Chapter 20: The Smallest Problems
Zodie and Wendy are currently riding in a carriage being steered by Keanu heading towards the town to pick up a cooking ingredient and other groceries for Lupita. Zodie being a lover for food wanted to be the first to try Lupitas soup with her star ingredient and Wendy didn't want to be left out so she tagged along and Carla decided to stay behind because she was uninterested.
"What's so special about this ingredient Lupita want's"? Wendy asked
"I heard it's a kind of sauce that can make the grossest food taste good just a few drops and boom you gotta a meal of delight, it's like magic" Keanu answered in delight.
"Anything"? Zodie asked.
"Yep" replied Keanu
"So like Green Bean casserole"
"Yep"
"Peanut-butter and Salmon Omelette"
"Uh yeah"
"Squid Burger with applesauce"
"Yes"
" Liverwurst head cheese casserole"
"Yeah Zodie anything"
"What about pickle plu-".
Zodie got cut off from Wendy covering his mouth with her hand
"No way never pickle plums I wouldn't eat them even if they were sweet" the sky dragon slayer said just the mention of them makes her lips pucker.
"Not to worry kiddo with Lupitas soup and this sauce it'll be like you've died and gone to heaven" Keanu jokes.
"Flavor heaven here I come" Zodie said, making Wendy giggle.
After a couple of minutes they made it to the town and pulled the carriage up to a curb next to the shop. Keanu handed the kids the money they needed for the purchase.
"I'll be waiting here"
The duo made their way through the door inside the interior was brightly lit with a few other shoppers browsing around the store, they were greeted by an elderly woman with grey hair glasses and the kindest smile that can change the demeanor of even the cruelest individual.
"Hello there young ones". The elderly woman said.
"Hello mam were to pick up for Lupita" Zodie spoke handing her the list.
The woman looked it over
"Oh why yes it's ready pat could you get the order for them" she called out
A stocky young man came out the back room with a basket of supplies and set them on the counter.
"There you kids go that'll be fifteen jewel"
Zodie dug in his pocket and handed the woman the money
"You two have a nice day" she told them as the duo turned and walked out the door with Zodie holding the basket.
Zodie dug into the basket to check if all the items they needed were in there he then pulled out the sauce Lupita wanted, it was red inside of a clear bottle with a black cap.
"So this special sauce looks good," Wendy said.
"Can't wait to try it Zodie replied"
As they walked out Zodie accidentally bumped into someone holding a similar bottle but with a white cap making him drop the basket and all the groceries.
The person he bumped into was a woman with shades, had her hair tied into a bandanna and wore a trench coat she herself was holding a bottle and it was knocked out of her hands.
"Were so sorry" Zodie said as he handed the bottle to the woman
"Why thank you children" The woman said as she frantically walked away.
When she was gone Zodie went and helped Wendy pick up the items
"Well she was in a hurry" Wendy said
"Don't think too much of it let's go find Keanu I'm dying to try this new sauce" Zodie said with that they made it back to Keanu and the three rode back to the guild.
Random place
The same woman from before walked over to a park bench and inspected the bottle she had after insoecting it for a couple seconds she realized something was off this wasn't the bottle she had originally had.
"How did I" until she had a major realization "Wait that young man who bumped into me also had a similar bottle, we must've gotten them mixed up"
She looked around and saw the children leaving in a carriage.
"I have to get to them before it's too late" she said.
Cait Shelter
After making it back to the guild Lupita got started with prepping the soup for tonight's dinner she cut up some veggies like carrots and peppers along with some lamb bits for the protein. She had just got done with filling a massively large pot of water. It would take a while for it to get warm so she closed the lid and walked out the guild's kitchen leaving it empty. Or so it was thought turns out Zodie was sitting up on the ceiling pillars watching Lupita getting the soup ready and decided to stick around. All he wanted was to try that special sauce he picked up and he couldn't wait till dinner. He sprouted his wings and descended to the ground landing on his feet. He made his way over to the counter where the sauce was sitting and picked up the bottle.
"Oh man taste heaven here I come" he said as he was in the verge of pouring a drop in his mouth"
"What're you doing" a voice said behind Zodie, scaring the boy almost making him drop the bottle, he looked behind himself to see Wendy standing there with a neutral look on her face.
The phoenix slayer hid the bottle behind his back.
"Oh Wendy I was just uh… looking for… a snack" Zodie lied with a grin on his face
"More like you were snacking on the sauce we picked up" Wendy replied
Zodie had quite the act and revealed the bottle behind his back
"You got me I just can't wait I really want to taste it so bad please dont tell Lupita or she'll send me to bed without suffer again"
"I'm not going to tattle because i'm here the same reason your here"
Zodie looked up surprised
"I admit I couldn't wait either. I really want to know how it tastes too so hurry and open it up before Lupita comes back" Wendy admitted.
Zodie smiled, he took the cap off and lowered the bottle over his mouth to waterfall the sauce, a drop was nearing his tongue but then the duo heard an oncoming voice heading in their direction it was Lupita coming to check on the pot of water. This was enough to spook the boy, making him toss the sauce up through the bottle and splashing it on him and Wendy making a mess on the floor. Lupita was getting closer and they didn't have time to wipe the sauce off themselves, Zodie set the bottle down and the kids hopped through a window to escape making a clean getaway. Lupita arrived and noticed the mess on the floor and went over to clean it up with a napkin.
With Zodie and Wendy
The kids ran into the woods to hide and lay low a bit. They couldn't be seen like this in the guild otherwise everyone else would know what they were up to. After they felt like they were far enough the kids stopped in an area near a river, Wendy had her hands on her knees trying to catch her breath from all the running.
"That was a close one" Zodie said
"You know you could've just flew us out of there instead of us running" Wendy pointed out
"Yeah but if I did that Lupita would've said and questioned what we were up to" Zodie countered.
"Okay fair point"
"Any way let's get this stuff off us and head back"
They approached the river to wash it off but before they could touch the water they started to get a strange feeling in their bodies, like they were getting smaller.
"Wow that felt weird" Zodie called out
"Something doesn't feel right Zodie" Wendy said worriedly
"What do ya mean"?
"Look that tree got bigger and so did that rock"
Zodie took a real good look and began to look all around the area. Everything was different not in sight but in size.
"Uhh Wendy that tree didn't get bigger we got smaller" the phoenix slayer said
He was right
"The liquid in the bottle wasn't sauce at all it must've been a shrinking potion" Wendy said
"No problem i'll just fly us back to the guild"
Just when Zodie was about to sprout his wings the duo heard something coming in their direction.
"Somethings coming" Wendy said Zodie took a fighting stance awaiting for whatever was coming.
Out from the tall grass was a praying mantis it was red with purple eyes once the insect spotted them it let out a sharp screeching sound at them and charged at them. Zodie was ready for a fight; he stepped in it's way and prepared an attack.
"Dark Phoenix scree"…. The boy had said half way but nothing happened
"What's going on, why didn't my spell work?" he asked the mantis swung it's scythe at Zodie but he quickly dodged out the way. He and Wendy soon took off running with the mantis following after them.
"Zodie what happened why didn't your spell activate"? Wendy asked
"Looks like that potion has another effect besides shrinking us. We can't use our magic". He asked.
Wendy attempted to cast a spell as well but it was no use Zodie was right they were magicless like this.
After running and evading the mantis's swipes they were cornered at a dead end with the mantis closing in on them the duo stood together defenseless with no escape or any real way of defending themselves. Wendy hid behind Zodie out of fear while the boy stood his ground best he could despite the feeling of anxiety going through his body.
"Not good not good" Zodie muttered
Right before the mantis could swipe a sharp spear was tossed right in front of it, making the insect stop it's attack. Zodie looked in the direction of where the spear came from behind he saw a man covered in animal fur with a cloak covering his head.
"Take cover" he shouted and threw what appeared to be a smoke bomb causing the mantis to become stunned giving him the opportunity to grab Zodie and run out of there with Wendy following.
Cait Shelter kitchen
Lupita was finishing up the soup after stirring it up togehter and seasoning it a bit. It was time for the special sauce. She reached for the bottle unscrewed the top and was about to pour a couple of drops inside.
"LUPITA DON'T" shouted Keanu as he ran into the kitchen making her almost drop the bottle.
"What is it"? She asked
Keanu wasn't alone; he was with Roubal and the very same women who bumped into Zodie back in the town.
"Did you use any of that stuff already"? the woman asked
"No I didn't wh… who are you"? Lupita asked
"Lupita this is Hope a potion making extraordinaire"
"I believe there was a mix up at the store. What you have right there is a shrinking potion, I ended up with your special sauce" Lupita said as she handed over the sauce.
"I see what's going on" Lupita asked
"I'm afraid Zodie may have been exposed to the potion. Keanu told me how interested he was in the sauce you ordered he might try to get into it" Hope explained.
Lupita hadn't even taken that into consideration; she then put two and two together that mess on the floor must've been from Zodie's doing.
"Do you know where Zodie is now"? Lupita asked
"No we were hoping he'd be here" Keanu said
"And we think Wendy may have been with him," Roubal said.
"They must've run off into the forest" a familiar voice from behind it was Carla who overheard the conversation and stopped by.
"I saw them running off with some liquid on their body. I assume it's this shrink potion you made"?
"Yes if that's the case we need to find them fast," Hope said.
"They could be shrunken, how will we find them"? Keanu asked
Hope reached into her pocket and took out a green lacrima.
"This special lacrima can be used to track things that have been doused in certain potions, made it myself" Hope explained.
"No time to lose we have to find them" Keanu said as he ran out the kitchen with Lupita and Hope running after him".
Somewhere in the woods
Back with the kids and the stranger he took them to his hideout in a large bush he had made look like a survival shelter with weapons; sticks that he made into spears and bug parts for armor.
"Wow this place is cool" Zodie said
"Thanks for saving us, who are you?" Wendy asked
"My name is Scott and your welcome Zodie and Wendy" he spoke
"How do you know our names" Zodie asked
" I am seeing you too around the words when you're shrunken like me you go unnoticed" Scott told them.
"How'd you get so small"? Zodie asked
"It all happened a week ago".
Flashback
"I'm a potion maker extraordinaire my wife and I provided unique types of potions to help folks"
Scott is in his lab making a whole new potion and testing its effects on a dead flower causing it to bloom again.
"Things we're looking great until one day we were getting shaken down by thugs. They demanded we make them a potion to help them with stealing. We refused so they stripped us clean of our potions and the. Left us to burn is side our store"
Scott and his wife were tied down to chairs inside of their burning shop; he manages to get free and unties his wife.
"What do we do?, We don't have any more potions to escape" she said
"They didn't get all of them" Scott said he reached into his pocket and took out a small bottle from his pocket.
She recognized the the bottle but had a look of shock on her face
"But that's the one not fully tested and it…"
"This is an emergency" Scott told her
He threw some on her and then himself next thing they knew they were shrunken it worked Scott spotted a nook for the, to go through to escape. He grabbed his wife's arm and pulled her as they made their way out. They finally reached the exit and were now outside the couple Could only watch with dismay as their shop burned down.
"This is awful" Scott's wife said
"Don't worry We set this place up before we can do it again" he reassured her
" but first in order to think that we need to go back to normal size luckily I created this anti-shrinking potion to turn us back"
Scott dumped someone, his wife and her normal size. But right before Scott could use it a bird flew over, swept him up and flew off with him making him drop the bottle. His wife could only watch with horror as her husband was taken from her.
End of flashback
"The anti-potion was destroyed and without it I'm stuck like this like this and I've been surviving ever since"
"Oh that's so sad" .Wendy said
" So you lost the only anti-shrink potion, is there a way to make more of it" Zodie asked?
"I can actually in fact I've gathered most of them sliced caterpillars, leech juice, and wormwood
only problem is I don't have the right tools or a lab to make the antidote, i've been trying to get back to my lab for days but it's proven to be difficult" Scott explained
"Maybe someone from our guild can help once they've noticed that we're gone. They'll search for us through tooth and nail to find us". Wendy told him.
"Only question how long will that be"? Zodie asked
With the others
Keanu Lupita as well as Hope trudged through the forest searching for their allies though it felt like an eternity they were walking in circles getting lost every now and then. Not to mention so many bugs were pecking at them irritating the hell out of them.
"Oh we've been at this forever and still haven't found the children Lupita said
"We can't give up we'll find them I know it" Keanu reassured her
Hope was in her own world muttering to herself while she was tracking down the children with a look of stress on her face.
"They have to be here somewhere" she said to herself
With the kids
"I suggest we set out and look for them maybe we'll run into them" Zodie suggested
"I agree I can't just wait around if there was only a way for us to do that" Wendy added
"Luckily for you there is I have an idea" Scott said
He grabbed some rope nearby and went to the ledge of entrance of the tree and looked down he spotted a flock of birds passing by.
"Bingo" he said
Scott then leaped off the ledge and dived down towards the birds and landed on one back, he wrapped a rope around its beak like the reins on a horse, the bird struggled and tried to buck the shrunken man off but Scott held on tight and remained where he was till the bird gave up. Zodie and Wendy could only watch with amazement, Scott soon brought the bird up back to the top and had the kids get on with him.
"Alright guys let's move" he said
They were off the trio flew through the forest at average speed for Wendy it was nothing new since she had Carla to fly her but for Zodie it was nostalgic, it reminded him of when his adopted mother Yubel gave him rides on her back. The thought of it was enough to bring a sad face to the boy's face; it didn't go unnoticed though Wendy caught onto her friend's look.
"Zodie, what's wrong?" she asked.
"Oh it's nothing i'm fine". he said
"Alright so how do we find them". Scott asked
"Lucky for us Wendy here has a great sense of smell. She'll be able to sniff our friends out" Zodie said.
"I got this i'll let you know when I get their scent were close" she said
With that said Scott gained more speed and headed in the direction.
Back with the adults
The group started back on the trail trying to find the kids but where this time met at a dead end and to make matters worse Hopes lacrima ran out of energy so now there was really no hope in finding them.
"No luck we've been at this all day and no sign of them" Lupita said with worry
Carla was pacing in the air back and forth with her paw on her chin pondering to herself the situation was getting serious and the children could possibly be in danger. All was interrupted by the sound of wing flaps of an oncoming bird Carla looked up and saw a bird but the feather creature had occupants in it's back occupants that she recognized.
"Up there look" she said the three adults looked up and spotted a bird and could see three small people narrowly.
"There they are down there" Wendy called out as the bird the three were riding was descending down towards the group of people.
The bird landed on a log and the trio got off with the others running over to them Lupita and Keanu couldn't believe their eyes were the kids were indeed shrunk.
"Oh my goodness kids" Lupita cried out
"You alright"? Keanu asked
"Yeah we're all good no worries at all" Wendy said
"Except being chased by a mantis" Zodie added in
"Who's your friend"? Lupita asked noticing the small man
"This is scott he helped us out" Zodie answered
After hearing that name a shot of familiarity ran through Hopes body she ran over to the group and spotted an all too familiar face.
"Oh my god Scott is that you"? Hope asked
"H-Hope" it's you I can't believe it.
Hope scooped her husband up with her hands.
"This is where you've been all this time i've missed you so much" She said
"Scott is this woman, your wife, she's the same one Zodie and I bumped into at the market," Wendy spoke she could tell due to her dragon nose.
"Yes this is Hope my wife I haven't seen in weeks" Scott answered
"What were you guys doing"? Keanu asked.
"Looking for ingredients for the antidote". Zodie answered.
"There's no need I have the antedote right here". Hope said, pulling the vile out of the bag "How about we get off here and turn you three back".
With that the group heads back and the the four are turned back to normal, Hope and Scott embrace each other after being away from one another for so long.
"Man it's good to be back to normal size". Scott admitted.
"You said it Scott also Lupita i'm sorry for stealing the potion and making you guys worry". Zodie spoke,
"Don't worry about sweetie, I'm just you kids are safe, now then since the soup is ready you two would like to stay".
"That'd be swell" Hope replied.
Everyone enjoyed Lupita's delicate creation after everyone's tummies were full; it was time for the couple to head back.
"Thank you for the food. You have no idea how much I've missed real food". Scott admitted.
"As for you two thanks for finding my Scotty". Hope thanked the kids.
"No problem thanks for turning us back". Wendy told them.
"So what're guys gonna do now"? Wendy asked.
"We are going to catch up and get our shop back and if those thugs show up again we'll be ready". Hope told them.
"Good luck with it, take care now". Keanu said.
The couple take each other by the hand and are off to start their life up again.
Done hey guys man sorry it's been so long since Halloween it has. Man twenty nine reviews i'm doing great keep up with the comments and come check out my newest story called Mighty Morphin Disney Rangers.
