NOVEL WEB Chapter 36: Dramatic recall
Suddenly, Vonjo spoke. "Ohhh… I almost forgot! How could I forget? I must be too excited to remember why I'm here… it was the help of two individuals…"
He suddenly took a deep breath, stepping into the flickering electric torchlight with arms outstretched as if a holy choir had just broken into a hymn behind him.
The long hallway fell silent.
Everyone—from guards to other observers—watched as he theatrically placed a hand to his chest and turned his body sideways, like a tragic actor mid-performance.
"Yes yes yes," he began, his voice quivering, not with emotion but sheer, calculated performance, "the two who came to fetch me? Ah yes—those two courageous souls!"
He looked up, eyes searching the ceiling like he expected the names to be written in fire.
"One of them… tall, skin pale as guilt, sharp eyes like he's trying to judge you for breathing—ah, yes! Colves! That's the name!" He snapped his fingers dramatically, spinning on one foot to face Vance. "And the other one, oh, the one with the face as round as a full harvest moon. What was his name again?"
He paused, scratching his head, squinting exaggeratedly like he was trying to pull the name out of the sky.
"Bah, I forgot. That round-faced fellow. You know the one." He gestured vaguely, as if painting an invisible circle in the air.
Vance's jaw tightened. "Mauricio."
"Ah! That's it!" Vonjo clapped his hands like a child hearing their favorite song. "Mauricio and Colves! Yes! Those two found me!"
He turned and looked into the distance as if peering into the past. "I don't know how they did it. I kept moving—constantly, from apartment to apartment. But they still found me. Oh, what loyalty! What persistence! I was—" he gave a mock gasp, pressing a hand to his chest again, "—shocked, moved, deeply, soul-crushingly honored that the House I yearned to return to knew where to find me for some unknown reason. And I was also beyond touched when they said it to me."
Vonjo slowly lowered his arms, voice turning into a solemn whisper. "That I was chosen... Chosen, to take on a mission."
He leaned closer to Vance now, stepping forward so that the shadows from the flickering sconces danced across his cheek.
"If I completed it," he whispered, almost reverently, "I could return... return to the House of Sutterfouse. My family. My legacy."
The moment froze.
The words echoed through the hall like a forgotten prayer finally answered.
The guards shifted, unease rippling through their stance.
The tension became palpable—as if the walls themselves knew the weight of Vonjo's words.
And then—
Vonjo burst into laughter. Not cruel laughter. Not mocking. Something grander, like he was overwhelmed with joy. He threw back his arms, spinning dramatically in place.
"I said YES!" he shouted, his voice rising like a crescendo of drums in a war march. "YES! Oh, I said yes! With all my heart! With tears in my eyes and my spirit ablaze! I would return! I would come back as a son reborn!"
Every time he spoke, Vance's expression darkened. His eyes narrowed. His fingers clenched tight.
Vonjo kept going, undeterred. "I dreamt of this every night! Being accepted again! I would imagine it, again and again—me standing tall before the gates of Sutterfouse, the sun gleaming behind me, guards saluting, my father finally smiling at me! My mother embracing me and saying—'My son! You've returned to us!' And the people? Oh, the people would cheer! 'Vonjo! Vonjo!' they'd cry!"
His voice cracked purposefully, eyes shimmering with the perfect glint of fake tears. "I… I used to press my cheek against the cold window pane and imagine their faces. The fireworks. The streamers. The family crest waving in the sky."
Even the guards were uncomfortable now. The performance was too much.
"I would get on my knees!" Vonjo declared, dramatically sinking to one. "And I'd say—'Thank you! Thank you, House of Sutterfouse! For welcoming back this lost, pitiful, once-forgotten child!'"
From his kneeling position, he slowly lifted his face. "And now, I've been given a mission. A chance. A divine path home…"
Vance's voice cut through the scene like a cold wind.
"You sound like you are mocking us."
Vonjo blinked innocently, wiping away an invisible tear. "Mocking? Brother, I would never…"
"I remember you," Vance growled, his fists trembling at his sides. "Back then. Always alone. Quiet. Pathetic. Sitting in the dark, like the world had forgotten you and you liked it that way. You wouldn't even look people in the eye."
Vonjo slowly stood, brushing off the dust from his knee. "Ah, memories. Bittersweet, aren't they?"
"You're saying this on purpose. What do you want?"
Vonjo only smiled. "Nothing. I am just sharing because I am curious myself. I'm not sure but I just feel like it was Divine revelation."
"And those two," he added, as if Vance hadn't spoken at all, "Colves and Mauricio…"
He placed a hand to his heart again, voice trembling. "They became my friends. Yes. On our journey back. We talked. Shared meals. Fought side by side against wind serpents. And oh, how they dreamed! They spoke of retiring someday, opening a small tavern by the lakeside. Mauricio wanted to name it The Laughing Roc. Isn't that charming?"
Vance's face twisted with barely-contained rage. "Don't you dare—"
"But alas," Vonjo sighed, voice mournful, "their kindness… It was too much… They gave their lives... so I'd be safe."
He looked at the ground, shaking his head slowly. "Colves. Mauricio. So loyal. So pure. So... Honorable individuals."
From his perch on Vonjo's shoulder, the three-headed frog gave no reaction. It simply blinked slowly, as if too tired to entertain the dramatics.
But Eugene, standing just a few paces away, could barely contain his disbelief. He looked at his Sir Vonjo with incredulity. "You… killed them," he thought, his mind speechless at the shamelessness of his Sir Vonjo.
He remembered how Sir Vonjo had laughed at the two as he received their attacks without a scratch, insulting them for being weak and provoking them to give their all against him.
And friends? They were friends?
Eugene didn't know what to say. But then he saw Vonjo shamelessly acting. Vonjo stared out past the hall, as if sadly remembering the scene.
This made Eugene feel all the hairs on his back stand up. Holy shit, he couldn't believe it.
He recalled the arrows in the tall guy's head and then Mauricio's body. Vonjo had shot him mid-flight during their escape attempt on their summons.
He hadn't even spared the mounts of those two, killing them both along with their master. It was too horrifying!
Suddenly, Vonjo would give a wacky smile at Eugene, leaving him speechless.
Eugene could only stare, his jaw slack.
Then Vonjo turned back to his brother. His expression softened into something almost gentle. "So," he said, stepping forward with arms wide like he was welcoming an old friend, "young brother Vance… here I am. Delivered by fate and sacrifice. Now tell me…"
He tilted his head, eyes glimmering with a mixture of mockery and curiosity.
"What is the mission? The glorious task that will return me into the loving embrace of our House of Sutterfouse?"
The electric torchlight flickered behind him. The frog adjusted its footing and finally hopped onto his other shoulder as if the scene had closed and the curtain was about to fall.