Wonderer's Wish World: An Empty Land

Just Me... Inspecting Your Home

"-ey... Hey!"

Kris startled awake as someone touched their shoulder, but only barely. They were in a deep sleep, and reluctant to leave it.

However, the person ignored their muffled complaints, in fact, that seemed to make them bother Kris even more. As Kris was roused to consciousness, they groaned, and the person finally left them alone, moving onto Mabel, who was forced awake, too.

Mabel was a lot easier to wake than Kris had been, and within a minute, Kris could hear her sitting up beside them and happily chatting with the person that woke them.

"Oh, hey!" Mabel called up to him. She sounded tired, but seemed to be getting more awake with every word. "Why are you in here? Are you allowed in here?"

It seemed to take a couple seconds for the other person to respond. "Er... yes, I am. I am the priest of the church, actually."

"Oh," Mabel sounded surprised. "This is a church?"

"...Yes."

Well, they obviously weren't going to get back to sleep, so Kris forced their eyes open. Slowly, the church came into focus, looking a lot different now that it wasn't dark out. The white snow outside, and the white of the church made the light seemed to bounce of each other, making everything look brighter than it probably was. It gave Kris a headache.

There was a person dressed in a nice suit standing over Kris and Mabel, but he was mostly focused on Mabel. In different circumstances, Kris would probably try and sneak away and let Mabel take all the blame, but they doubted they'd get very far. Not with that weather, at least.

The man, the priest, Kris remembered, looked between the two of them, seemingly unsure of what to do. That was good. If Mabel and Kris played their cards exactly right, they'd get out of this scot-free.

The priest glanced out the window. "Huh, I don't think I've seen you two before. Were you hiding from the cold?"

Kris nodded. That was good. Yes, they were camping out from the weather.

For some reason, the priest seemed to startle at that, staring down at Kris. Kris stared back. What was that all about?

"Yeah!" Mabel replied enthusiastically. The priest turned to her, but Kris could tell that he was keeping an eye on them. "We came from the big city, Glittertopia! We're the inspectors."

"I-Inspectors?" the priest spluttered. "Glittertopia? What on earth are you talking about? What on earth is 'Glittertopia'?"

"It's the big city, just like I said," Mabel said, and somehow, she said it with so much confidence that the priest stepped back, shaking his head as he seemed to accept it.

"You... could just say that you are tourists, you know," he told them. Mabel shook her head.

"No, no," she insisted. "We're inspectors. See we have ID's!"

Mabel reached into her pocket, and Kris didn't know what she was looking for, but she brought out the sparkly directions that she'd had before. As Mabel showed the priest proudly, she didn't seem to notice.

The priest sighed.

"Lying is a not a good habit, young lady," the priest told Mabel firmly, before shaking his head. "I'll be in here all day, so you can stay here if you need to. As you can see, it's well heated, and I can give you food and water if you want it. But if I may ask, how long are you planning to stay? What is your business in Iglis?"

"But I told you, we're-," Mabel started, but Kris shook their head at her. Mabel got the message. "Alright, alright. In all honesty, we're TREASURE HUNTERS, and-."