Posted on behalf of Area82.
Tuesday, 5:43 AM
Crawford Resident
Emily was lying down on her bed, looking a bit grimed and upset. She never meant for everything to explode like that, she was just trying to help. Seeing Sarah and the other kids so angry at her, it really tugged at her heart, leaving tears to slowly coming out of her eyes. She knew in many senses that they are right, that many of the transformees are no longer humans, but does it really mean that they should give up on humanity? Wasn't there more to humanity than simply being human? She sighed and wiped her tears, in order to get up and started her morning routine.
Walking down the hallway, she stopped to stare at her sleeping little pumpkin. The tug on her heart began to tug harder, a reminder of what her dark side had done, added on the present situation she was in. She groaned silently to herself, since now she was feared AND hated. 'Maybe I did get a little carry away', she thought, 'I just wanted to discuss it with them, but I guess that I could have been gentler on the subject. I should really apologize to them for upsetting them like that; I just hope everything will eventually turn out fine.'
She took one last glance at Kenya before getting everything ready. She can't wait for Monday, when the decision to split the light and day duties get approved officially. She knew her shadow puppet would keep her little pumpkin safe and happy, but she would really want to spend time with her personally. But, as much as she went to stay home with Kenya, she knew that she simply can't just do that. Nevertheless, when it hit Monday, she can finally have some more time to share with her daughter, because it was killing her emotionally to be away from her daughter for so long.
Then, there was the disappearing and reappearing town. What was that all about? The implanted memories from her now purified seed never told her anything significant about that location, so she know that the 'Enemy' wasn't truly responsible for it. Could something else be responsible for it? Perhaps it is related to their goal, which is mysterious to even her, especially since she used to serve as the First Commander to their little 'group', thanked to the seed implanted inside her.
Speaking of which, why was Shadoe Fae the only commander in this world? She knew they are having vast difficulty getting through their little realm and trying their best to break into this realm, but shouldn't one of the commanders or even their generals somehow found their way through simply by sheer luck? Maybe one had, but was unable to act for one reason or another. It could explain why the world wasn't cover up by their monsters yet. But, even so, it was still odd that there wasn't any major activity from them, except for their attempts to come here.
What Mrs. Crawford didn't notice was that Kenya had woken up a few minutes ago and was spying on her. She remembered the sight of her mother when she came home yesterday, at least until her night duty began, and seeing her mother so heartbroken was very unnerving. Her mother had just finally began to cheer up since the weekend, after being so torn from her past actions as Shadoe Fae, and now she was back to being emotional fragile again. What happen to her to cause this reaction?
She hurried back to her bedroom when she noticed her mother beginning to 'arise', though she doubt that her mother slept at all (not that she need to sleep anymore, but it was still there if she wanted to). She got in bed and lay down under the covers, closing her eyes and faked sleeping. It wasn't really out of getting in trouble or even fear, Kenya just didn't want to bother her mother more than she already was.
She knew her mother was too out of it to see her, either from her normal sight or her shadow sight. Yet, maybe she should let her know that she was concerned for her. Of course, it would probably just remind her mother of all the bad memories. Going farther than that, she hadn't got quite over her own bad memories and felt ashamed that her fear of her mother was hurting her further. It seems that everything these days was trying to break her mother, in one way or another.
Later at 6:30 AM
Parking Lot
Mrs. Crawford had recently arrived in her parking lot, but she just sat there, still inside the van. She always loved kids and never really felt anxious around them, so this was a strange new sensation for her and she doesn't like it. She can still remember the dirty looks and the repetitive "strike" lines, seeing them so angry at her was like a knife being stabbed into her heart. Maybe this was karma, something she deserved from being Shadoe Fae, from all the bad things she did. She put her head on the steering wheel, unable to hold back the tears that broke loose, a terrible habit that she seems to developed lately.
She cried a little more for a brief moment before she got her act together and finally exited the vehicle. She sighed as she straightened out the wrinkles from her outfit that she 'created' from the material of her own shadow body. Emily hated to admit it, but her shadow form was growing on her. But, it doesn't change any of her bad memories of being Shadoe Fae, and her shadow form continued to remind her of those memories.
'You're being silly, Emily. They probably got over it by now, or at least mellow out a little. Anyway, in any case, I should apologize to them for getting them rile up yesterday and let the subject rest for a little bit. Then, maybe I can discussed the topic farther afterward, hoping that they would understand that I'm not trying to force them to wear clothes, just trying to add some motivation, and that the whole things was meant to be opened for suggestions on modification.'
'Just remember, try to be open-minded and don't push the topic, and don't get carry away. Be as gentle with the subject as handling a newborn baby and don't worry if the idea fell through. After all, this kind of things come with being Vice Principal, so relaxes and takes a breath. If it doesn't get approve, then all I can do is just goes on with my task. And, if it does get approve, I could help take a few of the pressures off of the teachers.'
She only took a few steps away from the vehicle, feeling a bit better, when something hit her in the face, taken her by surprise as she was too out of it to really notice, even with her shadow sight. She reached upward toward her face and grabbed a material that seems to once been a balloon. However, she noticed there was a red-looking juice covering it and her face, and when she examined it, she realized the color and texture was hot-sauce.
It was tough to tell exactly, due to having no smell or taste, but she can still tell nonetheless. She was only lucky her 'new' eyes are immune to being stung by it, considering it was made different than normal eyes, or she would be feeling the pain. She quickly turned her head to see a student slowly running off.
"That's what we think of your stupid little idea," yelled the anthropomorphic badger boy. She noticed that it was once again a student who was wearing clothes and someone who had never complained about wearing clothes before either.
Emily just stood there, her head hung a little while her body began to shallow up by living shadow material. However, unlike what it normally means, she just did it to 'clean' up and simply went back to her normal human form, wearing the same clothes she 'picked' out for today. She didn't react or anything, just walked onward with an empty expression on her face, walking inside the school, through the hallways to the front office.
"Hello, Emily, how is your..." Mayan started with a smile before Mrs. Crawford just simply walked past her into her office, only saying hi with two raised fingers, leaving her confused and concern, "...M-morning...?" 'That odd,' Mayan thought, 'She usually more friendly than that. I hope everything is okay...poor girl...!'
Inside the office, she went to work immediately, although this time around, she didn't bother to put up her Shadow Veil technique. She just got too much on her mind to even consider using it. From time to time as she work, writing reports and other school forms, the only sounds that came out of her being was soft sniffling.
