Hours have passed and I haven't gone back to the pear tree where the gang and I took temporary shelter.
They undoubtedly have been searching for me and I want them to hang on for a bit.
A horde of immature Grimsbys had transformed into an inflatable flying saucer, and with Kawari, I joined them on their way to Mezoid's fortress.
Up in the clouds, I looked down to see what Oshiri Glaze looked like from above, and man, we've just gotten started on our journey.
'Oshiri Glaze is not a country, but a continent!'
Well, that's just an overstatement.
I felt a dusty haze creeping up on me. Kawari pulled out a pocket-sized orb that I presumed was made of acrylic crystal, threw it out, and a whirlpool of luminous powder appeared before us.
When we entered through it, the ambiance and color of the surroundings suddenly changed into eerie and obscure.
We're in a different place, a place filled with crimson haze. And in this haze lies all-out evil, and I can hear the sound of overproduced opera music as we travel into it.
The haze may blur my vision, but Mezoid's fortress is not to be underrate. It's a huge castle, and it's giving me all the types of creeps.
When we landed outside the gate, we were greeted by another type of Grimsby. It has a buff build and is humorless.
"Open the gate and I shall sing a joyful song in order to cheer you up on your duty," said Kawari, but these buff monstrosities seem to dislike the thought of having fun, and a single unswerving look in the eye made Kawari run through the gates as if he's catching an appointment.
Even the pesky Grimsbies and the mature Grimsby were terrified of them.
Entering the premises felt like walking through the grounds of an asylum. If Grandpa was being held captive in this place, he'd be bereaved of escape since many buff Grimsbies were on guard.
Big houses like this used to have hanging ornaments like crystal chandeliers or elegant candelabras, but this one had dangling, exhumed Meadow Ferals.
Black candles cast a reddish light inside, and the falsettos of wandering souls made my body hair stand on end even more.
My hands were chained up as the mature Grimsby led me along like a dog on a leash.
Suddenly, Kawari let out a sigh of dismay, as if he had just remembered something.
"How could I forget that Master Mezoid is untraceable in the palace every fortnight?" he said, scratching his head. "That only means I can snoop around his cellar and have a swig of his booze. Grimsbies, come with me and bring the boy!"
I just let them drag me along like a pup until we arrived at the basement where the barrel storage was located.
"You poured all your sweat and pestilence into succeeding in this mission! Show off your gluttony, Grimsbies, and drink until your urinary bladders burst!"
Kawari and the Grimsbies chugged the booze to their heart's content. If I were Mezoid, I wouldn't hire someone who's so laidback and a bit of an imbecile.
I'll just wait for them to get drunk and dozed off, and then I'll make my escape and start searching for Grandpa.
"Hey, boy, don't just sit there. Be a man and drink!" Kawari offered me a birdskull mug of beer, and though I drank, this one was stinkier, but I felt obligated not to offend him.
"That's my boy!" he praised, giving me a hard pat on the back as if I was going to spit the beer out of my mouth. "I like you more as a drinking buddy than that old chap. Such a roughneck."
Old chap?
He must've meant my grandpa!
I'll ask him questions, but I shouldn't be obvious.
"So you're not the only human in this castle full of Grimsbies?"
"No, there's another one, but Mezoid's detained him because he'll be used as an ingredient in his upcoming experiment."
"You said you and he used to drink; why not invite him right now? Mezoid's away, you won't get caught, and this old chap might turn smooth this time since there are three people in the room."
"Nah, just let him rot in his cell. Besides, he's too weak to walk and needs assistance. I'm too idle to offer him any help as I prefer to waste my strength today on chugging this booze."
Kawari then chugged a big mug of beer, and I did too to avoid suspicion.
"Woah, you're used to this, aren't you?"
"I can send for the old man if you like. I'm strong enough to assist him," I suggested, showing my poorly worked muscles.
"Go ahead; as if he'll be convinced. You'll just get a smack of his ill-temper when you get there."
When they had had enough, I executed my plan. Kawari, along with the others, was passed out.
I tiptoed and stole the key hidden in his fur jacket, and man, this boozehound needs a mouthwash!
I freed myself from the chains, unlocked the cellar's door, and locked the door again because they looked good inside a prison.
I tried to open every room that wasn't locked, knocking on doors in the hopes that Grandpa Kaeron was inside.
This basement is never-ending!
But I won't give up.
Grandpa didn't raise a defeatist.
As I walk through this labyrinth, the diamond fragments in my underwear start to glow even more, so I took them out. It looks like it's showing me something.
"The descendants of Oshirin have a connection to the Diamond Oyster, and one of them is Grandpa," I muttered to myself.
I can now feel Grandpa's presence. The closer I get to Grandpa's cell, the more the fragments glow. When I arrived at an unguarded and unlocked room, I saw Grandpa Kaeron casually writing at the table under the light of a gas lamp.
I yelled and cried with longing as I finally saw him.
"Happy birthday, Grandpa."
"Oh, it didn't cross my mind that another number has been added to my age. Thank you for greeting me."
"I even bought you a cake, but when I got home, you were no longer there, so I gaslighted myself I brought it for Purrito. Kooki was famished when he arrived the next morning, so I let him eat the remaining slices."
"Sweets are bad for Purrito."
"What? I didn't know he's diabetic."
"He's lactose intolerant, like most cats. Dairy in cake can cause digestive issues, and sugar can lead to obesity, dental problems, and diabetes."
"On a side note, Mom seems not to care about us. That Lionel, her boss, he's stealing her away."
"Definitely, your Mom loves you more. She's just working double to give you a better future."
Hearing Grandpa say that, I sounded like an ingrate.
"For the meantime, Warchaic is watching over our house if he has spare time."
"You shouldn't be here, Kintsugi," he said in a warm but sad voice. "This place is dangerous."
"I'm rescuing you. I'm sending us home," I said as I faced him courageously.
"I'd like to, but Meadowglaze is in cataclysm," he replied stoutheartedly, and that made me mad.
"Forget about this world, Grandpa. We have our own lives on Earth!"
Instead of scolding me, he just rubbed my head as if he understood what I felt.
"I know," he simply replied.
However, our conversation was cut off by the sudden entrance of the helmet-manned Kawari. The ethanol effect of the booze wasn't strong enough to put them into a deeper slumber.
With him were the Grimsbies, and if lately they acted with dumbheadedness, this time they were in sober-sided mode.
"No one is getting out of this castle," said Kawari in a no-nonsense tone. "If you think you played me, boy, then you were wrong because it is I who played with you in the first place."
Grandpa came to my aid. "You're not going to hurt him."
Kawari let out a slightly insincere cackle. "Where did you get the audacity to accuse me of hurting my drinking buddy? I won't hurt him. I was just instructed to kill him in front of you, Kaeron."
Kawari pulled out an ax from his back that grew big as he gripped it, and by the looks of it, it could crush this part of the basement.
Grandpa snatched something from his robe pocket and disseminated powdery explosives towards Kawari's position, and the pyrotechnics blinded their vision.
Grandpa then held my hand, and together we ran off away from them.
"Mezoid made me his scribe. Thus, I'm educated in some bewitching antics," Grandpa revealed. "Even so, it'll just slow their movements for the meantime, that's why we need to hurry up. Don't think of me as I gather all my strength in a time like this; focus on yourself. Watch your every step, Kintsugi."
Kawari and the Grimsbies are chasing us, and they're even throwing vaporizing beams at us. To slow them down again, Grandpa created a barrier out of glass shards.
"What things did you take with you?" Grandpa suddenly asked as we were running up the stairs.
"I thought rescuing you was easy-peasy, so I didn't carry much baggage, but I did steal that one thing you've been keeping in a chest – your precious archer kit. I shouldn't have done it."
"That was a brilliant decision, Kintsugi!" I thought Grandpa would get mad, but he seemed delighted. "Apparently, the archer kit isn't mine at all; I'm just entrusted with it. At first, I thought I could save Meadowglaze again, just like Helcus and I accomplished decades ago, but when the Grimsbies captured me, and when Mezoid lectured me that he's the mastermind of it all, I realized I'm too old to fight more evil. You take care of the archer kit and say 'hi' to Aguinadro for me."
When we arrived near the entrance, the pesky, mature, and buff Grimsbies were there to block our exit.
The candles blew out, the wandering soul turned into a deconstructed human in a smoke form, and the dangling dead bodies started to move.
Grandpa snatched a twig from his pocket, rubbed it on a graphite, blew on it, and a big smoldering fire encapsulated us.
Unlooked-for, a stout man in fur clothing appeared in the darkest part of the corner. As he walked, his aura screamed supreme and berserk. He's faceless. His skin tone is dark, darker than Kooki's. If it weren't for the fire that surrounded us, I wouldn't have noticed his arrival.
"Mezoid." Grandpa just uttered his name in surprise, but I wasn't afraid of him.
"Have you had a good grandpa-and-grandson talk?" he spoke, like a domineering CEO in a prominent company. "Despair has enveloped your entirety since you came to my palace, Kaeron. Consequently, you've performed idly on every task. I picked up your grandson to bring back your dynamism, and that left you indebted to me."
Mezoid didn't want his hands to be dripped with blood, so he commanded Kawari to do the killing instead.
They needed to exterminate me as they were threatened by a sixteen-year-old high schooler.
Mezoid opened his hand, and a stygian and very excruciating force tried to extinguish the fire that protected us.
Grandpa didn't flinch, and neither did I.
Grandpa took out an acrylic orb from his pocket and threw it out to create a whirlpool, which made me happy because, finally, we're going home!
"Kintsugi, listen to me, you have to collect the fragments of the Diamond Oyster before anyone else does. Not only that, but you also have to listen to it and understand it."
"Why are you saying this, Grandpa?"
"You are a strong kid, but make yourself the strongest person you've ever known - make the people know that you're the strongest they've ever known. I trust you, and I have faith in you." My heart began to palpitate rapidly.
"No doubt Helcus will give you guidelines and wisdom; and Kooki – he's been through a lot. Get along with him. Death is on its way to me, and before it takes me, I wanna do something that matters to humanity."
With a painful smile on his face, Grandpa pushed me into the whirlpool.