1 WEEK LATER:
Jessa was out in the gorg's garden shooting arrows from her spot in the Nirvana tree. Though there wasn't a particular target in sight, she continued to fire anyway.
"What are you shooting at?" Philo asked her.
"Whatever and whoever from the Shazzle Realm comes to mind," Jessa answered simply before releasing one of her arrows.
She watched it fly forward into oblivion, imagining killing the shazzles who tormented her for years. Jessa also imagined the sound effects of the arrow piercing through their flesh.
"Man, I hate to clean all those arrows up," Gunge commented before he and Philo shared a laugh.
"Funny you should say that," Jessa replied.
Before either of the boys could interject, Jessa's sword morphed back into its original form, and the long-fired arrows were summoned back.
"So that's how the Shazzles fought so efficiently in the war 3 centuries ago," Philo observed.
"Only one of them had this sword," Jessa corrected him. "The rest of them relied solely on their powers."
"Jessa, let me ask you this," Gunge began as Jessa jumped from the branch she was on and flew down to the ground. "If shazzles can bend elements, why do they need a magic sword?"
"The sword is a very sacred thing in shazzle culture." She answered while tucking her wings in behind her. "It's tradition for shazzles to compete for it. The sword symbolizes victory and a promising future."
"And the powers?" Philo asked.
"What about them?"
"Do all shazzles manipulate more than one element?"
"No. I'm what they call an All-Element Bender. Shazzles with those abilities only come once every 10 generations. How it got to me of all people, I don't know. But All-Element Bending shazzles are considered the most fearsome and respected. As far as normal shazzles go, they can only bend one element."
"Oooh, fascinating."
"Because I can control all 4 elements, the other shazzles didn't bother me too badly. But that still didn't erase the fact that I'm half fraggle."
"Can other shazzles fly, or does it have to do with your number of elements?"
"All shazzles can fly. It doesn't matter which element you were gifted at birth. The following shared powers are teleportation, invisibility, X-ray vision, telekinesis, super strength, telepathy, and mental guards."
Philo and Gunge were intrigued by the shazzle lore, and Jessa was more than happy to answer their questions. She had become friends with them and the Trash Heap over time, as they were the only people who accepted her for who she was. Marjorie was asleep in the ground, but Jessa was content with hanging out with just the boys.
"But All-Element Bending shazzles have at least one element that's dominant."
"What's your dominant element then?" Gunge asked her.
As if in answer, Jessa held out her hand. Philo and Gunge watched as her eyes turned red and fire spawned from her palm.
"My dominant element is fire."
Gunge and Philo watched in amazement before Jessa extinguished her flames, her eyes returning to normal.
"There's something else," Philo pointed out. "Why do your eyes turn red when you bend fire?"
"The colors coordinate with the element being used. Red for fire, yellow for air, green for earth, and blue for water."
"How do you know which shazzle controls what element?"
"The shazzles are distinguished into 4 groups: Inferno, Aquatic, Earthbound, and Gale. You can also tell them apart by the color of their eyes and wings."
"How so?"
"The Infernos have red irises and wings. The Aquatics are blue, Earthbound are green, and Gales are yellow."
"Is that why you're purple then?"
"No, that came from my dad's side."
Jessa was 50-50 with her parents. While she inherited Lenny's black hair, purple skin, and torso fur, she also inherited Morrigan's beauty and powers. Another fact Jessa had yet to mention was that while shazzles do have baloobiuses on their tails, they don't have any fur in their midsections, meaning that clothing was required and not optional. Fraggles had the freedom to roam around partially clothed or completely nude, though Jessa didn't consider this liberating at all. Even with her fur covering her private areas, she still preferred to have clothes on. She then thought about Boober, only to blush when imagining him without his fur. He would need more than just his hat and scarf to cover himself up! Jessa shook the mental image away before continuing.
"My eyes are silver because I have more than one element."
"But you said fire was your dominant element," Philo pointed out.
"It doesn't work like that with All-Element Benders."
Jessa glanced over at the rock to make sure Mokey or anyone else hadn't come out, which looked affirmative. She still had plenty of privacy. Jessa then spread her wings out but didn't fly.
"Don't let anyone in Fraggle Rock catch you with your wings out," Gunge warned her.
"Or you'll be busted," Philo added.
"There's nobody out here, guys. I just checked."
Jessa let her wings flare out before relaxing them.
"I bet they must be stiff from having to be kept hidden," Philo said to her.
"You guys have no idea."
Jessa was relieved to stretch out her wings after keeping them under wraps.
"What type of shazzle was your mother?" Philo asked her.
"She was an Aquatic shazzle."
Gunge and Philo hummed before Jessa continued.
"Shazzles are given elements depending on what time of year they were born."
"Oh?" Gunge pressed on.
"Mom was a Pisces, so she was gifted the element of water. Pisces is a water zodiac."
"Does this apply to All-Element Benders?"
"All-Element Benders are exempt from the astrology method of element giving. Instead, their elements are determined by whichever element is next on the rotation wheel."
"Rotation wheel?"
"It works like a Wiccan Wheel of the Year. Just like the sabbats, the dominant element comes in chronological order. The last All-Element Bender had Earth as their dominant power."
"How do you know, Jessa?" Philo asked skeptically. "They existed 300 years ago."
"Their legends carry on."
"Do the regular shazzles have abilities that separate them from the other groups?"
"Yes, they do," Jessa replied before making her wings vanish into thin air. "The Aquatic shazzles can serenade people via their siren voices. The Inferno shazzles can melt rocks into lava, the Earthbound shazzles can communicate with plants, and the Gale shazzles can possess the wind."
"And you can do all those things."
"Yeah, I'm a Jack-Of-All-Trades in that regard."
"Do the shazzles breed among other groups?"
"They can, but it's uncommon. It's more socially acceptable for Infernos to stick with their group, as well as Earthbound, Gale, and Aquatic."
"Does any of this stuff tie into Shazzle Bloodlust?" Philo asked her.
"Elements do play a role, but they have nothing to do with Bloodlust. That happens when a shazzle experiences trauma. Bloodlust can alter your physical appearance and make you perpetually angry."
"Woah."
"I got my first Bloodlust when my parents died, and I had talons, fangs, and tail spikes."
"How does Bloodlust stop? Is there a way to get rid of it?" Gunge asked, noting Jessa's lack of beast-like features.
"There is no cure for Shazzle Bloodlust. Unless you count murdering the instigators behind your trauma as such. Once you've killed them, only then will the Bloodlust disappear. You will also gain control of one of the characteristics."
"Lemme guess, you have the fangs."
Jessa let her talons grow out from behind her fingers to show them.
"You got the talons?"
"That's the only feature I have control over right now. To control the fangs or tail spikes, I have to have another Bloodlust."
"Shazzles can have more than one Bloodlust?"
"Oh yeah! There's no limit on that."
"Which Bloodlust feature comes first?" Gunge asked.
"It's randomized. Talons just happened to be the first thing for me."
Jessa then saw Mokey in the radish patch out of the corner of her eye as she turned to see what she was doing. The radish garden was quite a distance from where the Trash Heap was located, so Mokey couldn't hear their conversation. She had gotten comfortable in the grass so she could sketch a rather hearty-looking radish in her notebook.
"That concludes our talk for today," Jessa said to Philo and Gunge. "I'll catch you guys later."
"Bye, Jessa."
Jessa strolled closer to the radish patch to where Mokey was, curious about what she was doing.
"Might as well draw you before I pick you," Mokey said to the radish. "And before Boober cooks you."
"Communicating with the flora?"
Mokey flinched around to see Jessa standing to her right.
"Oh hi Jessa, I was just getting ready to draw this radish before I pick it."
Jessa glanced at the radish, wondering what made it stand out against the others until she inspected it further. It was bigger than the others, and its color was very vibrant.
"I wonder how much that sucker weighs," Jessa wondered.
"I don't know."
Mokey then remembered something.
"Oh, Boober asked me to tell you to meet him in his kitchen."
"For what?"
"He didn't say."
Jessa threw a perplexed glance but didn't object.
"Okay, I'll leave you to your drawing and go see what he needs."
Jessa began her way back to the rock while Mokey began sketching. The sounds of the other fraggles began audible the closer she got to the entrance and eventually became a cluster of chit-chat. Jessa walked through the Great Hall, passing by a gay couple giggling about nothing and 3 fraggles playing rock hockey. It had been almost 2 months since Jessa first stepped foot into Fraggle Rock, and it slowly became her home. She smiled while observing the fraggles doing their own thing. This place was, in fact, a paradise. Jessa noticed Red attempting to dive into the Fraggle Pond and chuckled. Red was concentrating on her pose when the sound of Jessa's voice startled her.
"Do 5 flips while you're cannonballing!"
"I can do more than 5," Red bragged. "I can do 20."
"Impossible."
"Oh yeah? Just watch me, Jessa."
Since Jessa was close to the pond, she got out her sword, and it morphed into an umbrella. Red jumped off the ledge and did a series of flips, the splash sending a few drops in Jessa's direction, whose umbrella flared out just in time.
"Did you count that?" Red asked after resurfacing.
"No, unfortunately. I was too busy keeping dry."
"Let me try that again, and maybe you can count it this time."
"Can't. I gotta meet Boober for something."
Jessa continued her way, leaving Red to grumble until Gobo offered to do it.
Boober was finishing up the last of his food to put inside a picnic basket while Wembley chatted with him.
"So you and Jessa are going to Sweet Water Lake?"
"Yep. She's going to love that place."
Boober had been giddy about his upcoming date since Jessa agreed to go, and he had been preparing snacks. Wembley noticed Boober's unusually chipper mood and asked what was going on.
"Yeah, she will," Wembley agreed.
"I can't wait until she tastes the water. It's so sweet, and it has a perfect flavor to it."
Boober put the last of the sandwiches in his picnic basket when he remembered something.
"Oh, by the way, have you seen my parasol?"
"No, I thought Red had it."
"What could she want with it?"
"I have a good idea."
Boober and Wembley turned to see Jessa standing in the archway.
"Using it as a parachute for her pool stunts."
"My only parasol, and that's what she's using it for?"
"Calm down, Boober," Jessa replied. "I've got one right here."
Boober glanced at Jessa's umbrella, which was crystal encrusted like her sword and had a beautiful star constellation design on it. Jessa sniffed the air and hummed.
"What's cooking, good looking?" She said to Boober flirtatiously.
Boober giggled and blushed, his tail wagging furiously.
"Radish stew," he answered sweetly. "And I made some sandwiches."
Jessa's tail wagged while she gazed at Boober. Wembley had enough sense to excuse himself and give them some privacy, leaving Boober and Jessa alone to flirt with each other.
"I'm glad you decided to come to Sweet Water Lake with me."
"It's kind of cute hearing you rave about it."
Boober didn't know how he was still functioning mentally with all this flirting, but he managed. Once everything was done, Boober loaded up his picnic basket and took Jessa's hand as they ventured off to Sweet Water Lake, the noisy chitter chatter of the Great Hall soon behind them.