by T. Wyse
She landed neatly on the top of the white waving wall, and gazed out into the change of the nook’s view. The crops stretched out into the horizon, far beyond any hope of harvest for the small group. The two dugout wells still sat in front and back of the house, their waters now looking purer and clearer than the ominous silted puddles they had resembled before; roots shot out into them, vined leaves hung over their rims.
Meldice's house, the Woolley's house, had become an ocean of greenery.
Her little balancing adventure over, she hopped down from the fence, and trod properly towards the glass garden of the front door, yet her hand trembled in recoil from the knocker.
No shapes darkened the field, and for the briefest moment she dreaded some happening in her absence.
She landed the knocker upon its rest, once, twice, three times. A gentle gust urged her hand on, tickling it, and threading itself through the knocker as it moved.
No answer came even after a few minutes passed, and her heart trembled and sank.
Kokopelli climbed out of the pouch lazily, and stretched out, standing daintily around her shoulders.
"I mean, it’s the right place, right where you said. Do you think they're...gone?" The sound of the words gave her dread.
"Mmmm...no." He concluded, as a distorted shape appeared in the frosted glass of the front door's window.
The door flung open with such force, that Amelie predicted the dreaded sight of Mrs. Woolley scowling down on her. The person was, instead, a very surprised looking Meldice. Her eyes were open wide, and she gave a shocked squeal, and leapt onto Amelie, giving a firm, and tight hug.
"You're alive!" She shouted joyously.
"Yes." Amelie laughed, enjoying the embrace.
"So are you coming to stay here? You look fantastic!" Meldice was open jawed, looking at Amelie's dress.
"Isn't your mother still angry at me?" Amelie asked, puzzled by her excited invitation.
"She's mellowed a bit." Meldice said, glancing back. "It'd take some convincing, but you're welcome to stay, really." She smiled.
“No. No, but thank you, really. I’m just here to check on you. Just wanted to thank you before I head out. I’m not sure what I can do, but I hope I can help like your mother has, like The Professor has.”
"Then let me come with you." Meldice declared, her voice shaking. "I'll help you." Her breath was as sincere as ever, sparkling with hope. Amelie felt her heart break a little.
"I can't bring you with me, I'm sorry." She looked towards the ground, moving the plants encroaching upon the front steps of the house away with her feet. "It's dangerous, too dangerous for you."
"Why not! I'm strong, I'm able, I'm older than you are!" She protested. "You may have perceptions I don't, but I can still help. I know enough of mother’s techniques, I’ve even thought of going out on my own to show others, I just can’t go alone.”
"I’ve died three times, in the past few weeks. Each time I healed. The world outside here is dangerous, so dangerous that I know I might die again, know I will face injuries that would cripple you, maim you."
There was a lengthened, awkward silence. "Where is your mother? Is everyone alright?" She peered behind Meldice, hoping to see some light betraying silhouettes in the reaches of the house.
“Most of them left actually.” Meldice sighed, glancing back. “Not because of you, though, don’t think that for a second.” Her eyes pleaded. “It’s just, they all have things they want to move on to, things they aren’t sure of. At first it was survival, but now people…I think they’ve got some hope again.” She smiled gently.
“The fields are growing crazy now. There’s loads of food, more than we could ever eat or even trade away, more than we could give to a million beggars.” Meldice’s gaze fell. “I’m not needed here anymore. She’s even let other people into the kitchen with her.” She exclaimed softly.
"Your mother needs you."
"She doesn't, she's fine."
"You know that's not true. I don't have to see her, to see her face to know that she needs you by her side. You two support each other, you are each other's anchors." Amelie smiled, trying to be reassuring.
There was a long, awkward silence.
"Let me field this." Kokopelli broke in, standing upon Amelie's shoulder.
Meldice's face went quickly from a gawking shock, to a joyed realization. "Wow!" She grinned happily. "I knew he was a strange little fellow, but it suits you." Meldice reached out, as if to pet the little guardian. He skittered away, unhelpful.
"Blow on her eyes." He hissed, having slithered to Amelie's other shoulder.
In that moment Amelie was tiny again, facing off against another child. She blew onto Meldice's eyes, forcing her to blink.
"Ah, why'd you do that?" Meldice asked, annoyed.
"Do the same, now to her." The crackling voice purred.
Meldice willingly went along with the game, giving a gentle puff at Amelie's open eyes. Amelie showed no reaction, felt no abrasion. "What, that's silly." Meldice said, flabbergasted for words. She puffed harder, blowing directly into her eyes. Amelie blinked, only because of the duration between the last time she had done so, not as a reaction to the wind caressing her eyes harmlessly.
"So what? I guess that'd come with her knowing the wind, her eyes would freeze, dry up otherwise!" Meldice declared, annoyed.
"Not enough then?" Kokopelli hissed from Amelie's shoulder. She was annoyed at his level of abrasiveness, but the words felt necessary.
"You ask to enter a world you are ill prepared to deal with, little girl." His hunched profile leaned forward upon Amelie's shoulder. "You were skeptical of the universe, enough so that you were spared, taken into the Silent Times around us. After that, you chose to cope, to create a persona of falsehood, that has become a truth enveloping your person."
Meldice scowled. "I'm still the same person I was before." She muttered angrily, touching the blue bow in her hair.
"Through actions, no matter how insincere, you have let yourself into a niche, a rut. Through words spoken, however untrue, however patronizing, you have come to change, more so than you are willing to admit or willing to see. To truly walk and thrive in this time you must reject all such standards and comforts. I think you have proven you do not have that ability.”
"I saw you, the thought crossed my mind you would be something more." Meldice scowled at Kokopelli, who skittered across Amelie's shoulders once again.
"Passing fancies, random thoughts do not make you powerful." He hissed. "Tell me now, something unseen before you. Win me over, little girl." He waited, perched.
"Stop being so mean." Amelie whispered mournfully, yet without substantial weight to her words. Meldice must stay here, the words needed to be said, no matter how hurtful they may be.
"I can see fine." Meldice growled. She squinted at the cat, trying to pierce his disguise, trying to find something unseen.
"Already you have failed the test." He purred. "I will resort to feeding you an answer."
Meldice's face soured, she crossed her arms, waiting for the riddling knowledge.
"How old are you Meldice?" Kokopelli's voice was warm with insincere concern. Amelie's mind crawled with worry.
"Eighteen." She declared. "What you're going to say you're a thousand years old? Something like that?" She pointed angrily at the little guardian's face.
He ignored the prodding finger. "How old are you Amelie?" He purred. That feeling of crawling dread increased. "Now now, why so silent?"
"My parents always told me that it was taboo to speak of your age, that it was offensive to the old, and declared ignorance in youth." Amelie looked down.
"Oh come now, I'm sure Meldice doesn't mind, do you?"
"I don't. Tell me how old you are." She shrugged.
"Fifteen." Amelie stuttered, the number not wishing to leave her lips.
"Meldice, how many years did it take you, to become eighteen?" He asked, the venom oozed from the air between them.
"How many months in those years?" He purred.
"Twelve?" Her face screwed up with annoyance.
"Now Amelie, how many years are there in your fifteen?" Kokopelli was enjoying this strange game.
"Just the same as her." Amelie declared. It wasn't the same. A horrible realization rose inside her stomach.
"Come now, be honest. Your parents told you not to speak of this, but told you to be honest, did they not?" He pined.
"I..." Amelie looked away, she didn't want to see Meldice's confused face. “Where’s that splitting pain now?” She looked at him with half held breath, eyes drooping with a sudden miserable exhaustion.
“You are no longer blissful.” He purred. “You took your fate, and now the truth is unobscured.”
"What, you go by some different calendar than the rest of us?" Meldice asked, forcing Amelie's chin up to meet her worried eyes.
"My parents told me...that for everyone, there's a formula, for the years you’ve lived. It's true, right?" She pleaded with Meldice.
"One year is one year, twelve months." Meldice shrugged. "Straight out, straight in."
"Seven years." Amelie said, her eyes closed shut to avoid the look on the older girl's face...older girl?
"You're only seven?" Meldice asked. "So you're older than you look." She chuckled.
"Seven years, to make me one year older." Amelie whispered, her voice piercingly clear.
"What...what do you mean?" Meldice's grip on Amelie's shoulder recoiled.
"She is longer aged than you. She was taught never to express it, to wrap around the truth in games, tricked into thinking it was simply the norm." Kokopelli's voice was low, urgent. "You thought you were older than she, but were blind. It is this kind of perception which will spell your salvation, or your damnation on the path we walk."
"Amelie...you...my grandmother. My grandmother's seventy nine years old. You're older than she is!" Amelie opened her eyes, feeling frustrated shame. Meldice's gaze was numb, dumbfounded.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know, I guess I should have. It's come up a few times, since I went to school with the others, but everyone thought I was being silly. I guess I'm even less 'normal' than I thought." Amelie’s heart sunk into despair. How could she have even begun to think she was like the others, even on the basest level?
Meldice's arms were back on her shoulders. Amelie dreaded another round of interrogation, another round of potentially deeper secrets shattering her now fragile illusions. None came.
"Amelie, you are the same person I've met, the same person I've known. You are just more blessed, more exceptional than I knew." Meldice looked on the verge of tears. "I guess I can't match you, can't even come close. Please promise me that you'll come back, come back and tell me all about the wonderful amazing things you do?" She smiled broadly, her eyes sparkling with enthusiasm, the tears banished.
"I promise." Amelie nodded. "I came here, to say some things to all of you, to make sure you were all fine." She looked behind Meldice again, the halls were still darkened, silent. "I guess you can tell them for me."
Meldice nodded slowly. Her face was happy, smiling, yet a profound weariness had set itself on her. She looked so much like her mother it was as if Mrs. Woolley was standing there before her, wearing a silly blue bow in her hair.
"The crows are gone. You needn't worry about them any longer, if you ever did. Know that there are other things, lurking in the darkness, and that you should stay close to others, that you should stay strong."
"There is an oasis, a forest to the northeast of here. It is lush and growing, and it is a new growth. Please tell anyone who passes through of it, and that it is to be respected."
"The spurts of growth the plants have enjoyed up to now will slow. They will grow much more quickly than they would have normally, but don't expect a seed to grow into a full plant within two days any longer." She smiled, remembering the excitement of Meldice's mother at the shooting growth of the plants.
It wasn’t something she was fully certain of though, just a thought that had come to her. If people knew of the strange energy the Aspects seemed to hold within them, surely they would covet it, and try to harness it for themselves. Normal humans pursuing these creatures was something she found both frightening and distasteful in a way.
"Mother will be pleased about that, at least." Meldice grinned. "Lately we've been having to fight back the plants, instead of babying their sprouts. The roots have been chewing into the house's foundation, too."
"The last thing," Amelie reached into one of the hidden pouches in the dress, taking its occupants into her hands. "A gift for a friend, and a request of a friend." She smiled. The two wind mice scrambled up her shoulders, Kokopelli displaced himself onto the ground to give them room.
"They're adorable!" Meldice exclaimed, her hands clasped. "Where did you find them?"
"I've asked them to help you, to live with you, to become plentiful in your care. They will do as you ask, to the best of their abilities. They will help you spread the seeds of the plants here, help the plants pollinate each other. Maybe they can help focus the plants growth outwards as well."
She pointed at Meldice, and the two leapt over, gliding in unison to their new perches upon her shoulders. Meldice squealed with delight, petting the soft fur of the one perched to her right shoulder.
"Will you watch over them, for me?" Amelie smiled, moved by the sight of her gift received.
"Of course!" Meldice grinned with excitement.
"They're sort of...my 'children' in an odd way." Amelie flushed, feeling silly for the statement. "The two you have are a breeding pair, please take good care of them." She smiled, then remembered. "Oh, say hello to her."
"
"It's up to you if you want to keep their speech to yourself." Amelie smiled. "Only those who know to listen to beasts for the words that may potentially come out will be able to hear the language they speak. You can hear them because you have heard Kokopelli speak it, and knew it came from his mouth. If you wish to let others know, you'll have to make sure that they listen to the mice, and understand that it's a language, and that it's coming from them."
"Some will never be able to hear the language of the beast, however." Kokopelli purred. "I doubt any but her in this house will have the ears to hear it, even if explained fully."
"That's it, I have to keep moving." Amelie glanced at the sun’s position in the sky. Meldice was a strange, wonderful sight before her. She was the same girl Amelie had met that seeming eternity ago, but now adorned with a pair of creatures perched upon her shoulders.
"Goodbye, for now." Amelie said, giving Meldice a parting hug. Her wind pouches hung loppishly around her.
"You have to come back and tell me all about it, you promised." Meldice whispered, returning the hug.
The path to the second house stretched out with a painful ease. She found the road that had carried her in the cart, spotting explosions of growth in spots along the way. With each burst of growth the swimming dread in her chest grew fuller, but still she pressed on.
From above the spattering of houses looked like a western desert town, very few dots of encroaching green cut through the drab brown below.
She spotted it amongst its peers, the only one with a complete roof, the shape of the yard vaguely familiar and fitting. The face of the house locked in confirmation of her frenzied flight out and back in, and her tiptoed feet landed softly on the trodden path.
Seven seeds, for seven trees. She placed them along the house's edge, two in the front yard, two at the sides, three in the back. She had chosen the seeds from her groves, willow trees that bore slender and sweet beanlike fruit.
Her tiny memorial complete, she stood before the door of the house again, not even daring to raise her hand lest it be blown into action as before. Perhaps some clue remained within, p
erhaps Terror of Night had missed some of them?
She banished such foolishness. It was gone, the house was perhaps not empty, perhaps other scavengers had moved in. She moved to knock at the door, intent now on discovering the occupants inside.
The door whipped open, beating her knuckle to its surface.
A figure filled the doorway. Amelie looked up, stunned, astounded.
"Amelie, girl!" She felt herself raised into the air by arms incredibly strong. Kokopelli had dislodged himself during the planting, and regarded the scene with embered eyes.
"M'grevor!" She shouted in shocked awe. "Put me down, please. I have fragile cargo with me, you might hurt it."
He lowered her gently, a hanging reluctance in his breath. She stepped out from the threshold of the door, back into the dirtied world. "I can't stay long, I have to move on soon." She stuttered. "I'm so glad you're alive...I don't know how—"
"Come inside girl!" He shouted, his eyes darting around, "I haven't seen those things in days recent, but they must still be out—"
"They’re gone." Amelie beamed at him. "I put them back in the earth, they won’t be returning.”
She raised her eyes upwards at the towering man, trying to see his expression better. "How did you survive!? What happened!?" She yelled desperately. "The Professor, he said you'd all died, that you'd been devoured! He lied!"
Her mind remembered Crow's words, its sincerity. It really had only wanted her, it hadn't lied.
"James, he," M'grevor sighed. "He hasn't been completely upfront, and he's a little touched, but no, he didn't lie." He sat his girth upon the steps, patting beside him. She joined him, half turned, so glad to see his face once again.
"You ran out like that, from the basement, I chased after you. The others hid, ducked down, whatever they could do when those things flowed in. I fell down on the stairs, the crows just pushed me aside, like I wasn't worth their effort. Then..." The man shivered with remembered cold.
Amelie realized what had happened, her scalp tingled with apprehension, not wanting to hear it, yet unable to protest the retelling. "They were screaming, all of them. I thought the crows had them, they were pecking at them or something such. I was wrong though. It was like shadows, the darkness was biting at them, scratching them, dragging them down into itself. All of them at once." He shuddered. "I tried to fight it, I did." He whispered, rubbing his temples.