"Mom, Dad; you came. But..."
"Of course we came. Just didn't expect our reunion to be like this."
"We'll get out of here. Don't worry."
"Darius, you are not Ruby. You need to…"
"Who's going to save you then?"
"We'll find our own…."
*Phueeeem*
"Darius, watch out!!!!"
"AAAAAAAaghhhhhhhhhh!!!!!
Huu…ha…Huuu….haaa….Huuu….haaa."
"Wakey, wakey, young one.
Trouble sleeping?"
"Bad dream."
"Want to talk about it?"
"Just…didn't think I was good enough. I couldn't even stop Lolli, so what if my parents came to Town.
.....I wasn't even able to protect them."
"....Ohhh. I…."
"Not that you would understand or anything."
"......I might not physically walk in your shoes, but don't forget; I wore your shoe size once."
"How'd it feel?"
"Same it does you, but now when I try to fit in them, it hurts."
"So I guess you….."
"Take them off, and throw them in the too small pile."
"If only shaking off dreams were that easy."
"What if they could be?"
".....Don't conflict me. Just believe with me that my parents are ok. Back at home, still getting their early sleep in. Not....."
*Bang. Bang. Bang*
"Hey, you lied to us.
I wanna see my son.
*Bang. Bang. Bang*
"I wanna see my boy.
You lied to us.
*Bang. bang*
You.... lied.... to… ussssssss!!!!!!!!!"
"Theresa?
Theresa?
Where'd you go?"
"She left, Lolli."
"Why haven't you left, Serenity?"
"I have a duty to perform, and you have a Kingdom to check on. Not just one Town."
"The Ants have it under control, remember? They patrol the streets, and I can see from here the status of everything."
"Then at least make an appearance so that they know there is nothing to fear. Getting today's breakfast ready for everyone. You want the first bite?
Well, actually second. No ... .third. I took a bite before I came in. Do you want the third bite?"
"Give it here."
"Fine. No manners I see, and a little grabby are we."
"Out."
"I'm going. I'm going."
*Creeaaaak*
"How is she?
Anything...…anything out of the ordinary?"
"Yeah, Theresa. When told you left, she didn't respond and asked where. All she said was, 'Why haven't I left?'
She doesn'r need us?"
"Don't say that. She still thanked you, didn't she?"
"No. Just forcefully grabbed my food, set it on the stand beside her, then told me to get out.
I tried to say something, but she then raised her voice with the words."
"Something definitely is not right."
"You would be correct. I told her to check on the other Villages if she has any hope of confidently telling Elwin that nothing is dead; but now I wonder if we should take a look ahead of her."
"We'll need Darius; and make this quick. She could finish eating any moment."
"Woo….where are you all going?"
"And can we come to Serenity?"
"Uhhhhh…"
"Serenity, we can't just leave them in Deathpetals Lair when he fully takes over her body."
"We can't just all leave her either. If we do, her happy attitude will quickly change. The exact opposite of what we want.
Ummmm...maybe next time, Friends. For now, Rainbow needs all the friends she can get before Lolli takes over forever."
"Takes over?"
"Don't worry. Please….your worry makes her worry. Just keep her distracted as long as you can."
"Then why didn't you say just that? Whether she be a girl, a human, an animal, or a Witch; we all need food.
I'm sure me and my Gang can whip up a few fattening 'spells' that will slow her down."
"Thanks."