"Oh, how the turn tables, my lovable little morsel." Lothar grinned maliciously as he stared at the contents of the rectangular box. Its dough was baked to perfection, topped with cheese so heavenly, it might as well have captivated the Gods themselves. "Now, come to Papa, and happily tuck yourself inside my belly."
Lothar reached out to grab a slice of the food inside the box, only for him to stop as the food glared back at him.
"No. You've tormented us for far too long, bread-eater." The food then stood up, each individual slice gaining eyes as they stared maliciously at Lothar, who was now visibly shaking at the scene. "No longer shall we suffer at the hands of your disgusting maw. Your trial of free living has essentially expired. To battle, my kin!"
The slices all shouted a war cry as they lunged themselves towards Lothar, who was now trying his best to get away.
"No! You're just pizza slices! You're not supposed to be alive!" Lothar screamed like a little girl, his body falling on the wooden floor as the pizza slices all converged on his throat.
"Choke him! Allow him to be suffocated by our bodies! For the glory of our fallen!" The pizza slices yelled as they all squirmed to get inside Lothar's mouth. His throat, now full of pizza slices, Lothar could do nothing but choke and feel his body slowly getting weaker.
'Where's… My… Air…? Plot-armor… Save… Me…' Lothar reached out for the holographic window hovering in front of him as he choked on his food, his eyes lulling to a close as he felt his consciousness leave him…
[]
[]
[]
"BLSDFAFJAFKASLLASFJASKD!!!" Yelling out as he shot straight back up, Lothar felt his heart beat faster than ever before, the light outside the tent flickering as the wind flew by. "…Wha…? A dream…? Am I developing trauma against pizzas now…?"
A quick review of his memory told him, yes, he was developing traumatism against pizza now…
"Lothar!" From outside, the flaps of his tent flew open as Elora came rushing inside, her blade unsheathed and ready to strike down any foe that she might come across. She scowled at the human, seeing no other figure except the sheepish-looking Lothar. "What happened?"
"… I had a nightmare…" Lothar chuckled a bit at his ridiculous statement, but it was a fact and there was no denying it. "Nothing too dangerous…"
"… I see…" Elora glared at Lothar for a bit before sighing and sheathing her blade back into its scabbard. "Want to talk about it?"
This got Lothar to look up at Elora in confusion. Talk with her about his nightmare? What was he supposed to say? He died because he choked on food that rebelled against him?
"… Well, it's a really confusing nightmare, but nonetheless scary." But Lothar decided to tell her anyway. Might as well tell her something, rather than let her speculate. "It was simple, really. I was eating food when suddenly, the food grew eyes and choked me to death by jumping into my mouth…"
"… Are you serious…?" Lothar nodded at her befuddled state, a bit of a chuckle coming out of his lips because of her current stature. "Well… That is… A rather weird nightmare... You'll probably get over it soon."
"Maybe. As long as I don't see the food anytime soon." Lothar chuckled, and Elora couldn't help but chuckle at his humor.
"Anyway, it's almost time for us to change shifts, so I'll go rest." Elora yawned as she moved to leave the tent. "Just yell out if something happens."
"Understood." And with their conversation over, Lothar slowly got up from his position and got ready for a few hours of guard duty.
[]
[]
[]
"Lothar, do you know how to use magic?" Millana, who was somehow sitting on Lothar's shoulders, tapped the human's head with her hand and asked a question. Lothar looked up and saw her normally expressionless face, before shaking his head, his hair tickling Millana a bit due to her body pressing against his head.
"Nope. I haven't really gotten the time to learn how to use magic." Lothar spoke out the words like he had been rehearsing them for a year now. 'Can't let them know that magic didn't exist on Earth… Or maybe they did and were just hidden from the common populace.'
"… I will teach you." Lothar stopped moving and stared bug-eyed at Millana. Elora, who was leading the way, noticed the abrupt stop and looked back; the scene of Millana and Lothar staring at each other with different expressions welcomed her sight.
"… Uh… Not to be an asshole, but… Why?" Lothar tried to scratch his head, but hit the lower back of Millana instead. Whether she noticed it or not, she didn't show, but Millana was not perturbed. "Why would you teach a total stranger how to use magic?"
"You have great magic potential, but are weaker than the weak mages in my tribe." Lothar sweatdropped at the insult, but took it in stride. "You also have a unique affinity for the void, a type of magic incredibly hard to learn by even the most outstanding mages."
At the mention of the void, Lothar stood stock still, his mind being brought back to that hellhole of infinite darkness. His breathing grew violent as his body began to shake. Noticing his plight, Millana quickly dropped down from the human and Elora swiftly rushed towards Lothar, who was starting to have a panic attack.
Although their help wasn't needed because Lothar was able to compose himself before everything got dire.
"… Sorry, but let's just say I have bad memories of that… particular word…" Lothar grimaced, and Millana nodded with understanding. Elora was looking at Lothar with pity as she laid a hand on his trembling shoulder.
"Are you okay with moving on, or should we rest here for the night?" Lothar twisted his neck to look at Elora's worried look, before shrugging it off and giving her a smile.
"Let's continue." Elora nodded, and with their conversation done, the three of them continued onwards towards their destination.
'Just three more days… What could go wrong…? Actually, maybe I shouldn't have tempted Murphy…'