Fauna of Mirrors

by Eggtaro

This Little Piggy Had a Fist in The Face

"Creme?"

Someone was lightly tapping Creme on the cheek. He let out a soft groan. His head was spinning, and there was a throbbing pain coming from his nose. He tried, but failed to open his eyes.

His body was lying on the ground, and his head was resting on top of something soft, and warm. He mumbled something incomprehensible. Even with his eyelids closed, there was some sort of light trying to shine its way through.

"Creme?"

There was that voice again, it sounded sweet, soft, and familiar, and it was echoing inside Creme's head. He felt more taps on his cheek. Creme sluggishly raised his hand and grabbed onto the hand tapping him on the cheek, ceasing its action.

"S...stop...stop it." he mumbled. He held onto the hand, and attempted to open his eyes again. His vision was blurry and disorientated, but he could tell that there was someone shining a light in his face. He blinked, trying to bring his view back to normal.

"Mr. Fraiche? Can you hear me?" a new voice had joined him. It was deeper, heavier, but alien to his ears.

"Mr. Fraiche? Can you understand me?" asked the alien again. Creme nodded in reply. What was happening? Why was his lying on the ground? Why does his nose hurt so much? The alien continued to speak.

"Good, now please stay still."

Creme nodded again, his vision starting to return to him. Turns out, the alien was in fact a paramedic. The paramedic flashed his light in both of Creme's eyes, and nodded to himself.

"The blow knocked you out cold, but there aren't any signs of concussion, so that's good." The paramedic said, putting on some blue gloves. "The only thing left now is to fix your broken nose, sir." The paramedic pulled out a small bottle that contain some unrecognisable liquid. "Are you ready?" he asked, pulling out a packet filled with cotton swabs with his other hand.

So that's why my nose is hurting like hell. Creme thought. He was slowly starting to remember what had happened. He remembered the two huge men. He remembered the shouting he and the other man had, and the flying cannon ball fist that came straight right after. But someone else was there, wasn't it? Someone Creme tried to protect...a girl...what was her name? Sunny? Sora? Sonar?

Sonata.

Creme sat up so fast his head banged the paramedic hard in the face, causing the paramedic to swear loudly.

"What the fuck, man? Have you gone mad? " He furiously asked Creme, massaging his forehead. "I told you to stay still!"

"Sonata." Creme said. The paramedic stared at him with an eyebrow raised.

"That blow to the face must have knocked out some of your senses too." he said, mixing a cotton swab with the bottle of strange liquid. "My name is Bob."

"Wha---no...no. There was...there was a girl with me. Her name...her name's Sonata. Is she here? Is she safe?" Creme asked, his words slurring a little.

"Ask her yourself, sir." Bob said, jabbing the cotton swab into Creme's left nostril, causing Creme to wince in pain. Bob motioned with his head to the person that was beside Creme.

The hand that Creme was holding onto began to gingerly rub the back of Creme's hand with its thumb. Creme tried to turn his head, but was stopped by Bob, who muttered something about disobedient patients. He waited for Bob to pull out the cotton swab, which was covered in blood, before turning.

Sonata was kneeling next to him, smiling weakly. She was unhurt, unshaken, but most importantly, safe. Creme looked down and realized the soft and warm thing he was resting on was in fact Sonata's lap.

"Hi." Sonata said, though the tone was much weaker when compared to her usual greetings. "You're finally awake."

"Are you alright, Sonata?" Creme asked.

"I-I'm fine." Sonata replied, looking down to the ground. "Are you alright?"

Bob rolled his eyes. "He will, once I'm down with fixing his nose, little lady." He grabbed Creme by the cheeks and turned his head to face the paramedic. "Now please, for the last time. Stay. Still." Bob then proceeded to jab another cotton swab into Creme's right nostril. He chuckled as Creme winced in pain.

Creme groaned as the paramedic pulled out the cotton swab from his nostril. "Can't you do that more gently?" he asked the paramedic.

"What, this little thing?" Bob waved the bloodied cotton swab in front of his face. "Something like this shouldn't be painful. Compared to that punch you took, I say this is something like an ant's bite."

Creme was starting to like the paramedic less and less now. Bob handed him a white cloth, while instructing him to blow his nose into it.

"We need to make sure there is no blood, mucus, or whatever that is still left in your nose." Creme blew his nose into the white cloth as hard as he can. Once he was finished, Bob told him to relax.

"Now, what I'm going to do next is to rearrange your nose bones. This, is probably going to hurt." Bob said, smiling mischievously.

I hate you, Bob. Creme thought, feeling vexed. He closed his eyes and waited as the paramedic placed his thumbs between the bridge of Creme's nose. Creme tighten his grip on Sonata's hand, preparing for the pain to come.

"Now, I'm going to count to 3, okay?" Bob said. "Here we go. 1..." He didn't count to 3.

Creme swore loudly as his nose was set back to its original position.

"Language, sir. We have a lady with us you know."

"Look who's talking."

"Hmph. Well, my job is done. You two love birds be safe now, okay?" Bob packed his stuff and left the both of them.

Sonata helped Creme to stand up. "Does your nose still hurt?" she asked, holding his arm to support him.

Creme gently tapped his nose. "Nope, its feeling better." He looked around his surroundings. There was a small crowd of people gathered around them. A police car can be seen next to an ambulance Bob had arrived in. Creme spotted a tall man---that he identified as Mr. Ord---talking to two police officers, who were both busy jotting down on their notepads. Creme watched as Bob headed over to one of the police officers. Bob spoke some inaudible words to one of the officers and pointed at Sonata and Creme.

"What happened after I was knocked out?" Creme asked, facing Sonata.

"They ran away." Sonata said. "Someone called for help after you were punched. They tried to grab me, but the crowd came to our rescue."

"Good people." Creme said, looking at the crowd. "How you holding up?"

Sonata said nothing, staring at the ground.

"Sonata?"

"I...I'm so sorry."

Creme was perplexed by the sudden apology. "Huh?"

"I-if I knew better, I would've went h-home straight away. But...but I thought they j-just wanted to...to talk." Sonata said, her voice shaking. "I'm so sorry."

"Hey..."

"I'm so stupid. I'm so, so stupid!" Sonata's grip tighten on Creme's arm. "When I told Mr. Ord what had happened, he scolded me. He told me that I could have been in terrible danger!"

"It's not your fault, Sonata." Creme said softly, placing his hand on Sonata's.

"It is!" Sonata exclaimed, pulling her hands away from Creme's arm, her eyes watering. "It's all my fault! I'm always so dense, so naive! That's why I'm always being tricked. That's why I'm always being led astray. T-that's...that's why they left me..." Tears slowly flowed down her cheeks.

"Sonata..." Creme had no clue what to say to her. He could only stare at her, as she continued to sob. He wanted to comfort her. He wanted to tell her that everything was going to be alright. That everything was fine. But he couldn't. The words won't escape him. It was all stuck in his throat, unable to surface.

"T-they left m-me...they b-both left me..." Sonata said between sobs. "I'm so sorry."

It's my fault, Sonata. Creme thought to himself. I shouldn't have let you go back alone. He lifted his hands, reaching out towards Sonata's trembling body. I'm the one who's sorry.

"Creme! How are you feeling?" a voice called out. Creme's hands quickly returned to his side.

Creme looked up and saw Ord walking towards them, with a police officer closely following him. Sonata silently wiped away her tears.

"How'd you know we were here?" Creme asked.

"The police called me over." Ord said, glancing at Sonata. "Sonata gave them my number." He focused his eyes on Creme. "How's the nose?"

"Its much better now, thanks." Creme said, staring at the police officer. "What's going on?"

"There are a few things that this good officer wish to ask Sonata." Ord said, while the police officer behind him pulled out his notepad. "Sonata? If you don't mind."

Sonata nodded and followed the officer to one side, while Creme and Ord sat down on the side walk. Ord turned to look at him.

"I can't say that I'm disappointed in you, Creme." Ord said, his tone soft, but stiff. "But when you said that you would escort her home, I was under the impression that you will actually bring her all the way home."

"I'm sorry, Ord. What I did...it was a big mistake." Creme said, a deep sense of shame and guilt rising in his chest.

"Everyone make mistakes, Creme. What's important it's how often that mistake happens."

"It won't happen again. I promise."

"Action speaks louder than words, my boy."

"I know." Creme looked at Ord. "I know."

Ord let out a sigh, a weak smile forming on his lips. "All that matters now, is that the both of you are safe." he said, clapping Creme lightly on the back. "I'm just glad you were there to prevent this incident from spreading into something far worse."

"If I did what I promised to do, none of this shit would've happen." Creme muttered under his breath.

"True. That's why you must learn from your mistakes. Learn to change." Ord said. "Do not dwell on what you should have done. Instead, be grateful that you've managed to do anything at all."

Creme stayed silent. The crowd had already dispersed, and the ambulance had left. The only ones left was Creme, Ord, Sonata, and the two police officers.

"You will still need to buy a new mirror though." Ord said suddenly, pointing at something beside Creme.

Creme looked over at the direction Ord was pointing at and saw that the parcel that once contained his brand new mirror was now all crumpled and mashed, revealing shards of broken glass.

"Damn it."

"Was it urgent?" Ord asked.

"No...not exactly." Creme replied. "It just...makes me irritated."

"I see." They both glanced at Sonata, who was still being questioned by the police officer. "This might take a while."

Creme thought back to what had happened a few minutes ago, to when Sonata was crying. What did she mean by they have left her? Who was they? Was it a dark, and painful memory? Creme barely knew Sonata. But her sudden tears had filled him with a terrible sadness. A sadness that he could not yet understand, that he could not grasp.

Creme wanted to help her. To ease her pain. But what can he do? He was just a total stranger to her, just like how she was a stranger to him. It was none of his business. All he needed to do was to walk away, and bury the whole thing deep in his brain. Just let it disappear. Let it be forgotten, never to recalled ever again.

But he didn't want to.

"Ord, can I ask you something?"

Ord glanced at Creme. "What is it?"

"It's about Sonata." Creme said. "A moment before you approached us, she was saying something about people leaving her. That she was left behind."

Ord stared at the black sky and heaved a sigh. "I see...well, I don't think I'm the right person to tell you about this matter, Creme." he said. "In fact, I don't think I have the right to say anything about this at all."

"I...I understand." Creme said, disappointed.

"But I can tell you this. What happened to her in the past, left her with a huge scar. Both emotionally and mentally. If you were to meet the Sonata from the past. The difference would be like heaven and hell." Ord said, his voice somber.

"That is why we, at the Holy Shrimp, take great care of Sonata. Her heart has always been pure, and innocent. Yet, when that same heart is suddenly left and surrounded with dark and terrible things, it becomes tainted. That heart would then see the world differently. It becomes terrified. Uncontrollable. Unstable. That is what Sonata has been through in the past."

"It took me a long time, but I finally managed to break through the wall she has set up. Me and my colleagues at the Holy Shrimp supported her, helped her, and took care of her. But it wasn't easy. The state she was in when I first met her..." Ord's voice trailed off. He shook his head, and looked at Creme.

"Creme, you are now part of the family. I'm sorry that I could not tell you what her past was. But maybe, in time, she might tell you herself. All that I ask from you right now, is to not bother her with this. Some things are better left unspoken."

Creme nodded. "I understand, Ord."

Ord smiled at him. "Thank you, Creme. As I said, you are now part of the family. And you now know why I asked you to do this. Sonata is not completely hopeless, as a matter of fact, she is strong. But she still requires time. All that I ask from you, Creme. Is that you support and help her when we couldn't. Be her source of light, when ours couldn't reach her. Befriend her, and always remain so."

Creme glanced at Sonata, she was walking back towards them, albeit she still looked rather gloomy. He understood what he needed to do. Even if she was still a stranger to him. Given time, he was sure they could be good friends. Everyone needs a friend. Friends that can help you. Friends that can support you. Friends that can be there for you.

"I will."

Author's Note:

Hello folks! Finally a new update! (Yay!) Been playing games like mad for the past few days. Have I ever told you that dropkicking zombies is the best thing ever? Anyway, decided to take some time off from gaming to do some typing. Hope you folks enjoyed this chapter!

Thank you all for the support! You guys are the best!

Comments

[ThatBatJess]

Good job!

[paul]

[jazzie366 FLUFFKIN]

5693027 Am I famous or something xD?

[Bruh]

I think that the chapters come out too slow, but I can deal with it. Plus they are pretty lengthy, so I can understand(also dropkicking zombies off the roofs of buildings, stabbing the zombies with the tanks on there back and watching them go 'boom', and hitting them atop their heads with with a sledgehammer and watching their heads go 'splat'(btw get the grappling hook its SWEET) I am able to aprehend the amount of bossness that is going on there ).

[TLP]

Drop kicking zombies...

Lemme guess... State of Decay?

[Night_Striker]

for sume reson i got a felling that mirrow have safing to do whit sonata's past just a hunsh
good story by the whey keep it upp XD

[Lab]

5703780 Dying Light actually. Fantastic game, even if the storyline is a little forgettable.

[Greatazuredragon]

So Discord knows what Sonata is and she was left behind by the other syrens.
wonder how you will develop this?

[keaton-furman-prower]

Wow. Um... that had some unexpected feels