Chapter Text
Vermo fidgeted with their antennae impatiently. Soleca stared at a map, using the light from her wings to see it.
“Didn’t you rescue me from there?” Vermo leaned against a tree, “Shouldn’t you know the way back to Lotus Lair?”
“Yeah! I did, but… well…” Soleca sighed, “As your counterpart, I can sense where you are at all times. That… doesn’t mean I was paying attention when I went there, or when I brought you back here.”
“Where exactly is ‘here’?”
“A secret spot! It… I… I haven’t named it just yet, but uhm- Green Greens is really close by!”
Vermo looked at their Mirror Counterpart, if that was really who they were, shouldn’t they be… “We aren’t-”
Soleca glared at them, “No. I’m never going back to the Mirror World.”
Vermo nodded. This is the first time they had someone on their side, they didn’t want to mess up. There was no point in pushing.
“Okay!” Soleca focused herself on the map again, pretending Vermo hadn't ever asked that.
“Well, theoretically,” Soleca held the map closer to their wings trying to see it better as they spoke, “whatever this is has been happening for a while, right? I mean, based on what that guy said…” Soleca trailed off.
“Hey, what’s he even doing, anyway?” Soleca turned to Vermo, “You both weren’t very descriptive…”
“You heard-”
“Oh, I was there the whole time. I just… couldn’t get to you fast enough. Sorry again…”
Vermo turned away, scoffing.
Apart from their own scoff, they heard something. Another creature was nearby.
“What was that-” Soleca began to say.
From the darkness, only illuminated by the glowing butterflies. A Lotite emerged.
It was, at one point, a Waddle Dee. However the lotuses coming out of its head and eye said otherwise. The lotuses moved it around, like a puppet. There was a soul in there, somewhere, one that should have moved on.
Whether or not the soul was aware of what its body had become, Vermo couldn’t tell.
“Eek!” Soleca yelped, backing away.
“This. This is what his goal is. Take souls who have moved on, and bind them to their bodies. Reanimate them, just to serve him. We’ve been calling them Lotites.” Vermo explained.
The Lotite slowly approached Vermo and Soleca.
Vermo reached out their hands, and dual chakrams materialized in them. Their weapon.
They looked at Soleca, they were frozen in pure fear. This fight was just going to be theirs, it seemed.
Luckily, lotus flowers weren’t very durable.
Vermo threw their chakrams, they crackled with electricity. The chakrams sliced clean through the lotuses on the Lotites head, before coming back around and landing soundly in Vermo’s hands. Another Butterfly Reaper would come to collect the soul later, it wasn’t their job to escort this particular one.
“Thanks for saving me!” Soleca smiled.
Vermo rolled their eye, allowing their chakrams to vanish. It was nothing, it meant nothing.
“We should head to Green Greens, see if anyone knows anything? A way to Lotus Lair, maybe?” She suggested.
“Sounds good.” Vermo began to float off-
“Wrong way, silly!” Soleca called, they could hear her giggle, “Green Greens is this way!”