Chapter Text
“I’ve seen enough, what about you?”
“Come on, Basil!”
Kel yapped at the blonde as he ran in the front, Basil struggling to keep after him while still riding “Duchess”, as he called her. The castle was in sight, the roses thinning in turn as the road became more visible. Aubrey smirked a bit, admiring the color.
“You know, I prefer this to the yellow brick road.” She stated, enjoying the fact that Berly was willingly carrying her.
“You’re not as heavy as I thought you’d be.” The lizard girl teased as Aubrey gave her a playful smack.
“Shut up.”
“Can you two stop flirting and help me out here?”
Kel sniffed the ground, yapping a little.
“I think I found a scent! But it’s kinda…You know…Weird.” He admitted, shaking his head as Hero walked around, putting a hand to his chin.
“Like some big insect, or?” He questioned as Kel found himself surprised.
“How did you catch onto that?” He was only able to question as Mari gave a nod, putting a hand on Hero’s shoulder.
“I guess he knows this place well.” She teased a little as she winked at Hero, who gave a shy chuckle.
“Yeah, you could say that.” He spoke, not even noticing that Kite Kid was clinging onto Spaceboy, wrapping his arms around his shoulders as he held his kite. Spaceboy didn’t seem to mind as he turned to the party, beaming towards Hero.
“I admire your skill!” He announced, as Hero rolled his eyes with a smile.
“I don’t need all the compliments, you guys.” He humbly spoke, kicking his foot a bit as Berly made a sudden dash.
“Come on, let’s get-” She began before Aubrey grabbed her tail, shaking her head in the process.
“We can’t just run in, you know.” She scolded Berly, who let out a few small ‘ows’ at the gesture as Aubrey adjusted the charm bracelet on her arm. “We’ve got to think this through.”
“She’s right.” Kite Kid spoke up, still clinging on to the alien, who surprisingly did not lose his balance. “King Crawler isn’t some kind of bug. He thinks like us. Only more ravenously.”
A silence was exchanged among the crowd before Kite Kid bit his tongue, changing his wording.
“Much, much more ravenously.”
Kite Kid jumped down, kite in hand as Spaceboy gave him a pat on the shoulder and grin. He turned towards the crowd as his expression grew more serious.
“He’s not wrong there, that ‘pet’ of Sweetheart’s is nothing but bad news.” Spaceboy admitted, resting his arm on a tree. “And it can’t be killed in any of the usual ways, so no one’s tried.”
“Any of the usual ways?” Mari repeated, Spaceboy nodding in return.
“She placed several smaller enchantment spells on it when she created it to protect the castle. And then she took out its heart.”
Mari gave a puzzled look, Hero giving very much the same as he sat down on the log next to Mari, who gave him a small glance.
“But why would she do that?” Hero question. “I don’t get it.”
“I do.” Kite Kid remarked, watching his kite as he spoke. “Usually, when you kill something like that, you put a sword through its heart. But, if it doesn’t have a heart…”
Spaceboy gave a small nod towards the boy, which prompted a smile as he continued to speak.
“I asked her if there were any weaknesses to the creature back under the tree.” He spoke with a slight quiver. “Admittedly, I was a little frightened myself. She let me know that a small object could defeat the creature if aimed directly between its eyes.”
“Did she say what it was?” Mari piped up, Spaceboy giving a somewhat disappointed grimace.
“I did ask her. She told me that part of creating the creature meant she could never tell anyone of the object.”
“Feh.” Berly shrugged as she gripped onto Aubrey’s hand. “I still think a little clawing action will get rid of it pretty quickly.”
Kite Kid merely shrugged, watching the soft wind in the morning air blow his kite through the sky.
“Maybe. Maybe not. You never can tell with these witchy critters.”
The group stood still before Kel stood up, wagging his tail.
“So what are we waiting for? Let’s ease on down the puke colored road!”
“Shut up, Kel!”
As Kel ran ahead quickly, Aubrey cursed her inability to run as fast as a dog as she tried to catch up with him. Berly came tumbling after as Basil gently led Duchess along, giving a glance towards the couple as Spaceboy passed by, his hand in Kite Kid’s, who was oddly affectionately rubbing his arm with his face. Basil found himself confused as he saw Mari and Hero were looking at each other, seemingly in no hurry of any kind.
“Are you two coming, or?” He questioned, Hero waving his hand.
“We’ll be up in a moment, don’t worry.”
Basil found his mind doubting these claims before deciding to make his way, clicking his tongue to queue Duchess along, who walked upon her spindly legs. Mari barely noticed the party disappear as Hero began to speak, finding himself almost at a loss for words of any kind.
“So, uh…” He began, looking around before his eyes travelled back to Mari. “I guess this it is, huh?”
“Yeah…” Mari replied in an absentminded manner, nodding slowly. “I guess it is.”
The pair were quiet before Hero broke the silence.
“So you two will like…Go home, I guess?” He asked, Mari nodding.
“We will. We don’t want to keep our parents waiting…” She sighed, looking away as Hero slowly turned her face towards his.
“Mari, you deserve to be happy.” He spoke with a nod. “And don’t forget that. Your parents can and will be there for you sometime, I know they will.”
“It’s not my choice, you know.” Mari murmured, thinking with a small groan. “They’ve got work, they’ve got more to worry about than us.”
“Mari, you know they’ve always got time for both of you.” Hero continued to press on, trying his best to sound positive. “My parents were royalty, but it’s not like they forgot about us. I’m sure yours didn’t either.”
“I know, I know, but…” Mari bit her lip before confessing what she had been fearing for quite a while. “What if Sunny doesn’t even want to come back at this point? It’s like I said, maybe he’s happier in the arms of a queen than me.”
Hero gave a chuckle, which surprised Mari quite well.
“Let’s be real, even he would get tired of Sweetheart.” He remarked, Mari unable to hold back her own smile. “You just gotta trust me, okay? Can you do that?”
Mari found the words hitting her mind a little harder than she expected them to, but smiled as she held his hand, giving him a small flutter of the eyes, which Hero felt himself growing warm to.
“We can get through this together.” She assured, Hero nodding in response as he stood up, hand in hand with Mari as the two continued on the path, thankfully still seeing the party before them.
“Great deeds make great dreams come true, you know.”