Souls vs Blood 9

Souls vs Blood 9

After Harold left, Rebecca ordered James about. But because it was for Alice, James willingly and obediently obliged. Harold on the other hand, forgot about whatever training he had (and not to mention how much he needed it since our dear James managed to KO him with one little punch to the tummy...) in the morning and instead, went to Eunice's house in search of her grandmother. Eunice's grandmother was Sarah's master. A healing master. She would know of things such as these. She was the only one that could possible know. If she didn't... Harold could only hope the glitter was something good and not something bad.

Eunice's house was high in the mountains. Her grandmother lived in a treehouse up a tree. She did not require human souls to survive as she had great healing powers and techniques that she took years and years to perfect. Harold took the little short cut he and his gang always took when going to Eunice's house - a nest lift. Through a tight passage, (Eunice's family members were all rather small...) a lobby with a big nest in it will appear. All one had to do was to look the bird in her eye, (the bird is humongous btw), gain her trust, and let yourself in (sometimes with her eggs.  The bird was Eunice's Grandmother's bird. No one really knows how she grew so big except for Eunice's Granny of course. Harold was making an unannounced visit, so the bird wasn't too agreeable to let him on, but since the bird recognised Harold, she obliged. Harold gently sat down by the side of the nest, and grabbed on to a bunch of twigs that stuck out and acted as handles.

He embraced himself.

The nest rose up at a mega fast speed.

Harold closes his eyes and squints for about 50 seconds as he felt the pressure pressing on him. The bird gave him some cover but it was still scary to him. Weak kid. Well, at the top, the bird squawked. Harold slowly relaxed his eyes. Blinked twice, then started relaxing his tightened muscles from fingers to arms to legs. He got out rather slowly to the Bird's annoyance. This was only the way up, not the way down, so the nest promptly dropped back to the ground level.

Harold took a moment to shake himself out of the ride. As he did so, a little jar came out to greet him.

"Ha-Ha-Ha-Harold! It's Master Harold! Why! We haven't seen you in about 197,280 minutes!"
*Oh, it's minutes today* thought Harold to himself.
The Jar sloshed about in a jolly mood.
"Oh Oh OH! What a joyful occasion! Madam Squavox! Do see for yourself! Come! Come Harold! I must let my mistress meet you!"

Squavox. That was Eunice's Granny's name. Not her real one but the one she goes by. Harold followed the overly excited Jar to a little square tiled platform. With a little jig, the jar seemed to have triggered a switch. The clouds parted and revealed a falling staircase that stopped right at the platform. Harold stepped on it, and it moved back up again, the clouds falling back in place.

"You didn't inform us of your arrival Master Harold! If you had, I could have prepared your favourite tea!"
"Sorry Jar, an issue suddenly came up and I have questions that I need answers to, preferably immediately. Mrs Squavox is available?"
"Oh yes yes. She is very very free at this moment. For you, she will always be."

Eunice's grandmother has taken a liking to Harold. Ever since he was a tiny tiny baby. Though at first Harold didn't know if it was a good thing because of the bitter tonics and slimy kisses, but now, he was grateful.
They reached the top.
"Lead me to her. Thanks Jar."
"Oh, it is never a problem Master Harold" (Well, her magical objects seem to share her feelings so they do quite like Harold.)
He walked on the soft ground that felt a bit like grass, but not prickly, just marshmallow-ish. Custom made floor that floats. Apparently Eunice's grandpa liked this certain material and this floor was made to feel like it.

A little forwards and Eunice's Grandmother's voice could be heard.

"Questions you say?"
Harold smiled when he heard her voice. She sounded happy.
"Mrs Squavox, I need your help!"
"Harold my dear, I shall answer your questions in due time. But first, JAR!"
Eunice's Grandmother finally appeared, a small figure coming closer from a far.
"Yes MA'AM!"
"Give little Harold a wash won't you?"
It was a little ritual you had to do when you came here. Madam Squavox hated impurities.
"ROGER!"
The Jar opened it's cork with a pop and sloshed a little bit of it's liquid onto Harold. The liquid turned gooey and started to work it's way down from Harold's hair to inside his shoes. Harold shuffled about because it was ticklish. Then it bounced away probably to rid itself of whatever impurities it collected.
"DONE!" screamed the Jar.
Madam Squavox then took Harold's hand and led him to a tea table.
After offering him a cookie, she spoke.
"Tell me, what question do you have for  me today?"
Harold used to come here for answers all the time. She was used to it.
"Mrs Squavox, this time it's a little different. I have this... umm... (I guess I could call her a) friend. I accidentally absorbed too much of her soul at one go --"
"A human friend!" Madam Squavox smiled.
"Uhh... yeah. She's human --"
"And she's a girl!" Madam Squavox teased.
Harold bashfully continued, "So we all thought she wasn't going to make it. But then something I had never seen before happened."
Madam Squavox became serious.
"When the clock struck 12 --"
"Oh, just like Cinderella!" Madam Squavox butted in a bit.
"A glittering thing appeared on top of the girl --"
Madam Squavox put a finger to her lips.
"Repeat that with greater details. Glitter you say?"
"It was sparkling. As if someone sprinkled glitter over her. They danced about for a moment before falling and upon touching her, they disappeared! We all hope it is some regenerative thing but no one knew. So I came to you. Is it a good thing? Or a bad thing?"
"Harold dear..."
"Yes Granny Squavox?"
"Do not tell anyone about the glitter. If you care for that friend of yours, do not tell anyone about it."
"Why?"
Madam Squavox thought hard. Harold impatiently waited.
"At twelve you meant the time when night changes to day yes?"
"Yes Granny Squavox"
More silence followed.
Harold fidgeted.
"Harold dear, what you saw was the effect of a spell."
"A spell?"
"It is a forbidden spell. One that causes the caster to die once it has been cast"
Harold was speechless for quite some time. Who would have cast such a spell? What are the effects of that spell? Was Alice okay?
"There was once, when a powerful wizard fell in love with a human. The wizard hated herself for absorbing the soul of the human every time they met. She ran away from him and secluded herself in some cave away from civilization. There, she cultivated this spell. She asked a fellow wizard to test it out for her... And that wizard died once the spell had been cast. The wizard was ashamed of herself. Should she have cast the spell herself, her friend would not have died. Now she knew that the cost was death. She could not bring herself to kill another wizard so as to cast this spell on the human she loved. In her miserable state, she went to sneak a peek at the human she loved. He was heartbroken and drunk in a bar. As she stalked him home from a distance, a group of soul suckers appeared and were approaching the human she loved. She panicked. Before they could reach him, she showed herself. However, she was no match for the group of soul suckers. They lost interest in the human though. As he went to her and cradled her, she could feel that his soul was almost gone and that she was absorbing even more of it. She cast the spell on the human and died in his arms, with a smile. Soon, it was 12 in the morning and the human... Yes, this spell has regenerative powers. The human replenished his soul. In his case, his soul went to almost zero before coming all the way back up so he lost his memories of the soul sucker wizard. After waking up in the hospital, he didn't remember certain parts of his life, including his love for the soul sucker wizard. However, he did feel heartbroken. The nurse that cared for him filled it. They got together and married. That was... about 5 generations ago..."
Harold was wrecking his brains.
He broke the silence. "But if that was 5 generations ago... how did Alice...?"
"Harold, should Alice be the child of one of the two humans that the spell was cast on, it may be possible that the effect of the spell is hereditary. But that is only a theory. I did not think the spell or it's effects would still be around."
Silence resumed.
Granny spoke again. "Harold. Do you understand why no one must know about this?"
"Yes. Yes I do."
"That poor girl will be hunted should soul suckers know of her existence and her soul. However, I do believe there are rules to this spell just as all spells have. The danger is that no one knows of them. Regeneration occurs at 12 am. Should her soul be absorbed completely before that, no one knows if she will survive or not. Do not tell a soul Harold darling."
Granny Squavox gazed hard into Harold's eyes.
"Yes Granny Squavox. But there is one person I have to tell."
"And who is that?"
"Rebecca Klar Granny Squavox. I have met her and she witnessed the spell's effects."
Granny Squavox was appalled.
"Harold dear! No matter how much your mother trusts the Klar family you must know how dangerous Rebecca Klar is!"
"She can be trusted Granny. I don't think my mother's judgement was wrong."
"There is little avoiding it if she has seen it. Were there any other witnesses?"
"A vampire that lives with the human girl Granny Squavox."
"Oh my..." Granny gasped. "Will this become any worst? A human, a mix blood, a soul sucker and a vampire?!"
Harold nodded, and sighed. "Yes Granny Squavox. It is a complicated situation. I'll try to see if I can keep it from the vampire, but no promises. I will try my best to protect Alice."
"Oh, so that's the little lady's name?"
Harold got caught by surprise. "Uhh... Yeah."
"Find out her ancestry Harold darling. Perhaps we can find out more about this spell ourselves." Granny Squavox's eyes sparkled.
As usual, she loved mystery and magic.
"Haha, thanks granny. I'll do what I can."
Granny Squavox stood from her chair and walked away.
The Jar appeared again and enthusiastically escorted Harold to the exit.
Instead of a moving staircase and a nest, the exit was simpler. It was a magical slope that was about ten meters long. All you had to do was run along it downwards and at the end, you'll reach the base of the tree. Quite quick and dainty. For those that do not wish to run, there is also a seat with rollers you can borrow to roll down the slope ^_^. The skateboard is reserved for Granny Squavox though. *ehem*

Harold rushed back to the portal to the human world. He tried to devise a plan to meet only Rebecca and not James. Unfortunately, Johnathon was waiting for him at the portal.

"I KNEW I'D FIND YOU HERE. I JUST KNEW IT!" Johnathon shouted and then muttered other things under his breath that didn't sound very nice.
"Johna---"
"NO. YOU AREN'T GOING BACK. I'M THROWING YOU IN THE DUNGEON TRAINING. HAVE FUN IN THERE FOR THE NEXT MONTH."
"JOHNATHON!"
Johnathon stopped dragging Harold. He turned around a little bewildered.
"Yeah?" Harold usually didn't shout like that so Johnathon decided to listen to what he had to say.
"Just give me 3 hours. I'll be back in 3. I really need to get through that portal and tell someone something."

Well actually, he just wanted to replace his mark and see Alice. Rebecca wouldn't die without knowing what that glitter meant.

Johnathon gave in. "But you will go into the dungeon?"
"Yes. for the full month you can lock me there."
"Okay then. go."
Harold shouted "THANKS" as he ran through the portal.

Smart Rebecca Klar. She was on the other side of the portal.

"James can't come here and I knew you'd appear some time or another."
Just as Harold opened his mouth to ask about Alice's safety, Rebecca Klar intecepted. "Don't worry. James is at school. Alice is at home with my pet. She's safe."
"Okay. I was hoping to catch you alone."
"Of course. I'd want to be the first to know. So what's up with that glitter?" Rebecca spoke through her lollipop.
"Well, it's regenerative so Alice is safe but..." Harold pulls Rebecca Klar away from the portal to the back.
"We can't let anyone know." Rebecca ended for him when they stopped moving.
"Yes."
"Okay. I like Alice. I'll protect her and keep her safe. No idiot soul sucker is gonna be able to get her as some battery or something."
"Is she... is she all right?"
"She has woken up since then. I lied that she was down with fever and fed her some sleeping potion."
"Has she lost any memory?"
"She did forget your fight... if that helps. Doesn't even remember you came at all."
Harold couldn't decide if it was a good thing or not. At least there wasn't a need for explanations.
"Okay, I'll be gone for about a month."
"Hahh. Dungeon training? Heard about it. Don't worry. I'll put my mark on her for you."
Harold sighs in relief.
"Hey wait a sec." Rebecca rummaged through her bag, created a portal, and rummaged some more.
"I have this..." it was a blank chop.
"Put your mark on the chop. It works the same as putting a mark on humans. Try it!"
Harold didn't really know if it would work, he had never tried placing a mark on a non living object. But he tried. His mark. it appeared on the underside of the chop.
"Great! With this I can replace your mark about 5 times... that's enough for a month."
"Thanks Rebecca Klar."
"Hey. It's been getting on my nerves, hearing my full name. Just call me Klar kae?"
"Thank you Klar"
"That's better. So, any plans on telling me more about the glitter?"
"I have a favour." Rebecca felt a bit ignored...
"What is it?" she snapped.
"If you can, try and find Alice's ancestry."
"It's got something to do with that?"
"Yeah. When I find out more I'll let you know. Now I have nothing but theories."
"Oh all right. Off you go Harold!"
Harold had turned to walk away but he paused in a half step and turned back.
"I don't remember introducing myself to you..."
"Oh poor Alice was repeating it during her sleep. And since you mentioned Mrs Keyes, it was highly possible you were her son Harold Keyes. No magic here."
"Good bye." Harold returns to the front of the portal and goes through it.
Johnathon promptly dragged him to the Dungeon.

On a side note, Rebecca was actually very very surprised to find out that she herself had a connection with this random group of people. The son of the woman her mother is indebted to is the soul sucker that has attracted her little human interest, Alice. What a connection indeed.