Lost and found: A terrible, awful, very bad start to the day
As soon as your alarm jarred you awake, a single word rushed through your head.
No.
This was not going to be a good day, that was all you needed to be sure of this. All you wanted to do was burrow deeper into your blankets and sleep it out, but sadly this wasn’t an option, as you were an adult with a job and bills. With a disapproving groan, you pushed yourself up and grabbed your phone, turning the alarm off before reaching over to turn your bedside lamp on. You were greeted by a messy room filled with boxes and clothes all over the floor. A full month in your new apartment and you still hadn’t bothered unpacking. Your mother would absolutely flip her lid if she ever found out.
You threw your legs over the side of your bed and stood, pausing and rubbing your temples as your head felt like it was spinning. Yup, definitely one of those days. With a long sigh you picked your way through the room, grabbing a random shirt off a box and heading to your bathroom. After brushing your teeth and hair, you threw the shirt on and began looking for some pants. So far, every pair you came across was either dirty or had holes. Your patience was running thin, as was the time you had before you needed to leave for work. Part of you swore if you couldn’t find some good pants, you weren’t even going to bother going.
A loud thud caught you off guard and you whirled around, grabbing the nearest object to defend yourself.
Nothing was there, except for a pair of clean blue jeans that had fallen out of a tipped over box. You gently set the JoJo figure down and threw the pants on with a grunt.
You topped off the look with some plain converse sneakers and grabbed your employee lanyard and bag, checking for your license and other IDs before leaving. You had no time for breakfast, which would likely come back to bite you later, but whatever. That was future you’s problem. You climbed into your car and sped out of the complex, inhaling deeply as you glanced at the grey clouds hanging overhead. When was the sun out last? When had you last felt...not like this? You hadn’t even been awake for an hour but it already felt like you were living on repeat. At a stop light, you took a second to lean back and close your eyes, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly.
“...come on, Y/N. You were tired all through high school, you can handle one crappy day.”
With that little affirmation, you hit the gas once the light turned green and continued on down the road. You made it to your job at the call center with only a few minutes to spare, running inside and high fiving your friend Sunny as you reached your desk beside hers. Sunny was a small red haired girl who always had a gleam in her eye and a smile teasing her lips. You’d been work friends for about two years now, and work would be 100% times worse without her there.
“You just barely made it.” Sunny snickered as you collapsed in your seat, groaning. Her smile was then replaced by a furrowed brow and a tilt to the head, “Hey, did you call in or something? I was under the impression you weren’t working today.” “God, I wish.” You replied, putting your headset around your neck and switching your computer on, “But I’m scheduled, and I need the money, so no.” “Weird. I really thought you weren’t coming in.” Sunny shrugged and turned on her own computer, smiling as Mel came over with some Starbucks for you both.
“I thought you weren’t working today?”
“Nope, I’m here.” You replied, taking the coffee from him. Mel was a big guy. Not super muscular, more like those guys who’d participate in the Highland games. Kinda chubby but can totally toss a log if he wanted. He was another one of your three work friends, usually the one to bring coffee like he was now and generally just popping over from time to time. Before Mel could say anything else, someone cleared their voice loudly. You rolled your eyes and turned in your chair to see the supervisor of your shift, Ms. Gazelle.
This woman drove you up the wall. She constantly tried to force everyone to dress way nicer than this job was worth and was looking for any excuse to write you up. What did the old bat want this time? Gazelle walked to the middle of the room and put her hands on her hips, speaking loudly so everyone could hear her.
“Good morning everyone! Today we’re doing something a little different.” Oh, you dreaded those words. Whatever it was, you were sure it was going to be a real pain. You silently sipped your coffee, watching Gazelle with tired, half lidded eyes as she continued, “A child went missing yesterday. A 7 year old named Chara. We’re working with the authorities for the next few days and running the tip line. This is a very serious situation, and I expect you all to treat it as such.” Okay, unexpected but she was right. That was practically a baby. You were fine with helping run the hotline. You put your headphones on and turned to face your computer as your third, and final work friend rushed through the door, heading to the seat on your other side.
“Mr. Nelson, you are late.”
You scoffed quietly as Gazelle scolded Abraham, you slumped in his chair, his long blonde hair a mess. He brushed it out of his face and spoke, his thick accent giving away the fact that he was a British transplant.
“Sorry, ma’am, I’m still trying to get used to the directions here.”
“Well, don’t do it again.”
With that, the supervisor from hell stalked off, leaving the rest of you to officially start your day. “What gwarning?” Abe asked, starting up his computer. You moved one of the headphones so you could hear him better, and when you stared at him blankly he sighed, “Sorry. What’s up?” “7 year old kid is missing. We’re working the tip hotline for the new two few days.” At that, he shook his head, whistling. “A baby like that, lost or something? Poor kid must be bricking it.” “Abe, babe, we don’t speak British.” Sunny reminded him, not looking up from her computer, and he sighed in response. Mel had taken a seat at the computer across from you, though he was big enough to still see you over the cubical divider. “Anyone know where people have tried looking?”
“It looks like most of the parks in town and the streets near the place the kid lived.” Sunny replied. She’d pulled up some articles off the web. You glanced at your own screen, silently swearing. You wanted to help, but it was 4:30 in the morning. Nobody would be calling in a tip this early. “Has anyone searched Mount Ebott yet?” You asked absent mindedly, pulling up some articles about the missing child on your own computer. “Nah,” Sunny replied, “Besides, what little kid would want to go up there? With all the stories?” “What stories?” Abe glanced at her and she shrugged. “Supposedly, monsters live in the mountain, and anyone who climbs it never comes back.” “Bull.” Abe snorted, but you cut in, “No, it’s true. There’s a whole legend to go with it and everything.”
Now Abe had completely turned in his seat, looking at you expectantly. Realizing what you’d done, you sighed and leaned forward, resting your elbows on the desk.
“....Okay, so, it’s like this. Once-“ You caught yourself and then shook your head, “Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, this is the Tale of Men and Monsters.” That got laughs out of your friends and you smiled. “See, a long time ago, humans weren’t the only big group walking the earth. Alongside them, there was monsters. Monsters off all different types and sizes. Some made completely out of flame, some were spider girls. Heck, there were even goat monsters and skeletons. And they all lived side by side with humans, until one day, for an unknown reason, war broke out.”
You paused to let Abe digest what you were telling him. He was quiet, leaning forward to listen. You now had Sunny and Mel’s attention as well.
“The war was a terrible one. Many lives were lost, but in the end humans won, slaying countless monsters and turning them to dust. You see, monsters are not prone to violence. If they fight, it is out of fear or to defend themselves, which leads them to miss one key trait that humans have. Humans are determined. It was this DETERMINATION that helped humans win the war-“
”Why do you say determination like that?”
You stopped and gave Abe a blank stare. “Interrupt me again and I’ll slap the British out of you.” Then, to show that you weren’t serious, you smiled. “Can I continue my story now?” “Yeah, yeah.” Abe smiled with a roll of his eyes, “Violent ass fool.”
“ANYWAY, it was this DET-Determination that helped humans win the war. Only so many monsters were left, and they were forced deep beneath Mount Ebott, trapped by a magical barrier that only a human soul could pass through. Now, anyone who goes up the mountain is never seen again. Supposedly, they fall into Ebott’s depths, where they meet their end at the hands of the monster’s angry queen, hell bent on collecting human souls to break the barrier and show her people the sun once again.”
“You can’t possibly believe that.” Abe said once he was sure you were finished with your story. You leaned back, chewing on your lip as you debated how to respond to that. After a few seconds, you decided to bite the bullet. “I do, actually. When I was in foster care, we went camping on the mountain. My foster parents weren’t..great, so I tried to run away. I ended up tripping on a root and falling down a hole. I saw them myself.” “Are you sure the monsters weren’t just your imagination’s way of trying to cope with your abusive foster parents?” Mel spoke up suddenly. You lifted your head to check for Gazelle, and when you didn’t see her you stood, smacking him hard upside the head.
“Ow!”
“Don’t do that unless I’m suddenly paying you to be my therapist. Ass.”
“We could search the mountain.” Sunny tried to de-escalate the situation, “For the kid, I mean. It’s pretty close to where they lived, so it’s possible that they might have tried to go exploring and just got lost.” “...Yeah. I guess we could.” Mel agreed, rubbing where you had hit him, “That’s a lot of ground to cover though. I guess we could make a camping trip of it. Stay the weekend.” “Yeah, that sounds like an idea.” You agreed, then glanced at Abe, who shrugged. “Sure. S’not like I have weekend plans anyway.”
A hand slammed down on your desk, making you jump and Abe screech. Gazelle.
“Making weekend plans? You haven’t even taken any calls! How about you focus on your JOBS instead of the weekend!”
With a scowl, you turned back to your computer screen as she walked away. Not. A single. Call.
“That woman is a gimping paigon.” Abe hissed under his breath. You nodded. “I have no idea what you just said, but I agree.”
Next: https://www.tumblr.com/slimyficgirl/722735808887586816/lost-and-found-temmie-is-a-stupid-name
You pushed some boxes out of the way as you dug through the kitchen, looking for some stuff to take on the camping trip. Mel was set to arri
