Chapter 34
Menagerie

The breeze blowing by...
The trees soaring by...
Free as a bird...
Ah yes, perhaps this was a good idea.

Though her flying skills weren't that good, mainly because she wasn't actually a bird. (The only reason Varian was so good at flying was because he's once researched aerodynamics.) It felt very stress-relieving, flying in the air without a care in the world.

Cassandra began singing;
"It's a beautiful world out there, I definitely know."
"Me and you, we've been around it, and you'd agree too."
"The breeze is blowing, the trees are soarin';"
"I might not be good at flying, but at least I'm freeeeee!"

"I'm flying hiiiiigh, into the great blue skiiiiies!"
"Flapping my wings, going through clouds, dancing around like a bird in the sky!"

Varian looked at her and smiled, then began singing too;
"We're out here, having fun, there's no one else to bring us down."
"Here we are, here we stand-"
"Or more so..."
"Flyyyyy-ing high!"

They began singing at the same time;
"Yes we are, we're flying hiiiiiigh!"
"Into the great blue skies!"
"Feeling the breeze, through our newly gained feathers!"
"Flapping our wings, going through clouds, dancing around like a bird in the sky!"
"Stress be gone, as we're soaring along, singing a song;"
"It's a beautiful life, wonderful feeling, gorgeous sight out here..."

"Flyiiiiiing hiiiiiiiiigh!"

After singing, Cassandra and Varian perched on a tree branch to take a break from all the flying that they did. "This... is... amazing!" Varian tweeted. "It is, I've never felt so alive!" Cassandra nodded and chirped. "I bet Raps would love to do something like this..." Cassandra twittered sadly. "Aw, Cassie... Don't be sad, please... Maybe after we visit the Dark Kingdom, and if everything's settled down by then, we can head back to Corona and bring her along on a trip?" Varian nuzzled up beside her, putting his wing around Cassandra.

"Maybe..." Cassandra sighed and looked back up.

"It's getting to be almost an hour, we should probably head back." Cassandra said to him. "Already? Man, that's no fair... But oh well, I guess we have to." He took his wing off of her.

Varian spread out his wings, flapped them and glided off of the tree branch, alongside Cassandra who did the same. They flapped their wings, heading towards the small house. "I still want to know the scientific explanation behind this though, like... Even as an alchemist, this shouldn't be possible, at least I don't think so, and-" Varian began rambling.

"Varian." Cassandra stopped him with a soft smirk across her beak.
"Sorry, ha ha... Tweet!" Varian suddenly made a bird noise.

Cassandra looked at him confusedly for a moment, "Did you just..."
"Uh, yeah... That's weird, I- Tweet!" He did it again. "Okay, this is freaking me out a bit, Cassie..."

"Let's head back to Corrine and Harold's place- Squawk!" Cassandra suddenly did it too. Varian couldn't help but laugh, "What the heck was that, Cassie?" He asked, smiling awkwardly. "It must be a side effect from the tea... After- Squawk! -all, that's probably the reason why we need to be back after an hour- Squawk!" Cassandra explained.

"Let's hurry then... Tweet." Varian frowned.

Upon landing, Corrine and Harold were laughing and talking to each other. "Hey! Squawk! Can you please give us those eggs now? Squawk!" Cassandra looked up at the two. "Hm? Back already? Time flies doesn't, no pun intended, ah ho ho..." Corrine laughed.

"We're starting to make bird noises! Tweet, tweet! So, yeah, we kind of need those eggs." Varian explained. "Making bird noises, are we?" Harold raised a brow, holding out his hand to pick up Varian. He looked at Varian perched on his finger, "Well that makes sense, because you are birds now." Harold said. "Stop playing games and give us the eggs!" Cassandra snapped at him.

"Oh, no, I don't think you get what I'm saying, Miss Cassandra." Harold shook his head, "You two are birds now." He repeated, but this time; in a very creepy voice.

Cassandra then realized it, "Dang it! You tricked us!" Cassandra flapped her wings angrily, "Squawk!" She added. Varian frowned, "Cassie, we'll get out of this, don't worry- Hey! What are you- Tweet! -doing?! Stop!" Varian realized that Harold had him by the talon.

"Well, you see..." Corrine started, "We have this beautiful, lovely and exotic menagerie..." She smiled eerily. "So, this is what this is all about? You're turning people into birds for your menagerie?!" Cassandra snarled. "Mhm. That's the plan, sweetie." Corrine leaned back in her chair slightly. "Cassie! Tweet! Cassie, help me!" Varian cried for help as Harold put him in a cage.

Cassandra began to fly over to Harold and started pecking him. Ruddiger woke up from his nap underneath the table (after eating all the crumpets) and realized something was going on, so he woke Owl and Banana too. They realized that Cassandra and Varian were in-trouble, again!

Harold grabbed a hold of Cassandra's talon too, opened the cage, knocked Varian back, and then put Cassandra in the cage as well, closing it and locking it shut. Cassandra put her beak around the metal bars and chewed on the bars, but it was no use...

But Ruddiger, Owl and Banana were going to save the day!

Ruddiger jumped on Harold and hissed, clawing at him. "Ow! You stupid raccoon!" Harold growled and tried to get him off of his back. Owl started to try and attack Corrine, and she kept swatting him with her fan. "Shoo!" She snapped at him.

Banana eased his way to the glass dome, and pushed his shell against the lid, which knocked it off and Banana crawled onto one of the eggs to protect it. Corrine clicked her tongue, grabbed the teapot and proceeded to drink the whole thing at once.

Corrine then turned into a really big bird, a hawk, it seemed like. She then tried to attack Owl, who quickly flew away, but Corrine chased him. This was only a distraction. Harold went after Owl once Ruddiger had been thrown off of him, and Ruddiger helped Banana with the eggs.

Ruddiger grabbed two eggs, then put Banana on his head, and then ran to the cage and climbed up it with one claw. Ruddiger unlocked the cage with his claws and then Cassandra and Varian flew out of the cage and landed on the ground. "Thank you, Ruddiger, tweet! You're a lifesaver, buddy! You too, Banana." Varian tweeted happily. "Quick, give us those- Squawk! -eggs!" Cassandra fluttered her wings impatiently. Ruddiger threw the eggs at the two and they finally got back to normal. "It looks like there's more people that's had this happen to them." She said.

"Well, guess we'll just have to help them!" Varian ran to the eggs and grabbed an armful of them. Cassandra did so as well, while Ruddiger and Banana helped release all the birds in the menagerie. As the birds flew out of their cages and out of the small houses' window, the two took turns throwing eggs at the birds and bringing them back to the normal state.

Corrine was just about to get to Owl when Owl flew upwards quickly, making Corrine run into a tree, and soon Harold afterwards. Cassandra noticed that all the birds had been turned back to normal except for Corrine, so she threw down the last egg and broke it.

She noticed the teapot, "Varian, will you do the honors of breaking that for me?" She asked him. "Of course." Varian nodded, grabbed the teapot, held it up over his head and then threw it far into the woods, making a loud noise of ceramic shattering echo through the area when it broke...

"Dark Kingdom, here we come..." Varian said, albeit, nervously. "It's going to be okay." Cassandra rubbed Varian's shoulder with her hand, gently. "...Looks like Banana wants to stay with us." Cassandra pointed out the snail crawling up Varian's back. "Aw hey, okay, that's fine... Welcome to the team, Banana." Varian poked Banana's head, making his little eyestalks twitch slightly.

They headed back onto the boat, Varian put his boots and vest back on, Cassandra fixed her tunic and put her boots back on, and then Ruddiger and Owl carried a bottle of sand as a keepsake as they got on the boat too. Then they set sail for their next destination...

The Dark Kingdom.