Eldritch Girls Chapter 22

Piling Issues

Just like yesterday, Helen eagerly dashed through Manjimup's streets early in the morning, reaching Liz's house in a new record thanks to her greatly enhanced strength. The second she saw Liz exit her home, Helen's eyes lit up. “Hey Lizzie!” she cheered while waving to her friend. “Good morning!”

“Morning Helen” Liz said while waving back. “You look pretty happy. Excited to get to school?”

“Hardly” Helen chuckled. “I'm excited to keep up the fight against the Divine. When's the next battle anyway?”

Liz sighed. “Helen, please take this at least a little seriously” she growled. “This isn't a game. The next time we have to fight, we could be hurt or worse...”

“Relax Lizzie” Helen sighed before putting her hand on Liz's shoulder. “I know we can handle anything if we work together and never give up.”

“Well said” Adola chuckled while standing behind Helen. “Let's just hope your friend agrees.”

“Your friend is annoyingly naive” Koth-Ladon sighed.

Liz frustratingly rubbed her brow. “It's not that simple Helen” she grumbled. “Friendship and determination alone aren't going to help us win. We need to take this seriously. You need to take this seriously. I can't fight the Divine and keep an eye on you at the same time.”

“That's just it Lizzie” Helen said as she put her arm around Liz's shoulder. “You don't have to anymore. Now I can keep myself safe as we beat the Divine together. You don't have to do this alone.”

“Maybe I'd rather do this alone...” Liz grumbled under her breath.

“What was that Lizzie?” Helen asked, pretending she didn't hear what her friend had muttered.

“It's nothing” Liz said. “Come on, we should get to school.”

As Liz and Helen started to walk towards the bus stop, Adola leaned in close to Helen's ear. “Can you believe she said that?” she asked. “Your 'friend' doesn't seem to have much faith in you Helen.”

“She's just being stubborn” Helen thought while subtly glancing at her partner. “She'll come around, I'm sure of it.”

“Perhaps we'll just need to prove ourselves” Adola suggested. “Although if you ask me, we shouldn't have to. You're easily the stronger girl here Helen.”

After putting her finger to her lips to give Adola a signal to be quiet, Helen ran in front of Liz. “So Lizzie, do you have any idea where the Divine are coming from?” she asked.

“All I know is they were sealed away in another dimension a long time ago” Liz explained. “And now that seal is slowly breaking down, letting them escape into our world.”

Helen pondered Liz's explanation for a moment. “Do you know where they're appearing?” she asked. “Maybe we could figure out a way to close the breach, or portal, or whatever they're coming through...”

“An excellent idea” Adola said with a smile.

As Liz explained she had no idea where they were exactly the Divine were appearing, Koth-Ladon crossed his arms. “Unfortunately it doesn't work that way” he grumbled. “There isn't anything like a single spot for them to pass through. They can appear anywhere on the earth so long as the barrier between dimensions is weakened. Trying to intercept them as they appear would be pointless.”

“Figures it wouldn't be that easy” Liz grumbled before repeating her partner's words to Helen. “Although... Koth, wouldn't they have some kind of hideout? A place they could gather and recuperate?”

“I would assume so” Koth-Ladon answered. “That mill we destroyed was probably their initial hideout, so they'd have to get a new one...”

Helen's eyes lit up. “Maybe we could go hunting for it after school?” she suggested with glee. “My partner is called the Mother of the Hunt. That means I should have no problem finding it. Come on Liz, let's do it!”

“I'll think about it during school” Liz assured. “We shouldn't rush into anything just yet Helen. For now, let's just get through school.”

“Okay Lizzie” Helen said with a smile.

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That day of school was probably the longest six hours Helen had ever endured. After the rush of battling the Divine, the tediousness of the classroom had increased exponentially. Thankfully, Adola was there to provide commentary on the various teacher's lessons, much to Helen's joy.

As the final lesson concluded, Helen rushed out the door to wait for Liz by the bus stop, running so quickly she bowled Celia over as she dashed by.

By the time Liz reached the bus stop, Helen was struggling to sit still, her feet bouncing up and down on the concrete so much that it started to crack. “Lizzie!” she cheered before springing off the bench. “Are we going to go now?!? What's the plan?!? What's the plan?!?”

“Please calm down...” Liz sighed before putting her hands on Helen's shoulders to stop her friend's bouncing. “I thought about it all day.” Liz quickly glanced around. “We'll discuss our plan later when we're alone alright?”

“Alright!” Helen cheered while nodding happily as the bus pulled in behind her.

Despite being surrounded by other students, Helen spent the entire bus ride asking Liz questions about her powers and Koth-Ladon. Thankfully, everyone who overheard Helen simply dismissed it, believing Helen was talking about a video game of some kind.

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Ten minutes later, Helen and Liz got off at the bus stop closet to Liz's house. Once there was no one else around, Helen threw her arm around her friend. “So Lizzie” she giggled. “How are we doing this? You search high, I search low?”

“Helen, I can't just transform and fly around during the day” Liz said. “The less people that know about our powers the better.”

A little smirk appeared on Helen's face. “You're just worried what Rachael will say if she finds out” she snickered.

A chill ran down Liz's spine. “N-no!” she growled before crossing her arms and averting her gaze. “I just don't want anyone getting caught in the crossfire. Or rather, anyone else...”

“So what do you want to do today?” Helen asked. “Search on foot?”

“I've got a special mission for you Helen” Liz assured, exciting her friend. “We can't just search blindly. So tonight I want you to go home, protect your family and figure out the spots in Manjimup that would make a great hideout. Then tomorrow, you and I will go together and look in the spots you determine.”

Helen crossed her arms and gave Liz a disapproving scowl for a few seconds before her smile reappeared. “Sounds good Lizzie!” she cheered. “What are you going to do tonight?”

“Exactly the same as you” Liz explained. “We've got to protect our families Helen. The Divine could attack at any time. So keep your phone near you at all times. If the Divine show up, call me right away.”

“You got it” Helen said. “Same to you Lizzie. Call me the second you see those knights. I want another crack at them.”

Liz let out a sigh. “Sure...” she grumbled. “Alright, see you tomorrow Helen.”

“Bye Lizzie!” Helen cheered before taking off to sprint across town back to her home. As Helen was running, a floating Adola leaned in close to her ear.

“You're not really going to just sit at home all night are you?” Koth-Ladon asked the second Helen disappeared from sight.

“Of course not” Liz assured. “I just said that so Helen would stay home where it's safe. The second the sun goes down, you and I are gonna scour the town from the sky. With all my extra eyes, I should be able to spot anything suspicious right?”

“Right” Koth-Ladon said as he followed Liz into her house.

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Later that night, as the sun finished setting, Liz retired to her bedroom after giving her older sister a goodnight hug. After locking her door, Liz leaped out her bedroom's window, transforming the second she felt her feet touch the cold, damp grass. Not wanting to waste any time, Liz spread her wings and took off into the night's sky, reaching a high altitude in a matter of seconds. Just as she planned, Liz's enhanced vision allowed her to not only see as if it were day, but also zoom in on specific objects and locations.

“P-perhaps I should've worn a sweater...” Liz thought as a chilling breeze tickled the back of her neck, nearly causing her to drop her spear. “You'd think being fused with a god would make me more resistant to the cold...”

“You'll warm up if you keep moving” Koth-Ladon chuckled while hovering next to Liz. “So maybe if you started the search...”

“Thank you for your wise council Koth” Liz grumbled before flying away in a random direction. “You really are a god of knowledge...”

Unbeknownst to Liz, from behind a fence near her house, someone watched her soar into the sky. As Liz flew away, a transformed Helen emerged from behind the fence.

“I told you she was lying” Adola said while sitting atop the fence, swinging her leg playfully.

“I don't get it...” Helen muttered, her furry lavender drooping straight down. “Lizzie has never lied to me before. Why now?”

“It's pretty obvious” Adola said with a smirk on her face. “She clearly doesn't believe in you. In us.”

Helen's sad gaze dropped to the ground. “Lizzie...” she mumbled to herself. “When will you realize you can't do this alone?”

“What are you going to do now Helen?” Adola asked. “Given your friend's partner, it's likely she'll spot you if we follow her.”

“Then I guess we'd better go home...” Helen sighed as she returned to her human form. “I don't want Lizzie to be mad at me.”

“Very well” Adola said after shrugging.

Despite her dampened mood, it didn't take long for Helen to get back to her home. Unfortunately, the moment she stepped onto her parent's property, a familiar sound greeted her. “You know the only reason she's been disappearing to go for night walks is because of you!” Ron growled. “If you even had a shred of responsibility you'd talk to your daughter every once in awhile!”

Helen, knowing full well it was never a good idea to walk in on her parent's fighting, even when it was about her, sat on the porch's steps. Adola quickly sitting next to her.

“She's fifteen!” Aiko shouted. “She doesn't need me lording over her like a hawk!”

“No, but she does need you to be a mother every once in awhile!” Ron snapped back. “But no, you'd rather go out with your college friends and get wasted then be a parent!”

Helen knew what her mother was going to shout next. It was something she always started to say but would never finished. In fact, whenever she did stop herself, that usually ended the argument. Unfortunately, this time would be different.

“I never asked nor wanted to be a parent!” Aiko snapped, causing Helen's heart to skip a beat. “I didn't want my party life to be suddenly cut short thanks to you Ron!”

“How can you say that?!?” Ron shouted. “She's your daughter!”

“She's the only reason I wasted the best years of my life with you!” Aiko barked. “Thanks to her, I had to spend all my days here. And now because of all our kids, I have to spend all my time working since you can't seem to get a decent paying job!”

“Sounds like someone is tired of the family life” Adola said. “Has it ever gotten this bad before?”

“Never...” a teary-eyed Helen sobbed as she buried her face into her knees.

“Well if being a mother is too much for you, why don't you just leave?!?” Ron snapped, causing Helen to leap to her feet. “Leave and never come back!”

Has her parents continued their arguing, Helen darted around the side of her house to her brother's window. Thankfully, a quick tap on the glass got Hector to open the window enough for Helen to jump inside. There, she found Harry hiding under the blankets of his bed's lower bunk. Acting fast, Helen sat on the bed and wrapped one arm around her little brother before using her other arm to signal her other brother to come closer to get his own hug. With both her brothers in her arms, Helen held them in close as she tried her best to block out her parent's fighting by humming the tune her mother used to sing to her when she was little, the same tune Adola had hummed earlier.

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Elsewhere, Liz continued her search high in the sky. So far she'd had no luck spotting anything suspicious, but she wasn't about to give up yet. Her twenty extra eyes gave her full view of the entire town. Unfortunately, with her vision entirely focused on what was below her, Liz failed to spot the winged being dressed like a plague doctor flying far above her.

Vex reached into his robe and pulled out a leather wallet. Fresh blood dripped from the wallet as Vex flipped it open and stared at the identification badge inside. “Well, I suppose I'd best get to work” he thought before disappearing into the clouds. “Tomorrow is when the fun begins...”

TO BE CONTINUED....