"Go straight through to the back of the warehouse, please. There is a dining area."
— - —
~ Only limited information about Aunty Em can be displayed.
{Aunty Em}
[?]
— - —
That was….odd.
Well, I mean, I was pretty sure that it meant that this woman just wasn't human.
Maybe a monster?
Eh, the few times I observed a monster, I saw exactly who they were at first glance. Maybe she's a goddess?
Her color was off, too. It was like, gold, but a tainted kind. Hm. So that means she's got some sort of godly mana in her?
The goddess theory could have a bit of merit in that case. Not good enough, though. In this new world, anything that I don't completely understand, including her, puts me on edge. In fact, I was probably more on edge than I would be if she'd just been a straight-up monster. New wasn't always good. We walked inside. I lightly grabbed Piper's hand and pulled her close to me. From an outside point of view, it probably looked like we were hugging, but I was just whispering to her. My lips brushed against her ear.
"I'm getting some weird vibes from this place. I can't put my finger on it, but there's something going on here. Keep your guard up."
"Dude, that's what I was thinking. Who gets to the door that fast? We're still hungry, though, so let's at least eat up, and then decide what to do after that." Piper replied to me, patting my shoulder. She gestured to the horn.
"Give me the call, and we can get stabby." I snorted. The warehouse was filled with more statues—people in all different poses, wearing all different outfits and with different expressions on their faces.
You'd have to have a pretty huge garden to fit even one of these statues because they were all life-size. The weirdest part? I could still see traces of mana on them as if there were actual people in there. I mean, I guess it could've been residue from movers or just random people touching it, but I'm seriously doubting that.
Coincidence can still be called a coincidence. Two, well okay, now it's getting suspicious. Three, though?
I'm ready to pull out my sword. We kept walking until we got to the back of the warehouse. To my surprise, at the back of the warehouse, there was, in fact, a fast-food counter with a grill, a soda fountain, a pretzel heater, and a nacho cheese dispenser. Everything you could want, plus a few steel picnic tables out front.
Why would a woman living in such a desolate place need this much stuff? Even if it was a goddess pretending to be a human, why this… I was starting to doubt this woman had good intentions.
"Please, sit down," Aunty Em said. My eyebrows shot towards my forehead. I didn't even hear her come up, even with my slightly better-than-average hearing. Now, the panic was starting to seep in a little bit. Everything about this situation was starting to seem a little too convenient to me.
"Awesome," Piper said, albeit reluctantly. "Um, we don't have any money, ma'am."
Before I could look at her questioningly, Aunty Em said, "No, no, children. No money. This is a special case, yes? It is my treat, for such nice children."
Oh, boy. My senses were going haywire. Aunty Em disappeared behind the door, and I started to scan my surroundings. Instantly, my breath caught in my throat. Unlike the statues out in front, every single statue back here was brimming with mana.
I'd never seen so much concentrated in an inanimate object—it was like before, except right now, it didn't just seem like residue from other people. Back here, it seemed like these were all actual people under that stone.
— - —
Quest Alert!
[SIDE QUEST] {The Eye is the Jewel of The Body!}
[Quest Prompt]: You've noticed something peculiar about Aunty Em's. Uncover the secret behind this mysterious old lady and escape with your life!
[Total Possible Rewards]:
[+][5,000][EXP]!
[?]
Please select: [YES/NO]
— - —
I accepted the quest. After we were seated for a few moments, Aunty Em brought us plastic trays heaped with double cheeseburgers, vanilla shakes, and XXL servings of French fries.
I ate slowly and carefully, looking between Piper and Aunty Em every few minutes to make sure she wasn't trying anything funny.
Aunty Em ate nothing. She hadn't taken off her headdress, even to cook, and now she sat forward and interlaced her fingers and watched us eat. It was a little unsettling, having someone stare at me when I couldn't see her face. Just who was this woman?
"So, you sell gnomes," I said, trying to sound interested. I deliberately asked about the gnomes, though, for two reasons. One, I was trying to learn a little bit more about her. And, two, I wanted to make it seem like we really were some curious kids who got lost and found their way here. I figured that if it came down to it, I would have better odds with straight-up fighting the woman as long as I still had the element of surprise.
The whole issue with this situation was that I had no clue how strong this lady really was. I mean, I could try to draw from the fact that the Game couldn't give me any readable stats on her, but that didn't really mean much. It could just mean she had some sort of cloaking magic active or something. I debated making my move but ultimately decided against it. All fights tended to be 70% mental and 30% physical, though, so I'd have to be sure to gain as much information as I could before I made my move or Piper and I would both end up dead.
"Oh, yes," Aunty Em said. "And animals. And people. Anything for the garden. Custom orders. Statuary is very popular, you know."
"A lot of business on this road?" There's no way in hell anyone ever came down here. This place looked like something straight out of a horror movie. Not only that, but it looked untouched—as if it was a true slice of the past. Tucked into the forest, too, like it was hiding from the public eye. Who knows what kinds of things could happen back here, where no one tended to look?
Wait—now I remembered why my mom's relatives had high-tailed it out of this town. Back around the early 2000s, a bunch of little children had gone missing on the banks of the Hudson. No culprits were found, and no suspects were ever tried. The whole case was just buried in a way that rubbed them the wrong way. So far, this had been the only operational place I'd seen anywhere close to the Hudson. Why would this woman stay in the one part of town where no one dared to go? Either she had balls of steel, metaphorically speaking of course, or she was involved with the damn disappearances.
"Not so much, no. Since the highway was built...most cars, they do not go this way now. I must cherish every customer I get."
My neck tingled as if somebody else was looking at me. I turned, but it was just a statue of a young girl holding an Easter basket. The detail was incredible, much better than you see in most garden statues. But something was wrong with her face. It looked as if she were startled, or even terrified. I knew I wasn't completely crazy when I saw the girl's eyes move. The statues were alive? That was impossible…I felt like I was missing something really obvious.
"Ah," Aunty Em said sadly, noticing my intense glare at the girl. "You notice some of my creations do not turn out well. They are marred. They do not sell. The face is the hardest to get right. Always the face."
"You make these statues yourself?" I asked. Maybe she'd drop a clue or something… "Oh, yes. Once upon a time, I had two sisters to help me in the business, but they have passed on, and sweet, old Aunty Em is alone. I have only my statues. This is why I make them, you see. They are my company."
I looked at her and fumbled around in my pocket for Riptide, "Two sisters?"
"It's a terrible story," Aunty Em said. "Not one for children. You see, Piper, a bad woman was jealous of me, long ago, when I was young. I had a...a boyfriend, you know, and this bad woman was determined to break us apart. She caused a terrible accident. My sisters stayed with me. They shared my bad fortune as long as they could, but eventually, they passed on. They faded away. I alone have survived but at a price. Such a price."
Two sisters?
A woman, a boyfriend?
Oh fuck. How did I not see it?
The statues, the veil.
The insistence that she get visitors.
Aunty Em.
M.
Medusa.
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