Olly stopped. "Oh? You were one of the Bunchlings that came with Grape, right?"
He nodded. The other one was asleep on the chair.
"Do you want to help with something?"
"Yes, I wouldn't mind that. Should I wake up Timothy?"
Olly looked at him. "No, it's fine. Follow me."
Drew cautiously followed behind Olly as he led Drew to a separate building outside the castle. There was paper all over the floor, and a pile of crumpled up papers in the corner.
"What's going on in here?"
Olly rubbed the back of his head, messing up his hair. "Well, Peach asked us to design a float for the Halloween Night Parade. It's coming up really quick and we haven't even settled on a design yet. I could fold it in a manner of seconds, but it comes down to a look we can all agree on. I need a new, fresh opinion on it." He pulled out a paper. "Could you help? Grape's one for show, right? So you'd know how to make a great float right? Or is this all me assuming things?"
"The thing is...I'm actually the one they get to design everything. Madame Grape's stage, the plays, the blimp, everything."
"Oh! It seems like Fate was on our side!" Olly smiled. "So, what do you think? I know this might seem a bit different from what you made before, but I want a way to show off the pride of the Origami Kingdom." Olly tapped the paper. "And I'll be there, of course. I'm the king and the main face of the kingdom. I was also thinking of Olivia joining me, because my social anxiety would never let me be up there alone. I've only literally looked down on people once, and I never want to do it again. Of course...if that's too hard or something then I can ask someone else, but I really need the help."
"I can handle this. So, you're origami themed, right? Let's put this down so I can draw."
He went to the table and swept everything off. He slapped the paper onto the table and grabbed the pencil from the floor.
"Alright, banners. I love banners. They add a bit of flair to the design."
"Okay...Good so far. Remember, it needs to be simple enough for me to fold quickly. But so try to put some detail on it, please? I love a challenge."
"Easy peasy!"
They talked about the design for a while, but Olly started to get curious. How much information about herself did Grape share with her family?
"So...What do you know about Grape? Anything special about her Darkle?"
"Well, she doesn't remember this because I think Rex removed it rather than blocked it but..." He finished his line. "There we go! What do you think?"
"I think I can do that. And I like how you also included a...color key to it as well. Very helpful." Olly took the paper from him. "It's both the theme of Halloween and displays the pride of the Origami Kingdom. This is exactly what I was hoping for, thank you!"
"Madame Grape has always loved Halloween, but it's not because she's a witch. I mean, she does love the holiday but...Don't get upset about this, but she starts acting a little strange the day before Halloween. She keeps muttering things to herself, and her magic keeps acting against her will. She accidentally enchanted a necklace once. It kept trying to strangle the Sour Bunch. I think that might be why Rex stopped telling her about Halloween whenever he reset her memory. He might have gotten rid of all memory about Halloween since every time around that year, somebody always vanished."
Olly looked at his phone. "You said the day before? That's in about four days. Oh Grambi, I need to warn Olivia and Bobby. But there's no signal on Autumn Mountain! What if she starts acting unlike herself early this year? What will I do if Olivia gets hurt?! I-I...!"
Drew pat Olly's back. "I'm sure your sister is fine. She did do some damage on Darethend, remember? She can protect herself."
"You're right. It's just...last time I thought she could fend for herself...She died. And then I lost control of myself and almost lost a friend stopping Zeth. But she has full control over her Beast now, so maybe she'll do better next time? Yeah, she's fine."
"We have to wait until they get back. But for now, we can just trust the judgement that she's okay."
Olly took a deep breath. "Yeah, you're right. I've been more prone to breaking down in fear or anger since my Beast came. I wonder if he's connected to negative feelings...?"
"Beast?"
"It's...nothing. I need to go lay down, I have a headache. When they come back, could you tell Olivia about this...situation please? I would appreciate it."
He nodded. "Of course."
Olivia blinked. "Wh-what? That's scary! Why didn't you say anything sooner?"
"I wasn't really thinking about it until now. Sorry about that."
"She did enchant something," Bobby said as Olly came back out of his room. "It's a pumpkin. She named him Pettigrew, for some reason."
Olly had wings visible, and was dripping with blood. He trudged along the hall, ignoring the group, to the kitchen.
"Not again," Olivia said. "It doesn't look as bad as the rest of the times, but this still keeps happening."
"What's wrong with him?" Drew asked.
"It's his beast form. It comes as a negative side affect for awakening his ancient power. Or it is his ancient power. It's a little hard to tell. Olly can barely get any sleep because it's always keeping him awake at night."
He came back out, holding a cup of water. "Olivia...Did he tell you anything about Grape?" He sounded weak and in pain.
Olivia nodded. "I get why this happened now. You were worrying for me, huh?"
Olly nodded slightly. "We shouldn't have invited her over this month...I should have waited until next month..."
Drew looked down at Olly's goat legs, covered in shaggy purple fur. "What are you?"
"I don't even know...Just leave me alone. I need to make sure I can get some sleep before the parade..." He dragged himself back to his room and closed the door. There was the undeniable thud of him passing out in front of his door.
"Okay, he's asleep. Good." Olivia frowned. "But what do we do about Grape? Last time she was isolated, she lost her marbles."
"Did she? That sounds bad." Drew watched Pettigrew run past him. "Is that the pumpkin?"
Olivia and Bobby nodded.
Grape grabbed Pettigrew by the stem and showed him to Drew. "Look at what I did! Isn't he just the cutest?"
Pettigrew meowed happily.
Olivia scooched away from the pumpkin.
"Uh, it's lovely...Madame Grape," Drew lied.
"And he's unbreakable! That means I can introduce him to my pets with no issues!" She pressed Pettigrew against her mask. "I'm taking him back to the base! Have fun without me!"
"Wait, what about the trial?"
"Oh, right. Well, I'll just let him run around then." She put him on the floor.
He turned around to look up at her and meowed again. He kept meowing sadly until Grape picked him back up. He smiled and purred softly. She pet him.
"But then again, he does seem to like me a lot. I think I'll just hold him."
"Oh my Grambi, what is that?!" Hole Punch pointed at Pettigrew.
"He's my new pet! Say hi to Pettigrew! Come on, isn't he cute?" She held him up to Hole Punch's face.
Hole Punch flinched back a bit. "Uh...That's too creepy for me, bye!" He ran away from her.
"Creepy? But he's cute."
Drew shook it off. "Princess Olivia, we finished the design for the float. Olly's going to fold it tomorrow, if he feels better."
"Oh, that's great! Olly and I couldn't agree on anything! And when we did, Dimentio or Rudiger had a problem with it."
"Here, I'll show you what we have." He lead her away.
Bobby walked to Grape. "I think he's cute. It's just a little...weird, is all."
"Oh, thank you." She pet Pettigrew again. "Do you...think I'm dangerous?"
"Yeah, but not in a bad way. You could be either a dangerous enemy or a helpful ally. The choice is all yours."
"Do you think I'm creepy?"
He choked on his breath for a second. "I hate to say it, but from what I've heard...You are a bit creepy. A Puppetmaster, as Dimentio called it, seems kind of scary to me."
"I see...Do you think I'm a real witch? Be honest with me."
Bobby hesitated. "I can tell you try, but I don't think you are. You seem more like a magician or a theater-themed jester. But not an actual witch."
"You think I'm a theater-themed...joculatrix?"
"Huh?"
"That's...the name for a female jester. A joculatrix."
"Never heard of it."
"Do you think that I don't belong here?"
"Of course not. Olly accepts all kinds of people, no matter their background. And with the weird variety already here, you'll fit right in."
"I like that."
"Were you thinking about actually joining the kingdom?"
"I don't know. I feel as if I don't belong anywhere, not even my home dimension. Dimentio fits with you all just fine, but me? I feel like an unneeded side character that's killed off in act one before they even got a chance to speak."
"I'm sorry you feel that way. The thing is, I felt like that back in the Bob-om Brigade. I was the only one who really didn't like to work for Bowser. I found a couple of Bob-oms who weren't big fans of him either, and we went on a cruise together. But then I lost my fuse and we stopped Olly and all of that. But anyway, my point is, is that I didn't really feel like I fit in-even with my friends-until I came here. Olly can make your home actually feel like home. There's even a spot reserved for a lava pond so Glue's little Fire Bubble friends have a place to live. If you're scared, Olly can make your home look just like you picture to help you feel more at home."
"You're surprisingly nice for not knowing me well."
"Any friend of Olivia's is a friend of mine."
Grape smiled a bit. "Bobby, I've felt strange all day. It was only after I brought this little guy to life. Is there something wrong with me? Am I loosing my magic?"
Bobby thought about what Drew had said about her magic and Halloween. "No, you're fine. I'm sure you'll feel better soon. But anyways, I gotta go. I need to help Big M with something!" He hurried out the castle.
"...Goodbye."