The Finders Keepers

by R.G. Strike

  Godfrey was not sure whether he was being languid or frightened, but he found nothing to be scared of now. He won! He actually defeated the odd lord and there seemed to be a mirthful clairvoyance telling him that his dad, king Elvandork, would be very proud of him.

  Was it not that king Elvandork had been expecting his son Godfrey to grope on something to make him a proud father? Was it not that king Elvandork was rather bombarded in deciphering the meaning of the Sacred Prophecy? Well, there it was. Check. Godfrey had finished the odd lord before his father could ever find out about it.

  Elvandork would be proud of him. He would not seek son adaptation anymore. Instead, he would adore Godfrey. He was sure of it. One hundred percent ensured.

  If Elvandork would not believe Godfrey, Eliezer was there who happened to witness all that he did . . . those deeds she even referred as ‘heroic’. Godfrey was fully aware about it – about his heroic deed. In fact, it made him feel that he was starting to do the right things being the king’s son. He felt like he was maturing or probably being strong now.

  He shook his head against the cool clean air. Alfrendo’s burning nest was getting smaller like a star as they sailed away from it. Tweet might have had difficulty carrying their weight as she was going up and down, bouncing in the air, having an unfair advancement. When Godfrey turned to look at the others, they were going the same way.

  “Do you think we’ve had them overloaded?” Alex asked from his back.

  Godfrey jolted for a second before attending to Alex’s question.

  “You think really?” Godfrey asked back, sounding like he was a thug.

  Alex, however, did not answer. A measure of silence stretched between them as they flew away farther and farther. The trees below them squeezed smaller and greener, looking like a mossy floor. The pace of their flight continued and got even worse as they reached across a snaking river, cutting the woodlands below into two.

  Godfrey could hear Tweet panting in tiredness and he could see the veins in her bat-like wings popping obviously violet.

  “Are you feeling –?”

  But before Godfrey was able to drop his statement, Tweet lost control and was suddenly unconscious as she rolled in mid-air. Godfrey failed to cling on her back, sending him and Alex falling below Tweet. After some time, Worf and Meow collapsed in the air, too, falling like broken and twisted kites.

  Godfrey hit the surface of the bare earth, hoping that his bones were not broken: He had suffered so much now. Nevertheless, he was able to see, sprawled on the ground, Eliezer, Mr. and Mrs. Luciens, and Alex. On the other hand, Worf, Meow, and Tweet were unconsciously lying.

  “So we survived?” Eliezer asked, chuckling. “It’s great, though, wasn’t it?”

  All the rest giggled at what she said.

  Moments later, Mr. and Mrs. Luciens were squatted on the ground and were talking in clear voices, apparently audible for everyone else, who were sitting and lying on their back against the lawny tripping.

  “Robert, you see,” said Mrs. Luciens quietly, as though she was not hurt by the fall. “As it happens, our children did not make it. The weight, I forgot. However, this is better; at least we’ve come so far from the odd lord.”

  “Ah, yes. Yes, of course,” Mr. Luciens answered. “And did you just mention the odd lord?”

  “Uh-huh,” said Mrs. Luciens. “It’s good that he died and best that it was Godfrey who killed him. Well, I might have jiggered when I first saw him. The ‘odd lord’ – yes, but I didn’t see any resemblance of anomalousness.”

  Mr. Luciens hesitated and looked up above at the swaying canopy of leaves.

  “The Sacred Prophecy might not be meaning ‘odd’ that is unusual. . . . Odd numbers, probably, but no. It could be ‘odd’ that is strange – or perhaps someone who never reigned before. I mean the inhumanness.”

  “You’re saying that it’s oblivion for animals to reign. In the vicinity of Amaranthia, it had been a normal thing – it is history – for animals to rule. You know, that stuff where they do have leaders and masters, maybe even gods,” said Mrs. Luciens casually. “You’re guessing was illuminating, indeed.”

  A few meters from them, Godfrey and Eliezer were listening as they picked up grass leaves and putting them in between their lips. Alex, on the other hand, was confused at how they were behaving. Eliezer had told him that they were the son and daughter of the king, but it was difficult for Alex to believe them because of their inappropriate actions.

  He, too, was squatted in front of Godfrey and Eliezer, gazing at their appearance and was evaluating them in his mind. They were years younger than him if manners and etiquette were the basis, but biologically he and Godfrey were just at the same age.

  “Last night was the most horrible night in my life,” said Eliezer, rolling her eyes overhead so that she looked just like she was recalling the past.

  “Yes, it was horrible because I was there,” said Alex.

  “How did you know? Oh, why, yes, your guess was perfect, Al,” Eliezer said gleefully. She suddenly flung her arms around Alex, who nearly fell off himself. “I really enjoy hugging you.”

  Godfrey’s eyes were magnified. His face looked, if any, astounded. Now he inched away a little bit before he told them, “What was that for?”

  “Nah,” said Eliezer, “I’m just hugging him.”

  “But,” Godfrey emphasized, “what for?”

  Eliezer scowled but retreated a minute or so later. Alex was sure he was feeling like a culprit. Godfrey was thinking that he was strongly charming his sister, especially that she was still hugging him.

  “It’s because I missed Hannah so much,” she said wearily. “It’s because of what you did to my doll that I’m having it all spent with him instead,”

  “Hey! Mrs. Hagaire repaired Hannah for you!” barked Alex, giggling as he remembered his foolishness. “It was like – well, how many times did she repair Hannah?”

  “A lot of times that you can’t count anymore,” said Eliezer dimly. “She couldn’t have made Hannah any better than making her look like a rag doll bought for a pittance.”

  “Rag doll bought for a pittance,” repeated Godfrey. “Well, at least Hannah still had cost – or she looked rather valuable than presentable.”

  “Mom bought Hannah in Biligan, and it would be long again before she and dad would travel back there. That time, I would request her to buy another new Hannah,” said Eliezer without removing her hands still around Alex. He felt immobile and confused at the same time. “But I won’t name that new doll Hannah. In fact, I’ll name it Alex.”

  Alex squinted partly because he was being discussed. Then he came to remember a girl from his class back at St. Mayleboune’s named Eugene Baker, who had always brought her purple-dressed doll wherever she roamed, occasionally talking to it. Alex wondered why she had not managed to magnet any friends. Six months later, Eugene was found to have possessed dementia.

  When he had told the story to Eliezer, she shot him a sharp look.

  “What,” she began, “are you trying to say?”

  “Nothing, actually.”

  “He means,” Godfrey taunted, “that you could go the same way – or probably, you’re on your way now.”

  “Okay, stop it. That’s not what I really mean,” said Alex finally. “Actually it’s because Eugene was mad and we never knew about it, something so shocking.”

  Godfrey and Eliezer did not argue back with Alex, but they stared at him with their eyes fleetingly and warningly. Once again, Alex tried to examine them any further and was trying to detect any hint of immaturity, but what caught his attention was their similarly indignant look.

  “What?”

  “What ‘what’?” Godfrey asked back incompatibly.

  “You’re looking at me like that!” he barked inoffensively. Godfrey gazed curiously at him. “Never mind, then.”

  There was an ounce of silence between them, and Mr. and Mrs. Luciens’s trail of conversation grew into existence once m
ore. They were so calm in exchanging words, as though there was no attack that had occurred. Their topic, nevertheless, was still about the odd lord even if he might have already been finished.

  “He was called Alfrendo, wasn’t he?” asked Mr. Luciens, intensely unsure.

  “Yes, he was, Robert.”

  “Well, I think he was claiming himself to be a lord whatsoever, and I wonder where might be the lordish feature in him.”

  “His powers, obviously,” Mrs. Luciens replied stiffly. “And I happen to notice there was something weird on the way he bended the wind. It was so strong. I even remember that we could not endure it.”

  “It’s because we’re rabbits. We could have stayed stronger if we’re in the other way around.”

  “At the very least,” said Mrs. Luciens, “we’re still grateful Godfrey did a very brave deed. It was indeed beyond any of my expectations.”

  “Me too.”

  “Oh, er, thank you about that,” said Godfrey, impressed. “I think that’s just the right thing to do and I wonder if dad will start to be proud of me now.”

  “Of course, yes, he will, dear,” said Mrs. Luciens convincingly. “But the problem was how to get him informed about it because, I’m sure, it would be totally difficult for us to do that since diverse barriers could arise.”

  “We’re – we’re safe now, aren’t we?”

  “We can’t be so sure of that. At any rate, we’ve come far from the nest so I say that we might be safe now, unless, of course, the odd lord’s followers have the initiative to search for us, which I strongly doubt.”

  “Followers – yes. Is the griffin one of them?”

  “Yes because he should have sided us if he’s not.”

  “But it’s so strange. It really is,” said Godfrey. “I mean – it has never occurred to me that griffins are made out of many skulls. I was really frightened when I saw it.”

  “That’s normal to happen. It is likely to happen,” said Mr. Luciens. “However, you have to abate it. You can’t just acquire it all the time. The thing is you’ve got to get rid of it. Self-confidence, that’s what it’s called.”

  “Really?”

  “Oh, yes. And I was under the impression that you’re nearly there.”

  “Thanks again for that one, Mr. Luciens. It helped a lot. Well, I just know that certain things –”

  Eliezer gasped loudly that all of them turned to look at her. Her face was shabby and aghast, as though she had just run out of the cave. She was unmoving for a few seconds, mouth open and her eyes wide.

  “It’s here . . .” she said softly that they have to lend their ears closer for a clearer sound. “I remember, yes . . . it was here. . . . The canopy . . . the black star. . . .”

  No one interrupted her statement as she started generating memories. They were expecting her to speak straight now, but she did not, yet. Instead, she was talking dreamily, looking all around her with mystified eyes.

  Alex, who was sitting beside her, grew more curious as she continued with her ethereal demeanor.

  “What is it?” he finally asked.

  Eliezer looked at them wearily and no one seemed to purr inessential sounds.

  “It was here,” she said in a low volume, but her voice was clear, “that the creature, the ‘strange creature’ – yes, it was here that he kidnapped me!”

  “Kidnapped you?” Mr. Luciens barked at once.

  “Well, he –” Eliezer was surprised. All the while she had forgotten it was because of her trusted suspicion that she ended up being captured by a terrifying creature. Apparently, she had concluded that the rabbits were not evil in the end.

  “Well what?” Mr. Luciens repeated patiently.

  “I was carried away here – brutally. The creature was sort of mad and – well, I mean I was here after I went out of your lair. I thought I was looking at some vaguely weird star not until it reached me down and it was no longer what it was.”

  She paused, thinking deeply of what had happened.

  “I suppose he had powers that no normal humans have because it turned out that I couldn’t move when he stared at me, yes.”

  Mr. Luciens was waiting for some more information but Eliezer had already stopped, so he just nodded palpably.

  “Hypnotizing, isn’t it?” Alex babbled in a casual voice and it seemed that he sounded not bearing fear or terror.

  “The what?” spat Eliezer as she momentarily scowled at him. “Oh,” she added, “so, you know?”

  “That’s a nonsensical question, El,” said Godfrey. “Of course, he knows – well, definitely because he was with you. The question was how he happened to know it?”

  Alex shifted his eyes from each of them, having a rare form of dilemma to which he would respond. Then, biting his lower lip, as both Eliezer and Godfrey turned at him, he gulped.

  “Well, that’s just easy. Anyway, the creature – ”

  “Please, let us call him the odd lord,” Mrs. Luciens snapped shortly.

  “Yes, the odd lord, as you may want to call him, has captured me, too, except that I was roped there days before she arrived.”

  Godfrey eyed him uneasily through his green pupils, still under the impression that Alex was a stranger, therefore he should not trust him. He had just embraced his sister.

  “If you would allow me to ask, why were you captured –?”

  “Oh, I’m not aware of that and all I do know is I’ve been cornered by three hideous Cyclops and –”

  “Cyclops, you say?” asked Eliezer and Godfrey at once.

  “Ah, yes.”

  “I think – I think we’ve had the same encounter with them, and yes, they also tied us,” said Godfrey.

  “Luckily, our children conceived the responsibility of saving you,” Mr. Luciens injected feebly.

  “Y-Your children?” Eliezer repeated disdainfully. “You mean there are other talking rabbits apart from you?”

  “I suppose we have already finished with this talking-rabbits matter?”

  “Mr. Luciens, of course, my sister is unprecedented – I mean she is novice with your term,” said Godfrey, quite defensively.

  “Yes, I forgot,” Mr. Luciens mumbled. “When I say our children, I mean these three who had been the ones who fled us from that nest.”

  He averted his eyes towards Worf, Meow, and Tweet, who were peacefully dozing off at once corner.

  “I’m afraid that they lost energy,” he said.

  “Does this mean that they could still survive?” Alex asked impassively.

  Mr. Luciens was surprised. He stared over at Alex’s eyes, as though saying that he had just dropped an insult.

  “Why, yes, they could still live,” he said. “Continue with your story, anyway.”

  Alex seemed to be partially flummoxed and said, “So, yes, the Cyclops brought me to a scarlet griffin at the foot of that massive tree where the nest was. After they handed me, they left and it was only me roped in front of the griffin.”

  “Yes, I thought he would be in griffin form,” said Eliezer. “When he first talked to us, he was a weak creature not until he transformed into a. . . .”

  “Into a what?” Godfrey asked.

  “He transformed into what he really is. I mean he was –”

  “Wait, wait,” came Mrs. Luciens voice. “I think there’s something happening here.” She tilted her head and gazed around the empty space before them, mystified. “There seemed to be something trying to appear. Look closely. . . .”

  And there, right on the clearing in front of them, was a blurry structure gently appearing in and out of sight, trying to emerge out of the invisibility which was concealing it. A moment or two had elapsed and the structure fully formed at the stop that was just recently empty.

  It was a black manor house and all of them displayed nothing but shock. It had the depressive aura of an uninhabited family house and seemed to have been deserted for years because the window panes on the upstairs room were perfectly covered with dusts, and misplace
d shrapnel and splinter of clay pots were scattered on a narrow balcony facing it.

  “What is it?” asked Eliezer in awe.

  “A haunted house, obviously,” Alex replied calmly, though he sounded offensive.

  Eliezer eyed him then kept silent.

  “There is no way we can find out about it other than entering,” Mr. Luciens suggested, but none of them replied as they continued gluing their stares upon the manor house’s features.

  “No, it could be dangerous, Mr. Luciens,” said Godfrey. “I will do it instead.”

  “No you’re not doing it!” Eliezer shouted. She looked at him surprisingly, and then said, “It’s fatal for you. I don’t want to lose you, Frey.”

  “El, on my part, it could not be fatal –”

  “How can you say that?” Mr. and Mrs. Luciens spat loudly. “We are not going to permit you!”

  “I – I have the stick!” Godfrey wailed.

  “The stick isn’t enough to protect you!” Mr. Luciens barked.

  “Then come with me!” Godfrey yelled back.

  A minute of complete silence fell. Mr. Luciens and Godfrey slowly looked at each other, as though seizing the seriousness through each of their pupils.

  “I hope – I hope – well, that’s a great suggestion,” said Mr. Luciens, and his wife shot him an inquisitorial look. “Sylvana, I will accompany the kid.”

  It was apparent that Mrs. Luciens was not feeling good of the idea that Mr. Luciens will accompany Godfrey inside the house, but her fear of showing less valiance swept over.

  “Yes, g-go, Robert,” she said, faltering.

  And so Mr. Luciens gestured Godfrey to come along his back holding the meter-long stick as they stepped into the dim porch. There was a soft creaking as the front door opened, and then ending up with a loud bang as they walked inside.