The Systems Challenge-Chapter 469: Heather’s Goblin-Child

Elmo wasn't sure about if going out to check on Heather's goblin-child was a good idea or if it'd somehow get them ensnared more deeply with the Twilight Zone, but what he could be certain of was that they were going away from those whom he knew had been ensnared, All he could hope about that was that being away from those in the inn would help them somehow.

Despite the fact that by the time an individual in the series became aware that something was wrong, it was already too late for them and had been, sometimes, for a while.

However, since he hadn't seen an episode where any of the characters entered the Twilight Zone knowing about it, he had to hope that there were other rules present that he might not know about. Ones that would allow for at least some of them to escape.

Besides, he'd already decided that he needed to ensure that Elin escaped the zone, even if it meant that he'd be trapped in it forever. If nothing else, doing so would at least give meaning to his otherwise meaningless life. As he'd spent the bulk of it in his room after he'd gotten out of school and hadn't really done anything that would give meaning to his life.

Even what he'd done during this competition he couldn't imagine would have given meaning to his otherwise meaningless existence. Though, he did wish that he could save Kim and Jonas as well, because Kim was important to Elin and Jonas was important to Elmo, even though Elmo couldn't say that he himself was that important to Jonas. They just hadn't reached that point in their relationship from what he'd been able to tell.

So, as Elmo followed Heather, Sonya, and Elin, he kept an eye out for anything unusual. Something that would stand out and let him know if there really was no hope or if they'd reached the point where there wasn't anything he could do to help.

When Elmo reached the destination that Heather had been heading towards, he noticed it was a small house with several young women present, a couple with a green-skinned infant in their arms while others were pregnant and looking like they were ready to give birth at any moment.

However, there was one green-skinned child that was running around. As if he didn't have a care in the world. Or at least Elmo assumed that it was a 'he.' The boy stood about a foot and a half tall, had hair that looked like the same color of Heather's, though the boy's also had green highlights to his.

"Oscar," Heather called out, kneeling on the ground.

The green-skinned boy turned to look at Heather for a moment before looking back at the other young women. He looked confused and conflicted, but they merely smiled and nodded.

As he ran over towards Heather at that moment, Elmo suddenly noticed that he had a green tail coming out of the pants that he was wearing. Elmo couldn't say that he'd seen the other goblins having a tail when they'd fought, but he wasn't going to argue. This was a fantasy world after all.

As the green-skinned boy ran into Heather's arms, embracing her, Heather also embraced the boy.

"Mother, are you going to stay this time?" the boy asked, his voice soft and quiet.

Heather sighed. "I'm sorry, but I'm merely passing through. I wanted to check and see how you were doing, but I still think it'd be better for you here than with me."

"Why mother?" the boy asked, the pain in his voice making Elmo want to leave just so he wouldn't have to hear more of it, even though he knew he needed to stay with Elin and she didn't seem inclined to leave.

Heather began stroking the goblin-child's head. "Because you'll have others like you here and I'm otherwise not going to be able to give you the care you need," Heather explained as she stood up and started walking towards the other young women who watched with smiles on their faces.

Elmo couldn't shake the feeling that something here had to be off as he and the others started following Heather, that it had to be part of the Twilight Zone, but he couldn't identify anything out of place. Everything seemed like it was where is should be, but Elmo knew he hadn't been here long enough to really know what was out of place or not. That it could be something that he'd otherwise overlook even if he'd lived here long enough to know if Oscar's tail was unusual or not.

"We thought you weren't going to come back here," one of the young women remarked as they got closer. "You seemed confident that you were going to be gone for good."

"Yeah, I hadn't planned on coming back," Heather replied conversationally. "We just happened to be passing through here and so I thought I should check in to see how Oscar was doing."

"Well, we're at least glad that you were able to see Oscar again, though we'd fight you to keep him here if we thought you wanted to take him with you," another said, the smile on her face disarming the implied threat in her words.

Heather then set Oscar on the ground, letting him walk, or run, as he chose. "Yeah, I'd be disappointed if you didn't. Especially since I know I'm not in any position to care for him right now, just as when I gave birth to him."

"Well, we're glad you're here anyway," another said, making Elmo want to move away and watch from a distance. Simply because he could see that he really didn't belong here and so he should back away to keep an eye on at least Elin from a distance. If he saw anything that would indicate the Twilight Zone was approaching, then he'd quickly move in to help care for Elin, as well as maybe Heather and Sonya, but those two weren't his priority to keeping safe from the Twilight Zone.

Elmo walked until he could just barely hear them talking. Not enough to make out the words, but rather just that they were talking. He figured it'd let him know when they'd be ready to leave as he kept an eye out from around them.

"You know, it almost seems like you're on the lookout for me," a voice commented, startling Elmo.

Elmo looked around, and quickly saw a face poking out from behind a tree, looking at him. He also recognized the face. It was Harold. The one with the lycanthrope system.

"No need to look so startled," Harold said, sounding as if he was hurt. "I was just watching to see if Frank would have any trouble getting the book from you guys."

Elmo looked at Harold, not sure how to respond to that or if he should let it go, but it did at least let him know where the Twilight Zone was at that particular moment. It was right by him.

"I'm more worried about getting caught in the Twilight Zone with you," Elmo replied, unsure how the Zone might spread to him. "Like how it got Jonas and Frank already."

Harold blinked, looking like he was caught off guard by Elmo's statement. "What're you talking about? How would the Twilight Zone get Jonas and Frank? I mean without getting the rest of us at the same time?"

Elmo didn't care to answer those questions, partly because he wanted to avoid answering them since he didn't have an actual answer for the questions and he certainly didn't want to face the possible answers that they might warrant.

However, Elmo knew that he likely had to at least give an answer of some kind. At least if he wanted to avoid a fight, which at the distance between him and Harold, he'd put his money on Harold to win.

"Well, when I got up, Frank and Jonas were being rather friendly, so I knew something had to be up. Frank certainly seemed to be out of place with how friendly he was. So, the only explanation I can come up with is that we all could be stuck forever in the Twilight Zone if we don't do something to escape it."

As he finished speaking, he felt like he was out of breath. He knew it wasn't from ay cigarette or anything like that. It was almost like just saying that much had taken the wind out of him.

Harold blinked again, looking rather taken aback from Elmo's statement. "Frank's being friendly?" Harold asked, catching on to what Elmo had noticed to.

"Yeah, he's acting like he and Jonas have been friends since this started," Elmo answered. "So as far as I can tell, they've both been taken by the Twilight Zone. I mean, what other explanation could there be."

Harold sighed, as if he didn't want to talk about this subject but didn't have a choice.

"What other explanations is there?" Harold asked, sounding like it was a rhetorical question. "Plenty of them. What I want to know is why that's the only explanation that you went with? Why are you so focused on being in the Twilight Zone?"