It had been a long few painful weeks but Prism had been finally free of the house arrest and needless to say, it had been like she had been finally allowed to breathe. Though she still couldn't go anywhere without a personal guard, it wasn't like she minded that sort of thing.
And the first thing she wanted to do was finally check out the Noble Realm with her own eyes. The very first stop they had gone to had been a little antique store that had sold various items most of them being of magic.
The moment she had stepped into the store she couldn't help but run to the closest shelf as she started to look at each one as she had been completely in awe. Accompanying her in the store, had been Pluck, Karasu and Noelle, though the person that had been guarding her had been of course Yami.
"Bime i elena!" Prism said as she had been checking out the various objects, one of them had been a jade bunny, with sapphire eyes and another had been a dog with pearls for eyes, "They both look so cute! I don't think I can choose one!"
"How about we just buy them all?" Noelle asked
"Well we can't just buy them all." Pluck told her as he lightly tapped her head.. "That'll be overspending!
"Plus we're on a budget, in case you didn't notice." Karasu said nonchalantly.
Noelle said with a huff, "hmph, excuses."
"Why are we even in a place where I need to be crapping out golden eggs to afford half of this stuff again?" Karasu asked as he looked to Yami who had been looking at the various objects on display.
Yami replied taking a puff from his cigarette, "Well Lizard Girl wanted to give the familiars a gift since they got their own grimoires now. But because of your game we couldn't do it until she was free from her house arrest."
"I told you before, we don't remember who came up with that dare." Pluck said.
"That was like two days ago when Liam and Saorise got them right?" Karasu pointed out.
"And like I said she was on house arrest" Yami said, "Particularly that one regarding that thief incident where Sword Boy nearly blew her up."
Pluck flinched at this before he had a nervous smile on his face, "That was an accident."
Noelle pointed out, "That is no excuse for your actions."
Pluck simply flicked her head as he said "No one asked you."
"Can you two try not to bicker today?" Yami asked. "I get enough of that from the wolf boy thank you."
Prism soon went into one of the aisles nearby, as she took what looked to be a doll with golden hair, porcelain skin and blue glass eyes, wearing a purple dress decorated with flowers and a bonnet had been on its head, "Aww, this looks so cute!" Prism said, "Saorise is going to love this one!" She soon went over to Pluck, "Here Plu-Plu, would mind holding this for me?"
"U-uuh yeah. Sure!" Pluck said nervously but in his mind he thought "Play it cool. Don't be honest today"
"Oh, you've got Porcelain dolls here too?" Karasu said, intrigued.
Yami had told him nonchalantly, "I was surprised too, I thought it was only sold at the black market."
"Why-Why do I feel like it's staring at me?" Noelle said as she shuddered.
Pluck had said as his body shivered, "just look away, don't look at it's eyes."
Noelle soon moved away, and went towards where Prism had been. "Look not that I'm telling you to hurry, but could you?" Noelle asked as she jumped back from a shelf of porcelain dolls, "Any more of this, and I think I might die on the inside."
"Just a minute--" Prism said, "--I want to see if Liam and Brenin would like something from here." Prism soon noticed an item that looked to resemble an owl.
"Hey--" Prism said, "--Isn't this the magic item that stops trespassers that you told me about?"
Noelle looked closely at it, "I think it might be."
"I wonder how it wo--" She started to say before she pressed on the owl's head
Its eyes started to blink rapidly as it shined a white light. In a few short moments her eyes went bugged before she fell to the floor. She started to twitch and move her limbs in a strange way as it almost sounded like she was speaking in tongues.
"Tater-tot?" Karasu said, as he went down the aisle, "What are you doing?"
Karasu's eyes soon went bugged eye before he ended the same way as Prism had been on the floor.
"What the--" Noelle said before her own eyes went bugged eye and she fell to the floor saying incoherent words.
"Hey! What's going--" Before Pluck could even finish his eyes was soon bug-eyed as he dropped on the floor, twitching while saying incoherent things and drooling.
Addeloine soon came out of his pouch as she was about to see what was going on only to fall as she was acting like everyone else too.
"QUACK, WHACK, PACK, SACK!" She exclaimed as she twitched while accidentally smacking Pluck with her stick.
Yami soon came over as he noticed what had been happening to his squad members that had been currently on the floor. "Why am I surrounded by idiots?" He said as he rolled his eyes. He soon pressed on the owl's heads twice the rapid blinking stopped. They each breathed a sigh of relief as they sat up.
"A-Ana latta as me!" Prism exclaimed, "That was horrible!"
"What happened?" Karasu groaned, "I blacked out for a second."
Pluck said as he looked to be dizzy, "why is there drool on me? And why do I feel pain?"
"Quack?" Addeline asked as she noticed how red Pluck's cheek was. She started to innocently as she went back into his pouch
Noelle said in a daze, "Ugh, well that was embarrassing..and i'm royalty."
Yami said as he shook his head, "Lizard Girl, do me a favor. If you see something even remotely interesting...DON'T TOUCH IT."
Prism immediately shrunk as she said with a sheepish smile, "S-Sorry, I just wanted to know how it worked."
Yami only pinched her cheek as he responded, "Well now you know, so don't attempt it again."
"Owowowowow! Okay, okay!" Prism exclaimed.
"Why the hell would they even sell this?!" Karasu said, "Who would even buy this crap!?"
Pluck said after wiping the drool away, "Are they just asking to give someone a serious condition?!"
"Let's just hurry up and go to a different store." Yami said as he had been dragging Prism outside, "Doesn't look like there's anything for the mutt and wolf boy."
"Wait, wait, wait, I didn't even get a good look at the ones in the back!" Prism protested, though it only proved to be futile in the end, leaving only Noelle, Pluck and Karasu in the store.
"Welp, you better go pay for the doll Pluck." Karasu told him, "Unless you think we can find a gift for Prism in this place."
"Wait-what?! Why not her?!" Pluck exclaimed, pointing to Noelle.
"Excuse you?!" Noelle exclaimed.
"Look we don't have time for your couple's quarrel, just hurry up and pick something." Karasu said.
Pluck huffed as he said "of course i'll find something! After all, I'm her best friend. Plus I've got the money." Pluck soon began to look around, looking through the various items that had been on display. Though he had been having difficulty finding one.
He couldn't help but groan in annoyance, "Damn it all! Which one is the best one for Pri?" He looked at the various items that seemed a bit off, "Aw, she wouldn't like any of these! They're just downright creepy, and she's been traumatized enough!"
Addeline soon hopped out of the pouch and onto a top shelf, pushing through the items that had been on display.
"What is it girl?" He asked.
Addeline soon pushed off the shelf what looked to be a totem of some kind as it had two faces. The first had been the face of a fox, while the other looked to be a bird
"Huh? This thing?" Pluck asked. "It does look cute."
Addeline pushed it from the shelf and Pluck had been quick to catch it. "Well, she loves animals and animals love her--" Pluck said before he looked underneath the totem, "--And it's only ten yules! Combine that with the doll and it's a reasonable price."
Pluck soon jumped at a strange sight; for a brief moment he saw the bird's eyes had been glowing in a golden color. When he rubbed his eyes the glow had been gone.
"I must've been seeing things." He said.
He soon took the items towards the front completely unaware that the totem's eyes had glowed again.
***
For most of the day soon after Prism and the others returned to the safehouse, they had spent that time either training or for some people---studying. Though when the afternoon came, most of the team had been in the common room after helping themselves out to a simple lunch, as the Familiars had been especially excited to see what Prism had gotten for them.
"Enjoy these gifts guys!" Prism said to them, "Now that you're. officially Magic Knights, you've earned your first ever possession of souvenirs from the new era!"
"Prism, you didn't have to do this." Brenin said, though he couldn't stop his tail from wagging.
"Of course I did." She said, "You guys deserve a Welcome home present just as much as me and Adri, right bud?"
Adrien let out a bellow as if he had been responding to Prism.
"Are you sure these were in the price range?" Asta asked.
"Last I checked you didn't have much left after that last trip to Kikka and then you sent some of the money back to Hage." Feodora pointed out.
"Don't worry, Plu-Plu, Noelle and Yami were more than kind enough to pinch in." Prism said, before she turned to Pluck who had been buried in a book, while Noelle looked to be helping herself to tea, "Thanks for that by the way Plu-Plu! Noelle!"
Pluck had responded not taking his eyes off the pages, "it's no problem!"
"It's the least I could do." Noelle said, "I'm Royalty afterall."
"Seriously, that's meaningless." Feodora said.
"Though still--" Vandy said, "--It's so cool that you have grimoires now!"
"Way to rebel guys!" Jubei said.
Liam only clicked his tongue as he held his book, which had a sapphire cover as there had been a flame insignia on it, "Still don't know how empty pages from these books are supposed to help us better control our magic."
"Yeah, I thought they're supposed to come equipped with spells." Saorise said as her grimoire had been brown and looked to have bulls on it.
"Well of course it's gonna start off blank." Feodora said, "You unlock the spells by training or through different situations. Eventually your pages will be filled to the brim with all sorts of spells."
"But how will we know which spells are gonna appear in the book?" Brenin asked.
"You'll know, when you see them." Karasu said, "You just gotta be patient with stuff like that."
"Hurry up and open up your gifts!" Jubei said, "I wanna see what you guys got!"
Brenin, Saorise and Liam looked to one another before they went to open the boxes. Immediately their eyes brightened. Brenin's tail especially swayed as he had gotten out his gift, "A wood carving set! With paint!"
"Acrylic paint!" Prism said as the little spirits looked as happy as she did, "Plu-Plu said that's the latest set, and that professionals use them."
"This is amazing!" Brenin said with a smile, before he noticed something underneath. Moving the set of boxes he noticed it had been a set of weapons; one had been a sword similar to Yami's though the other looked to be a bit smaller.
"What are these?" Brenin asked.
"That's a present from Yami." Prism replied, "Since I told him you didn't use weapons in Airedale he thought these would be a change of pace. I think he called them a Jin-tai-chi?"
"Jintachi." Karasu clarified, "I didn't think he'd get these custom made. Must've cost a fortune."
"Still those look so cool!" Asta said as his eyes sparkled, "It makes me jealous!"
Brenin took hold of the swords as he unsheathed one of them, "You humans have a strange custom to weapons. They're a bit heavier than the hook swords."
"You'll get used to them in no time." Yami said as he took a puff while he had been reading from a newspaper, "With the right training of course, by me."
"Don't count on him, Brenin." Liam said. "It's not worth it." he soon felt a grab on the head by Yami though unphased by his death glare.
"Hey, don't scare off my future student, mutt." Yami told him
"Won't that get in the way of training Prism?" Brenin asked, "She needs it more than me."
"The funny thing is--" Prism said with an awkward smile, "--He's not wrong."
Yami told him nonchalantly, "It's fine. Besides what's the harm with taking one more?"
"You're gonna bite more than you can chew." Liam said.
"What did you guys get?" Jubei asked.
"This cute little doll!" Saorise said, as she showed off the porcelain doll, as she couldn't help hug it, "It is the most adorable thing I've seen! I'm definitely taking this home!"
"That looks so pretty!" Asta said.
"Why do I feel like its staring into my soul right now?" Feodora said with a shudder.
Pluck added as he shook, "Again, if you look away, it won't stare at you."
"I can't look away--It's eyes are following me." Feodora said with a shudder.
"What about you Liam?" Vandy asked, "What did you get?"
Liam had soon taken out the item which had been what looked to be a book. "No way--!" Liam said as his expression brightened, "--This is the Treasure Island story!"
"I know you never had a chance to read it since you were always out hunting with uncle Nolan." Prism said, "I'd figured this could be the start of your own collection of adventure books now that we're in a new era."
"Shortcake--" Liam said as he couldn't help but give her a hug, "--You really are the best!"
"Aww, I love you too Liam!" Prism said as she scratched his ears.
"Liam likes adventure novels?" Asta asked curiously.
"What can we say?" Aisling said, "He's a sucker for them."
Pluck added with a nod, "It's true."
Liam immediately turned red as the hair on his ears seemed to have gone up, "Shu-Shut up!"
"Okay--" Yami said as he stood from the lounge chair after setting aside the newspaper, "--This has all been fun but Lizard Girl here has some training today."
"Right now?" Prism asked.
Yami told her as he gave her a look, "Yes--RIGHT NOW."
"Aw." Prism, Triple A's, Vandy and Jubei said.
"Now playing live action chess today." Jubei said.
"THAT'S A THING?!" Asta exclaimed out of confusion.
"We can play later." Prism said.
"Backyard, hurry up." Yami told her.
Prism stood up and took her grimoire though before she could head out the door—
"Oh Pri!" Pluck said before he took out an item, "I got you something!" He soon took out a bag before he showed her the item. Her expression brightened as did the others, "I figured you liked Animals and thought of you so...here you go!"
"Bime i elena!" Prism had said in awe, "An animal totem!"
"Where did you get this?" Asta asked Pluck.
"He bought it earlier while we were out shopping." Karasu said.
"Stuck-Up--" Feodora soon whispered, "--I thought we were all supposed to pitch in for a gift from all of us?"
Pluck replied, as he kept his voice low, "Don't think of this as an official gift, think of it like an appetizer gift."
"Is that even a thing?" She asked.
He told her, "of course it is! It's like at a restaurant! You get the appetizers before you get the full meal!"
Prism soon took the totem from him, "Plu-Plu this is so cute! And the details are amazing."
Pluck said with a sheepish smile, "oh stop it you!"
"Thank you." She said. Most of the group and even Pluck had been shocked when Prism gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I'll put this in my room when we get back to the base!" Prism said before she went out to the backyard.
"S-Sure." Pluck said before he sighed, "Doesn't she know we're older now?"
"I saw that blush." Aine said before Pluck showered her hat over her head.
"SO CRUEL!!" Aine yelled as she started to run back and forth only to be caught by Yami. He removed her hat from her head before he told Pluck, "can you be nicer to your siblings for once?"
Pluck said with a huff, "Fine."
"Huh, so you are nice to her." Noelle said.
"Something to learn from, Silva." Pluck said.
"And there it is."
Yami soon handed Asta a list, "Here's the chores you gotta do today."
"EH!?" Asta exclaimed as he looked it over, "BUT THIS IS THREE TIMES AS MORE THAN IT WAS YESTERDAY!!"
Pluck soon looked over before his jaw dropped to the floor, "YOU WANT US TO CLEAN THE BATHROOM WITH WHAT?!"
"HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO GET ALL THIS DONE?!" Feodora yelled.
Yami gave a death glare as he asked "I'm sorry. Are you all asking to die?"
"N-No sir." Everyone except Liam said with a shiver.
"Good." Yami said casually before his tone changed again, "NOW GET IT ALL DONE BEFORE TONIGHT."
Most of them shivered at his tone as they each went to hug one another. "Uh--I think some of this is Jack's handwriting." Vandy said as he looked over the list.
"Bi-Bime i elena it is!" Jubei said, petrified.
"I-I take it you and Captain Jack are still mad about the scare dare thing?" Karasu said.
"What do you think, crow boy?" Yami asked as his stare intensified, making him shake in his skin.
"G-got it." He said.
"I guess we can't play today…" Sachiko said.
"No we can't." Jubei said, "GUess we gotta go do 'em."
Pluck got up as he said, "I'll take care of the halls."
"Hey aren't you forgetting something?" Yami asked.
"Oh yeah, come on, Addi." Pluck said as he got his duck.
"Other than that--" Yami told him as Pluck froze up, "--You're working with Noelle."
Pluck groaned "AGAIN?! CAN'T I WORK WITH ANYONE OTHER THAN HER?! Asta yes, Karasu, yeah, Feodora, Maybe but not her!"
"Can't I work with Feodora, or Asta?!" Noelle said before she turned red, "Wait, no scratch that last one!"
Yami told them as his threatening aura returned, "Either you two work together or die together."
Pluck and Noelle looked at each other before groaning. "I hate this..." Pluck complained
"I hate this more…" Noelle said.
The group soon had gone and went to work on the house chores as some, if not a couple of them, had tolerated through them
***
-Later that Night-
Prism had returned to her room after she had eased her muscles from a relaxing bath. With the help of the little spirits, not only did she dry off quicker, but she had reapplied some of the bandages as they helped with healing. She looked to the wounds that had still been healing from the Dungeon mission.
She sighed with relief as she noticed most of them had faded.
"Thank goodness--" She said, "--Most of it healed up. And it hurts less now that most of its closed." She soon looked to the spirits that sat along the dresser, "Thanks so much for helping me heal, maybe Yami might let me back on missions soon."
She could hear the little ones speaking to her, as they voiced their own concerns.
"I don't mind if it's a small mission." Prism said, "I just want to be able to do my part for all the Magic Knights did for me so far. Despite the awkward start we had."
Elior soon spoke up as his ears twitched slightly, "I know, I know." She said as she gave him a pat on the head, "I can't help what I can't control. Though at least he can't be mad at me forever. Just like he said." Her expression soon fell as she had a thought, "Though Jack on the other hand… I wish there was something I could do to make it up for what I did. He's not much of a gift person I know. So there has to be something."
Adrien stepped over to her as he sensed her distress; he nudged her head before he gave her a lick making her giggle.
"You're right bud." Prism said as she scratched underneath his chin, "That answer will come to me."
She soon let out a yawn, before she started to tie her hair into braids, "Oh man, what a long day today. And it's going to get longer by tomorrow." Prism looked over to the little animal totem that sat on the corner of her table as she couldn't help but smile, "Well, it's not all that bad. Plu-Plu has always been so thoughtful."
She let out a yawn again, "I better get to bed, maybe the Sandman has a few ideas."
she went and tucked herself in bed before blowing out the candle within the lamp that had kept her room a lit. Adrien pulled over another layer of blanket over her before he curled his body and rested his head on the bed.
"Good night Adrien." She said, giving his head a scratch causing him to purr.
With that, they both drifted off to sleep, into their own dreamworld.
However, just as the clock in her room struck twelve, the totem on her table started to glow a golden glow, though this time it had been from the fox's eyes. Though just as it did, her stomach started to growl as she groaned in her sleep and the stone she had wrapped around her wrist instead of her head, began to glow an odd red glow.
Morning soon came as Karasu had been in charge of cooking breakfast; though this time around Asta, and the Triple A's had been helping him out. Feodora sauntered into the kitchen as she had been fixing up her outfit as she yawned.
"Morning Feo!" Asta said as he had thrown some chopped potatoes in a pan, "Did you sleep well?"
"I slept as well as I could've." Feodora said, as she had gotten a jug of milk, "Remind me not to get on Yami's bad side."
"You're just in time, the hashbrowns are almost ready!" Aisling said, "We just gotta add some salt and a secret ingredient!"
"Do I want to know what it was?" Feodora asked before taking a sip.
"Hey come on--" Aidan said, "--Other people gotta drink out of that you know!"
"The Familiars up yet?" Feodora asked after she burped.
"They're outside training." Karasu replied as he helped Sachiko up onto a chair so she could help fry the potatoes, before he gestured towards the window. She saw the three of them looked to be meditating, "They've been racking their brains out trying to figure out their grimoires. They were up way before us."
"Didn't want to wait up with Yami?" She asked.
"Nah, they said they wanted to get a headstart." Asta said, "Still don't know if it was a good idea."
"To be fair, Uncle Yami's training is kind of--Too much." Vandy said as he had been putting butter on pancakes.
"What he said." Jubei said before swallowing one whole.
"Morning guys.." They heard a familiar voice say
"Oh hey Plu--Huh?" Asta had been cut off as he turned around to greet Pluck--Or so he thought, "No ones here."
"Guess he must still be asleep." Aine said.
"You sure you're not hearing things?" Karasu asked.
"Maybe, but I could've sworn I heard him." Asta said as he scratched his head.
They heard Pluck's voice again, "haha, very funny guys."
The group flinched at the sound of his voice; slowly their eyes turned to the floor as they saw before their very eyes, had been a duck with white duck and looked to have brown eyes and looked to be wearing a shirt.
"Pretending I'm invisible so that you can have breakfast all to yourselves--" He said, "--That's funny."
The duck had been taken back when everyone in the room let out a shriek as they dropped what they were doing. "THAT DUCK IS TALKING?!" Feodora shouted, "WHY THE HELL IS IT TALKING!!"
"IT'S A DEVIL! A DEVIL POSSESSED THAT POOR ANIMAL!!" Aidan shouted.
"WE GOTTA PUT IT DOWN!" Aine exclaimed.
"KILL IT WITH VIOLENCE!!" Aisling yelled as she activated her magic.
"Wait what are you--" The duck said.
Aisling let out a warcry before she tossed several spheres at the duck as it exploded on contact. Though the duck had been practically dancing as he dodged the attacks.
The duck shouted as he had been panicking, "HEY! AISLING! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING DON'T MAKE ME PULL DOWN YOUR HAT!"
"OH NO!!" Aisling yelled, "IT KNOWS MY NAME!!"
"IT KNOWS TOO MUCH!!" Vandy yelled as he had been on the table.
"SOMEONE DO SOMETHING!" Sachiko shouted.
"OUT OF THIS HOUSE!" Aidan yelled as he had been hitting the duck with a broom, "OUT OF THIS HOUSE! DEVIL BE GONE FROM THIS HOUSE!"
The duck shouted as he was swatting at the broom, "WOULD YOU KNOCK IT OFF! IT'S TOO EARLY FOR THIS!"
Karasu soon had an odd look as he noticed something off, "Wait a second--"
Asta soon broke out his sword as his grimoire glowed red, "DON'T WORRY GUYS I GOT IT!"
The duck shouted as he paled as he started to flail his feathers, "ASTA NO! I'M WARNING YOU!"
"HOLD IT!!" karasu yelled as it caused everyone to freeze up right when they were ready to throw something. "Aw, why did you stop us?" Jubei said as she had been holding dual knives, "I wanted to test out my knife throwing skills!"
The duck yelled as its jaw dropped, "YOU WHAT?!"
"Guys--" Karasu said, "--Call me crazy, but--" He soon picked up the duck much to the ducks own surprise, "--This IS Pluck."
At this most of the group had been in shock, as they dropped their items and weapons. Though the silence had been broken when Jubei suddenly burst out laughing.
"I--Don't know how to react to this." Feodora said honestly.
The duck or rather Pluck had said offended, "ME?! A DUCK?! Okay now I know you guys are messing with me."
"Are you serious right now?" Karasu said, "Do you not realize I'm picking you up?"
Pluck was about to yell, but then now just realized that he was being lifted off the ground. He soon looked down to see that the tail of his shirt had been dangling before he looked to see his own feathers and felt his face and dark brown beak.
They soon jumped when he started to let out a shriek; Karasu had been forced to hold him at arms length as he had flailed his wings and kicked his webbed feet. Pluck started to shout at the top of his lungs, "WHAT THE HELL?! WHY AM I DUCK!? WHY AM I A DUCK!?"
"STOP MOVING LIKE THAT!!" Karasu yelled, "YOU'RE GONNA MAKE ME DROP YOU!"
Pluck had yelled, "DON'T YOU DARE!"
Brenin, Saorise and Liam suddenly came running back in the house as they looked to have a panicked expression. "What's wrong?!" Brenin said, "We heard screaming!!"
"Did Jubei try to throw her knives again?!" Saorise said.
"Uh well--" Asta said.
"--You might not believe us…" Feodora said.
Liam soon sniffed the air, as he looked at the duck as his eyes widened. "Holy is that--" Liam said as it soon hit him. It hadn't been long before he started to burst out laughing as he held his stomach.
Pluck couldn't help but puff his cheeks as he said, "IT'S NOT FUNNY!"
Brenin and Saorise soon sniffed the air as it soon hit them as they had a look of shock. "Bime i elena, what happened to you?!" Saorise said, "Why are you a duck?!"
"Is this some sort of phase humans and elves go through when they hit puberty?" Brenin asked as his tail swayed curiously.
"Ew, no, of course not." Feodora said.
"WHY WOULD YOU THINK THAT!" Pluck shouted
"What? It happens to us when our animal side kicks in." Saorise replied casually.
"I thought that was normal." Brenin said.
"THAT DOESN'T MEAN IT APPLIES FOR EVERYONE ELSE!" Pluck shouted before he realized something. "Oh crap, you CANNOT let anyone else see me like this! That includes Yami, the stupid Silva and Addi!"
Most of them soon paled at the sight of a certain someone.
"Yeah--That might be an issue." Feodora said.
Pluck had soon been taken back by the sound of a familiar laugh. He slowly turned around and saw it had been Yami with William, Jack and Noelle who looked just as confused as they had been.
"... Someone kill me." Pluck said nonchalantly.
Yami had said through his laughter, "no way! This is hilarious!"
As Yami had been laughing, Pluck turned to Karasu as he said. "Just cook me and end my misery."
"And make the tater-tot depressed?" Karasu said, "No thank you."
"I knew you loved ducks, but I didn't think you'd turn into one!" Yami said as he continued to laugh.
"I-I-Is that the Barbados?" Noelle said.
"Ye-Yep." Asta replied.
"Would someone care to explain what is going on here?" Jack said.
"We're not sure!" Aisling replied, "He just showed up like this."
"Jubei nearly threw her knife at him!" Vandy said.
Pluck had said as he had been panicking, "No kidding, also I would say hand it over but--I apparently have no thumbs."
Jubei gave a sheepish laugh as she said, "Sorry?"
Pluck had a look which made Jubei pout "fine." she placed the knife down before Pluck still had the look
"Geez, even as a duck you're pushy!" Jubei said with a pout as she took out more
Karasu soon set him on the table as Pluck pulled off the shirt and tossed on the floor. "Pluck?" William said, "Do you know how this could've happened?"
Pluck replied as he ruffled his feathers, "I-I don't know! I remember going to bed, and I didn't have anything strange unless--" He immediately turned towards the Triple A's, "--WAS IT YOU THREE?!"
"WHAT?!" The Triple A's exclaimed.
"Why do you assume it was us?!" Aine said.
"You guys LOVE to play tricks!" Pluck argued, "You did it all the time back in Airedale, and you did it to the other members of the Black Bulls, Purple Orca's and even the Crimson Lions! And you especially like to play your tricks on me!"
"Hey!" Aisling said, "First of all, our tricks are more sophisticated and creative then this, thank you VERY much!"
"Secondly--" Aidan said, "--We don't know any transformation spells or the recipe for a potion to change a person entirely genius! Even if we did, this would be way too easy of a joke, even for you."
"It's beneath us." Aine added.
Pluck had told them as he crossed his feathers over his chest, "Fair point."
"Then how could this have happened?" Sachiko asked, "He was perfectly normal yesterday."
Jack had said, "KEKE! Maybe a magic item did this to you!"
"Wait--" Asta said, "--A magic item CAN do this to you!?"
"What, you didn't know that Dum-Dum?" Feodora asked, "First rule of business, You do not mess with magic items unless you're a professional."
"But I don't have Magic Items!" Pluck said, "I don't dabble with that kind of stuff--Unless it's my family's sword."
"Well there has to be some sort of explanation as to why you're--" Saorise said before her words trailed off. Most of them had noticed how strangely quiet she had gotten as she had gotten a fearful look on her face.
"... What?" Feodora said, "What's the matter?"
Saorise looked among the group before it had seemed to have hit her, "... Has… Anyone seen Prism?"
Immediately, Yami and Liam's laughter seemed to have stopped before it soon hit them. Without a second thought, everyone quickly ran up the stairs and towards her room. "PRISM!" Asta exclaimed as he got the door open, before most of them gasped in horror. They saw that the bed had been empty.
"She's gone!" Aisling exclaimed as she pulled back the covers only to find that her nightgown and ribbon ties had been the only thing there.
"So is Adrien!" Vandy said.
"Were they kidnapped?!" Saorise exclaimed.
"Was it those thieves again?!" Liam said.
"That's not possible." William said calmly, "They don't know we're here in this place."
Yami added, "Even if they did, we would've caught them by now."
"Uh guys--" Jubei said as she noticed the window, "--What do you make of this?"
They looked towards the window as they just now had noticed the breeze coming from it. They could see a set of claw marks on the sill, not to mention the glass looked to be broken.
"That doesn't look good…" Sachiko said.
"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!" Aine said fearfully.
"GET AHOLD OF YOURSELF SIS!" Jubei yelled as she started to slap her silly, "THERE'S ABSOLUTELY NO REASON TO PANIC!"
"THERE ARE THOUSANDS REASONS WHY I SHOULD BE PANICKING RIGHT NOW!" Aine yelled in her face.
"STOP YELLING!" Vandy shouted, "YOU'RE MAKING ME YELL!"
"Did someone kidnap her after all!?" Noelle said.
Pluck had said as he couldn't help but freak out, "OH NO! WE GOTTA DO SOMETHING!"
"Everyone please--" William said, "--Calm down. You can't allow yourselves to panic right now."
"No offense Captain William--" Aidan said, before he yelled, "--BUT SOMEONE JUST BROKE IN AND KIDNAPPED OUR BEST FRIENDS! WE HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO FREAK OUT RIGHT NOW!!"
Yami soon grabbed his head, "hey, calm down."
"Wait--" Feodora soon said before she stepped towards the window. She started to examine the damage, before she looked outside and towards the ground level, seeing that the glass had been on the outside.
"Is something wrong Feo?" Asta asked.
"This window wasn't broken from the outside." She told the group as she pulled herself back in, "If it was the glass would have been on the floor and there would've been traces of blood. Something or someone broke it from the inside."
"She's right--" Brenin said before he sniffed the air, "--I don't smell any fresh blood."
"Now that you mention it--" Liam added as he sniffed the air as well, "--There's nothing."
"Well if that's the case--" Noelle said, "--What could've happened in here?"
Pluck had said as he was still panicking, "who knows?!"
"Hold on--" Saorise said, as her Liam and Breinin sniffed the air, "--There's something else. It smells off."
"How so?" Asta asked.
"It's almost like something's rotten." Liam said.
"It's coming from--" Brenin said before he turned towards a certain item on the dresser. They looked over and saw it had been the animal totem that looked oddly grey and dull.
"That?" He finished, as they didn't seem to realize, Yami, Jack, and William's expression had changed. Especially after Yami had looked at a familiar pocket watch, noticing what exactly had gone off.
"The totem Pluck got for Prism?" Asta said.
"I'm OFFICIALLY confused." Feodora said.
Shiromori soon poked out from Karasu's shirt as he noticed the item in question. He started to aggressively hiss towards it which made them jump. "Even Shiromori is bothered by it." Karasu said.
"Why would a snake be bothered by a totem?' Sachiko asked.
"Is it just me--" Vandy said as he picked up the item, "--Or wasn't this all brown yesterday?"
"You're right--" Aisling said, "--That's SUPER weird."
"Not to mention freaky." Aidan added.
"It's almost like something out of a horror story I read once." Pluck said.
"But it still doesn't make any sense." Noelle said.
"Hey, does anyone else feel the intent to kill right now?" Jubei said.
They all jumped when they saw that not only did they saw Yami had a glare, but Jack as well. "Barbados--" Jack said in a dangerous tone of voice as Pluck let out a squawk of some kind, "--Where did you get that totem?"
Pluck replied as he stammered, "the a-a-a-nt-i--que/ma-ma-ma-magic item s-s-tore y-yesterday? T-Th-Th-The Wo-Wo-Worthy Tu-Tusk Sto-Store?"
Jack suddenly activated his magic as it made them jump. He told Pluck as his glare seemed to have intensified, "KEKE! GIVE US A REASON WHY WE SHOULDN'T MAKE DUCK STEW OUT OF YOU!"
"WAIT, WAIT, WHAT?!" Pluck yelled as he hopped on Noelle's head, "BUT IT'S JUST A TOTEM!"
Noelle shouted as she started to freak out, "WH-WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP THERE?!"
Pluck replied as he yelled, "WHAT YOU WANT ME TO LAND THERE?!"
"WHY IS THAT AN OPTION?!" Noelle screeched as her face turned red.
"Yeah, it's just another magic item right?!" Asta said.
"I'm afraid not." William said as he took the totem from Vandy, "It's a cursed item."
Most of the teens either gasped or looked confused by this sort of thing. "I have several questions." Feodora said.
"What the heck is a cursed item?!" Asta exclaimed.
"Cursed items are said to have been infected with Anti-Magic a long time ago, before they were destroyed or buried in dungeons. Instead of enhancing someone's magic, or storing it, this brings others misfortune and hurts the user. True to its name, it curses people." William said, "I've heard about this item in particular before."
"That sounds REALLY bad." Karasu said.
"What does that animal totem do exactly?" Feodora asked.
"It forces whoever touches the totem first to change to whatever animal is carved into the wood." William replied, "According to the stories, it was used in a cruel way of using others' lives to hunt for game."
"It was actually really sick when you think about it." Yami added, "Whoever came up with that had a screw loose."
"So wait--" Vandy said, "--You're saying Prism was changed into an animal?"
"I changed Prism into an animal!?" Pluck said, horrified.
"Huh, my guess is that it turned Lizard Girl into an actual Lizard, maybe?" Yami asked. "On another note, I was right about that weird item."
"THAT'S NOT FUNNY!" Pluck shouted, "AND QUIT RUBBING IT IN!"
"No--" William said, "--The totem only changes the people into what is carved into the wood. And they're only two faces on this totem." He soon looked at the canine's face on the bottom of the totem, "Meaning--This most likely changed her into a fox. It must've taken effect overnight."
"A FOX?!" The Triple A's, Pluck, Vandy, Jubei, Brenin, Liam and Saorise had exclaimed, before they each looked annoyed.
"Oh great--" Yami said as he couldn't help but smack himself in the face, "--That's even worse."
"Out of all the things--" Liam said before he glared at Pluck, "--You had to get one that had a fox's face on it?!"
Pluck had told him as he held onto Noelle's head, "Well sorry! If I had known it was a cursed item in the first place, then I wouldn't have bought it!"
"What's so bad about Prism changing into a fox?" Asta asked.
"Hello?!" Vandy said, "The phrase sly like a fox!? That's not an exaggeration! They're always two steps ahead of their predators!"
"Do you have ANY idea the hours--No DAYS we spent on trying to catch one so that we could treat their wounds?!" Saorise said, "Let me tell you, it was NOT fun!"
"Hang on I thought Liam said he was the top hunter." Karasu said, "Shouldn't catching a fox be no problem for you?"
"You'd think but no--" Liam said, "--By the time you catch one you don't even feel satisfied! You're exhausted both physically and mentally."
"Foxes--The trickiest of canines in the animal kingdom." Jubei said.
Jack had said as he glared over at Pluck, "KEKE, YOU JUST MADE OUR JOB HARDER!"
Pluck flinched as he soon hid in her pigtails as he said, "No-Not my fault!"
"Wait, this shouldn't be a problem." Noelle said, as she finally got Pluck off of her head.
"Yeah--" Sachiko added, "--Pluck-sensei got turned into a duck, but he retained his traits just fine. Prism would be the same thing right?"
"No." Yami said as it shocked most of them, "Beanpole here is right. The Sword Boy just made our jobs a whole lot harder."
"Captain Yami?" Asta said, noticing the change in his tone.
Yami soon turned the watch over to show them as they could see a holographic map of the city. They saw a dot had been on a certain section of it as they noticed, it had been blinking. "Guess I should be thankful the kid kept her promise." Yami said, "She must've been wearing the stone when she was asleep."
"You mean that cursed stone you gave her?" Aisling said.
"Oh good, then that means we can find her!" Aidan said.
"Actually--" Yami soon said as it shocked the siblings by his tone again, "--The stone she's got on her not only lets me find her, it's got another function to it."
"Another function?" Brenin asked, "What could that mean?"
Yami soon took a puff from his cigarette before he answered, "That dot is obviously the Lizard Girl, but as you can see right now, it's blinking."
"Oh Okay…" Vandy said, "... Why would that be bad?"
The look on Yami's face soon changed as he looked at a few certain sets of people in the room, "The thing is--There's only one reason why that dot is blinking right now."
Asta, Feodora, Karasu, Pluck and Noelle seemed to have understood as they saw the look in his eye. They each couldn't help but recall what had happened on a certain night, when Prism had attacked them so suddenly.
"... The Trance…" Asta said.
"Oh no...that means Pri is--" Pluck soad.
Yami nodded as he said "yep, as of right now, Lizard Girl is in her feral mode right now."
"Wait wait wait" Jubei said "Feral?! As in like a Feral animal?!"
"Well she's a fox now...so it makes sense right?" Vandy asked.
"Not the kind of feral we're talking about here..." Karasu told them.
"Huh?" the siblings said confused.
"What do you mean not the kind of feral?" Brenin asked.
Asta, Feodora, Karasu, Noelle and Pluck looked to one another as they knew they couldn't keep it at this point. "Guys--" Asta soon said, "--There's something you need to know about Prism."
***
A had been kicked out of a nearby tavern as people that had walked by could smell the alcohol. The man had been groaning in agony as he could feel his head throbbing.
"Damn it…" He said as he had been wobbling, ".. I had so much to drink last night… I knew I shouldn't have played that card game…"
He looked over to his silver pocket watch as he noticed the time, "Aw damn it--Gotta hurry and get back home to the missus."
CLANG!
The man had been taken back by a sound in an alleyway nearby; an empty bottle seemed to have rolled out as he could hear the sound of growls, and what appeared to be chewing. In the light he could see what looked like an animal with silver fur.
"A fox?" The man said, "What the hell is it doing here? Did it wander in here?"
The man had taken a stick that had been nearby before he started to poke the creature. "Hey! Get out of here! This is no place for vermin!"
The fox had ignored him as it had been chewing on a trash lid. "HEY!" The man said before he hit the animal, "DIDN'T YOU HEAR ME!? I SAID MOVE!"
The fox finally stopped what it had been doing before it turned to the man. Immediately he paled at the sight of its right leg. Instead of fur, there were silver scales and a set of black claws--It's eyes had been white and its pupils had silted and narrow and it looked to have a stone wrapped around its wrist. "what the hell?! What kind of freak is that?! A magic beast!?"
The fox's eyes dilated, as its head twitched before it began to drool.
"MA… NA…" It suddenly rasped.
The man seemed to have turned more white as his whole body started to shake. He suddenly tripped as he fell backwards to the floor.
"Di-Did it just--?!" The man said petrified.
"MA… NA…" The fox groaned profoundly, "... HUN… GRY… MA… NA… HUN… GRY…"
Its claws suddenly grew, its paws before it looked ready to pounce. The man had been entirely helpless as all he could do was let out a scream when the fox suddenly pounced on him while it let out a shriek.