The Madness Series/Fluctuation

Madness: Fluctuation is the third installment in the Madness Series. This book begins the golden age within the series and describes a time of tranquil (sometimes, not-so-tranquil...) peace.

fluc·tu·a·tion, /fləkCHo͞oˈāSHən/

Noun - an irregular rising and falling in number or amount; a variation.

Chapter I
 Toa Xaedan 

"Hey. Hey! Wake up, sleepyhead! Xaedan!"

I groan as the morning light meets my eyes. And so begins a new day. A day where the sun shines through a crack in the curtains right in my face, mind you.

I was lucky enough to have the foresight to just drink one glass, yet a small hangover still managed to catch up to me. But not "Mary". She's peering down at me, cheery and spry as ever.

"Tsukumi and Kaixin are already downstairs, so hurry up, ok?"

I nod and make a shooing motion. Already, I'm tempted to just close my eyes and sleep the headache off.

"Xaedan!" "Mary"'s voice floats from the kitchen. "Kaixin's nearly ready with the breakfast! So come on out already!"

All pretenses of a peaceful morning, and indeed all notions of sleep, were instantly ejected from my brain. This is bad. This is so very bad. I still remember what happened last time when I ate Kaixin's food. I think I nearly died from the mother of all food poisonings.

I have no wish for a natural disaster to occur so I heed "Mary"'s so-called "advice", nearly sprinting in my own home.

And I gasp. I'm...

I'm too late.

7 hours ago, in the streets of Haven's Residential Area

 Toa Tsukumi 

I wake up to three things: the dawn's feeble light, a migraine, and dumpster breath.

Mmmmm. I just love the smell of alcohol in the morning.

Dear Mata Nui, I stink...

"Your orders, madam?"

I bolt upright and a woolen blanket falls off of me.

"D- don't scare me like that, you crazed woman!" I narrow my eyes. "And why was there a blanket on me?"

My contact wordlessly holds out a tiny slip of paper and I mouth out the words as I read it. With each word I read, my eyebrows climb another inch. Ahh, I see. My contact must have seen this and was the one who found the blanket.

Such faithful behaviour is only to be expected of an underling.

At last, I say, "Any idea who wrote this?"

I'm met with a single shake of the head.

"Fine, then. Whatever. Now, hurry up, what news?"

"I have successfully tracked the target down and he will be at home for the entire morning," my contact replies with a soft, almost wispy, tone. "You will have until noon to get to him. It should be an easy job for someone of your caliber. Just get in, do your thing, get out. No one will be the wiser."

I nod. "Good work, I'll have the other half of you payment ready by tomorrow evening. It's always a pleasure doing business with you."

"Likewise."

She turns away but I quickly grasp her shoulder. "By the way. You were the one with the blanket, right?"

I get a single nod. She doesn't really speaking, does she? Well, at least she gets her job done.

"So... how long have you been here?"

"Since two in the morning, madam."

Ooh, that's awkward.

My contact turns and walks away. "Wait!" I call after her. "So you're saying you've been staring at me for four hours?"

I get no response.

Wow.

Rude.

 Toa Xaedan 

"Nooo!" I roar. Charging through dining room, I make my way to the table where a figure with a white blanket over his head sat slumped, unbreathing, unmoving.

With pounding heart and rapid breaths, I whip the cover off. I brace myself for the worst. Could it be a a victim of Kaixin's cooking? Had she finally crossed the thin line between cook and murderer?

Oh. Wow.

I replace the blanket.

It's just Tsukumi. I hope she did eat some of the Toa of Ice's food and dies.

"Morning, Xaedan!"

"Uh, Kaixin, why are you wearing an apron?" I ask tentatively while staring at her.

"Consider me your personal chef, ok?"

About ten seconds later, "Mary" was desperately trying to stop my from throwing myself out of the nearest window.

"Let me go, let me go! I'd rather commit suicide and die with honour!"

With a sheepish look, "Mary" aplogized to Kaixin who just simply shrugged and continued working on whatever culinary disaster she had started earlier, humming some cheerful tune that really did not go with this deadly scenario.

To me, she hissed, "What are you doing, Xaedan? Stop being stupid!"

I would have continued to wriggle out the window if it weren't for a white-and-black clad Toa standing there, quietly observing.

"Huh? Who's that?" "Mary" asks. She lets go of me and I tumble out the window, landing on my head.

"Ow, ow! She's Amea, the Toa of Sonics. Amea, this is "Mary", as you probably know already."

She nods.

A thought suddenly hits me, and I take the time to count with my fingers.

There's "Mary"... Kaixin and Tsukumi... and now Amea.

I frown.

"Why are there always girls in my house every morning?" I thunder. Seriously, it was becoming a pain...

The window closes.

I blink.

Huh?

Tsukumi waves from the other side, the correct side, with Amea who follows suit. Whenever did she get inside?

Oh, and that's not all. The Toa of Water is dangling my house keys less than a meter away from me.

"Hey!" I yell. "Let me in! It's my house!"

Tsukumi shrugs while Amea cups a hand to her ear, signalling she couldn't hear what I said.

"You're a Toa of Sonics! I know full well you heard!" I scream indignantly to no avail.

They walk away.

"Get back here you two! This is a criminal case! It's grand theft estate! It's a violation of my unalienable rights as a person!"

Tsukumi snaps the window open for a split second and yells back at me.

"Maggots don't have rights!"

Chapter II
Toa Xaedan

My stomach growls as I plod alongside the rest of the team, sulking.

"You guys suck," I mumble.

"Mary" places an arm around me and it is immediately followed with Kaixin's arm from the other side, though she does it nowhere nearly as gentle. "Chin up, Xaedan," "Mary" chids. "We've a little something planned for the next few days."

"'Tis right, firespitter! We're going on a vacation!" Kaixin exclaims. "It'll be fun, just you see. Summer's halfway over, we really need to stretch our legs."

Well, that was unexpected. "That's very wonderful of you and all, but that still doesn't explain why you lot locked me out of my own home or make me skip breakfast."

"Well, keep mulling it over, 'cuz we aren't going to tell you," Tsukumi replies with a hugely annoying, self-satisfied smirk. "Now, come on. Don't just stand there like a maggot, we need to make a stop at the library."

"Library? Whatever for?" "Mary" asked. I would have said the same thing if I wasn't trying to mentally list ways to erase Tsukumi off the face of the planet.

"Actually, I'm not too sure myself. It's Amea here who wants to go and if we didn't, she wouldn't accompany us on our little vacation." Amea vigourously nods her head.

Out of the blue, we all jump slightly as we hear her speak for the first time this whole morning. "There is a certain... someone... who must join our group."

Kaixin's eyes light up. "Oh? A friend? Perhaps just a friend? Or a friend who is just a bit more?" Looks like Kaixin is to up to her old tricks again. Even "Mary" is listening in, clearly interested in gaining more gossip material.

In response, Amea looks at Kaixin with undivided attention, straight into her face.

"No." The Toa of Sonics pauses to allow a serene smile to pass over her face. She clasps her hands together and takes a deep breath.

"He is my fiance."

A collective cry of "Whaaat?" could be heard through the entire street at that moment, drawing a disapproving glare of some wizened old Po-Matoran.

"Young whippersnappers these days...!" he wheezed before tripping on his own cane.

I let out a cry of "Oh, thank Mata Nui! There's another guy coming on the trip. I though I'd be surrounded by you lot, a lone, masculine island in a tumultuous, stormy feminine sea."

"That's what you were worried about?" Kaixin splutters incredulously. "And that usage of imagery was... disturbing."

"Am I really all that tumultuous?" "Mary" rubs her chin and frowns. "Kaixin, how might I get less tumultuous?"

Tsukumi strides over to "Mary" and give her light chop over the head. She threatens Kaixin and I as well, daring us to contribute more to this idiotic conversation.

With a grunt, Tsukumi beckoned us to follow. "Amea already went up ahead while you two got sucked into the maggot's over-the-top imagination. She should already be in the library."

Meekly, we followed the Toa of Water's hurried footsteps.

In a hushed whisper, Kaixin asked, "How does one becomes less tumultuous, Xaedan? "Mary"'s got a point, you know."

I smile. "You start by asking less dumb questions, Kaixin," I reply warmly.

"Hey, Xaedan."

"Yeah, "Mary"?"

"Why is the library on fire?"

"That's an excellent question. Kaixin, have you information to add to this inquiry?"

"Hmm. Nothing comes to my mind, sorry."

"Hey!" Tsukumi cuts in with a yell. "Don't just stand there maggot, help me put the fire out!" With the two of us working together, it didn't take long for the raging inferno to die down. Within a minute, all that was left of the churning fire was a pile of smoking ash.

Miraculously, much of the library remained standing, so the four of us charged inside without a second thought, all of us trying to find Amea. Hopefully, she'd have escaped the blaze or wasn't harmed.

"Have you seen him?"

We turn, and luck would have it, we see Amea.

"Have you seen him?" she repeats.

The Toa of Sonics appears to have sustained no fire-related injuries, thankfully. However, what worries me more is the taser she holds in one hand and the singed sheet of parchment she holds in the other.

Amea holds up a finger. "I hear him." As if in confirmation, I notice a frantic scuffling from behind a nearby bookcase. Now holding her raised finger to her lips, Amea tiptoes to the case, ever so quietly. All of us hold our breath. Who could it be? What kind of monster would go so far as to commit arson?

Without warning, she lunges. Time seems to slow. I notice Kaixin bringing her hands to her mouth in horror. Tsukumi is yelling something with her arm stretched out, warning the Toa of Sonics.

A bright flash of blue light is emitted from behind the arsonist's bookcase, accompinied by loud crackles and screams of agony.

She did it! Amea captured the criminal! "Way to go, Amea!" I holler.

"I wouldn't be so happy if I were you, Xaedan..." "Mary" cautions. "Look closer."

Amea drags the now struggling, slightly smokimg body of the arsonist before us.

"I never said I'd marry you, dammit!"

...Anzix?

The Toa of Plasma was wriggling on the floor, hog-tied with rope and with Amea's foot in top of his head. "Xaedan... Kaixin... anyone! Stop her! That piece of paper is a civil wedding contract!"

"I feel compelled to ask. How did you even get a marriage contract, Amea?" Kaixin points out.

"Oh. Tsukumi gave one of her spare cop-" At that, the Water Toa rushes forward and clamps a hand over Amea's mouth. "My my, the weather is wonderful to- Hey! Kaixin, "Mary", don't rub your palms so dastardly like that! You two always do that before staring a rumour!"

"Is anyone going to help me out?" Anzix does his best to mumble, seeing as Amea's foot has planted his face in the floor.

"And weren't we supposed to go on a vacation or something?" I pipe up. "I think we arw juat a little bit behind schedule now."

"Shut up, maggot. Don't you think I know that? But first, we have to deal with Amea's and this wad of meat's marraiage first, right? That's important."

With a loud "Noooooo~!" Anzix finally wriggles free. His escape is short-lived, however, as it does not take long for Amea to pounce on top with him and follow up witha quick swipe of her taser.

"Amea's scary..." I hear Kaixin mutter to "Mary". I couldn't agree more.

"All right, I'm ready. I'll take care of my marriage when we get back."

"Uh..."

"Yes, Kaixin?"

"Why are you dragging Anzix around while he's cuffed to your wrists? And where did you even get those handcuffs...?"

"Oh. Tsukumi gave me on-"

"Ok, let's just go!" Tsukumi says all too loudly, with a huge forced smile.

"Yay! We're going on a vacation!" "Mary" cries. "It'll be my first time. Xaedan, are vacations fun?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'd say so," I reply as the five of us exit the library, now finally on our way to our destination.

We cheer and set off. Yet, not everyone shared our happiness. Our loud cry had drawn the disapproving glare of the same, wizened old Po-Matoran.

"Is anyone going to help me up?" he spluttered.

One by one, we step over his sprawled body except for Tsukumi, who treads on his head.

"Young whippersnappers these days...!"