The eldest sister didn't look back. She grabbed Noel's arm, her voice trembling with
the weight of a horrific choice. "We have to run! If we stay, Big Brother's sacrifice is
for nothing!"
They reached the edge of the snow, turning one last time to look at the ghost ship.
But the Royal Skeleton Guards were already airborne. They leaped from the deck,
swords raised to cleave the "noise" from the world. The sisters froze, the cold of
death outmatching the frost of the island. They closed their eyes, whispering a final,
"Thank you for everything, Big Brother," as they waited for the end.
Seconds passed. The strike never came.
Opening their eyes, they saw a sight that defied all logic. A 7-foot-tall Monster with
massive, tattered black wings was suspended in the air before them. He wasn'tlooking at them with mercy; he looked absolutely miserable. His face was twisted into
an expression of pure, unadulterated frustration, like a man who had just realized he
walked into the wrong party.
Thwack! A snowball disintegrated against the Monster's cheek. The sisters had
instinctively scooped up handfuls of snow and pelted him.
Jee-shahn didn't move. He just stared into the middle distance. "Lizard," he rumbled,
his voice vibrating with a threat of violence. "If you give me one more piece of wrong
information, you are going to die."
The Azure Lizard, still in its crown form, didn't dare shift shape. It just began to sweat
visibly, the gold of the crown trembling.
"Who are you?!" the eldest sister yelled, her fear replaced by confusion. "Why are you
staring at us with that weird, frustrated face?"
Jee-shahn let out a long, weary sigh. "That's my question. I heard only one creature
lived here. I didn't expect to see two more 'noise-people.' And worse—you're female.
That's double the noise." He rubbed his temples. "Where is the creature that lived
here?"
"You come for Big Brother?" Noel sobbed, her voice breaking. "He... he's on that ship.
He's probably dead because of those things!"
Jee-shahn's eyes flickered toward the ship. With a single flap of his wings, he landed
on the deck where the Snowman lay, his life-force leaking into the wood. The giant
Snowman looked up, seeing the terrifying monster standing over him. He tried to roar,
but only a wet wheeze came out.
Jee-shahn actually smiled—a small, lazy thing. "Hey, kid. I'm too lazy for a long
speech, but let me tell you something: you're my son."
The Snowman froze. It wasn't just the words; it was the sudden, instinctive realization
that he understood them. Jee-shahn placed a hand on the Snowman's matted fur. An
Azure Light erupted, dissolving the spears and knitting the Snowman's flesh back
together in seconds.
Jee-shahn sat down on the bloody deck, looking completely bored. "You get the
beauty of your race from your mother. But the behavior? That's all for me."
As the Snowman stood, the fur began to recede, and his massive frame shrunk. By
the time he sat down next to Jee-shahn, he looked exactly like a 10-year-old version of
the Monster himself.
"You... you are really my father?" the boy asked, speaking human words for the first
time with perfect clarity.
"Take a look at yourself and guess," Jee-shahn muttered.
The boy examined his new, human-like hands. "Then... what about my mom? Is she
dead?"
Jee-shahn jumped slightly, a flash of genuine terror crossing his face. "Hmm. How do
I put this? No, she's very much alive. She found me about four years ago. Or rather...
she hunted me down." He began to tremble at the memory of his wives.
"So you abandoned us?" the boy asked.
Jee-shahn got a sudden, violent case of goosebumps. He sensed a "presence"
coming from the South—the unmistakable aura of a wife on the warpath.
"Let's clear something up," Jee-shahn stood up in a panicked hurry, his wings
snapping open. "You're my son. Your mother is currently in Virella with my other
wives, your little brother Shin, and your brother Leo. Leave this place. Go to theSouth. Tell your mothers, my stupid students, and anyone else looking for me that I
am busy. I am not available. I am extinct!"
Before the boy or the sisters could say another word, the Monster vanished into the
mist at a speed that broke the sound barrier, leaving nothing but a lingering scent of
ozone and "vacation-desperation."
The two sisters scrambled onto the ship, stopping dead when they saw a 10-year-old
boy sitting where their giant brother had been.
"Big Brother?" Noel whispered.
The boy looked at his hands, then at the sky where his father had just fled. "I think,"
he said, "we're moving to Virella