Yarra's Adventure Notes-Chapter 152 - 14 Annie_1

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"I am Annie." The little banshee’s words left Pannis with his mouth wide open, completely unsure of how to respond. He could only stare at the little banshee like a fool, and his silly appearance made the innocent banshee cover her mouth and giggle silently.

"So you are Annie." He thought of the times he had racked his brains trying to find a way to locate Annie, only to have the person he was looking for appear before him as a little banshee. The whole scenario was as frustrating as throwing a punch which only hit the air. He could only sigh reluctantly: "Fate is truly freaking amazing."

Feeling the hand that was stroking her head stop, the little banshee frowned, shaking her head vigorously against Pannis’s palm as if seeking more of the long-gone warmth and affection. Sensing her dissatisfaction, Pannis regained his senses from the surprise, continuing to stroke her head. Only then did she soften her frown and smile again.

"Little girl." Catherine gathered her courage to walk over and squatted beside Pannis, asking the little banshee: "Do you live at 41 Malt Beer Street?"

"Malt Beer Street?" The little banshee squinted like an adult, forcing herself to remember for a long while before finally nodding: "It seems so. Sorry, I can’t remember, but the name sounds familiar."

"Do you remember what your mother’s name is?" Catherine asked patiently.

"Mother." Again the little banshee fell into thought, then quickly perked up: "Grandma said that my mother’s name is Susanna." The little banshee tried to mimic an old voice as closely as she could.

Catherine and Pannis looked at each other, nodding in agreement, before Pannis asked, "Your father is called Bell, right?"

"Yes." Annie responded with delight: "Do you know my parents? Are they okay? Why haven’t they come to see me? Ah, I know, they must have sent you to fetch me, right? Grandma didn’t lie to me! As long as I’m very good, they’ll come to see me soon."

"We..." Catherine stammered, hesitating for a while before forcing out a smile and replying: "You’re right, we do know your parents."

"Great, I knew it!" Annie stood up from the corner, spun around a few circles of joy, and excitedly asked: "Where are they? I want see them soon."

"This..." Catherine hesitated, not knowing whether she should tell the little banshee the reality or not. She looked at Pannis for help. Pannis thought for a while, suddenly scooped up the little banshee, positioned her on his arm, walked to the window, pointed at the north-east direction, looked closely into the little banshee’s eyes and said, "Big brother and big sister have been away from your parents for a while. They are in a laboratory in that direction, working hard for your future happiness. Maybe they don’t have time to come back and see little Annie for now, so they asked us to say sorry to Annie. So, Annie, you won’t blame your parents, will you?"

"Yes." The little banshee nodded vigorously, stating proudly: "I know! My parents are professionals, Gold Rank Mages. Many people admire and worship them. Although they are very busy and can only come back once every few years, I know they love me so much. I won’t blame them."

"Annie is such a good girl." Pannis rocked his arm. The little banshee sitting on it swung back and forth along with his arm, screaming and laughing. After a while, Annie suddenly pointed out of the window and squealed.

"What’s wrong?" Lina, who had been standing by the window, was no longer afraid of Annie who was an undead. She initiated the conversation: "Annie, what do you see?"

"The bad guys are gone." Annie pointed out the window and stated: "It’s safe now."

Pannis looked up at the moon and surely, the midnight had passed amidst all the talking. The red moon began to set to the west and the concentration of the Energy of Death in the world gradually dropped. The Wicked Night was about to end. As the concentration of the Energy of Death weakened, the spirits who had been fighting in the deserted city for the entire night, lost the support of the energy, dispersed one after another and returned to the earth, waiting for the arrival of the next Wicked Night.

"Yeah, all the bad guys are gone." Pannis looked at the deserted street outside and suggested after a thought: "Since it’s safe outside now, would Annie like to go out and play?"

"Go out and play?" The little banshee looked somewhat confused.

"Yes, to go out and play." Pannis nodded: "You’ve been stuck in this house for years, it’s time to get out for a walk."

"But, just before grandma left, she said there were lots of bad guys outside who wanted to catch me. She told me to hide well in the house and not to run around." Annie tilted her head, hesitated, and said: "I should listen to grandma. If I’m not good, my parents will get angry and won’t come back."

"No worries." Pannis responded: "We’re with you, so it won’t count as running around."

"Really?" Annie looked at everyone in the room with hopeful eyes, and everyone nodded in response to her, of course, except for Dora. Ever since Annie appeared, Dora had been hiding behind the chair that they had moved from the thieves’ hideout and didn’t dare to come out.

"See, big brothers and sisters will be with you." Pannis said to Annie with a smile.

"That’s great!" Annie wrapped her arms around Pannis’s neck, her eyes squinting into two crescent moons: "I can finally go out and play."

"Let’s go!" Pannis gestured to the four girls and with Annie’s scream, he jumped straight out of the second floor window. Catherine smiled helplessly: "Let’s go, we shall accompany him in his madness."

"I’m not going." Dora insisted, hiding behind her chair, "I don’t want to be following a ghost all over the place."

"If you’re not going, that’s fine." Catherine smirked, catching Lina and Vivian’s eyes, "Lina, Vivian, should we just leave and let Dora guard the luggage?"

"Yes, yes, Dora, keep an eye on the luggage." Vivian agreed, "Don’t let a suddenly appearing ghost steal away our luggage, otherwise, we’ll have to prepare all over again."

Dora was stunned, watching as the three girls one by one jumped out of the window, she stomped her foot, "Wait for me, I’m coming too."

"When asked to join us, you refused, now you want to join after a little scare, huh." Catherine huffed, quickly catching up with Pannis who was ahead, "This seems fun, let me carry you for a while."

The little banshee was not shy, she jumped into Catherine’s arms, happily pointing at the abandoned buildings by the street, occasionally greeting seemingly empty spaces, her mouth moving as if explaining to someone, "They are friends of mom and dad, they brought Annie out to play."

"That’s terrifying." Dora, tiptoeing, hidden behind Lina, watched the little banshee’s peculiar behavior, a tremble in her voice, "Who is she talking to? Don’t tell me there are many invisible people around us."

"She’s just greeting the neighbors in her memory." Lina’s tone was sympathetic, "Those neighbors don’t exist, they’re only in her imagination, don’t worry."

"That’s good." Dora still loomed behind Lina, looking around anxiously, clearly not at ease despite Lina’s reassurance.

"Maybe in her eyes, this city is still the same as it was hundreds of years ago." Lina ignored Dora who was crouching like a mouse, "The neighbors are all alive and well, repeating their peaceful daily life."

"Lina, look." Vivian, seeing Catherine and Pannis ahead, whispered into Lina’s ear, "Look at Catherine holding the child, Pannis walking beside them, don’t they look like a family out for a stroll?"

"Be careful, Catherine might hear you." Lina put a hand to her mouth in a burst of suppressed laughter, "She’ll definitely beat you up."

"I’m not scared." Vivian stuck out her tongue, quickening her pace to catch up.

"Let’s go there, go there." Annie, nestled in Catherine’s arms, pointed to the east, "There’s our school. It’s a shame it’s dark now, everyone’s gone home from class, otherwise, I could introduce my classmates to you. You don’t know, my grades are really good, I got full marks in literature and math, I was the top student in Basic Theory of Magic, uh, my physical and swordsmanship classes’ grades could be a little better."

"Oh? A little bit?" Catherine asked amusedly, "How much is a little bit?"

"Um, it’s...it’s..." Annie suddenly buried her face in Catherine’s shoulder, not letting her see her expression, "It’s just a little."

"Alright, alright, I get it." Catherine, laughing, let the bashful little banshee off the hook, and didn’t press her further regarding the ’little bit’.

The group wandered around the desolate ruins of the city for nearly four hours, the little banshee far from bored, enthusiastically introduced every familiar building and landmark she knew. Regrettably, in the eyes of the living, the places she pointed, nothing but ruins could be seen, totally unable to perceive the city’s scenery that only existed in her memory.

"Look there, Big Sister." Annie pointed to an open field, "Big Sister, put me down."

Struggling to get down, Annie took Catherine’s hand and ran towards the open field. Reaching the middle of the field, she squatted, mimicking picking flowers, then held up towards Catherine’s face, "Big Sister, look, such a beautiful flower."

Catherine’s smile was somewhat forced as she watched Annie insert the nonexistent flower into her hair. Startlingly, as Annie moved, a phantom flower really did appear in her hair. With the flower in place, Annie gleefully ran back to the center of the field, made a small jump, and floated mid-air, swinging back and forth, as if sitting on an invisible swing.

"It’s so fun." On the invisible swing, Annie looked at the gradually brightening horizon with a somewhat gloomy tone, "It’s a pity, daybreak is coming."

"What’s wrong with daybreak?" Catherine went behind Annie, softly pushing her back and forth on the swing, "Even when it’s day, we can still play together."

"Really?" Annie looked back at Catherine, her smile somewhat bitter, "When the day comes, you all are leaving, aren’t you?"

"Why would you think that?" Catherine was a bit surprised by Annie’s keen perception.

"I know." Annie looked at the whitening sky, speaking softly, "I realized a long time ago, I’m dead, aren’t I."