Memory Vault

Easier said than done. Scarlet was still standing outside the Memory Bank’s door. She extended her hand to touch the outside of the wooden door. It appeared bigger than she thought. She was feeling a bit intimidated by the size of the building and what lay beyond it. Pim was standing beside her, wiggling around expressing his impatience. He bounced his body against the door to force it open. It swung open wide. Scarlet was startled by this and watched him run along. She then slowly followed behind him.

“Ahem, come closer, please give me your name.” A voice in the room called out.

The elder goblin stared at Scarlet with his oval, yellow-colored eyes while adjusting his spectacles on his broad nose. He had slippery dark red spotted skin and a black round hairy mole under his nose. A couple of his grey hair strands were covering his eyes and there was a small stubble on his chin.

Hummhumm Humm

His facial expression changed to irritation when the goblin next to him was humming loudly.

“Stop it!”

The humming goblin halted for a few seconds. Then, he stuck his pink tongue out at him, ignoring his demand while laughing.

The many eyes in the room shifted in all directions and later, zoomed in on Scarlet when she slowly walked forward.

The room was so quiet that every step she took, and her short breaths were heard.

Clomp clomp Her steps echoed through the halls. Her heart began to beat faster as her distance drew closer to the front desk.

Scarlet tried not to make eye contact. She found a tiny bug rolling on the floor and focused on it. Her posture was leaning over while her hair strands were drooping over her face. She was in an unfamiliar place. Pim, the fluffiest creature, rubbed against her leg to comfort her.

“Woo, woo,” Pim shook in excitement.

Scarlet pat Pim on his head, she was feeling slightly comfortable.

"I.... She paused. I’m Scarlet and I have an appointment in Vault #3,” she said softly.

“Child… will you please speak up?” asked the elder goblin. He scratched his mole with his sharp pointy nail and lowered his gaze to meet hers.

Scarlet stood in the same spot pondering and feeling embarrassed. Her face was glowing red and she could feel the heat on her face as her hands pressed on both cheeks.

She was asked that countless times in her life. From adults to those close to her age, they always seemed to have a hard time hearing her. She would find herself repeating what she had said on various occasions.

“Well…?” The elder goblin asked impatiently. His fingers tapped to a rhythmic beat on the surface of his table. His tapping sounded like a field of horses galloping in a race.

The goblin that was humming stopped his tune when he noticed Scarlet’s demeanor. He empathized with her; he motioned his finger at Scarlet while pointing at the elder goblin. He made a circling motion with his index finger next to his stretched out pointy ears expressing that the elder was bonkers.

He whispered, “This guy’s super deaf, could you perhaps speak louder? Now, as for me, I heard you just fine.” He winked. “He’s the boss, so I have to listen to him…. well maybe not 100% of the time.”

Scarlet chuckled, covering her mouth with her hand.

When the elder goblin saw Scarlet’s facial expression changed, he was irritated and scrunched his nose, turning over to the other goblin.

“What did you say about me?”

The other goblin shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t know what you are implying.”

Scarlet then found the courage to raise her voice a little bit louder.

“I’m Scarlet, I have an appointment in Vault#3.”

The elder goblin’s face perked up in astonishment. He started to flip quickly through his assortment of books. They were arranged in a chaotic manner. Rusty colored dust clouds bloomed in the air from the opened books.

The dust cloud billowed into her face causing her to cough upon inhalation. She placed her hand over her throat, gasping for some fresh air.

The elder goblin returned with a book in his hands. When he opened it, there was a compartment with a key inside.

He kicked back from the high round stool he was sitting on. Then, he dropped on the hard ground with both of his feet. He was much shorter than her; he was standing up to her shins. She nodded at him, avoiding contact as much as possible.

He looked up at her, curving his hand upward and said, "Follow me."

He was light on his feet, scurrying from one room to the next. She tried to pace herself and not let him out of her sight. She could see various clients dressed in all grey cloaks, covering their faces.

I wonder who those people are; they kind of looked like the guy who was fighting with Theo back in my world.

They were on the move. At the end of the hall, there was a large door with thick interlocking chains and in the middle, a diamond-shaped shiny lock rested. He took the key in his hand and inserted it into the keyhole. The door was unlocked. He tilted his head with a small bow and took his leave.

"Take as long as you need, please close the door when you leave."

Scarlet nodded.

The room smelled like roasted marshmallows and vanilla. The rug was soft with piercing eyeball decorations. There was a fireplace with flickering flames coming off the burning wood blocks.

  Crackle Crackle

In the center of the room, she saw a rocking chair that glided back and forth, making a creaking sound. There was someone sitting in the chair, she could only see the back of the person’s head.

The chair turned around, and it was Theo.
She stared at him happily.

Pim sprinted into his lap, panting with drops of drool sliding the side of his mouth.

Theo stared at her with ice cold eyes. It seemed like he was looking right through her.

"Hi Theo," she smiled.

He slowly turned his head, facing away from her.

Scarlet noticed how different he was and asked, "What's wrong?"

"We can't meet casually like before out in public. They're watching over us…. judging."

"They?"

Theo nodded, “The Cosmocrats are the law. They make certain everyone abides by their rules.”

His hand rustled in his long coat pocket and pulled out a small clip-on device and a compass.

“Here, take this. The Cosmocrats won’t be able to detect something they haven’t made themselves. They cannot control what they don’t know. We can communicate with each other this way using this device.”

Scarlet inspected the small circular device; it had a speaker, and a microphone attached. The compass was made from brass and was lightweight.

“Just whisper into that speaker device and I can respond to you wherever I may be. As for the compass, whenever you need help with directions, speak directly to it and it will show you the way.” Theo instructed.

Theo moved to a different corner of the room near the bookshelves. He pulled one book, dusted it off, and flipped through.

“I’ll be enrolling you into an academy, your goal is to find as much information as you can on how it is operating. Try to blend in with the students as you can. They are not your typical humans. Each of them was born into a skilled family with incredible magical abilities.”

Scarlet looked down at her feet. She pressed the tip of her shoe down on the ground.

“I’m not sure why you need me to do this.” Her face expressed some uncertainty, and she was overwhelmed by the task Theo had given to her.

He placed his hands on her shoulder and looked straight into her concerned eyes.

“You’re only one I can trust who can do this.”