Capítulo 9: Stinking Oaf

"They've got quite the story." Chao murmured. "Oh, welcome back!"

They turned their neck and hummed. "You've been sleeping for a couple hours. It's a little past dinner time already, there's still time until the slumber party. If you go to the cafeteria, you'll get some meat and seafood. Make sure you clean up after yourself. I'm leaving now to get some stuff in order."

"Wait, what?" They called out to Chao but she disappeared leaving only a trace of her scent behind. "Don't worry about her. She never stays in a single place for longer than 5 minutes." Bea helped them sit upright. "May I know your name?"

"Right now I'm…" they looked down and slowly recollected. "Marianna. Lawrence is here too. She killed them right?"

"Yes and no. You'll know what I mean tomorrow morning. Right now, you have to join the slumber party in her wing. Well, it's in two hours, but you are joining. It'll benefit you. You just woke up so you'll be a bit unstable."

She was confused, but nodded. "Good. Now, go wash up and eat a bit. Your hair's a bit matted since you're no longer in your beast form." Marianna looked down and saw that she was in a hospital gown. She then touched her hair and immediately retched. Her hair was greasy and slimy in some spots. "Is there a set clothing standard in place or can anyone just create their clothes to wear?"

"You're free to wear whatever you want as long as you aren't bothered by it. One person walks around in plastic clothes and cardboard hats. They even made a tall tophat out of cardboard with a fake beard. They said 'Call me the Rail-Splitter'* after they had visited some place."

"O-okay. I'll go now." 'What is a rail?' Marianna walked away. Bea snickered softly, "Confusion 100."

. . .

"Is she going to stop staring at us anytime soon?", one of the children whispered to another.

"Maybe she wants to size us up?"

"For what reason?" another chirped.

"Maybe she's a predator." whispered a child with reverse eyes.

"What? No! You're so weird Inrigo!"

"Hey Caligo, Nubis! Walk up to her!"

"You do it Noctis!"

"1, 2, 3...Not it ×6"

"Not i- dang it!"

"Good luck Luna!"

"Ventus and I will mark your grave!"

"I'll burn sage for you!"

"Inrigo, pray tell, what will that do?"

"Noctis, your sister is quite...lacking upstairs. Are the lights on?"

"There's no electricity in the first place." The boy shrugged while his older sister Luna, took deep breaths. She looked into his light grey eyes that were just like hers, closed her eyes, and fixed her long slate-blue wavy hair before taking her first step.

Chao listened to the entire thing making sure to not leek a hint of her enjoyment. 'They are truly lively.'

"Excuse me, miss. Can you tell me when we're starting classes?" Luna kept a distance and looked down nervously. Chao motioned her to come closer.

Luna walked over and yelped when Chao pinched her cheeks all of a sudden. "You'll start tomorrow. Tonight is my slumber party and you're all invited. Introduce yourselves to everyone."

"Who's everyone?" asked the boy who offered to mark Luna's grave. "You'll find out tomorrow when you start your learning. Since you asked, start first."

"Alright." His eyes glimmered with various blues with a sky blue settling the majority. "My name is Tellus. I'm 14 years old and my eyes shift through blues based on my feelings. Your turn!" Tellus nudged the boy next to him as he in turn sighed.

His red-orange eyes turned lighter as he smiled. "My name is Ventus. I'm also 14 and someday, Tellus and I will take over the world. He's a bit hyper, but is pretty alright as a person." He snickered and continued, "Go ahead shorty!"

"Don't call me that you stinking oaf!" The boy with reverse eyes currently looked strange as he shouted. His irises went clear exposing the capillaries in her eyes. He huffed and turned to Chao. "My name is Inrigo. I'm 12 years old and my eyes go clear when I'm high strung. I'll grow taller than that stupid guy there." pointing to Ventus. "It's your turn little guy."

"My name is Noctis. I'm Luna's brother. I earn my keep even if I'm just 12 years old."

"Noctis! I told you to stop swindling a long time ago!" Luna stormed over and flicked the top of his head. "I am his older sister Luna. I'm a year older than this sad excuse of a child. If he's ever claiming that I abused him, it's because he's realized how stupid he is." She rolled her eyes when Noctis made the Aqua face**. "It's your turn."

"My name is Caligo. I'm 13, I have white gold hair and a twin sister."

"I'm her twin sister Nubis. I have gold hair and if you ever make Caligo upset, I'll laugh."

"Please don't ever test Nubis. Same goes for me though. The last thing you'll ever see is our smiles."

Chao looked them up and down as each did their introduction making them feel uncomfortable. "Do you want clothes associated with your features? You all need to clean yourselves up. The bathrooms are over there." she said pointing over to the right behind them. "Boys bath is to the right girls bath is to the left. Your old clothes will be washed and your new clothes will be just outside. When you're done, go down to the left of the hall outside and have a snack." She rattled off a bit before realizing that they were still processing. She sighed in resignation and snapped her fingers. All of a sudden they were swept into the bathrooms and the hallways were labelled 'ladies' and 'mens'.

"Ring the bell if you forget where to go." With her voice lingering in their ears, she left.

They finally comprehended the meaning of her look and made interesting faces. The boys looked at themselves and blushed while the twins were admitting their disgusting attire and Luna fumed in anger. "YOU OLD WOMAN! I'LL BITE YOU TO DEATH IF YOU INSULT ME AGAIN!"

. . .

Chao heard her shrieking and just shook her head continuing her walk. She walked into a library and climbed up the ladder at the very last floor of books, the 9th. If someone saw her, they might rub their eyes a bit before assuming they were seeing things. When she reached the top, she disappeared into darkness.

On the other side, it was a dark space with 3 couches, a boudoir, a coffee table, and a telephone. Chao gently creeped over to the telephone and rung up a number. Her index finger inserted itself into the number 1, bringing it around the circle as the telephone was an old fashioned one with a round dial. The rest of the digits were just 1, but every time she got closer and closer to finishing the number, there would be more resistance. Finally, on the last 1, a gentle chime of laughter sounded.

Chao's face was one that her subordinates hadn't seen. Her face was taut and her eyes hesitant. She picked up the phone with a quaking hand. "It's me."

A voice like Chao's came over, but instead of sounding regal or rebellious, it was soft and meek. "Hello, Sweetheart. What's your reason for calling? Ah, who's getting killed this time? Is it you? Is it I? Is it him? Is it them? Are you calling for war?" Her voice was as gentle and sweet as she'd remembered, but it got more and more low as she continued to query.

"Darling, it's starting. I can't stop it on my own this time. Look at the map in the pagoda. Things are changing this time around making it different than before. I'll see you today tomorrow." She hung up with that.

She inhaled through her nose and exhaled through her mouth. She looked blankly at the telephone and walked over to the purple couch to the left. Plopping down, she put her arm over her eyes to block out the nonexistent light source. A single tear ran down her eyes before her mouth curled into a carnal smile. "You've made me wait too long."

. . .

It was finally time for the slumber party. Chao left the dark space and teleported to her bed. Not a trace of what occurred prior was on her face. "Come in my dears."

Her maids, butlers, subordinates, and everyone else came shuffling in looking shy. From what they'd remembered, she had never done anything like this. Chao smiled brightly and motioned them over to sit around her bed. "There's an arcade in the other room, a theater, and a training room. You're all free to roam about. I hope you all visit me in bed at some point before the party ends." She winked at them sending them into an internal frenzy.

'Lady Chao! WHAT THE HECK!'

Furvus, Gladys, Albus, and Bea all looked at each other communicating silently. 'Albus did she drink?' 'No, she didn't stupid Furvus.' 'Bea, when I left after dropping them off, did she do anything weird?' 'She looked and said they had an interesting story. Other than that, I didn't catch anything out of the ordinary.' The three glanced over at Gladys and he sighed with a grim look on his face. "We're screwed."