Mothman Pt. 01

Things haven't exactly been normal in Walakai ever since we've become more and more exposed to the presence of mamono. It's been over a year since Mikhail and his... extraordinary wife opened their candy shop in the center of town.

And to be honest... I think 'not normal' is the best that this town's ever been. Business flourished and even the morale of the people has explosively gone up. Walakai used to be a rather bleak and uninteresting little town, with bricked roads and straw topped houses. The weather throughout the year was always the same: not too hot not too cold. Just average. But nowadays... something happened to this little community. The market is buzzing, the streets are filled with people and the people are filled with love for each other. Flower beds bloomed around the town and in general everything seemed a lot more colorful and lively.

Oh, excuse my manners, how rude of me. I haven't even introduced myself and I'm already rambling. I am Archimedes, the town's very own weaver. Something that's become way more appreciated as of late.

It must've had something to do with Mikhail, his wife and the strange confections that were exploding in popularity, but love was constantly in the air and new couples formed left and right, giving me plenty of customers. Queen sized blankets to cuddle in, carpets to put in front of the cozy fireplaces and dishrags for the wives who wanted to show their devotion to their husbands by cooking them hearty meals.

Yes, it was a beautiful time for my shop and I felt happier than I had ever felt in my life. It was as if I could nourish the people's love with my work.

Underlying underneath all of that though, was this twinge in my heart. Something that I couldn't shake off no matter how hard I tried.

The doorbell chimed as the door swung open. "Archimedes? Are you here?"

I appeared behind a wall of rolls of fabric and moved into the wide-open reception area.

I clapped my hands as I realize who it is. "Mikhail! What a pleasure to see you again. Tell me, what may I do for you on this fine day?"

"Ah, you don't need to sound so enthusiastic every time I come over here." He awkwardly rubbed his neck as he laughed along with me.

"For shame! I always get excited when one of my regulars comes and visits me, Mikhail. Don't start getting weird thoughts about special treatments." I jokingly scolded him as I leaned on my counter.

"Hehe, I don't think with Elora around, I'll get any weird thoughts about you any time soon." Mikhail leaned against the desk and clapped his hands together. "Right! I came here for something. Actually, I kind of need you to fix something up for me."

"Shocker!" I chuckled sarcastically. "What's the matter?"

"Well, remember the table cover you sold me last time?" He asked as his face began to turn slightly red in embarrassment.

"The one for your work space? Yeah, I just sold you that less than a month ago? Was something wrong with it?"

"Oh, oh no! Hehe, no complaints whatsoever but... umm..."

"Come on, out with it." I drilled him for answers as my curiosity grew.

"Yeah... the one that you sold us it's kind of... ruined a little bit."

"Is it torn?"

"No, it's gotten... pretty sticky."

I raised an eyebrow "Sticky? What from the candy?"

He awkwardly scratched his cheek as he laughed suspiciously. "Eheh, yeah... candy."

I cracked a smile and nudged his arm lightly over the counter. "You couldn't restrain yourself, could you?"

He shrugged and ruffled his hair. "Guilty as charged. I guess there's just something in the air lately to make me and Elora... well let's not get into too much detail. Anyways, I need a new cover for my work space at least until the other one is cleaned properly. It could take a while to get all the stains out and hey, it's always useful to have a spare one around right? So, do you think you could make some time for that?"

"I think I can squeeze it in somewhere, let me check my books." I pulled up my schedule and immediately found an opening for the size of the order he wanted. I looked over the weeks and weeks of work ahead of me and let out a deep exhale through my nose.

Mikhail leaned in towards me with a concerned look. "Are you feeling alright, my friend?"

I laughed it off and assuaged his fears. "Don't worry, I'm doing fine. I guess it's just the weather getting to me."

Mikhail scowled a little. "Come on, Archimedes. I know when something's not right with you. Are you overworked? Listen, my table cover can wait..."

I broke him off immediately. "No, no! That's not it. I love my work, it's the most relaxing and fulfilling job I've ever had but... I've just been thinking about how jealous I am of what you and Elora have."

Mikhail raised an eyebrow. "What? How so?"

"I don't want to sound like I'm complaining but... this job doesn't really offer much time for anything private. A project can take between 2 weeks and 2 months to complete if I work every waking hour a day at it. Every day I sit at my weaving rack until I get tired. Sometimes I even fall asleep on top of my fabrics." I rubbed my eyes as I rested my elbows on the reception desk.

Mikhail laid his hand on my shoulder and spoke comfortingly. "Man, if you need a break just take one. Nobody's going to blame you if you spend some time on yourself."

I patted his hand, signaling him that he didn't need to comfort me any further and I got back into a more professional posture. "No, that's just something that I can't bring myself to do. Leaving customers unsatisfied and missing my promised deadlines, that would just break my heart. I have my honor as a weaver to uphold." I proudly and half-jokingly put a hand to my chest and smirked at him before I slumped a little. "Besides, I'm not at the age where I should be fawning over women and chase tail anymore. My life should be devoted to my work."

Mikhail cut in right as I finished my sentence with a dismissive rebuttal. "What are you talking about? Man, you're barely in your mid-thirties and you're looking great! You can live your life from time to time! And that excuse with work? That's nonsense and you know it. Look at me and Elora, we're working together every day and we still manage. And trust me, if people like us can support such a lifestyle then you can too, friend."

His enthusiastic encouragement brought a smile and even a little blush to my face My following sigh was mixed in with a chuckle as I thanked him. "Thank you, friend. It might be a little hard to find the time anywhere soon but... I'll try to stretch my wings a little when I do."

Mikhail returned my smile and we reached out to hold each other's shoulders. "That's the spirit, Archimedes. You'll find your luck even if I have to push you into it"

"I'm counting on it, friend." I spoke reassuringly, smiling in appreciation of his friendship. "Well, anyways, you still know the price and time for your cover, right?"

"200 pieces of Gold, 3 weeks, right?" Mikhail answered as he pulled out his pouch of gold. "Well, I better get going. Elora gets all antsy when I'm gone for too long. Have a great day my friend."

I pocketed his money and waved him goodbye as he headed outside. "You as well, Mikhail. You as well."

The door fell shut, knocking against the doorbell one more time before leaving me in the silence. I sighed in relief as I stretched and rolled my shoulders back into place. "Well ahhh, time to get back to work then. Plenty... plenty to be done." I let out a short sigh, but nonetheless tried to keep up my morale. I got back behind the racks of fabrics and threads and sat down at my workbench. In front of me stood another rack with my most current project. A rather large one as well.

It was a banner commissioned for the Order itself. It was a stark reminder that even though they tolerate the monster presence within their lands more and more, the crusade against the succubi was still going on. I actually didn't really know if they really knew what was going on here in Walakai. Since Elora settled down here we actually had a LOT more monsters join our community. So far nothing had happened though, maybe we're moving forward to a more united future. Maybe I should've been more optimistic looking at this banner.

The project itself was nearly done, actually there were only a few rows of threads to be added. Namely, the golden rim at the top that spanned around the entire banner. The moment I sat down, I groaned in slight annoyance as I noticed something. "Tsk, the spool's empty. Damn, do I still have golden yarn left over?"

There was only one place for me to look for a reserve and that was the old storage room. If I didn't find anything THERE, then I'd have to postpone the project to the next time I visit the market several towns over. Materials like those the Order requested are a rare find and can't exactly be bought from any ordinary supply store.

With cautious optimism I grabbed my lantern and ignited the small wick within it. While the main part of the store was well lit by the daylight that came in through the windows, the storage section was completely set in the dark with only faint glimmers of light breaking into it. The fabrics had to stay cool so they wouldn't lose tension and had to be shielded from the sunlight so the colors wouldn't bleach out.

So, I grabbed my lantern and headed into the separated room, stepping into the dark with my pulsating light source.

As soon as I passed the door, a draft of wind swung it shut behind me and left me in the cool, humid darkness. I could smell the familiar scent of dyes and sheep's wool; a mix of chemical sharpness and rural musk. Hard to get used to but also very homely once you DO get used to it.

"Let's see here..." I held my lantern in front of me, covering the leftover scraps of fabrics and bundles of wool in a deep orange glow. I had to be careful not to get too close to them with it since some of them are easily flammable, letting me only see dimly illuminated silhouettes of the racks and shelves I searched.

I slid the hangers from side to side, seeing if I could salvage some golden yarn from any of the abandoned works. "White, torn, stained, too thin... damn, isn't there..." I cut off my own thought as I saw something at the very back of the storage that glistened as it reflected the light of my lantern.

I went to inspect it and immediately my I let out a heavy sigh of relief. A golden spool of yarn. Only half full but it would be just enough to finish the banner. Though I was relieved to have found it, there is one thing that puzzled me about it. The golden yarn wasn't reflective it was something that coated it that made it glimmer. I wiped my index finger over it. "Pink powder?"

Suddenly a loud bang behind my back made me shudder and reel back against the shelf. Several spools fell on the floor and rolled across it. A rack had collapsed, its bar was completely broken in half. I kept calm as I walked up to it and found a huge pile of fabric that one after another slid from the broken rack onto the floor.

Seeing by the mass of it, it might actually have been too much for one rack alone to hold but even so, it wouldn't be that much over the weight limit that it'd break this violently. The bar was snapped like a twig. I put my lantern down at a safe distance from the pile as I sorted through it. They were the same materials that I saw before but... now they were covered in the same pink powder as the golden yarn.

I ruffled through them all, each one more covered in it than the last. It was like a layer of dust on them that completely covered and clung to them. I dug deeper and deeper, tossing aside more and more fabrics until I found the bewildering source of the weird powder. A big, almost human sized lump of pink fur. It was too dark to make out much, but it looked like a compilation of several tufts that were soft to the touch. When I pinched it between my fingers, a weird little cloud of this pink dust puffed out. I coughed "Hirk! NNhhh, what is this stuff? I've never even used material like this." I waved a hand in front of my face to waft away the powder while leaning on the fur with my other hand. My eyes shot open a little as I felt it. Not only was it soft as a cotton cloud but getting a better hold of it, it was also very... springy. I got a full hand of it, bundling it up in my hand. There was something almost fleshy to it, like there was skin under...

"Nyyaaaaa!" A stretched out, feminine moan suddenly rang out in the storage. I froze solid, my hand still in the same position. I probingly squeezed again and only confirmed... that I was grabbing more than just fur.

I looked down and from the pile of fabric emerged a face. The face of a girl. Her cheeks red from blushing and a lewd smile forming on her face. "You're not supposed to go for that right away, master!" She said as she let out a playfully shy laugh.

At this moment I noticed that I was not sitting on a pile of fur; I was straddling this girl and I was fondling her fur covered, voluptuous breast.

My eyes shot open and I immediately pushed myself away from her and fumbled backwards until I knocked my head against the wall. "Ow!" I flinched as I rustled my hair to distract from the pain.

"Master!" The girl instantly got up and crawled towards me. The closer she came to the light of the lantern, the more I could make out about her. Her eyes were wavering as if she was seriously concerned.

When she was close enough, I could see her entire body as well. She was most definitely a monster, although one that I've never seen before. She had large, pink, fluffy wings among other insectoid features like an equally furry insect butt and arms and legs that were covered in fluff and ended in pincer-like hands. Dark red, fanned-out antennae poked out of her light pink, long hair and additional fluff covered her intimate areas like her crotch and her breasts that I had unintentionally groped before.

"M...master? Who are you talking to?" I shook my head to gather my senses. "Wait, that should be question 3 or 4! Who are you and what are you doing in my storage?"

She slumped down and her lowered her antennae in guilt. "Are you mad at me, master?"

"M...mad?" I recognized that I used a very hostile tone and despite the situation I should've tried to solve it calmly. "Apologies, this is just... a weird situation. Let me collect myself." I took a deep breather and rubbed my eyes as I continued in a more casual tone. "Okay, let's try this again. Who are you?"

She knelt in front of me and I could see that she was holding back her excitement. The shift in her mood was almost instant as she suddenly smiled giddily. "I'm Zephyr, but you can call me Zephie, master."

I slowly sat up so I wasn't so slumped anymore and faced her more properly. "Nice to meet you Zephyr, but still... what is a girl like you doing in here? It's so dark and cold."

"Exactly!" She cried out and pumped a fist. "This place is perfect! I love the dark! Although I love light too! Like your lantern! I love that too!"

I cocked my head at this weird almost childishly excitable girl and cracked a befuddled smile. "Didn't think I'd ever hear someone say they love it back here. You sure are a weird one."

"Weird?" She put a finger to her chin. "What do you mean, master?"

"There you go again. Why are you calling me that? I'm not really the master of anyone."

Unexpectedly, she started blushing and got a little antsy as she looked at the ground. "Uh... well I haven't asked you yet but... I live in your house and since its yours that means you're the master of the house. So, I thought that you'd be my master too! I saw all of your works and they're soooooo pretty! Some of them even have flowers on them! I love flowers! A master who loves flowers as much as I do can't be a bad master!"

I was completely taken aback. There was no hint of joking behind her words. She was 100% sincere and unabashedly excited. "That's umm... a pretty bold request there, Zephyr. I...I'm really still pretty confused by all of this."

"I knew that it was a weird question, that's why I hid in here. I saw you sleeping outside on top of your fabric thingies but I never dared to ask you since you were probably tired already."

"Wait... how long have you been in here?"

"How late is it?"

"Uhh... around 6 o'clock in the evening?"

"Then about 2 months."

My jaw dropped a little. "2...2months? You've been in here for THAT long? How did I never notice you?"

She cutely rubbed the back of her neck and embarrassedly shut her eyes. "Ehehe, like I said, I was REALLY anxious about it. I slept in your racks the whole time where it was nice and tight. I can sleep upside down."

"Is that why the bar broke?"

"Kinda. That was actually another reason. It held out every other time when I slept on it."

"But?"

She shot me a blushing smile. "Well... when I noticed that you were there, I was so excited that my wings started fluttering really really wildly. I guess that I broke it with that. S...sorry about that." She hung her head apologetically and tapped the tips of her index fingers against each other.

The way she prostrated herself in front of me was almost abominably cute. I gave in to the urge to reach out and pet her head. I didn't know why it overcame me like that, but her response was so adorable that I forgot about it immediately. Her eyes were blissfully closed and pushed her head against my hand. "It's not that big a deal. Stuff like that isn't that expensive. But what now?"

"Hmm... I dunno. It's your call, master. I wanna stay with you and watch you work. Can I? I want to see you make more flowers!"

I chuckled a little as I continued to pet the top of her head, pushing down her antennae underneath my hands. "I don't only make flowers you know? I have to make what my customers want too."

"I don't mind! It's all full of pretty colors! Like that one!" She pointed to my side where the spool of golden yarn laid on the floor.

"Oh, right!" I grabbed the spool and looked back up at Zephyr. "Speaking of which, I need to get back to work."

"So... can I watch? I promise I won't get in the way!" She pleaded beggingly with eyes that a puppy would be jealous of.

I laughed at her and extended a hand to pull her up. "For today, yeah. It won't take too long. Hope you won't get too bored."

"I won't!"

I sighed as I suppressed an endeared smile. "Alright then. Let's... hnng..." Right after taking a first step, my vision grew slightly skewed and wobbly. My legs stiffened up and my mind became a blank slate for a second.

Zephyr came up to my side and squeezed my arm with her hands, worriedly pulling it against her to steady me. "Are you alright, master?"

"Woooo... must've gotten up a little too fast there. I'm feeling a little woozy but I'm good. By the way, you really don't need to call me master. My name is Archimedes." I explained to her and her eyes lit up like a shooting star.

She gasped "Oh! Can I call you Archie? We could be Zephie and Archie! Wouldn't that be great, master?"

"Wha... Archie? No! No Archie! It sounds way too silly, Zephyr."

She puffed her cheeks "It's not silly, it's cute! I don't mind it when you call me Zephie either. You haven't done that yet either even though I told you to." She frowned and puffed out her cheeks, scrunching her adorable little mouth.

I rolled my eyes jokingly and let out a fake sigh. "Alright, I'll think about using it, okay? We barely just met each other, usually you only give nicknames to your close friends."

Her antennae propped up halfway as she seemingly didn't understand what I was getting at but she complied nonetheless and gave me a relieved smile. "That's fine then. As long as you remember it!" She pointed her finger straight at my face with a cutely stern face.