Broken Strings

Chapter 2: City Limits

The dark hallways of the Queen's basement were almost too much for Ghost to handle. Thanks to his resolve, he pushed through and finally pushed his way through the unhinged door to her majesty's decorated halls. Paintings of those peculiar vases hung along every wall and tables covered with blue lace tetered from what could only be dancing in the other room. Ghost was perplexed by the strange decor and how bright everything was. Far too bright to say the least. Having been raised in the dark, it was a surprise for him to quickly adjust to such a bright atmosphere. His curiosity soon overwhelmed him and he treaded lightly through the furthest door ahead and opened it. Beyond it was a large ballroom with even more decorations of various blues and whites. Among the floor were birds of many colors that danced as they hurriedly cleaned the floor for what he assumed to be for an upcoming ball. To his surprise, it was nothing but a daily task for these large birds. One of them stood out of place. It had strange diamond glasses and wore a tight black vest. Seemed he was in charge of this cleanup. Ghost finally took his chance to sneak out and headed for what he assumed was the entrance to the palace. At last he could see the open world with his own eyes but his view was cut short when the lead bird stood in front of him. Ghost had to skid to a stop before he took a step back to even look up at him.

"Now how did you end up here, Spamton? Haven't we made it clear that you are not permitted here anymore?" Ghost swallowed. This man knew his father.

"I-I'm not Spamton. My name is Ghost." Should I tell him that Spamton is my father? Ghost swallowed as the bird made a small chirp from astonishment.

"Oh! My dear boy, I had no idea. You just resemble him so. I thought there were only 5 Addisons. My mistake. Though I have never seen you here in the palace before. Where do you live?"

"I uh... I don't remember." Please believe me. I feel if I tell you the truth, you will hunt my father down or worse, both of my parents. The bird floofed a little before he smiled and gingerly pushed him back inside.

"Then my dear boy, let us help you. It must have been a long journey for you to even get here after having no memory of your home. Maybe I should ask the Addisons. Maybe they know of one who looks like them, but not one of them." Ghost began to panic. His lie did work but to the opposite effect. He pulled away and shook his head.

"N-No thank you. I would rather find this out myself. Besides, if I do need your help, I know where to find you." The bird smiled and bowed.

"Then I await your return. The name is Swatch. Me and the Swatchlings will be waiting in the Color Cafe just to the left of the entrance. Good luck out there, Ghost." With that he left Ghost be. Ghost was a bit overwhelmed already from all this but he took a deep breath and turned back to exit the palace. To Ghost's amazement, the sky is what took his breath away as he could see all the strings that tied everyone here along with the massive web that had trapped them in this world. He lowered his gaze to the lights from the city that seemed to glow with such brilliance. He nodded with a stern look on his face before he headed out to this new world before him.

The city was filled with cars that bustled from place to place at high speeds, which made it nearly impossible to cross the streets.  He couldn't help but look at everything around him before he suddenly bumped into a wall. He stumbled a little before holding his head and rubbed his nose. He looked at the wall before he turned to see an alleyway. At the end was what looked like a pixelated puppy with confusing eyes. Ghost slowly backed away before he bumped into another person. Citizen? Was everyone like this? Strange things that resembled...oddities? He rubbed his shoulder before he continued on into the city depths. He managed to get to what could only be the Addisons that Swatch talked about because Ghost saw people that resembled his father. They were so colorful compared to his father but he knew now that they knew Spamton as well. He decided to approach one, the blue one in particular. This one seemed blue but literally in the emotional state, a little depressed but had a smile through his tired eyes. Though when Ghost approached him, his eyes widened and was replaced with fear.