《Pursuit》 Bedside Chills About 1,000 words Pursuit Chapter 1 by Quest Giorgio woke up shivering and he didn¡¯t know why. He tossed and turned on his bed trying to ignore the cold before giving up. As he sat up on his bed, he found the source of the cold he felt. His arms were oddly cold to the touch, making the hair on his neck stand up. ¡®Well, that¡¯s not right.¡¯ He thought. After a few seconds of staring at his arms, he ignored the coldness as he could ask his mother later during breakfast before his homeschooling session. That was when something odd struck him. ¡®Why didn¡¯t any of my maids wake me up?¡¯ he thought. His homeschooling session normally started very early in the morning but from the light pouring down from his curtain, it seemed like his maids neglected to wake him up. He thought about questioning them about this but decided against it after thinking about it. ¡®This is great! It must be my lucky day since if I just don¡¯t remind them then I don¡¯t have to attend the session for today.¡¯ he thought. He carefully went down the stairs of the family mansion eyeing his maid, Josephine. ¡°Buongiorno, Josie.¡± ¡°Ah, good morning, young master. I have already prepared breakfast for you. Come sit down at the table.¡± She said nonchalantly as if nothing was any different this morning. As he sat down at the table waiting for his breakfast which he guessed was probably scrambled eggs from the smell, he wondered where his mother was. He looked at the chair at the head of the table where she normally sat. It was her throne he and his sisters joked, as she did everything from knitting to solving word games from the local newspaper there, which made the absence of his mother all the more jarring. ¡®She must have gone to work early¡¯ he thought. This lowered his mood as he wanted to say goodbye to her at least. He had a nagging fear of her dying whenever she went off to work which wasn¡¯t all that improbable considering her line of work and what their family did. It was very dangerous from what he could discern from the vague conversations his parents did with intimidating men who came to visit. ¡°Here you go, it¡¯s your favorite. Buon appetito.¡± She said as she returned from the kitchen and set a plate in front of him. It was what he had every day, scrambled eggs and pork strips. He said grace and then proceeded to eat. He went through his breakfast mechanically as he had no appetite that morning. In between bites he glanced at the clock a few times. He mentally debated with himself about asking her before enough time had passed that his curiosity ultimately won out. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you wake me up, Josie?¡± ¡°No particular reason, I just didn¡¯t want to wake you up.¡± This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. He didn¡¯t buy that at all, but he decided to drop it as she seemed unwilling to tell him and he didn¡¯t want her to change her mind now. Going through the remains of his breakfast was a slog as each bite made him more unwilling to go through the next. ¡°Are you going to finish your food, young master, or will you continue praying to it?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have an appetite.¡± He didn¡¯t and the thought of taking another bite upset his stomach. So much so, he felt the urge to throw up the breakfast he had just eaten. No longer an urge, he ran to the bathroom and puked on the sink. Immediately concerned but weirdly not surprised, she followed him to the bathroom and rubbed his back as he continued to waste the breakfast she dutifully made for him. He would have felt guilty if he wasn¡¯t so busy throwing up. Once he had emptied his stomach of whatever contents it had, his body decided that was time to throw another curve ball as the cold in his arms suddenly spread to the rest of his body. Relying on her for support, he limped his way toward the couch. He felt tired, and despite waking up earlier, he felt the urge to curl up in a ball and sleep again. ¡°You¡¯re very cold,¡± she said as she pressed the back of her hand on his neck. ¡°Do you want a blanket?¡± she asked. ¡°Yes, please,¡± he replied. Maybe it wasn¡¯t his lucky day after all as he continued to spend his morning and later his afternoon laying on a couch and feeling like poop with Josephine continuing to care for him. He continued to lay there until a sound of a chime rang across the mansion. ¡°I¡¯m home¡± His older sister, Angela, had said as the sound of her voice came from the front door along with her footsteps. ¡°What happened to you?¡± She said as she came across him lying on the couch draped with a blanket. He was too delirious in his sickness to reply, however; even before he could formulate a response, Angela had already knelt beside him. She grabbed his arm and inspected it for a good few minutes. Giorgio was about to say something before she uttered two words. ¡°Mana Pulse.¡± A piercing coldness stronger than whatever he had felt all day struck him after Angela had said those words. The coldness ran along glowing green lines across his arms towards his sleeves, which continued to his chest. After a few seconds, the coldness dropped in intensity and was an almost soothing sensation. ¡°So that¡¯s how it is,¡± Angela muttered. She then turned towards Josephine. ¡°We¡¯re going to have to take him to Black Apple Magicks,¡± she said. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll carry him to the carriage,¡± Josephine replied. ¡°Where are we going?¡± he asked. ¡°To the hospital,¡± Angela replied. He nodded at her reply as Josephine had already finished packing his things. Josephine then carried him on her back as the three of them walked to the family carriage. Along the way, he saw something that caught his eye. It was a missing children¡¯s poster, it read: ¡°Mary Smith, aged 10¡± Along with contact information if the girl was ever seen. Several other missing children¡¯s posters cover the surface of the wall, with other girls of similar age. He thought about it for a while before dozing off to sleep on the way to the supposed hospital they were taking him to. Frost by the Flowers About 2,500 words Pursuit Chapter 2 by Quest ¡°Young master, wake up, we''re here,¡± Josephine said. Despite the weight still in his eyes, Giorgio opened them without a care. He looked out the window, through the fog and snow. In the distance, a tall building loomed, and in front of it stood a large sign. Black Apple Magicks. He put on his overcoat and got out of the carriage; the three of them walked silently toward the building. The only sound they heard was their shoes stamping on the snow. The moment they stepped inside the hospital, a familiar coldness hit him, as if he had been hit in the face with ice. Puzzled, he followed his sister and his maid. ¡°Wait here.¡± Josephine gave him a bag of candy to ease his hunger, as he had not eaten anything since the night before. She then walked off with Angela to talk to the receptionist. While waiting for them to return, he looked around the waiting room, searching for a hint of the cold that was seeping into the room. After searching for a while, he noticed that the coldness was concentrated on the ornamental flowers on the side of the room. He looked for anything unusual about those flowers but found nothing. The flower was quite ordinary to look at, bright blue and emitting a nice fragrance, but other than that there was nothing unusual about it. ¡°Young Master, the doctor has agreed to come and examine you,¡± Josephine said as she seemed to have finished her conversation with the receptionist. "Josie, what are these flowers?" Josephine raised an eyebrow at his question before explaining. ¡°That''s Flore Caeruleo. It is a flower native to Albion¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­cold.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± "The flowers, they feel cold." "Oh, I see. Your sister can explain it better than I can, young master. Why don''t you ask her instead?¡± He paused for a moment, mentally debating whether to ask before deciding it wouldn''t hurt to do so. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you wake me up earlier this morning Josie? How long have you known about what¡¯s been happening to me?¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t seem well when I went to check up on you last night, so I decided against waking you up early.¡± He nodded at her explanation and then the nurse led them to the examination room. He had difficulty walking and limped along the way, leaning on Josephine. His body ached with every step he took. When he finally arrived at the clinic, a young man greeted him from behind a desk. The man, who appeared to be the doctor, had long blond hair and eyes of the same color. "Why, hello there. You¡¯re Giorgio, correct?" The doctor asked him. He then nodded in affirmation. "My name is Dr. Allen. I will be examining you today. Please have a seat." ¡°Okay.¡± As he was about to sit down on the chair, the ache happened again, and he had to ease into sitting down so it wouldn¡¯t hurt too much. ¡°Have you been having trouble walking Giorgio?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± "Then we will lend you a wheelchair." The doctor then looked at the nurse that accompanied them and nodded. The nurse, in turn, went out the door and fetched it for Giorgio. "I hear you have not been feeling well lately?" He nodded. ¡°Can you explain it to me?¡± "I woke up with my arms cold." "Hmm, I see, so how long has it been like this?" "Since this morning." The doctor listened intently while Giorgio answered his questions, but the doctor paused shortly before asking his next one. ¡°¡­Giorgio, may I have a look at your arm?¡± Giorgio obliged by holding out his arm to the doctor. The doctor then took out a strap, wrapped it around his arm, and took a needle filled with red liquid from a cabinet in the room. ¡°Now, Giorgio, I need you to stay calm while I inject this into you. Understood?" ¡°Yes.¡± Because he was a big boy now, and there is no way that big boys were afraid of an injection, so he can keep his cool. He admitted in his mind that one of the reasons he wanted to remain calm was to impress his maid. When the doctor stuck the needle in his arm. Glowing green lines began to reappear on his arm. The doctor poked the line with his finger and observed his arm further. ¡°97, 98¡­¡± The doctor muttered under his breath, with Giorgio barely hearing what the doctor said. ¡°100 circuits!¡± The doctor exclaimed in shock. ¡°100 what now?¡± He asked as the doctor gradually regained his composure. ¡°They haven¡¯t told you yet Giorgio?¡± He nodded slowly, unsure of what the doctor meant. ¡°Well long story short, you¡¯re a Magus.¡± ¡°A Magus? What¡¯s that?¡± The doctor was about to explain before being interrupted by the sound of his sister coughing. ¡°Let me, Doctor Allen,¡± she said with a bit of authority in her voice. ¡°Oh, of course. I¡¯ll be out of your way then Madam D¡¯Agostino¡± Something about the formality of his sister being called by their last name felt odd to Giorgio. Since the doctor should be years older than his sister and should have had seniority. ¡°Giorgino.¡± She said, pulling him out of his thoughts. ¡°A magus is a practitioner of Magecraft. Magecraft is the study and application of magical energy in all living beings. The continued study of Magecraft is the legacy given to us by our ancestors.¡± She explained it to him by rote. ¡°So, I can do Magic?¡± Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡°Not quite.¡± ¡°Wha¨C Why?¡± His question drew out a sigh from his older sister. ¡°We were going to tell you when you were older, but it seems that I have to explain it to you now.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°You were born with defective circuits.¡± ¡°And I suppose that¡¯s not a good thing?¡± ¡°It isn¡¯t. You possess circuits that have an unnaturally high Thaumaturgical Impedance, which makes your circuits unable to release the mana it takes in.¡± ¡°Sister, in Albish please.¡± ¡°It means that you cannot perform Magecraft. You have to release a certain amount of mana to be able to perform spells, which is something that you are incapable of. Regardless of the number of circuits you possess, they are useless with your condition.¡± ¡°Wait, that doesn¡¯t explain why I¡¯ve been sick all morning.¡± ¡°It does. The fact that you can¡¯t release mana from your body means that it has slowly built up in your circuits and spread throughout the rest of your body. The effect is that the excess mana leaking from your circuits is slowly freezing you to death from the inside.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to die?¡± ¡°If left on its own, yes. Lucky for you though, defective circuits can be treated and the fact that we caught it so soon means that you¡¯ll live¡­probably.¡± ¡°Probably?¡± ¡°Probably.¡± The two of them stood there for a good few seconds before Angela broke the silence. ¡°I¡¯m going to call Mother and Father, you stay here.¡± She said before she stepped out of the room. The utter bombshell from his sister occupied his thoughts as he waited. There was a possibility that he could die, but strangely enough, he wasn¡¯t all that scared of it. In his mind, it is as if his death is impossible. He could logically reason that he could die, but the idea seemed ridiculous and unrealistic. Even if he did die, he wasn¡¯t scared of what would happen to him; he just wondered if his family would be okay without him. He is a Magus, but he couldn¡¯t do Magecraft, and what was supposed to help him perform spells was slowly killing him instead. ¡®I want to go home,¡¯ he thought. He wanted to go back home and sleep on his bed as if nothing had ever happened, as if he could return to how it was before he learned all this. If there was a possibility that he was going to die, then he might as well sleep with his family and inside the comforts of his own home one last time before he kicked the bucket. ¡°Young master,¡± Josephine called out to him while pushing a wheelchair in front of her. ¡°We¡¯re going to have to move you to the emergency room while you wait for your parents.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± He climbed into the wheelchair with Josephine helping him. She then pushed the wheelchair towards what he guessed was the emergency room. He somehow liked the experience of being in a wheelchair, not having to get tired walking around while letting someone else handle moving for him. On entering the emergency room, a doll on one of the bedside tables caught his eye. It wore an elaborate dress in the fashion of what would have been popular in the days of his grandparents. The doll had pale blonde hair and deep crimson eyes. It looked scary to him because it seemed as if a person was hiding behind the eyes of the doll. Also, there was a sinister aura surrounding it, and it was strange that Josephine did not seem to notice it in the least. He entertained the idea of it haunting him, which his logical side dismissed as impossible. After all, dolls aren¡¯t alive, nor do ghosts exist. Because if they did exist, someone would have written them down and told other people of their existence. But then again, he hadn¡¯t known he was a magus and everyone else in his family until today. He snapped himself out of that train of thought, he was only needlessly scaring himself. ¡°How are you holding up young master?¡± Josephine asked, snapping him out of his thoughts. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± ¡°All right. If there¡¯s anything wrong don¡¯t hesitate to tell me. You know you can talk to me about anything, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, I know.¡± ¡°Good.¡± He looked at his maid and studied her expression. She looked tired and weirdly serious. He couldn¡¯t understand why she was acting like that though. Maybe it was because of the fact he could die? But why would she worry about that? That was nothing worth being that serious about. Maybe he should crack a joke? But he couldn¡¯t think of anything funny right now and it didn¡¯t feel right to say something like that considering how serious she was. So, they sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity before she started talking again. ¡°The doctor said that you have to stay in the hospital for a few months.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°You can pick whom you want to stay here with you though. Do you want Sally to look after you instead?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯d rather be with you.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± ¡°Do you want to go to your room? The doctor has already assigned you one and I figured you¡¯d want some rest,¡± she asked. ¡°Yes, thank you.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± She then stood up and helped him get into the wheelchair again before she began moving him toward his room. It was a few floors up but thankfully they had ramps, so Josephine didn¡¯t have to carry him up the stairs. When they got there, he noticed that the room was occupied by one other person. It was a boy around Giorgio¡¯s age with pale blonde hair and a very ornate carnival mask on the upper half of his face. The boy appeared to be drawing on a sketchbook with a pencil and some crayons. The boy noticed his stare and looked back at him. ¡°So, what brings you here?¡± the boy asked. ¡°I¡¯m sick,¡± he replied. ¡°Yes, I can see that, but what sickness exactly?¡± He paused at the boy¡¯s inquiry. He didn¡¯t exactly know what this boy knew about him or how he would react to him being a magus. So, he didn¡¯t reply at all to the boy¡¯s question and instead looked up at Josephine, trusting her judgment. Josephine in turn sighed. ¡°Anastasio, please don¡¯t tease the young master.¡± Josephine lectured at which Anastasio then burst out in a fit of giggles unfit for a boy. ¡°Sorry, I just couldn¡¯t resist,¡± Anastasio replied, not looking apologetic at all. ¡°To answer your confusion, young master, this boy is also a magus, and he is being trained by a trusted associate of the family. In case of magical-related injuries, the family rented this room exclusively to prevent people from asking questions.¡± She then explained to Giorgio. ¡°I see,¡± he then said. ¡°So, what type of Magecraft can you do?¡± Anastasio asked. ¡°I can¡¯t do Magecraft.¡± ¡°What do you mean? I thought you were a magus?¡± ¡°I have defective circuits.¡± ¡°Ouch. My condolences.¡± ¡°Anastasio, if you do not mind, the young master is tired and needs some rest.¡± Josephine interrupted the conversation to stop Anastasio from prying any further. ¡°Oh no, not at all. Nighty night¡­ uh what¡¯s your name again?¡± Anastasio then turned to ask him. ¡°Giorgio. My family calls me Giorgino though.¡± He replied. ¡°Giorgino huh? Well alright, I¡¯ll call you Gino then. You can call me Ana, that¡¯s what my sister used to call me.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°Night Gino¡± He swore that beneath that carnival mask the boy across from him held a mischievous grin. ¡°Goodnight¡­Ana.¡± He whispered the last part but thought Ana heard him anyway. Josephine proceeded to help him get on the bed and then left the room to let him get some rest. Unbeknownst to the three of them, however, a pair of eyes continue to stare at Gino as he falls asleep. Gino then experiences a strange dream that night. He was standing upon a mountain of corpses, grasping at a light pouring from the sky. ¡°On mountains that I build out of corpses beneath me¡± ¡°I hope that it will reach up to the heavens¡± ¡°All that is good to me lost¡± ¡°Abandon all hope, and abandon all fear¡± ¡°In my hell, I reign¡± Checks and Balances About 3,000 words Pursuit Chapter 3 by Quest Gino was bored. It wasn¡¯t surprising since he was in a hospital and was being treated for a potentially life-threatening condition but come on. Did he have to spend his days sleeping, listening to the radio, eating, taking his medication, listening to the radio, and then sleeping again? What he thought at first was a boon since he no longer had to attend homeschooling turned out to be a nightmare of boredom. He stared at his breakfast with disinterest. It is porridge again. As if he hadn¡¯t eaten the same bloody thing the night before or the night before. He understood that heavy foods and the like might upset his already weak stomach due to his condition, but he felt like a peasant having to eat this thing that people called a meal. What was the use of being part of the most influential family in the city if he could not even get something decent to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? He spent the last hour groaning at the absolute state of his situation right now. ¡°Alright, that¡¯s it.¡± Ana suddenly spoke up after a while. He then walked toward the bed where Gino was sitting. ¡°What¡¯s the matter with you?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t ¡®What do you mean?¡¯ me. You¡¯ve been groaning at your breakfast for the past hour!¡± He thought that Ana¡¯s impression of his voice was mildly insulting. His voice wasn¡¯t that whiny, was it? ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s just that I¡¯m so bored! We have nothing to do here!¡± ¡°Why not play a board game if you are so bored?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Yeah, the hospital has a place where they keep board games for patients.¡± He felt like an utter moron now. Why didn¡¯t Ana mention this sooner? Do you mean he could have been playing board games all this time? He clenched at Ana¡¯s collar, pulling Ana closer to him. Ana¡¯s response was to attempt kicking him in the balls. No touching. Roger that. ¡°Where?¡± He asked. ¡°It¡¯s at the receptionist.¡± ¡°I see, then let¡¯s g¨C¡° He suddenly collapsed to the ground, probably due to the weakness in his knees. He was so frustrated that even with treatment, his legs became so weak that he needed support to go to the bathroom. He didn¡¯t want some nurse looking over him while he peed, so he only went to the toilet when no one was around to help him. It sounds terrible, but he liked his privacy, alright? ¡°I¡¯ll get you your wheelchair,¡± Ana said before leaving the room. ¡°Thank you.¡± As Ana returned with a wheelchair, they continued their journey toward the board game. The novelty of being moved around in a wheelchair hadn¡¯t gotten smaller throughout his stay in the hospital. He quite liked making people move him around instead of doing it himself. As they moved to the lower level of the hospital, where the reception area was, it became somewhat colder. Not just due to the strange ornamental flowers around the hospital emitting mana but also because the heater inside the individual rooms wasn''t present, leaving the perpetual cold of the outside to seep inside the ground levels of the hospital. When they got there, the receptionist lead them to where the staff stored all of the board games and toys in the hospital. ¡°You can only choose one, okay? Leave some for the other children here.¡± The receptionist said, fiddling with the keys in her hand. ¡°Okay.¡± They both replied in unison. He suddenly shivered and he felt the little hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He was about to ask Ana if he felt it too until he heard the faint sound of someone¡­giggling¡­and it was coming from inside the room. The look he shared with Ana told him all he needed to know. The receptionist slid the key inside and the door whined loudly as it opened. They found the room to be completely ransacked. The couches were cut open, the windows were smashed, and all the toys looked like they were thrown across the room. At the center of it all, sat a doll. It was perched in a little chair, staring straight at them. He bent down and picked up one of the many plush toys on the ground. It looked like it was completely gutted for its stuffing and all the other plush toys were in similar condition. He couldn¡¯t help but feel uneasy being in this room so he quickly searched the room for a board game they could play. He didn¡¯t want to stay here any longer than he needed to. In the corner of his eye, he spotted a wooden box with a checker pattern on it. ¡°Is that a chessboard?¡± He asked. ¡°Do you want it?¡± The receptionist replied. He then looked over to Ana, who shrugged. ¡°Yes, please.¡± The receptionist nodded and they all silently hurried out of the room. He looked back one last time and he could have sworn that the doll was sitting in a different position.
They both agreed that they did not want to rush their moves, so they did not play with a timer. Ana played White, while he played Black. He tried to give Ana the handicap since he prided himself on being, at the very least, decent at playing chess. However, the games against his father were different. In the games against his father, despite playing white and racking his brains for the best play at every turn, he could not quite win. Even more frustrating, however, was the fact that when he did win, it was because his father was busy taking care of his younger sister, reducing his concentration on the game. He did not think it was a win because his father was doing two things at once. Snapping him out of his thoughts was Ana¡¯s first move, a pawn to e4. He responded with his pawn at e5, stopping Ana¡¯s pawn in its tracks. Ana placed his knight on f3, attacking Gino''s pawn at e5. He responded with his knight on c6, defending his pawn. A very ordinary game so far. Ana responded by moving his bishop to c4, attacking his pawn at f7. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡®Ah, so that was his play.¡¯ By moving his bishop there, Ana was preparing for an attack with the knight he moved earlier, moving it to g5 and then capturing his pawn at f7. No other pieces can capture that knight, however, other than Gino''s king. But even the king would be unable to capture the knight since it was protected by the bishop he moved at c4. If the king captured the knight, then it would be open to capture by the bishop. Allowing the king to be brazenly open to capture was an illegal move since the whole point of the game was cornering the king until it could not move to a place where it could not be captured. And so, his king and all the other pieces in the area were sitting ducks. He cannot allow such a thing to happen, however. Most importantly, he had his pride as a D¡¯Agostino to uphold. If the knight were to be allowed to capture the pawn at f7, it would be effectively forking (having the choice to capture between two pieces at once) his queen and rook. He played knight f6. And Ana played the move he predicted earlier, knight g5. ¡®Do you take me for a fool, Ana? As if I¡¯d let you beat me, especially in this game.¡¯ He played bishop c5. ¡°Tsk, tsk, tsk. I¡¯m disappointed Gino. And here I thought you were good at this game.¡± In due time Ana. In due time. Ana then played the predictable knight f7, capturing his pawn. He responded with bishop f2, check. He let a little smile appear on his face, assured of his inevitable victory.
Ana was sure of his victory right now. Gino was down on material and forked Gino¡¯s queen and rook, essentially winning him the game. But something worried him; however, Gino was smiling. Was he a fool who thought that he still had a chance, or did he have something up his sleeve? Bishop f2 was a move that confused him since his king could take it at any time. He still held Gino¡¯s queen and rook hostage, with his opponent not having the power to prevent the inevitable loss of material. But something in that smile unsettled Ana, very much so. Bah! He was only worrying himself needlessly. There was nothing that Gino could do now that could turn back the tide in his favor. He captured the lone bishop at f2, removing the king from the check. Now all that remains is to capture Gino¡¯s queen. Gino responded by playing knight e4, capturing the center pawn that he led at the start of the game, effectively placing his king in check again. Gino was delaying the capture of his queen by continuously placing his king in check. Gino was fighting an uphill battle; however, it would only be a matter of time before Gino''s Queen would be caught and checkmated. But it would be fun to see him squirm for a victory he had lost from the start. The least Gino could hope for now was a draw which was not acceptable. He evaded by playing king g1, hiding his king behind a wall of pawns. Gino responded with queen h4, escaping from the fork he made. That was Gino¡¯s mistake. Moving your queen so early and far inside enemy lines only left it vulnerable to capture. He played pawn g3, attacking the queen. Gino responded by playing knight g3, capturing the pawn. ¡®Was he mad?¡¯ He thought. Sacrificing a knight for a measly pawn capture was absurd. He figured that no one would be foolish enough to attempt it. He was not one to look a gift horse in the mouth and let Gino make continuous blunders, which would only strengthen his victory. He played pawn to g3, capturing the knight. Gino responded with queen g3, capturing the pawn, evading the ire of his now-released rook, and putting his king in check again. He played king f1 to get away from the check. Gino took this as his chance to place his rook out of the range of Ana¡¯s knight by playing rook f8. Oh, oh shit. He finally noticed that things might not be as peachy as he thought, as his knight was pinned into place by the rook. The knight is the only thing preventing the rook from placing his king. In check. Again. He played queen e2. Gino responded with knight d4, attacking his queen. He evaded by playing queen e4, attacking the knight, and ensuring it did not take the c2 pawn. Gino retreated his knight back to e6, right into the range of Ana¡¯s bishop. It is not a freebie, however, since Gino¡¯s pawn in d7 was still there to protect the knight, but it was still an acceptable trade. With the breathing room he got due to the stalemate up to this point, he decided to deploy the pieces on the other side and played pawn b3. Gino responded by capturing his knight on f7, placing his king in check. He evaded by playing king e2. Gino plays rook f4 and attacks the queen, supported by a pawn on e5. In response, Gino responded with the knight c3 to protect the queen. Gino then played queen f2 and checked the king. He evaded his king from check, again, by playing king d3. Gino then played rook e4 capturing his queen. ¡®How the tables have turned and not in my favor,¡¯ he was down a queen while Gino still had his. Weaselly bastard. Gino managed to turn the tides, but he had no intention of lying down and letting himself be checkmated or resign. If Gino was going to beat him, he intended to give him a hell of a time for it. He played king e4, capturing the rook. Gino responded by playing queen f4, placing his king in check. Seriously, the man would not leave his king alone. He retreated his king by playing king d3. Gino responded by playing queen f3, placing his king, hear me out now, in check. What a shocker. He was resigned to being defeated by now. He evaded his king from check by moving it closer to the center of the board with king c4. His side of the board was free real estate for Gino by now and boy did Gino capitalize on it by playing queen h1, capturing his rook. The rest of the game was less exciting, marked by Gino picking off his pieces one by one with his queen and himself maneuvering into positions that only delayed his own loss. Eventually, his king was left sandwiched between Gino¡¯s queen and rook, leaving him in checkmate.
Gino sighed in relief after playing queen f1, marking Ana''s defeat. Not that Ana made it easy by any metric, but the late game basically amounted to Ana postponing his defeat by improving the positions of his pieces to compensate for the lack of them, after most of them were captured in the middle game, and so he sat there, relishing in his victory over Ana. He had tasted the sweet, sweet taste of victory after a grueling battle that lasted what felt like hours. He felt like celebrating by bragging about it in Ana¡¯s face for the next few days, like really rubbing it in. ¡°Good game, you nearly had me there at the start.¡± he then said to Ana. ¡°That¡¯s a whole bunch of baloney, you knew the whole time what I was going for.¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± he couldn¡¯t resist cracking into a cheeky smile after being caught red-handed. ¡°Indeed, it was impressive, young master.¡± ¡°Kyaa!¡± he yelped¡­ like a man. ¡°H¨Chow long have you been standing there Josie!?¡± ¡°Quite a while now.¡± ¡°You could have said something, you know!¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t want to interrupt, it seemed like you were deep in concentration,¡± He was about to say something to argue with her until he saw what she was holding in her hands. It was a basin; one he had seen a lot of in the past few days. ¡°No need to worry young master. I¡¯ll do it quickly¡± He nodded in reply. With help from Josephine, he went back to his bed and sat down. She, in turn, placed the basin on his bedside table. She then took his arm and brandished a knife. He didn¡¯t wince or look away, but he did have to psych himself up for it. She then carefully dragged the knife along the palm of his hand, releasing deep, crimson-colored blood from the wound. She pressed hard on the exposed wound, making the blood gush out faster. After a moment, the bleeding stopped, and Josephine pulled out a bandage and began wrapping it on his injured hand. ¡°You were very brave not to cry, young master.¡± He did not reply but felt a sense of pride puff out from his chest. But of course, he wouldn¡¯t cry! He was too old for crying anyhow, it was only appropriate. Bloodletting was an¡­ uncomfortable procedure, but it wasn¡¯t anything he couldn¡¯t handle and besides it was helping him get better. Mana was concentrated on bodily fluids, especially two of them. Blood and one other bodily fluid his sister, maid, and even the doctors won¡¯t tell him about. It was frustrating, wasn¡¯t he a magus too? So why wasn¡¯t he allowed to know? Going back on topic, since the excess of mana in his circuits and body was what was causing his condition; blood was highly concentrated in mana. The treatment the doctors assigned him was bloodletting. Although it was an old practice that no doctor would prescribe to a patient without looking like a quack nowadays. It was still very much a viable treatment for magi with defective circuits since it reduced the amount of mana in the body efficiently without invasive surgery on magus¡¯ circuits. ¡°Josie, what was the other bodily fluid again?¡± ¡°Maybe when you¡¯re older, young master.¡± ¡°Aw.¡± ¡°Little boys like you aren¡¯t allowed to know yet young master.¡± ¡°L-little?! Take that back, Josie! I¡¯m 7 years old already! I¡¯m practically a grownup!¡± ¡°Sure, you are, young master,¡± she said while patting his hair, causing him to pout. It felt patronizing, but also somewhat nice, so he let her do it to him. ¡°Josie?¡± ¡°Yes, young master?¡± ¡°Won¡¯t you stay beside me while I sleep?¡± ¡°I thought you said you were already a grownup young master,¡± He only pouted more. ¡°S-shut up! It¡¯s just that, I can¡¯t shake off the feeling of being watched.¡± He practically whispered the last parts of that sentence. Josephine¡¯s expression quickly went serious. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I feel like something is watching me from the window.¡± Josephine¡¯s brows furrowed and she then proceeded to check outside the window if there was anything suspicious. The hospital was atop a hill in the city, surrounded by trees with only one road leading to it. The trees made it hard to see if anything or anyone was hiding there, further worsened by the constant snowfall. ¡°Alright, young master. I will keep you safe from any monsters by the window.¡± He didn¡¯t like the way she phrased it. As if he was still scared of monsters. Pfft, that''s ridiculous. Regardless he felt a lot safer with her nearby and he didn¡¯t have trouble sleeping that night. He had a strange dream that night as well. He was standing atop a mountain of corpses, and he was grasping up at a light in the sky. ¡°On mountains that I build out of corpses beneath me¡± ¡°I hope that it will reach up to the heavens¡± ¡°All that is good to me lost¡± ¡°Abandon all hope, and abandon all fear¡± ¡°In my hell, I reign¡± Panic at the Zoo About 2,000 words Pursuit Chapter 4 by Quest Even with anesthetics, it hurt for him to even try to sit up. Some days he didn''t even bother doing anything. They stopped giving him food at all nowadays, his condition making it potentially fatal for him to eat as the cold stopped him from digesting his food. He''d give an eyeball or two just so he can eat again, even that bland porridge. Josephine told him last night to stay strong which meant that he probably didn''t have a long time left to live. He took another swig from his water bottle to make him feel full even without eating. A comedy show was playing on the radio this morning. He wanted to laugh at the jokes, but his stomach hurt whenever he tried. Josephine told him that they were going to the zoo today, he wanted to say no because he felt tired, but it looked like it would have made her happy, so he said yes. As he went outside the hospital for the first time in God knows how long, he noticed that the roads of ice had melted back into the water, which meant that they had to travel by yacht. He took a moment to appreciate the city he lived in his whole life and probably for the rest of his life by how it was going. New Amsterdam was a city full of canals that froze into roads of ice once the temperature plummeted. Adorned on the side of the road were trees that had red flowers for leaves and underneath were its roots that spanned hundreds of miles downward. He rarely had the time to see how beautiful the city was because even before he was afflicted with his condition, he was never the type to go outside much. His parents and maids always told him that he was sickly growing up, so he mostly kept to himself and never talked to other kids. That was fine for him as he preferred the company of books rather than other children, which stayed true even after he met Ana. He read to pass the time whenever Ana didn''t feel like losing in chess that day. He even brought a book with him as he sat on the deck of the yacht. It was a book on the fauna of Wonderland, on creatures such as the Cheshire Cats and Mister Caterpillars. The latter species had a diet that funnily enough consisted of the very same blue flowers in the hospital he was staying in. "Young master, we''re here," Josephine said as she called out from behind me. "Coming." The zoo itself was the same as he remembered from his prior visits. He remembered a giraffe nearly taking him away as he tried to feed it. Ah, good times. Even though it was warmer in this season, it didn''t mean that it was warm enough for him to go outside for very long. So, when they approached the aquarium, he nearly sighed a breath of relief. The walls themselves were built to keep in as much heat as possible and to keep as much cold out. The aquarium itself smelled of woodchip bedding and aquarium water. "Giorgino!" The voice of his mother called out as she spotted him and Josephine. She looked like she was carrying his younger sister, Dionisia. "Hi, Ma." "Hello, Giorgino. How have you been holding up?" "Fine." "It''s your big brother. Say hello Dionisia." "Hello, Dionisia." His sister repeated word for word. "No¨Cno you''re Dionisia, that''s Giorgino." "Giorgino," It seems that talking is still a work in progress for his little sister, but she''s getting there. "Bah no matter, Giorgino, go say hi to your older sister. She''s at the restaurant." "Okay." As they went inside the restaurant, he immediately spotted his sister as she waved from her seat. When he got closer, he found red markings on his sister''s knuckles. He never did understand why she got into fights so much. If he were in the situation she was in he would much rather try to talk his way into de-escalating it rather than risk hurting anyone over a petty argument. Their father didn''t mind all that much since he thought that defending yourself when you''re being disrespected was important, especially given what business their family delved in and what kind of people they surrounded themselves with. Their father said that his older sister would make a great capo one day, whatever that meant. "Hello, Brother." "Hi, Big Sis." "So, what would you like to eat?" If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. "I''m not allowed to eat anything." "¡­ Sorry, forgot." "May I explore the aquarium on my own?" Josephine looked like she was about to argue against it, but then she only sighed. "Fine, but don''t go too far, okay?" "Okay." "Call me if you need anything." He went back to where his mother and younger sister were before he overheard the distinct voice of his mother speaking to someone. He stopped at the corner, so she didn''t see him and leaned his head to listen in. "He''s gotten even skinnier now." Gee thanks. "He''s only getting worse even with the bloodletting. The doctors say that at this rate the only chance for him to live is to perform surgery directly on his circuits." He peeked his head out the corner to take a look at whomever she was talking to. She was talking on the telephone with someone whom he guessed was probably his father. "Around 30,000." Wait, what was she talking about? Was that the price of the surgery? If so, then he felt guilty that they had to spend so much just to keep him alive. He had to wonder if he was even worth that much money. "I know, but it''s our only choice." He ultimately decided that he wasn''t going to talk to his mother after all. He didn''t want to even think about what she would do if she knew that he was listening in. Talking about his condition was the last thing he wanted to do right now. So, no thanks. He carefully moved away from the room where his mother was, so she didn''t hear the sounds of his wheelchair scuttling away. Right as he was about to think about what to do next, did he suddenly hear the sounds of someone crying? When he went to see who it was, he came upon a young girl with blonde hair and red horns on her head, she was also bawling her eyes out. Seeing as no one else was in the room, which meant it was placed on him to deal with this situation. "Are you okay?" He said, but what he was thinking was ''I''m an idiot. Of course, she isn''t okay, she''s crying for Christ''s sake!'' She looked up at him and then did he notice that she had eerie yellow eyes. Said yellow eyes threatened to break a dam, bringing about more tears. ''Um¡­ shoot. I don''t know how to deal with this.'' "Don''t cry," Brilliant move Gino. As if that will fix all her problems. Truly, genius. "Mama! Mama!" Okay, that was something he can work with. He could try to find her mother if all that she was crying about was being lost. "We''ll find your mother. So don''t cry, okay?" "¡­ okay." Hoo¨Cboy. What did he get himself into? "Where did you last see your mother?" But of course, the most logical course of action when you are lost is to trace back your steps to when you weren''t lost. "The place where you see all the lions," Alright, so that meant that they had to go back to the place where the lions were displayed. While he was rather passive during the entirety of his sightseeing around the zoo and therefore, he didn''t have the place memorized. He reckons that there were physical maps around to guide lost souls such as they or at the very least guides and staff that could help them around. Said guides and staff could also help in finding this lost girl''s mother. This girl? Oh, he forgot to ask her name. "Say, what''s your name miss?" "Thelma. Thelma Miller." "I see, cool horns you got there Thelma Miller," She looked confused for a moment before replying. "El." "Excuse me?" "Call me El. That''s what all my friends call me." "Nice to meet you then El. My name''s Giorgio, but you can call me Gino." "Nice to meet you too, Gino," At least she''s calmed down now. "Thelma!" Someone''s voice called out. A young woman with similarly blonde hair, horns, and red eyes approached the two of them. That had to be her mother, because who else could it be? "Mama!" Called it. Now, he just had to escape before her mother noticed him and tried to initiate a conversation. While he can talk just fine, he avoided it like the plague since activities like that tired him out and he never knew what to say. "Thelma, who''s this with you?" Damn it. "His name is Gino, he helped me while I was lost." "Thank you for taking care of my daughter while I wasn''t looking. Seriously, I told you not to let go of my hand!" El quailed when her mother suddenly raised her voice. "B-but I just wanted to see the lions more!" "El, they''re closing that part of the zoo because the lions have to sleep now." "But I don''t want them to sleep yet!" "Thelma." Her mother warned. "No!" Well, this was awkward. He couldn''t say anything since it wasn''t any of his business, but he also didn''t know if he should just roll away. And so, he was locked in a standstill of indecision. "Young master?" The voice of his maid saved him from his indecision. "Josi¨C wait, Sally?" "It''s good to see you, young master. How have you been?" "Eh." "And who are they?" "A mother and daughter I reunited with." "¡­ okay. And why are they arguing?" "Because the daughter wants to see the lions." "That part of the zoo is already closing." "I know. The mother knows. But the daughter doesn''t want it to close yet." "¡­ I see." "Hey, Sally?" "Yes, young master?" "Can you ask mama to postpone the closing of that part of the zoo for a few hours?" "Young master I''m not doing all that just so you can impress a girl." "Please?" He opened his eyes big and wide with some forced tears here and there. "¡­ Fine." "You''re the best Sally!" He gave her a quick peck on the cheek. "My favorite!" He won. There is no way this could go wrong. "Ahem." The voice of Josephine cut in. Oh no. "Favorite, huh? Well then, I guess you can ask Sally to take care of you instead, young master." "Ah." He smiled sheepishly at her judgmental gaze. Whoops. El and Gino went on to look over the lions and only at nighttime did they say goodbye, to the lions and each other. She did promise to visit him in the hospital though. As the night went on he forgot about his illness for a moment and indulged in the life he had before, the one with his family and his maids. Just for tonight, he would be an ordinary seven-year-old boy. Doll of Fate About 1,000 words Pursuit Chapter 5 by Quest These days Gino spends his time wandering the hospital. After some time, he found the same doll he encountered on his first day there. He didn¡¯t know what it was doing here, but it was interesting. He had never seen anything else that gave off the same sinister aura that the doll had. So of course, he picked it up. It was oddly cold to the touch, and it made the little hairs on the back of his neck stand up just like his circuits and the flowers did. It was a rather funny feeling and he decided that he liked the doll. It was the first time that he smiled since he stayed in the hospital. He didn¡¯t want to worry his parents and maids, so he hadn¡¯t told them about how resigned he felt now that his body was deteriorating faster even with the bloodletting. Maybe it was because of it that he started to chatter with the doll. Even though the doll gave off an aura, it wasn¡¯t scary to him anymore. Far from it actually, it was...comforting. He started to have nightmares ever since he was charged to stay in the hospital, and he always woke up screaming. Much to his dismay, he would find soon after that he had wet the bed. The last time it happened his mother had smacked and yelled at him while his sister called him a baby. He started to feel months of bottled-up sadness well up in his eyes. He hated it. He hated this hospital. But most of all he hated himself. He was too old for this and yet he had added another burden to his maid and the people working in the hospital. His parents would never consider him an heir at this rate. ¡®Not that I would live long enough to see that.¡¯ A thought crept into his head. This hospital was getting to him, and he didn¡¯t know how much longer he could take it. He spent his nights dreading sleep because all it promised him was nightmares and shame. He struggled to keep his eyes open but every time it felt like he was fighting a losing battle against the increasing weight in his eyelids and before he knew it, he was asleep, returning to the same cycle that happened every single day, rinse and repeat. He hugged the doll tightly in those moments, like a lifeline grounding him into a reality that kept everything away. ¡°I want¡­ to be able to¡­ eat food again. Doctor Allen¡­ said I can¡¯t because it would¡­ upset my stomach but I can¡¯t help¡­ but feel hungry. When I¡¯m able to eat¡­ again I¡¯ll eat whatever I want! Like tuna, omelets¡­ and candy!¡± he told the doll. And so the days passed by with Gino bringing the doll everywhere with him. Chattering to it whenever anyone wasn¡¯t looking. His condition turned for the worse. He couldn¡¯t feel his fingers and they were turning red. He couldn¡¯t stop shaking and if he wasn¡¯t shaking then he was chattering his teeth. He had to say his words one by one as it was becoming difficult to speak for him. He slept most of the time nowadays as he couldn¡¯t think straight enough to play chess with Ana anymore. It hit the peak of its intensity that night. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. He couldn¡¯t breathe, every inhale of air did not get rid of the feeling of breathlessness in him, and yet he inhaled and exhaled anyway in vain. His skin was red and puffy. It hurt everywhere and especially so when he moved so he stayed still like a statue except when he breathed, even though that was painful, he kept going. He was going to die. The fact sank into him unlike when Doctor Allen or his sister told him. If not now then it would be tomorrow, if not tomorrow then the day after that. One of these nights he will close his eyes and never open them again. These thoughts terrified him. He had been alive for barely even a decade, and it was going to end right here and now. He was too young to even know what he wanted to be, and he would never have a chance to choose. He wanted to sob but no tears left his eyes. He wanted to cry out, but he didn¡¯t want to burden those around him any longer. The money, effort, and time everyone spent on him will be worthless as he will die and it will only be increased the longer he lives. But he did not want to die either. And so he could only sob and sob to himself as he started fading into a deep and heavy sleep for the last time. ¡®Someone please help me, someone please hear my cries.'' he thought and thought, over and over again. ¡°Do you want it to end here?¡± He snapped open his eyes and they darted around the room, looking for the origin of the voice. The room was empty as Anastasio was moved into another room in the facility while Josephine was fetching the painkillers that he desperately needed nowadays. Did he only imagine it? Was he starting to hallucinate? ¡°Who¡¯s there? Show yourself!¡± He let out a raspy and painful cough. No one responded. He was starting to hallucinate. A horrible turn of events as he can only imagine the horrors his mind can conjure up to torture him before he died. And then suddenly he felt quite a funny feeling. Not within his arms but by his bedside. He shivered, pain running up and down his body like an electric pulse. ¡°I could save you from your fate.¡± It was obvious now where the voice originated from as he saw what he thought was an inanimate doll, standing and talking by the side of his bed. Her voice was quiet, barely above a whisper. She sounded lonely. He wanted to comfort her, but he didn¡¯t know how to. ¡®Wait a minute, really?¡¯ her offer finally registered in his slowing and deteriorating mind. ¡°Make a contract with me and I will be able to save you.¡± ¡°C-contract?¡± ¡°I am not this doll you see. I simply live inside it. By making a contract, I will live inside you.¡± ¡°Will you save me?¡± ¡°Yes. Do you accept it?¡± ¡°I... don¡¯t want to die here!¡± She held his hand and coldness rose from her fingers into his own, flooding his circuits. He didn¡¯t feel funny, he felt like he was freezing to death faster than he did earlier if that was even possible. But he held on, she was his lifeline, and he wouldn¡¯t¨Ccouldn¡¯t let go. The coldness was overflowing as if she was a vessel to an impossibly deep well, nay, an ocean of coldness that threatened to break his small body. He was in unbearable pain and then he felt nothing.