Day: 428
Days Left: 5052
Lives Saved: 2
"Well, thank you for the session," said Corinna as she packed her notebook into her rucksack, preparing to leave the campsite.
"Always a pleasure." Salim smiled. "Until next time-" The old man's voice was drowned out by high pitched shrieking.
Corinna looked around and saw a horde of imps charging towards the campsite.
Reggie, who had been quiet and lying at Salim's feet for the whole conversation, bolted up and dashed over to the imps, who received the rottweiler with cheers of excitement and warm embraces.
"The imps have taken quite a shine to Reginald," said Salim as he looked over at the rottweiler, his tail wagging furiously from all of the attention he was getting. "Occasionally, they take him on walks as I am incapable of doing so regularly."
"Aw, that's sweet," said Corinna. She then gulped and nervously waved as the imps caught sight of her. The young woman steeled herself before the horde of imps bombarded her.
They clung to her and jumped around whilst chattering and squealing in an incomprehensible language.
"It's nice to see you all again." Corinna beamed.
The imps responded with gleeful gibberish.
"I am assuming you will be taking Reginald for a walk?" Salim asked one of the imps.
Nodding, the imp made an affirmative noise which Salim presumed meant 'yes'. It then clung onto Corinna's hand and started dragging her away.
"I believe that they would like you to come along with them for the walk," said Salim.
"Yep, seems like it," replied Corinna as the imps ushered her and Reggie with them.
"It appears you do not have a choice in the matter."
"No, appears not!" Corinna laughed.
After Corinna made one last farewell to Salim, she left the campsite and was led by the imps across the marshland, with Reggie bounding beside them.
*
Eventually, they arrived at their destination, and Corinna saw a caravan situated amongst large rocks upon the sand in the distance. The caravan had been initially white but was now covered in painted doodles as well as several dents and scratches. Outside were a collection of clutter, mostly toys, that littered the ground.
Opening the door, the imps guided Corinna into the caravan. Once bare white walls were now covered in multicoloured scribbles; even the ceiling had not been excluded. Against these painted walls were a small kitchenette and several cushioned seats that extended out into a bed. Tucked in one of the corners was a door that supposedly led to the bathroom.
Holding her hand, the imps dragged Corinna over to one of the seats in the back and instructed her to sit down. The young woman complied and forced to choose between what board game they should play.
As Corinna and the imps played a game of Jenga, Reggie laid down, his tail wagging from the constant affection and sometimes accidentally knocked down the wooden block tower, causing the imps to howl with laughter. After the game was finished, with Corinna letting the imps win, she was given a small tour of the 'art gallery': the numerous drawings on the walls and pictures hanging from a long piece of string. Corinna praised them, giving a unique complement for each one.
Once they had played a few more games, Corinna suggested that they walk Reggie back to Salim before it grew too dark. The imps protested and clung onto Corinna.
"No, come on," cooed Corinna, attempting to exit the caravan whilst seven imps were latched onto her legs and pulling at her sleeves. "If I don't leave, then I'll never be able to come back."
The trick seemed to fool the imps, and they settled down but continued to clutch onto her.
Corinna crouched down to their level and smiled at all of them. "I promise that I'll visit again, and we can play more games."
Cheering, the imps jumped up and down, causing the caravan to shake and rattle slightly.
"Okay, okay!" Corinna calmed them down as she laughed. "Now, let's take Reggie back-"
She froze, her voice trailing away.
Before her, one of the imps' horns began to shrink back into its head, its fangs shortening, its skin fading from the hellish red to a cool umbre. Something clattered onto the floor- an imp mask. Standing in front of Corinna, was a human boy no older than six, his black afro hair speckled with dust, leaves, and moss. The boy grinned up at her, one of his front teeth missing.
One by one, the other imps' masks fell off until seven children stood in the caravan in all shapes and sizes, the oldest appearing to be thirteen and the youngest five years old.
Corinna was silent as she gazed down at their beaming faces.
Children... they were children.
She cupped her hands over her mouth and swallowed as her eyes began to water.
How could she have not noticed? She treated them like kids due to how they behaved, so why was it still such a shock to find out that they were actually children?
Her hands trembled, horrified as she remembered back to her first day in the Eternal Abyss when she had first fought them. If they hadn't been in the Abyss, she would have killed a couple of them. She would have killed a child.
What were children even doing in the Eternal Abyss?
What could have a child done to deserve being imprisoned in this place?
Sniffing away the tears, Corinna attempted to compose herself and put on a brave face as the imps, or rather the children, were beginning to worry. They gave Corinna comforting hugs and spoke words of reasurement in their incomprehensible language.
Corinna glanced around at the caravan, realising how small and cramped the place was for seven children. Most of their belongings were stored outside as some of the shelves were occupied with blankets and pillows, presumably converted into beds.
She knew that she couldn't atone fully for hurting a child, but there was something Corinna could do to help them.
*
"I want to build a house for the imps!" Corinna addressed the gathering of people in Ivette's trading post. "No! I will build a house for the imps!"
"Knew it was going to be long until she started making houses," Harmony whispered aside to Calixte.
"As did I," Calixte replied. "Though, I predicted that she would start with an extension to the house rather than a whole building."
"The caravan they're living in is too small for all seven of them," continued Corinna. "So, I'm going to build a new place with enough space."
"I think that is a splendid idea!" chimed Calixte.
"Do you need help building it?" asked Rin. "Is that why you're telling us?"
"No, no, it's alright," said Corinna. "I'm just... announcing it, so you all know." She turned to Ivette. "I will be finishing my current project before moving onto this one."
"Will you require anything, my dear?" Ivette asked. "Any building materials or tools?"
"Thank you, but I think I've already got everything I need."
"Are you really planning on building a house all by yourself?" Sumit raised an eyebrow, both of doubt and admiration.
"Yes!" Corinna said, putting her hands on her hips.
"Have you made one before?"
"I've helped build parts of a house before," Corinna hesitated. "Haven't made a full one by myself, but I've got plenty of time to learn, fourteen years in fact." She forced a laugh. "At least I won't have to worry about any electrical wiring, maybe a bit of plumbing..."
"Plumbing?"
"Well, I say plumbing, but really it'll just be a basic toilet or rather a glorified hole in the ground."
"A bog-standard toilet!" Sumit grinned.
Everyone glared at him in silence.
"Anyway," continued Corinna. "I'm gonna start working on it in a couple of days after I've finished the improvements on the irrigation system."
Harmony's hand shot up. "I want to help build the house!"
"As do I," added Calixte.
"You do?" asked Corinna. "Well, there will be lots of bricks to be made. I've found the perfect building spot too."
"I bet you've already made the whole floor plan too," chuckled Harmony.
Corinna showed the diagram in her red notebook and beamed. "Yep!"
Day: 430
Harmony woke up earlier than usual on the anticipated day, excited to be helping Corinna with her new project. Though Harmony enjoyed dancing and hanging out with Calixte as he played the piano at the Land of the Lost, doing the same thing every day was starting to become boring.
As she got out of bed, Harmony noticed that the other side was empty.
Corinna was gone.
Sighing, Harming got washed and dressed, then headed outside, knowing exactly where Corinna would be.
Eventually, she arrived at the spot which Corinna had chosen for the building site. It was situated near the edge of the desert where the ground was solid and strong enough for construction as well as being a good walking distance from the Land of the Lost, Ivette's Trading Post, and the Food Drop-Off area.
Crouched down, a young woman with golden blonde hair and numerous freckles was digging a hole. Drawn in the sand was an outline of a house floor plan, and beside it was a wheelbarrow full of tools and materials.
"Morning!" Harmony called out.
Startled, Corinna gasped and almost dropped the shovel. "Harmony!" She turned around then looked down at the ground in guilt. "Good morning..."
Harmony crossed her arms. "I thought we were going to work on this together?"
Corinna bit her bottom lip. "I... I couldn't sleep last night. I had to begin right away!"
Chuckling, Harmony took the shovel from Corinna. "We making bricks?"
"Yes!" Corinna nodded. "But I don't think I brought enough water. We'll have to make several trips. I'm gonna make a rain catcher too which should help; hopefully, it'll rain soon. But in the meantime, we'll have to travel back and forth from our place."
Harmony transformed into her chimaera form, donning her black jackal mask, allowing her to dig with far more strength and endurance than when she was human. The hole was filled with a bucket of water and Corinna and Harmony stomped it in to create mud. As they moulded the mud into bricks, Sumit arrived.
"Oh, am I late?" he asked, seeing the numerous bricks already made.
"No, you're early," replied Harmony. "Corinna was just even earlier."
Sumit laughed. "Not surprised."
"You here to help out?"
"Yeah..." Sumit scratched the back of his head. "I may have made another mistake with the logbooks, so Ivette sent me outside."
"Not surprised," said Corinna.
Sumit gasped in fake offence. "Hey, I can leave."
"No, no, no!"
"Just joking," Sumit teased.
*
After the three finished using up all of the mud, Harmony and Sumit went back to the house to fill up more buckets with water and returned to the building site with Calixte. The amphibian worked with Corinna in laying out the bricks to create a furnace, steering clear of the buckets of water. They continued this process for a couple of hours, listening to the music from the record-player and talking to another.
Soon, the pack of imps walked past, intrigued by what they were doing and wanting to join in. Though Corinna had wanted it to be a surprise, she explained that they were building them a new house to live in. The imps, clearly ecstatic, jumped up and down and squealed in excitement. After being taught how to make bricks by Corinna, the imps joined the team, some of them taking their masks off.
"I can't believe that there are kids imprisoned here," mumbled Sumit as he watched two of the children throw mud at each other. "I mean... kids don't go to prison, do they? Even if they murdered someone..."
"They are not here for any crimes," said Calixte, his head low. "I recognise three of them from their portraits." He motioned over to a boy and two girls that seemed to all bear a resemblance to one another with their platinum blonde hair and grey eyes. "Princess Delphine II, Rosella I, and Prince Matheo IV, triplets. They were declared dead, died from a plague. Their aunt took the throne."
"So, they were cast down here because their aunt wanted to rule? That's disgusting!"
"I am uncertain why the others are here, but I presume it is for similar reasons."
"Can't believe someone would do that," mumbled Corinna. "Can't believe that they were children all this time..."
As Sumit and Harmony went on another water trip, accompanied by two of the children, they encountered Dex and Kai on their way back to the building site.
"Hey," Dex called out to them as he approached them. "What are you two doing..." He paused as he saw a young boy, only six years old, with dark ochre skin and an afro hair appear behind Sumit, carrying his own small bucket of water. Dex remained frozen as he stared down at the young boy. "Who... why is..."
"He's one of the imps," explained Sumit, his voice low. "Turns out they were all children."
"There's children in the Abyss?" Kai swallowed, clutching his wrist. "Who would be so heartless to send a kid down here, let alone seven of them?"
"Royal shitheads, who else?" spat Harmony.
Sumit gasped and put his hands over the two children's ears. "Watch your language, Harmony!"
"They're probably way older than us considering how long they've been here."
Dex crouched down and smiled at the young boy with the afro hair. "Hey, buddy, what you guys doing with the buckets of water?"
The boy glanced down at the ground and fidgeted with his fingers. He mumbled a word from the imps' made-up language, then made the shape of a house with his hands.
"A house?" Dex looked up to Sumit and Harmony for an explanation.
"We're building them one to live in," answered Harmony. "Corinna's idea." She motioned to the buckets of water. "Need these to make bricks."
"Wow, you're actually making a house from scratch?" asked Kai.
"Yeah."
The goblin's eyes widened and stared back in disbelief.
"You wanna come see?"
Dex and Kai joined Harmony, Sumit, and the two children back to the building site.
Gazing around at the kiln, the slabs of mud bricks, and the floor plan in Corinna's notebook, Dex donned his mask. He turned to Harmony and Sumit and said, "if you need someone to keep on doing water supply runs, then I'll be able to do it way faster."
After transforming into the headless horseman, Dex galloped away, carrying buckets, with Sumit and one of the children on his back. With so many helpers and quicker supply of water, they made more progress than Corinna had predicted. She had calculated it taking several weeks for the house to be complete, but at this rate, it could be finished in half that time.
Day: 435
Rhea Earl closed the poetry book and put it back into her bag. She gazed back at her father in the hospital bed, who had been vacantly staring at the wall throughout the entire reading. There was a moment where Rhea had thought that Ernest had looked at her and perhaps listened, but she was unsure if she had imagined it or not.
"Well..." began Rhea as she packed her belongings then adjusted the flowers in the vase. "I shall be back again soon..." She froze upon seeing two figures heading her way.
"Hi, great-auntie," said Henry Best as he gave a slight wave. "We didn't know you would be here too." The young man glanced over to his grandfather Albert Best with a forced smile. "It's a nice surprise, isn't it?"
"Yes..." replied Albert. "Hey, sis."
Rhea raised her head and pushed back her shoulders. "It's alright, I was just leaving anyway."
"Oh, don't be like that, Rhea!" Albert walked over the vase on the windowsill and was about to take the flowers out before his sister stopped him.
"I got him those flowers this morning! Don't take them out!" snapped Rhea. "They're fresh!"
"They are?" Albert raised an eyebrow. "Well, we've got him some even fresher ones." He motioned to this bouquet that Henry was holding. "They're his favourite flower."
"No, these are!" Rhea stood defensively in front of the vase.
Albert scoffed. "I think I know what his favourite is, sis. I hung out with him more in the garden than you and Marj-"
"How about we put them together?" Henry interjected. "I think they would look rather lovely-"
"Henrietta?" a voice mumbled.
They all turned to Ernest Best, the old man grumbling as he sat up slightly in his bed.
"Henrietta?" Ernest called out again. "Why, you've cut your hair really short. It looks nice..."
"Thanks, great-granddad," Henry replied with a weak smile.
"It's okay kiddo." Albert put a hand on his grandson's shoulder. "His memory is all muddled."
"Is Corinna here too?" asked Ernest, looking around. "Oh, Albert... you're here..."
"Good to see you, dad." Albert held his father's hand and Ernest weakly squeezed it back.
"Who's your friend?" Ernest looked over to Rhea.
There was a long moment of silence.
Albert and Henry both looked at Rhea , their faces sombre.
Rhea cleared her throat. "Excuse me, please." She forced a smile, then bowed her head low as she left the hospital ward and into the corridor.
Something grabbed her hand.
The old woman gazed back at her brother.
"Rhea..." Albert sighed. "I-"
"I'm fine, Albert." Rhea freed her hand.
"It's unfair. You come and visit him the most, second to Corinna, yet he doesn't remember you."
"We can't change or decide who dad remembers," sniffed Rhea. "It's just the way it is. Even if he doesn't know who I am anymore, I still love him. It's fine..." Her voice warbled and trailed away.
Albert pulled his sister into a hug as she gently sobbed.