Chapter Text
It was a normal day. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and Aphmau could hear people screaming at each other in the middle of town from inside her own house.
Definitely not a peaceful day, but a normal one.
The only abnormal thing was Aphmau’s determination to make it peaceful. She had a plan to make everyone get along, and she intended on enacting it.
She rummaged through her chest until her hand grasped a small, spherical object, an item courtesy of the mod she’d installed earlier. She stuffed it into her inventory before making her way outside.
It was the usual suspects, of course. Zane and Ria were having a sword fight while Ein and Pierce watched from the sides, the blue boys looking a bit roughed up. Aphmau didn’t know what happened and, quite frankly, didn’t care. She assumed Ein and Pierce had been causing trouble and Ria was blindly defending them from Zane’s discipline, as per usual.
“Hey, guys, stop it!” she called out.
While Zane did stop immediately and turn in her direction, he was clearly still agitated. “She started it!”
Ria rolled her eyes. “Like hell I did. You’re the one who-”
“That’s enough,” Aphmau cut them off. “I’ve had enough of you two fighting so I’m going to put an end to this.”
Ria’s jaw clenched, but she didn’t bother arguing, seeing as there wasn’t much of a point. Aphmau already had her mind made up as she pulled the sphere from her pocket.
“What is that?” Pierce asked.
Ein ran closer. “Is it gold!?”
She scoffed. “Of course not. It’s much better than gold. Watch this!” A grin spread on her face as she threw the item on the ground like a splash potion. Smoke poured out of it and engulfed the town.
By the time it dispersed, every resident, including ones nowhere near the fight, were standing on a path in the middle of a dense and whimsical forest. Purple light shone through the cracks of tree bark, blue leaves rustled without there being any wind, and small creatures reminiscent of what one would see in the Avatar franchise wandered around.
“Where are we?” Sela asked, feeling a bit dazed. She hadn’t expected to be plucked from her cozy reading room and dropped into a forest so suddenly.
Aphmau grinned again, having been waiting for someone to ask that very question. “We’re in a wishing forest! Any wish you make will be granted. Like this: I wish for a diamond.” She dramatically closed her eyes and stuck out her hand. A diamond appeared in it, much to her delight and the awe of most of the crowd. Not all, though. Some were…
“So can I wish to go home?” Kim asked, bored already.
… less enthusiastic.
Aphmau shook her head. “Nope! You can’t leave this forest until I send us all back to town.”
Kim tried anyway, muttering the wish under her breath. Nothing happened. “‘Any wish’ my butt,” she grumbled to herself.
Aphmau couldn’t help but smirk to herself. Her very first wish when she got here was to not let anyone’s wishes to go home succeed. “Now, everyone, let’s go have some fun!” She took off running into the trees.
Kim and Sela exchanged glances, the former shrugging and walking off, with Noi quickly and happily following after her. As Sela was debating joining them, Mac approached her. “I’m gonna go explore a bit. Wanna join me?”
Sela felt her cheeks flush a bit but nodded nonetheless and let her lead her into the forest.
Ria, Ein, and Pierce were wandering off somewhere, and Aaron had already disappeared, leaving Zane and KC the only two on the path.
“So…” Zane started awkwardly. “What are you gonna wish for?”