Willow Falls Chapter 21 - What Walks on Two Legs

A calm serenity washed over the small town, with the only disturbance being the light flapping of four wings. This broke the solemn silence, shining a light into the sorrow that had seeped into the atmosphere. From above, the feet of a youthful seraph touched the ground, causing the crunching of fallen autumn leaves to resound in the still, dry air. Worry saturated his expression, a sympathetic mask trying in vain to cover it. Nearby, the sniffly mourning of the half-insect was faintly heard, despite almost six months passing between this moment and the passing of his adoptive sister. He was hunched over, with his head tilted towards the ground, the cluster of graves sitting before him.

“Adair,” Milo soothingly murmured, gently settling a hand on the other boy’s shoulder, “let’s go, alright? Everyone’s worried about you.”

Reluctantly complying, the other sat up, wiping his damp face with a sleeve. He shuddered a final time and followed the steps of the freckled ginger towards the school’s courtyard. A handful of acquaintances and friends awaited his arrival.

“Are you alright, Dell?” Katherine inquired as she shifted into her foxlike form, comfortingly nudging his leg with her snout. Her tails idly swayed back and forth, slowly, like the movement of a pendulum. Out of everyone in the gathering who had lost a loved one, Adair had been struck the worst, losing both of his parents and his sibling within a year or so, so it was natural he was still upset after losing his entire living family. The kitsune solemnly lowered her head at his lack of a response.

Xander sat in a leaned-back chair, having his feet placed on the top of a lunch table as he kept a watchful eye on Ryan, gnawing on his thumbnail. “I’m sure he isn’t. He lost a lot recently, give him time to recover. If it’s bad enough to make him a host for the Dark Matter, it’s definitely gonna take a lot for him to settle down.” Rolling his eyes, he snapped a couple times at the Black Widow-possessed teen, who was beginning to try and make a web on the underside of that same table. Ryan twitched a bit and stopped. “C’mon, Taylor, don’t give into those spider urges. I’m trying to save you from this, not let you worsen yourself.”

They promptly began to squint intensely at each other; the two often had little arguments through Ryan thinking negative thoughts, Xander reading his mind and finding them, and thusly sending an angry refutal back.

“...are you sure they’re dead? Maybe they’re in the--” Before Poe could finish his statement, he was silenced by a glare from Milo, who was still angry at the pale-haired boy for turning on them. “...nevermind…”

A high-pitched chortle responded to the boy’s inquiry. “Ohoho, but you are correct!” A bronze-skinned man with a catlike face and the lower half of a lion was now sitting at the table, apparently. “Allow me to reiterate with one of my riddles~ Ones who passed in the past are truly not passed, but their passed passings are shrouded in darkness from the past! I am the Sphinx, you know.”

“That ain’t a riddle, that’s just confusing.” Watson snapped, frowning. The imp fluttered his batlike wings, folding his arms across his chest.

“No, no, I am saying that your loved ones are not dead… just trapped in a place full of darkness. That is all! I would be pleased to stay and chat, but Hades - who sent me - would be disappointed if his little messenger embezzled away more time than needed. Toodles!”

Before anyone else could speak, the mythical being was gone.

Heads slowly turned to face Adair, who was standing up and fuming.

 “Where do they have Midori?” He hissed.

 “Where the fuck do they have Midori?!”