Chapter 4
After having saved the souls from the Moonwood's Weaver, Pikarina and I waltzed through the next part of the Moonwood on the way to the swampy bog and the Elder Cedars, where we had a bit of a talk between each other.
"So... where on Earth do you happen to live?" Pikarina asked me.
"I happen to live in Blairsville, Pennsylvania. And I recently graduated High School and got a job as a deli worker," I smiled.
"Oooh, so you get to cut the cheese without anyone the wiser?" she asked, me then simply switching to the Koi head so I could do the wah-wah noise myself, which she immediately laughed at.
"Bad joke deserves wah-wah noises. Good jokes deserve the rim shot," I said back coyly. "And how's it like being the daughter of the sun? Isn't it a bit lonely not being able to interact with others?" I asked, Pikarina smirking at me.
"That's what you think, Minsie. I go to Earth in disguise as a normal everyday human on occassion to sample the food, see the sights, and a lot of other things. But daddy only lets me do so once a year for about a week and never lets me use magic, so I need to spend that time wisely," she explained to me.
"Sounds like you don't really have too much to do, then. Only a week a year doesn't sound too fun. All the rest of that time is spent at home?" I asked.
"Yeah, it does get a bit boring sometimes, but being a princess of the entire Solar System means that I can see things all over the place. I can see the beautiful sights of the galaxy, speak to the planets and stars, and I can share a small bit of light if my father is busy in other places... but now that he's sick, he can't even see what's become of me. I'm worried about him, you know?" Pikarina asked. And when she said she was a princess? The animals and trees looked surprised.
"Did she say she's a princess? A princess?! A PRINCESS?!" they asked before then immediately doing something that made me upset. What was it? They started to sing! TERRIBLY! And before they could even sing the first verse the whole way through?
"AUGH! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! I HATE DISNEY PRINCESS SONGS! STOP SINGING NOW!" I shouted, the creatures immediately stopping and retreating away from my loud voice, which Pikarina looked at me in shock.
"Wow... I didn't know you hated those songs, too," she admitted to me.
"I do... I hate stupid songs and princess songs are the worst... they all have the same thing behind them," I frowned as we then finally got to the bog, where we saw a whole slew of the poisonous gunk in the water. I used the bomb on the poisoned parts to move forward and free the foliage underneath before I then noticed one simple thing.
"Huh... this is odd..." I frowned.
"What's up?" Pikarina asked as I pulled her close and spoke in her ear.
"There was supposed to be a mind-controlled Kappagaeru in this swamp, but I see none... what's up with th-" I was about to say before we then saw something ahead in the form of a person I didn't expect to catch in the act. It was General Rat! And he had just given the Plum Miracalixer to the Kappa mother! And she immediately gasped as she became mind-controlled and she lost her mind!
"Eeheehee! Now for the Cedars! HEEHEE!" the rodent snickered as Piakrina and I rushed forward, and I proceeded to through a bomb at the Kappa mother's head, her looking at me in confusion before then having the bomb explode on her head, which made her mind-controlled scalp crack a bit!
"OOWWW! THAT HU-HU-HURT! LEAVE ME ALONE AND LET ME BE BEAUTIFUL!" she shouted before then retreating forward, me and Pikarina following and doing the same routine twice more, which finally broke the mind control and she looked at me in confusion before then gawking. "The rat's spell... it's broken? Oh, joyous of days! I am now restored!" she shouted before then jumping out of the water and gasping. "WAIT! He said he was going after the Cedars next! If they get poisoned by that dreader rat's toxins, the Moonwood will wither away to nothing! You MUST go after him, young heroes!" the Kappa mother shouted as she wrapped her tongue around both of us and whipped us far and fast above the swamp and into the treetops above the Moonwood, which made me grossed out at how I was sticky and wet from the tongue.
"Ick... she could've warned us before doing that," I groaned.
"Less talk, we need to go after that dirty rat!" Pikarina shouted as we then proceeded to climb and slice our way up the tree as we overheard Rat trying to swindle the Elder Cedars. And all the way I proceeded to free the souls trapped in the grubs while also getting the acorn head in the process and saving it for later. I finally climbed to the top right before the rat could finish the deal.
"All you need is this magical Plum Mira-" he was about to say before I shouted.
"DON'T LISTEN TO A SINGLE WORD THIS SNEAK IS SAYING!" I shouted as the rat then gasped at me.
"WAH?! What are YOU doing here?! I'm a little BUSY here!" he shouted.
"Making sure you don't poison the Elder Cedars with that toxic goop! Also, I need the Moonstone Piece you stole from the Moon Goddess," I frowned, him snarling at me before then trying to shoot the gunk at the Elder Cedars! But I quickly got to the gunk first and shot it with a bomb, evaporating it instantly before then throwing a bomb at Rat's jetpack, him growling as he then flew into the air with it emitting fire.
"That tears it! I'm gonna roast ya! Someone will gladly pay for burnt firewood!" he snickered as Pikarina threw me in the air and above Rat, me then tossing a bomb directly down to make him bounce around like a pinball! His jetpack then started to emit smoke and stutter, giving me plenty of time to rush him and slash away at it before he fell to the ground, coughing up his Moonstone Shard that was kept in his suit! I then grabbed it and he looked at me in shock before then trying to run away, but he was blocked by Pikarina on the right and me on the left.
"Little Rat's shouldn't play with bombs," I smiled... but when I said that? Something shocking happened. Almost as if by magic, when I called him Little Rat, his body immediately transformed and shrunk to be about the same size as he would be if he were Little Rat! AKA, half my size!
"Um... why did he shrink?" Pikarina asked as the now little rat then looked scared as I picked him up by the tail.
"I-I'm s-s-sorry!" he said with tears, me being surprised at how his voice now sounded like a completely shy nerd. "T-The Moonstone Shard... when the king gave it t-t-to me... I-I wasn't thinking straight... like it t-turned me into a monster... p-please spare me... I-I'm so scared..." he said with fear as I looked at Pikarina and she looked at me.
"Um... Pikarina? Was that the truth?" I asked, her nodding.
"Believe it or not, it was all true... but how did you turn him to what I guess was him when the Moon Goddess was around?" she asked.
"Because she has passion and power... like the Moon Bear King and the Moon Goddess... but she is also Pure of Heart, both traits only obtained by the Moon Goddess," said the voice of Mama Cedar, who I looked at in surprise.
"I uh... I don't feel like I'm pure of heart," I admitted.
"I can see it for myself. You have an aura of radiance and power surrounding you. That means you are just like the Moon Goddess, meaning you can use some of her powers. My guess, since you gained the Moonstone Shard that General Rat had, you gained power over him and could change him to normal afterwards?" Papa Cedar suggested, me smiling at that.
"I see... that honestly sounds pretty cool," I smiled as I then saw a magical gateway appear and I heard the voice of the witch in my head.
"Put the rat in the magical gateway and I'll send him to Castle Waxwane, got it?!" the witch said, me nodding as I then smirked at Little Rat.
"Time to give you some protection, Little Rat," I smiled as I was about to put him in the gateway before he retorted.
"W-Wait... I want to help you out... journey with you... please?" he asked, me smiling at that.
"How could I say no to that?" I smiled, him then hopping in my shirt pocket and riding in there... but then, I looked in the distance and saw something bad coming.
"Uh-oh... giant monster in the distance," I said, which made the Elder Cedars gasp.
"NO! The Moonwood! You need to go there and stop that giant snake from destroying it!" Momma Cedar shouted as she then breathed in a long breath before then blowing with the force of a hurricane, sending me, Pikarina, and Rat through the air and towards the giant snake! And when she did, the snake saw me and tried to snap its jaws on me and eat me! But when it did so, I proceeded to slash apart the snake's esophagus before then slashing its fangs and exiting its mouth!
"Hiss! ! ! You'll pay for that, little worm!" Snake hissed at me in agitation as I then saw the sparkle of a Moonstone on the top of their head, me knowing that it was where the venom was being produced1 Snake then tried to chase me down, me dodging to the right, then the left, and then dodging while leaving a bomb in Snake's mouth to trick her into getting a mouth full of smoke, which gave me plenty of time to jump to the top of her noggin and, using Calibrus, I slashed into her venom sack and scooped out the Moonstone Shard within, Snake hissing in pain as I then jumped off of the head and spoke two words.
"Little Snake," I said, which made me, Pikarina, and Little Rat shocked at how, shortly after, her body shrunk and shortened immensely until she was now the size of a normal garden snake! And she looked at me in concern before then gulping.
"I... I'm ssssorry... I... I didn't mean to caussse all of thisss dessstruction..." she said in a much cuter and female voice, which is what made me realize she was a girl.
"It's okay, Snake. It was because of the Moon Bear King. I don't blame you one bit," I said, her smiling before then coiling her body around me to give me a gentle hug and a snake kiss with her tongue.
"I thank you from the bottom of my cold-blooded heart," she smiled before then being warped to Castle Waxwane.
"That proves it! You are a true heroine! Now we've got 3 Moonstone Shards! Where do we go next?" Pikarina asked as Rat spoke for us.
"I think the next closest shards are in the Moonshine Sea. You'll find Pig and Sheep there. Be careful, they became pirates in that place and are constantly fighting the fearsome Captain Gaff," Rat explained for us.
"Understood, we shall be absolutely careful," I smiled.
"How about we talk on the way there? I'd like to learn some more about Pennsylvania from the source. It's one of the places I've never visited before, after all," Pikarina smiled.
"Sure, that sounds fun," I smirked back as we then walked on our way to the sea.
Meanwhile, in the Castle Waxwane...
Esma Potts could not believe it with her own eyes, but when she saw the power that Minsie Carver had, she knew she had picked the right person for the job! Especially whenever she managed to revert the two generals of Rat and Snake into their smaller, less-dangerous forms from when the Moon Goddess was around, at least according to the books at Castle Waxwane.
"So... miss neighbor got three Moonstones already and she's been turning the bad guys into good guys?" asked Linda Bundler, who sat next to the sleeping tiger cub, who was only now beginning to stir.
"A-meow-zing! She must have the traits of the Moon Goddess! Mayhaps a reincarnation? Or the chosen one?" Ying Yang asked in confusion before Tiger then woke up, looking around in confusion at all the puppet children.
"Where... where is the Moon Goddess?" he asked, his voice sounding much cuter in his little form.
"She's uh... not around right now. No thanks to the Moon Bear King," Boris said with a sigh.
"I think I can remember that... how he turned me into a General... I hurt a lot of children... ate at least 10 of them by his orders... I feel so ashamed..." Tiger said with a sigh as Esma smiled.
"Well, not to worry, for she's already rescued Generals Rat and Snake as well as making them like you, little and harmless," Esma Potts smirked, making the tiger smile at her.
"I see... how are you doing, Snake?" Tiger asked the pink snake, who giggled at him.
"A lot better than before, that'ssss for ssssure," Snake smiled as she then looked at the kids with a smile. "How about we play jumprope games, little ones? I'll be the rope," Snake smiled, the kids cheering at that notion. It wouldn't hurt to have some recreational time!