It wasn’t as long a wait as they had expected. In fact it had only been ten minutes- as Teel thought of it he realized that Kamek was a Magikoopa, and he was to expect as such- before a Koopa dressed in a white robe with an apron and stethoscope rang the doorbell.
Teela sat gloomily, looking to her paws and never suspecting that the Koopa at the door was her worst nightmare. In fact, the girl would only find out from the man himself in about two years.
She never knew he was a Magikoopa, never even suspected it. Such a terrible situation had nearly traumatized the girl several years before, and even her parents agreed she had a right to be. They hoped she’d grow out of it, but for now it was all they could do to lie to her and tell her that—
“Teela, dear, come here. This is Doctor Kamek,” Leeta addressed her daughter.
Kamek smiled to Teela, who smiled back shyly, fangs glistening and eyes innocent. As her father looked to her; he felt his heart swell and fought back his anger at the world.
“Good evening, Doctor Kamek…” Teela spoke, softly and unsure.
“And to you as well. I heard about your little problem,” Kamek spoke gently; he did, after all, have a way with children and… certain experiences.
“Yeah… Oh, they don’t hurt or anything… Really, I hardly notice they’re there,” Teela explained with logic and innocence that only a child could manage. She pointed to her fangs, smiling to emphasize them, and again Teel felt a hit directly to his heart…
What happened to my only daughter? Why MY daughter? What if it’s not able to be undone? What will we do about it?!
Angered questions began to slam around inside his mind. He felt nauseous, and looked to Leeta, who seemed to see it in his eyes. She took his hand and nodded.
It should have been reassuring. For some reason he didn’t feel any better…
“Teela, how did this happen?” Kamek questioned. Teela’s smile faded for a moment as she cocked her head in thought, and then repeated everything she had told her parents. Kamek stood and looked to her thoughtfully through the whole story, and only paused to ask her about what she feared the most.
She had replied: her parents getting worried.
Kamek knew from the start that he doubted there was much he could do for Teela, but at the same time he knew she didn’t seem to mind. If it weren’t for her parents, he realized, she would hardly give it another thought…
There were several books Kamek had brought, in hopes of diagnosing the problem. He sat in the kitchen while the family sat in the living room.
At some point while he was reading, Teela had walked into the room and taken Kamek’s aging claws within her small paw. She looked up to him with the most innocent and pure eyes he’d ever seen and spoke with such a gentle tone that it took all his might to keep from embracing her and telling her that she was such a sweet thing.
“Am I gonna live, Doctor?” She said it with a smile. Kamek knew that if the girl had been dying from cancer, CANCER for crying out loud, it wouldn’t stop her from smiling her brightest. She was something special, even without what had happened to her happening, and he had known this from the start.
“I don’t see why not,” Kamek replied, smiling in return. Teela sat down in the chair across from him and said not another word while he read for at least another twenty minutes.
He read that fangs
were the symbol of an old clan, that fangs were the key ingredients in
special dark magic, but it was a very long while before he reached chapter
seven, section four of his fifth book. He read of the Full Moon Death.
The Full Moon Death
There have only been several, and very ancient, recordings of such a thing. Some say it is more of a legend, others say it differs from person to person, but what information has been gathered is presented.
Supposedly---
The fangs drain the life of the victim until they have to start taking others'. The fangs of death turn the victim into a bloodsucking monster, and eventually symptoms of a virus called "Ghostinara" kick in. We only know the first two symptoms.
1. One starts to
seem invisible, not seen.
2. One starts to
have weird sparks of intense power. Eyes light up when this happens.
This is all we know
of the symptoms. If you ever meet someone that meets these descriptions
there is no use helping them. They will later end up dieing a horribly
painful death. The rest of this tale is a mystery, but it's true.
Kamek stopped reading there. He looked up with large, frightened eyes to Teela, looking into the bright and innocent, strikingly emerald, green eyes. He found Teela had been watching him the whole time, and he realized she wasn’t noticing the look on his eyes.
“Child, what are you looking at?”
“Oh, just the book.”
“You… read it?” His heart skipped a beat.
“No, I can’t really read upside down. Gives me a headache.”
Oh, you can have a headache, but your parents might go ahead and have a heart attack… Kamek thought gloomily. He didn’t know what or how to tell them anything…
Kamek got up and slowly walked into the living room. Teel looked up and already saw the look of horror plastered on the “doctor’s” face. His heart started to beat quickly, and in the kitchen Teela looked up to the ceiling rather suddenly, as though its beat was tangible.
The air seemed to scatter, as though running away from the news that would shortly be presented. The tightness in Kamek’s throat was exactly how all of their lungs- save for Teela, who had picked up one of the other books and begun to scan the index- felt.
“Well…” Kamek said lowly, hoping Teela wasn’t in range of hearing. “You see… From what I’ve read, this isn’t anything good.”
“And how bad is it then?” Teel took a slow intake of breath and forcefully expelled it, making his words sound short.
He showed them the entry in the book. One would think it was Leeta who would start crying, but it was Teel, who sat down and stared at the wall. He may as well been told his child was now a monster and had no hope for anything.
“I would suggest…” Kamek began, pausing a moment to really understand what he was about to say, “that you use the quickest method of death.”
Teel said nothing. Leeta only looked to the book and up to Kamek.
“I don’t see… You see, I don’t fully understand. This book doesn’t say this with much certainty. I’m not saying I don’t believe it, and no I’m not in denial, but I really don’t think it can be exactly right. From the gist of it I understand this is a rare… case,” Leeta explained, words clear and unaffected by her sudden horror. Kamek realized that if she had any fear or sorrow she hid it well.
“That may well be, too. I have given you the only… sort of…. factual information that I can. I know not else of what to tell you, aside from the fact that this is all I can do.”
“THERE’S NO SORT OF MEDICINE?! NO SORT OF…” Teel stopped there. He found Teela was looking at him curiously, staring in the doorway and looking to him with those large and curious eyes.
She was only a child, only a child! He may as well had been told she had cancer, may as well been told there was no hope. It was in that instance that an anger began, an anger and confused sort of depression began, one that would affect Teel a way that wouldn’t change not even to his death, which would occur a little less than a year later.
“Dad… it’s not that bad. Just a change in appearance!” Teela explained. Her smile had faded to a grim hyphen across her face.
Kamek bade them goodnight and left quickly. He couldn’t stand the air anymore, or the tragedy that was at hand. He didn’t want to say it, but it was truth that this wasn’t his problem.
Leeta took her husband upstairs.
“Teel… Look at me.” He sat, looking frightened, his paws filled with anger sorrow filled at his paws.
“What?” he snarled.
“Listen… We won’t tell her. I don’t really think what that book said was true, and-“
“SHE’S A FREAK!” Teel erupted and dug his face into his pillow. He didn’t deal with anger very well. He normally was a calm, rational person, but not when it came to anger.
“Don’t say that. We’re not sure what’s going to happen. This was how it was when I had her to begin with, from the day she was born, Teel. Do you remember? We weren’t even sure what to do with the egg!” Leeta giggled.
“Yes… yes I know.” He spoke into the pillow, voice muffled but hearable. “I just…”
“Shh…” Leeta stroked his hair and lifted him up from the pillow. “You can’t react like this in front of Teela. You’ll frighten her. Obviously we mustn’t tell her anything… except that there is nothing we can do.”
“And? And…” Teel’s voice trembled. Leeta hugged him, still stroking his hair. “Then what?”
“We wait.” Leeta spoke firmly. She kissed his cheek and neither said anything else. There wasn’t much they could do, and even less they were sure of.
They never told her what the book said. They only told her that there was nothing they could do. Teela seemed perfectly content with that and got along just fine.
For a few days.
To Be Continued...
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