The Tower of Tattle

Sometimes I can't tell what's magical and what's "magical." Someone kinda hippie might say 'sunsets are magical.' But they mean "magical." If someone says crystals are magical, they probably mean the real, legit kind of magical -- even if those crystals are definitely fake.

In the dark of night, and in the light of day, I swear I can hear something. Whispers at night. Something frenzied and monologuing during the day. It's like the shadows are conspiring. It's like the brightness of daytime is too stressed out to act any nicer than curt. And when the sun was setting last night, I know... I heard something shrill.

Now it's a sky blue, pleasant, and shooting the salty breeze with me. Feels like I've had a lot of these idle moments to reflect lately. Waves softly crashing on rocks, an ugly lighthouse, and just our thoughts. It's different than being alone -- being silent next to someone else I mean. But before I can even contemplate why, I hear a small crooing sound from behind Shiori, and, sure enough, there's Yorick crooing fearfully while what looks like a huge origami bird pecks at him.

"Yorick!" Shiori shrieks.

"Hey! Stop that! Go on, 'git!" I rush to my feet and start kicking dust at it. Now it's slightly dusty paper, unhappy and dirty and petulantly preening itself as if I'm the one at fault. "Why would you want to eat slime?!"

"Oh! Oh!" Shiori scoops Yorick safely. "That's a telltail snitch!"

"A what?" I ask.

"A telltail snitch! They'll give you a secret if you show them what they want!" Shiori says.

"Then why's it attacking Yorick?!"

"They're proud, little things. Like snooty gossipers who adore flaunting that they know everyone in town. Here, we gotta follow it!" Shiori jumps to her feet and away she goes to give chase, though you'd think the snitch wasn't aware the way it lackadaisacally enters a lazy, soaring start.

The faux-bird is so veryannoyingly ho hum, I can't help but think about the last, gasping breaths of the vannaknoe in the cellar -- the one that kept its secrets safe 'till the very end. Jeeze. It's a matter of attitude, is all.

Secrets are important, but they don't make you important. This bratty, little origami bird keeps peering back imperiously like it knows it's a Big Deal. Why, I oughta just grab its corners and crease them to absolute wrinkledom and...

Hey? Where are we now?

"Wow! Look at this cool grotto! You don't usually see these so high up on a hill," Shiori muses. "It's like a little hideaway."

"Not just like a little hideaway," I say, peering into the dark, a single cold drop splashing onto my face. "There's an extinguished campfire right there. And... it looks pretty ancient."

I don't like this place. I know, I know. There haven't been a ton of places giving me good vibes in this Tower. But this place in particular... gives me a really, sick and miserable feeling. I take my thumb and wipe at the cold drop of water from just a second ago. It may as well have been my own tear. As if I needed any help, now I really don't like that stupid telltail snitch. Bad things take you to bad places.

Places where you watch the rain fall and fall and fall, maybe. Right out there. I hate these half-memories.

"Hey! Um!" Shiori interrupts my thoughts. I can kinda tell she wanted to say my name. "There's a book here. Look!"

Sure enough, there's a rather thick hardcover right by the fire. It's a little tattered, but it's still conspicuously out of place. You could probably shove it on the encyclopedia shelf at the library and get away with it.

"The... Codex Sussurokawa. That's way too ominous."

"Ugh! I can't get it open!" Shiori tries to flip the book open. It doesn't look locked. But the pages are clearly being held together by some mysterious force. Or some really subtle glue.

Now the telltail snitch is pecking at it, and glaring at me, then pecking again, then glaring again. Back-and-forth. Can't you be cute? Can't you fly on my shoulder whimsically like an actual nice fantasy creature? But fine. I get it. I walk on over and, just like a normal book, the Codex opens up.

Finally! The telltail snitch hops on over with condescension, as if I'm a waiter that took way too long with its food, and flies up right onto the open page. Oh? It pecks here. It pecks there. It makes itself a little nest of paper, and unfolds itself into the page, with all the cadence and vibe of a mundane nighttime ritual.

"It must be one of your diary pages! I bet we'll get your name!" Shiori says excitedly.

Shiori and I glance at each other.

"Uh... is this me?" I ask. "Is Girl X supposed to be some kind of secret agent name?"

"I... I don't think it's you, but she does sound kind of like you. In a Construct, self-perception is everything. If her name is Girl X, it means that's how she sees herself. Just another girl. So, we don't have enough to say conclusively that it wasn't you but," Shiori starts into one of her breathless stories, "but you only ever ran away from home once! And you were back by the next day, 'cause your mom basically grabbed you by the scruff of the neck, and you had this sour look on your face, and I don't know if it was because you had a rough time outside or because you were just mad at your mom but you definitely, definitely looked like you were about to cr-

"Okay, stop, shut up, I get it," I say. I feel a bit funny hearing about my mom though. "So, it's probably not me. That's the important part."

"Yeah... probably," Shiori says doubtfully. "Your um, dad, wasn't around. I don't know the story there. But... besides us, there weren't any kids who lived here."

"None at all?" I ask. I don't feel any particular reaction to her mentioning my dad not being in the picture. I sorta figured, honestly. I'm more curious about this 'no kids besides us' thing.

"Not a single solitary one. Everyone always talked about it. You were the first kid this place had seen in like, decades! And then I was the second when I came when we were eight. People always talked about it because this place always had a weird, bad, funk with kids. Like everyone was afraid we'd get stolen away," Shiori rattled off. "'Cause something happened years and years and years before. Maybe this diary...?"

"Umm, then why did you even come here?" I ask. "You just got sent to live with your aunt in Spirited Away town? Your parents weren't afraid of the Pied Piper?"

"Ahaha, my family, um. We had our reasons," she evades. "But, um. I guess that wasn't your diary. We'd surely have your name back if it was..."

She sighs disappointedly. But again, why are we so sure I keep a diary? I'm about to say something when I feel a paper peck. Oops. Looks like that telltail snitch is taking a break from being a diary to angrily peck at my hand. It's got places to be, apparently. And I've got the gut feeling that we've got the same destination.

"Well, I guess we just keep heading toward my house," I say.

"It's been ages since I've been there!" Shiori chirps.

Is it just me or does it feel like she's on a field trip?

It's been about a fifteen minutes walk since then, and I can't shake the feeling that Shiori is excited to see Sussurokawa again. And, as petty as it sounds, I can't help but feel a little betrayed. I know that I hate it here. I can feel it in my gut, even if it were the only thing I could feel.

It just... bothers me. If this place chased her out, or was ready to tear her limb from limb, then why would she act like she's off to see some old friends? Somehow, it makes me feel a little like I'm alone again. So, I'm noticeably silent on the continuing walk, which maybe she picks up on, maybe not.

Every so often she glances back at me anxiously. But then, every so often she sees something she remembers and perks up and starts her monologueing. Here's where the Coke truck broke a tire once. There's a field the baker said was nice for stargazing.

She wants to share these feelings with me. I get the feeling she's been deperately waiting to share these little kernels of memory with anybody at all. So, she's alienating me by being happy, open, and affectionate. And I'm alienating her by being unhappy that she's happy.

Those two things are... clearly not equal. So, I start trying to smile and nod along.

"That sounds really nice!" I croak, more than chirp.

"Mmhmm. It - huh?" Shiori's cut off -- by me, actually -- because I definitely just heard something. I definitely heard someone, off in the distance. Really off in the distance, actually. Can I really hear that far away?

They're coming closer, and honing in on us. I grab her arm and try to find any kind of half-hidden shrub.

"There's somebody coming," I whisper. "Are they one of those NPCs you were talking about?"

"They... should be?" Shiori whispers back a little unsure. "I don't know what else it could be."

I bite my lip. I'm not sure what we could even do if it was anything else. We're kids right now. Shiori can do some kind of magic, but judging by how hard it was to start a fire last night I don't think she's exactly an offensive powerhouse. Maybe whoever's coming also had their age reduced?

Could we run? Where to? It feels like they're tracking us somehow, by the way they're heading straight for us.

"Shiori, what do we do if they're someone that's gonna try and hurt us?"

"I... I don't know! It's probably an NPC, anyway! Why would there be someone else in this Vault...?" She squeezes Yorick fearfully, and Yorick looks like he's trying to turn on his own attack mode.

Closer and closer. Soft, measured steps.

I think it's a woman. They don't have any of that trudging footfall that a guy would have.

Now they're in sight.

I was right. That's a woman. Dark-haired, and an awfully beautiful looking woman. She's wearing a dress, but it looks comfortable and easy to move around in, and she's got a windbreaker in too.

Practical. That's the first word I'd use. And maybe a little unfriendly, but not overly threatening. I don't know. Since it's a woman, if she tries to do something, maybe we could take her... but she doesn't look as feeble as you'd hope.

"Um...M...!" Shiori is tugging at my shoulder sleeve urgently. "That's...!"

"Shh!" I try to shush her. I'm trying to think up a scenario where two kids beat an adult woman in a fight right now, and I need more time! "...crap! She's looking at us!"

She definitely sees us. Run or fight. Or see if she's nice. But we shouldn't trust her too much, anyway. Maybe she's more dangerous if she acts nice. All these thoughts are flitting through my head fast, but Shiori keeps on tugging.

"It - "

"Let's run," I decide for the both of us, whispering hurriedly. "It's not worth seeing if they're friendly." I grab Shiori's hand again, getting ready to book it, but...

"It's your mom!" Shiori says back.