Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The Pike Mage woke up in her bedroom, she got up and went to the window and opened the curtains.

The view at the archipelago is boring as ever. It is just a rocky land with no grass and plants with giant shiny gems, and the tall tower that was the magic college she went to. That’s why she always wished to at least visit the other Scrybe Islands…and her wish will be fulfilled today! And she’ll even go exploring with her two favorite people in the whole world!

She went downstairs to the kitchen, took the milk from the fridge, poured it in a bowl and let it heat up in the microwave, meanwhile she grabbed the cereal from a cabinet and left it on the table, then fetched the spoon from the cutlery drawer as the microwave beeped.

She peacefully ate her breakfast, upon finishing it she stood from the table, tossed the bowl and spoon into the dishwasher and returned the cereal, then went to the bathroom.

She brushed her teeth, but then she stopped in her tracks…she usually took showers before going to sleep, but since she’s going to be away from home for possibly more than one day, she should shower now and might as well wash her hair, she glanced at the clock, they were going to meet up in front of the bridge at 12…yeah she has time for that.

Amber dressed herself up, put her backpack on her back and took her orange bike while she got out the door, she took a few steps before getting on her bike and departed from her house.

The Lonely Wizard was already eagerly awaiting at the bridge with their dark cyan bike.

“Hi Loxley! Where’s Goobert?” Pike asked.

“15 minutes ago he texted me that he overslept.” Loxley answered while fiddling with their phone, checking the time and if Goobert texted anything else. “Gosh what’s taking him so long-”

“PLEASE DON’T LEAVE WITHOUT ME!”

The slime mage himself yelled as he ran and almost tripped on his own feet with his green bike next to him.

“Chill out, we can’t leave without you Goobert!”

“But I don’t want to keep you waiting!”

“You didn’t forget anything , right?”

“I already had it all prepared since yesterday! I even checked before going out!”

“Okay you two, are you ready for a grand adventure?!” Amber raised her voice so they’d turn their attention from yapping to the road trip.

“YES YES LET’S GOOO!!!”

Loxley started pedaling their bike first with their two lovely classmates following behind them.

First stop: P03’s factory.

The bridge planks made creaky noises as bike wheels ran over them.

The trio arrives at the metal platform, in the middle is the hoverpad to the second floor held by poles. Around the platform are other smaller platforms with rotating lights. The mages ascended to the second floor, in front of them appeared a metal shack with two antennas on the roof sparked with electricity.

P03 floated at its table, building a leepbot. He immediately noticed Magnificus’s students entering his domain.

“What are you doing here.”

“Greetings,” Amber tipped her hat “don’t mind us, we’re just on a road trip-”

“WOW THERE’S SO MANY THINGS WHAT’S THIS WHAT’S THAT OOOH IT FLASHES-”

“DO NOT TOUCH MY PARTICLE SCANNER WITH YOUR FILTHY MEATSTICKS.”

“Sorry.”

“Ugh, listen I have work to do here, so go rendezvous around my factory instead of bothering me, and do not touch anything .” And with that, P03 minded their own business and ignored them.

The conveyor belts carried various robot parts, each of them were scanned by the scanner with a flash.

After finding out that the room on the left is a dead end with the conveyor belt throwing used robotic things into a pitch black abyss, the trio went to the room on the right, poles with glowing blue spheres illuminating their path. They walked under an archway of conveyor belts, then on a metal bridge. There was a bot, inspecting the contents being carried on the belts.

Amber approached it.

“Greetings-”

“Do not bother me, I am working.” The inspector’s high-pitched voice outmatched the sounds of the conveyor belts before her.

“…your boss doesn’t give you guys holidays?”

“No.”

“That’s rough bud-”

“But I wish he would…”

“Why don’t you just quit?”

“As if I could. Even if I could, where would I go?”

Amber went silent, looking at the pieces of endoskeletons pass by.

“Hey Amber, are you coming?” Goobert’s voice echoed from the door behind her.

“Right behind you.”

More blue orbs on poles, another bridge, but then there was a low stairway with another bot, looking down at the roboparts that were about to be heated up and then cooled down on their track. While the students were passing by, Amber swore that she heard something muffled inside of it, like a voice?

“Everything alright?”

“ DON’T LEAVE ME HERE- Everything is completely and definitely fine, what makes you think otherwise?” The melter spoke with their hoarse voice (shunning whatever sounds emitted from inside).

“Oh nothing, I just thought that I heard something weird.”

Amber picked up the pace, not only to catch up to her peers but to also distance herself from that weirdo.

They descended to the basement where seemed to be the start of the long conveyor belt system. The dismantled pieces of robots were being pulled from the water by a giant metal claw controlled by a rusty bot. Something falling into the water was audible, with the source hidden in the darkness.

“…wait a minute, isn’t this the place where the used metal falls off the conveyor…?”

“That would mean it keeps going in circles…HAH!”

The dredger made a comment with his thick accent “It’s called recycling, y’know.”

“No wonder that P03 still has weak cards!” Loxley giggled as they climbed on the conveyor while no one was looking and let it take them back up to the ground floor.

“LOXLEY HOW DID YOU GET UP THERE-”

Goobert freaked out and got on the hoverpad with Amber behind him. Loxley levitated above the smelting machinery before sitting back on the belts, Goobert still in panic despite just seeing that they can keep themself out of harm. The lonely wizard started running when the inspector tried to catch them, effortlessly escaping and ‘sliding’ down the archway.

Then they got into P03’s particle scanner.

Needless to say that the trio got kicked out of the factory for that shenanigan. Although the card that got printed was a stim mage, P03 wasn’t happy with it because it needs a mox to exist. And P03 doesn’t have mox crystals, nor wants to have them.

Amber took her phone out of her pocket…it’s 1pm.

“Well that took less time than expected.”

“I’m glad we got out of there, did you see how scary that melter was-”

“At least we got a new card as a souvenir!”

The trio got on their bikes and continued their journey.

Next stop: Leshy’s forest

Chapter Text

The center island is beautiful.

It’s the island that holds the legendary Scrybe Statues.

The Beast statue is overgrown with vines and moss, birds made their nests in the scrybe’s branch-like antlers, there is a burrow under it where rabbits were napping.

The Death statue is cracked with age with a few spiderwebs draping them like bandaids.

The Magick statue is adorned with gems and floating minerals.

The Technology statue is geometric and is beginning to rust.

Who wouldn’t want to take in the scenery? Maybe take a picture, because who knows when you’ll get a chance like this?

Also a good spot for a snack while on the way to Leshy’s forest.

Amber and Goobert sat on the cream-colored meadow, munching on sandwiches while Loxley was picking up flowers, with their own sandwich in their mouth and a dandelion behind their ear.

“…I admit that I’m not so sure about going to Leshy’s Forest.”

“Why not?”

“There are poisonous snakes! Wolves! AND BEARS! EVEN MONSTERS-”

“I’m sure that when we ask for his blessing we won’t get a scratch, and you just read too many scary fables.”

“But Rebecha told stories of such cryptids whenever she visited, remember? Like that one time she got stalked by The Long Elk, or chased by an Amalgam…or witnessing the Mothman hatching from its pupa-”

“Goobert-”

“-you heard of the rumors, right? About ‘Child 13’, Hodag, Ijiraq and THE FLYING URAYULI-”

“I made you a flower crown Gooby!”

“…how grand, thank you!”

“And Amby, can I braid your hair?”

“Why yes.”

Loxley divided her hair into three sections, crossed the right one over the middle one, then left over middle, right left right left…and tied it with their green hair tie, Loxley’s shoulder-length hair was now wild and free. And they attached some flowers into the braids, Amber was very happy with how it turned out.

It was around 2pm when the triad got to the edge of The Beast Scrybe’s territory. There was a tradition to make a small ceremony to obtain Leshy’s blessing before entering, he is the ruler of his forest after all, and without it would probably result in bad luck.

The three kneeled and each placed a hand on the ground.

“…Leshy, Scrybe of Beasts, please let us go through your dear forest, grant us a safe journey as visitors…” Amber quietly spoke before raising her head, no sight of any predators, they were good to go. “Onward.”

They walked along the grassy and rocky path, birds sang their songs and soared on the sky, squirrels went up and down the trees…and Loxley got distracted by a track of ants. Amber and Goobert waited for them, until they heard a twig snap and almost jumped out of their skin. They turned around-

“Oh it’s just a deer.”

“A pronghorn in fact!”

“What’s the difference?”

“Can I pet it?”

“No-”

The trio continued down the path, on their left appeared a pond surrounded by reed. Frogs croaked and basked on the lilypads, beavers worked on their dam. How peaceful.

Later they encountered a little village. A bearded man with a pickaxe chatted with an abnormally tall man, a pair of hooded figures were selling pelt coats, and an elderly woman hummed while carving a piece of wood on her porch. But one of the huts caught the youngsters’ attention, the one that was further away from the rest and overgrown with mushrooms.

“Ye shouldn’t git too close to that place. Thar’s creepy twins livin’ there, they once tried to experiment with my girl! Like a lab rat!” The Prospector warned them.

“Your…daughter?-”

“My hound.”

“Fungus fish weird. Fused my salmons. ‘Two into one.’ But why?” The Angler joined the conversation.

“Heed their warnings.” The Woodcarver advised from her porch.

And what did the trio do?

They didn’t go to the mushroom hut because they have brains.

And so they continue deeper into the forest, engulfed under a curtain of tree branches. The birdsongs slowly faded out and got replaced by seldom caws of ravens and drumming of woodpeckers. The gaps of sunlight weakened as they ventured.

After carefully stepping on and over many mighty roots in their way, they saw a light hidden behind pines and bushes in the distance.

“…s-so cold…”

“Do you think that Leshy will let us in his temple?”

“Well, P03 let us in theirs, and we are going to be the top of Magnificus’s deck so-”

They all halted.

Before them unfolded a clearing, a dying campfire crackled with humane figures standing around it just a few meters away.

This isn’t Leshy’s cabin.

The survivors looked famished, they were basically just skin and bone. It was hard to see their faces in the very cloudy weather.

Those aren’t inhabitants from the village from before, are they?

Amber took a step closer…only to accidentally loudly break a branch.

The people twitched their heads towards the mages, they aren’t people…they’re one-eyed and dark as shadows. One of them limped closer to them, another got on all fours and tramped to them.

Then one leapt at them as a lightning bolt ignited the sky…

Amber summoned her spear and striked it midair, it fell backwards into the campfire. She picked up her five-foot-tall loved ones and made a run for it…she carried them under her shoulders like shopping bags-

“AAAAAAAAAA-” …screaming shopping bags.

Amber ran as fast as she could, trying to backtrack to the village, but it started to seem that she was only getting further away and farther into the forest. Mud squelched underneath her shoes and the feet of scrawny humanoids that might as well be drooling on the back of Amber’s neck.

She rushed through the bushes, thank god her knight visor protected her eyes from the twigs…hopefully Goobert and Loxley covered their eyes with their hands- or just closed their eyes- BUT HOPEFULLY THOSE FREAKS GET POKED IN THE EYE.

She ran out of the bushes into a steep meadow, now without the roof of trees she found herself in the rain. As she raced from the hill, she realized that there is cabin to where she’s heading. It’s a bit broken down but the candle lantern swinging just above the door is alight, someone lives there.

She looked back as she knocked on the door, they escaped all of them except one, viciously galloping on fours across the wet grass.

The moment the door creaked while opening she basically launched herself into the cabin.

Amber finally dropped her two classmates when the door closed, as she was gathering her bearings she noticed Leshy towering over her.

“…salutations…” Amber murmured and took off her mage hat and bowed, dear Vallamir he’s so much taller than Magnificus.

“It’s such a big honor and even bigger pleasure to meet you!” Goobert tipped his hat.

“Howdy!!!” Loxley waved their hat above their head.

“Greetings, students. I was expecting you, I even made tea!” Leshy clasped his hands and walked over to a smoky modern kettle with four tea cups resting next to a safe.

“…so those creatures that chased us are literally manifestations of starvation…?”

“That is correct. They thrive off of everything that moves but nothing will extinguish their gluttony.”

All of them were sitting at Leshy’s table, sipping their tea or just listening to Leshy, or looking around the cabin. Amber glanced at the cuckoo clock…it’s already 4pm??

“…it’s getting late, I don’t think we have time to go to Grimora’s Crypt and back home…”

“And that’s why I brought a tent!” Goobert happily announced.

“But will we survive to see tomorrow with those freaks outside?-”

“Do not fret. I’ll make sure nothing will bother you, even though not many creatures strut around my cabin.”

And so they set up the tent behind the cabin, it wasn’t raining anymore. Leshy was a big help in assembling the poles. The tent was actually bigger than Amber expected, and it’s sorta T-shaped.

The triad left their backpacks at one side of the rectangle space and their sleeping bags at the other.

They chatted with Leshy for a bit, then played some games on their phones, and cuddled as they viewed the night sky from the tent window.

Chapter Text

The trio was awakened by a monstrous roar at 9am.

“I DON’T WANT TO DIE TODAY AMBER HOLD ME-”

“CALM DOWN IT’S NOT EVEN NEAR US LOOK!”

Loxley pointed to the tent window, outside was nothing there but the forest scenery.

“Everything’s fine, see? And I’m sure that Leshy would protect us-”

A hydra overturned the trees that were blocking its way. Its five distinct heads growled and hissed and screeched. But luckily it ran in a direction where the students weren’t. They all sighed out of relief.

They packed all their stuff and took down the tent, just as they were about to resume their road trip, Rebecha sprinted by and basically stormed into the cabin. The only thing that was audible was ‘Sooooo remember the egg that I babysitted for you??’

Last stop: Grimora’s crypt

The trio walked on the dark purple sandy ground with gravestones on both sides of the path. Amber read some of the names on the graves: ‘Louis’, ‘Barry’, ‘Kaminski’, ‘Lionel’…‘James’.

Suddenly a hand bursted out of the ground and grabbed Amber’s ankle. She let out a yelp and after escaping its grasp she stomped on it till it buried itself back to where it came from. The moment she heard a yell she turned around to see Goobert trying to pull out Loxley out of a quicksand of zombie hands. Amber immediately grabbed Loxley as Goobert casted a spell that turned the undead hands into slime.

“…how about we go home early-”

“TO THE CRYPT TO THE CRYPT TO THE CRYPT!!!”

“Nononononononono-”

Despite Goobert’s resistance, the students crossed the rock bridge and faced the crypt. The pillars holding the architecture together looked like they could collapse at any moment, and there wasn’t even a door, just a spiderweb in the corner. The stair hall has skulls with candles mounted on the walls…they soon reached the dark teal tiles of the crypt. Even with the fire torches it was dark.

Grimora materialized in front of the triad.

“H-”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA…”

“Scaredy-cat.”

“Hello dears.”

“Madam.” Amber put her hat on her chest.

“AHOY!!!”

“AAAAARRRGH-”

“Goobert. Goobert you really need to chill.”

“Nice pirate impression…you squeezed up lime slice.” A skeleton with an eyepatch and pirate hat, dressed in only a long dark coat, poked Goobert’s shoulder with his elbow.

“W-what?? I’m not a lime-”

“He’s still ruffed up that he died of scurvy.” Another skeleton, this time sporting a shorter coat and narrow fedora, a big bitemark was visible on his skull, he was leaning on a casket nearby.

“DID YOU TURN ON THE HEATER YET I’M STILL FREEZING.” A third skeleton with a chunk of ice stuck in her skull, wearing a brown jacket with fur in the hood, she walked in the room while her whole being trembled.

“Kaycee, come at least say hi to our visitors.” Grimora said with a sweet tone.

“A…achoo! Geez, um, heya.”

“Hi! Hi Kaykay!”

“Sup.”

“Hello.”

“Ok I’m going back to my room.” And as fast as she arrived, she left.

Grimora’s attention returned to the trio “…sorry for scaring you earlier, dear Emerald Mage. As for Kaycee, she’s been sick lately if you couldn’t tell. And for your road trip…I’m afraid that there isn’t much to explore or do. The rest of the rooms here are our bedrooms.”

“Maybe ay could take the landlubbers for a voyage across the sea.”

“That’d be lovely.”

“Can I join?”

“My first mate? OF COURSE!”

-

The sea waves splashed on the boat and the wind brought the smell of salt to the group’s nostrils. They sailed between the fingers of the skeletal hand that is Grimora’s land.

It was a beautiful scenery for everyone. Just the three of them…and Royal. and Sawyer. Basically cuddling. But it was fine it was almost like they weren’t there.

Now it’s time to go home and enjoy the rest of the summer holidays. Amber, Goobert and Loxley are looking forward to doing this again.