Act 7
Once the sun was up enough to pour into the hotel rooms, Becky was up at it, banging on the other door like they owed her money. "Hurry up!" she said in a very scratchy yell. "If I have to get woken up at seven in the morning then you do too!"
"Oh heavens cause that girl is screaming to them!" said a mom covering her son's ears. Leana nodded along, pretending to be a witness to this while sipping her brewed coffee. "So rude, who would do such a thing?" Luckily, she had already gotten rid of the trash cans lids she had used to wake up Becky.
This time, Leana was at the helm while the rest filed in, as cranky as Becky herself. Isuka shuffled in, her head resting on Keita's lap while she clutched the Bible in her hands. "No, don't throw him in the well…" she murmured.
"We finally found the target audience of all those books," Leana said, chuckling to Becky. Becky just glared, still not forgiving her for what happened earlier this morning. "Where ever you want to go right now, this better be worth it," she warned, filing her nails with malice. "You are soooo about to get thrown out of the circle right now."
Leana's trip took them the better half of morning, the sun slowly rising to the west of them as they continued down through Maryland and Virginia. Soon though, she took them to a road heading east, the heavy roads replaced with the constant view of the ocean to the side. On the parts where they got pretty close, Isuka and Natsumi took the vastness of it, seeing the waterline extend into infinity. "Keita, do you think any mamono live down there?"
"I think it's only scary fish down there," Ketia said. "Sorry to disappoint you."
"We can't be too sure," Leana said, reclining as she cruised along. "I heard we really don't know too much about the ocean. There could be a bunch of monster people somewhere down there, right Becky?" Becky rolled her eyes and kept filing, using her visor mirror to check her progress every few seconds. Ketia seemed thankful for it, seeing Isuka keep staring on with wonder. "An ocean that hasn't been explored. If I still had my magic, we could go on and make history!" She turned to Natsumi, who was looking where she was. "Can you imagine? A place full of people from our world, residing in dormancy where the humans can't reach…"
While they couldn't exactly explore thousands of miles below the surface, they could at least enjoy the beach sun. Leana parked the car somewhere that seemed half-empty, putting the keys in her pocket as they got out. She had brought them to a row of storehouses, each one's door off the ground, and the building itself going three stories up and one down. "I thought the trip might take a while, so I thought it would be good to unwind, and hang out for a bit before going on."
"You brought us to a beachfront and rented out a house?" Becky said. "But don't we have school in a few days?"
"Are you really one to care about that?"
"That depends, do we have the key?" Becky asked, getting tossed a set of keys on the keychain. Her morning grudge against Leana finally began to soften as she giggled them in her hands. "I didn't see you as the type to skip, Leana."
"Maybe I just need the break from my normal life," she said, shrugging.
Isuka was hesitant to take her luggage out of the trunk, however. "What of the trip?"
"We have as long as we want to. Besides, you're curious right? We may not get to see the ocean deep, but I think you would like seeing the shore!" Isuka decided to trust Leana. With the beach within walking distance, her curiosity did begin to bloom.
They all brought their luggage up the steps, stepping into the first level once Becky unlocked the door. She seemed to cheer back up to 100% when she saw the interior. A TV and large lounging space with sofas, chairs, and even an indoor hammock to the side. Beyond there was the kitchen, with cabinets galore. Lastly, the stairs in the back of the house lead up to the second and third floors. It was confusing to the group why the stairs couldn't just be on the same side as the entrance, but they supposed it made sense.
"This place is beautiful!" She exclaimed, immediately hopping on the hammock. "It's like my dream…"
"That's because it is your dream," Leana said, dropping her stuff in the middle of the walkway to go to Becky. It was much to Keita's chagrin, when he silently cursed after he almost dripped on the bag. "This is your family's Airbnb, or did you forget when we first came here?" She said. Becky seemed offended that she could possibly forget one of her favorite days in a while…
…
"I can't believe we are inviting people from a public institution," her mother went while setting up the table. "Can't she go hang out with famous businesswomen again?"
"But dear, the latest edition of 'rich family monthly' says that exposing your children to the less fortunate can build character," her father went, his head busy in a magazine. "Besides, I'm sure she's sick to dauth at this point if we took her to meet Bill Gates again…"
"Couldn't hurt to give her a computer background, since we pretty much made our money off of Microsoft," her mom said once more. "Having a knowledgeable heir makes the most sense. Haven't you heard of what the Wazaouski's did with their boy? Simply horrendous."
"I agree, but she would be useless if she can't convince the masses." The father said again. Becky only signed as she waited for her partner while doing a crossword. There was not much else to do, and on the beach, of all places. She could only stay inside and look onward at the others as they played and enjoyed all their time on the boardwalk. A simulation rig could only take her so far. She wondered what it would have been like, swinging between the arms of both parents like she was hopping on the moon. If she had asked, they would have just probably paid for her to go to the moon…
Ding dong, Went the bell to the vacation house. She guessed it couldn't be all bad though. Her partner was actually willing to come down to Virginia for this assignment! As long as she didn't just laze about again, Becky thought. She could hear her parents invite the girl into the home, before bringing her into the room, where she daydreamed. "Your…." the mother paused looking at the freshman for a word. "...your person has arrived," she settled on, urging her inside before she closed the door.
"Sorry amount my parents," Becky said, putting down her pencil. "So, you're Leana from Intro to Bio?" she said, taking off her glasses and going to switch her pairs. "If you want the assignment it's on the dresser."
"Oh…wait really?" the newcomer asked, looking there. Sure enough, there was an entire report done, all typed out and printed hot off the printer. "Um, thanks…"
"No problem…" Becky said, going back to writing. "Now you don't have to bug me about the word limit like every other partner I had."
"I suppose not," she shrugged, going to sit on her bed. "Sooo, Virginia Beach huh?"
"Don't care," Becky said. "My parents can just go to Hawaii again."
"Sounds fun…" she said, looking around the room. "Although you don't have anything, 'Hawaii' in here. What, are you one of those people that just go onto the beach, take a picture, and then spend the rest of the day adding filters and posting on the internet?" Becky put her head further down, drawing through her insulting words.
"Not a talker I see, well we can at least go to the boardwalk!" the girl said. "Get our toes wet, or whatever people do on the beach, amirite?" Becky didn't answer, continuing to sketch on. Leana eventually left, but left her bag in. "She's probably going to come back for spending money," Becky murmured.
As the sun went down though, Leana still hadn't come back. She wasn't surprised, but she was a bit worried. Her parents had long gone out for the evening, to a stockholder meeting, while she stayed behind. If she had to hear another word about something dropping or spiking-
"I brought back some cotton candy," Leana said, holding a cup with the pink, fluffy substance overflowing. Becky gasped. She must have not had heard her enter the room. "I thought you might wanted some since you were…" she peered over, catching a glimpse before Becky covered it. "Schematics for a...gizmo?"
"It's a company secret, you can't see it!" Becky said, but Leana just brushed her aside. It turned out that it didn't matter if it was secret, because she couldn't decipher whatever numbers were on that motherboard. "So biology is a general ed course for you?"
"My mother wants me to take over the company, so I have to get a computer science degree," she answered lamely. Leana nodded and looked at the paper again, skimming over it. "Why did you try so hard on this then? If you were just going to give it to me?"
"I don't know, don't you have something better to do?"
"Yeah, I do…" Leana said, hitting her fist in her hand. "Taking you out to the beach tonight!"
"But, I have work to do."
"Says the person that finished the term paper. Come on, we have five days of spring break and no lame parents around. The beach is probably empty by now!"
"Well, I have never gotten invited to do something by college students…" Becky got up from her chair, not expecting much out of it. She went along with Leana as she unlocked the door, taking her down the steps to head down to the boardwalk. Once there, they sat down along the beach, looking at the moonshine its light over the shifting waterline.
"It's beautiful," Becky said. "I've seen this in a plane but…to hear the waves…"
"Much better than New Jersey too," Leana said. "Honestly, I think you should do this more often…"
"I know…but it's not fun doing it alone honestly," Becky said, twirling her hair. "All the other rich kids are sort of too snobby for me. I know how that sounds coming from me."
"It sounds rich right?"
"Ha! Yeah, it does…" Becky said laughing. Leana laughed a bit too, but she seemed more interested in other things, clamoring onto Becky and pressing her back into the sand. In a moment, she had Becky on her back, sand getting in her clothing as Leana walked her fingers along her torso. "You are poor in a few things though~" she said, going back down dangerously close to her navel. "You've been sheltered all your life, I think it's time for you to become the absolute bitch I know you want to be~"
…
Leana's face seemed stuck on neutral as she listened to Becky recall that last part. "I don't recall any fingering done when I snuck you out of your house. In fact, I don't even think that story's accurate at all. The wildest thing we did that week was drive your dad's jaguar."
"You might as well have, pretending to be dumb is a lot more fun," Becky said, her head hanging off the side of the hammock. "I never knew the rush I would get from using my parents' stuff without permission and crashing them. Speaking of which, you and Isuka have to wear something from my closet!"
"What sort of garments do you have?" Isuka asked. Ignoring how Leana was viciously cutting her hand across her neck to silently yell no.
"Oh, you'll see!"
Act 8
Leana was, as usual, able to weasel her way out of being dolled up by Becky, settling on her more nerdy conservative stuff she kept from years ago. Isuka however, was fresh meat and did not know the intricacies that went into dodging your prep school girlfriend's closet. Simply saying no would not keep her from putting the clothing on, and before she knew it she was emotionally baited into trying on a sundress that would never seem to go down.
"O.M.G. You make it look so good!" Becky said, the dress being the right amount of clingy and flowing to her. Isuka wasn't as fond of it, preferring if she could wear more under.
"You wouldn't want to waste your clothing on that sand," Becky assured. "Trust me, when we go outside, all the eyes will be on us!"
"I'm starting to reflect on if that was such a good thing…" Isuka said, tugging at the fabric. It did feel nice, but wearing only a swimsuit and sandals would be new from covering herself in thick robes day in and out. "About Leana?" Becky shrugged, upset that she wasn't in the room with them. "I don't know, she always does this when I suggest anything remotely fun…"
Leana, more experienced in the art of dodging attention, had taken Keita and Natsumi to the beach already. She and Keita laid out a blanket to sit on, while they watched Keita wakeboard into the water and come back on the small shore waves. "So this is how you relax huh?"
"Once Becky "took after me" she got alot more annoying," Leana said. "I mean, if she was supposed to be my mirror…I don't know what she saw in my freshman year."
"Well you did seem to get her out of studying all day."
Leana shrugged. "I doubt it. If you asked her about her grades, she would say she pays the faculty to keep her Cs up, but all her grades are actually straight As."
"What?" Keita said. "She's a straight-A student?"
"Right? At the end of the day, she could be at the top of the class while drunk on vodka," Leana said, shifting her foot in the sand. "All the more reason it's weird she's still hanging out with someone like me and doing all this just to act the most annoying stereotype on reality TV."
"That does sound weird," Keita said. "I wouldn't know myself, but it does seem to come back to hanging out with you. Maybe she's just really glad you're there for her. I know what she must have felt like, alone with people that only seemed to use them for mediocre jobs…"
"Surrounded by money though?"
"Up to a point, money does cease to matter," Keita said, watching Natsumi stand on the board, trying to get up straight on the water. "She could probably have all the popularity she wanted, but the one thing she couldn't buy brought her cotton candy."
"Honestly, I don't even know if it was cotton candy I gave her, that story seemed so suspect," Leana said chuckling.
"It did sound a bit out there," Keita said. "By the way, Isuka-"
"I know, I realized I was pretty loud," Leana said. "I'm sorry if I was too hard on her. She's just trying to figure this world out. If you weren't with her, I would think that she and Virto would be hitched up together."
"Doubt that. They can barely stay in the same room with each other without devolving into a dick-measuring contest," Keita revealed. They both cheered when Natsumi coasted pretty comfortably back to shore, seeing him blushed when they kept on clapping and jeering. "I-I just learned quickly…" Natsumi said, downplaying his surf. He seemed pretty excited to head back out, swimming out into further, deeper waters to catch a bigger wave.
"He's definitely embarrassed," Leana said laughing.
"Do you wakeboard?" Keita asked.
"Oh no, I'm old, I would break all my bones," Leana said, getting a laugh out of Keita. While Natsumi was still finding a wave, Becky and Isuka come out, Isuka clutching the ends of her sundress as she stuck by Becky. Isuka wondered how many eyes were on her, hoping no one would stare for too long.
"You have her out here looking like a nature girl?" Leana asked, Keita just blushing silently.
"Doesn't she look hot?" Becky said, herself in skin-tight yoga shorts and a cross-wrap crop top. "We're like the queens of the beach!"
"I think I will rather be a mage sitting down," Isuka said, taking a seat right next to Keita, she grabbed his hand, holding it while keeping her dress strung over her bent knees. "Hi~"
"You look…stunning…" Keita said quietly. Isuka's nerves seemed to settle down, seeing the eyes of the only one that mattered. "Thank you," she said back with love. She was close to kissing him when a large splash and commotion attracted all four of their attention. They turned their heads, seeing Natusmi struggling to keep afloat as he cried for help. A lifeguard went in to get him, while the rest could do nothing but hope he got to Nat in time…
"Achoo!" he went, wrapped up in blankets after being dried off. After getting brought out of the water, the gang took Natsumi back home, putting on some old Disney Channel movies while he recovered from the cold.
"According to the lifeguard, he fell off the water but hit his head against the board as he fell. I guess he was too disoriented to remember he could swim," Keita said.
"That's horrible!" Becky said. She turned to Isuka to see if she would say anything, but she seemed too quiet with Leana in the room to say anything. "Hey Leana?" she called to her, Leana looking up from the cup of ramen she was heating up for Natsumi. "Yeah?"
"Do you want to check on the roof with Isuka?" she asked. "I know it does rain alot." She nodded, placing what she was doing down and taking Isuka up the stairs of the shore home. Isuka saw the place still lively, even as the sun went down on the light-less beach. They went into the top floor, a giant bedroom that usually was reserved for Becky's mom and dad. It was sparse, with only a king-sized bed in the midst of it all.
"This is such a different tone…" Isuka quipped, looking at the whiteness of it all.
"Becky designed the first and second floor after this vacation home basically became hers," Leana said quickly. She shut the door after Isuka walked in, turning on the lights. "Look Isuka, I said some things earlier, and I wasn't in the best headspace when I said them."
"Please, you don't have to explain yourself," Isuka urged. "I lost the tickets that you and Virto gracefully paid for, and as a result, you two have had to miss your education for me…No apology could ever fix that."
"Oh, you're not wrong. I'm still mad about that," Leana said calmly. "But I could have at least not yelled at you." She embraced Isuka in a hug, Isuka nodding along. "That's why I am saying sorry."
"A-apologies accepted!" Isuka hugged back. She was glad they finally made up, embracing each other in the completely plain room.
Act 9
After the whole debacle yesterday, it was once again time for another stretch of driving. Becky would be covering the last part, but this time they went straight down to the destination. No more side trips, no more gas. It was finally time to get Isuka to that spell she had been craving since the beginning.
Well, one sidestep for a Texas Steakhouse. And maybe for Olive Garden. And a cool Haitian restaurant they found near the end. Isuka's taste buds had never tasted so much range in her life. The wonderful smell of fresh rolls and well-done steaks, the mid-ness of several different (likely microwaved) pastas, and the Haitian restaurant…unknowing to her, she will never be able to find that taste of fried plantain ever again.
After several food stops and a quick burn through the rest of the credit card (ft. Becky's shopping habits), they reached the destination. Isuka and all got out of the car, looking at the surrounding forestry. Isuka decided to leave her stuff inside, thinking it would be a quick trip no matter which way it goes. "So what now?" She asked Leana.
"Well, Virto's last message says to follow the path into the woods," Leana said, looking up from her phone. Isuka nodded and faced it, seeing the gravel neatly smoothened out along the ground. "A perfect path, as always…"
Before Isuka could embark off though, a loud engine broke the silence of the secluded parking lot. They all turned as a red Ferrari turned hard into the parking lot. Its speed was too much for the tires, and the back end let loose into a drift as they came to a horizontal stop in front of Leana and Becky's car. Once the dust settled, a tall black man got out, closing the door behind him and taking his dark-tinted shades off. He stared tiredly at the group before him. He wore a purple polo and faded blue jeans, and had an afro that seemed to flex and wane in the winds. He took a good look at everyone's faces but seemed only interested in Leana.
Everyone seemed stunned, their gears turning to what was going on. Only Leana began to step up, thinking that her eyes were deceiving her. "Is that…"
"You know this person?" Becky said, getting a good look up and down. "Do…do you have his number? I've been owing one of my girlfriends a favor for a while…"
"W-no, gross!" Leana said. The guy seemed off-put as well, although he still didn't utter a word. "There is no fucking way I would have his number."
"What's wrong with him?" Becky questioned. Leana decided to show rather than tell, going up to him and whispering in his ear. He blinked twice before whispering back, Leana nodding and then going to the back seat of the car. She waited for him to unlock the Grand Lusso and opened the door, pushing up the driver's seat to reveal Virto and Lalu sleeping in the back.
"Wait, is that Virto?" Isuka realized. "And….another man that is like him?"
"How dense can you two be?" Leana said, about to spill the beans when the Ferrari owner stopped her in her tracks. He nodded to her, giving her a thumbs-up before going up to Isuka herself. While she was 5'10, he still had a few more inches on her person. "Hey," he said, extending his hand for a handshake. "Olawale, I don't believe I've met you."
"Isuka," she said back blushing. "I didn't know there were dark elves in this world…but your ears..."
"Dar-" he turned back to Leana. "Is this an elaborate joke?" he asked in a concerned whisper.
"She's as fresh as a daisy," Leana said. "Really, we can show you the portal." He turned back to Isuka, recollecting himself before proceeding to straighten everything once and for all. "Alright, I'm African-American, and that elf in the car is my brother. That's your Lao." Isuka looked into the car. For a visit for a humanification spell, this was the last twist she could have expected. "Oh my…"
"What are you two bozos doing here anyway?" Leana said, kicking the seat to jar the backseat sleepers awake. Virto was the first one to open their eyes, poking Lalu until he did the same. "Are we there yet?" was the first thing Lalu said, seeing Leana's angry face once he adjusted to the afternoon sun. "Virto, I think we're there…."
"You know how long it took to realize how shitty both of you are?" Leana said. They both started to talk but Leana cut them off. "Ah, zip it! I'm not done. Seriously, what do you think you two could say that would make all this better? Lalu, I had to deal with your clone for months, and Virto I thought you were dead."
"To be fair, I also sort of, experience a death of a love one…" Lalu started before Virto motioned to him to quit.
"Well experience this," Leana said, raising her left pinkie, on it, a green ring that she began to remove.
"WOAH WOAH WOAH!" Lalu and Virto said not exactly at the same time.
"What?" Leana said exasperated. "Best friends don't abandon each other!"
"Alright but that ring has been on our hands for generations! A sign of our siblinghood!" Lalu said, raising his pinkie with a blue ring.
"We've only had these since high school."
"That's still a long ass time!" Lalu said.
"Lalu's right, this is a big deal," Virto added, showing off his yellow ring.
"Which is exactly why I'm doing this. From this day on, I'm no longer BBFs with you two!" She yanked the ring off, stuffing it deep in her back pocket. "Not until you two really make it up to me."
"My…heart…." Unironically, Lao felt his chest get tight, clutching himself. Virto comforted him, Leana going back to Ola and Isuka once they were preoccupied. "Oh, that felt refreshing! Is it wrong to feel this good from that, because that felt better than therapy!"
"That was cruel girl," Becky said. "Matching rings for six years…that's longer than some engagements…"
"Is my brother having a heart attack?" Ola asked.
"Naaaah…at least I think." Leana turned to Isuka. "Well, what are you waiting for, you should probably head off before you lose your chance.
"But how will I call you?" Leana swiped Becky's phone, handing it to Isuka. "We can wait at a hotel down the road for you," she said, explaining how to call her number while keeping Becky at bay.
"Amazing…" Isuka said. Isuka walked away from the parking lot, walking down the path that was foretold to her. It fell silent, without the smallest of animals around as she walked under the trees. The final stretch looked to take her right into a dense forest. She couldn't see far, and she knew that once she went in, she might not be able to see her way back out again. Isuka looked back at the group one last time, before heading into the woods to meet her confidant.
Act 10
Finally, Isuka had made it. After days and days of travel, she was on the doorsteps of the residence. It was less grand for a nice phrase to describe it. Small, actually, as she was living in a one-story home. Everything looked brand new, however, the smell of newly dried paint swarmed around her nostrils. The garden was freshly trimmed and cut, and the path to the door was pepped with small flat stepping stones to walk along. "Even here, the living style seems so controlled," Isuka commented, knocking on the door. Slow, apprehensive walking approached the door. The knob turned and the door turned just a slight, a dark blue iris and nothing else appearing in the crack. "State your presence," the figure went in an insistent tone.
"I have come for knowledge," Isuka said, getting down on one knee. She wasn't sure if being this cordial was needed on Earth, but if the door closed back, she didn't have the power brewing within her to force the door to tatters. Thankfully, she heard the door open up wider turning her head up towards the one and only. "Thank you for your time….Di?" Isuka questioned.
Her line of thought switched as she narrowed her eyes, looking at the human standing in front of her. She wore a satin red dress that went down her lithe figure, her cherry red lips and dark blue eyes had the same expression of refined superiority, and her hair was bleached brunette to match. Ruby red slippers and white and rose-peppered stockings hide under the dress. Despite the stunning looks, and no matter how much she exuded that lofty carelessness, Isuka could feel the same energy in her. She was as in little position to overpower her on Earth, and yet…
"I did say I looked forward to the next chapter we would cosign~" Di coo'ed. "Although, I'm afraid that once business is taken care of, I will have to go out on some personal matters. Was the walk into the darkness nice?"
"Not at all," Isuka said, still not knowing what she meant by chapter. "I see you have changed, yet you haven't changed one bit."
"Jealous? Who knew that at your most vulnerable, you could find something even more powerful than what you previously could have imagined." She stepped aside and opened the door to Di's oasis, a melting pot of the outdoors and the interior. Many exotic plants lay about, all of them as green as the pure wavelength itself. Isuka couldn't tell that she was stepping into a house, but Di still seemed to know where everything was in the madness, sitting down on a couch concealed from the POV of the doorway by a crowd of Venus Fly Traps. "As one might say, the only way to true happiness is sacrifice. I believed I was in nirvana, the fullest extent of my imagination, yet I had only scratched the surface of myself as a whole," she said, resting her head on a thick bouquet of rainbow roses. "Well, come in! You are a guest after all."
"Right," Isuka agreed, walking tentatively through the mass of flowers. She had never seen such an array of plants before, not even in the wildest depths of the Mist. She decided to walk in Di's footsteps, managing to find an ottoman that wasn't taken.
"Right?" Di inquired, seeming disappointed with her choice of path. "What is the matter?"
"Nothing, I'm just a bit itchy," Isuka said. "So about the humanification spell-"
"What's the rush? Why not indulge me first?" Di asked. "Surely you would be one of the few people that want to know every last detail! Well, that and Virto."
"I have seen a lot of Earth already, honestly," Isuka said. "Honestly, the luster is disappearing pretty fast now…" Isuka rubbed her shoulders. She had long sleeves and nearly every inch of her skin covered, but this was still the most alien she had felt in this world. Even back in Zipangu, she would see wilder stuff in the span of an hour, but she had already mastered the methods to the chaos. Here, it was like she had stepped into another dimension within a dimension! "...your home is very different, however," she admitted. Only a Lilim would be able to pull it off, she supposed.
Di giggled, patting one of the fly traps behind her sofa. "I'd like to think of it as my little home away from home. To be honest, I have a particular tentacle that I am reminded of…" she said, scratching the underside of the trap's mouth. "Shame, they don't react like the Kobolds. Although, I feel sated here."
"Do you know why?"
"Well, that's part of the fun right?" Di asked. "Although, this room would know best. I'm sure it will come to me in a lucid dream, however." Isuka nodded and looked around. She still couldn't find the windows or the stairs that would usually be in view beyond the foliage, yet there was so much light everywhere!
"You're doing it again," Di said. Isuka stopped her search, turning back to her. She was still as reclined as before, yet the frown returned on her face. "Please, stop that."
"Stop what?"
"Your eyes, they waver," she said, her own vibrant set locked on Isuka. "It's alright to feel uncomfortable, everyone does the first time you step in here."
"I'm not uncomfortable," Isuka said matter-of-factly. "It's just your home…how do you find anything among the plants?"
"Simple, it's just a matter of acknowledging the risk," Di said. "Although you haven't learned that yet, have you? Even after forcing yourself through so much, you forgot to learn the most important thing." Di got up, sauntering over until she placed herself in the lap of Isuka. Isuka initially pushed away, but felt the brush of leaves against her back and stopped herself. It was all Di needed, her legs going around Isuka's waist as they veered toward the ottoman side opposite of Isuka's. "This worry….it's so harrowing, my pet," she continued, placing her hands on her shoulders. "So you have been running all this time as well? Even after all the growth and recollection, you can't bring yourself to fall into the flowers?"
"Running?" Isuka said back. "I have done no running of any sort,"
"You know what kind I meant. Your past can haunt you no longer, and you know that. But it's not enough to know. You have to accept it with every…fiber of you being~" Di pushed Isuka back towards the flowers, but Isuka fought back. "W-wait, where are we falling!?"
"Into your future~" With one more swing, they slipped off the leg furniture. For that one moment, hovering in the air before gravity pulled them back into its grasp, she was suspended in an animation she could not stop. She wrapped her arms around Di, but couldn't bring herself to close her eyes. Only because Di wouldn't dare close hers, staring right into her heart with orbs as blue as a refined emerald. It was hypnotic to see pupils so striking, silently telling her to focus everything she had into those ovals on her master's face.
After an eternity of holding her breath, she felt her back hit a soft bed of smaller flowers. Di landed right on her, laying over Isuka's limp body as she curled her hand around her neck. A nail scratched once, and all of a sudden, she realized her body tingled in a way that was unpleasant…
"Toxicodendron radicans, if I recall correctly," Di said. Isuka's heart dropped at the utterance of toxic, a new seabed of emotions starting to well up inside her. For that one split second, she meant everything she told in that embrace, and yet it added up to another betrayal, as fresh of the house itself. "But why?" Isuka said, her head laying on its side on the flowers.
"I think I have said enough for you to figure out. You're a smart one~" A single tear flowed down Isuka's neck. Without her magic, she felt as if she could die from laying in this flowerbed. Di knew this, so how…how could she? Isuka kept asking in her head.
"There it is," Di said, taking a satisfying draw of her finger along the path of Isuka's tear. "You realize now don't you?"
"No…I don't," Isuka said. Her head finally turned up, the tears flowing freely from both eyes now. "I don't know anything at all…"
"And that's fine," Di continued on, her tone never changing from that of a loving mother. "It's fine! That's why you had to fall, so you can come back up, refreshed and reborn! To risk losing your status, your power, your life for something as trivial as a metaphor, it's the only true way to happiness."
"So am I really going to die then?" Isuka asked.
"Oh, unfortunately not. It's not as easy to simply revive someone on Earth," Di said. "However, once you get up, I can assure you it will feel all the same." Isuka wanted to respond, but a sudden drowsiness overtook her. She fell asleep right on the Poison Ivy, seeing Di watch her doze off with an unmovable look of satisfaction.
Act 11
When she awoke, she wasn't moved at all. She thought her body would feel pain, but it was as peaceful as if she had fallen asleep on a bed of sunflowers. Di sat on the chair, sipping a cup of tea that she poured from a flower pot-themed kettle. "Any nice resolutions?" Di asked, as patient as ever.
"I thought these plants were poison," Isuka asked, running her hands along them.
"They are, but I grew them specially so they wouldn't itch. You would have to be seriously allergic to get a real reaction out of them."
So it was a bait the entire time, Isuka thought. "You asked me if I had anything I wanted to ask about you, right?"
"Did your dreams rouse a question?"
"They did in fact…what were you running from?" Isuka asked. Di chuckled, taking another sip of her tea before she answered. "Responsibility, I believed my dear…"
…
"So is this the man that was responsible?" The officer asked her as she sat at a table. On the other side of the glass were five people, each one holding up numbers as they stared into the half-mirror. Thanks to it, none of them seemed to be able to know where she was looking at them from, but one person's gaze seemed willing to wreak misery on her livelihood. She already knew who it was from the moment she stepped into the room, but years of damage have driven her into a corner.
"Can [static] be with me?" she asked. The officer complied. Two minutes later, another cop brought [static] into the room. She felt secure with a person she could trust, one that showed her something many in this world had neglected to her before.
"Are you alright?" [static] asked. "I got worried when they asked me to come in."
She nodded and pointed confidently to number #2, affirming her answer. Somewhere in the back of her head, she knew she couldn't keep running forever, but if she was going to finally end it, it would be a damn shame if he wasn't put in jail.
The cop nodded and left the room once more. She and [static] sat at the table there, [static] holding her hand as if to tell her it was alright. In another minute, the officer came back with more people, one holding handcuffs, and most of them armed with tasers and rubber pellet-shooting pistols. Only the lead had a real pistol in his holster, for if the situation got too rowdy to control.
They watched the crew open the door, guiding number two out to take him to holding. For the first time, she could look at #2 in the eye, and she made sure he saw the hatred in her eyes. "You bitch!" he said, immediately trying to lunge, maybe punk her out since he knew the cops would stop him. "How much did they pay you to crawl out from your little fucking hole!?"
"Come on [#2], you're done for," went one of the cops.
"Where did you hide these last few years, I'm fucking curious. Seriously, DO YOU THINK YOU'VE GOTTEN RID OF ME!?" #2 snapped, but Di kept her stoic stare. "I got connections you can't even fathom. I'll make sure you, and everyone that snitched on me will die! Do you hear me [static]? Answer me! Everyone you love!"
"We said, come on!" the lead cop went. They ended up having to drag him out of the room, his feet dragging along as they forced him the rest of the way out. "You haven't heard that last of me, you two-bit whore! No one makes it out of [#2]'s family and lives to tell the tale! I'll get you, I'll get out of jail and destroy everything! You hear me!?"
[METAL DOOR SLAM]
With the door finally shut and #2 gone, she finally relaxed. [static] hugged her tight, wanting her to feel safe in the dim lighting. "You were real brave today, trust me," [static] said, patting her shoulder. "You are a real brave woman."
…
She was so glad Isuka couldn't read her mind. You however…yes you. She had to be very careful with you in there.
"Let's just say I loathed fallout beforehand," Di continued. "It was ingrained into me that external events would be at the cost of my hand, and I ended up escaping to your world out of fear. It's settled now, although I had to change up my look quite a bit," she said, removing one of her blue contacts and placing them back in. "I have many other looks to use, but I prefer this one. What do you think of it, lovely pet?"
"That…sounds painful from what you say," Isuka said.
"Staying on topic are we…" Di lamented. "Well, I did say sacrifices must be made for progress. I didn't know if I would be able to come back to myself after falling through the portal, but in the end, I came out of the forest reborn and reinvigorated. I feel as if I could take over the world once more, even! But…I'm content with this simple life for now."
"So the only way to progress fully…is head-on…" Isuka thought she had been doing that all along, but now she realized that she had still been dodging a part of her. She looked at her palm, seeing the dialogue just write itself. This time, it wouldn't be fear answering. It would be soul.
"I know what I must do now. I need to bury the hatchet into Druella," she said in her trademark serious tone.
"I think you confused 'into' with 'with' dear."
"I know what I said," Isuka told Di. Di wasn't completely on board with total murder, but she could not deny it was an interesting route. "Well if you are able to figure it out, I should remove something from your person so you won't be limited."
"What is that?" Isuka asked. Di motioned her here and poked her neck. As if she still had her Lilim sorcery. The pink collar appeared and dissipated into nothingness, leaving the control she had over Isuka kaput.
"But, that was magic usage just now!" Isuka said in disbelief.
"Once you conquer your demons, your spirit has much more room to blossom~" Di explained. "Even this human world, which you may see as barbaric and mana-deprived, has its own sources of magic. You just have to be open Isuka, and leave your eyes room to see."
She nodded, for once understanding Di completely. "Thank you, Master Di."
"No problem, Isuka," Di said happily. "Now, run along now, be careful not to hit any of the plants on your way out." Isuka nodded, amped up for her trek back to the car. She started maneuvering around, making her way back to the door. "I will try, master. After all, that's just a risk I have to take right?"
Epilogue
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Keal asked, seeing Isuka's clear concoction. Those were the worst, as you couldn't tell if you were about to drink water, alcohol, or liquid uranium.
"Definitely, I got a bit of help from a Lilim," Isuka said, poofing a book for her to read over her ingredients. "According to this, it's an incredibly precise mix, but it should be good enough to turn you back human."
"I can't believe you actually pulled it off," Ren said, patting Isuka on the back. "I'm proud of you Izzy, this is amazing!"
"Well, we aren't sure of that yet…" Keal said, popping the cork on the bottle. "So I can drink this normally?"
"As long as you finished it all," Isuka said. Keal nodded and took the biggest swig of her life, the clear mixture burning her throat as she drank it down. The Undine then put the bottle down and waited, tugging the collar on her shirt as she wanted for her skin to appear.
"Isuka, nothing is happening," Ren said.
"But, I'm sure I did everything right!" Isuka flipped through the rest of the pages, sighing as she read a line. "Oh, right. The user has to really wish to be human once more, to abandon all notions of remaining a monster girl. Only the will of that magnitude can activate the potion's true effects, and turn them back to normal."
"What a catch-22," Keal said. "Does this mean…"
"You don't want to turn back it seems," Isuka said.
"Sorry it didn't work out," Ren said, hugging Keal. Keal shrugged and hugged him back. "It's alright, being an Undine is a lot cooler anyways. Quite literally in fact."
"Well I'm not!" Isuka blurted out. "I've gotten over turning the town, but this is the least I can do to truly help move on! And this dumb line is preventing it!"
"Maybe it's just not meant to be," Keal said. "I'm sure there are people out there that would love your potion, but as for us we're pretty happy as we are now."
"Yeah Isuka, maybe you just need to find the right person to give it to," Ren continued on.
"I suppose you're right…" Isuka poofed the book away. "I don't suppose we could hug again, for old time's sake?"
"For old times' sake!" Ren and Keal said together, embracing Isuka as the three of them hugged each other and hung out for the rest of the evening. Isuka hugged back, although she looked at the vial which was back in her hand. What would happen if I drank it? Isuka thought to herself, although for now, she was fine for who she was as is.
