Everyday, I Fight! - 8 Chapter 8

I was cosplaying as a princess with frilly pink ribbons… every girl’s dream.

So damn annoying!

Fred was drastically clicking photos of me through that out-of date-and-style-camera. Shameless big brother!

Helen barfed the moment she saw me like this… she even gave a thumbs up, despite her lack of interest in the dress itself.

Carmine was wide eyed and jealous of my beautiful dress in comparison to her bumpkin one. Her eyes were sparking with envy.

“Fred, it’s almost sunset, hurry it up!” mom shouted, nervously.

“My dearest sweet little strawberry,” Fred announced, as he bowed like a fairytale prince charming, gazing up on me, “have you waited long,” he paused and smirked cunningly, “M’lady?”

Fume burst out my forehead. Other girls were embarrassed. Helen was disgusted. I was furious!

If not for the crowd, I’d have blasted this guy off to the furthest moon!

Mom waved her hands upwards, as if pointing to the sky and Fred stood up. He looked like he was so happy for me. Sobbing quietly.

“To you,” mom smiled as she happily said these words, “big brother.”

She gave me to Fred and he accepted.

“Thank you…” he confidently exclaimed as his voice echoed throughout the entire house. I felt a shiver.

It was my very first birthday bash. There were family members and neighbors all around. Even some adventurers I never encountered. Sadly, they left as soon as they arrived, gloom haunting their faces. A heartbeat reminded me that they weren’t here for the party…

Apparantly, Fred was the schemer behind my huge surprise of a birthday…! He remembered even in this world, exactly as he once had, in the previous world as J.

Back then, it was just the two of us in the school rooftop during lunch break, a store bought chocolate crusted cupcake and a single half-melted candle stick. All he managed to gift me was a fancy looking cowboy jacket. Tacky as usual.

Always grinning foolishly. A brilliant comrade. An honorable brother. The worst enemy.

That was who J was… … is.

As I sat on the velvet soft pillow, staring at the overcasted shadow of my big brother, his eyes twinkled evidently. Almost excited. Almost frightened. Almost.

Fred wore that ridiculously humungous costume of a king. The brave leader. I heard him breathing heavily. He sighed and mumbled something and then he sighed again. Was he depressed? I wasn’t able to capture his face. Still, glommed with shadow.

In the spur of the moment, he stood up, grabbed hold of the blood red pillow and swirled hurriedly, back towards the crowd. The dazzlingly bright horde of people snickered and giggled. Briefly, there was a pause and then they burst out laughing.

“…oh my, aren’t you nervous, Fred?…”

“You’re blushing! Well, well…”

“…Brace yourself, lad! It’s her life!…”

They were pinned at my direction, chattering away, while Fred stoned himself like a statue.

Two kids, I hadn’t noticed earlier, popped up beside Carmine. The boy was cool and quiet. The girl giggled a little and whispered something to Carmine. Some heated conversation began between them.

The boy, who noticed my straight forward gaze, came towards me. He bowed.

Fred was still unable to hitch-hike a ride back to reality.

“Girls, right?” the boy said to me with a dry laugh, disappointed.

“Don’t turn up like those two, okay?” he requested, pointing at that girl and Carmine, “and I’m Mace Varlo, M’lady.” he bowed again at me, “until next time.”

Up and left. Just like that. When he glanced back one more time, as I smiled at him and nodded. For a moment he lost his wits, coughed and grinned back, satisfied.

“Go on,” Mom patted Fred on the back.

Unstable as he was, Fred barely kept me safe from his swaggering. We almost fell…! I wished mom would stop this… I had no idea what was going on, anymore.

It was my birthday. That was supposedly the occasion.

I had been sure of, since the first time I met Fred, that he was used to crowds and everyone fawning over him. Now, however, I differed in opinion. And seriously wanted to leap out of his capture. How would I land? Dead.

Thanks to mom though, Fred managed to return to reality and took a long and heavy sigh. He was out of character. It wasn’t a hunch. I just knew.

He coughed, “Ahem, sorry.”

His gaze followed from the crowd and then to me. I saw him smile professionally.

“Thank you, everyone,” Fred paused and closed his eyes as he continued to smile, “I welcome you warmly to the glorious and marvelous celebration of the Head Family of The Windstorm Clan’s 7th child, 5th daughter…and MY youngest sister’s very 1st birthday bash!”

The crowd giggled slightly as if it was the sweetest thing they had heard. Personally, though, Fred seemed more possessive when he casually added this dialogue. Why wouldn’t he be? He was still afraid that I would die, before himself.

“So, even in our father’s absence, I deeply hope that everyone can refresh themselves from the daily agony of hard labour. Please enjoy and Dig in!” Fred’s voice echoed throughout the room as it silenced the entire crowd.

After some moments of silence, claps were heard and the crowd was appeased, they chattered and cheered at their young master Fred.

Somehow I began to regret that perhaps it wasn’t my birthday at all… but whatever.

Everybody picked up their utensils and tied their napkins on their necks. Ready to eat.

We lived in a village area. It was serene and friendly.

Sometime after Fred’s injury, our family moved away from the main branch of the Windstorm Clan and secluded our lives here. Far, far away from the Darklings.

Anyway, the funny thing about this birthday was that there wasn’t a cake. Cakes were still thought of as Dark magic in some villages.

People in this world never mixed too many ingredients in food or added much of the spices that grew aplenty. They would add only one or two spices in a single pot of food. Some people even believed that cake was a form of pleasure like wine.

There was an awkward rule that other than famous clans or nobility, wine was not to be sold to anybody. It contained a ‘pleasure’ that only the ‘specific’ were supposed to have.

People had their own traditions and rules. Despite being in the same kingdom, villages further from the palace, were unlikely to get any notice at all.

Moderation was limited.

Whatever the case, there wouldn’t be any cake in front of this crowd tonight. So I kept my tears at bay and sniffled a bit.

“Sorry,” Fred whispered to me while the busy crowd gobbled their fill of the food, “Cakes aren’t accepted over here. Precisely a reason we moved. But don’t worry, I’m here!”

He was proud and tall. I couldn’t properly see his face, so I thought he was just bluffing. Perhaps the presents might be worthwhile…

I had mixed feelings, when I saw a huge pie that Mom and Helen carried from the kitchen to the living room party hall. My jaw dropped in awe. It was humungous and breathtaking!

It was as tall as a three year old child and just as thick as the creams of a wedding cake. The slightly dark brown crust seemed to flicker in sparks of delight to the drooling crowd. And it was perfectly heated up and puffed up like a hot air balloon…!

The pie filled the entire round table. All other food were removed from sight. Several spoons and forks cluttered on the table and the crowd screamed with joy. Men laughed, women groaned and children were over the moon.

The lights were sparkling and so was the carpeted floor of the living room. Mainly on birthday occasions was this carpet laid out.

It was time, so Mom specifically went and turned off the lights in the room. The entire living room glowed. I was feeling like I was in a disco club… without music or the disco ball.

It was mesmerizing!

My first time seeing it. The lights shone even in the darkness of the room, like neon lights, even better than the disco ball. Clear and vivid.

Some objects were drawn with fluorescent paint and the room was lit up with lanterns during the aftermath of the party.

Everybody stood still. They were excited.

“I hope none of you are unsatisfied with our hospitality. Thank you everybody for coming!” Fred announced with that plastered bright smile.

By this time, I was atop a violent pillow and exchanged from my pink dress, into a fluffy sky blue one. It was cute though. Warm, too.

“This year has been a delight and a frenzy. So even though not all the family is present, I hope that a year later, we throw you an even larger birthday party!!” Fred shouted at the top of his voice.

The crowd hissed with whistles of joy and laughter. Nobody was anywhere far from pleased.

Berries were added to the menu and milkshakes. Since I was only 1 year old, it would be odd to have beer, furthermore there were other children in the party!

It was a custom that before the aftermath of the party began, the birthday boy/girl had to take the first sip of the menu. This meant that I had to take the first bite of each and every receipe added on the menu. If I couldn’t have something, then the crowd wasn’t allowed to have that either… So not too many things were added to this portion of the party. A clever and tricky way to handle the crowd.

Mom peeled the blueberry and took out the seed. Two or three teeth were already forming in my mouth. I chomped a bit, but most would just gobble down my mouth, even before I could chew. My tongue couldn’t take them in and I was always aware of the crowd trailing their eyes into my every movement.

I just smiled cutely. They giggled, laughs were heard and soon the storm broke free. Everybody grabbed a blueberry and tossed them into their mouths. They squealed and chuckled.

Mom took milkshake and poured it on a leaf. The leaf was green in color and resembled the leaf of a jackfruit tree. But it wasn’t sticky. So perhaps the leaf wasn’t from a jackfruit tree…?

I gulped with pleasure as the milkshake made it’s way into my mouth and down my throat. I was in heaven. The milk was churned (?) the day before and the butter (?) was mixed with this milkshake. Some sugar was added as well. It was mom’s secret recipe.

I dazed at the on-lookers with a smile and dozed off to sleep. Giggling.

From the blurry looks of it, nobody seemed to mind. I could hear fits of laughter from the kids though.

_______

___

“But mom….” I heard Fred’s voice.

“No! It’s a tradition,” Mom sternly replied him.

“She doesn’t know that!” Fred bickered. His voice tensed.

“You’re too much Fred dear,” Mom chuckled, “Helen and Carmine were fine… you worry too much.”

I felt so tired that I dozed off again. So there was another ritual pending. I didn’t wanna know anymore.

…

I awoke to a sudden clatter nearby and then a queer silence that followed.

An awkward sound at the dead of the night. It already past 2 AM.

“You don’t have to listen to me!” Dad yelled.

A light trailed my eyes to the crack of the open doorway. Only the dim reflecting light.

“But dad,” Fred involuntarily said.

“No!” Dad shouted again, quite angry, “Why did you make a stupid promise like that? The whole family together… don’t make me laugh!”

A promise?

“Dad, I said those things, knowing full well the consequences.” Fred’s tone of voice turned serious.

“You know nothing!” Dad grumbled softly. I heard him sigh.

“But-” Fred stopped.

“Ririno is already missing.” Dad replied and then paused, “… I tried to go for a check list, but the adventurers guild subsidiary wouldn’t confirm. Even though I went to the headquarters today…”

Dad was deeply upset.

“But she was on the quest list about a few days ago…” Fred insisted.

“Yes. The end of the date for that quest was today.” Dad replied, “Moreover, the entire team was gravely injured. The only one who’s located in the unknown list was Ririna.”

“Don’t worry dad, I’m sure that you’re just too overworked and thinking too much of this…” Fred tried to console him.

“Not a word to your mother.” Dad commanded.

“Okay.” Fred agreed.

“There’s a task I want you to fulfill.” Dad ordered again, “Go and check up on George. You two get along well.”

“And Britney?” Fred asked again with that shiver in his voice.

“I’ll try.” Dad replied, unsure in tone.

The conversation seemed to end there and the faint light vanished. I wondered to myself who these people were. It was hard to remember even though the names sounded awfully familiar.

I sighed and relaxed my body, but I was shocked again with the pile of children sleeping below. I won’t be able to ask Fred now. The timing seemed… terrible.

So I hatched up my own plan. Early dawn.

< Fred’s POV >

“Take care, mom, dad and…” I looked at the merry bunch of kids loitering around, but she wasn’t there, “… children.”

“Where are you going, Fred dear?” Mom exclaimed with a lonely face and worn out eyes.

“To visit George. It’s been ages…” I gave her a warm smile and kissed her on the cheek, “plus, if he could get a day’s leave, so my promise to my baby sister can be fulfilled.”

It became hard to convince mom since both of us knew that the logic in the theory was zero to none.

“I’m helping him,” Dad came for my aid.

I kissed him on the cheek too and leaned closely to hug him as a decoy, “I wont fail you, dad.”

“Be careful, son.” Dad warned me.

We both laughed loudly like men. The tense atmosphere that clouded my mom earlier, seemed to have lifted. Like the breeze, it was gone.

“I’m going too.” Helen exclaimed with a stern voice.

“No way, young lady,” Mom forbid her.

“Yes,” Father replied, “you cannot go with Fred since I’ve got an urgent job for you.”

Dad wink at me and turned over to Helen, “watch the house for me and…” dad paused and coughed, with a serious tone as he continued, “wait and see if there are any messages or mails and deliver them to both Fred and me. Make sure, Helen, that if either of your sister is back home, you inform us.”

“That’s all?” Helen asked.

“Yes,” Dad replied, “Ririna might be back today…”

“Oh, then it’s fine.”

Both my parents and I knew how much Helen was infatuated with her eldest sister Ririna. She wanted to be an adventurer too. Yet, Dad was not really sure of Helen’s, as he would often declare, ‘absurd’ choice.

I hopped into the carriage and waved at my family. Dad wore a brown cloak, unusual of him as the head of the Windstorm Tribe, with bare minimum of supplies as he sadly waved ‘good bye’.

Neither one of us knew whether we would return again or not.

I watched at the distance until the carriage was far enough for our house to disappear completely. My instincts told me that things were not over yet. I had a mission I required to complete.

…

We arrived at Anker Town, west to our destination. The place was a bustling utopia. The crowd was everywhere. The streets filled with laughter and chatter.

Waywan, my coach, had to drive the carriage over the bridge to the other side of town. By night, it might get tricky and dangerous to go over the hills, so I decided to meet him at the Eastern gate by the riverside.

“We’ll camp for one night.”

“Yes sir, Mr. Windstorm.” Waywan replied.

“Fred is fine.” I said.

“Please be safe.” He replied back.

I nodded and stepped out of the carriage. Taking my cowboy hat and brown overcoat as I made my way through the flock of people.

Everybody went on with their own livelihoods. Calm and peaceful.

“I heard Mr. Backen sold a thousand breads in a day!” a woman spoke.

“Yes, he has the most scrumptious bakery in town!” another woman gossiped.

“There’s a nasty rumour about that Gretchen,” someone whispered.

“Ah, that shameless runaway!” another person joined in.

“She was seen last, with Fetchwif! That rumored Darkling!” a woman let out a horrible shriek.

“Nasty,” a bystander commented.

“Oh, it’s that lip gloss I’ve dreamt of!” a girl whispered to her friend, aloud.

“Really? I like that hairpin better.” her friend replied giggling.

I chucked as I passed them. They blushed and went silent. Deep in my mind, I couldn’t help but think about Baby Glow, one day whispering to me about these kinds of beauty products… “Would I have to prepare for this? Hahaha…” I thought to myself.

I chuckled and hummed softly, as I made my way through the town in this wild crowd. People everyday with everything the same as before.Similar to those fantasy games back on Earth.

Earth playstations had the “settings”. The same routine that the maincharacter had to ‘accidentally’ come across. The everyday crowd filled with their variety of whispers.

“Excuse me,” I entered the famous bread shop.

The bakery was a small damp two-storey building. The outside was bruised with fallen paint and plastered with flyers. The inside was barely touched by sunlight, but awfully neat. There wasn’t a speck of color either. Just damp and grey.

“Five loaves of your finest bread, please.” I requested.

“Yes, please wait…” the man with the funny mustache replied.

I didn’t answer.

A girl, poked me with a stick, “its rude to wear a hat.” she said, grumpy.

“I see,” I remarked and smiled, “sorry.”

“Youngsters,” the man jokingly scoffed looking at his daughter (?).

“I know,” I replied back to him, “I’ve got 6 siblings already and I’m just 20.”

He grinned and winked at me playfully. We bonded, pretty fast, with our history and chatted for some time.

“Ex-excuse me,” the girl stuttered, “but may I ask you a que-question?”

She seemed concerned. Interested. Yet, awfully, pale.

“Sure,” I chuckled, “fire away.”

“Is that the baby from your stories?” she pointed at the shop’s entrance.

The glass doorway was helpful, unexpectedly. It showed a baby floating in mid air wearing an underwear and a t-shirt. My hear stopped for a moment.

It was Baby Glow!

I blinked and stared at hi-her for a while. I couldn’t register anything into my mind. “What are you doing here?” I heard myself screaming.

The shop was silent. Nobody spoke. Nobody moved.

“Sir,” the funny mustache man exclaimed reassuringly, “we do allow babies in the store. As long as they don’t kick up a fuss.”

He was the shopkeeper and owner. So his words were like rules. I’d forgotten.

I got up my courage and marched towards that runaway baby. She had noticed and smiled and giggled until I picked her up. Finally I was relieved of a tension.

“Wasn’t I supposed to be on incognito mode?!” I relentlessly thought to myself as I tightly grabbed hold of her, “Who saw? How long…?”

I couldn’t make heads or tails of the horrifying situation I might get involved into…!

“What are you doing here?” I asked her, sweating nervously.

“[I’m hungry?]” she answered.

“How did you even get here?”

“[I flew behind you.]”

“The teenage girls saw you?”

“[Sort of… yeah. But they seemed nice people. Harmless.]”

“I see.” I sighed again.

I walked back into the shop and saw how lovingly both father and daughter stared at us. I shot a fake smile back towards them and introduced them to my naughty baby sister.

“Do you sell milk here?” I asked the shopkeeper.

“No mate,” he replied.

“But Uncle Jeff does!” the little girl merrily answered.

“Go and get some, Lily.” the shopkeeper told his daughter.

“A charming name.” I told him.

“Yes,” he replied.

…

< Gloria’s POV >

Fred scolded me for as long as I can remember until we arrived at the Imperial Castle. The smell of ancient and dusty brick followed all the way.

Turns out, the Imperial Castle was in fact a city. A town outside the city walls, and two inside. People outside were welcoming tourists and their prices were low.

The town inside the 1st wall was very polite and had adaptable price boundary. However, things changed quickly as we passed by the 2nd city wall, corruption and expenses followed. Typical Nobles.

There were various gossips and every eye lingered towards our carriage. Only frequent visitors were applicable here. Not a soul escaped the 2nd town’s gossip. The type of place that reminded me of home. Grotesque.

I squirmed my head back into the carriage seat, out of sight from the window, while Fred slid closed the curtains.

“You okay?” he asked me.

“[I’m just nauseous.]” I replied.

He didn’t say anything. Neither did I.

…

Shortly afterwards, the carriage halted. We had arrived at our destination. The Imperial Castle. George Wideseye Windstorm.

A man who wore an armour stood at the front gates. He greeted us.

“I was informed, Sir Fred Tempest Wildwood Windstorm, that you were arriving alone.” His eyes followed me.

“Ah, yes,” Fred replied formally with an anxious face, “General, I believe you are correct. Yet, if memory serves right, I also believe that your daughter once scurried away-”

The general lifted his right arm. Fred stopped.

“Follow me,” he grumbled as he took both of us inside.

Fred was a naturally gifted chatterbox. So his enemies were few. Who would dare to swindle their own prestige? Literally, none.

“The crown prince awaits you with Sir George Wideseye Windstorm down the hallway, into the grand hall.” The General motioned us. He left punctually and waved us a ‘goodbye’.

As Fred took every step towards that grand door, which seemed to be carved with real gold, my heart skipped a beat, thumping louder than ever!

I was about to meet my Elder Brother George! I was about to meet the Crown Prince of this Country! Perhaps the king would be there… everything seemed to have disappeared the moment the door creaked open and a golden ray of light clouded my vision…

As my eyes slowly adjusted their vision, Fred was already chatting away with the others.

He had tried to bow in front of the crown prince, but was pardoned because I was in Fred’s arms. So instead, Fred asked his Majesty’s health, went by with idle talk and finally, asked George for his well being. Then Fred was ‘allowed’ for conversing casually, in front of the crown prince, by the crown prince.

There were other people from the sounds of things. It took longer for me to adjust my eyes in the dazzling light. Yet, each time, my tries ended in failure.

The crown prince suggested from the front (?), “Take the baby and come to my chambers Fred Tempest Wildwood Windstorm. Bring George with you.”

“Thank you, m’lord.” Fred replied. He moved a bit, probably trying to bow.

…

Inside the crown prince’s bedroom was like inside a pool of blood.

Everything was in shades of red with barely some touches of lavender and indigo.

I ignored it all, focusing my gaze to the two charming figures in front of me. Three, if you counted Fred.

“Is this my sister?” the boy with bluebell eyes stared at me.

“…” the one with the down casted pitch black hair remained silent.

Immediately I realized who was who.

“Why not ask her yourself?” Fred gave him a wicked grin.

“Don’t be absurd!” George stammered, seemingly angry.

“Just try.” the black prince spoke, “Its interesting.”

“Hi,” George said looking at me, “I’m G-George… wh-who might you be?”

He must’ve felt incredibly stupid when he talked to me. Fred nodded as proud as Everest. Finally, winking at me.

“Go on, baby,” Fred told me, “do your thing!”

Now I began to feel like a moron. Was he completely out of his mind? I can’t say it to my mom or dad… but it’s okay for both George and the black prince…?! Ah, why the heck did I follow this fool’s lead! God, save me.