Well this took a while.
ButterHunter here! Let's get back into things.
Chapter 9: Quarrel on the Frontier
The trip back to Greenhorne was pretty uneventful, honestly.
Besides running into a small treasure chest here and there, and an occasional battle with a much weaker monster, we were cruising along the path to the town.
Soon enough we found our way back to the town's entrance. Our first stop was to get some more armor and weaponry, as we had a fair amount of gold to spend at this point.
My Mii got a new uniform that looked like it was from a Chinese restaurant, with golden detailing and Chinese characters on parts of it, a bright red in color with the apron being a golden yellow color. He passed on buying a new frying pan though, partly because it was expensive, but mostly because now his Wok looked like it belonged.
Susie received a new set of vestments, these being made out of handsome brown leather with a large green button on the top of the hat. Her staff also got an 'upgrade' into a giant lollipop. I cannot make this up if I tried.
Brave got a new outfit, these being made of a soft fabric that had a picnic table-esque design on the bow and most of the other parts of her outfit. Her mic also was upgraded (I guess), into… an ice-cream cone mic. Don't ask me, I seriously don't know.
Purple Guy got some new gear as well, being a rather comfy-looking set of thief-wear that resembled what a pirate would wear, with a blue-white striped T-shirt and another purple bandana with a large anchor design on the side. He also received a new dagger, being a fancy dagger made out of some type of ceramic material. I wasn't sure if that was a good idea seeing as how that kind of stuff probably wouldn't be very good in a confrontation, but Purple Guy said that it would work for his purposes. I decided to trust him on that.
The only thing else that I could purchase was a few more HP Bananas and MP Candies, as well as a small upgrade to my wooden shield by reinforcing it with a copper plating. Honestly, I was still toting the thing around more often than actually using it to defend myself, but you never knew.
By the time we left, our money pouch was just about all but spent. Yet my friends all seemed to be in higher spirits now that they had new things to mess around with, which made it worth it to me.
We keep going deeper into Greenhorne, keeping an eye out for the Mark chap Princess Paige wanted us to check in with. In particular, I was keeping a very close eye out, as if my hunch was right, it was the same Mark that I had assigned a while back.
However, a full circle around the town bore no fruit.
Brave looked confused. "Where's the Mark guy? We talked to everyone here and no one's seen him at all…"
It was then that I suddenly felt a rather frantic tap to my shoulder. I turned to see that worried mother Bubblegum from way back when. She was staring at me and my friends with concern.
"Oh, adventurers, thank goodness you're here!" she quickly explained, almost out of breath. "I've been looking high and low for my little Buzz Light, but he's disappeared again! I need your help to find him!"
"Huh. I don't remember seeing him either…" I slowly murmured.
"Then he must've run off to the field just outside of town. He likes to go there when he plays hide-and-seek with me. Please, he won't have gone any further than that, I promise!"
A brief moment before me and my friends nodded. A missing child was a much more pressing matter. "Yes ma'am. We're on it."
Bubblegum looked relieved. "Oh, thank goodness. Thank you, kind adventurers! He shouldn't have gone far… please find him before he gets into trouble…!"
My friends nodded and started to head out, but just as I was about to follow-
"Oh, and young man?" the woman called out again.
"Hm?" I hummed, glancing back.
"I've been asking around a fair bit before you showed up… one lad already headed out to try and find him, but… and this might be a bit rude, but I don't think he really was up for the challenge… so if you find him out there as well, maybe make sure he's safe too?"
"Another person?" I asked. "Hmm… ah, yes, of course ma'am. We'll find your child and bring him home safe to you. Count on us."
The mother, relieved once again, headed off to the entrance to town to wait. I dashed to catch up with my friends.
The mother hadn't lied: it appeared as though we only needed to go to the outskirts of town to find the child, if the marker on my 3DS's map was any indication.
Once we got there, we rounded a corner from behind a pile of boulders, and…
"Okay… okay… deep breaths…" a voice, a deep, smooth, almost melodical voice murmured.
I recognized that voice anywhere.
A young lad was standing in the middle of the field, looking around worriedly. He had smooth, slick black hair, a hearty amount of facial hair around his mouth and chin area, and glasses adorning his face. His eyes were currently concerned, looking around as though he was about to get jumped by a monster or something: which, come to think of it, wasn't an unreasonable fear in this world.
He currently was appearing to psych himself up for something, and then he yelled out as loud as he could, "Buzz Light! Buzz Light! Where are you?!"
Then, another voice shouted in fear. "H-help!"
The young lad turned towards the voice, running for it.
That's when we saw little Buzz Light, currently backed up to a rock and surrounded by three Goblins easily his size. Something like that probably wasn't very good for his young childish brain to process, especially since each of them were slowly closing in on the child.
The young man paused for a moment, suddenly taken back by the monsters as if he had never seen one before. He closed his eyes in fear, then whispered, "I… I gotta do something…! You…! You get away from him!"
The lad started slowly shuffling towards the Goblins, trying his best to appear competent and in control of the situation.
And then the Goblins turned, noticed him, and LAID HIM OUT.
Like, there's no other words for it. He was taken CLEAN out by the Goblins, knocked to the ground with literal stars flying above his head.
At this point Buzz Light was crying in fear, and the Goblins were celebrating their victory. We ran up to assist.
"There's nothing I can do…" the young lad moaned as he heard us approaching. "Please, save the boy!"
We dashed forward, and confronted the Goblins. However, the fight was almost pitifully short, as we had grown so much. Seriously, the Goblins stood NO chance, compared to how we were when we started.
With the Goblins swiftly defeated and back in my system, Buzz Light looked like he had learned his lesson, at least for now. "Wahhh! Mommy!" he cried, dashing back for Greenhorne. There was no doubt he'd be running for home as fast as possible. He'd be safe there.
We were happy that the child was safe, but we only then noticed that the young lad was laid out on the ground.
My 3DS confirmed it: this was the same Mark that I had created back at Greenhorne Castle. Despite still on the ground in the same uncomfortable-looking position, he looked grateful. "Thanks for your help! I'm, ah, Mark."
My Mii looked surprised. "So you're… Princess Paige is worried about you. She wanted us to make sure you were still safe."
Surprisingly, Mark seemed to grow… giddy. His expression melted into one of utter happiness. "The princess… is worried about me?" he asked, dreamily.
"Ermm…" I hummed, taking a half-step back.
Mark snapped to his senses, and managed to get back on his feet. "O-oh… f-focus! What in the world WERE those things?"
We carefully explained how Miitopia had become overrun with monsters thanks to the Dark Lord, and how we were on a quest to defeat him.
Mark looked down at the ground. "I can't believe it… I turned by back for one second and all of this happened… and the way you handled those monsters… that was incredible!"
My Mii rubbed the back of his neck. "Aw, it's not that impressive…"
Mark shook his head, rather dejectedly. "I was about as useful as a chocolate teapot… I-I think I should g-go now!"
And he did just that, awkwardly shuffling away with tears in his eyes. We all kinda stared in his direction for a moment before returning to Greenhorne.
"Huh. Y'know… I kinda expected Mark to be…" Brave started to say.
"Something else?" Purple Guy offered.
"Yeah." Brave agreed, thinking. "He was… a little unreliable."
"But he's nice. That's gotta count for something, right?" Susie offered.
The others agreed. We found the child back at home, now pretending to be a Goblin, while his mother watched him twice as hard with an expression of concern.
As it was getting late at this point, now seemed like a good time to buck down for the night before heading off again. Thankfully there was still that Inn not too far out from Greenhorne, so we quickly made our way there and checked in.
Everyone hung out in one room for a little bit, during which I handed out snacks and such, and assessed how the party was doing. Everyone seems alright for now, if just a little tired from all the day's activities.
I sat down on the cot, and pulled out all of my belongings from my pockets. I plugged everything in and TRIPLE checked to make sure there was no way they'd come unplugged in the middle of the night.
My phone soon was awake again with power, and I placed it on the table for the night. I was half-hoping someone had left me another message while it was dead, but nothing seemed to have happened. I wasn't sure whether to be relieved or worried at the revelation.
The others held a short conference amongst themselves. I wasn't exactly sure what it was about. I was too wrapped up in my own thoughts.
I left the room, excusing myself to go think. My friends nodded as I left.
I wasn't sure where I was going. I was just wandering around, without really knowing where I was exactly.
By the time I stopped walking, I was just outside, taking in the fresh air. It was almost night at this point. The sun was below the horizon, making the sky glow faintly orange. I stared out into the vast expanse, taking in the cool air…
"Isn't it a little late for you to be out here, Cameron?"
I jumped a foot in the air and turned.
The Great Sage… Sans. He had just suddenly appeared here, as though he teleported in. He was watching me with a neutral expression.
"S-Sans… err, I was just-" I started to explain.
"No need." the wise sage interrupted. "I understand."
Sans leaned against the railing, staring up into the starry sky above. For a moment, he said nothing.
Somehow, I felt like… well, like this was MORE than just the Sage meeting me. I've always had a sort of… well, maybe this will sound dumb, but I've always liked Sans as a character. He's someone I relate to a LOT: laid-back, kinda funny, can come off as annoying but has a good heart…
It's dumb, but I've always liked the character probably more than most other people would say. It's almost like he's… well, a part of my life. I can't imagine my life to this point having never met Sans. And now that I was meeting a literal representation of it before my own eyes… well, it's not something that many people can claim.
All of this is running through my mind as I watch him take a deep breath, and then slowly turn.
"Do you… still feel weak?" he asked.
My shoulders slackened. I REALLY wanted to say no. In some ways, I DID feel stronger than when I started.
But… recent events, especially my close shave with the Dark Lord, and then more recently, when I was knocked out…
It really put into perspective how weak I was.
"I… yes." I replied honestly. "I… I just don't understand how I'm supposed to help if I get knocked around by literally any monster that sees me. Not to mention that it's my friends who suffer, since they have to defend me in my stead…"
Sans studied my face carefully. I refused to meet his gaze.
"And yet… I feel as though some part of you… is different. You seem… more content." Sans responded.
I glanced up. "How'd you figure?"
"Well… something feels different than when we last met. Almost as though… something left you."
And suddenly, I had a flash-back. To the Dark Lord having captured me...
In his hand was… something.
I say that because it was a shapeless blob of some kind, like pure energy, dark black in color and constantly changing shape.
"What is this?" the Dark Lord murmured. "This isn't your face!"
He threw the strange energy down at the ground below him, where it simply… sat there. Shifting.
Great Sage Sans saw my expression shift. Without waiting, I told him the story of what happened up on the castle walls with the Dark Lord.
When I finished, Sans pondered the story, turning away for a moment.
"This… energy. You say it disappeared after the battle?" he asked.
"Well… I think so. I mean, I didn't think about it until after the battle was over, but by then it was gone." I responded.
"Hmm… are you familiar with the concept of Void Matter?" Sans asked.
"Void Matter? Like the empty void of space?" I asked.
"No. Void Matter is… well, it's a part of every living being. Everything in the entire world has Void Matter inside of it, whether or not they realize it. It's essentially a remnant of everything that makes the world what it is. But it is usually a very tiny amount. Probably not even enough to fit inside your hand. But you are sure it was a large amount?" the sage asked, his expression serious.
"Err… yes?" I responded. "At least as big as Chara's hand, if not more."
Sans was quiet for a long, long time.
When he finally spoke, his voice was… neutral at best. "N-no. I-I… I must be mistaken. Surely he would not-"
Then he remembered I was still there.
"Err… right…" Sans continued. "Well… it's actually not entirely bad that so much Void Matter was taken from you. Void Matter tends to have… unpredictable effects on people, not usually good. And the more they have in them, the stronger they get."
I opened my mouth, but… suddenly, I started putting the pieces together.
I… HAVE been feeling a fair bit upbeat lately. A lot more focused on the party and making sure everyone was okay. Even the crazy task of taking on the Dark Lord feels… slightly more doable.
"I… I guess I do feel a little more able than I did when I first came to this world…" I admitted.
"What worries me is why there was so much Void Matter in you to begin with…" Sans mused, closing his eyes once more. "I can't imagine what would cause you to have so much of that vile material inside of you… but I suppose that is, for the time being, of no great concern."
I watched as Sans headed off to who-knows-where. He stopped about ten steps away from the Inn, turning around to call out, "You know, it's very late. It would do you well to get some sleep."
I stayed put for a moment, watching him retreat away. I would've kept going, but I blinked once, and then suddenly, he was gone.
I looked up at the night sky. The moon was slowly rising.
Sighing, I turned around and reentered the Inn.
When I came into the bed where my cot was, I was slightly surprised to see my Mii and Purple Guy still up and at 'em, staring at a pad of paper in Purple Guy's hand.
"Oh, there you are." my Mii greeted as I entered. "Thought you might've forgotten to come to bed, was just about to find you."
"Ah, it's… just wanted a breath of fresh air for a sec." I responded. I sat down on the cot and checked that everything of mine was still safely plugged in one last time.
"Time for bed, then?" the purple thief reasoned, standing up and going to his bed.
The lights clicked off, everyone gave their pleasantries, and sleep soon found my Mii and Afton (it's weird to think he actually does have a proper name).
I stayed awake just a little longer. I rested my head against the pillow, still thinking about my talk with Sans. It suddenly dawned on me that, maybe I should've told him about my Dad and sister… he wouldn't laugh, or think I was crazy…
'Maybe I'll run into him again…' I thought sleepily, turning to my side.`I want to know what his thoughts are on that…'
And, a tad uneasily, I drifted off into sleep…
It didn't take very long after we woke the next morning to get to Greenhorne Castle. We went right to the Princess's room as soon as we entered.
My Mii took over, explaining how Mark had gone off to help someone, but he was alright (though a tad bruised up from the Goblin beatdown he suffered).
Princess Paige listened raptly to the story. When my Mii was finished, she breathed a hefty sigh of relief. "So Mark is safe… that's a relief!"
"I do believe a reward is due." she added, holding a rather large sack full of gold out to me.
It was as I reached out that it happened. I tenderly took the bag, trying not to drop it, and in the process, my hand grazed the side of the Princess's hand.
One second, I'm standing in the castle, being handed the bag of gold by the Princess…
Then next, I'm standing in front of my sister, her eyes wide and staring at me. She's wearing an almost identical dress to her Mii counterpart, but that is hardly my main concern.
What worries me most is the fact that she doesn't look harmed in any way. Not one injury that I could perceive (at least, in the fraction of the second that I saw her, which honestly felt like an eternity), and by all accounts, she looks normal.
But it's the expression on her face. That constant staring expression, something greater than fear, as though the real Paige is right there and pleading with me to save her. She's trapped, and she doesn't know what to do.
I blink. The glitch fades, and the Princess is looking at me in a curious way. It suddenly dawned on me that I'm staring at her rather intently.
I step back and start pocketing the gold, doing my best to ignore some of the more curious looks from my friends. Thankfully, something of a diversion comes in.
In the form of the King. "Now, now child…"
Princess Paige is startled, and it's no real surprise. Considering the King's… err, girth, it's a wonder none of us heard him enter the room,
"You must forget about that Mark fellow, we've been over this." King Dad reminded, and the Princess suddenly had an expression of surprise, followed by great disappointment. "You are betrothed to Prince Jack, after all!"
The King didn't seem to notice his daughter's expression as he finished with, "Is that clear? *chomp chomp*"
Munching on his roast, the King exited the room, his guard moving rather swiftly considering their load.
"But… Father…" the Princess whispered, long after he had left.
She grew rather quiet, and stayed by the window, gazing out of it sadly. We had a feeling out audience with the Princess was well over, so we excused ourselves and headed back for the throne room.
The King hailed us the moment the door closed. "You five! May I have a word?"
Somehow worried he would blame us for the Princess's feelings towards Mark, I nevertheless followed my friends as we stood in front of the King. Thankfully, my worries were misjudged.
He respectfully bowed his head down at us and gave us a rather warm smile. "The princess's fiancé should be on his way, now that I think about it. And while you all are here, I would be most grateful if you would see him here. He rules over yonder kingdom. Would you, brave adventurers?"
A few glances, and we all agreed. After all, the Prince seemed important enough, and we'd rather avoid the Dark Lord finding ANOTHER face to steal.
"Much obliged." the King replied gratefully. "You should find the Prince in the Arid Frontier by now. Head there now, he won't be hard to find I'd imagine."
We bowed our way respectfully out and made our way.
The Arid Frontier, as it turned out, wasn't too far out from the forest we saved the King's face from originally. As soon as we broke through the vegetation at the edge, it became clear we had arrived: the place was, indeed, quite arid.
Stone platforms made the majority of the path, and rock formations were quite common. Although it was bare of plant life, it wasn't quite like a desert, the climate was too cool for that. Perhaps there was a desert close by, in the next kingdom? Wouldn't be too hard to imagine it going from stone to sand…
Our group headed onward, keeping a sharp eye out for anything out of the ordinary. For some reason, though, my Mii seemed to be in rather dark spirits.
I gave him a sideways look as we walked together. He didn't meet my gaze.
'Hmm… maybe I should call a break soon…' I thought. We HAD been travelling for quite a while now, maybe my Mii was just getting a bit grumpy.
Before I could suggest this, though, my Mii ran right into Purple Guy, who had stopped to listen for monsters or something.
"Watch it!" my Mii snarled irritably.
"You watch it, bub!" Purple Guy retorted, looking irritated as well.
The pair of them seemed to grow more and more angry as time went on, and both of them seemed to flat out refuse my thoughts of taking a break.
Me, Susie, and Brave hung back as the pair of them stormed ahead, getting more and more heated. The three of us weren't sure what to do: my Mii and Purple Guy were prone to getting heated, but it wasn't anything this bad before.
"You need to get that attitude adjusted!" my Mii shouted, his temper flaring.
"You need your mouth adjusted!" Purple Guy shouted back.
Finally, it looked as though neither of them could stand it. They gruffly turned their backs on each other, and I once again noticed the blue scribbles rising from each of them.
However, it was my 3DS making noise that told me something had REALLY gone wrong. It sounded like a crash. I looked at it.
The line that normally signaled a friendship between my Mii and Purple Guy suddenly looked different. The heart now was blue, and it was cracked. The line was the same blue shade, and jagged. The words "That was the last straw!" appeared, first from my Mii towards Purple Guy, and then vice versa.
I felt my heart sink. "Oh dear…"
Susie and Brave were at my shoulders, and they too seemed worried about this.
At the moment, at least, it seemed that my Mii and Purple Guy had resigned to just not speaking, which was okay (in fact, considering they had done a lot of loud bickering beforehand, it might have even been considered an improvement), at least for a spell.
And then, suddenly, monsters came. A few Apple Jellies, as normal, and then a few of the boulders started rolling towards us, each bearing a single stolen nose (and just as aptly named, Nose Rocks).
Purple Guy, the speediest of our group, started to move first.
But just before he could throw his knife, I heard my 3DS beep. I looked at it, curious.
And then, I saw something not good. 'First Quarrel!', and then, 'Interrupt.'
My Mii, in a sudden fit of anger, jumped in front of the thief, shouting, "Watch it!"
And then he charged forward and slammed his frying pan into the Nose Rock.
Purple Guy looked a little taken back, but nevertheless recollected himself and threw his knife as soon as my Mii was back in place.
"Nothing good is gonna come from this…" I murmured, watching Susie give my Mii a small glance of worry before she slammed her staff into the Nose Rock, effectively defeating it.
Brave had her turn, and the remaining Jellies started to attack. But just as the first one started to turn towards Purple Guy…
My 3DS beeped again. Already nervous, I looked at it as it flashed more words. 'First Quarrel!', 'Distracted.'
Purple Guy glanced away from the monsters, and instead looked at my Mii. "Tut…"
And before he could look back, one of the Jellies came forward and slammed into him so hard, he was knocked onto his back. It looked as though he had taken extra damage from his guard being lowered.
I grew even more nervous as the rest of the Jellies attacked, but this time the quarreling pair stayed focused on the battle. Purple Guy managed to attack once more, defeating two more Jellies, leaving two left.
But apparently my Mii didn't like that. My 3DS came back with yet ANOTHER warning for me, saying, 'First Quarrel!', 'Moody'
"Now you've done it!" my Mii shouted, apparently outraged that Purple Guy managed to defeat those monsters. When his turn came 'round, it looked as though my Mii couldn't be bothered.
He still ran forward to strike, but I could tell his attempt was half-hearted at best. Somehow it still managed to defeat the monster, albeit just barely. He barely even seemed to notice, though.
The fight didn't last much longer past that, thankfully. Rather than talk about the battle, though, my Mii and Purple Guy each turned their backs to one another and said nothing, no matter what any of us said.
Once we started moving again, I hung back with my Mii while Purple Guy moved ahead. He still seemed pretty irritable.
"I know what you're gonna say." my Mii interrupted before I could even open my mouth. "You want me to get along with Purple Guy again."
"That… is the long and short of it, yes." I responded.
"Well save your breath. I'm not gonna apologize until HE does." my Mii curtly retorted.
"But we can't have you both in a tizzy with each other! We need all our wits about us." I responded.
"And I get that. But I didn't start this, and I'm not gonna apologize. Not unless he does."
And my Mii basically didn't speak about it again.
I hung back a little, and Susie and Brave joined me.
"Any luck?" Susie asked.
"No." I responded sadly.
"Purple's being stubborn too." Brave sighed.
I gave her a strange look. "Purple?"
"Well, it's easier than adding, 'Guy' at the end of it." Brave shrugged.
"Guys, focus." Susie responded, and it looked like she was getting rather desperate. "What are we gonna do?"
I looked ahead. It was getting late again, we had spent much more time than I would've thought just getting here. I could see, just up ahead, yet another Inn, it's lights glowing invitingly.
"Hmm… maybe we should FORCE them to get along…" I mused.
"How?" Susie and Brave asked at the same time.
"You'll see…" I replied, still working out how I plan for this to work.
Soon enough, we reached the Inn. My Mii and Purple Guy still weren't speaking. My Mii went up to grab rooms, while Purple Guy said he was going to use the bathroom.
As soon as I could, I looked at my 3DS. I saw all four of the little markers indicating each of my friends, and the rooms we would soon be getting. I quickly sorted it out so that my Mii and Purple Guy were sharing the same room.
Sure enough, when Purple Guy came back up, he immediately headed for the same room my Mii was already in. Now came the tricky part. Assuming that they don't start trying to bicker with each other, what would keep them from simply refusing to sleep in the same room?
Purple Guy opened the door and closed it. I didn't hear anything for a solid five minutes afterwards (trust me, I stayed right outside the door, so I would know).
As far as I can figure, the two just simply… slept. They didn't argue, they didn't talk, they did nothing.
I figure that maybe when they wake up, they'll be a BIT more in a mood to get along. Maybe.
Since I didn't want to enter and accidentally make a bad situation worse, I ended up just bunking with the girls. It was a bit awkward, but still, I'd rather be here than with two angry men.
Susie, Brave, and I all gathered together and shared nervous comments about my plan. So far, the two had avoided killing each other. But would they wake up and find the two of them shouting at each other? It almost made us want to simply stay up and wait for the morning.
But we all knew that wouldn't do us any good. So we fell into our respective beds and started trying to fall asleep.
I think Susie was the first to do so. I could hear her gentle breathing change at some point or another. Brave took a lot longer: she kept twisting and turning about in her bed, and I could tell she was doing the same thing I was doing.
Listening. For anything. A crash. A yell. A flaming hot cake slapping into someone's face. Anything.
Eventually, though, she managed to conk out as well.
I stayed up for a long time. I couldn't help myself.
I was just SO high-strung. After fearing about it so much, I almost hoped FOR it to happen. Just to help relieve the tension.
But, eventually, I knew that staying awake on the off chance it COULD happen won't do me any good. I needed all the rest I could get.
I managed to flip onto one side, and slowly, I closed my eyes.
I stayed that way for a long time. I still listened.
I listened as long as I could. I didn't open my eyes, though.
I listened until I could finally feel my mind slipping into sleep.
And sleep finally found me…
I woke up to the sound of something breaking.
I sat bolt upright, as if I had never fallen asleep in the first place.
Susie and Brave were up already, with Brave's bow askew on her head and Susie's hat on the ground next to her, and both were looking at the far wall.
A decorative painting had fallen off the wall, shattering the glass in the frame. That explained what had broken, but how had it fallen off in the first place?
Susie noticed me up first. "Oh, Cameron's look-alike! Thank goodness… something just crashed into the wall on their side, and whatever it was sounded pretty large…"
I stood up quickly and was already heading for the door. I threw it open and quickly headed for the other guys' rooms, the girls hot on my heels.
I slowly opened the door, expecting to hear something like fighting going on back here.
"YOU IDIOT!"
I recoiled. That was my Mii, no doubt about it. He sounded REALLY ticked off. I slowly opened the door while knocking. "Umm… good morning you two?"
Purple Guy and my Mii were on opposite sides of the room, with the thief glaring at the chef. My Mii, for some reason, had both his frying pan and Purple Guy's dagger in his hands, and he was looking at Purple Guy with utter disbelief.
"What the actual HELL, man!" my Mii cursed, looking at his frying pan. "I asked you to pass it to me, not chuck it at the wall!"
'So that's how the painting fell…' I thought, but at this point I had bigger problems.
Purple Guy looked affronted. "I was aiming for your bed. Clearly I misjudged the weight of your weapon. So what?"
"So what?! You could've dented my weapon, or worse, put a hole in the wall! We don't have the money to repair something like THAT!" my Mii responded, looking all around at his frying pan.
"Seems fine to me. Now, how about you hand me back my dagger so we can go about the rest of our day?" Purple Guy asked casually.
In anger, my Mii threw the dagger in Purple Guy's general direction. Had Purple Guy not been used to catching his sharp weapon, I'm willing to bet the toss might have done a fair bit of damage.
Purple Guy, however, didn't seem to care. He tucked it into his scabbard and turned to me. "Morning. We going to breakfast?"
I gently looked between the pair of them. They still didn't seem like they cared too much about each other, but… was I wrong, or did the two of them seem… a little less angry? Sure, my Mii WAS still fuming about the whole throwing his pan at the wall thing, but… unless I was mistaken, the air didn't feel QUITE so tense as it had been. Like they were slowly getting used to each other again.
I took it in stride and, as calmly as possible, asked if the two of them were ready to eat.
They both agreed, still not quite meeting each other's eyes.
At breakfast, things were still a bit expectant, like we were waiting for the two to start bickering or fighting again.
Susie and Brave chose to sit next to me, partly so that they could help break up the two quicker if they did start fighting, but mostly because they wanted to ask if my plan had worked, even if only slightly.
I was fiddling with my 3DS, trying to figure that out myself. I finally got to where I could see the friendships between everyone, and…
I looked closer. While it still did look as though the pair of them had a quarrel with each other… it was like there were two smaller blue arrows above the main blue arrow, and each of those two small arrows seemed to have had a portioned drained from it.
"So it DID work…!" I whispered, showing the girls my findings.
That's when Purple Guy piped up, cleared his throat, and spoke. He addressed my Mii and spoke, quite formally, "Kid, could you pass the butter?"
My Mii glanced over, and just as formally slid the butter tin over to Purple Guy. The purple thief looked grateful, if only for a moment.
And I looked back at my 3DS just in time to see that the blue arrow that was leading from Purple Guy and pointing towards Cameron was draining again. If I was to estimate, it'd probably only take one more positive action for Purple Guy to forgive my Mii.
Me and the girls grew a little hopeful at that. Perhaps there WAS a chance to fix things after all.
Once breakfast was done, we all gathered out belongings and headed back out into the Arid Fronter.
I was desperately hoping that we could fix the conflict between my Mii and Purple Guy before we reached the Prince.
We would…
But certainly not the way I intended.
Oh boy, our first quarrel…
Here's hoping that our intrepid party can resolve the conflict and continue on towards the Prince!
Also, there's the added bit about Void Matter. That's DEFINITELY not in the game. So what's it about?
Hmm, well, you'll just have to wait and see. =D
As always, guys, I hope you enjoyed reading this weird little adventure. I still REALLY love this story, and I'm still trying to write on it as much as possible. It's just sometimes hard to write on it because I still know this story isn't as popular as my others.
BUT THAT HASN'T STOPPED ME YET!
Until next time, my dear readers, I wish for you all to…
Stay awesome! =D