I'm Done Holding Back

Chapter Nine: The Angst

Ruddiger... Where's Ruddiger?! He glances around, and notices that Owl seems to have swept in and caught the raccoon before any harm could be done to him. Varian heaves a sigh of relief.

     "My leg, I think it's broken!" Eugene announces, wincing as he lies sprawled across the ground.

     Varian rushes to Eugene's side. His leg is twisted into an abnormal angle. "Yep, it's definitely broken," he says.

     "Oh, excellent deduction," Abhu says sarcastically. "You make it a habit to state the obvious?"

"Okay, I think you need to calm down," Cassandra says to Abhu.

"I agree," Adira adds. "The balloon crashed because of you." She gestures to the wreckage, around them.

"Because of me? How is this my fault?" Abhu asks.

Adira breathes in deeply as she approaches Eugene and tends to his leg. "That creature that was chasing us... I have been observing it for a long time now. Studying it. While I may not completely understand how it operates yet, it seems to me that this being thrives on fear."

"What do you mean by that?" Varian asks, his curiosity piqued.

Eugene screams out in pain as Adira unexpectedly sets his leg. "A little warning would've been nice!" He shouts.

"From what I've seen, it causes what a person fears to come true," Adira replies to Varian as she grabs a nearby stick, completely ignoring Eugene's outburst. "I am afraid that is what happened to this kingdom. Hand me a piece of cloth."

Varian digs through their belongings and finds Adira some cloth, then hands it to her. She uses it and the stick to make a splint, and attaches it to Eugene's leg.

"I'm still confused," Cassandra admits.

Adira stands up. "King Edmund has been worried about rebuilding the Dark Kingdom ever since he began. He is concerned that he will never be able to bring it back to its former glory."

"What? That can't be true," Eugene says. "He wrote me letters about his progress all the time! He always seemed fine, and even excited about it."

"With all due respect, Fish Skin, you haven't been here," Adira says. "He has been hiding it well, but I've seen the distress in his eyes."

"'Fish Skin'?" Abhu repeats with a chuckle.

"It's a long story..." Eugene says. "And actually, it's a compliment!"

"Uh-huh, sure," Abhu says, barely able to contain his laughter.

"Adira, what happened here?" Cassandra asks. "Tell us everything."

Adira nods. "I had gone out for a morning stroll to get some fresh air, as I often do. The warm sun on my face seemed to tell me it was going to be a peaceful day. Finally being rid of my bronchitis, I rested in the grass and observed as the residents of the kingdom worked on repairing a spire atop the castle in the distance—"

"Okay, maybe not everything," Cassandra interrupts with a groan.

"When did that creature show up? Where did it come from?" Varian asks, barely able to get his questions out fast enough. "W-Why does it thrive on fear? How does it—"

"Whoa whoa whoa," Adira says, holding her hands up to stop him. "I do not know where it came from or why it does what it does, but it showed up months ago. All I know is, when a team were excavating a site to rebuild a neighborhood, the Angst appeared."

     "The Angst?" Cassandra repeats.

     "That is what I have decided to call it," Adira says. "It's rather fitting, no?"

     "So, it showed up out of nowhere," Varian says, still trying to put the pieces together. "And then, what, it just created that bubble over the kingdom?"

     "It is more than a bubble," Adira says. "It is a way of halting the rebuilding of the Dark Kingdom... The very thing King Edmund was fearful of."

     A twinge inside Varian tells him his aunt may be on to something, but he also has a feeling that they are still missing the full picture.

     "Okay, so where is this 'Angst' now?" Eugene asks. "Why did it stop chasing us?"

     "Because we no longer feel fear," Adira replies simply. "It has likely moved on to the next fearful victim."

"Well that's no good," Cassandra says.

Varian couldn't agree more. "What can we do? Is-Is there any way to keep it from attacking anyone else?"

Adira sighs. "That, my young nephew, is a question I cannot answer."