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“What’s wrong?” Cory asked as she pulled a fried finger out of a basket of ‘fries’ with her talon. She dipped it into a dish of meat sauce before popping it into her mouth. “Not hungry? You only ate the mushrooms.”
Raea grunted as she stared at her plate. A single eyeball stared back at her. She poked it with her fork, causing it to fall off the pile of ground meat. “I’m just not very comfortable eating angels,” she said and pursed her lips. “Isn’t there anything else to eat? Like, I don’t know, rice or corn or fruit?”
“Nope,” Cory said as she ate the last fry. She frowned and flipped the basket upside down, but not even a crumb fell out. “Only mushrooms grow down here. We used to eat the people who died, but that hasn’t happened very often since Solra came here.”
“Because it’s immoral?” Raea asked.
“No,” Cory said and rolled her eyes. “Because they stopped dying, silly. Any injury can be healed by with an orb. You angels have it good up there.” Cory paused as she threw the basket at a younger harpy, ordering her to get more snacks. She turned back to Raea and blinked. “You were from up there, right?”
“Yes,” Raea said and bit her lower lip. “I was.”
Cory waited for more, staring at Raea with her eyes wide open. Her head tilted to one side when she realized Raea wasn’t going to say anything else. “You’re as talkative as a dwarf,” Cory said and snorted before leaning back on her bench.
“Sorry,” Raea muttered. She sighed and stared at her plate. “I just don’t like thinking about it. I used to be a good person, I think.” She shoveled her food around with her fork before sighing again. “I’m not sure what I am anymore. I’ve done a lot of … bad things recently. I’m not trying to find an excuse for my actions, but I didn’t feel like myself when I did those things. I couldn’t control myself. I’m not sure if I’m even myself anymore. Whenever I see my reflection, I don’t recognize the person I see. I should be horrified by what I’ve done, but … I’m not.” She fell silent as she dropped her fork and leaned back. Cory was preening herself.
“Well,” Cory said when she was done. “It sounds like you’re quite confused. How old are you?”
“I’m sixteen,” Raea said and furrowed her brow. “What’s that have to do with anything?”
“My god,” Cory said and stared at Raea. “I’m old. Shit.” She scratched her head with her talon. The younger harpy returned and placed the basket of fries on the table before flying away. “Anyways, it’s perfectly normal for you to be confused. Give yourself another thirty years or so and maybe you’ll find yourself.” She nodded and began snacking on her fries.
“I don’t think most sixteen year olds have ever been in the same situation as I have,” Raea said and pursed her lips. “I practically annihilated a quarter of the first sector. I don’t even know how many people I’ve killed. Doesn’t that make me a monster?”
“Yup,” Cory said and nodded. “When I was your age, I only killed seven of my cousins.” Raea bit her lower lip. “But is being a monster a bad thing?” Cory poked Raea’s forehead with one of the fried fingers.
“Isn’t it?” Raea asked and wiped her forehead with the back of her sleeve.
Cory shrugged. “I think it’s a compliment,” she said. “How many people are able to be recognized as monsters? It’d be great if people thought I was a monster.”
“You are!” a voice shouted from a corner of the cafeteria. Cory furrowed her brow and glared at the troll who just spoke. A red lightning bolt appeared out of nowhere and struck the troll’s butt, launching him into the air.
“Anyways,” Cory said, ignoring the aggrieved cries, “it would be great if people thought I was a monster. But I’m not. I’m like completely harmless and cute, right? People don’t take me seriously when I speak—it’s really annoying. I tell the angels to die, but they fire arrows at me instead. It’s not fair.”
Raea blinked. “Somehow, I think it was a mistake to tell you about my problems,” she said.
“But do you feel even a teensy bit better?” Cory asked as she lifted the basket of fries and emptied the remainder into her mouth.
“No,” Raea said and frowned. “I feel even worse.”
“Oh,” Cory said. “That’s probably the mushrooms. Everyone feels worse after eating them. But anyways, enough about your problems because that topic’s boring.” She raised her voice. “Who here hasn’t killed someone? Anyone?” She looked around the cafeteria and saw no raised hands. She turned back towards Raea. “See? Slaughter’s boring. So how long are you staying here for?”
“I’m not sure,” Raea said and furrowed her brow. Why was she here in the first place? Hadn’t she wanted to slaughter everyone? But somewhere along the way that changed because of Palan and Pyre. Should she even be making friends with these people?
“More than a day?” Cory asked and tilted her head.
“Yes,” Raea said and nodded.
“Great, that’s plenty of time,” Cory said and stood up. “Let’s go meet the harpies. I have to introduce you to them. You’re the harbinger after all, right?”
“Didn’t I say I wasn’t sure?” Raea asked as Cory hopped over to her side and placed a wing over her shoulders.
“In harpy speak, ‘I’m not sure’ means whatever the listener wants it to,” Cory said and nodded as she tugged on Raea. “I’m interpreting it as a yes, so let’s go. Unless you want to finish that?” She gestured towards the plate in front of Raea.
“No, let’s go,” Raea said and wrinkled her nose.
Cory nodded and nabbed the eyeball with her talon before popping it into her mouth. She spoke while chewing, “Right now, there’s only one harpy tribe. There used to be seven, but I united them all recently because I became awesome. Pew pew, red lightning and all that, you know? So I’m like the acting matriarch because the matriarch’s daughter disappeared or something on a mission.”
“Sally?” Raea asked.
“Mm.” Cory furrowed her brow. “I think that was her name. How did you know?”
“I traveled with her for a bit.”
“Oh. Did she die?”
“I don’t think so?”
“Let’s just say she died then. Makes my life much easier,” Cory said with a nod. “Anyways. There’s like two thousand harpies total. We’re kind of a small group compared to the rest of the halflings, but we can fly so everyone else can go cry in a corner with their overrated arms. There really isn’t too much space for us, and we enjoy killing each other so that limits our population. Although we’re an odd bunch, there’s one thing we agree on. Mushrooms taste terrible, and the harbinger is our savior. I guess that’s two things, huh? Well, you’re the harbinger, and everyone is waiting on you to deliver us to new lands.”
“How are you so sure I’m the harbinger?”
“I mean, if you aren’t, then I guess that’s a bummer. We’ll just wait a few more years. But if you are, then that’s awesome. See?”
“Not really,” Raea said as they made their way down a winding tunnel.
“Well, that’s okay,” Cory said. “If you save us, then you save us. Try not to worry too much about the thousands of hopes and dreams resting on your shoulders. No pressure.”
“Great,” Raea said and lowered her head. “Just what I needed when I’m not even sure I can save myself.”
“No problem,” Cory said as they stepped into a spacious region. “And we’re here!”