With a nod of her head Odessa knew that it was time. They couldn’t exactly waste any time dilly dallying here any longer… with one more usage of her sensing ability she deduced that the Apparition was not too much further away. She wanted to grab onto Penny’s hand but she wasn’t sure how the girl would react. The rain was still pouring… and it seemed completely random but the last thing that Odessa was going to do was wax poetically about rain. They had to stay focused as she walked towards the site… and there was one thing that Odessa had to say.
“... That Apparition most likely knows we’re coming,” Odessa started, “But, they haven’t moved. So either they aren’t paying attention or they
want us to come… just be prepared.”
They kept walking and eventually the environment started shifting from Farmer Hill to the streets of Paradise… it was rainy but there was something odd here. Well, it wasn’t a mystery. As they walked up there were mounds of dirt on the ground that reminded Odessa of dug holes. Except it was on concrete, asphalt, pavement… she kept walking until they made it to the park gates. Odessa put her hand up as she looked at Penny.
The last thing that Odessa wanted to do was give Penny vague instructions - or no instructions - and then let her charge in. Odessa had a plan, and a good one.
“Penny,” Odessa began, “I need you to distract that Apparition… I’m going to draw a sigil on the ground and I need you to get it to stop right over it so I can activate it.”
Odessa sighed.
“
Then I can seal that Apparition in something and we can be rid of it for good… think you can handle that?”
“Is there any doubt?” asked Penny, kneeling in the rain and hunching her shoulders to protect the slips of paper as she went over the lines on her glyphs with a marker. She stopped drawing, frowned, and flipped the sheets over as she looked up at Odessa.
“Wait, how long do you need it to stop over the sigil? This an instantaneous thing?”“Well...” Odessa trailed off… and hoped that Penny didn’t realize she was referring to her
first statement. There was a stipulation. There always was. “Roughly thirty seconds… so let’s just say it needs to stop for a minute.”
Penny nodded and drew three new glyphs on the backs of the paper. As she finished each one, the glyph on the other side vanished as if the ink had evaporated from the paper. Then, careful not to get the cards wet, she slipped them into her pants pocket and stood back up. She tucked the marker between her teeth while she jingled a handful of coins in her other hand. Penny eyed the gate as she bounced up and down on her feet.
“Okay, let’s make this bitch pay. I’m ready whenever.”Odessa couldn’t muster the same enthusiasm to avenge their friend… that was only out of respect, however. Odessa pushed open the gate as she saw what was a normal park… with mounds of dirt but this time there were sticks shoved into the mounds, like a makeshift grave. Odessa knew what this place was… she sighed as she merely pointed towards the center of the place as she stepped into the bushes. In the middle of it she grabbed a rock.
“... Don’t disturb any of the graves,” Odessa left Penny with one message.
However… whips of air could be heard as the Apparition inside of Caelea came charging for Penny. However, it carefully maneuvered around the graves… until it had one clear shot at Penny and charged her. Only thanks to the noise did Penny have time to react. She clicked on her abstraction just as Caelea’s blur was charging at her. Penny dodged to the side. She so narrowly avoided the Apparition that she was put off-balance, catching her footing just inches away from the makeshift mound. Penny cursed and bounded away from the grave, firing off some spare change at the Apparition as she made distance in anticipation of its next charge.
The Apparition attempted to charge away but one of the coins went through Caelea’s cheek… coming in through one way and leaving through the other. Penny was trying to make distance and the Apparition attempted to close it. The Apparition charged… meticulously dancing around the graves as it went so fast that it looked like it was disappearing… however, the Apparition got one clean path straight to Penny and took it. Charging her head on.
Even with her abstraction tracking the movement of the Apparition it was difficult for Penny to keep up as it flashed around the grave mounds. The handful of potshots Penny took at Caelea blasted past her, and Penny found herself empty handed as the Apparition charged her again. Better prepared this time, she spun to the side to avoid getting slammed by Caelea but had nothing to fire off in return. She knew there was only so much time before the side effects of her ability made it impossible to see Caelea’s movement. Like a gunslinger going for the quickdraw, Penny reached down into her pocket and her bag and pulled out a card with one hand and an arsenal of Lincoln’s with the other.
She’d be ready for the next charge. She stepped back to prepare for another dodge, the back of her heel clipping the edge of a grave… and it revealed a skeletal hand.
“Get out of here!” The Apparition-Inside-Caelea screamed as it charged her head on… ignoring all of the graves that it was disturbing in an attempt to kill Penny.
Unaware of her dangerous footing, Penny held her ground as she unleashed a barrage of loose change at the Apparition. Without waiting to see the damage, Penny snapped the Keno card out in front of her and activated the glyph. Instanetously, she lost visual of the Apparition her other abstraction was cancelled. At the same time, moisture in the air solidified into a two-foot long blade of ice that jutted out from the card. Intending to let the Apparition gore itself on her blade, Penny prepared to leap away the moment she felt impact. And the Apparition seemingly ignored the present danger and kept charging in… it wasn’t like it could stop anymore. The Apparition was stabbed directly through the leg to the other side… and it loudly hissed in pain as it felt the stinging of it.
Meanwhile, Odessa had turned her hand into a long, thin, blade made out of wood and got to work. She wasn’t too far away from the chaos but she was risking it here, just so Penny could get a clear shot at it. Odessa drew a symbol on the ground,
a sigil that she was familiar with as fast and neatly as she could.
Once it was finished, Odessa’s hand went back to normal as she tossed a grey stone that she picked up onto it.
It was ready.
“Penny!” Odessa shouted, and knew that she was smart enough to figure out what’s next.
“C’mon, you bitch!” hollered Penny as she danced away from the wounded Apparition, waving the two remaining Keno cards in her hands like a bull fighter’s cape. She reactivated her abstraction and drew in her breath as she toed the line of Odessa’s sigil. She waited for the Apparition to move, ignoring the pulsing pain in her temples.
“Come and get me!”The Apparition stopped as it faced Penny… and maneuvered its way through the graves carefully before it got a clear shot at Penny and charged. And as it charged Odessa hoped that Penny had a plan cooked up in her head…
As the Apparition turned to face her, Penny took one big step back into the sigil. She was careful not to smudge Odessa's work as she laid the cards down at her feet. Penny took another big step back as the Apparition charged, plotting it's course with her eyes and activating her glyphs the moment it would cross them. The two cards glowed as spears erupted from the ground to intersect one another, with Caelea's body being the crossing point. And the spears pierced the Apparition… and it screamed out in pain as it was almost forced out of the body.
And with a snap of her fingers, Odessa activated the sigil and the tree of life activated at the Apparition’s feet. Suddenly, the Apparition-inside-of-Caelea screamed as it’s smoky form was launched out of her body. Then it screamed as it clawed at its upper body as it was sucked into the stone.
And Odessa smiled as she casually stepped over to the rock and picked it up. That was one loose end taken care of but the Apparition was oddly quiet. Odessa would try to talk to it at another time. She decided to see if she can sense anyone…
“Penny...” Odessa started, “... I can’t sense anyone. It’s just… me and you.”
She chuckled darkly as she assumed Penny was going to bury Caelea.
“So… do what you need to, then we have to figure out what’s even next.”
“Right,” said Penny, wiping the sweat from her brow.
She stared down at the mangled body of her friend. Penny’s face was stone but there was a pallor to her skin. She had managed to hold it off while fighting the Apparition, but it was absolutely sickening to have to fight Caelea—even if it was only her body. Penny clamped a hand over her face and choked. Shrugging off her cardigan, she carefully draped it over Caelea to hide her face and her wounds before ducking down next to the girl to prepare a grave.
Her friend was tiny, but it would still take two earth glyphs. Penny grimaced as she worked, her fingers tracing through the mud as the rain continued to beat down on them. She stood up when she was done and activated the glyphs. The mud and dirt dove down and then swelled up like a wave, splashing away from the girls as a shallow grave was formed. Penny knelt besides Caelea, sharply drew her breath, and reached under the cardigan. Moments later, Odessa would be able to see the faintest sigil of a bird appear on her upper back through the material of Penny’s shirt as it glowed then faded. With Caelea’s abstraction now her own, Penny lowered her friend into the grave.
“I’d say goodbye, but I know you’re not really gone. I’ll see you again, someday,” said Penny in a low-voice, wiping her cheek with the back of her hand. She reached at the pile of dirt with her hand and used Caelea’s abstraction to blast out a light gust of wind. The dirt was blown down into the grave and eventually covered up her friend entirely. With Caelea buried, it was time to move on—but Penny didn’t budge. She stared at the wet lump of dirt that was almost indistinguishable from the other mounds around them. Something wasn’t right. Penny wouldn’t feel at ease if her grave was left like this. There was just something missing.
“Hey, Odessa,” said Penny quietly with a scratched voice as she looked up at Odessa.
“She needs flowers.” Odessa just casually watched as Penny buried their friend… probably Caelea didn’t see her the same way Odessa did, unfortunately. Still, life goes on and death is merely the gateway to infinite possibilities. Immortality is one of them but Odessa was going to keep that to herself. She wished that she could feign puppy-dog eyes but… it wasn’t in her nature. Penny now has Caelea’s abstraction, and she there was a thought that crossed her mind. Just the most curious thought that she couldn’t resist.
She created roses out of her hand that outstretched unnaturally… before they snapped off and Odessa handed it to her.
“... Just how many abstractions are you going to take, Pen-Pen?” She said with a grin.
“Well,” Penny mulled the question over as she set the bouquet down on Caelea’s grave and then stood. She glanced at Odessa, noting her grin.
“I guess that all depends on how many more of our friends we lose. Or were you being serious? Because...because then I don’t know,” said Penny, sighing.
“But I’ll take whatever advantage I can get.”Odessa took a risk… she grabbed onto Penny’s hand as that grin was wiped away. Just for a moment as she looked up into her eyes.
“... We’re not going to lose anyone else, Lawson,” Odessa declared. “I promise you that… I also promise that, eventually, maybe, we’ll finally be able to get a rest. One day. I mean, with the Glutton gone, the fight’s… over.”
“I dunno if the fight’s over yet, but it’s gonna end someday. I’ll make sure of that,” said Penny, worming her hand free from Odessa.
“Come on, Williams. Let’s go find the others.”“Odessa.”
She sharply corrected her friend.
“Britney Williams died,” She started, “I was there, you know.”
“Yeah,” said Penny, rubbing her neck.
“I know.”Odessa looked around and saw that, while they weren’t paying attention, the area changed back to Farmer Hill. Except it was at its height. Its… golden age. Beautiful buildings, and other such beautiful things too. Odessa smiled. It brought back memories.
However… this isn’t her home anymore and that smile went flat.
“Let’s go,” Odessa started, “Maybe we’ll find a way out of here.”
Farmer Hill was one long tragedy after the other...
