The Misadventures of Dragon Quest VIII: The Lost Chronicles
In every great quest there are always stories lost and forgotten. Some should never be forgotten while others are forgotten for a reason. Here are those stories.
An Undiscovered Slime?
As our beloved heroes walked along a dirt-beaten path through the seemingly endless grassy plains, there was some bickering among members of the group. The squabbling, as you may have guessed, was between the lovely (but fiery tempered) Jessica and her somewhat self-obsessive comrade Angelo. The bickering finally ended with Jessica's grabbing the hero by the hand and rushing up to the front of the group in a swift and snooty sort of way. When tensions eventually eased down, the party decided to take a rest and choose a plan of action. As they sat down in a small clearing, Jessica gave a shrill scream.
"Eeew, what in the world is this!" she asked in a disgusted way, pulling a slime dripping hand from the grass.
"It looks like orange goo to me," answered Angelo in a pleased-to-respond way.
"Wow, you're a genius," retaliated Jessica, and she used his cape to wipe her hand clean. The hero stepped back a little with a nervous look, but Yangus set his hand on the hero's shoulder as a means of comfort that seemed to work. Yangus then stepped in closer toward Jessica and bent down to observe the strange new discovery.
"It's slime, but this is odd. It is orange and somewhat clear: definitely not from anything I have previously encountered. What would you say to that?" He turned to the hero who nodded in agreement. He stood back up then noticed that there was more on the tall grass nearby, a little more further into the plains, and even more again further down the way.
"This is definitely strange," decided Jessica as she stood up as well. "So much for a break…. Well, let's get going. Maybe if we head that way for awhile our mystery could be solved."
The group agreed and headed in the direction of the mysterious goo. They traveled for a few minutes until they noticed a rustling sound from a nearby patch of berry bushes. Curious, they rushed to see what was the deal when they came across the oddest sight they had ever seen. The group confusedly glanced back and forth between each other in the hopes that another might have some sort of a logical explanation for their new discovery.
Out of the bushes came what appeared to be a slime though somewhat different in detail. The slime was orange and clear, not to mention very jiggly. You could actually see a couple gold pieces and some berries inside its wiggling body. The oddest part, though, was what seemed to be whipped desert topping on its head with a little medal sitting among the creamy mess.
"It seems to be a slime, but what kind of slime is it?" questioned Trode as he stared at the equally surprised creature.
"I'm not sure, but it's REALLY jiggly. It's much more jiggly than any slime I've ever seen. It's almost hypnotizing, kinda like Jessica's…." Angelo stopped dead in his words as he felt a cold chill run up his spine and Jessica's burning eyes through the back if his head. He was afraid at this point to turn even remotely in her direction.
"I'm a king slime, so you'd better beat it! See, I've got a crown and everything! You better not try to hurt me, or you'll really be sorry!" exclaimed the tiny orange creature in a light mousy voice that was anything but kingly or scary.
"You're not a king!" claimed Angelo as he gave a clever look. "You're barely a slime, and what is with that whip cream crown, anyways?
"I am so!" the little slime said in a determined voice. When it realized that it wasn't fooling anyone, it started a full confessional. "Fine, I'm not a king, but I AM a slime. I'm a jelly slime, if you must know. There used to be lots of us once upon a time, but we seem to be fewer these days. My brothers have gone missing, so I am left to care for my many small sisters. I'm collecting berries to feed them since it is too dangerous for them to seek their own food out here. If you ever come across a medal like the one on my crown," and he blushes, "you should know that it's from one of us. We are the only ones who carry them. It's sort of a family thing, so they're very rare."
"Well, that's a sad story, little guy, but that's a mini medal," observed Angelo, and he reached into his sack to produce a whole handful. "Yeah, we have many of them, don't we?" Jessica gave a sharp glance at Angelo as a motion to put them away immediately as to not make things worse.
"You killed my family!" screamed the furious slime as it approached the group angrily and ready to attack.
"But we've never even seen your kind before!" exclaimed Jessica, upset to see the poor little slime in a fuming frenzy.
"Liars! You're done for, now!" The slime came closer and used a little magic to singe the hero who stood there quietly as always.
"Hey!" said the hero in a startled state as he pulled out his sword and prepared to attack.
"Let me handle this MY way," said Angelo, who then gave the slime a desirous glance and a wink.
The slime blinked in confusion for a moment then responded. "Umm, I hate to be the one to bust your bubble, but I'm a MALE slime. Duhh, can't you tell? I mean, it's only obvious." The slime gave a sarcastic look.
The party gave an even more confused look to each other, wondering how in the heck one COULD tell the difference. Eventually, the party shook it off as if they knew all along.
"Let me handle this one," said Jessica as she threw her arm out to stop Angelo's next move. "I'll try one of the new spells I've been practicing. Get ready." With wand in hand, she started chanting. The chant became more and more intense and the wand started to glow. Eventually, the glow expanded to cover Jessica's entire body then shot from Jessica to the slime in a swift flash of light. Zap! The spell hit hard, and the slime exploded with a loud "Pop!"
"Are you sure you did that right?" asked Trode as he began to wipe his face.
"I sure didn't see that coming!" exclaimed Angelo in an excited voice. "That was great!" He started wiping his own face with the back of his cape when he noticed something. "Mmm, what's this?" He licked his lips more then began to grab whole jiggly chucks of orange jelly mixed with cream off his body and eat them.
"What are you doing!" asked the disgusted and surprised Jessica as she watched in horror.
"You should actually try this!" mumbled Yangus between stuffing his face full of the same orange goo that covered him as well. Even the hero started eating the slime mess. "This sure it tasty!"
After watching the guys AND the horse thoroughly enjoying the unexpected mess, Jessica finally decided to give it a try. For a nice little while, the party went crazy with eating as much of it as they could. Trode started licking his own horse; meanwhile, Angelo removed his cape to get any bit he couldn't reach. The hero started picking slime-covered berries for an even more pleasing treat. Once they noticed the gold pieces and mini medal on the ground, they all dove in for the right to claim them and lick them clean.
Once this disturbing little episode was over, the group sat together in a circle and stared at the mini medal in deep thought. "If these medals originally came from jelly slimes, why is it that there is no record of such a slime? It seems that nobody ANYWHERE has even heard of these before. How can this possibly be? Why has nobody ever brought them up before?" An awkward silence came over the group that lasted a minute or two. Just then, Angelo noticed a tiny bit of jelly on his boot, so he took it off and licked it clean. There was another awkward pause.
"Let's never speak of this again," initiated Trode, and the party began to rise. Everyone agreed seeing as nobody would ever believe them, let alone understand them. The party headed down the path again in silence this time. A few minutes later, a stomach growled.
"He DID say there was more of them, right?" Jessica licked her lips as they continued down the path. "It IS getting to be about lunch time."
"Yes, many, I believe," responded Yangus. "I could really go for a king sized order right now. I COULD do without the mess next time, though. It really is a waste." The hero nodded in agreement.
"Say, Jessica, does your spell book have anything in… paralyze?"
The End