Published at 12th of August 2024 7:35 am

Chapter 104 Investing In Mistakes

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Willy Nimblewick

“The power of illusion?!” Willy’s voice almost had a spike. He’d seemingly forgotten his own rule of a lowered tone that even Zephyr had to rush to hold his lips together and issue a shush.

“Yes. The power of illusion, unlike what you’ve seen so far,” Zephyr answered and let go of Willy’s lips after he’d confirmed that his friend had brought his senses back.

“Really? Why am I just finding out that your illusionary powers can do much more?” With downed brows, Willy outstretched both his arms and the objects they held, his face making it known that he did not like his pixie friend’s idea of keeping such a thing a secret from him.

He despised secrets in their entirety.

They’d known each other for ten years now, ever since a twelve year old Willy had come across Zephyr hiding within scrubs of grasses at Wyndham while he’d accompanied his father during his chocolate expedition.

The little pixie had claimed to be lost and starving then, and as so the startled but amused Willy had brought him to his father, frightening the poor, fragile man as he recapped every single bit of information Zephyr had told him. Of how he had escaped from his home, a faraway land called The Savanna, with one other, a fairy, in search of freedom. How he and the fairy had survived attacks from both monsters and the sea itself on the raft they’d used for their sailings. And also how he’d been separated from the fairy after they’d fallen prey to a storm they couldn’t handle and ended up on the lands on Wyndham, a place vastly different from his hometown in both scenery and occupants.

It was not until Zephyr had been well fed and rested had he then been able to show Willy his ability to fly, further enhancing the little boy’s excitement, and enlightening him on the beings filling The Savanna.

He had mentioned the existence of unicorns, basically horses with glowing horns. Druids. Sprites. Fairies, those a lot similar to humans in their features, only differentiated by their wings and pointed ears. And also his kind, the pixies.

There had been a lot more to talk about, Willy knew, but it was at that juncture that Zephyr’s mischiefs had started. Although, young Willy never minded. He loved a fantastical being as a friend, and despite the constant quarrels between them both, he kept him as one.

Now, that friend had kept a secret from him for years?! Quite mind boggling if he was to say.

“Why would you keep a secret from me?” Willy added, his face tightened.

“What? Are you angry or something, Nimblewick?” Zephyr glided to the top of Willy’s head and sat cross legged on the brim of his brown hat. “Funny. I took you to be mature—for a human.”

Tch…

Willy shook his head, trying to chase away his pixie friend, but that little being was just as stubborn as he was mischievous. He retained his position solidly, this time he even folded his arms to boot.

Giving up, Willy heaved out a sigh and said, “Just… How are you going to get me up there?”

“Finally.” Zephyr chuckled, drummed an erratic beat on the crown of Willy’s hat, before flying off of it and languidly dropping to put himself extremely close to his friend's nose. “No unnecessary questions.”

Willy said nothing and only stared plaintively at the floating pixie. Getting no engagement, Zephyr’s smile faded, his nose wrung up, and he went ahead with explaining,

“My dust’s power of illusion is, you know, deceit and all.” Seemingly tired of the undeterred gaze he was being stared at with, he turned around and faced the first of the few opened windows of the chocolate factory beside them. “So taking our situation into consideration, and using that as an example, my illusion power is going to make me lift you up.”

That’s… That’s very bad explaining…! But still, how is lifting me up even possible through illusion…?

Willy, who was unable to keep his gaze unwavering any longer, inhaled sharply as a befuddled look took over his face. And noticing that, even with his back turned, Zephyr suddenly placed his hands on his waist, stiffened his shoulders and raised them up high, doing the same with his head.

He almost seemed like someone who had accomplished something so great that it could even rival that of the Old Knights who had led the charge against Lemur during the Great War.

Willy was sure there was a wide grin on his pixie friend’s face, but that didn’t concern him at this time. He went ahead and said, “Let’s get on with it then. Your dust takes ten minutes to kick into action.” He did not understand how the ability worked, but he had all the time later on for Zephyr to enlighten him on that. Right now, he just needed to make known his existence to the investors within the factory.

“About that…” Zephyr turned around to face Willy before snapping his fingers, and at that action, Willy instantly felt the components of his body change as it disrupted erratically like a pond when a pebble was thrown into it.

At the time he’d been turned invisible he’d felt the temperature on his skin switch from cold to warm, and then to nothing in an instant—not a single tingling sensation had been on his body after that. And even though he was still able to see himself—which Zephyr could too as well, because it was his power—Willy believed that he was actually invisible due to the fact that he’d already gone through the process a few times before.

Now, the whole sensation his body had lost was immediately returned, coming in the form of warmth first before bringing back the cold that was characteristic to the current weather of Ur.

“What now?” Willy asked, still confused. But before getting an answer Zephyr hovered quickly to his back and grabbed hold of his coat’s collar.

“I’ve switched the components of my dust from invisibility to illusion, and as such I’ve filled your body with the illusion that it is lighter than a feather.”

Willy was left without words. He was bamboozled at the absurdity of the power. His mind was not affected by it. He knew he was not lighter than a feather, but it seemed it did not matter what he thought. As long as Zephyr said his body was lighter than a feather, then his body immediately believed it was without his consent. It was a scary ability.

“Also,” Zephyr cut off Willy’s thoughts. “I did tell you about this exact power, Nimblewick. In fact, I’ve been using it, I just didn’t spell it out to you directly.” Willy’s brows narrowed in thought and a somewhat gloomy look took over his face. “How did you think I’ve been making Dolores fall asleep?”

Wait, what…?!

Before he had the time to settle his thoughts, Willy suddenly noticed that his feet had risen from the ground, and his mind went from a downhearted state of thinking to a one bestowed with amazement.

His eyes widened and his mouth slacked. He’d almost let out a wholehearted wail of laughter, but he held himself back painfully.

Maybe another time Zephyr would bless him with such fun. Then he would be able to scream all he wanted.

A few seconds later his eyes found the inner scenery of Cleavenger’s Dark and Milk chocolate factory as Zephyr brought him by his collar to the opened awning window above.

“This… This is some mind blowing setup,” Willy whispered under his breath, his blinks turned owlish.

The exotic and mouth-watering sweet scent of chocolate mingled with the warm aroma of roasted cocoa beans and rushed into his nostrils in a greater volume than he was used to.

But he was not a stranger to the smell nonetheless. And that helped him focus his mind, not on the molten chocolate being poured into molds and turned into bars, but on the intricate machineries that were built in organized rows and columns.

There were countless copper vats, large metallic bowls, or rather, pots, used for mixing the chocolate ingredients, and enormous steam pipes made out of cast irons spreading out like intertwining snakes in the ceiling above.

The scenery was brightened by the light making its way in from both the closed and opened windows, and their rays illuminated the floors of polished wood, and as well the bustling, tired-looking workers of both male and female in aprons working diligently.

It all smelled nice and looked nice despite the gloomy shadows of exhaustion within the area, and Willy had never felt so motivated to have his own factory before. At least his would treat workers right, as much as he could.

“Nimblewick!” Zephyr pulled him out of his swimming once more. “What now? An hour is almost up. You’re slowly gaining more weight, you know?” There was a sharp grunt from the little pixie after those words, and Willy snapped back to the matter at hand.

He quickly looked through the factory for a place to stand, but he could see none. Left with no other choice he decided to stay on the window and make his presentation to the investors he had glimpsed directly below where he was, tasting the chocolate they had been served. Each one of the men, seemingly amounting between the range of ten to twenty, was dressed as elegantly as it was befitting of a nobleman. And the only lady present, who was garbed in a widow’s outfit, was not any less stunning—at least her figure, which gave off the impression of young age, since her face was masked by the veil falling from her wide brim hat.

“I have an idea,” Willy said as soon as he settled his thoughts. “Is my bag and cane affected by your illusion power? I can’t feel any difference myself, so I can’t tell.”

“Yes. Yes, they are, Nimblewick,” Zephyr answered with a strain, and his inability to hold Willy up for much longer reared its head as their height in the air unwillingly faltered, causing both of them to exclaim softly in shock. “Hurry it up, will you?”

Heeding those words, Willy put forth the rest of his plans quickly, “Once I grab hold of the window sill, take my cane and drop it on the ground, then do the same for my bag. We should have maybe fifteen minutes or less left, but that doesn’t matter. I want you to turn yourself invisible, then take the chocolates from my bag and follow my lead. Do not turn the chocolates invisible though. We’re going to be putting on a magic show.”

With a face half confused and half expectant, Zephyr watched as Willy went on with the first step of his ploy.

Cane in mouth, left arm sneakily placed onto the sill of the opened awning window of the factory to support his weight, and Zephyr proceed as planned.

The little pixie firstly draped himself with his own dust, then as he awaited its effects to kick in, he took both Willy’s cane and Gladstone bag at the same time, and flew sharply to the ground below.

Willy increased the support of his weight with his right hand immediately.

It was not long after that ten minutes elapsed, and the figure of Zephyr vanished from Willy’s eyes. He did not mind though; the piles of chocolate bars floating gave him an idea of where exactly his pixie was.

Time to put on a show…

Willy turned his gaze away from the alleyway below, and put it into the factory.

And through the never ending humming of the rows and columns of machinery, along with the occasional loud clinking of metal upon metal, as well as the gurgling sound of molten chocolate heated to a very high degree, Willy heaved in a deep breath and voiced,

“Good afternoon gentlemen! And… My lady…” He tipped his hat with a grunt. The group of investors seated upon plush armchairs before a table laden with intricate silver trays of decadent chocolate, looked up at him where he was hanging in bewilderment. “My name is Willy Nimblewick, and I am here to offer you the opportunity of a lifetime!”

Despite his manifestation, the workers, which were made up of peasants and overly stressed working class people, offered him only a momentary glance and paid him no mind after. It was almost like he was still invisible, and they just went on with their jobs as ordered.

None wanted to be fired, he surmised.

But that was not what caught the most of his attention; it was the supervisors gesturing for the guards outside to be alerted of his trespassing.

He knew better than to linger as soon as he saw the scurrying.

“You all have tasted chocolate before; in fact, you are tasting one now. It’s sweet. It melts in your mouth. It fills your mind with joy. That’s the beauty of Cleavenger’s masterpiece. But what if I told you that there was something far better! Something… Magical!”

He snapped his fingers and bars of chocolate magically floated in the air, swept past him where he was hanging from the window, and settled before the furrowed and awed gazes of the investors below; including that of the balding man of blonde hair and golden eyes, who he’d seen in the newspapers and could identify as Baron Orsted Cleavenger.

“One bite and you will find yourself sailing into a new world. Another, and you are craving more. I promise you gentlemen, and… my lady…” He tipped his hat again. “This is the future! This will be a greatness that shall never be forgotten! Come with me on this journey! Shake my hand, and help me share this gift with the world!”

At that moment Willy glimpsed a supervisor successfully arriving at the large wooden doors of the factory and whispering through its peephole. His heart drummed a ferocious beat at that, and no one had to tell him that it was time for his presentation to end.

“Today would have marked a new beginning, but I’m afraid the forces of men will prevail over that of elegance and sweetness. But this is not the end! I promise you! I will make myself appear to you all. The papers! I will be there!” He smiled whimsically and tipped his hat once more. “Like my father loved to say: Au Revoir!”

Having resolved his mind already, knowing he couldn’t wait for Zephyr to help him down, he immediately let his arms free from the window and rode the wind to the ground, crashing painfully and slightly spraining his ankle.

But since it was a pain he could bear, he quickly packed his things and hurried out of the alleyway, thanking the heavens that the distance from the gate of the factory to the alley he had been in was quite a distance. And since the guards had never seen him before, it was easy for him to blend in with the pack of people congesting the streets, and board a public carriage to nowhere in particular. He just had to escape first.

“Wow!” Willy heaved out a heavy sigh of exasperation as he closed his eyes and slumped relaxedly beside a man reading a newspaper. “That was quite something, don’t you think, Zeph?”

The only reply he got for his question was that which came from the honks of steam cars prowling the roads, the whinnies of pulling horses, the clattering of carriage wheels, and the indistinct chatter of anyone who was not his pixie friend.

Willy’s eyes instantly opened then, remaining widened as his head whirled like a tornado raging at sea.

It couldn’t be true.

“Zeph?” he called out once more, this time checking inside his coat and patting himself down frantically while the gazes in the carriage watched him for a brief moment with slight squirms of discomfort. To them he seemed like he had lost his mind, and they were afraid of being in the same carriage as a madman.

But that didn’t bother him. In fact, he had barely left his attention on their stares; it was on someone far important than any other.

Surely this had to be another one of his friend’s mischief, right? Surely it had to be.

All of a sudden Willy chuckled eccentrically in a low tone, solidifying his madness to the rest of the people in the carriage, as he chose to believe that Zephyr was just toying with him.

Sooner rather than later the little pixie would resurface to startle him in order to have a good laugh. Yes. That was it. What else could it be?

But when a minute passed, and another, and then he found himself before the door of his apartment, he finally came to realize that it was no jape.

His muscles turned stiff without a moment’s wait, cane held by one sweaty palm, bag by the other, and his breathing paced erratically as his mind went numb.

“No. No. No. No. No.” Willy shook his head so much that his brown top hat fell to the ground—his cane following through shortly after. And at that instant, he swirled sharply halfway around to face the road as his gaze turned watery. “This can’t be right. Where… Where in the world are you Zephyr?!”

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