Author Becomes Character (Revised version)

chapter 23: Towels and Terrors

I nodded. "We'll help however we can. But for now, we've got a girl to take care of, and answers to dig up."

The room fell silent for a moment, each of us thinking about the growing threat. Sir Denise took a deep breath, breaking the silence.

"I'll arrange for the assailants to be taken to prison," he said. "I'll gather more information, and we'll get to the bottom of this."

-

I decided to let the little girl stay with me for the night, so I took her up to my room and made sure she was comfortable. I even offered her a bath as soon as she woke up up from her nap, to help her relax after the stressful day. 

As she disappeared into the bathroom, I took a deep breath and tried to focus, but my enchanted staff had other plans.

"Are you some kind of hero or something?" the staff asked, floating lazily in front of me. "Why do you keep saving people? What's the deal with that?"

I sighed and gave it an unamused glance. "Because I have nothing better to do than save people and deal with you," I muttered. But it wasn't having any of it.

"Come on, what's the real reason? You've got a whole group of people who do this with you. And you just—" it continued to protest, but I interrupted.

I snapped my fingers, and the staff was sucked into my spatial dimension with a sudden "Whoosh!" It grumbled inside the dimension, but what could it do? It was just a staff, and it wasn't like it could fight back.

A few moments later, I heard the water from the bathroom stop. The girl came out, her long brown hair dripping wet. I couldn't help but chuckle at the sight. She looked so tiny in the fluffy towel I had given her, and the water droplets were making tiny splashes on the floor. I reached over and gently towel-dried her hair.

She let out a small noise—something between a squeak and a giggle. Was that... an "ehe"? I paused for a second, blinking. Was she trying to act all shy and cute on purpose, or was it just me imagining things? Either way, I wasn't complaining.

Once her hair was mostly dry, I guided her to the bed, pulling the covers back for her. As I tucked her in, I realized just how young she looked—probably about seven or eight years old. Her long brown hair framed her face, and those emerald green eyes of hers... they were so familiar. I stared at her for a moment, trying to place where I had seen them before.

"Hey, what's your name?" I asked casually, hoping it would jog my memory.

She looked up at me, her eyes wide and shy. "My name is Heaven Farhan," she whispered, almost too quietly to hear.

Heaven. The name hit me like a jolt, but I couldn't put my finger on where I had heard it before. It was so familiar, like it was on the tip of my tongue, but the memory kept slipping away.

Before I could dig any deeper into my thoughts, there was a soft knock at the door. I stood up to answer it, surprised to see Tafi standing there in his pajamas. He was holding a pillow and a blanket, looking uncharacteristically serious.

"Can I sleep with you tonight?" he asked, his big round eyes wide and pleading. The cuteness was almost unbearable.

I didn't even hesitate. "Sure, why not?" I said with a smile. He was just too adorable to say no to.

"Taaayyy!!" he squealed, jumping in the air and fist-pumping in celebration. He immediately darted past me and hopped onto the bed, practically throwing his pillow onto the mattress with excitement.

But then, his gaze shifted. He stopped mid-air, eyes narrowing. He turned and looked at Heaven like she was some sort of rival—like she was about to steal his toy. Heaven, on the other hand, gave him a sharp, almost challenging look, as if she wasn't about to let him get away with anything.