Trails of Parchment - written works

The buzz of a sewing machine doing its job quite well echoed through Will’s otherwise quiet home. The storm primordial had been very busy working on a secret project for their friends, inspired by the news about the Bewitchment Festival being in town. Now, Will wasn’t too sure what this Bewitchment Festival was about, but it involved pranks and costumes so they figured the people who came up with it knew how to have fun.

The buzzing stopped. Will pulled the fabrics they had been sewing together away from the sewing machine and held the now-finished costume piece out in front of them, giving it a good inspection for flaws.

“Perfect!” they exclaimed, “Now I just need to figure out what kind of stuff would work for No.”

They hummed while rummaging through the collection of fabrics they borrowed from their job, trying to find something that would fit the little negative primordial. If nothing else worked, they could always just grab a white sheet of fabric and cut some eyeholes in it, but Will knew they could do better than that.

It didn’t take long for Will to get an idea for No’s surprise costume, though they weren’t sure whether No would like it. It would look really good on her though, or so Will thought.

By the time Will finished all of the costumes for No, Taro, and themself, they were extremely grateful for the fact that they were a kind of magical creature that didn’t need to sleep, because otherwise they’d be dead tired by now. Still, they decided to take a little break and drink some orange juice before showing their friends the costumes. Taking breaks and drinking orange juice were crucial parts of Will’s workflow, especially if the orange juice was nice and pulpy.

Their break barely lasted six minutes, since Will was too excited about showing Taro and No their Bewitchment Festival Costumes. They tried to pack the costumes in a large bag before coming to the conclusion that No’s costume wouldn’t properly fit in any of the bags they owned.

After packing the two costumes that weren’t meant for No in a smaller bag, they ran off to their friends’ place while holding No’s costume in their hands.

“TARO! Can you please open the door?! My hands are too full to knock!” Will shouted at Taro and No’s door, their tail waving impatiently behind them. It wasn’t Taro who opened the door, though. It was the smaller one of the two negative siblings. No quickly stepped back as they saw everything Will had brought with them.

“Ah, No, perfect timing!” Will smiled widely as they placed the large round thing they’d previously been holding on No’s head.

“Will, what the hell?” No adjusted the very wide hat so it sat more balanced on their head, and brushed the dark red tendrils that drooped down from it out of her face.

“I made something for you! A jellyfish hat, to be precise!” Will explained, still smiling happily, “It’s like a costume, for when we go to the Bewitchment Festival!”

It was quite obvious that Will’s loudness had attracted the other negative sibling, since Taro rounded the corner of the hallway and stood there for a moment, silently observing what just happened.

As soon as Will noticed Taro, which took a bit because they were too focused on No and their cute red and blue jellyfish hat, they pulled a decently large amount of black and purple fabric out of the bag they had brought.

“Oh, Taro, my love, of course I made something for you as well!” They said as they draped the fabric over Taro’s shoulders, “It may be a little simple but it fits your aesthetic: it’s a fancy cape! Look! It even has a nice tall collar!”

Will adjusted Taro’s cape so the collar part would stand upright, giving him a slightly more intimidating presence.

“Thank you?” Taro was clearly caught off-guard by Will’s surprise costumes, “You mentioned we would be attending a festival? When were you planning to do so?”

“Right now?” Will put on their biggest, cutest puppy-eyes in hopes the other two would agree to that, but they were only met with a silence that took longer than was comfortable.

“Are you going to wear a costume as well?” A very small voice that came from underneath a colorful jellyfish broke the silence.

“Of course I am! I won’t let you guys have all the fun!” Within seconds, Will put on their own costume: a white sheet of fabric with eyeholes cut into it. Taro couldn’t help but have a little chuckle at the sight, especially since the lightning in Will’s hair shone through the ghostly sheet.

“You guys don’t have anything important planned for today, right?” Ghost-Will asked, their gaze shifting between Taro and No.

“I believe we have nothing scheduled today.” Taro answered, “so, we could attend the Bewitchment Festival with you.”

“YES!” Will cheered, “C’mon we gotta go quickly, otherwise we’ll miss the frog race!”

Taro and No looked at each other for a moment, but quickly followed Will because the stormy elemental had already ran off.