The Secret of Immortality
"Well, this date of ours took a wild turn, didn't it?" said the pink-haired thief, walking with her lover, Tavish, down the cobblestone road. Tavish was walking Hilda back home after the dark legion attacked at Dreamland docks.
"I'm so sorry, Hilda," said Tavish, frowning slightly.
Hilda turned to the prince and smiled. "There's nothing to be sorry about. It was exciting! Although It sucks, I didn't get to join in the fighting. You could've let me get in at least one swing."
"I didn't want you to be in danger! Something could've happened to you!"
Hilda stops walking, turns her body entirely to Tavish, and crosses her arms. "What? You don't think I can handle myself?" She raised a brow at her boyfriend.
"Oh, come on, that's not what I'm saying. I'm just being…you know…I'm watching out for you. That's what boyfriends do. Right?"
Hilda snorts. "Watching out for me? Even though I'm the one who was fighting your battles for you when we were kids?"
Tavish looked confused. "What do you mean you were fighting my fights for me? That's not true!"
"Remember getting chased by big boy Ollie?"
"You and I remember that whole situation differently,"
Hilda giggled. She grips the font color of Tavish's top and pulls Tavish closer to her. "Maybe, but who cares, really," The thief kissed Tavish on the lips. Tavish smiled, wrapped his arms around Hilda, and deepened the kiss, causing Hilda's back to press into the building.
"TAVISH! QUIT LOCKING LIPS ON MY BLOCK!" Bunty shouted from her window.
The two lovers quickly broke the kiss and looked up at Bunty. They blushed and waved at Bunty as they hurried off. Finally, Tavish had brought Hilda back to her home.
"Well, here we are. I had a great time, Tavish," said Hilda, beaming at her lover.
"I did, too. And, if you still want to, when I'm free again, we can have that picnic you told me about," said Tavish, rubbing Hilda's cheek.
Her eyes gleamed as she stared into Tavish's crystal blue eyes. "I'd love that Tavish…" She sighed at the thought of them surrounded by nature and enjoying a nice meal. "How about sometime next weekend?" She playfully twirled the bangs of his snowy white hair between her fingers.
Tavish grasped Hilda's hand softly as she played with his hair. His loving smile and expression would slowly fade when a thought came to him. Next week, he had to meet with his other 'Lover' Princess Annabel. He also hadn't come up with an idea to 'deal' with her. These thoughts had drowned when he thought about the Skyland princess.
Hilda noticed this mood change and placed her hand on his cheek. "What's wrong?" She whispered.
Tavish frowned at her lover. "Oh, I—It's just that I have some business i need to attend next weekend. And…I do have a bunch of work I have to do all next week, too."
"Oh, right. Your royal duties," Hilda looked away from Tavish. "Um, Tav, there's something I've been wanting to talk to you about—" But before she could even finish her sentence, Tavish cut in and asked,
"Hilda, why not move into the castle with me?" The prince placed his hands around Hilda's.
Hilda's eyes widened. "W-What?" She stuttered, staring at her lover in bewilderment.
"It would be perfect! We can see each other all the time! And…well…I will be inheriting the throne one day, so it would make sense if—" But before Tavish could finish, Hilda cut him off and took a step back.
"Whoa, hold on, Tavish, you want me to become a queen?" Hilda chuckled at the thought. Her chuckling wasn't of excitement but of complete shock and nervousness.
"Well…yeah! It would be easier for us, so why not? I mean…I do want to marry you so—"
Hilda didn't feel any butterflies in her stomach, nor did her face become flushed. She was shocked and confused at the sudden pop of the question. "Tavish…we just started dating…"
"But we've known each other since we were kids,"
"I know, Tavish, but—just asking me to move into the castle and…and…" Hilda sighed and rubbed her head. "Look…let's just please take this slow. At least give me time to think about all of this..." She looked into his eyes with a pleading expression.
"I…alright," Tavish stared back into hers, a bit confused.
Hilda kissed Tavish on the cheek. "I love you," She rubbed his cheek, stepped into her home, and closed the door quickly.
"I love you too, Hilda…" He said as he turned around and walked back home, his head hung low.
"Interesting…VERY interesting," said Oscar, staring into the vile of Elfo's blood.
"What do you see?" Sorcerio asked.
"Red," Oscar replied, nodding. "I see a lot of red."
"Well…it is blood, Professor Oscar,"
"Exactly,"
"Wow, that was a very intriguing input," said Luci sarcastically.
"It's my blood!" said Elfo proudly, kicking his feet while sitting on the stool.
"I had to mop up a lot of that blood, too," said Miri. "At least it didn't smell irony."
Oscar, Sorcerio, Odval, Miri, Luci, and Elfo were all in the astronomy tower. Sorcerio had been explaining all the research he had been putting into the Elfo's blood, but nothing had worked.
"Have you tried adding vinegar?" Oscar asked.
Sorcerio gasped. "No…I haven't actually,"
Odval looked at the two. "Would that work? Or are you just playing with us?" He asked, giving Oscar a skeptical look.
"No, it's a serious question. When mixing potions or coming up with a specific antidote, using ordinary herbs or uncanny ingredients can help a lot!"
"It's true," said Sorcerio, nodding.
"It's how magic was born, after all. Being able to control the elements has its convenient uses. For example, the levitation spell was made to retrieve a beverage far from you. Or, like the wind spell, used to cool you down on hot summer days!"
"So…mages created magic out of laziness?" said Odval.
"Precisely," Oscar nods.
"And filthy humans decided to go and steal our fire," said Luci bitterly. "Or, at least, that's what I heard growing up."
"Silly kitty, animals can't wield fire," said Sorcerio.
"Wait a moment," Oscar looks at Sorcerio. "I don't believe I asked, but what exactly are you trying to make with this poor precious elf's blood?"
"Oh, right, I forgot to tell you. I've been trying to create the elixir of life!"
Oscar dropped the vile of Elfo's blood. "You're trying to do WHAT?"
Miri sighed. "Thanks a lot, asshat," She grabs the mop and walks over to the puddle.
"For what purpose would you want something like that?" Oscar asked
"It's my task for the king!" Sorcerio replied proudly.
"And I hope he gets it done soon. I'm tired of having my luscious green skin color drained," said Elfo, rubbing his arm.
"Oh, you poor thing," Oscar frowned at Elfo. He turned back to Sorcerio. "Well, I know you're not too far off from your goal. Elf magic is one of the most potent sources of magic. It can work if combined with the power of the eternity shard."
Odval and Sorcerio looked at each other and back at Oscar. "The Eternity Shard?" He asked. "What's the eternity shard?"
"Well, you see—" But before Oscar could answer, everyone in the room turned towards the door once they heard shouting voices echoing against the stone wall. King Zog's and Princess Tiabeanie's voices were getting closer and closer to the astronomy tower door. Then, Zog burst open the door, looking furious and annoyed, and in walked Koga, carrying Bean on his back, shouting at her father in a drunken daze.
"Beanie, can't this shouting wait till daddies done working? I'm very busy!" Zog pleaded.
"Oh, you're sooo *HIC* busssssy!" said Bean, slightly swaying left and right while her eyelids were half open. "Let me guess? You've been off having fun with your new family, huh? How's that been working out for you?!"
"New? I've been remarried for years!"
"And I've become *HIC* less important to you since then! You barely noticed when I traded places with that pauper for *HIC* a year!"
Koga stood there looking VERY annoyed. "Hey, drunk princess, can you argue with your loud and round father without me carrying you?"
"Nooooo, my legs are mushy!" Bean whined. She clenched her arms around Koga's neck, holding onto him tightly and causing him to gag a bit.
Zog rubs his face and shakes his head. His tired gaze fell upon Oscar. "Who the hell is this?" The king asked aggressively.
Before Oscar would reply, Odval stepped forward. "This is a grand wizard, Oscar, my liege. He is Sorcerio's old teacher from the mage's academy who knows the secret of the elixir of life! And apparently, it has something to do with a shard,"
"Wait, what?" He placed his eyes on the grand wizard. "Alright, grand wizard, whatever the hell you are. I need you to tell me everything that you know. I'll pay you handsomely—eventually—do you take an IOU?"
Oscar shook his head. "No need for payment, King Zog. It's a pleasure to meet you. So I must ask out of curiosity: For what purpose would you want immortality? It's a curse! One of my closest friends is immortal, and he can tell you…the repetition…the monotony…the repetition—did I mention the monotony?"
"That's none of your business what I'm going to do with it. I have my reasons," said Zog, irritated at the question. "Now hurry up and spill what you know."
Bean glared at her father. "Dad, you can't make somebody—" But Oscar raised his hand to stop her.
"It's alright. Even if I do tell you what I know, it wouldn't matter. The shard's location is unknown because it belonged to a dragon," said Oscar.
Zog let out a grumbling "Wait, what?"
"A dragon? But dragons are said to be extinct!" said Odval.
"Yes, that's why I said it wouldn't matter. You see, I have spent many years of my life studying dragons, and from what I know, these dragons were essential to many magic resources of our world. Thanks to them, we scholars can advance our magic," Oscar sounded ashamed to admit it. "One of the most viable uses of dragon magic was their scales. I discovered that the dragon of immortality had scales that could give anyone an incredible healing factor and even curse illnesses. And he lived for thousands of years. But, as this man said, dragons are extinct due to being hunted and exterminated in the war." Of course, he was lying, and Bean, Elfo, Luci, and Koga knew it. But they weren't going to say a word.
Zog stood there, silently snoring. He had fallen asleep during Oscar's exposition. Odval nudged the king, and he woke up with a snort. "Wazat, what?" He looked around. "What did I miss?"
"The key of immortality is impossible, it seems, my lord. The key that we need no longer exists, so it seems," said Sorcerio.
"WHAT?" Zog barked. "You gotta be kidding me! We wasted all this time just for it not to exist anymore?!"
"It is what it is," said Koga. "Well, if you don't mind, I gotta drop this drunk princess off and get some sleep. I work hard, you know. Come on, Elfo!"
Elfo and Luci hop down from where they sit and head for the door. As Koga turned around, he met Mertz and Turbish face-to-face. "Hey Koga! Look what we found!" Mertz held up the key to the dragon realm in his hand. "You gotta keep your stuff hidden better, captain!"
Koga's eyes widen, and he drops Bean. "Why do you have that?!" He shouts.
"Give us some of your food and stop punching us then maybe—OOF!" Mertz let out a loud groan after Koga swiftly punched Mertz in the gut, causing the dragon key to fly out of his hand, land on the ground, and slide over to Odval's feet.
"Oh no…" Oscar whispered.
Odval kneels down picks up the dragon key, and expects it. "This is dragon scale…" He ran his fingers through it.
"It's shaped like a key…" said Sorcerio, staring at it. He looks over at Koga. "Where did you find this?"
"That's none of your business," said Koga, sternly.
"The hell it's not!" said Zog, glaring at Koga. "We're over here talking about dragons, and suddenly you have some weird-looking dragon key?" He turns to Oscar. "Somebody here ain't been telling the truth!" He takes the dragon key from Odval's hands and holds it to Oscar's face. "You're a dragon philosopher, right? What the hell is this thing?"
"I…well…you see," Oscar began to sweat. "It's…I don't know. I've never—"
The wanderer snatches the dragon key out of Zog's hand. "I told you…this is mine," He narrowed his eyes at Zog.
Zog snaps his eyes onto Koga. "Hand that over right now!" He shouted at Koga.
"No," said Koga.
"I SAID HAND IT OVER NOW!"
"Or what? You're going to behead me? I doubt you'd have the guts even to try," Koga smirked at Zog.
"Oh boy…" said Elfo, shaking slightly.
"Oh, this is getting good," said Luci.
"You undisciplined little punk! I'm so damn tired of you! All you've done is make me look like a fool more than my own family has! I'm not going to tolerate it anymore! GUARDS!"
Turbish and Mertz looked at each other. "GUARDS!" Mertz called out down the hall.
"THAT MEANS YOU IDIOTS TOO!" Zog bellowed.
Pendergast, Stryker, bolt, and other knights entered the room. They stood there confused as they felt the tension in the room as soon as they stepped in.
"Dad, what is your deal? Chill out!" Bean pleaded.
"Stay out of this, Bean! You're done protecting him!" Zog shouted.
"She's the one who's been protecting you, old man," Koga glared at Zog.
Zog's face grew red with anger as he stared down Koga. "You have been a pain in my ass since the day you walked into this castle! Now you're standing in my way of getting immortality?!"
"You're the one who wanted to hire me. You only have yourself to blame for that,"
"Guards! ARREST KOGA!" Zog demanded.
Pendergast eyes widened as he heard these orders.
As of now, Koga was no longer a knight of Dreamland.