Ris de Veau Princesse

As per Maya’s instruction, it was surprisingly straightforward to get the fauns to take you to places you didn’t know. Maddy, Amy, and Stella were now loaded up on a gondola and seeing what there was to see as a Faun followed their instructions to take them to places they hadn’t seen yet. Apparently, the fauns somehow knew what each of the girls had seen and had started by taking them to the circus. After a quick clarification to take them to places no one had been yet, there had been no other issues.

The first stop was a location that everyone had seen from a distance since coming to the island, but never up close. The looming clock tower that always seemed to be just within eyeshot, revealing the current time from anywhere on the island. As the girls unloaded onto the sloped isle, the tower looked much larger up close. Amy had thought it was maybe four stories at the most, but could now see it was a trick of the eye, and the tower went up at least double that.

The soil was loamy and difficult to find purchase on. Maddy began to slip going up the hill, and Stella grabbed her from behind. “Watch yourself, Mads, I hate to imagine what amounts for a doctor here if you get hurt.”

Maddy’s face flushed as she righted herself, “T-Thanks,” She cracked a grin, “I guess the fauns would b-be more inclined to play doctor than anything.”

Stella’s eyes widened before she busted out laughing, “Holy shit Mads, I didn’t expect that from you!”

Blushing furiously, Maddy worked her way up the hill, “I’m not a child y-you know? You should hear some things that get said in the kitchen when we’re working.”

Amy smiled back at the two from further up the hill and glanced at the tower itself. The base was wide and five-faced, shaped like a pentagon. There was no path leading to the door outside of where the grass on the loam grew thinner. The door to the front entrance was unique as well, bearing many silver concentric circle inlays that grew smaller until they wrapped around the knob on the left side of the door.

They all walked to the door together, and as Amy turned the knob, she was half-surprised to find it opened without issue. Immediately, the silence broken only by the rippling water outside gave way to the sound of distant, echoing clockwork. Inside, there was a pillar with a ladder at the far end of the room, leading to the clock tower. As for the room itself, it was strewn was wayside papers and various tools and four large contraptions that looked vaguely familiar.

“Oh shit.” Stella muttered, approaching one of them, “It’s a Gutenberg press.” She started scrambling around and messing with various things, picking up what appeared to be a large stamp pad and pressing it against the metal keys in the machine.

Glancing around at the machines again, it clicked for Amy, “A printing press?”

Stella was loading a piece of paper into the machine and smiled as she closed the mechanism with a loud ka-chunk, “Yeah, old school style, you load up the metal letters, coat them in ink, and press the paper and…” She pulled hard on the lever and then lifted the mechanism, revealing a paper now filled with writing, “Voila!”

Amy walked up closer to read what the press had put down, “Did you mess with the letters at all?”

Looking indignant, the imp shook her head, “You saw what I was doing, I didn’t touch them.”

Squinting down at the words, Amy frowned. On the paper, it had a bright, large headline of “Harem Hotel: Complete Disaster Edition” followed by a large amount of writing that she couldn’t make heads or tails of. The words occasionally sounded like English, but not quite. The opening line reads “Ic sēce tō wyrcenne tīdmǣl swā nǣnig oþer. Þæt grundweorc is þis: we forbærnað hit eall to þǣm eorðan.”

Maddy came over and glanced at it. “What language is that?”

The oni shook her head, “No idea.”

Stella flipped the page over. “Looks like Anglo-Saxon.”

The other two stared at the imp, and then Maddy couldn’t help herself, “What don’t you know?”

Stella just shrugged, “It’s not like I can read it, but I recognize it from reading the Heaney translation of Beowulf. He had it set up so you could read the Old English on the side, not that I got past 'þæt wæs god cyning’.”

“Complete Disaster, though…that sounds pretty bad. Wonder if it was another season run on this island. Maybe this is left over from that?” She looked nervously towards Amy.

The oni frowned as she pocketed the paper, “Yeah, maybe. It wasn’t in my data set, but they run so many that it doesn’t narrow it down much.” She paused and then looked round, “Well, any interest in climbing up the tower?”

Maddy looked at the rickety wooden ladder and shook her head. Stella lingered on it a moment longer before saying, “I’m not going on my own; might as well head to the next spot.”

The three went back down to the gondola, and the faundolier shoved off. This time they weaved in and out between the numerous buildings. Unlike the clock tower, the new destination was someplace they had never seen before, though it was hard to imagine how. The domed structure was as large as a football stadium but with the aesthetic of the Roman Colosseum in its heyday, brightly coloured and decorated.

As the women disembarked, Maddy frowned and voiced what they were all thinking, “How could they have kept this hidden here? It’s so big and colourful. You’d have thought we’d see it, at least at a glance, with how frequently things move around.”

“I wonder if it’s less random than it appears.” Amy said wistfully, and seeing the others staring at her for explanation, pressed on, “I just mean, if I think about the islands I remember seeing from afar, it’s the amusement park, the restaurants, the bazaar, places that they would be encouraging us to visit.”

The chef frowned, “Like they’re trying to corral us, like sheep? To go where they want?”

“Could be that, or just the places they think we’ll visit most frequently. How often are we going to need a printing press or…whatever this is?” The oni gestured to the stadium.

Stella started running towards the entrance, “Won’t know for sure until we peek inside!”

Rolling her eyes, Amy gave chase after the imp to try and keep her from doing anything rash as Maddy stumbled behind them trying to keep up.

The interior, thankfully, was no surprise. There was a large amount of seating and a small opening in the dome, creating a spotlight effect on the central area, which appeared to be flat stone.

“Huh,” Stella knelt down and moved some loose grit on the ground while peering over the area, “Think Lucian is gonna have us fight gladiator style? Or maybe fight a lion!”

Maddy yelped, “D-don’t joke about that! I don’t want to fight anyone.”

“Seems unlikely unless we’re doing it nude in the mud,” Amy commented absentmindedly as she gazed across the arena, “Not particularly sexy to watch girls wail on each other otherwise.

Picking up a loose stone and tossing it, Stella sighed, “I guess, though mud wrestling could be fun.”

Maddy crossed her arms, “I d-don’t see how that could be any fun.”

“Then you aren’t being imaginative enough.” The imp smirked and waggled her eyebrows.

Pressing her foot against the ground, Amy felt it shift slightly and frowned. There was more going on here, but it didn’t feel like answers would be forthcoming from staying here. The oni clicked her tongue, “Shall we move on?”

Back in the gondola, the sun moved across the sky as they wove through the shifting waterways that made up the island. Eventually, they came to dock on a small island, perfectly round, and in the center was a stone rotunda with columns and a domed roof. Approaching it, above the entrance was an engraving reading “Asterium”

Maddy shifted her gaze to Stella and raised an eyebrow, “Any idea what an Asterium is?”

Cocking her hip, the imp gave a derisive scoff, “Oh, so I’m supposed to have all the answers now?” Maddy shrugged, and Stella frowned before closing her eyes and crossing her arms, “The only asterium I know is a type of flower. Don’t think this is that.”

Amy put her hand on a column and looked up towards the dome, “Might be another name for a planetarium?” She shrugged, “We’ll know more inside.”

They walked toward the steel door and, with Amy’s effort, were able to make their way inside. The room was dark, and the group could barely make out that the room was roughly divided into four quadrants with knee-high walls going diagonally to each “corner” and resting at a stone dais in the center of the room where a stone arch hung. The splashing sound suddenly clued them in that the floor was covered in a thin layer of inky black water as they came to the dais.

The center of the dais was what appeared to be some form of sundial, totally out of place. Jutting prongs indicated the equivalent of fifteen-minute marks, with a large prong jutting straight from the center.

“W-what is all this?” Maddy said nervously, the darkness and unfamiliar setting were putting her on edge

There was something unnerving about this all, and Amy was fighting a primal instinct to run that was putting her hair on edge, “Not sure, but we probably shouldn’t mess with it.”

“What does this do?” Stella pressed down on the center prong of the sundial, and with a sudden whoosh, the room lit to life as the ceiling lit up with starlight and swirled around. Then the center of the ceiling bulged and distended downward to be within arm's length.

“Dammit, Stella.” Amy cursed simply as she gazed towards the illuminated ceiling. Maddy was trembling as the extension of the ceiling drew near.

Stella just laughed in response, “Oh, come on! This is neat. Y’know” She gestured vaguely, “Whatever this is.”

Maddy began rushing towards the exit as the extension kept moving closer, and Amy grabbed Stella and started dragging her towards it, “Yeah, neat, and we have no idea what it does! We are leaving.”

Stella pouted as she let herself be dragged out, “Spoilsport.”

The interior of the haunted house was dark, and for the first while, Caleb and Noemi couldn’t see anything. Actually, it was to the point that Caleb was convinced that even if they wanted to leave, it would be difficult to find which way was the way they came. Noemi clung to his arm in an extremely performative manner, taking the darkness as an excuse to be close.

“Oh wow, Caleb, it’s so scary you’re going to have to protect me.” Noemi gazed up to the master, giving a cheeky grin that made it clear how little protection she needed.

“Ha, alright, stay close, then we’ll make it through just-” He paused as the room they exited was not what he expected, lined with desks with a blackboard at the front, “-just fine.”

The sound of children's laughter echoed throughout the room before a disembodied voice spoke, “Settle down, class. Time for attendance!”

The sound of scrambling feet, and they watched as all the chairs moved unbidden as the voice began to recite names. Caleb felt his stomach knot as the voice said, “Castro, Noemi?” followed by a bright and chipper, “Here!” He turned and saw their way in had disappeared. “Of course,” He thought ruefully, “No way out but forward.” He glanced at Noemi, who was watching the scene carefully, like she was trying to piece it together. Not that he had any trouble placing the scene.

The voice pressed on, eventually arriving at “Ward, Caleb?” and a tentative voice responded, “h-here.” There was then a sound of impact on wood, and a chair lunged forward before a spray of blood covered the desk, followed by children laughing and the teacher trying to quiet them down.

“W-What’s going on?” Noemi looked at Caleb, nervously, and he tried to stay stone-faced, “Why would they show something like that? It’s ridiculous.”

Trying to keep his voice even, “Start of the spring Semester, you were put behind me in class, you kicked my chair during attendance.” Caleb opened his mouth and tapped his front teeth, “I broke my tooth. The bottom half is fake,” He felt acid in his throat and tried to swallow it down. “Dad had to leave work early to take me to the dentist.”

Noemi froze like a deer caught in the headlights and looked back at the blood on the desk, “I…don’t remember that happening.”

“I mean, why would you?” Caleb’s tone was flippant even as he fought back bitterness, “I was the only one who had my day changed, for the rest of class it was a normal day.”

“Caleb, I’m sorry, I didn’t-” Caleb held up his hand to cut her off.

“Let’s...not, let’s just keep going. We can’t go back now.” He mustered and walked forward. Noemi bit her lip and nodded, still clinging to his arm.

Pushing past the classroom, the next area was a gymnasium, and there was the sound of kids playing basketball before it was interrupted by a whistle and a voice ringing out, “Ward? Where are your shoes?”

This was followed by quiet, and the voice piped up, “Ward? I asked a question, Where are your shoes?”

The small voice spoke up tentatively, “-I don’t know.”

“You don’t know? Didn’t you come to school with shoes?” The voice shifted from irritated to a touch of concern

“-I-I,” The voice paused, “I don’t know”

The footsteps moved over to the voice, “Alright, let's take a walk.”

Noemi looked over nervously, “I remember that…I hid them in the storage closet.” Her face took on a panicked expression, and she looked up at Caleb’s face, “But that’s not so bad! Sure, you had to buy new shoes, that’s not great, but it’s not like you got hurt!”

The knot in Caleb’s stomach tightened. “Yeah, well, the school was concerned about my home life, so a social worker came to investigate my home. Stressed out my dad a lot, doesn’t look great being a single dad.” Caleb sighed, “Partially my fault, but I couldn’t bring myself to say someone stole my shoes, so until the social worker cleared things up, I had to worry about them taking me away.”

Noemi frowned and let go of Caleb’s arm, her voice rising, “Well, that’s not my fault! You could have said something! Even if you didn’t want to name names, you could have…” She trailed off.

Caleb looked at her sadly, his voice tense. “Yeah, sure, but my dad just started functioning like a human again, I didn’t want the school telling him I was being bullied and screwing that up. But yeah, I fucked up, obviously.” He kept squeezing his fist open and shut, “Let’s keep going.” He turned and kept walking.

“Caleb, wait!” Noemi chased after him.

Caleb kept his head down and tried to focus on breathing. His chest was tight. For him, he didn’t need any reminders of these things. He had relived these events plenty of times in his mind over the years. But experiencing them now again…with Noemi right next to him? It was taking its toll. Noemi finally caught up and reached out to take his hand; it was all he could do not to pull his hand away. “We said we’d forget about it, I said we’d move on,” he kept repeating as a mantra

They were outside now by the dumpsters, the big ones with loose padlocks hanging from the door, the distant ringing of the fire alarm going off. The sound of kids quietly whispering to each other. There was then a snickering and a quiet “hey!” The door to one of the dumpsters opened and shut quickly before the padlock was closed shut. Weak arms batted against the door of the dumpster as the alarm stopped and the sounds of the class filing back inside.

The Chilean woman was tense next to Caleb, and she quietly asked, “How long were you inside?”

The master gave a half-hearted shrug, “ Four hours, I guess they noticed I was missing, but no one thought to check the dumpster of all places. The janitor is the one who found me.” Caleb glanced up, seeing a lit exit sign, “Looks like that’s the end.” He pulled Noemi towards the exit, and once again they found themselves in the brightly lit amusement park. Caleb took his hand back to open his umbrella silently.

Noemi stood sheepishly next to him before quietly letting out, “Are you ok?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” The master said flatly, still looking away from her.

Noemi approached, “Really, you’re not upset with me?”

“Sure, why not?” Caleb shook his head ruefully.

A flash of distress crossed Noemi’s features, and she reached out to grab Caleb’s arm, “Caleb, I didn’t mean to-I didn’t know.”

Unable to take it anymore, Caleb snatched his arm away, “No, you didn’t care. I was a punching bag, a stress ball, right? You don’t worry about those things when you squeeze em tight, why would you care?” He laughed mirthlessly

“Caleb I- that’s not who I am now. That’s not me. I-I love you!” She looked ****, staring at him.

Caleb looked over his shoulder, head tilted, and smiled sadly, “Yeah, you keep saying that.”

Noemi was on the verge of tears, “You-You said we could forget all this, that we’d just ignore it, it never happened.” A shaky smile crossed her features, “That’s what you said!” she half screamed the words.

Caleb nodded, “Yeah, I did…just give me a minute, I need some space.” He took a step away.

“Where are you going!?” Noemi wanted to stop him, to pull him to the ground and keep him from leaving, but kept her feet rooted to the ground.

“I’m not leaving the park… I just need some air. I’ll be back.” He turned, giving Noemi only the umbrella to stare at as he walked away, leaving her alone.