Living up to Expectations

As soon as the clouds gave way to the blue sky, I took a peek outside.

The evergreen forest was much clearer. You could see pretty far into it without the fog of snow blocking sight. It was safer to travel now and scout the area.

I couldn’t leave Hanako alone, so I took her with me, wrapping her up in a big coat about three sizes too big and brown leather gloves. She looked very silly, but it kept her warm.

As she took my hand and looked up at me with innocent eyes, I couldn’t help but snicker. It felt like I was leading around a doll. She was such a tiny cutie.

Our expedition into the forest began, and we marched through the snow like soldiers in a cold winter biome. I tried to keep optimistic that we’d find something helpful.

Keeping track of where we’d been was easy, since we could just follow our snow trail back. But let’s hope we find a way out of this mess, rather than backtrack.

A subtle hint of winter pine flowed in the breeze. The cold air made the scent much stronger.

Hearty orange flowers were peeking up out of the melting snow hills. They vaguely resemble candle flames.

Hanako ran over and picked one.

The stem brightened, embers rose up little veins on it, burning the inside of the flower. It turned black as coal.

For some reason she didn’t drop it, letting the ash singe her gloves.

I felt a bit anxious about letting her pick the flower just then, since it was dangerous.

After a small scolding from me, and a few whiny sounds from her, she put the flower remains down and returned to my hand.

It was a pretty thing, but it had the same principle as a rose. It could hurt if you handled it wrong. Maybe there's beauty in that?

~☆☆☆~

It might have just been the wind or an animal, but something was lurking behind trees in the distance. I couldn’t spot what it was. I held Hanako a little closer, making sure we stayed in the sunlight and keeping to open spaces. Going too deep into the denser part of the forest would give our potential stalkers the advantage.

I also caught the scent of smoke, but it was faint. From what my olfactory sensors could determine, that scent might have been burning wood, but it wasn't strong enough to fully analyze.

 I'm not sure if those two things were related, but I was on high alert for anything out of the ordinary. Gotta keep the kid safe, you know.

~☆☆☆~

Before too long, something odd came into sight. It was a building, resembling a mansion. It was a little hard to tell with all the ice over it.

The only thing that stood out about it was a light in an upper story window.

“Hanako, stay close. We don’t know what’s in there.”

“Umm.” She nodded.

"Now all we need to do is find a door inside…oh! There’s one."

The door was unlocked, so we walked right in.

The inside of this mansion was spooky. Everything was layered in dust and ice. The abandoned structure wouldn’t be much good for shelter if it looked like this. Even still, someone seemed to live here.

We reached the room with the light on. Inside was a man in a suit with a torn up jacket. He was laying on his bed and sobbing into a pillow.

Surrounding him were empty bottles of wine. Trash was all over the floor too. It was a terrible mess.

Who was this guy? What was going on with him?

You know, he couldn’t have been a deadbeat, at least based on how wealthy everything looked. And these bottles of wine looked like the cookies and cream of alcohol.

Dang it. I meant Crem de le creime of alcohol.

Eww…wait a second…there were dirty magazines on the floor too! Yuck!

“Excuse me…” I called to the man in a really disgusted voice.

“Go away. If I need your service, I’ll call.”

What was I, his maid? I wasn’t going to do his chores for him. Not like he wanted to do them either.

I walked over to his bedside and yanked the pillow from him, prompting him to give me a mean look.

Oh my gosh, was this who I thought it was?

“Marek?” I uttered in shock, seeing him with greasy long hair, scruffy face, and horrible bags around his watery eyes. “What the heck happened to you?”

Last time I saw him he was sleeping back in Verrenvill.

“I told you to go away!” He took one of the wine bottles and threw it at me.

I caught it in hand.

That wasn’t registering as a full attack, but I didn’t appreciate it none the less.

“Don’t throw things at me!” I shouted. “You could have hit Hanako!”

Hearing her name, she peaked out from behind my dress.

Marek took notice of the child, then his face riddled with disgust of his own actions.

“Why is…? Eh…Forgive me. I didn’t know...I did not know a child was here.”

Technically there were two of them here.

He was being sincere, so I forgave him. Hanako didn’t look very happy, she started crying, then ran out into the hallway.

“Oh no…” I peeked out to see her crouched down under a little hallway table. She really cocooned herself with that big coat.

“Don’t worry, Hanako, everything will be just fine.”

“Kowai.” She sobbed. “Kowai da.”

She was really scared, but I think she’d be fine sitting out here for a little while I figured out what the heck was going on with Marek.

When I went back into the room, Marek was sucking on a wine bottle like a baby desperate for more milk. He kept checking a few different ones until he finally tasted the intoxicating drink he was looking for.

This was the part where I should have ran out and found an adult. But I was a grownup now, so it was up to me to help him.

“What’s going on, Marek? Why are you acting like this?”

Not seeing him super upbeat and a little cowardly was so weird. Come to think of it, he looked a little thin too, compared to his usual bulky frame.

If he kept drinking like this, he’d get a beer belly too.

“There’s nothing wrong, Cynthia, so leave me alone. Or, actually…go get me more drinks.”

“I’m not Cynthia, I’m Yalda.” I pointed to my crystal heart. “Don’t you recognize me?”

He looked me up and down with muddled eyes, rolling them back and laying his head on his pillow.

“Great,” he sighed. “Another woman in my life. Is this another marriage proposal from my father? Just ignore me and take my money.”

He threw a handful of paper bills my way. All of them were actually blank slips of paper.

I didn’t want it even if it was real. I just wanted my friend to feel better.

“Didn’t you hear me? I want to know what’s wrong with you.” I stepped forward, getting closer to his bed. “Don’t you recognize me?”

He shook his head.

“If Cynthia hired you, I’ll pay double if you leave.”

“Even if you gave me a hundred zillion dollars, I wouldn’t leave you like this.”

His arm covered up his face, then he slammed a fist against his night stand.

“Just let me be! I need to drink myself to sleep, or I’ll have to wake up in the morning.”

If he didn’t want to wake up in the morning, that probably meant he had to do something he didn’t like.

I heard some crunching noises behind me. A little coated figure was munching on something on the dresser.

No doubt it was Hanako, but what was she eating? OH! A tray of cookies!

The note on it said they were 'To Marek, Love Cynthia.' A little heart was placed after her name.

Oh là là.

Cynthia must have been his maid. He’d already referenced her a few times, but she clearly cared for him enough to leave this.

Trying to get the tray of cookies away from Hanako was like trying to pull a bone from a puppy’s mouth. She wouldn’t let go, and fought against me with growls.

“Little missy, you’ve already had enough of these!” I disciplined her. “They’re not even for you!”

“Hmph!” she pouted as she went back into the hallway. “I like cookies…”

Kids can be such brats sometimes…was I like this? I felt bad for Uncle.

With a gracious smile, I offered up the cookies to their rightful recipient.

“These are from your maid.”

“Give them to the little girl. I’m not hungry.”

He was the one that encouraged us before to keep our spirits up and our bellies full. A taste of his own medicine would be nice.

“A little food brings up the mood, right?” I smiled.

He got really angry at me for saying that, balling up his fist and hitting the side of his bed a few times.

“Why did you have to say that? Why!”

He stole the tray from me, then wolfed down all the remaining cookies.

This is not the reaction I was hoping for. He might choke if he kept that up.

“Tell me what’s going on.” I ordered.

A sigh left his mouth, then he took a swig of alchoal to water down all the treats he’d just gobbled up.

“How many more lives do I have to ruin to start my own?” He wiped his eyes with a rag. “The people I’ve had to step on, all the while continuing my own path like nothing ever happened…”

“What’s do you mean?” I asked.

“My father wants me to take his place on the Royal Council. But to do that, I need to gain influence, no? Nobody knows who I am, so they will not vote me in.”

There’s a lot of ways to gain political influences. Like starting a charity, solving social problems…nothing bad about that.

But, my dad always told me that politicians were sneaky liars, the kinds who would add on an extra penny to a price tag just to scam a little more money out of you. Something tells me that Marek’s father wanted him to do stuff like that.

“There are powerful people I need to impress in order to gain support. Those people are no-good crooks. But if I don’t make them happy…I’ll never get the job.”

“You shouldn’t have to be bad to make a living.”

“But if you don’t climb to the top, you’ll be the one stepped on.”

This survival of the scummiest sounded like a horrible world to live in.

I know Marek better than this. He was a kind man, someone who’d stand in the line of fire to protect his friends, not throw them forward to save his skin. No wonder being a bad person was making him feel so depressed.

There was only one thing to do at this point, and that was forge a new path to the top. Not one paved in the pain of others, but painted by good deeds and honour.

“I’ll help you get that job, and we’ll do it without needing to screw people over.” I smiled, holding out my hand.

He seemed reluctant to take my hand, but I wasn’t going to move until he did.

"I…I want to believe you, but I hardly even know who you are," He said.

"Yalda. Yalda Asamo. It's nice to meet you again, Marek."

My disarming smile seemed to crack his shell, but he shyly turned away.

“EEEHHHH!”

That scream came from the hallway! It was Hanako!

Looks like our break didn't last long...the demons had found us. Time to get back too it.