faelle rolled on the ground giggling. “That was awesome!”
Her companion rubbed his head, his face scrunched. All he could do was chuckle. “Yeah. Next time I’m choosing where we go. Somewhere less creepy okay?” He stood up and brushed off his tunic, grabbing his friends outstretched hand.
She hopped up and waved to the disgruntled people, and then ruffled Avel’s hair before she ran off. “Sure! Now let’s go find an inn!”
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