Quoted By:
You know what? If Oti’s gonna be such a sourpuss he can turn all that negativity into a sour<span class="mu-s">PLUS!</span>
The Chytree stares at you as if you’d just morphed into a gila monster. “... What?”
That’s right, you nod, if he’s so cool and powerful and wise, then <span class="mu-i">HE</span> can set off the distraction! You’ll supervise his <span class="mu-i">GIRLFRIEND</span>!
… And Obber!
“... Very well,” The sorcerer grumbles, the dissatisfaction in his tone barely registering over the obnoxious ‘<span class="mu-i">kyaaaaa~</span>’ that bursts free of Toppel’s blushing lips, “We’ll meet at the exit tunnel… and do try not to cause too much of a commotion on the way.”
Yep, wouldn’t be Obber if he didn’t sneak in one last barb, would it? Watching the wizard slink away into the inky darkness around you, you turn to face a somewhat sullen sorceress and her perpetually-grinning brother-thing!
“He wasn’t always like this, you know.” She muses as Obber scuttles ahead! You cock your head to the side as you try to minimize the sound your feet make crunching through the dense layer of damp leafy things blanketing the ground!
“No,” Toppel mournfully replies, “He… he used to be <span class="mu-i">so</span> much meaner…” A dejected sigh leaves her toothy mouth as she shakes her head. “He’s… softened…”
Yea, okay… maybe these two actually <span class="mu-i">do</span> need <span class="mu-r">COUNSELING</span>... or at least a therapy session or two! You’re about to probe deeper when you hear it–a dull, rhythmic crackling and crunching just around the corner!
Pressing against the wall, you squint your eyes so as to not give yourself away as something… no, some<span class="mu-i">one</span> comes tromping by… taller than you by a head, rigid posture, and a smiling face glowing like a Jack-O-Lantern carved out of a stump!
By all accounts the villager could be Pesli’s brother… or sister, you’re not really sure how Zetsis work! And yet as they pass by whistling and clicking a cheerful tune, you can’t help but sense something… <span class="mu-i">off</span>.
The smell–that’s it. Even standing several strides away, your nostrils pick up that fermented fruit scent almost immediately–its saccharine smell stabbing your nostrils with innumerable tiny daggers!
Instinctively cupping your hands over your nose and mouth, you tense up as something drops from the Zetsun’s hands and clatters onto the foliage-choked floor!
“Ah.” The villager tuts like a farmer spotting a weed in his garden, “We are too clumsy…”
A series of unnerving cracks leap from the Zetsun’s back as it moves to pick its tool up off the ground! Sensing her chance, Toppel slinks away towards a distant pair of familiar red eyes… and when the barkthing continues towards the cistern, you decide to follow suit!
The odious odor only increases as you approach the center of the settlement–but all along the way you find yourself surrounded by, well…
<span class="mu-i">People</span>.
>CONTD.
