Second Try!

Chapter 34

Monday December 2, 2013

11:37 am

(Ivan's POV)

I close my book as I walk out of my room. I walk into the living room and see Anenoid grabbing a bag of chips from the cabinet in the kitchen. There was something off about him, I couldn't tell what was off, but there was definitely something off. I ignore him as I walk to the couch. I notice a fox sleeping on Sombra in the corner of the living room.

"Anenoid why is there a fox here." I say as I look around for the remote to the TV

"You're here? Shouldn't you be at camp?"

"On a quest, I don't wanna help though."

"I don't blame you, most quests are boring anyway. Find a person in this location, hunt this type of monster, it just feels the same."

"I still want to know why there's a fox." The fox's eyes open as it started stretching.

"That's Goldie. She's a fox with powers."

"Foxes can use magic?" I ask as I found the remote in between the cushions of the couch. Anenoid ignored me. Goldie jumped off Sombra, her legs slowly shifted into human feet as the rest of her body grew. In seconds she was standing up as a human with an annoyed expression. I don't ever want to see her shape shift again.

"For the last time! I'm not a fox, I'am a Kitsune!" I flip through the channels trying to look for South Park as I tried my best to ignore the both of them. Anenoid smirked as he walked over to Goldie.

"The word Kitsune is literally the Japanese work for fox, you're just a fox with powers." It took me awhile but I eventually found South Park.

"I don't care what you say, I'm not a fox." Goldie said as she crosses her arms. Anenoid rolled his eyes as Goldie sat next to me. "Just wait until I reach my Kiko form and call me a fox again." What's a Kiko? I look towards Goldie.

"What's a Kiko?" Goldie looks towards me with a prideful look.

"A Kiko is the third form of a Kitsune, Kitsune can only turn into a Kiko if they are older than five hundred year's old and are a Zenko, Zenko are good Kitsune.

"Kitsune have forms! I didn't see this on the wiki article." Anenoid shouted as he sat down by me. Goldie nodded as a unsure look appeared on her face.

"Yeah, they have five forms if they are a Zenko Kitsune, two for a Nogitsune Kitsune."

"What's the difference between a Zenko and a Nogitsune?" Anenoid asked.

"Zenko are good, they help people stuff like that, Nogistune are the complete opposite. They kill, trick, possess humans. Well Zenko possess people too, but they actually help the people they possess."

"Oh cool, which form are you on?"

"I'm a Chiko, the second form of a Kitsune. Just a few more years until I'm a Zenko."

"Oh." Anenoid said as he sat on other side as me. Goldie's tail waved in front of me face. I push her tail out the way as her tail moved away.

"Well dad's being a lit-"

"Is this suitable for young children?" Goldie asked. I shake my head.

"No."

12:03 pm

I walk up to the front of the library with Alice and Michael nowhere in sight. I wait for a bit before I noticed them limping towards me. I wince as I saw bumps and bruises on Michael's face while looking slightly disappointed. Alice was by his side, her face had a line of red going down her face. I walk over to them, Alice held her side as Michael blinked a couple of times.

"What happened?" I asked, were they in a fight, maybe an accident? Robbed maybe? Alice gasped for air as she put her hands on her knees and spat at the ground.

"Mon-monsters came out of nowhere." Michael said as he touched the side of his face, he quickly moved his hand as he touched a bruise. I notice that his was slightly crooked. I tap my nose in a attempt to tell him. He tapped his nose and winced. "I know." Alice slowly stood straight as she pointed to the library.

"Can we just go inside, I want to rest my feet." Alice complained. I nod as I turn around and wait for them by the door. They were slowly walking, they were clearly tired, Alice looked like she just ran a marathon. Michael just looked like he ran for a bit, he still looked tired. Michael was the first to reach the front, Michael and I walked in. The familiar scent of the library filled my nose as soon as I took one step in. I look around for any open tables, I spot one in the corner. I walk over to it as Michael followed behind me. I sit down as Alice slowly walked towards us. Michael sat on the opposite side of the table, Alice sat down next to me. She put her bag on the middle of the table, she laid her head behind the bag. She did some hand signs, her hands glowed a bright green as she held her head. Her hands stopped glowing, she wiped some blood off her face and sat right up.

"Michael put your head down." Alice said.

"Why?"

"Do you want bumps and bruises on your face?"

"No."

"Then put your head down." Michael reluctantly put his head down as Alice did the same hand signs as before. Her hands glowed as she quickly hid her hands behind the bag and held Michael's face. The bumps shrunk as the bruises slowly turned into Michael's skin color. Michael let out a silent groan as his nose straightened out its self up. Before the bumps and bruises could turn back to normal Michael quickly jumped out of his seat. Several people looked at him with wide-eyes, thankfully they went back to whatever they're doing. "Why did you move back?" Alice asked as Michael sat down.

"It burns." Michael said with a whimper. Alice crossed her arms as she leaned back in her chair.

"At least I tried."

"What did you even though?"

"I healed you idiot." Michael touched his face, a surprised look appeared on his face.

"Thanks." Michael said while sitting up before putting his down on the table again. Alice nodded and grabbed her bag to put it on the ground. "It didn't feel like you were healing me."

"I'm not good at it. So you get to feel pain, just ignore it."

"I'm not letting you heal me again."

"Would you rather have a broken face?"

"Yep." Alice rolled her eyes. I lay my head against the wall as they kept on arguing.

"Fine, just don't co-" I lean forward and interrupt Alice.

"Did you guys find the guy?" Alice looks at me with an annoyed look. Michael shifted his head so that his arms were beneath his head. They both answered no at the same time. I roll my eyes as I leaned back against the wall. Alice clutched her stomach.

"I'm hungry, did any of you guys bring food?" I shake my head. I'm not sharing my food with her.

"Nah, forgot to bring some." Michael said with his voice kind of muffled. Alice look towards me with a little bit of desperation in her eyes.

"Do you know a place to get food?"

"What kind of food do you to get? There's a bunch of restaurant's near here."

"What's a restaurant?" Alice asked. Michael lifted his head and looked at Alice with a confused face. She can't be serious.

"How do you not know what it is?"

"I don't live in a city like you guys."

"There are literally restaurants in the camp!"

"There are?"

"Yeah!

"I still don't know what they are."

"They serve you food!" I shout at her. Some people turned their heads towards me with an angry look.

"Do they cost money?" Alice said as she reaches into her bag and takes out a wad of paper money. "I have fifteen rubles and eighty euros. What can that get me?"

"Nothing, they only accept dollars." A look of sadness appeared on Alice's face.

"Oh." I kind of feel bad for her. I know how it is to go not eat for a day but, she doesn't have any money. Should I use my own money? I heard McDonalds is cheap, I could take her there.

"Michael you have any money?"

"Yeah, I have eighty dollars. Why?"

"McDonalds is nearby Wanna go there?"

"I don't have any money though." Alice chimed in.

"I'll pay for you." I say to Alice. Michael got up and grabbed his bag. Alice smiled as she got up. She owes me for this.

"This Mcdonalds better be like five steps away." Michael said as he put on his bag.

"Thank you." She said with a up tune beat. I stood up as and walked to the front of the library. "What do they have at McDonalds?"

"Burgers, fries, salads stuff like that." Michael said. "Don't get the salads though."

"Oh I never had a burger, they any good?"

"Yeah! Burgers are one of my favorite foods." I stay silent as I lead them to Mcdonalds. As I turned a corner I hear a girl whimper in one of the alleys nearby. I ignore the whimpers and walk away. It's not my business, plus it could be a weirdo in an alley. I've ran into a bunch of people like that. I feel someone grab my shirt and yank me backwards. I look over my shoulder and see Michael looking at me with a disappointed look on his face. "We should go help! There's someone clearly whimpering, did you not hear them?" He shouted. His eyes glowed a bright red. The pupils in his eyes formed a star as red smoke came out of his eyes. My knees shook as I tried to pull myself out of his grasp.

"I did-didn't hear." Michael let go of my shirt, his eyes quickly went back to normal. I straighten out my shirt as Michael and Alice rushed over to the whimpers. I slowly followed behind them as Michael start shouting.

"Let go of her!"

"Why should I?" A random girl yells. I turn into the alley and see two girls standing over a pale-skinned girl with long,wavy red hair. The pale skinned girl's hair was wrapped around one the girl's fists, she had a couple of slap marks on her cheek. The other girl stood to the side. Her eyes were filled with tears, the girls looked towards us.

"You're clearly hurting her!" The girls stared at him blankly.

"That's the point." The girl yanked the pale skinned girl's hair, she let out a yelp as she was barley lifted up into the air, the girl quickly let her down. The girl looked at the pale-skinned girl and raised her hand. Michael hesitated while Alice rushed forward. Alice took off her bag and threw it at the girl standing to the side. The bag thumped against the girl's stomach Alice sweeped the feet from out under the girl. Alice moved on to the other girl as the girl on the side fell down. The girl tried to move, but the pale-skinned girl's hair was tangled around her fist. The pale-skinned girl let out a whimper as the girl's fist moved. Alice grabbed the girl's hands and twisted it. Alice swiftly untangled the hair and pulled it away. She pushed the girl away as she brought up her hands,and spread her feet apart. The girls took a few steps back and walked away without a single word.

Michael rushed over to the girl and reached out his hand. The girl took it as she wiped her eyes. Alice walked over to her bag and picked it up. "Are you okay?" Michael asked with a gentle tone. The girl nodded as she stood up. She let go of Michael's hand. She took a step back and looked down.

"Th-thanks." Michael looked at the side before looked back at the girl.

"Why were they picking on you?"

"Don't wanna to talk bout it." As I got a better look at the girl I notice how pretty she was. Her eyes sparkled a beautiful green along with some blue mixed in. She had some freckles on her face but they were barley noticeable. I walk up to them and wait awkwardly for us to go away. The girl looked towards me and awkwardly waved. "H-hey." I stared blankly at her.

"Do I know you?"

"We-we're in the same class."

"I don't remember you." She looked towards me with a slightly annoyed expression.

"I sit next to you!" I was kind of shocked at her tone. I thought she was nice. Alice walked up to us with her bag on her back. Alice looked towards Michael with a annoyed look. Her mouth frowned as she opened her mouth.

"Why didn't you help?"

"I don't hit girls."

"You could've just held them back!" Michael's eyes widen as his face looked like he saw a ghost.

"I didn't think of that."

"Idiot." Alice looked towards the girl. "So what's your name?

"Weiss."

"Are you German? I know for sure that's the German word for white." Weiss nodded.

"Yeah, you speak German?"

"Deutsch ist eine meiner ersten Sprachen, ich glaube, es war meine erste Sprache.Ich erinnere mich nicht." (German is one of my first languages, actually I think it was my first language. I don't remember.) Weiss looked shocked, she bit her lip as she responded looking kind of embarrassed."

"Ich spreche nicht viel Deutsch" (I no speak lot German) Alice glanced down kind of disappointed.

"Yeah I can tell, that sentence was kind of weird."

"I forgot my German." Weiss said while rubbing her arm. Michael stepped between them as he looked at Weiss.

"We were about to go to Mcdonalds, you wanna come?" Weiss pointed to me.

"If it's fine with him." Why does she need my permission.

"Sure. Why do you need to ask me anyways?"

"It's just-just that I don't really know you, you seem kind of quiet."

"I'm not quiet."

"You talk to no one though." I stare blankly at Weiss as I think. It took me while before I realize that I talk to no one.

"I just don't talk to no one in school."

"Sure you do." I open my mouth to respond but she interrupted me. "So when are we going, or are we going now?"

"Right now," Michael quickly responded.

"Oh." Weiss and Alice start walking out of the alley, Michael and I followed behind them. Michael turned to me.

"You know her?" I scrunch my eyebrows in annoyance. It's pretty obvious that I don't know her, I literally just said that a few minutes ago.

"No." Weiss pulls out a tiny container in the shape of a cartoonish toxic waste barrel. She opened the container and took out a tiny piece of candy. She plucked the candy into her mouth and extended the container towards Alice.

"You want one?" Alice looked unsure. She hesitantly took one and plucked one into her mouth. Weiss had a smirk on her face as Alice closed her eyes and sucked her lips. She stomped on the ground as she spit out the candy.

"What was that? I can't feel my tongue!"

"The most sourest candy in the world."

"Why would you have that!"

"I like it."

"Liar!" Weiss reached into the container and pulled out three pieces of candy. She plopped them into her mouth. She remained unfazed as she looked towards us.

"Taake onhme" Her mouth was filled with the candies, I take one piece of candy and plop it into my mouth. For the first seconds it tasted like regular candy. My mouth filled up with a sharp lemony like flavor. The flavor intensified with each second. I puffed my cheeks trying anything to calm down. After half a minute the flavor softened. I chewed on the candy as I craved more.

You earned a new skill!

Lvl7(87%) Sour resistance- You can resist some sour flavors, don't go overboard though. You'll regret it.

Oh cool. I suddenly couldn't feel my mouth and tongue. I moved my tongue around as I tried to get back my sense my feeling. My tongue burned as it touched the top of my mouth. I licked my lips for a bit as McDonalds came into view. I wonder what I should get?

12:21 pm

I walk out of the McDonalds with Weiss, Alice, and Michael behind me. I peek over my shoulder.

"Where are we going now?"Alice asked as Weiss froze and her eyes widened.

"I have to go home."

"Oh see you later I guess." Michael said as he waved. Weiss groaned as she tilted her hand backwards.

"My step-mom doesn't like me being alone in public. She's going to be pissed." Weiss said with a fearful tone. Michael's eyes were full of pity.

"I can go with you with you want." Weiss's face brightened up with happiness.

"If you have the time. You have the time right!" She had a wide smile as she said this.

"Yeeeaaa?"

"Can you take me home now?" Michael looked towards me and Alice before turning back to Weiss.

"Yeah," Michael turned to face us, "Meet back up at the library at sunset? I nod my head while Alice responded with, "Sure." Weiss smiled as Michael and Weiss walked away. Silence filled the area around Alice and I as we stood around. I kick at the snow as Alice looked around.

"What do you do around here?" Alice asked.

"I told you, we don't have anything around here."

"A movie theater maybe?"

"Aren't we supposed to look for someone?" Alice bent down and picked up some snow. She crushed the snow and let it fall to the ground.

"We have two days it's going to be fine."

"Chicago is huge, it's not like he's going to appear right in front of us."

"Two days is enough to search a city. A city can't be that huge." I play around with the snow with my feet. Does she not know how huge a city can be? Then again, I don't want to go around a city looking for a single person out of a few thousand or million. Going to see a movie would be a great excuse to not do that.

"Sure, what movie?"

"I don't know any movies out." I roll my eyes as I suddenly realized that she doesn't any money.

"You don't have any money, how are you going to get a ticket?" Alice winced as her lips formed a frown. She turned her head in my direction with a sad look in her eyes.

"You have money right?" I try my best to not facepalm as I already know what she is going to say next. "Pay for me?" I stay silent for a bit before I respond.

"You know what sure, but you better pay me back."

"Isn't my company enough?" She said with a small smile.

"No."

1:58 pm

Alice's head drooped as her head swayed from side to side. Her eyes closed before her head fell on my shoulder. I slowly inched away from her as I grabbed a ball of chocolate from my box of Buncha Crunch and threw it into my mouth. The weight of Alice's head annoyed my shoulder just a little bit. I scoot a little bit away as her head was barely supported by my shoulder. I moved my finger to tap my shoulder, suddenly the lights came back on. I squinted my eyes as they got used to the light. I placed my hand on Alice's shoulder and shook her. She lifted up her head with a dazed look in her eyes.

"I hated that movie."

"Yeah, it was pretty boring, I wish we could have watched the Hunger Games." I get up and and stuff my Buncha Crunch box in my pocket. Alice slowly got up and stretched.

"Why couldn't we go?

"It was rated Pg-13."

"What does that mean?"

"We have to be thirteen or older."

"Oh, I just had to wait two more years then."

"You're eleven?" I ask as we walk to the exit of the room.

"Yeah, just turned eleven." She said proudly. "How old are you?" We exit the room and walk out into the lobby.

"I'm," My eyes widen as I realize that today is my birthday. "Eleven." It felt weird saying that for some reason. "Just turned eleven today."

"Happy birthday." I nod as head towards the exit of the theater. We pass by a arcade on our way out. Alice suddenly stopped and stared at a claw machine. The claw machine was filled with stuffed animals. "Can we go see that for a bit?" I hesitate for a bit before nodding. Alice speed walked towards the machine. She stared at stuffed duck. She bent down and tried sticking her hands through the hole at the bottom, she gave up a few seconds later. "How Am'I supposed to use this thing?"

"You put in money, and try to get what ever you want."

"I don't have any money."

"I know."

"Caaaaan youuu get it for me? Pleeeasssse?" Suddenly a box for a quest appears in front of my face.

Get the duck!

Rewards:

50 xp

$50

2 points

New perk

Failure consequences:

Alice will be a little bit sad

A quest for something so easy? Sure. I wonder what kind of perk I'll get though. "What do you want?" I ask as I walk up to the machine and pull out a dollar bill from my Inventory. Alice pointed to the duck.

"That one." I put the dollar bill in the machine. I move the stick and slowly inch to the duck. I hesitatingly press the button, the claw went down and went around the tail. I smile as the claw picked up the duck. Before the claw could go all the way up the duck fell down. I frown as I pull out another dollar bill and put it in the machine. "How much money do you have?" I hear Alice mutter under her breath. I move the claw to the duck and go to the side of the machine. I made sure the claw and duck were lined up before going to the front of the machine and pressing the button. The claw warps around the ducks body. The claw brings up the duck and moves to the side. I smile with my mouth wide open as the claw drops the duck in the hole. Alice quickly puts her hand through the hole and takes out the duck.

"Thanks!" She had a big smile on her face. She hugged the duck as she turned around and peeked over her shoulder. She waited for me to follow her. I follow behind her and we walked out the theater. She looked towards me as she covered the duck from the snow. "Can I see your house or apartment, or whatever you live in.

"Sure." I never hand anyone over except the people I have in my ring. I lead her my tent as I read my new perk.

Alice's support (Tier 1)

Healing items are now 5% more effective.

Perks have tiers now? Also why did I get a perk from getting Alice something? I thought I knew everything about the boxes, but I guess I don't. It's a nice perk though. We approach the Walmart. "Is this a shortcut?"

"Kind of." I lead her to the back of the Walmart and see my tent in the distance. I point to the tent and look towards Alice. "That's where I live." Alice had an unsure expression.

"Is that it? Is this normal?"

"No, but it's better than it looks." Her face turned to a face of pity. She nods as she looked around my tent. She turned around and peeked over my shoulder.

"Imma go find Michael, let's meet up tomorrow at the library"

"Okay, what time?"

"Noon?"

"That's fine with me."

"Alright bye."

"Cya."