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In this Strange World full of different kinds of people and beasts, there is one thing that stays the same.
They can be affected by things. By touch. By words.
By feelings.
Why don't we explore such a concept together?
{Poisonous Blueberry/Bleeding Carrot}
“Ah, Nabs. I don't think we should be getting close to such, uh…”
“No worries, Karoto! I have enough info to approach this situation with ease!!!!”
Nabiu was ecstatic about this encounter!
Today, she had spotted a big mushroom settling across the Hourclock woods, hiding in bushes and seemingly trying to get out of sight.
For someone like Nabiu who respected wildlife, she still wanted to document it at least once!
Just to see those beautiful colors, to feel it, to see if it bites, FOR EVERYTHING!!!
She could even do it with her newfound Friend that got freshly stuck into Community Work- Karoto!
Walking across the Orange beauty that was the Forest, the path and plan was straightforward-
Find the Mushroom. Draw it. Leave.
Maybe pet it.
Well, Nabiu would do that, but the carrot bard kept insisting that they stay as far away as possible and never ever touch it.
Apparently, purple wasn't a popular color with Karoto.
“Look, I get it. Cool new creature, gotta get them all yadda yadda etcetera, but it could be dangerous.”
Blinking quietly, the little blueberry held her book as they walked along the forest trail, leaves crunching on their feet and birds twitchering around.
A smile returned to her face anyway, giving a hearty snicker.
“Dangerous is my middle name!”
“You don't have a middle name, Paintball.”
“Well, you do!”
“I don't even have a last name???”
“Then why did you say that it was lucky or dangerous or charming or-”
“Okay, I get it. Well- Even if you have your knowledge, I kinda am the streetsmart person here.”
Quietly raising a brow, Nabiu stopped for a moment to stare at the carrot moving his hand in theatrical patterns.
“What does that have to do with anything?”
Karoto stopped too, turning to her with a heavy huff and kneeling down.
“What I mean is that I've seen what certain creatures can do. Meaning that purple-”
“OH WAIT, THERE IT IS-!”
“N A B I U.”
Complaining could wait for right now, she had spotted the beautiful purple mushroom sitting in the grass with no noise accompanying it.
This is the safest way for her to draw it, for no predators seemed to be nearby.
Well, she doesn't consider herself a predator! She's very nice. She's the kindest little blueberry.
Her Mama and Papa taught her so.
Sneaking forward, she could imagine her giant yellow hat looking like a big Shark, one which might scare away the Mushroom…
So she peeled it off carefully, putting it aside.
Something that Karoto apparently flinched at as he actually lifted the scarf up to his face, wrapping it around his stomach and his upper thighs.
‘Nabs-! Nabiu, get back here!”
All that whispering only made her more confused. She hadn't even known this mushroom enough to get info on it!
Deciding that she might as well listen for a moment while the critter was still resting, she looked over to Karoto, tilting her head.
“Why? You know I'm careful with these things.”
“Yes, i- I don't doubt that. Seriously, I trust you at this point, but-”
A huff and some rustling, just as he pinched the inbetween of his eyes.
“Purple usually means ‘poisonous’. Aka, bad for little kids.”
Nabiu would have gasped in an offended manner if she didn't know Karoto any better.
She wasn't little! She was very smart! Well, Karoto did say that she trusted him so-
She…did get what he meant though, quietly crawling closer and watching the Mushroom move around.
Getting poisoned isn't good. Sure, it can be cured with potions or if it isn't too bad simply be waited out-
But she had heard the horror stories of what poison did to a person.
And with Karoto's thieving history, the blueberry could get where the carrot was coming from.
Though, she still wanted to draw it! It deserved to be drawn as any other creature she kept in her book, for it was special.
All her doodles are special!
“...Look, if…if you're really gonna do it, just be careful. Those things are fast on attacking if threatened.”
“Did you fight one of them before?”
Both stared, enough of an answer at this point, letting the Bard do a simple motion with his scarf.
Actually pulling it off for once, which was a RARITY. A GENUINE RARITY.
“Yes, but not the point. I get your experienced, but you need to have something on, just incase.”
Carefully, Karoto started to wrap the scarf around her neck and face, seemingly trying to get a proper knot in.
Poison could be expelled in different ways. Mushrooms specifically mostly go for pollen however, which mostly just affect the skin of the breathing ways.
Covering your body wasn't stupid and she truly appreciated Karoto's help.
Just now, Nabiu looked over to the Mushroom again, noticing that it was shaking like a leaf, shaking its little Mushroom head.
Just as she tilted her head, wondering what it was doing-
SWISH- SWOSH-
It shook its head, heavy pollen suddenly starting to fall off
Making it
HARD TO BREATH-
“OH, DEAR NANTES-”
She realized why Karoto had been extra careful.
It hurt to breathe. It hurt to seriously breathe for a moment but-
Nabiu's mouth was quickly stuffed with the scarf, getting a hiss out of Karoto while her feet were swept off the ground.
The tight grip on her body made it clear that the carrot held her close instinctively.
It continued to hurt for a second, yet quietened down as the poison seemed to have not reached in her time to be anything bad.
Even if it meant less air in her lungs due to the current scarf predicament.
Which would be worrying, had a certain someone not made sure to jump away, for-
THUMP.
Ah, it was for a reason.
Nabiu wasn't able to see much as the carrot swept away from the danger.
Something warm was dripping down near her leg however, rather sticky and weird.
Something that wasn't natural for all she knew, not usually there for someone running so fast.
“Karoto-”
Nobody answered her as the wind swept by her head, away from the Mushroom that attacked her as the scarf was slowly pulled off her face.
OOF, AIR!
Taking a sharp breath, she finally let her lungs inhale what she needed the most right now. A fresh batch of air.
It felt really nice, yet it didn't stop her worry as she was still looking at the path behind her-
Dripping with a clear, orange fluid in their wake.
“Karoto-?”
No response.
Not till he finally stopped as they were near the entrance, huffing up a storm when he finally sat her down.
It hurt to breathe for a moment longer, just as it finally stopped to hurt.
Something so simple was reliving but-
She finally spotted what was leaking away all that fluid.
“Karoto- YOUR BLEEDING!”
“Minor worry right now. Are you okay-?”
“ARE YOU???”
Leaking from his leg was a wound, bleeding with that carrot juice onto the floor.
He blinked, almost as if he hadn't considered it a bother.
It wasnt- it wasn't severe, thankfully, but a bleeding wound was still not good! Especially on the leg!
“Wait- let me pull out some bandages.”
A silent grumbke escaped the carrot as he leaned against the tree, helping Nabiu over as well and checking her over.
Looking for any pores he might have missed.
“Okay, First: Do you have anymore Poison on you? Second, you…just carry around bandages?”
The fellow M.A.G.E gave a sharp nod to both questions, even as she gave quiet coughs ffom what was leftover.
Whatever Poison the fungus had, hadn’t been lethal- or at least hadn’t turned Lethal from what she knew.
Probably would have felt it by now.
Poison was quite the noticeable symptom in a fight! Same with…bleeding.
“Everything's fine. And yes! As a M.A.G.E, we encounter dangerous critters-”
Nabiu swiftly pulled out the bandages, grabbing a hold of Karoto's leg and lightly moving the scarf to the side.
“-So, Wizzro reauires us to bring healing potions or Medkits with us. Just incase anyone gets hurt.”
The Bard blinked.
“So why not just usaaaARshi-...Poootioonn…?”
Sadly, she couldn't numb the pain that came from properly cleaning and bandaging the wound, making sure it wasn't infected.
Poison in wounds is even worse actually.
“Potions just force the wound together as best as possible. It's better for it to heal naturally!”
Karoto gave the most reluctant nod possibly even as she spoke the truth.
Potions could just hide the poison due to the unnatural healing, which is dangerous!
Finally, she tidied up the wound, taking a quick moment to look over his body before quietly realizing something.
“Wait…how aren't you poisoned?”
This time, he actually started to chuckle, taking his precious scarf back, properly bringing it around his neck again and quite boisterous pointed at himself.
“Ah, Paintball. Im poison-resistant! Such thing don't affect me anymore! Ngh-”
Despite the heavy smirk, the wink and the patting against his chest, he still flinched together at the wound.
Leg wounds weren't nice when you were trying to stand up.
So, Nabiu helped! Going under his arm to handle as a crutch for the meters they needed to walk back home.
“T…Thanks. And again, DONT GO TOWARDS POISONOUS STUFF AGAIN.”
The blueberry couldn't help but nervously chuckle at Karoto's scolding.
Well.
At least no one was heavily harmed!
{Furious Broccoli}
Brocco wasn't having it today.
No, he was just NOT HAVING THIS ABSOLUTELY BULLSHIT-
Running wild across the kingdom for one specific monster was one thing. Getting his job interrupted by stupid citizens was the other.
Making the actual enemy a Lava lamp of all things, spewing hot lava literally evwrywhere including his precious armor-
AND HIS HAIR-
Was the absolute nail in the coffin that got his face to go red.
He had actually been running for about 3 hours now. His armor was sweaty. His legs were starting to hurt and he felt like every little pissing thing wrong in the world was weighing down on him.
The worst thing?
The pissing thing was just a few feet away from him.
Still spewing buts of Lava, having tired itself out against a tree.
But at this point?
Brocco's anger had reached a heavy point of acceptance and expectations.
That he will never reach that stupid Lava lamp, that it will just run away again like it always does.
Perhaps, that's why he forced himself to sit down.
Perhaps, that's why he slowly pulled the helmet off to brush through his messed up hair, hoping to get it tidied up again.
Quiet whines left his throat, fiddling with not only his hair but his fragile mentally at the moment.
He couldn't help but let himself fall backwards onto the path, very, very tenderly starting to sniff from it all.
Brocco was utterly pissed.
And said furious rage was turning into tantrum worthy tears, slowly stinging his eyes and trailing down his face.
All he could do was put his face into his hands and kick his stupid, metal armor shoes off, just wanting some relief.
Something else to focus on as he let out strained sobs, kicking harshly against the floor and finally, FINALLY cursing-
“God-DAMMIT-”
He hissed harshly, nearly yelling as he slammed his helmet onto the ground, a loud THUD accompanying the scene.
The effect this stupid Lava lamp had on people was severe, he could feel it in his veins, in his body as he let out quiet sobs.
Brocco…hadn't let himself cry in a good while though.
Something that might add onto it.
For a while, it stayed like this, even when the sobs quietened down to sniffled and whimpers as he scratched his armored fist against the ground.
One could say that this behavior was unacceptable for the Head guard.
The broccoli would call it a sweet break.
….
It felt good, to be honest.
Yes, it stung in his eyes, yet soon started to feel more natural, soft twars rolling down his face as he stomped his foot against the ground.
Or socks.
Yes, it was a struggle to get pieces of his armor off to breathe and yes, he cursed the whole way through-
At the end, once his face was tear-stained and he let himself be a wreck for a moment…
The anger felt almost nice.
Comforting.
Right now, his attention wasn't anywhere, just focusing on his breathing as soft taps approached his location.
The Lava Lamp maybe.
Who cares.
He doesn't care right now.
….Gently, something started to crawl on him, laying down in his open chest which was only half peeled open due to the reactions.
Was it-
Was it purring?
…
Unsurprisingly, not the weirdest thing this world has to offer.
“...Your one stupid trouble maker, aren't you?”
Brocco weakly chuckled, seeming to have his mood brightened by the Lava lamp not acting out for this moment.
It was axtually quite pretty in-fact, with its swirling colors and the bubbles inside of it moving around, beating like a heart.
Innocent eyes stared up at his, making noises he couldn't quite understand.
They were calmer, much calmer than before and much more preferred by the exhausted guard.
Raising a hand towards the Lava lamp, he gently traced a hand over the glass, tilting his head to the side, letting himself soften up.
It was nice.
No big deal anymore.
“Alright-”
With the Anger slowly leaving his body, he could pick up the pacified Lava lamp with ease, patting whatever seemed to be the head.
Standing up was quite the task, but he could handle it with the restover strength he had.
“Let's get you home.”
Sometimes, you may just need to get angry.
It isn't a crime.
{Burned Wolf/Frozen Artichoke}
“TOMA, TO THE LEFT!”
“RIGHT ON IT, CREAWWWAA-”
Tomaria was sure that fighting a giant elemental scorpion with a team would lead to them winning.
It was literally just a gigantic crab! Just some crab with a big, stupid level that they needed to overthrow and Arti was doing great on giving directions!
The giant Artichoke was zooming around, making sure their scally cloak didn't get stuck on anything, holding their needle close snd their hat even closer-
Face still obscured by vines even!!! They were doing their best as the largest!
And Cameron was quick on his feet, trying his best to bang his way through the defense shell of the enemy!
Everything was going all well, she just needed to prepare a proper confusion bomb to stun them and NOT confuse it with a healing bomb-
Which usually happens with damage and healing bombs, since she's a bomber healer BUT SHHHHH-!!!!
“IM TAKING COVER FOR A SECOND!”
Tomaria yelled over, barely catching the quick hand-signing-
‘Be Careful.’
She will certainly be, dodging the quick Hammer swing the wolf did towards the giant crab and hiding away near a tree.
Taking the quick break to compose herself, she propped up her blue Poncho, quickly swiping throigh her bomb-holder for the right bomb.
Also, quickly stuffing a piece of chocolate cake into her mouth for hp recovery, munching on it quickly and swallowing it with a hiccup.
Right. Throat stuck.
“Where- hic- is it-”
Quietly swallowing, she picked out the bomb with an approving hum, quickly standing to-
“ARGH-”
THUMMP-
The Tomato physically flinched as she saw her Teammates getting blown across the fields in a fireball and snowball fashion.
Checking-
Oh, that STUPID-
Of course, the Crab used one of it’s stupid skills just to retreat back into it’s Cave.
Urgh.
Okay, whatever, FINE, she needed to check on her Teammates immediately! They could be seriously hurt and she's literally THE HEALER-
Rushing over, she double-checked for the right bombs and threw a quick healing bomb into their direction, probably accidently flashbanging them.
Which she cared little about as long as her friends were okay, by the way.
A quick pull from below her Poncho made her grab onto the Medkit she always kept, rushing over to the burning piece of fur and the scarily overfrozen Artichoke.
“Hang in there! I got you too…”
She whispered frantically, pulling off her poncho and patting away the flames from Cameron, shushing his whimpers gently.
She didn’t really care if the only thing that she wore was her bomb belt, this was more of an emergency!
“Hold. Arti, come here.”
Concentration was a fickle thing with her.
Tomaria however, knew when things needed to go fast, pulling out a warming bottle and letting it heat up by putting a firestone into the water.
With quick precision, Tomaria undid Arti’s giant cloak, probably frosted over and freezing them outside, same with the snow-covered hat.
Graciously, she cracked off the ice and made sure it wasn't the worst, adjusting the bottle for a moment before giving it to Arti.
“Thanks- ow…Toma…”
“All good, Cami. Just breathe, let me just help you.”
Burn and Freeze were terrible side-effects one could be afflicted by through battle, especially with the rare hypothermia cases.
Or the overheating, which Tomaria could luckily prevent in time, now just brushing off any burned edges and removing the ashes.
Checking for burn marks, dusting off the tail and making sure the hammer wasn't burned due to the wood.
Once that was checked out- which means taking her Poncho back - she quietly checked on Arti, pushing the Vines away, letting the bigger Fruit grumble their day away.
“Yes, yes. I need to know if your hurt or not, Mixed Teal.”
Blinking for a moment, Arti shook their hand and gave a weak thumbs up, getting a lookout for any more wounds.
Finally, Tomaria checked Cameron once more.
“And you're alright too, Cream?”
“Mhm. Urgh- the burned spots hurt a bit, though.”
Understandable!
Luckily, they weren't bad looking. No skin was burned, just bits of the fur, meaning it was put out fast enough to not spread or ruin anything.
“I'll give you some lotion and sap later. We should definitely go back home though-”
If Arti had been one to speak, they probably would have protested by the way they moved.
Their silent stare was easy to speak over though.
“As you guys don't know, the Crab literally went back into its Cave and locked it up.”
Both of her fellow team members blinked.
Annoyance? Probably. Relief? Most definitely.
Did she want to go home too?
Yeah. Yeah, she did.
She should make more paper spray bombs actually.
So, with a few more checkups, they finally went to walk home, even if they didn't defeat the Crab.
They didn't need to.
As long as they weren't hurt.
{Sleeping Majesty}
It felt warm and cozy today.
The King wouldn't know better as he laid in the surprisingly warm grass, sun shining down on the garden area of the castle.
A gentle breeze came through, brushing through his soft locks as he sought peace for what was his everyday life.
Tucking his cape closer, he gently murmured nothing into the air, huffing to himself.
Li didn't remember how he fell asleep.
In truth, he didn't really care either as a soft sensation rang through his body, including voices that rang through his ear.
The Broccoli found warmth in such comfort, curling up tighter to the sensation.
It felt like everything was bleeding together.
It felt like everything was okay.
To be honest, his brain felt like a fuzzy ball, not truly responding to want for movement or force to think.
Really, it was hard to think. To even move properly as a harsh breath ghosted over him.
The king would be shivering if he could care enough.
…Something stepped closer, something that made more noises and made him aware of vibrations from the ground.
Who was there, he asked himself quite a bit.
Something nudged him gently.
Something nudged him more harshly.
Something spoke to him.
Li couldn't force himself to blink for some reason.
Actually, his stomach hurt quite a bit now that he was actually trying to focus, beating and lurching everywhere.
A strained whimper escaped him at the lack of mobility, but someone hoisted him up and pulled him over.
“....I….ine…”
Someone spoke, just the lightest bit clearer as they massaged the stomach he hadn't noticed he's been clutching.
Hissing quietly, someone forced open his mouth and poured liquid in, getting him to almost cough due to his air hole being stuck-
No danger despite that and slowly…
Li could move more properly, forcing his eyes open.
“Aa-...Urgh…”
The grass was still soft and sweet even as he awoke, leaning into the harsh grip the person provided.
“Ah, finally. There you are, you Moronic imbecile.”
O
Oh, he recognized that bittersweet male voice.
IT'S THE QUEEN-
“AH- My sweet, i-”
“Don't call me that and also, sit down again.”
The Queen glared at Li, forcing him back down and being covered in a whole lot of purple liquid that he couldn't identify.
And sitting back down seemed good-! Mostly due to the black spots that appeared in his vision and the headache and the whole lot of dizziness.
He hadn't even muttered the words and she seemed to be knowing what he wanted to ask, brushing off her dirty poncho and long skirt.
“You've got hit by those parasitic Venus Plant traps. Can't believe someone grew them in the royal garden…”
The Queen muttered along, getting him to force his gaze forwards.
They were in the Garden, yes- and in that Garden was now a shredded Plant Trap, coughing up its last lung and hanging away with its stem.
Definitely dead now.
Which means he's safe and…
Almost fell trap to a sleeping routine.
….Li couldn't help but feel guilty and worry about potentially punishment.
She did that a lot.
“...Uhm…I…I mean, I didn’t-”
“Spare yourself, it's not your fault this time. I gotta get the useless Gardener and his shack checked out.”
If that wasn't relied flooding through his veins from such a sentence, then he didn't know how to be grateful.
Like how his deceased Father said.
He swallowed instinctively.
She turned over again with an eyebrow raise.
“Still feeling sick? Can you even walk?”
Good question.
Li attempted to move his leg, getting only sluggish and wobbly movements as he tried to stand up by himself.
A wobbly smile was given back, to which the Queen only shook her head.
“You're an idiot, just so you know.”
The other Broccoli said as disdainful as ever, looping an arm around the shoulder and helping the King up once more.
Finally heading back towards the castle to get any leftover side effects checked out.
Li was grateful for his wife.
Even…if neither loved each other back.
Sometimes, that's how arranged marriages go.
{Fearing Lemon}
Lemlo didn't know how to describe it.
The feeling that would sometimes pop up naturally around the Bat Kingdom, even if she knew the cause of it.
Eyes on her, accusing a little bat of a thing she didn't do, only allowed back in once exiled due to her friend group-
It was a pain in the stomach, where every bit of dialogue made her want to vomit it all out
Indescribable in a way that she couldn't place mentally.
Didn't want too.
She truly just came on this trip because Nabiu wanted to check out the old plants and she wasn't banned! She even brought a plant as a peace sign.
Perhaps that's why the other bats tolerated her for now.
Quietly, the lemon bat was waiting for Nabiu to finish her studies, giving gentle advice and warnings.
These vines were fickle at times, sometimes even fragile to the touch-
You need to be careful that they don't break.
…
Sometimes, Lemlo took a look at the dying tree that once bore fruit for the whole Cave, the one that gave the growing ability to the bats ages ago.
The one that gave her these vines, the one that gave others flowers and some weeds.
Melancholic, that's one word to describe it.
Uncomfortable was what she felt.
Unfamiliar is what the Cave felt like.
It truly shouldn't be like this-
“Ah! Lemlo?”
Oh
Oh no.
Lemlo nearly cracked her head over, having a want to glare- to do anything that wasn't something that showed weakness-!
But.
All she felt was that dreading sensation that made her want to vomit.
Painted in green and in the inner wing orange, there stood-
“M-...Mom?”
Fern.
The bat couldn't bring herself to speak or form a proper sentence, bubbling acid in her stomach that she could practically feel now.
All she could do was stare. Stare at the one who ruined her life.
She couldn't do anything with the fear running through her, like a wave that was just activated.
The want to fight occurred, as it already felt like they were in battle.
Call for help from Nabiu.
Do anything.
“It's such a…pleasure seeing you back here, Sweetie.”
If Lemlo could form words, she would spit into her mother's face and attack her in front of everyone, no matter the reaction.
Even if they hated her for that. Even if it got Nabiu to flinch back.
But she didn't.
Freezing in her spot and stuttering out a sentence was all the lemon could do.
“Well- Well. I- We just-”
But Fern shut her up, bringing a wing confidently to her mouth and grinning in the same, unnatural way she always did.
Harsh, fake, stretching to such wide proportions that it seemed unnatural, never friendly, never sweet.
Unlike-
“No need. Your friend here seems to tell me enough with her…little workload.”
Tone tilts, small glares, propping up of the wing, a form of authority that she brought over other people when she wasn't faking her sweet attitude.
Lemlo preferred to call it uncomfortability.
A sort of fear.
For a moment, it stayed like this. A staring contest of two bats that had quite the history that only one dared to speak of way too easily.
“Y…Yeah, she's just. Inspecting. Nothing more.”
There was something about the way Fern did anything at all that made Lemlo want to bury herself or run away to never be found again.
The way she looked at Nabiu, the way she smiled, the way that chuckle left her lips.
Invading, repeating, doing everything in her power to establish dominance and a sort of...power over others.
“Oh, really now?”
Lemlo took a step back. Fern one forward.
If she had any humor left in her brain, she would have called this the worst staring contest of the century.
But she had none, leaving her to stare in fear as the motherly figure that her mother was supposed to be faded into nothingness once more.
Nothing.
Nothing was there that resembled such a thing.
Fern opened her mouth to speak once more, to torture the little lemon with words and bring more of that disgusting dread into her heart-
“Miss Fern. May I get your attention?”
Something.
No, someone had spoken up, getting the green bat to look around to the source.
It was...an icicle. An icicle with a blue hat and a snowflake cloak, with the broccoli kingdom stamp drawn on, looking up to the bat.
“Our Queen wants to speak to you, as she is visiting the kingdom.”
Apparently, Fern actually could make different expressions, her face lightening up in a way that the lemon bat had never seen before.
She clasped her wings together in joy.
“Oh, that's delightful! And you, little child, are supposed to deliver me that?”
“Sure, you old hag.”
Okay.
Lemlo would have snorted there if she wasn't terrified out of her mind right now.
Fern blinked about thrice and she wondered if the lime bat was about to attack a high-leveled guard…
But-
“Touchè, little one.”
With that harsh little sentence spoken with a smile, Fern looked back one more time to her daughter, carrying that same deranged smile-
Before finally leaving, tapping her feet happily to apparently meet the Queen, for…whatever reason.
What Privilege did Fern have to meet the Queen of the Broccoli's of all things?
Lemlo stood there for a long time, frozen and unable to move in her fear, standing still in that little bubble she made for herself.
Should she cry? Sob?
Would it bring anything now?
She was gone.
She was gone now.
But everyone still hated her for something she didn't do.
Something she- she couldn't prevent.
And
He's still-
“Lemlo?”
This time, Lemlo allowed herself to flinch but not scream, looking at the tiny Blueberry tugging at her leg.
Looking patient but upset, tilting her head to the side as she was painfully reminded of…
Dear Nantes.
What an Hour.
“Sorry, i…it was- something came up.”
Nabiu blinked softly, clearly not understanding everything that had just occurred.
How could she? She was busy actually having fun, which she should as a kid. She was just- she didnt need this!
But lying isn't…good either.
Lemlo stared before sighing.
“Family stuff.”
That got the blueberry to gasp, nodding furiously as she got what the lemon meant.
“Ah-! I'm sorry about that, Miss Lemlo. Can i help somehow?
Help?
Could anyone help?
Hmmm.
Maybe…if it makes her happy.
“You can, uhm- hug me?”
“OHH, YEAH! One hug coming up!”
Nabiu approached her, wrapping her hands around the belly due to the sheer size that bats usually were.
She chuckled, leaning down to properly hug the little blueberry.
Perhaps.
Perhaps she can be safe.
{Slow Master with their Students}
‘“Is he okay?”
“I-I DON’T KNOW- UNCLE, ARE YOU ALRIGHT???”
“U r g h h h h-”
“I think he’s not so okay.”
The Interns were currently questioning if they should call a doctor.
Wizzro had, of course, taught them about special status effects and how they intertwined with potions today, letting them experiment.
Some made no potions, some made emotion potions, some even made bomb potions-!
But one person, Tate specifically, decided that he wanted to see what a slow potion looked like!
On the teacher.
In the middle of a lesson.
Mono was hysterical over the fallen Mentor, constantly tugging on his dear Uncle's coat and making sure that he was alright.
Honestly, everyone was kind of worried that the old man hit his head.
Shily, the one with the mask has actually placed a pillow under his head for safety and the red bird had gotten some more interns just in case.
Currently, Wizzro was only grunting and very slowly moving, almost like he couldn't move at a faster pace.
Forced to watch everyone be unable to truly help the situation.
“Awe crap- What happened?”
Cyle, the little wolf had approached Tate, watching the mess that had happened and everyone was fussing about.
“Made a bad slow potion.”
A hum of acknowledgement came, approaching the fallen M.A.G.E carefully and examining if he had any wounds at all.
“Seems all good- And we don't have any was to help?”
Mono sniffled but shook his head, carefully taking the hat off Wizzro's to roll him onto a pillow they had prepared.
“No, we don't have any recipes! We don't even have a GUIDE-!”
Any worry was understandable at this point as the old M.A.G.E’s movements were sluggish and slow, brought down to mere inching and nudging.
It should stop soon.
Which meant they could only wait.
Nobody really wanted to leave Wizzro in this state, which meant that most easily, the interns kept near and did whatever they could think of.
Chatting, playing a few games, patting Wizzro's head, making sure he's alive-
His heart rate was unnaturally slow too, not dangerously so, but-
Uneasiness was starting to fill the room.
The worst thing was that Nabiu wasn't there, the one who usually knew these potion combinations by heart.
Something that made her the assistant, the one who did errands for Wizzro, the one that got promoted.
Surprisingly, not many were jealous of her position, no.
She was capable and did a lot for everyone, which must be stressful! Especially now that the weird carrot appeared.
And they also wished that giant broccoli guard was here to at least comfort them through it.
Mono silently tried speaking to Wizzro as the minutes passed.
“Uncle, do…do you need anything?”
For once, a slow reply was given.
“I t ‘ s….f I n e…”
He muttered slowly and once the small child checked, he noted that the heartbeat was faster now.
Despite his panic, he quietly intertwined his hand with his Uncle's.
“...Your gonna be- you'll…be alright, yeah?”
A soft, slow laughter came from the ever happy M.A.G.E, tilting his head forward in a more soft motion as the potion seemed to be fading away.
“O h, p l e a s e…i-..I w e n t t h r o u g h w o r s e.”
….The minutes passed by as Wizzro was slowly able to move again, being helped by several Interns to be moved to the couch.
Class didn't happen that day.
The Interns were too busy caring for their Teacher and once Nabiu and the others arrived, it got rather filled.
But everyone was alright.
And that's what matters.
{Charmed Beer infused with Colors}
Lycra had been expecting many things on his trip to get natural colors for a special painting.
A few nuisances? Sure. Enemies to defeat? Happens on the occasion.
A Beer that was laying on the ground, nearly getting attacked by Hartacoupler through charming spells and stupid effects-
Yeah, a fight happens on a lot of occasions, but specifics do matter.
“OY! GET OFF THEM!”
Without hesitation, Lycra prepared his paintbrush hands and shot paint at the snake-like creature, getting a heavy hiss in return.
One can imagine that paint isn't pleasent to the eyes, but there was no need to feel guilty for it.
With another quick move once the Hartacoupler was distracted, he grabbed the tail, using whatever strength he had to start spinning it around-
And once it reached a good speed-
SWWWOOOOOOSH-
-It left the stratosphere right after, flying with a horrid screech somewhere that he didnt particularly care about at the moment.
What he did care about was the citizen that had nearly been harmed due to the effects, quickly running over to the fallen Comrade.
“Are you alright, Sir-?!”
Though, none of the glass on the beer seemed hurt.
No, the one who was attacked didn't even seem bothered by anything, a droopy smile on their face as they lift a hand up.
“H-Hah…your preetttyy.”
Yeah, that checked out.
Looking them once over, the robot arm and any of the liquid seemed to not have dangerously spilled put.
Just the foam hair was a bit off, but that truly wasn't an important standpoint as from now on, it was off to town with them.
Well.
Once Lycra finally got this all going.
The painty Mushroom hoisted the Beer up, staring at the one with a bowtie and gently readjusting it as he decided to ask.
“Can you walk? Is anything hurt?”
Today though, he seemed to only be getting weird answers due to the fight.
“Fiiinnneee as ever-! I just c-c…can't walk properly once I think about…himmmm…”
Most likely a charm illusion that he had to put up with at the moment, but he didn't mind starting a conversation as long as they would get back to town.
Keeping up the pace and making sure there weren't any enemies on the path, he started to speak properly.
“Well, uhm. What were you doing before? Any reason you went questing?”
“OOo-Oh- Iii, uhm…wanted…wanttedd to get herrrbs.”
“Ah! Herbs, huh-? Can be many jobs, what do you do for a living?”
“I useed - I useddd to be a bartender….till….till HEEEE CAME-!”
An angry huff came from the Charmed Beer.
“He?”
“YESS, HE!!! HE'S As- horrible as he is handsome!”
“Okkkayyy, uhm…side effects, it's side effects, Lycra…And your still an, uh, Bartender?”
“Noooo- I'm aaa…a Medic now.”
“Makes sense, well. Were gonna go to town now to get you checked out, okay?”
“Huh?”
“Due to the attack. You know, the fight?”
The beer blinked.
“I Waassn’t…that was that…that stupid…”
Ah, yeah.
Charming effects do give Illusions sometimes, don't they?
“No, I can reassure you, that wasn't who you thought it was. Let's just get you to town, alright?”
“Mmpfh….alrig…alright…”
Lycra was happy that they at least agreed.
Well, he should at least ask one more question-! The naturality of the land.
“Oh, what are your name and pronouns, By the way?”
And with one last blink, they went past the forest and towards town.
“...Theo, he and him.”
{Cursed Grape}
Grabley was nurturing their rainbow flowers when it happened.
The Grape had noticed that the rainbow flowers weren't feeling well in their own little corner between the fruit trees, lacking nutrients-
Meaning that sincs its their garden, they had to make sure that everything was okay.
Gently, they patted the plants and quickly drenched their root arms in the nearby lake that flowed through, making sure they were nice and wet-
Just before burying said roots into the ground, making sure that the bush was getting the nutrients that it needed.
Yet, after a while, something felt…
Off.
Off in a way that wasn't the cookie tree making raisin cookies out of nowhere.
Taking their time to finish their job up, they let their many eyes wander around the Garden from all around, just staring at any irregularity.
Movement, color, smell, taste, moisture, anything that-
Ah.
There.
Taking their roots out once their finished and giving a mouthless kiss to the flowers for good cooperation, they went over to address the issue.
The plant that felt other.
Taking a small look around, they were quick to note the issue being at the graveyard section.
A place where people asked to be buried, to have their favorite plant be the one thing growing on them.
Many rituals and grieving took place here. Many people died alone. Many had relatives.
It's the one thing that allows them to share their ways with other people.
For…
They werent one for love. Platonic, romantic or anything like that.
But thats a subject for another day, one that isn't clear to a lot of people.
Reaching the plant that was affected, it was a small orange tree, shaking and trying to pull out it's own roots.
They could see a rotten hand sticking out, trying to refuse the rest they deserved after all these years due to a horrible spell.
Grabley kneeled down, taking the hand into there's and noting the small freeze….before gripping back in a small manner.
It wasn't desperation, no. It was the want for someone to be there, one last time.
Possession of a corpse is something else, something that you usually call a service for, an exorcist.
They didn't need that.
They know how to deal with this without needing to speak words.
….Slowly.
The hand lost its grip, the oranges stopped shaking rapidly and the tree struggled to bring its roots in now that it wasn't alive.
No worries, they would never leave their plants.
Not when they were connected to themselves.
Gently, Grabley put their body onto the soil, spreading themselves and burying their hands and feet - kicking off their shoes beforehand obviously - into the fresh dirt.
Letting the roots spread, letting everything just take its way on how it's supposed to go, fixing the roots and burying the hand once again.
Letting the ghost live in peace once more.
Grabley was happy.
Even without a smile on their face.
{C r y s t a l i z e d}
CRICK-
“SCRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE—----”
IT HURT
EVERYTHINGHURTITSINMYFUCKINGLEGANDITFUCKINGHURTSDEARGOD-
THE DOG IS GONEITSGONEITWASNTSUPPOSEDTOO-
It hurts.
His back hits the wall and it hurts.
That stupid
That
It escapes
The dog he put the crystals
In
Escaped
He wanted to vomit but the bleeding pain currently soaking into his leg was more of a concern.
Everything hurt.
His back hurt God he should have been careful and handled this better was the doses of crystals to high the dog was dead it was dead he saw it was dead he held its deadcarcassandittwitchedbuthedidnt t H I n k
I t
Woulddd
Breathe.
He forced himself to breathe.
Looking down.
He noted the crystal lodged into his leg at full force, barley being able to move it without pain.
It was
Growing something Into his veins
Affecting his blood flow
Bleeding out down onto the floor.
He forced himself up and tugged on his cloak and forced his stupid shitty legs up
God
Dear Celestials to the Moon
Dear God fucking-
“WAAAAA- WAAaaaa…”
Really
Really?
Right
You know what, it makes. It makes sense that the baby would start crying at the noise.
A whole crystalized dog that probably grew into the size of about half his castle. No, bigger than half his castle
Hah
And it lodged a stupid crystal into his leg and slammed him into a wall
Piece of shit.
Stumbling around, he forced himself to go forwards to the wails of his dearest little baby, ignoring the soaking blood flow
She usually
Handled this.
Hah
She isn't even here anymore cause you fucked it all up
Don't pity yourself, you
You know your egoistic
As if this will change anything beside how you treat your son
Speaking of
“WAAAAAAA….WAAA-”
Hm.
Grating, yet comforting.
It means that
Wait
IS HE HURT
the stumblinggotfasterishissonhurtissicklehurtDONTLETHISONLYFAMILYBE
o
Okay
Not hurt. Just sobbing probably hungry during this absolutely failure holy fuck isn't right now the dog completely running free and
“WAAAaaaa…waa…”
Right
Baby.
Sickle. His baby Sickle that he loves so much.
“Hey, Hey…Shh…shh.”
Gently, he cradled the baby into his arms, pulling it out of the cradle and kneeling down
Ow
Owwwwowowowowowowow
Crystal still lurching and doing something to his lewonderfulperfecthesgonnakillsomeone
Rocking the baby, he readjusted himself to not let his heart beat to loud of his chest.
Breathing. Quietly rearranging himself and patting through the soft black and white strands.
Something she
Stop.
Don't even. Think about it.
….
He is beautiful.
He has so much of him.
But his face and parts of his hair belong to his human mother and not a shadow creature.
And he's unharmed.
…..
That thing
Is out there now
And he's feeling
Really addictive to
To
He
Felt sick
But he will not harm his baby
“URGGHHHHH, HOW LONG IS THIS TAKING???”
“Please, I would prefer if you quietened down for my masterpiece of a spell.”
The Dark Mage chuckled, referring to the carrot bard with more amusement then he would be allowed to muster usually.
Wizzro was there too, gently patting Karoto's head.
Today was a small test day with multiple of the hero teams and the King and Queen, just to test certain God Activity things.
Today was also the day that the little blueberry was asking a hundred questions.
“Wait, so the lycans can control fire too?”
“Not fire directly! But it does look awesome when they explode the fire somehow.”
“Can you Summon more than just karts?”
“I can summon any object if I so will! Even cake!”
It was all going oh-so well.
And Sickle was helping him set everything up.
“And, is my Muffin all alright?”
“Yes- Yeah, everything's okay so far! I'm more worried that something gonna blow up!”
The Dark Mage barely restrained a chuckle as he ruffled that long hair under the purple cloak, letting out snickers all the while.
“Please, let your old man handle this. Your just…25, so-”
“Literally sorry your an old man?”
“Actually, I'm at the ripe age of 52, so-”
‘THAT'S NOT NOT RIPE???”
“For me it is, My little Moth.”
The grumbles were worth the small banter, readjusting his cost and hair as Nabiu approached him once more.
Now with something different in her eyes.
“...Hey, uh- can I ask something special?”
The Mage couldn't help but smile at the conversation, giving a thumbs up as he prepared everything.
“Course, Kiddo. Special is one of my ten middle names!”
Blinking, the question was finally asked.
“Do you know…”
“Do you know something about a Crystal-looking Lycan?”
For a moment, he stared calmly.
Before answering.
“Oh well, I once had plans for experimenting on creatures with crystals but-”
“I never made anything with Lycans.”