Unity; Chapter Four; A Loose Panel

						A Loose Panel
						  Limp_Nicky


	You had no idea how Oskar managed these things.

	“Good morning!” He called to you. You had just opened the doors to the massive kitchen and dining room, revealing the breakfast Oskar had cooked. Eggs cooked in every way imaginable, bacon, sausage links and patties, biscuits and gravy, hashbrowns, baked beans, toast, bagels, pancakes, and for whatever reason, stuffed peppers. “I know that look, I know you’re hungry!” He smiled. “C’mon over, take what you’d like! We also have soda, juice, milk and water over in the fridges, help yourself!”

	Oskar was a great man. He and his wife, a Dhampir, were both extremely good friends with your parents. They both had actually trained your Mom and Dad back in the day. If you had to describe them, they were like the grandparents you never had, except Oskar was rather young to be a grandparent, as he was only about 46 years old.

	As you ladled breakfast gravy over everything on your plate, you gazed around the room. The younger girls, between 5 and 11 years old, tended to herd together as one mass. Any older and they seemed to splinter off and eat in their little cliques. A lot of the older girls, usually between 16-22, were still fast asleep, and wouldn’t be down until later. Oskar would still happily serve them. He seemed to really care about these orphans.

	You reached for a stuffed pepper, a quizzical look on your face when Oskar laughed and leaned forward over the table.

	“I know, stuffed peppers like this are weird for breakfast, but look over there, see the little Anubis girl?” He whispered with a chuckle. You briefly looked over to the tables to see an Anubis emotionlessly eating a stuffed pepper like it was a doughnut. After a moment, she hopped up from her seat and walked over to you and Oskar, finishing her pepper. She held out her little paws, making Oskar smile even wider. She couldn’t reach the table, so he handed her another pepper, a big one. She took it in her hands, took a big bite out of it, and chewed for a moment, all with that same emotionless expression, and all without shifting her gaze from Oskar. “We have plenty more! Papa Oskar will make peppers all day and night for ya!” He smiled, resting his hands on his hips. The Anubis smiled very slightly, and walked back to her table.

	“Makes sense I suppose.” You said, sharing Oskar’s smile. “Anyways, are you busy after breakfast?” You asked, taking a bite of eggs. It had felt funny to eat standing up, but Oskar was good company, so you didn’t mind it.

	“Well, I wanted to trim the hedges out in maze, but I have plenty of time for things like that. Why, what’s up?”

	“Well, there have been some new developments…” You mumbled, not knowing how else to word it. You didn’t want to explain it here, not with so many girls in the area. “Gummy and I have learned something the hard way. She’s currently rounding up Spice, Liz and Cassie. I’d like you to join us.”

	“Absolutely. Where would you like to meet?”

	“My room, right after breakfast. Thanks Oskar.” You said. He put a hand on your shoulder and squeezed it, before directing his attention to a Cyclops that needed help reaching silverware. You walked over to the Anubis and sat down next to her. “So. You like peppers, huh?” You asked. She looked up at you, emotionless again, still eating. After a moment of awkward silence, you took a bite out of the pepper you had on your plate, and immediately began coughing. You went to stand up to get a drink, but something grabbed the back of your shirt. You sat back down, turning your attention behind you. The Anubis had grabbed you. “Everything alright?” You asked, coughing. She still stared at you emotionlessly. After another moment of silence and staring, she finally talked.

	“You’re funny.” She said, still no hint of emotion on her face.

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	You walked into your room, relieved that everyone was present.

	Cassie, the Lich, was peeking curiously at your collection of games.

	Spice, the Direwolf, was sitting on the edge of your bed.

	Oskar, the Human, was eating a plate of the breakfast he had prepared.

	Gummy, the Slime, was approaching you, preparing to take your side.

	Liz, the Lizard, with the most creative name of all, was looking out of the window.

	This group you would consider the heads of the operation here at the manor, and as such, deserved to know what had happened.

	“I’m glad you could all make it.” You said, taking the attention of everyone in the room. You started unbuttoning your shirt immediately. Oskar’s face took a grim turn, knowing something awful had happened to you. Liz blushed and looked at you in disbelief. Gummy merely looked away and frowned. Cassie and Spice only looked at you with curiosity.

	Your wound had pretty much healed, but a grizzly scar was left on your chest. Your shirt fell to the ground and for a few moments, everyone was silent.

	“We got a call the other night. Someone reported a transient Goblin over at the abandoned factory near the city limits. When I showed up, we got to poke around for a few minutes before a man in a mask chopped into me with a fireaxe.” You explained. Liz stopped blushing, and took an expression of horror instead. “Gummy here brought me back to life, essentially. I wouldn’t be here without her.”

	“What did the mask look like?” Oskar asked. His voice was no longer gentle and welcoming, and if anything, it had become intimidating. He sat his plate down on the nightstand, and directed all of his attention to you.

	“I can’t remember, in all honesty. What’s odd was, he bashed me, and then ran off. He didn’t go after Sam, who we had brought along to help.” You answered. Spice was now approaching you, bending down to level her head with your torso.

	“Oh wow…” She whispered. Her eyes darted up to your face, and then back down to your scar. “Thank goodness for Gummy…” She trailed off. Cassie had approached too, and was now examining your scar as well, her right eye glowing red.

	“Hmm…” She hummed. Her eye was nearly touching the scar. You could swear you felt heat coming off of her glowing eye. “Looks like Gummy did an excellent job. No bone splinters, and the laceration seems to have healed well. How do you feel?” Cassie asked, not looking up at you.

	“Like I was hit by a bus.” You sighed.

	“Brilliant. Then it looks like you’re going to be oka-”

	“WAAAAAAAAAH!” You heard someone wail. Before you could process what had happened, you hit the ground, and Liz was now clinging to you. She managed to knock aside both Spice and Cassie in her leap. “SOMEONE HURT MY ISAAC!” She cried out.

	Liz was an interesting monster. You had met when you were both 5 years old. She challenged you to a duel, but you declined. She charged at you with her little stick she pretended was a sword, and when you threw yourself out of the way, she fell and hit her head, knocking herself out cold. Ever since then, she had followed you around, insisting that a warrior as great as yourself belongs with a warrior like her. She was still a great friend to have, though.

	You gently pried her off of you, and stood back up. She was already calming down, but was still sniffling.

	“Now.” You began, attempting to bring order back to the room. “I didn’t call you all here to just show you that. I’ve also decided to stay here, dedicate myself to this completely.” Saying that lightened the mood a bit, and even brought a smile to Liz’s face, although she continued to sniffle.

	“We also need to discuss safety.” Gummy chimed in.

	“Nobody goes alone anymore.” Oskar interjected. “It’s a damn shame we have to worry about such things. Anytime we get a call, at least two people need to go, and those two people need to be on their absolute guard. No splitting up. Isaac, come down to the basement with me, I have some things I want to give you.”

	You nodded your head, and looked back at everyone else in the room briefly before following Oskar out of the door. You both walked down the hallway and went down the staircase in complete silence. When you reached the double doors of the basement, Oskar opened them, and continued to walk to the back wall.

	The basement was bare and unfinished, filled with cardboard boxes and wooden crates. It also served as a wine cellar and emergency shelter. When you had both finally reached the end of the basement, Oskar lifted a small wooden box, and broke open the end with his hands.

	“This belonged to my wife’s grandfather.” He said, removing an object from the box. He held a dusty colt m1911a1 in his hands.

	“Alright, so I guess we have guns here, jesus christ.” You groaned. “What if one of the girls gets ahold of that? Besides, does something that old still work?”

	“I’m the only one with a key down here, Isaac. And there are no doubts in my mind this old thing works. Do you know how to use a weapon?” He asked, wiping it off with a little red cloth he had in his back pocket.

	“No, no I don’t. I’ve never needed to know.” You answered. He smiled.

	“Hopefully it stays that way, huh?” He reached into the wooden box, and pulled out two magazines. “Now, there are 14 rounds here, 7 to each magazine. Hopefully this is 14 more rounds than you’ll ever need.” Oskar looked up from the magazines. “Isaac.”

	“Yeah?”

	“I’m going to trust you with this. I figure that Liz has a blade, Cassandra has her magic, Spice could crush a skull with her paws, it’s only fair that Gummy and yourself have SOMETHING to protect yourselves with. But listen to me. Do not, and I mean do NOT use this thing carelessly. I want you to promise me that you’ll ONLY use this if your life or any of our guest’s lives are in danger.”

	“I promise.” You said. Oskar stepped around the table, and hugged you. After a moment, he let go of you, and examined your features.

	“Be safe. You’ve got a brain in that head of yours. Use it before you use the gun.” He patted your shoulder, and just like that, he left the basement. You waited until you heard the door close behind you. You knew Oskar would wait for you to leave so he could lock the door, but maybe this was his way of letting you sort your thoughts.

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	You carried your gift up to your room inside of the wooden crate it came in. You slowly opened your door and peeked inside. It looked like everyone had left. You slipped in, closed the door behind you, and locked it. You looked all around the room, and crept over to the bathroom. Nothing. You sigh with relief, and walk over to your wardrobe, the wooden crate tucked under your arm. You kneel down, slide open your underwear drawer at the very bottom of the wardrobe, and place the crate inside.

	“Gummy sometimes does your laundry, does she not? You know she’ll find it there.” You heard someone say behind you. You swing around and see Cassie standing literally right behind you.

	“JESUS! How did you get in?” You asked, startled.

	“I unlocked the door. From the other side.” She answered. You take a deep breath, and allow yourself to laugh it off. “There’s a loose panel on the floor just beside the headrest of your bed. Use that.”

	Cassie gently lifted her hand, and sure enough, a wooden plank lifted itself off of the ground. You walked over to the hole, and placed the crate inside, on top of a very wide support beam.

	“Thanks.” You said, as Cassie lowered the panel back to the floor. You made a mental note of which panel it was. “Do you need something?”

	“Eliza is still upset. I can tell that, although her emotions betray it, Gummy is absolutely horrified. Spice is worried. And I, uh…” Cassie looked at her feet briefly. Her cold and calculating attitude was fading. “I would be remiss if I didn’t extend any form of relief that you were okay.”

	“But I’m okay now. Yeah, there’s a scar, but-”

	“You were hit with an axe, Isaac.” She interrupted. Her voice cracked very, very subtly. You almost didn’t notice it. “You’ve done a lot for us. More than most others have. We are bonded to you. If you had died, I doubt this operation would ever be the same again. I doubt Eliza, Spice, or Gummy would ever be the same. I doubt I would ever be the same. We’re pleased that you feel better, but it doesn’t take away the pain of how close we came to losing you.”

	Cassie looked away from you, clearly embarrassed. Even though she had merely spoken her emotions, this was akin to a mental breakdown for someone as stoic as her.

	You were about to open your mouth when Spice walked into the room.

	“Hey guys, we got a call about 5 minutes ago, something weird is happening in the countryside.” She started. “The guy that called apparently owns a huge farm on the plains, and he was fishing out near his lake when he heard crying. Apparently, it like, is literally nothing but plains, except for his willow tree right next to the lake, so there isn't many places to hide. He searched the tree and called out for the voice, but it never responded. Just kept crying. Thinks it might be a monster girl.”

	“I’ll head that way here in a moment. Either of you feel like coming with me?” You asked, walking towards the door.

	“Can’t. I’ve promised to help Oskar with dinner.” Spice said, following you out of the door.

	“I also can’t come, I’ve promised Sam that I'd help her study.” Cassie answered as well. “I know that Gummy is going to be busy, as well. Take Eliza with you. Be careful.” Cassie said. You could have sworn that, as you walked down the hallway, you heard a very gentle “for me…” under Cassie’s breath.