Monday, June 13, 2016

Emi the Deity Ch8

Emi the Deity
By Krissie Gault
Chapter 8: The Café
PREVIOUS

Carmen found herself standing on a small bridge in the koi pond. She leaned down to look at the fish swimming away.

“Hey, do you guys know of a water deity?” She asked the fish. Several of the koi jumped up and pointed with their heads in a direction. Another group wrote out café with their bodies. She nodded, “Thanks for your help.”

Carmen skipped down the road.

The koi fish began talking amongst themselves.

A rose deity! A rose deity!

Such a weird sight indeed.

Wonder what she wants?

Wish I could watch.

Shush...

Maybe they’ll come by here.


The café was filled to the brim with people. Carmen walked into the busy café and paused at the sign that said, “Please wait to be seated.”

“Just one,” a young girl asked. Her raven hair was curly and pinned up into two round balls at the sides of her head. Two long ponytails looped underneath her hair. Her dress was long and ruffled out at the ends. The top of the dress was just below her collarbone and was adorn with golden circles. Her sleeves reminded Carmen of seashells. She also wore a pear bracelet on her left wrist.

Carmen thought she was absolutely adorable. She responded with a warm and excited yes.

The girl carefully lifted her skirt to walk without tripping. Her white heels had a crescent moon on them. She politely pulled out a chair for Carmen. She placed the menu in front of her. “Is there anything I can get you to drink while you decide what you’d like?” Her voice was a soft tenor. Her eyes were an icey blue that would send shivers down people’s spine. But she just appeared to warm and to Carmen, her eyes reminded her of pool water.

“Just water for now, please.” Carmen stated as she opened the menu. She looked up from the menu around the café. The water deity was here somewhere. All Carmen had to do was find him. She glanced at the menu before scanning over the café. She couldn’t see anything that looked like water powers.

An hour later and she still hadn’t seen anything that looked like the water deity. She had drank at least 3 glasses of water as she tried to figure out where the deity would be. A few trips to the bathroom later and she still had nothing.

“Emi can you clean that table off?” A girl dressed in a Japanese school girl uniform pointed at a table that had recently been sitting a family of six. It was a total mess, but Emi simply nodded.

“I’ve got it!” Emi replied as he placed another glass in front of Carmen.

Such a kind young lady,” Carmen thought as she took a sip of her fourth glass.

Emi picked up a half full glass of soda and Carmen’s eyes widened. The soda inside froze on contact. The crackling sound of the sudden freeze drew Emi’s attention to it. His eyes widen as he grimace. He began moving quickly, hopefully no noticed.

“She’s the deity!” Carmen cheered aloud as she stood up abruptly.

Emi turned to stare at her confused.
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NEXT

Saturday, June 11, 2016

Little Mermaid Sonic Version Ch4


Little Mermaid Sonic Version
Chapter 4
Previous Chapter
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The next day, Amy found Knuckles by the shipwreck. Knuckles was willing to allow the mermaid to explore the ship with him. Amy was happy, because she had purposely come here looking for him. Her luck must have been good, because she found him.

“Can you tell me what this thing is?” Amy showed him the jacket.

The red echidna’s eyes widened. He had seen that jacket before. It belonged to Shadow the Hedgehog. He was a prince and warrior. He was related to Queen Aleena and her triplets somehow, but no one ever really knew. Knuckles had met Shadow once or twice. They got along somewhat, but Shadow and Knuckles both preferred to be alone. Shadow preferred his personal space a lot more.

“Where did you get that jacket?” Knuckles asked cautiously. Shadow didn’t believe in magic and mythical beings. If he saw Amy, Knuckles was sure the black hedgehog would go into denial or kill her.

“Ok, so the other day I rescued this beautiful man from drowning. He has the most wonderful blue fur,” Amy began to explain. Knuckles nodded in understanding.

She must have met Sonic,” Knuckles thought.

“It was love at first sight for me! It really was. So I wanted to see him again, just to see how he was, but I couldn’t find him. So I sat in a cave and began singing. And then he showed up from behind me from the other side of the cave! It was like fate. There was a black and red hedgehog with him. He threw this at and told me ‘to put on some clothes’.”

Shadow was a gentleman. He wouldn’t talk to a naked girl.

“They didn’t see my tail. But I wasn’t sure if I could talk to the blue one without fumbling over my tongue. So I swam away while they were turned around.” Amy concluded. “So what’s this thing?”

“It’s a jacket,” Knuckles answered. “You were it around your shoulders. Like so.” Knuckles put the jacket on the mermaid. “You can zip it up with the zipper here.” He showed her how it worked.

Amy giggled with glee. “That’s cool! But it’s awfully heavy. How do you walk around with such heavy things?”

“It’s only heavy because it’s soaking wet. When their dry on land, they’re really light and they protect us from the elements. Everyone on land wears clothes. It’s kind of… not proper to walk around naked on land.”

“Weird.” Amy mused. “But I understand.”

Knuckles smiled as he sorted through the things they collected from the shipwrecks. “So you’re in love with a blue hedgehog? That’s going to be hard for you.”

“I know,” Amy folded her arms on the edge of the boat, resting her head on her hands. “But I can’t help how I feel. I really love him.”

“But you don’t know him yet,” Knuckles pointed out. “What will you do if he doesn’t love you back or tries to hurt other mermaids?”

Amy pursed her lips as she took in what Knuckles was saying. “I’m not sure about the first part. But I could tell that he would never hurt anyone of my kind. I can just sense it!”

Knuckles nodded. “I just want you to be careful. Loving a lander is a very… taboo thing for your people.”

Amy nodded. “I know. I will be as careful as I can be about this.” Amy glance up at the sky. The sun was setting. “I have to go. Bye bye Knuckles!” She pushed away from the boat. The boat bobbed a bit from the waves Amy caused. Knuckles smiled as he waved.

They went in opposite directions.

“That poor girl,” Knuckles sighed as he turned on the engine. “In love with Sonic Hedgehog. A prince! And one to be married soon.” He shook his head. “Maybe I should have told her about Sally.” He put his head in his hand. “I don’t want to bring her bad news, but she needs to know.” He took a deep breath as he sat up straight in his boat. “I’ll tell her next time I see her. I swear on my honor.”
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Next Chapter

Thursday, June 9, 2016

Unexpected Visit (An Inuyasha Fanfic)

June 9th, 2016
Krissie: I chose to blame Roland for this.
InuYasha Fanfic
The sky was clear with a few clouds traveling by. Everything was peaceful. Except at the shrine.
“SIT!” the command rang from Kagome’s throat. It was high and shrill.
Inuyasha took in a face of dirt instantly. “Arg! What was that for?”
Kagome glared at the half-demon. “I told you I needed to come back to study for this test.”
Souta sat on the steps of the house watching curiously. The cat sat in his lap napping.
Inuyasha hopped up. “What about finding the shikon fragments?”
“It can wait you jerk!” Kagome stomped her foot.
Souta glanced up as he noticed a figure coming up the long stair case at the front of the shrine. The man was tall and imposing. He wore a classic kimono. His white hair flowing free in the breeze. The cat in Souta’s lap hissed before dashing away. Souta just stared at the man walking towards them.
Kagome and Inuyasha were too caught up in their argument to notice the man walking up to him.
The man paused a yard away from them. His eyes glanced the up and down. Souta could clearly see two purple triangles on his cheeks on both side of his face. The man merely rolled his eyes as he walked up to the steps.
Souta opened his mouth.
The man brought a finger to his mouth. His expression was a bored one. He opened the door to the house as if he owned the place and waved for the boy to follow him.
Souta followed the man into the house. “Who are you?” Souta asked as he followed the man.
The man made a line straight for the kitchen. Kagome’s and Souta’s mom froze as she stared at the tall man.
“That is not for you to worry about,” the man told him as he opened the cabinets in the house. “Where’s Inuyasha’s favorite ramen?” He asked after opening a few cabinets.
Souta pulled it out and held up to him.
The man smiled as he nodded. He grabbed the need equipment and another three bags of the ramen. “Come,” he ordered Souta as they walked back outside. The man sat on the last step of the house facing Inuyasha and Kagome, who were still fighting. He set up the equipment and began to make the ramen. Souta sat next to him, looking at the man curiously.
Inuyasha paused in his argument with Kagome to sniff the air. It smelled different.
“What is wrong with you?” Kagome yelled.
“It smells like ramen,” Inuyasha muttered as he turned to look at the source of the scent. His yellow eyes widened.
Kagome followed his eyes and gasped. “Sesshomaru?”
“Do you guys know this guy?” Souta pointed to the strange man.
Sesshomaru didn’t speak, he merely looked up at them as he put some ramen in a bowl. He handed the bowl to Souta who said thanks and began to eat with his chopsticks.
“What are you doing here?!” Inuyasha yelled.
“How did he get through the well?” Kagome hollered.
Inuyasha rolled up his sleeves. “What do you think you’re doing Sesshomaru?”
“Eating ramen,” came the simple reply as Sesshomaru made up his bowl. He blew on the noodles before popping them into his mouth.
“How did you get through the well?” Kagome demanded as she pushed Inuyasha aside.
Sesshomaru looked up at her and paused. “I did not come from the well.”
“Then how did you get here?” Inuyasha demanded, cracking his knuckles.
Sesshomaru continued to eat his food.
“He came up the steps,” Souta answered.
Sesshomaru finished off his bowl of ramen. “As a true full demon, I have been able to live for years. But I see I misjudged the time,” He gracefully placed his chopsticks on top of the bowl. “Thank you for the meal.” He stood up and began to leave.
“Wait, you mean to tell me you’ve lived this long?” Kagome asked as she followed him.
Sesshomaru simply nodded.
“Why did you decide to come here? And now?” Kagome asked curiously as Inuyasha growled.
Sesshomaru paused as he turned to look Kagome in the eye. “I came to eat my little brother’s favorite food.” He held up his hand and reached out for Kagome. Before his hand could touch her, however, Inuyasha grabbed his hand roughly.
“Wanna lose that other arm?” Inuyasha growled.
Sesshomaru gave a small smile at his brother.
Inuyasha gulped as he took a step back.
Sesshomaru patted his little brother on the head. Inuyasha’s hair stood on end as his wide eyes stared at the demon in shock. Sesshomaru ruffled Inuyasha’s hair before removing his hand and looking at his palm. He looked back up at Inuyasha. “Your hair is dirty. You need to wash it properly.”
Inuyasha’s jaw dropped in shock. Kagome stood in shock beside him.
Sesshomaru turned and walked away.
“Hey sis, who was that guy?” Souta asked after a minute from the steps to the house.

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Emi the Deity Ch7

Emi the Deity
Book 2: The Dry Rose Garden
By Krissie Gault
Chapter 7: Volume 2
His dress flowed to the ground. It was white with ruffles. The sleeves resembled sea shells and rested on his shoulders. The top lining of the dress were golden circles that rested below his collar bone. Emideus Cheshire Saint, Emi for short, was dressed as an anime princess of the moon. It matched the cosplay theme of the café perfectly. The café’s theme? Planets.
There were several moon princesses and even characters that represented other planets. Everyone chuckled when one of the servers came dressed as Captain Planet, a late 80s/early 90s super hero.
Emi twirled around in his dress on the stage. He lip sung a Sailor Moon song that was requested by several of the patrons. They even filled the tip jar a quarter full trying to bring the musical performances quicker.
Emi was elated.
Today was a great day! He could feel it. He hadn’t had any power hiccups all days. Which instantly made Emi’s day great. Emi skipped down the steps of the stage and beamed a wide grin as he walked over to a table. Two high school aged boys and three high school aged girls sat there.
“Did you enjoy the song?” Emi did his best impression of the character.
“You were wonderful!” the girl with pigtails gushed. The girl with a braid nodded in agreement. “Don’t you guys think so?” She leaned on the table as she addressed the boys accompanying them.
Two of the boys shrugged, “I guess.” They didn’t look like twins, but Emi found it amazing that they were so in sync. One had strawberry blond hair with freckles. He wore an Assassin Creed shirt. The other had curly black hair styled into an afro. He wore a Metroid shirt.
The third boy was the oldest there. He looked Emi up and down curiously before smirking. He wore a shirt with several video game controls on it. He wore several rubber bracelets on his right arm. “It’s been a while,” he waved lazily. “I can’t believe you work here? And in character too.”
Emi gave a smile though on the inside he was nervous. The man before him was Chad. Chad was a few grades behind him. Now Chad was either a junior or senior. Emi couldn’t completely recall. But he remembered Chad. Chad was rambunctious and always full of energy. Chad had tried out for every single sport he could just to get rid of all that extra energy he had.
“I almost didn’t recognize you,” Emi admitted, staying in character. “I hope you found an activity to help disperse all your energy.”
Chad grinned ear to ear. “I did! Tap dance actually. Not what pops was hoping for, but when you shine you shine. These are freshmen from our school. Glenda and Bria were raving about this place and brought us along. I’m glad I came. Now I get to brag about what a star you were when you were in high school.”
Emi blushed. “I wasn’t really a star…”
“She went to our high school!?” The girl with the braid squealed as she clasped her hands together.
Chad simply nodded. “Yep. Princess Serenity here went to the same high school as us. I was lucky to be in share the same school with this talent for two years. I remember causing you all kinds of trouble.” He smiled at Emi apologetically but with a warm joke attached. “If I recall you were on the cheers quad and in drama club for a while weren’t you? I don’t remember if you took chorus or not.”
“Chorus and the cheer squad had too many overlapping dates. So I wasn’t in chorus.” Emi replied. “But good memory.” He added a wink.
“I’m flattered,” Chad bowed.
“I can’t believe it! I want to the same school as Princess Serenity.” The braided hair girl continued to gush with the girl with pigtails.
“Now is there anything I can get for you guys?” Emi did his best to stifle his giggle. They had no clue that under this dress he was a man.
“How about our checks? I think it’s about time to be heading home before Bria here decides to become your ultimate fan girl,” Chad jabbed a thumb at the girl with the braid.
Emi nodded. “I’ll be right back with those.”
Quick work at the register and Emi returned to their table with the checks. He was also greatly relieved that Chad didn’t out him as a man. Emi wouldn’t have minded, but it seemed to cause an uproar when patrons found out. It was like the concept of cross dressing was foreign to them. But then again, he was on the Bible Belt.
Guess they’re just not ready for crossing dressers yet.” Emi thought as he handed out the checks to the group.
“You can pay at the cash register over there,” Emi pointed towards the register. He began to clean up once the group left. He dropped the dirty dishes off in the sink and returned with a cloth to wipe it off. Someone swept while he returned the cloth with made Emi happy because it was one less thing for him to do. He checked on the other tables.

The fields were covered in roses. There was a maze like path for people to walk through. The roses were normally beautiful and blooming constantly. But something was wrong. The roses were turning brown and the leaves were shriveling. It was like the rose fields were dying. This greatly disturbed the deity of roses, Carmen. She had been trying every means she could in her power to bring the roses back to life. But none of her powers were enough. She had been bringing all the water she could carry to her fields, but even that wasn’t enough.
What she needed was a water deity who could bring water to withering field.
There was just a small snag with that. She didn’t know where to find any water deities. In fact, it seemed that they were becoming a bit scarce. No one heard any tale of them dying, but it was just that no one had seen them. Like they all were just hiding.
“What a time to be playing hide and seek,” Carmen grumbled. She perked up as she saw a fairy flying overhead. “Why didn’t I think of it before? I could just get a water fairy or nymph!” She thought as she called the fairy over.
The fairy had her blond hair pulled back into a low pony tail. Her dress was made of dandelion petals. Her wings were a pale pink with sparkly swirl designs.
“Hey, do you know where I can find a water fairy? Nymph? Anything really? My roses are dying here without it.” She waved her hand around the field.
The fairy nodded. “So sad too that there’s not enough water for them. Why don’t you go ask a water god? They’d be able to fix this in a tick.”
“No one has seen a water god or deity in ages.” Carmen replied.
“Really? I’ve been hearing that there was a water deity in a city south of here. Maybe you can ask them?” the fairy suggested.
“What’s the name of that city?”
The fairy thought for a moment before answering. It was a simple city. But it was also a decent size. Carmen packed a bag and raced down to that state.
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NEXT

Monday, June 6, 2016

Little Mermaid Sonic Version Ch3

MERMAID CH3
Here is the 3rd chapter. I hope you guys like how this story is going.
CH2

“Hello there.” Amy felt long hair touch her shoulder. The pink mermaid turned around and saw bright blue eyes and long orange hair floating all around them. Her long locks reminded Amy of an octopus before it attacked. “What are you thinking right now?”
“That your hair looks like an octopus about to eat me.” Amy answered with a smirk.
The girl did a flip as she laughed. “You must know no fear then.” She sat beside her.
“What have you been up to Tikal?” Amy mused.
“Oh, you know, ghostly, spirit things.” Tikal placed her chin in the palm of her hand. Her eyes shifted from the reef to the pink mermaid. “There’s something different about you. What happened today?”
“Oh, nothing.” Amy shrugged.
“You’re lyyying,” Tikal sang as she laid in the mermaid’s lap. “I know that look. I’ve seen it before. So tell me about your day.” A smirk was on Tikal’s face.
Amy could tell that those sapphire eyes knew everything, but wanted to be told anyway. She sighed as spilled her tale and the new emotions that were stirring in her chest for the blue hedgehog she had saved.
“Oh! You’re in love!” Tikal squealed as she gave Amy a tight hug.
Amy gasped as the sudden hug. Even though Tikal was a ghost, she could still give very tight hugs. Amy didn’t understand how, but it was just a thing about the echidna.
“It’s a shame that he’s a land dweller though.” Tikal hummed. “Unless…” She bit her thumb. “Nah. That’s probably not a good idea.”
Amy perked up at the orange echidna’s mumbling. “What are you…?”
“Are you longing to see him again?” Tikal gave the pink hedgehog an almost pitiful look.
“I am,” Amy admitted, tears coming to her emerald eyes. “But as a mermaid I could never be with him.”
“Not without the help of a witch.” Tikal muttered.
“Hah! Where am I going to find a witch?” Amy laughed.
“Right. Where would you find one? Hehahaha…” Tikal’s nervous laugh caught Amy’s attention.
“You know one?” Amy sprung up, knocking the ghost off of her lap.
“Listen Amy, things like that come at a price.” Tikal cried. “Are you sure any price will be worth a chance at love?”
Amy paused for a moment. “I think so.”
Tikal looked sadly at the girl. “Well, let’s give it a week. If you’re still willing to pay any price by the end of the week for your chance at love, I’ll take you to the witch.”
Amy nodded in agreement.

She rose to the surface of the water carefully. Her longing was too much for her. She swam around the shore looking for any sign of the blue hedgehog. It was late at night, but she was still hoping she could see him. She pouted as she didn’t find him anywhere near the shore. She swam into a cave and sat up on its shallow shore.
A sad melody floated in the air.
Sonic paused in the middle of the forest. He was out for his midnight run with his friend. “Do you hear that?” He turned to the hedgehog with him.
“Yes,” Shadow the Hedgehog nodded. “It sounds like its close by.”
“It’s a beautiful song.” Sonic walked towards the sound.
“It is.” Shadow nodded in agreement as he walked towards the sound. “Want to race for it?”
Sonic laughed, “Loser buys dinner.”
Shadow nodded and he zipped off. Sonic called out as he followed.
Shadow ran into a cave entrance in the forest. It was normally a home for bears, but he could out run them. He zipped through the long passageways. There were a lot of routes in the cave that it probably wouldn’t surprise him if it connected to more caves.
It was a light pink form. Long quills came down to her back. He couldn’t see much, but he could see the clear curves of her silhouette.
“Whew! I made it!” Sonic cheered as he appeared beside Shadow. “So who’s the source of that way past cool song?” He craned his face over.
The girl had heard Sonic’s blabbering and turned around. Her emerald eyes were wide in shock and her mouth quickly shut tight.
“Oh hey! I remember you!” Sonic waved. “You’re that girl who saved my butt.”
Shadow arched an eyebrow. “That’s the one who brought you to shore? She must be strong to lug your heavy butt back to shore.” He turned to look at the girl again only to notice that she wasn’t properly dressed. Shadow felt the blood spill out of his nose.
Amy remained frozen in terror. She had been sad that she couldn’t find the blue hedgehog and then he appeared. She had only wanted to see him, but the fact that he could also see her scared her. What should she do? What should she say? How would he react if he found out she was a mermaid? So many questions were rushing through her head.
Amy unfroze as a jacket hit her in the face. She held the jacket curiously. Her emerald eyes staring curiously at the strange cloth.
“Please put on some clothes,” Shadow was covering his nose, trying to discreetly pinch it to stop the bleeding.
“Oh my bad!” Sonic added as he turned away. He turned the black hedgehog around too. “Let us know when you’re dressed appropriately. We can talk then.”
Amy stared for a moment as she watched the blue hedgehog tap his foot on the ground. She looked down at the jacket. She had no clue how it should be worn. She turned back into the water, clutching the jacket to her chest. She dove into the water and small away.
“You know that song you were singing was really neat,” Sonic tried to make small talk after a moment. He had heard the water splash and presumed she had gotten out. “What’s the name of it? You have a real nice singing voice. We’re having an event at the palace soon, if you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to have you come sing.”
Sonic hated silence. It annoyed him. After two minutes of no response, he turned around. “Where’d she go?” Sonic placed his hands on his hips. “I wish I could have gotten her name.”
“Well maybe we made frightened her.” Shadow mumbled.
“Is your nose bleeding?” Sonic leaned in closer to Shadow’s face.
“No!” Shadow yelled as he took a step back. His hand, however, wasn’t covering his face.
“Yes you are!” Sonic pointed out loudly. He stood triumphantly for a brief moment. “Well that’s a first. Who knew naked women would cause you to get nose bleeds? And after all those years with Rouge.”
“Shut up faker.” Shadow punched Sonic in the arm.
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Next Chapter

Sunday, June 5, 2016

Emi the Deity Ch6

Emi the Deity
By Krissie Gault
PREVIOUS
Chapter 6: The Jewelry Store
The jewelry store was a simple store. Emi was surprised. He hadn’t expected to be taken to a jewelry store for mythical creatures.
“Well we can’t take a centaur to a human jewelry store,” Symphia stated matter-of-factly when Emi had asked.
Now they were looking at pieces of elaborate jewelry. Harris looked overwhelmed.
“Harris, what here do you think Ethel would like? Or look really pretty in?” Emi asked helpfully.
“Well, Ethel loves the yellow wild flowers.” Harris answered with a shrugged. “She looks lovely with in crowns made from them.” He smiled as he thought of her.
“Well maybe something to match those flowers then?” Emi suggested.
“That would be wise,” Symphia smiled. “You should pick something here that you think she’ll love. So don’t be shy Harris.”
Harris nodded as he carefully walked around. He was trying to be careful not to walk on any of the little creatures. The store was run by gnomes and dwarfs. Fairies were flying around here and there.
It was a beautiful sight to Emi, but it made walking difficult for Harris. He had to constantly check that a little creature wasn’t under his foot.
“This looks lovely.” Harris pointed to a simple necklace. It had dangling glass flowers hanging off of it. They were all different colors connected together by a brass chain. The flowers were a pale orange and yellow. In the center was a large yellow flower with an orange flower in the center.
Symphia smiled in approval. “That will be perfect.”
Emi nodded in agreement.
After buying the necklace, they walked with Harris to Ethel’s house. Symphia and Emi waited by the mail box outside a large stable like house. It was a nice deep red house. Harris walked up slowly to the front door and knocked on the door. He held the box in his hand carefully.
The door opened as a large female centaur. She had a plump face and brown curly hair that was loosely tied in a pony tail that rolled over her shoulder. She smiled brightly at Harris.
Harris held the box out to her.
She looked at the box curiously as she took it from him and opened it. A smile spread across her face. She wrapped her arms around Harris’s shoulders.
Symphia nodded as she turned to Emi. “Our work here is done. Now let’s go back home.”
Emi nodded. Then a thought occurred to him. “I have to rebuy my groceries,” he muttered.
Symphia chuckled.
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Thursday, June 2, 2016

Emi the Deity Ch5

Emi the Deity
PREVIOUS
Chapter 5: Centaur Chase
Emi was out of breath. He could hear the chaos from the rampaging centaur. He had taken refuge inside a large store. It was one of those stores were you could buy a whole bunch of stuff in bulk. He and several others ran inside the store. People were already dialing 9-1-1. Emi took a deep breath as he pulled out his phone. He searched the contacts.
He was so glad Symphia had given him her cell number. She told him to text her any questions he had. She was at work, but he had no clue how to deal with a centaur. He typed the text as quickly as he could and pressed entered. He felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. The centaur was getting closer. He made a mad dash to the back of the store.
Emi found himself in an aisle of kitchen ware. He crouched down in the aisle and grabbed a frying pan. He jolted up and bumped his head on one of the shelfs when his phone rang.
“Oow…” Emi rubbed his head. He pressed the green button on his phone. “Hello?”
“Where are you?” Symphia demanded.
“A whole food store,” he answered.
“Where’s the centaur?”
“Outside somewhere. I could hear him rampaging from the front of the store.”
“What did he want from you?”
“He said something about giving him my powers. A guy tried to stop him and then he stomped on him. I ran first chance I got.”
“Centaurs aren’t normally violent.” Symphia muttered on the end.
“Well not everyone is a stereotype,” Emi replied, “Because this one is violent. You should have seen the way he stomped that guy. It was terrifying.”
“I know. We have patients entering the hospital right now. But I’m on my way to you. So just hang tight until I get there.”
“Will do.” Emi saluted. A click later and his phone was back in his pocket. Several other people had joined him. They each had similar ideas to him as they grabbed kitchen ware as potential weapons. Some cuddled their families that were with them. Emi began practicing breathing techniques as he tried to stay calm. It was becoming difficult as he felt like his throat was closing off. He really needed some fresh air.
But with a centaur rampaging outside, he wasn’t about to go out there.
There was a loud bang and people screamed as they jumped, hugging their loved ones tightly to them. There were a few more bangs before there was the shattering of glass. Emi felt his hair stand on end as he heard the struggled breathing. Whatever it was was growing tired. Emi knew that it could only be the centaur though. He gripped the pan tighter as he listened to the steps.
Clack-Clack. Clack-Clack.
He was amazed that stepping on broken glass didn’t hurt the centaur’s hooves. Though maybe the centaur was hyped up on adrenaline and couldn’t feel pain.
The steps grew closer. Emi felt like the centaur was only a row or two away. People cried and backed away as the creature walked up and down the rows.
Emi’s blue eyes widened in terror as he saw a glimpse of the centaur walking up to the end of the row. Emi shrunk down and attempted to crawl under the row itself. Maybe then the centaur wouldn’t notice him.
The centaur’s pupils shrunk as he took notice of raven hair. He had grabbed hold of several raven heads looking for the new deity but it was the only feature he could use to find the deity. He yanked at the tuff of black hair.
A loud yelp escaped as several others cried.
“There you are,” came the low growl.
Emi’s blue eyes struggled to look back at the centaur. He attempted to grip the pan tighter but he wound up grabbing air. When the centaur grabbed him, he had dropped the pan.
Curses! I’m going to die… and defenseless too boot!
Emi closed his eyes as he took a deep breath. He really was having trouble breathing. But if he didn’t scream now, how would a knight in shining armor come to save him. He curled up his body as he built up everything inside of himself.
The scream shocked the centaur, but he only held the deity farther from him. If the deity was any good with his powers, he would have used them earlier. Everyone screamed with him, some couldn’t find the strength to move while others made a mad dash out of there.
Several bottles popped opened a few rows down. People hollered as they ran from the flooding row. The small river of soda and juice came under the rows towards Emi and the centaur.
“So that is your power?”
“You want my power and you don’t even know what it is?” Emi screeched, his voice hoarse from screaming.
The centaur nodded.
“Isn’t that just stupid? I mean, why would you want a power if you don’t know what it is? For you all know, my power could be the stupidest power ever!” Emi waved his hand. “Why do you even want my power anyway?”
“So I can be stronger,” the centaur answered simply.
“But for what purpose?” Emi crossed his arms. “Why do you need my power to be stronger?”
The centaur thought for a moment. “How else will I get stronger?”
“By working out,” Emi answered matter-of-factly. “But for what purpose do you need to be stronger? You seem plenty strong to me. My powers would only be a hindrance to you. They are for me.”
“Purpose?”
“Yeah. Why do you need to be stronger?” Emi stated. “Were you challenged to a fight by another centaur and you’re worried you might not be able to take him?”
“No. I am the strongest centaur there is,” he stated sternly. It was as if he was insulted by the very notion.
“Then why do you need my powers?” Emi asked again. “I’d at least like to know why I’m being yanked in the air by my hair. By the way, it really hurts.” He gestured to his hair that was wrapped around the centaur’s hand.
“Oh,” the centaur simply said. He lower Emi to the ground cautiously. “Do not run away again.”
“I’ll wait to hear your reason,” Emi shrugged as he sat down, crossing his legs. “After that, I make no promises.”
The centaur nodded as he thought for a brief moment. “I need your powers because Ethel told me I needed to bring her something valuable. What could be more valuable than the power of a deity?”
“Ah,” Emi nodded. “Did you ask Ethel to marry you? Is that why she wants something valuable?”
The centaur turned red and glared at Emi. “Are you a mind reader deity?”
“No. But I know enough stereotypes to tell that my life just became a manga.” Emi shrugged. “Though I doubt Ethel wants my powers. I think she was referring to something else when she said she wanted something valuable.”
“What else could Ethel want?” the centaur threw his hands in the air.
Emi smiled at the centaur. He opened his mouth, but a voice cut him off.
“Emi!” Symphia cried as she rushed to hug him. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, the centaur and I are talking.” Emi stated. “He wants my powers to give to a lady named Ethel that he proposed to. Love isn’t my area, but it’s yours. Would you mind giving him a hand?”
Symphia light up like a Christmas tree. “It is my specialty!” She jumped up and grabbed the centaur’s hands. “Don’t worry, I’ll help you achieve a happy love life.” She turned over the centaur’s hands and stare intently into his palms. Her eyes glowed magenta as she traced lines on his hands. Strings formed around her. The strings disappeared shortly after and her eyes turned back to their warm brown. “I know something that she’ll find valuable.”
“Is it jewelry?” Emi smiled. “Girls really like jewelry.”
“Exactly!” Symphia nodded. “I know just the kind. Harris, would you mind coming with me?”
“How do you know my name?” The centaur took a step back from her.
“Because I’m a love deity. Names are an easy thing to find,” she winked. “Now come on.” 
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