Chronovisixation II
Song of Strings
By: Daniel Cowan
Copyright 2011 by Daniel Cowan
Smashwords Edition
Chapter 3: Arch Bishop Angeline
Chapter 5: Extracurricular Activities
Chapter 12: Stand in Light, Fear No Darkness
Chapter 16: All Quiet on the High School Front
Chapter 18: Puppeteer Demon Waltz
Chapter 20: Chaotic Evil/Lawful Good vs True Neutral
“Hmmmmm, a bit further...” Kevin mumbled to himself while staring intently at a blank television screen. The 5'11 black haired 14 year old was sitting in the living room of his orphanage, focused on an old television set that was turned off. “A little bit further.” Kevin repeated.
“I can't go much further, this is straining me as it is.” Seraxus, a voice from inside his head, replied.
“I remember it aired on this channel around midnight.” Kevin said. “Ah, stop, stop! There it is!” Kevin said excitedly. Through Seraxus, a time demon living inside Kevin's left eye, Kevin was given the ability to look into the future using his left eye. While he watched the blank TV screen as it currently was through his right eye, his left eye displayed a late night TV show of two adult women kissing each other.
“Not bad, it actually worked. It looks like I can use my ability to let you see nearly an entire day into the future on command now.” Seraxus said, impressed with himself as Kevin watched the screen intently.
“This is great. Chronovisixation is a great ability.” Kevin smiled blissfully as he watched the women start undressing each other on the screen.
“It is pretty great, isn't it.” Seraxus replied, also in a daze as he watched. Then suddenly, a small black haired girl moved in front of the screen. She was wearing white pjamas with pink bunnies on them and had short black hair that was messy from just waking up.
“What are you doing?” She said to Kevin by using sign language, making sure he saw her hands by moving them directly in front of his eyes.
“Uhmm, nothing! Not doing anything at all! What are you doing up so early Amy?” Kevin replied flustered as he looked up at her.
“Why did you have that perverted grin on your face then?” She signed as she glared at him ignoring his question.
“N-no reason!” He replied as he quickly stood up and started walking out of the living room. “Turn off the left eye.” Kevin then whispered to Seraxus. Seraxus complied, and Kevin's left eye blurred for a moment as it returned to match the vision of his right eye in the present time. Amy grabbed Kevin's shirt sleeve to stop him from walking away and look at her again.
“Who are you talking to? I heard you. You promised you'd explain it after we saved Bridget.” Amy signed angrily.
“No, I promised I'd explain what was going on. I didn't say when!” Kevin replied to her with a smirk as he started climbing the stairs of the orphanage, heading to his bedroom as Amy followed him. As he sat on his bed, she sat beside him and glared at him intently.
“You said you wanted to rest, then you'd explain it. It's now Saturday morning, so explain it.” Amy signed to him.
“Ahh, you see, I still feel a bit tired though. I need more rest.” Kevin said as he forced a yawn and lied down on his bed. Amy then lied down beside him and glared at him, their noses nearly touching in the small bed. Her brow and chin wrinkled as the mute girl did her best to emphasize her disapproval through facial expressions.
“Alright, jeez!” Kevin said as he couldn't stare back any longer, sitting up in the bed as she quickly sat up as well. “Do you remember that night at the construction site, where you found me unconscious and I said I couldn't remember anything?” Kevin asked her, and she quickly nodded. “Well, that's not exactly true, I remember everything that happened.”
“Tell me already!” Amy signed anxiously.
“Well, the truth is that night I saw these two demons fighting. One of them was an Arch Demon and the other was a Chrono demon. They killed each other, but at the last second the Chrono Demon threw a horn at me and it hit me in my left eye.” Kevin said as he pointed to his left eye and Amy gave him a skeptical stare.
“Since then, there's been a Chrono demon living inside my head named Seraxus. He's a perverted old man who can let me see into the future using my left eye. Having him in my head has also made me aware of ghosts and other demons, that's why I could see Christine.” Kevin went on as she listened intently.
“Does Aaron know about Seraxus?” Amy asked with hand motions.
“Nope. We also had to trick him a bit with that ghost. Aaron is an exorcist in training, he and his dad are a member of this church called the Celestial Angelus Church. Seraxus says their teachings are off a bit though. They believe in using exorcism on any and all demons, basically Aaron wanted to kill that ghost of the Christine girl using that white circle that was on the stage in the auditorium.” Kevin replied.
“Aaron drew that?” Amy asked with her hands.
“Yeah, but I broke it so it wouldn't work, then I talked Aaron into helping us solve Christine's murder in order to send her ghost back to the demon realm, rather than killing it. See, on that first day of school I used the future vision in my left eye and saw that Bridget was going to jump off the roof, so I made a deal with Seraxus that if I saved the ghost from the exorcism, he'd help me save Bridget. He's all about being neutral to demons and humans, so we saved one of each.” Kevin said, as Amy nodded along curiously.
“Is he listening right now? In your head?” Amy asked curiously as she looked at Kevin's left eye.
“Yeah, he's a part of me now. The only way to get rid of him is an exorcism. That's why I couldn't let Aaron know about the demon, I couldn't tell him about the whole Bridget thing.”
“I see, so that’s why you were acting so weird this week.” Amy signed as she put her hand to her chin. “What about the curse that Bridget had?” Amy then asked.
“I thought Christine's ghost and the curse demon were related originally, but it turns out they were separate incidents. Well, actually in a sense they were the same. Christine was killed by her jealous friend, Bridget was cursed by her jealous friend. Moral is that high school girls are crazy.” Kevin replied with a nod. Amy stared back at him with her mouth to one side for a moment as he said this.
“When I won the Sapphire concert tickets in the mall...” Amy started signing.
“Yep, I used the eye to know what spot in line you needed.” Kevin replied proudly, and Amy quickly hit him.
“You shouldn't cheat like that!” She signed.
“What!? You're angry that I got your tickets?” Kevin replied surprised.
“No, I'm happy I got tickets, I'm angry you cheated using weird powers.” She signed back.
“That doesn't make any sense.” Kevin sighed back at her.
“Does too.” She signed back.
“High school girls are crazy.” Kevin replied to her, to which she lightly hit him on the shoulder.
“What are you going to do now? With that demon in your head?” Amy signed to him.
“Well, according to him he is the last of his kind, and he thinks there's these bad demons planning to take over the world. He doesn't know any real details though, so I'm just letting him chill in my head while borrowing his powers from time to time.” Kevin replied.
“Were you using that eye to watch something on the TV earlier?” Amy asked.
“Wha? No, naw. Nope.” Kevin replied back nervously.
“Liar, pervert.” She signed back quickly then turned her face from his and stood up.
“I swear I wasn't!” He shouted as she left the room, moments before Kevin heard the scratchy voice of the orphanage Matron, Ingrid.
“Kevin? Good, you're awake. Floor needs sweeping.” She shouted.
“Really? But its Saturday morning, and its still only 6:00 am.” Kevin groaned back as he shoved his face in his pillow.
“I know! 6:00 am is pretty late, got to get moving so you can get breakfast ready for the others.” Ingrid replied back as she appeared in his bedroom doorway holding a broom and dust pan, smiling as Kevin looked up at her. “I think I saw Amy awake leaving your room though, if its too much trouble for you then I can make her do it instead.” Ingrid said with an evil grin.
“Alright, I'm up.” Kevin sighed as he shot himself out of bed, grabbing the broom and dustpan from the grey haired old ladies hands.
“Where are you going?” Amy signed to Kevin curiously as she saw him several hours later, putting on his shoes at the front door of the orphanage.
“It's Saturday! Perfect day to look for a part time job. Lost my other job remember?” Kevin replied back.
“Can I come?” She signed.
“I guess... it's going to be boring though.” Kevin said, she simply shrugged back and started putting on her shoes. The two headed out of the house together and started wandering the downtown streets of Sarsen City. They didn't talk to teach other at all but Amy kept smiling and walking with a skip in her step as she followed Kevin around. He entered store after store and filled out applications for part time work, talking to managers and store clerks alike. The more managers that told him they weren’t hiring, the more discouraged he got as he entered a convenience store around 4:00 pm.
He was about to walk up to the store clerk and ask about getting a job, but he got distracted by the many lottery ticket advertisements around the counter.
“Hey... Seraxus...” Kevin whispered, Amy listening in.
“What is it?” Seraxus replied.
“Check that out, it says there is a 10 million dollar jack pot on Wednesday, that's just 5 days from now.” Kevin whispered back.
“Yes? So?” Seraxus replied obliviously.
“You think you could let me see 5 days into the future to see the winning numbers that get posted?” Kevin asked mischievously as Amy opened her eyes in surprise at Kevin.
“No, absolutely not.” Seraxus replied firmly.
“Whaaaat? Why not?” Kevin sighed back.
“I already told you that I'm against abusing my power for personal gains didn't I?” Seraxus replied.
“You didn't seem to care when we were using it to watch late night porn.” Kevin replied back smugly, to which Amy promptly hit him on the shoulder.
“I knew you were doing something perverted.” She signed at him angrily.
“What? It wasn't my idea it was the demons.” Kevin replied back quickly as he rubbed where he had been hit.
“Don't just blame the demon.” She signed back while stomping her foot to emphasize her words.
“Yeah! Listen to Amy.” Seraxus went along with her.
“You shut up.” Kevin growled back at him. “It's not that big of a deal is it? It's not like we're stealing.” Kevin replied back as he and Amy started walking around the store, pretending to be browsing for something.
“It's still wrong.” Seraxus replied.
“Look at this way, if we have money it'd be a lot easier to get around and stuff. We could use the money to easily save more of your demon friends, and save the world! Everything is easier with money.” Kevin replied.
“Hm... you do have a point. This human world is driven by currency... I'm still not sure about it though.” He replied.
“Amy, don't you think it'd be awesome to win 10 million dollars?” Kevin asked her, and she looked at him while going deep in thought for a moment and putting her finger to her chin.
“Yes, but using demons to get money is wrong.” She signed.
“What'd she say?” Seraxus asked as he watched her signs through Kevin's eyes.
“Absolutely, we should definitely do it.” Kevin replied enthusiastically as Amy shot him an angry glare.
“Well... alright. The winning numbers will be posted here in 5 days you say?” Seraxus asked to confirm.
“Yeah, right up there on that board.” Kevin said as he pointed to a small blue board behind the busy cashier.
“5 days is risky though, I could barely manage looking one day. It might be better to wait until it's only one day.” Seraxus said.
“No way, it'll be fine! You looked 5 days into the future before right? With Bridget?” Kevin replied.
“Yes, but that was by accident because you were hit and I lost control of my power. Looking at a specific time far in the future is difficult.” Seraxus replied.
“So you're saying it's too much for you to handle? Too hard for the poor little time demon?” Kevin said in a mocking tone.
“Fine, I'll do it. Don't blame me if it goes wrong though.” Seraxus snapped back. Moments later Kevin felt a slight burning sensation in his left eye, and a pinching feeling behind it as his vision blurred. The vision in his left eye suddenly sped up at an alarming rate, he watched people approach the cash register and pay for goods throughout the entire day within a matter of seconds. Then another day, then another, then his vision suddenly went into a blurring blob of flashing light and started to burn violently.
“Agh, what are you doing!” Kevin shouted angrily as he grabbed at his eye, Amy watching concerned.
“I told you this was dangerous!” Seraxus said back.
“Alright, I got it so just turn it off!” Kevin said as he shut his eye tight and it began to water.
“I, I can't shut it off, it keeps going. Hang on.”
“What do you mean you can't shut it off? What kind of chrono demon are you?” Kevin snapped back angrily.
“This is harder than it seems you know! It's not like I have my normal body, human eyes are hard to use!” Seraxus shouted back in frustration. Amy's eyes suddenly opened wide in shock as she stared at Kevin grabbing his eye.
“What? What's wrong? What's with that look!” Kevin said panicked as Amy reached her fingers forward to wipe tears from Kevin's left cheek. She pulled her hand back to show Kevin that it wasn't tears coming out of his eyes, but blood.
“Uh oh, not good.” Seraxus said as he saw the blood on Amy's fingers.
“No shit it's not good, turn this chronovisixation shit off right now, stupid demon!” Kevin shouted as other people in the store started to stare.
“Hey don't get mad at me, this is your fault! You told me to do it!” Seraxus shouted back.
“Because I thought you actually could!” Kevin replied.
“I told you I couldn't!” Seraxus replied. “There! I stopped it from looking into the future.” Seraxus finally said, letting out a sigh of relief.
“Good, but it still hurts like hell.” Kevin replied back. “I'll look at the lottery numbers real quick, then you turn it back to normal.” Kevin said, and he slowly opened his left eye. In his right eye he saw Amy suddenly look panicked, signing something frantically. He was too distracted by his left eye to watch though, as through his left eye he looked upon ruin.
The convenience store walls around him were no longer there, the building was destroyed and he could see the open skies above him. The sky was burning red with black clouds, and the buildings of Sarsen city were all levelled and engulfed in flames. Kevin glanced around in all directions, seeing outside the convenience store where it's walls should've been. The convenience store parking lot was filled with flipped over vehicles and bodies on the pavement. There were large black winged beasts with hooves for feet stomping down the streets along with half naked pink skinned female demons with tiny black wings and tails, and miniature flying winged grey skinned demons with horns. There were more demons in the mix, but Kevin couldn't make them all out as they marched along the streets, shooting fireballs and black streams of darkness as they destroyed everything in their wake.
“What... the... hell...” Kevin said in disbelief as he felt a warm liquid pour down his face, but what he was seeing had him too distracted to care about his eye bleeding.
“Fire imps of the Mazerin Realm... The Succubi of Aphrodite's Palace, and the Arch Demons... even the death demons...” Seraxus said as he watched a tall black demon in black robes holding scythe float by.
“Is this it? Is this what you were talking about?” Kevin mumbled back at him.
“Yes, this is what the Arch Demons must be planning, these are their allies. This is why they killed all the Chrono Demons.” Seraxus replied.
“The end of the world?” Kevin whispered to himself, quiet enough that Amy didn't hear as she started frantically flailing her arms at Kevin, finally getting his attention through his right eye.
“Look at your eye!” She signed worriedly.
“My eye? What's wrong with it?” Kevin replied as he glanced at a mirror set up in one of the upper corners of the store. Through his right eye he looked at the mirror and saw his reflection. His left eye was dripping blood and completely white. His eye lids looked crystallized and cracking, as did the skin around his left eye and the veins.
“Shit, that's my eye! Your left eye has taken on the appearance of my eye.” Seraxus replied frantically. Kevin quickly shut his left eye and covered it with his hand as he glanced around the store, seeing everyone stare at them.
“Let's get out of here.” Kevin said and he and Amy quickly left the store in a panic, walking down the street hastily. “Okay, jokes over, turn it back already. I want my eye back.” Kevin said in a serious tone.
“I-I'm trying, it's not easy you know. Just keep your eye shut for now and give me a moment.” Seraxus replied back.
“How far into the future is that? How long do we have until those arch demons show up?” Kevin then asked.
“I don't know. The limit of my chronovisixation is 6 months. If we assume I accidentally pushed your eye to the limit, which seems to be the case given the transformation, then that will be what this place looks like in 6 months.” Seraxus replied.
“Great, so the world really is going to end, huh?” Kevin said in a panic as Amy watched him with a concerned look, focused on staring at his left eye as he wiped blood off his cheek.
“Don't give up before trying, we already have the advantage.” Seraxus replied confidently.
“Oh? What advantage would that be.” Kevin replied discouraged.
“We have me, the last living Chrono demon. With me, we've already seen what their plans are. With me, we can change the future.” Seraxus replied.
“It's really starting to hurt, I feel like my is going to fall out. Turn it off already.” Kevin pleaded as he walked slower, Amy grabbing his arm nervously and moving to stand in front of him in order to get a better view. “How's it look?” He asked as he opened his left eye again, Amy quickly cringing away and shaking her head no before he shut it again. He could feel his crystallized eyelid scratching against his crystallized eye, sending a chill down his spine.
“I'm sorry, this isn't anything like using my ability with my own body.” Seraxus said.
“We need to tell the Celestial Angelus Church, right? We have to tell the exorcists about this.” Kevin said.
“No! No, absolutely not, their blind hatred for demons will only lead to a worse outcome.”
“What's wrong with a blind hatred for them? You saw what I saw right? They're going to destroy everything!” Kevin replied back angrily.
“I saw what you saw, you did not see what I saw though. There were only four prime demons marching on earth in that vision, the rest of the prime demons were not present.” Seraxus replied calmly.
“Prime demon? What does that even mean?” Kevin snapped back impatiently while scratching around his eye.
“The Prime Demons are the leaders of our realm, they maintain balance through their strengths and weaknesses against each other. Something must be going on in the demon realm right now that prevented the other prime demons from interfering, they would never stand for an invasion.” Seraxus replied.
“They stood around while you chrono demons were wiped out, didn't they?” Kevin replied.
“No, there's a chance they don't even know it happened yet. Chrono demons live isolated to maintain true neutrality like I told you.” Seraxus replied.
“If you were isolated, how were you wiped out? If you can see the future then how did you not see the attack on your race coming before it happened?” Kevin retorted.
“I told you, the prime demons keep each other in check because each prime demon is weak to one but strong against another. Chrono demons are not without a weakness.” Seraxus replied shamefully.
“What could possibly be strong against someone that can see the future?” Kevin asked confused.
“You said so yourself when you fought the curse demon right? Seeing something coming at you and dodging it are two different things. There is a prime demon with the ability to take away the free will of a specific group of others...” Seraxus replied as his voice trailed off.
“Just answer the question. What's a Chrono demons weakness?” Kevin asked.
“Succubus.” Seraxus replied shamefully.
“Succubus? Aren't those like temptresses? Those girls that seduce guys and suck their souls out or something?” Kevin asked as he curled his brow and Amy gave him a strange look from only hearing one side of the conversation.
“Y-yes.” Seraxus replied.
“So you are telling me that the entire race of chrono demons, demons that can see into the future, were completely wiped out by a bunch of hot demons seducing them?” Kevin replied in disbelief.
“Yes, well, but not all of us! I escaped!” Seraxus said proudly as Kevin slapped his palm to his forehead.
“No wonder you are so perverted. We're doomed, Amy. The world is doomed.” Kevin said as he put his hands on her shoulder and looked her in the eyes, confusing her more.
“Nonsense! As I am now, I have no body that can be tempted by them. I am thus immune to their charms and stronger than I ever was.” He said proudly.
“Yeah, right. So if we aren't going to talk to the Celestial Angelus Church then what is the plan? I don't know any other exorcist, they aren't exactly in high supply, you don't get to pick and choose in this day and age.” Kevin replied.
“Well, the fact that only four prime demons were present in that vision means that something must've happened to the others from when I was last in the demon realm to 6 months into the future. Of the 9 prime demons, my kind was wiped out leaving only 8. The four that take part in the invasion are the Succubi, the Arch demons, the Fire Imps and the Death demons. That means the missing four are the Vampires, the Snow Fairies, the Siren and the Sons of Pazuzu.” Seraxus replied.
“The sons of who now?” Kevin replied with a disfigured expression.
“Pazuzu, they are demons of wind and storm.” He replied.
“And did you say vampires?” Kevin then asked.
“Yes, vampires are one of the 9 prime demons.” Seraxus replied.
“What about werewolves then?” Kevin asked sarcastically.
“Don't be silly, men turning into dogs is just a spell, not a race of demons.” Seraxus replied.
“Oh, SILLY ME! How could werewolves POSSIBLY be demons.” Kevin shouted back angrily. “All of those guys sound just as dangerous as the bad ones! I'm with the C.A.C. On this one, we gotta get rid of all those bad demons so the world doesn't end.” Kevin replied.
“You're being unreasonable. If you choose to rely on the C.A.C. you will lose those 4 prime demons as possible allies. If you try to find out what happened to those demon groups within the next 6 months, then they may be able to help keep the Arch demons and their allies in check.”
“Okay, so how exactly do we do that? Where do we find Pazippos, Sirens, Vampires and Snow Fairies? I mean c'mon, fairies? Really?” Kevin replied back frustrated.
“I'll have you know that snow fairies are very vicious demons.” Seraxus replied defensively. “I'm not sure you'll find any of them in this realm, you'll need a strong exorcist with proper teachings to contact them.”
“What's wrong with the exorcists in the Celestial Angelus Church then? I'm sure Aaron has some spell in one of his books to contact a vampire.” Kevin replied.
“I can no longer tell if you are being sarcastic, but no, the Celestial Angelus Church's teachings are not correct. By the simple fact that your exorcist friend Aaron referred to the soul demon as an 'evil spirit', I can say for certainty that they probably don't even believe the prime demons exist.” Seraxus replied.
“News flash, no one believes demons exist at all. People used to believe in all that god and satan mumbo jumbo back in the day, but nowadays we've got computers and cameras, guns and grenades and jets and tanks. I don't think we'll find any other exorcists.” Kevin replied back as Amy continued to listen while staring at his eye, the bleeding finally stopping much to her relief.
“There used to be an order of exorcists in this realm when I first came to it hundreds of years ago. They were very talented, skilled and disciplined, their seers believed in keeping a perfect balance between this realm and the demon realm. If I could only remember the name...” Seraxus said, deep in thought.
“I doubt they'd still be around, it's been hundreds of years hasn't it? Human's don't normally live that long.” Kevin replied.
“Surely they have descendents that are carrying on their duties.” Seraxus replied.
“Well, whatever. Figure it out later, for now can you fix my eye already?” Kevin asked.
“Try opening your left eye now.” Seraxus said, and Kevin quickly complied.
“Does it still look weird?” Kevin asked as Amy stared at it.
“Yes, but it's not as bad.” She signed back. Looking through his left eye Kevin saw the street no longer in ruins, though it was dark out with no cars around in comparison to his right eye where the sun was still up and cars were driving by on the street.
“I'm still seeing the future.” Kevin complained.
“It seems that my power over your eye is locked in this state for now. It's going to take some time to turn your eye back to normal and remove the crystallization, until I can do that you'll be looking at the future as it is.” Seraxus replied.
“How long is that going to take?” Kevin asked back angrily.
“I don't know, don't get mad at me though. This is your fault. If I force your eye back to normal too quickly it might stop working all together.” Seraxus replied.
“Alright, I got it. I can't just walk around with my eye looking like this though or the Celestial Angelus Church will burn me on a cross.” Kevin replied sarcastically.
“How about an eye patch?” Amy asked with a sudden smile.
“An eye patch?” Kevin replied while taken aback.
“Yup, like a pirate.” She said excitedly as she put her fingers forward to wipe off red smudges from his cheek, looking slightly concerned as she did it.
“Where are we going to find an eye patch?” Kevin asked.
“I know a place, come!” She replied, grabbing his arm and pulling him along as he shut his left eye again and covered the crystallization with his hand. Minutes later they arrived out front of a costume shop.
“You've got to be kidding me.” Kevin sighed at Amy, whom ignored him and pulled him inside. “I'm supposed to buy an eye patch from here?” He asked her.
“Where else are you going to find an eye patch?” She signed back to him, then pulled him along into the store to an aisle filled with pirate costumes. There was a single row on one of the shelves dedicated to pirate hats and eye patches and Amy quickly started looking at them. “I only heard half of what you were saying, but it'll go away after a bit right?” Amy then asked Kevin with quick hand motions.
“Yeah, Seraxus says its temporary.” Kevin replied.
“That's what you get for trying to cheat the lottery.” Amy then signed with a triumphant stare as she lifted her chin proudly. She then grabbed a black eye patch with a plastic gem stuck in the middle of it and strapped it around Kevin's ears so that it covered his left eye. She then leaned back to get a better look at him and shrugged. “Good enough.”
“Good enough? Let me see...” Kevin mumbled back as he wandered the aisle until he found a mirror built into the side of the shelf. “Are you kidding me? I look like a frickin pirate!” He said as he lifted the eye patch up, seeing his crystallized eye.
“Better than looking like a demon.” Seraxus replied.
“It looks cool.” Amy signed with enthusiastic sparkles in her eyes.
“You only think it looks cool because it's not you wearing it.” Kevin sighed back at her.
“I can wear one too if you want.” She signed, then grabbed another eye patch and put it on. She then created a claw on her hand using her fingers and stared at Kevin with her most pirate-esq expression she knew.
“You look like a moron.” Kevin said as he pulled the eye patch off of her and put it back on the shelf. She quickly shot him a pouting expression. “This'll have to do for now.” He said as he turned and headed to the cashier, buying the eye patch for 10$ and then leaving the store with Amy. It didn't take long for people walking past them on the street to start staring at his eye patch.
“Great, now we're a mute and cyclops duo.” Kevin said reluctantly, though Amy gave him a thumb up and a smile like she was enjoying it. His stomach then let out a loud rolling grumble sound, Amy jerking her head to stare at it.
“Let's eat somewhere.” Amy signed. She started glancing around for a restaurant, and without waiting for a reply from Kevin she spotted one and pulled him along by his wrist inside it. Once inside, waiting at the door to seat them was a familiar girl. Her name was Sherry, she had long wavy blonde hair with black streaks mixed in. She was wearing a orange and white striped uniform and looked at them surprised as they walked in.
“Ah, it's you two!” She said as Amy waved excited. “What's with the eye patch?” She asked.
“It's a long story... you work here?” Kevin asked.
“Yup, gotta save up money for university next year.” She replied. “Is it just you two?”
“Yeah.” Kevin nodded.
“Come, I'll give you some good seats.” Sherry replied with a grin. She turned and lead the two of them into the restaurant to sit in a pair of comfortable chairs at a table in a corner, isolated from everyone else in the restaurant. “So are you two on a date or something?” She then asked as her ears perked up.
“No, we're not on a date.” Kevin replied back coldly as Amy's face went red.
“What are you guys doing together on a Saturday then? Hmmm?” she asked as she leaned her ear in.
“I was looking for work, we live in the same orphanage so she came with me.” Kevin replied.
“Oh, you two are orphans? Didn't know that.” Sherry replied back.
“Shouldn't you be getting back to work?” Kevin asked her dismissively.
“Hm? Nope.” She replied while glancing to the front of the restaurant. “No one else has come in yet, so I can just sit here and chat!”
“Sounds like a really easy job.” Kevin said.
“Yep, but it sucks I don't really get any tips of my own. So! You, my detective friend, owe me an explanation.” Sherry said as she pulled up a chair backwards to their table and straddled it, crossing her arms over the back of the chair and resting her chin on them. “First we got locked in the home economics room, then you said stuff to that Ellie girl about a curse. Next thing I know I'm being chased by a flying bulletin board and researching Greek mythology for a chant to save you.” Sherry said as she moved her eyes along with her words. Amy quickly gave Kevin a confused look as she said all this.
“Ah. Well, how do I explain this.... are you sure you didn't just have a bad dream or something?” Kevin replied.
“That's no good, you're going to have to give me a real explanation.” She replied with a stern gaze.
“I don't wanna.” Kevin replied. Amy then hit him on his shoulder.
“Why don't you tell her?” Amy signed at him curiously.
“Cause if the C.A.C. Finds out, I'm dead meat.” Kevin replied to Amy.
“C.A.C. ? What's that?” Sherry asked curiously. “I promise I won't tell them! I won't tell anyone, it'll be our secret!” Sherry said excitedly as she leaned in closer. Kevin looked at her, then looked towards a nodding Amy, and let out a sigh.
“It's up to you, I'm a bit distracted right now trying to fix your eye.” Seraxus chimed in from inside his head.
“The C.A.C. Stands for Celestial Angelus Church, it's the church Aaron belongs to. He's an exorcist, me and him can both see ghosts. He doesn't know about that curse demon though, and if he finds out I knew about it I'll be in trouble. That answer your question?” Kevin asked.
“I think so, I can piece together the rest. So that bulletin board was floating because of that curse demon thing?” Sherry asked.
“Yeah, I'd probably be dead if you didn't learn that chant. Thanks for that by the way.” Kevin replied.
“No problem! Just doing my part. So, do you see ghosts a lot? Can you see any right now? Like that one movie where that boy sees ghosts everywhere?” Sherry asked excitedly.
“No, I've only actually seen Christine's so far, the one that locked us in the home economics room. I had to trick her into thinking we thought you killed her so she let us out.” Kevin replied.
“Hmm. Oh! Customer! Gotta go work, I'll make sure you get a cute waitress though.” Sherry said as she suddenly stood up from the table and headed to the front.
“Sherry, promise you won't tell anyone!” Kevin called out to her.
“Don't worry, big sister sherry can keep a secret!” She replied back with a smile.
“I wonder about that.” Kevin mumbled to himself.
“Was that so hard?” Amy signed to Kevin.
“Yes.” He retorted.
“You make it so hard for me to make girl friends.” She signed. “You scare all the girls away, you are lucky you have me!” She then added.
“Oh yeah? Well you scare away all my guy friends with your cutie girlyness.” Kevin replied back.
“If you were trying to make fun of me, that was a bad insult.” She signed back while sticking out her tongue, and he quickly stuck his tongue back out at her just as the waitress arrived.
“What can I get for you two?” she asked politely.
“Coke and a cheeseburger!” Kevin said while giving the waitress an overly enthusiastic thumbs up.
“Ahah, okaaay, anything else?” She asked.
“Nope, that's all.” Kevin shrugged back.
“And what about you?” The waitress turned to Amy. Amy simply gave the waitress a thumbs up and a big goofy smile to match Kevin's. “Same thing?” She asked, and Amy nodded excitedly. “Okay, two cokes and cheeseburgers coming up.” The waitress said as she walked away.
“Were you trying to mock me? I thought you didn't like coke.” Kevin asked. Amy then suddenly got a shocked expression and chased after the waitress.
“Hey, Amy...” Kevin asked as he knocked on her bedroom door Sunday evening. She opened it shortly after and gave him a surprised look. “You have a calendar in your room right?” He then asked, and she nodded. “Can I see it?”
“Wait one second!” She signed flustered before closing the door in his face. She then made some loud shuffling noises as Kevin waited patiently outside. A minute later she opened her door again and motioned him to come in, pointing him to her calendar on the wall. Kevin approached the pink calendar with pictures of Amy's favourite idol Sapphire on it, the name Sapphire written in big blue letters with a pink background. On either side of the calendar posted on the walls were more Sapphire posters, and Kevin held back the urge to roll his eyes at them. He lifted his eye patch off his left eye to stare at the calendar.
“Hmm... so for some reason my left eye is stuck seeing the future about 8 days from now, calendar says it's Monday when it's actually Sunday. Why 8 days?” Kevin then asked as he glanced over the calendar to see a giant smiley mark written over the 12th of October.
“I am presuming 8 days is the limit of your eye before it starts to transform into my eye to look as it does. It'll remain stuck at 8 days as long as your eye is crystallized, both problems will be fixed by the same solution.” Seraxus replied as Kevin leaned in to read the writing marked on the 12th.
“Oh, that Sapphire concert is next month isn't it.” Kevin said as he turned to Amy whom nodded enthusiastically. “Find anyone to go with yet?”
“You won't come?” Amy signed with puppy dog eyes.
“Nope, and that poor mute orphan girl trick won't work on me. I don't like her music.” Kevin replied back, and Amy promptly crossed her arms to glare at him. “Still not working.” He responded.
“Fine, I'll ask Sophie.” Amy then signed to him. “Now get out of my room!” She signed before pushing Kevin along out the front door.
“But you're in my bedroom all the time! I think this is the first time I've seen yours.”
“Girls rooms and guys rooms are different.” She signed before shutting the door in his face again.
“High school girls are crazy.” He mumbled to himself.
He awoke that Monday morning the same way he usually did, to the violent shaking of Amy's hands as she grabbed him and wobbled him back and forth until he opened his eyes The two got dressed and headed to school to start their second week. The first thing Kevin did when they got on the school grounds was glance up at the roof, remembering seeing Bridget jumping off of it through his left eye. He let out a sigh of relief as he thought about not having to worry about her anymore and headed into the building through the front doors. In the front foyer around where the bulletin board once sat on the wall was yellow caution tape, instead the bulletin board was leaning against the wall on the ground.
Kevin nervously glanced over the destroyed tiles and walls as the other students looked at them amazed as well.
“Did you do all this?” Amy signed to him.
“Not me, the curse demon.” He whispered back to her. He then caught a glimpse of Aaron standing just outside the caution tape staring at the bulletin board curiously, but he turned to catch a glimpse of Kevin and started waving him over.
“Uh oh. Remember, don't talk to him about Seraxus.” Kevin quickly whispered to Amy, to which she hit him on the shoulder.
“I can't talk you moron.” She signed back.
“Hey! What happened to your eye?” Aaron asked curiously as he glanced at the eye patch.
“I uh, Amy hit me with a baseball over the weekend. How did the stuff at the police station go?” Kevin asked.
“Smoothly, Sarah confessed, so they really just needed my side of the story on how I found stuff out. I left out the part about the evil spirit though. Did you see anything about what caused this mess?” He then asked in a serious tone.
“Ah, n-no. Nothing at all, why?” Kevin replied as the three of them looked at the bulletin board with the hole in it.
“Well, I don't want to alarm you, but the C.A.C. Seer said that black magic was involved. They're sending over some top notch exorcists to check this out. Don't worry, they don't know anything about you yet, so just lay low.” Aaron replied.
“Okay, cool. Thanks for the heads up.” Kevin replied as Amy let out a tiny sigh of relief.
“Good thing this exorcist isn't too bright.” Seraxus said from inside Kevin's head. As they looked at the bulletin board they started to hear gasps and loud chatter behind them. The three turned to look and see the students moving out of the way for three people walking into the foyer of the school standing side by side.
The woman in the center was wearing long white baggy robes and white flat dress shoes. Her clothing somewhat resembled a nun's outfit though her face was visible and she had a tiara on her forehead with a cross encrusted in the center of it. She had very long wavy brown hair that went down to her lower back and dazzling brown eyes with a thin build.
On her left and right were two men wearing priest robes. One of them Kevin recognized as Aaron's dad, Father Maltis. He had short brown hair to match his sons, the only difference in their appearance was their height. The other man was tall with broad shoulders and long black hair, and all three of them had cross necklaces on.
“Whoa, I wasn't expecting her or my dad.” Aaron said in disbelief as his jaw dropped.
“Who is she?” Kevin asked nervously.
“That's Arch Bishop Angeline of the Celestial Angelus Church. She's the best exorcist there is. My dad is walking side by side with her and her knight Xavros! This is amazing.” Aaron said as his eyes began to sparkle. The other students gave the three weird looks and made condescending comments as they passed though. The three of them stopped outside the caution tape just beside Aaron and Kevin and looked at the bulletin board carefully.
“Oh, I was hoping I'd catch you before class.” Maltis said as he caught glimpse of Aaron and smiled at him.
“H-hi Dad.” Aaron replied with a goofy grin as Kevin and Amy backed away. Aaron then leaned into his Dad's ear. “Is that really Arch Bishop Angeline and Knight Xavros?” Aaron whispered.
“Yes.” His dad whispered back.
“This is what we're looking for.” Angeline said as she knelt down and pulled the curse poster off of the bulletin board that had a hole in it compliments of Kevin's shoe. She flipped the paper around and started analyzing a spell rune that was drawn on the other side. “It's exactly the same as the others. The only thing that stands out here is that someone destroyed it before we could.” She then said as she glanced and saw Aaron. “Ah, this is your son, correct Maltis?” She asked politely with a smile that seemed to light up the area around her.
“Yes, this is my son Aaron.” He replied proudly.
“Was it you that destroyed this curse scripture? That's quite a feat.” She said impressed.
“N-no, it wasn't me. I didn't know anything about it. I did preform an exorcism on an evil spirit though! It was haunting the auditorium but I took care of it.” Aaron replied nervously.
“That he did.” Maltis replied proudly.
“I see. Then, do you know anyone who could have done it? It looks as though they had quite a fight here in this foyer.” Angeline said as she glanced around at all the destroyed tiles, still ignoring the many students staring at them.
“You, you're from the orphanage aren't you?” Maltis said as he noticed Kevin. Suddenly Angeline, Aaron, Xavros, Amy and Maltis were all staring at him.
“I, uh... yeah.” Kevin replied back nervously.
“This could be bad.” Seraxus said.
“What orphanage?” Xavros asked curiously.
“Our local seer saw him being attacked at a construction site, we went to his orphanage to check up on him. He has no memory of the events and was unharmed though. ” Maltis replied as Xavros and Angeline both looked at each other and nodded. “What happened to your eye?”
“M-my friend here, she accidentally hit me over the weekend.” He replied as Amy nodded along nervously.
“I see... have you noticed anything different since your incident at the construction site?” Maltis asked.
“No sir, nothing different.” Kevin replied anxiously.
“Are you sure? If you were involved in destroying this scripture, you won't get in trouble. If you know anything at all...” Maltis asked as the other two adults stared at him inquisitively.
“It was me!” Sherry said out of no where as she walked up to them, all eyes turning to her suddenly. “Hi hi!” She said cheerfully.
“It was you? You destroyed it?” Angeline asked curiously.
“Yeah, that ol' Ate curse? It was a piece of cake! I just said some Litai words and then kicked it in, easy peasy.” Sherry replied nonchalantly. “Made a bit of a mess first though.” She then added as they all gave her strange looks, she looked only at Kevin though and smiled.
“How did you know it was a curse? Are you able to sense their presence?” Xavros asked in a serious tone.
“Uhm, I just knew. My friend said some guy was handing out those scripts at the end of the summer, something about making wishes coming true. She accidentally used it and told me about the curse, so I destroyed it for her.” She shrugged back as she lied through her teeth.
“Really? He's just handing those out?” Xavros said, though his question was directed to Angeline and Maltis as the three looked at each other.
“This could be worse than we thought. That explains why curse spirits keep popping all over the city.” Maltis said.
“We should focus on finding the source. Who ever this man is, he must be planning something.” Angeline said, and the others nodded. “Could you tell us what the man looked like? Any information at all.” She then asked Sherry.
“Uhm, not really... my friend saw him not me. I can ask her for you if I see her today though.” Sherry replied back while putting on her cutest possible smile.
“That would help us a lot, please, as soon as you learn anything could you tell my son Aaron here? And Aaron make sure you call me immediately.” Maltis said.
“Okay, Dad.” Aaron replied back enthusiastically.
“Let's head back to the church and tell the seer, she may be able to figure out what this man is planning. This is good, finally we've a lead for these curse spirits showing up.” Angeline said, the other two nodded and then headed out of the foyer as all the students watched them.
“They're so cool, aren't they?” Aaron said with a sparkle in his eye.
“Can I talk to you for a sec?” Sherry said, but didn't wait for a response before pulling Kevin away from Amy and Aaron.
“Thanks, you saved my ass.” Kevin whispered to her.
“Yup, I know. In return you've got to join the theatre club.” She replied with a smile.
“What? Bu-”
“No buts, you're a member now. If you say no, I'll go tell them all your seeecreeets.” She said evilly. She then let go of his arm and skipped away happily. “Oh yeah, ask that Ellie girl about what the mystery dude looked like for me would you? I gotta help out some priests save the city!” She called back to Kevin as she hopped away down the hall. Moments later both Aaron and Amy caught up to stand beside Kevin.
“It's a good thing Sherry handled that curse spirit huh? Someone could have gotten seriously injured. Curse spirits are way scarier than evil spirits.” Aaron commented, to which Kevin rolled his eyes.
Kevin, Amy and Aaron all entered their first period classroom to see the usual people in their usual seats. Karin and Ellie sat beside each other with an empty desk in between them, Sophie sitting in the far back corner of the room with her white head phones on gently bobbing her head along with the Sapphire music she was listening to. While Aaron moved off to the side of the room to sit in his seat, Kevin and Amy both headed straight to the back to find theirs and both got comfortable.
“What's with the eye patch, loser?” Karin asked as she and Ellie turned back to stare at him, Ellie couldn't look him in the eye though.
“Pretty stylish don't you think?” Kevin replied sarcastically as Sophie glanced at him to see the eye patch, then shyly looked away.
“If you are that desperate for style then you're better off wearing parachute pants.” She replied.
“That wasn't even funny.” Amy signed to Kevin and he shrugged. Bridget then entered the room and Karin and Ellie both looked forward at her. Her face had gone completely back to normal. Her complexion was perfect and her hair straight blonde hair flowed smoothly around her slender neck as she walked in. She was wearing a tight and plain tank top with a small frilled white skirt and white flat heels while holding her bag over her right shoulder.
“Oh? Did you finally shave and buy more concealer?” Karin said. “Thank god, I was worrying I'd have to change seats so people wouldn't know that we're friends.. Come, sit, you totally have to explain what all those scars were about, you were totally gross.” Karin said as she patted Bridget's desk. Bridget didn't reply, she only blinked back at Karin blankly, then threw a nasty glare at Ellie who quickly looked away.
“You know, I totally think I'll sit somewhere else, because you are totally a bitch.” Bridget finally said, then turned her head sideways and grinned at Karin. Karin let out a shocked gasp as Bridget walked passed their desks to the back of the room and stopped in front of Kevin and Amy's desk, causing them to look up at her, as did Sophie.
“Were you serious about what you said? That we were friends?” Bridget said quietly to them in a whisper.
“Y-yeah.” Kevin replied nervously, finding himself unable to look her in the eyes because of how pretty she was. Amy noticed this and threw him a nasty glare while nodding in response to Bridget's question.
“Okay, then you both totally need make overs, you dress like bums.” She said, her attitude suddenly back in her voice. “You're coming with me after school to go shopping. And you, mute girl,” Bridget said as she positioned herself in front of Amy's desk, causing her to stare at Bridget confused. “You need a cell phone so you can start texting me instead of doing that sign language stuff.” Bridget then turned and moved to sit in the empty desk beside Amy as Amy and Kevin both looked at each other. Kevin then shrugged at Amy and Amy simply shrugged back.
“We're not exactly rich you know. Cell phones and new clothes are kind of out of our budget. Besides, I kind of like my look.” Kevin replied as she got comfortable in her desk.
“Hah, okaaay there captain jack. Who are you trying to be with that eye patch anyway?” She said mockingly.
“I hurt my eye.” He grumbled back.
“Sure, whatever. Don't worry about paying for it, unlike you bums I have plenty of money.” She said while flicking her hair.
“She's kind of annoying.” Amy signed to Kevin. “Do I still have to be nice to her?” She asked. Kevin nodded yes and Amy let out a silent sigh
“Alright class, good morning to all!” Mr Rolph said in a jolly voice as he marched into the room moments after the bell rang. “I hope you all had a wonderfluffy weekend.” He said while holding up a stack of papers. “Because I've got a nice little present for all of you, a quiz for your second week at school to see how you're all coming along.” He then said. Many students let out long sighs as he began to walk through the aisles of desks handing out the tests.
“Oh? What happened to your eye? A decoration?” Mr. Rolph said as he got to Kevin. He put a test paper on Kevin's desk and then pulled at Kevin's eye patch out of curiosity. Kevin panicked and quickly pulled the eye patch back down to cover his eye, but not before he caught a glimpse of the class room. Through his left eye he only managed to see the class-room empty with no lights on for an instant, but he made out an object on one of the desks in the room. He wasn't sure what it was, but it stood out in his mind.
“Oh, sorry. That looked pretty nasty, guess it isn't a decoration.” Mr. Rolph said as he moved on through the class room. Amy and Kevin then looked at each other, Amy worriedly but Kevin just shrugged at her as Bridget watched until she got her own test paper. “Alright, no chatting or cheating, you've got 30 minutes.” Mr. Rolph said as he sat as his desk, the class going dead silent save for the sound of pencils scribbling on paper.
Once the test started Kevin carefully glanced around the room to make sure no one was watching him, then he slowly and carefully lifted the eye patch on his left eye. His left eyelids had gone back to normal but his eye was still crystallized and pure white. What he saw through his left eye in the empty class room was a vase and flowers set on a desk in the far left side of the room, along with a framed picture and other flowers laying beside it. After getting a good glimpse he quickly set his eye patch back over his eye and looked down at his test.
“What sort of shrine is that?” Seraxus asked curiously. Kevin quickly jotted 'remembrance' on his test paper, then erased it. “As in paying respects to someone who died?” Seraxus asked, and Kevin nodded. “Your left eye is still seeing 8 days in the future. That means that the boy in that seat will pass away within the week, that is unfortunate. I'll take this time to remind you that meddling with peoples fates using my power is dangerous, we shouldn't interfere.” Seraxus said, and Kevin didn't reply as he looked at the back of the boys head that sat in the desk.
He then turned his attention to the test and breezed through the questions with ease, not even needing the help of Seraxus in his head to figure out the answers, until he got to the last question. Kevin tried his best but the question was about something he hadn't learned yet, and eventually Seraxus gave him the answer just as Mr. Rolph announced time was up.
“Alright guys, exchange your tests with the same person you did last time. I'll call out attendance and we'll go based off of the list.” Mr. Rolph said, and as he read out the attendance Kevin heard his name called after a boy named Jermaine. As Jermaine raised his hand, Kevin glanced to see that it was the same boy whose desk had the vase on it.
“What are the chances.” Seraxus said from inside his head. Kevin then stood up with his test in hand and walked across the room to Jermaine's desk. Standing behind the boy Kevin tried to lift his eye patch up and get a better look at the vase on his desk 8 days in the future. He only got a tiny glimpse of the words 'rest in peace' before the boy turned around and glared at him.
“Yo, what are you doin' lurkin' behind me n shit man?” Jermaine said. He was a short black boy with shaved black hair wearing large round brown rimmed glasses.
“Uh, n-nothing.” Kevin replied anxiously as he pushed the eye patch back down over his eye.
“Whatever, just give me your test Johnny Depp.” He replied as he pulled Kevin's test out of his hands, then held up his own test.
“Johnny Depp?” Kevin replied confused as he took the test.
“Yeah man, haven't you ever heard of Johnny Depp? Like Captain Jack Sparrow? The pirate?” He asked.
“N-no...” Kevin replied confused.
“Damn man, you living under a rock or some shit? You don't go to the movies?” He asked surprised.
“Nope, not really.” Kevin shrugged back.
“Whatever, you better mark my test properly Johnny.” He sighed back as he turned to face Kevin's test on his desk again. Kevin then turned and headed back to his desk to see both Bridget and Amy watching him, Bridget quickly looking away as Kevin turned around though.
“That boy speaks rather oddly.” Seraxus commented.
“It's just slang.” Kevin mumbled back as he sat in his desk. Moments later Mr. Rolph began calling out the answers and Kevin found himself putting check marks beside all of Jermaine's.