Chapter 13 #2
I glanced at the furry fallope as he scooched closer to me, as if taking my side. “Tell me,” I repeated.
Fuzz chirped in agreement.
With an exhale and an eye roll at the fallope, Viceroy raised his palms. “Fuzz, you’re really becoming a killjoy in your old age.” He called over his shoulder, “Bloom! Hey, Bloom! Come here for a moment. I know you’re just aflutter back there eavesdropping like the snoop you are anyhow.”
On cue, the blue butterfly man waltzed gleefully to his friend’s side. “Why yes, of course, how may I assist?”
Viceroy watched me as he asked, “Pray tell, what is the name of this divine, citrusy and sweet confection?”
Bloom glanced from him to me in confusion. “Why, it’s a Spirit Cake.”
My breath puffed from my lungs. “And how did it get that name?”
Bloom’s brow furrowed in confusion. “It’s named after its maker, of course. Spirit Malefic… your mother.”
It only confirmed what I knew in my heart to be true but… I looked between the butterfly men. “How is that possible?”
“There’s much to talk about—” Viceroy began before he was interrupted.
“Spirit was incredibly kind and a fantastic baker—”
“That’ll be all, Bloom,” my accomplice dismissed his friend. I made to call after him and ask how he knew my mother but was stopped in my tracks by his next words. “So, you say you’re looking for a lost soul, is that right?”
The taste of citrus died on my tongue, the door to my childhood that was just blown open by a warm summer breeze slamming shut inside me.
I had to focus; I had to be strong and not get distracted, however odd this place and its inhabitants were.
Their claims of me, their seeming ties to my mother…
As intriguing and confounding as it was, it wasn’t why I was here.
For all I knew, they were speaking nonsense in order to distract me or play with my mind.
It reminded me of a bedtime nursery rhyme my mother would read to me on nights I couldn’t sleep.
A story of tricky white rabbits in their underground burrows.
I don’t know why being here had me thinking of my family so often, remembering my childhood…
maybe the fury of death and my tumble into another realm was making me nostalgic.
None of that mattered.
My monster needed me.
Sucking in a breath, I nodded. “Yes, I am looking for a soul. The soul of my mate. Can you tell me where, or how, to find him?”
“Ahh…” Viceroy nodded. “So, you’ve come back—I mean—you’ve come to the Underworld to find your lost love… not for any… other… purpose?” He leaned forward, arching a quizzical brow.
“Right…” I answered. “Can you help me?” I was beginning to think I was wasting my time with the mustached bug-man when he replied, “I believe I can…”
He leaned ever farther forward, as if to whisper a secret. “For a small price, of course.”
I crossed my arms at my chest. “There’s the catch, I suppose.
Well, sorry to disappoint, but I sort of just fell into the Underworld, was discovered in the snow by a fallope, and lead through a…
critter world by a butterfly man so, unfortunately, I left all of my valuable trading items in my other dress at home. ”
Viceroy’s eyes widened a moment before his shoulders shook with laughter.
He laughed so forcefully, he shook the table.
I glanced around at the other diners, noticing he’d drawn the attention of a pair of large, plump bluebirds in the corner.
It was an effort not to stare at their lovely feathers.
My hands balled into fists before I reached out and took Viceroy’s wrists again.
“I do not have time to fool around. Either you’re helping me or not.
I have no problem wandering around on my own and figuring this out alone—”
“Hey, hey.” Viceroy leaned back, straightening his monocle again.
“No need for all that. I apologize, you see, we here in Inflorescence Quarter are never in much of a rush. I’d say that you being so…
hurried, is a sign that you’ve been amongst the human realm a hair too long.
Damn, those beings just rush, rush, rush. Always in a hurry.”
“Okay, that’s it.” I stood and my chair screeched across the floor. “I’m done. Thank you for your help thus far, but I am quite fine with figuring this out on my own.” My hair whipped around as I strode out the door, the shop bells jingling behind me.
“Wait!” Viceroy called, hurrying after me and grabbing my elbow. The giant praying mantis lifted his eyes from his book to watch our exchange. I shuddered at his long, bendy, pointy legs.
“What?” I jerked my arm from him his hold. “You’ve only talked in circles about nonsense. I don’t have time for this. My mate is out here, somewhere, waiting for me, and if you won’t help me, I’ll find someone who will.”
“I will help you.” Viceroy’s wings fluttered quickly. “Please, please give me another chance. I am not aiming to bait you or do you harm. I am simply, well, I am taking a small chance at opportunity, that is all.” He put a hand to his chest. “I can assure you, my motives are pure and honorable.”
I suppressed my eye roll. “Prove it,” I demanded. “Tell me something useful.”
Viceroy gave the road a quick glance. His tone lowered to something slow and measured. “It is not as simple as the stories say. Not all souls go to the same place. Where they land depends on a myriad of details.”
“Such as?”
He bobbed his head. “Don’t misunderstand me, it is not about your human realm’s ideals of heaven, hell, or good or bad, sinful or pure.
No, such is the nonsense of mortal comprehension.
For one, they’re sorted by the soul’s…” He looked up as if searching for the word. “The soul’s ether. Its essence.”
“Alright… well, I suppose that could be somewhat useful to know.”
“The second thing to consider is that sometimes, for some souls, they are placed in their quarter based on, well…”
“What?” I asked, feeling a sinking feeling in my gut. “Based on what?”
Viceroy’s wings folded behind him, and he glanced around again before leaning in on a whisper. “How valuable they are and who, or what, may want to acquire them.”
My chest tightened, and I felt the blood rush from my face.
Viceroy put his arm around my shoulders. “Tell me, Prism Malefic. This soul you search for, your mate, would he happen to be a powerful being?”
Still frozen, I nodded.
“Oh dear, sweet girl,” Viceroy replied. “I fear you are in a world of trouble, then.”