The Upside

Chapter 97: The Upside

Junk and April were brought outside of the establishment. 

When they were brought outside, everything seemed to be normal. The old man servant stopped in front of them in the middle of the one street this small and modest town had. He slowly turned around. 

"It's important we locate September Autumn," the old man said to them. Now, it was even more clear and obvious that the Autumn witch was someone of interest for this man, for some unknown reason. It was calm outside. April, Junk, and the servant stood alone in the street. There were no other townsfolk around them. Their conversation wasn't exactly private, but almost. 

"I gather that you 'overheard' us earlier, but how do you know that we even knew her in the first place. This is quite suspicious. How do you know her exactly?" he questioned the servant. This was the big confrontation between the two.

"How do I know her? Everyone knows about her. This is the Autumn kingdom. The Halloween kingdom, after all. September Autumn was supposed to be the next, big witch of the tribe. Instead, she rebelled against everything the tribe stand for and ran away. She is a renegade. She is being chased everywhere she goes. She cannot be trusted. It's such a shame. She used to be the best prospect we had. She is dangerous," the old man servant tried his best to explain to them. He attempted to keep his calm as well, but it was quite difficult for him to do so. The subject of conversation was too 

"No, she's not. She's not dangerous. Why would you say that?" April interrupted the old man and challenged what he had just said. She couldn't allow anyone to speak so awfully about September. 

"Yes, she is, my child, but that's not up to me to decide. Everyone already made up their mind at this point. It's not for nothing that she has her faces drawn all over so many 'wanted' posters, a little everywhere in the region. She wounded many other witches on her rampage. She must be apprehended… And we know that you are working with her…" the old man revealed that he knew to them.

"Pardon me?" April was shocked by this. She felt like she had something wrong, even though she absolutely haven't done anything. 

"He knows everything about us," Junk was sure of it now. He was adamant about the fact that the servant knew much, much more than he had originally let it believe. He knew a lot. 

"Don't worry, we did not accept and welcome you into our village to hurt you…" then, as the servant said these words to them… Many more like him slowly appeared behind him in the street. Coming into view as they slowly and calmly marched through a thick fog that had been surrounding the small town for the past day or so. Right around the same time, the young man and elvish girl came around. The other robe-wearing servants were the townsfolk that Junk met as he first arrived here. They were the same persons. "... Otherwise, we would have done it already. We have nothing against you. We knew that you've helped the witch, September Autumn, but you are not here. You are not like her. You can help turn this thing around. You can help us find her and stop all of this," the main servant at the front of the group continued explaining the situation to them. Even though they all appeared so menacing, he promised them that they meant them no harm, which was so difficult to believe for them. Especially for Junk, who only wished to battle all of them, making his way out of this cursed small town with April. 

"We are not going to help you. We don't even know where she is. We can't help you. Even if we wanted to," April explained. 

"You say you don't want to harm us, yet, you are surrounding us. Why? Are you scared of us?" Junk asked. 

"No. We are not frightened of you. It's time for us to reveal the true nature of this place where you were pulled toward…" 

"Pulled toward? We were pulled to this town?" April asked. 

"It doesn't make any sense… I randomly travelled in the middle of nowhere… I followed a random road… You wanted us to come here?" Junk couldn't believe what he was hearing. Was this all a trap? It couldn't be. They were already chased by Lord Monsoon. The swine monster was the one who trapped them at the foot of the mountain at camp. There was never any form of rest for Junk and April. There was always something that came along and ruin everything. And now, this innocent, little, small town was ruined as well. When they thought they had found somewhere peaceful… 

"Allow me to show you…" the main old man servant at the front of the group said right before slowly raising his arms in the air, therefore, lifting the thick fog at the same time. The fog slowly began vanishing from the small town. It was exactly as if a veil had been lifted off the eyes of the armorless knight and the elvish, young woman. The small town was not what they originally thought or what it originally looked like, it was… It was different. It wasn't a modest shithole with three houses, one street, and one hotel… It was a bigger village with a dozen of different houses and many, many more streets. "... Welcome…" the old man servant said to them right at the exact, same time, his voice gradually began changing. Shifting from the voice of an old man to the voice of a younger woman. Then, the main servant lifted his hood. Revealing his face. Her face. "... Welcome to the witch village," the old man servant turned into a young woman, greeted them to her home. Their home. Truly welcoming them to the village this time.

Everything was revealed to them.

Junk and April found out that they were in the belly of the wolf all along.

"This must be a joke…" Junk said.

"It's not… I recognize the place now… It really is the witch village…" April sensually whispered. 

"My name is Bridget Bishop Autumn. Glad to have you here with us," the old servant who was revealed as a witch, smiled at them.