The coming months after that had been nothing but peaceful bliss for Basil and Ash End in general. No more monster attacks, no more devious deals, no more stress or worry! Just work at the bakery, go into town, and enjoy life. On top of that, Summer had finally rolled around once again, and little Melon was finally adult-sized, and her venom glands were fully active. Basil had to teach her how to use them and what not to use them on….which was everything.
The Goblins were still hard at work deep within their new citadel, and honestly, Basil was missing them, especially little Wander. Myeon was back to exchanging potatoes and other root vegetables for her silk. Bow and Ball had returned from there, as Bow called it, pilgrimage and to his therapy sessions with Basil.
Hagson was still M.I.A. The Lizard Men were even happier than they ever had been before and frequently visited the bakery for anything from visits, food, or exoneration of Basil as their God; he really wanted to see what their new village looked like. The Small Torah helped with small or odd jobs, and their tiny grass village had grown exponentially. Apparently, more had been brought with Bow's return. And the Halflings have finally fully settled into their new burrow and began expanding it to invite more wayward Halfling Burrows.
While Teto stayed at his home, squatting with Basil, who noticed how his eyes had started to change from blue to amber slowly. Apparently, Kenu developed quickly due to a short lifespan, which saddened him to know that the little bird may not have been with him for so long and isn't the cute little kid he found no less than two years ago. But he'd be sure to spend his time making sure Teto got the best of it.
One day in the early summer days, Basil was hard at work ringing up customers from Ash End. Teto was trying to package goodies into boxes and give them to Broomy for delivery. In contrast, the magically enchanted kitchen in the back worked tirelessly to produce the many goods the town flocked to taste.
It was challenging work, so tough that his now long hair would fall into his face, but he enjoyed it because it was something he wanted to do. And seeing everyone so happy, from the usually bitter old people to the young children smiling wide when they take a bite, filled him with a sense of accomplishment. It was so busy on that day that he needed more hands. So he enlisted the aid of the leader of the Small Torah, Peep, and the Lizard Men shamen, Pythor, who offered to help.
On one such day, Basil got a very welcome surprise. As he handed a bread bag to a woman while Peep took her money, he said kindly, "Thank you for your continued and kind patronage."
Just then, the doors flung open like they always were when any space was available, sounded off by the ringing of the bell, and a very familiar voice called, "You hoo! Basil!"
"Marigold!", Basil called out excitedly, practically jumping over the counter and running out the doors to grab the woman in a spinning hug! After putting her down as she laughs, Basil said, "It's so good to see you again! What's it been? Three, maybe five months."
Marigold just laughed and brushed herself off as she replied, "I guess it has, and-wow!", The woman exclaimed, getting the man curious and worried. She then twisted her finger through his hair, pulling it out to measure, and commented, "Your hair grew really long."
Basil blushed at the gesture and couldn't think of anything to say back until one of her party members, the dwarf bard, knocked her hip with his elbow and teased, "Just friends, eh?"
"Shut up you.", Marigold grunts at him while he and the others chuckle at them. Ignoring the lot, she replied, "I'm great, and man, have things changed around here.", she said while noticing just how much stuff and people were in his storefront.
Looking behind her, Basil inquired, "So, who's this cast of colorful characters you brought?"
Marigold motions to the people and introduces, "This is my party chosen by the adventure guild."
The human paladin was the first to step forward, taking and shaking the man's hand as he said, "It's a pleasure to meet you, good sir. Marigold here speaks very highly of you."
Instead of greeting him back, Basil stared at them with a weird look, making them highly uncomfortable until he finally asked bluntly, "Aren't you the guys who ran from town when Anaya attacked? Leaving Marigold to fight the dragon with nothing but her wits, speed, and a sword?"
Hearing this, the crowd gathered around his bakery and looked at the group while the adventurers all looked ashamed and awkward. The cleric tried to answer for them, but she ended up just blabbering, "I, um, well…you see, the thing is that, er…."
It wasn't until the warlock cut her off and griped without care, "What right-minded person would willingly fight a dragon, let alone an ancient one?"
"One with nerves of steel, heart of gold-.", Basil began to praise the woman who blushed at his kindness.
Only for the barbarian to cut in and put forth, "And stubbornness of a donkey."
This made all the other party members laugh, and Marigold rolled her eyes and groaned, "Oh, hardy har har, you guys."
After they finish joking, the bard asks him, "So Marigold tells you to make some amazing food."
Basil laughs a bit in pride and blushes while looking away, waving his hand as he does so, "Well, I don't want to toot my own horn, so why don't you try some and tell me yourself? The first one's on me."
So he invited the group inside as the last large group exited. Basil really did need to expand this place. Note for later. Once inside, he jumped behind the counter and grabbed a tray to place several kinds of assorted goods on it. But a strange noise broke the hustle and bustle before he could do that.
Looking outside, they saw an old man dressed in long, aged robes and a wide-brimmed pointed hat holding a staff. Accompanying him was a much younger man in new robes with a fez on his head and a small walking stick in hand. The old man was walking around the outside of the bakery's front door with his hands up and moaning bizarrely, almost like he was in pain, in a trance, or really high!
"Uh, Marigold. Who is that old man in the robes?", the cleric asked her.
"No clue.", she answered before asking Basil, "Basil, who's the crazy old man?"
"I've never seen him before. Maybe he's new in town?" Basil tried to offer, hoping things wouldn't get weird.
Unfortunately, and unsurprisingly, they did. The old man fluttered into the shop like an old coot, making the same gestures and noises. People tried to move away from him as he moved around in odd and uncertain directions until he finally came across Basil. He stopped his insane display and looked at the young man who stood stiff and unsure of what to do.
Suddenly, he ran over to the man and yelled, "You!"
"Um, me?", Basil asked back while looking around and pointing at himself.
"Yes, you! I know who you are! I can feel it!", the old man told him as drool went down the sides of his mouth. He practically threw himself at the man, dropping his staff while touching and caressing his face and neck with his hands.
"Sir, please get away from me.", Basil told him calmly.
"Oh yes! Yes! I can see it now in my mind's eye of truth.", the old man exclaimed zealously.
"Sir, please stop touching me.", Basi tried to stop him again.
"The power! The unparalleled power! It's marvelous! I must feel it further!", the old man ignores him while continuing to touch his face with one hand and his neck, shoulders, and chest with the other.
"Sir, I'm gonna assault you.", Basil calmly warned him.
"I've never seen such potential from one Chosen--", the old man said, trying to continue his insane ramblings until Basil manifested a magic frying pan and whacked the man hard enough to knock him clean out.
As the old man lay on the floor, the younger man ran to his aid and tried to wake him up, "Master!", he helped the unconscious man into a sitting position and tried to shake him awake, yelling, "Master? Master!? Speak to me!", but the old man stayed unconscious and unmoving, making the younger man look at Basil and demand, "Whatcha go and do that for!?"
"I warned him.", Basil argued back.
"Do you know who you just attacked?!", the young man angrily exclaimed.
"A senile old man?", said the warlock.
"An escaped mental patient?", said the cleric.
"Your grandfather?", said the barbarian.
"No, no, and no! He is my Master, the Grand Arch Wizard Gimbal Ivory Servante Umbersyle!", the young man explained before saying in a smaller voice, "And I'm his charge, Rocky."
"Arch Wizard!", everyone in the bakery exclaimed at once.
Except for Basil, who asks, "Was that a good group exclamation of one word or a bad one?", only to watch as the entire crowd runs for the town, making Basil's eyes stink down in fear as he mutters out, "I think I sorta got my answer."
"Depends on your view.", the bard tells him.
But Basil doesn't like this open-ended answer and exclaims in irritation, "Okay, enough of the damn riddles and just say yes or no!"
This time, Marigold spoke up, explaining to him, "Gimbal Umbersyle is one of only a handful of Arch Wizards across the land. He's extremely powerful, has been around for centuries, and knows magics that even the most keen minds have guarded. And on top of it, he's the head Mage for the Dauntless Kingdom." Basil blinked in confusion, so she followed up, explaining, "Which rules over Ash End?"
"Oh shit! Then I really fucked up!", Basil says as his eyes go wide in shock while dropping the pan. "But I'm sure no one will let him live it down for being taken out by a baker with a frying pan.", Basil tried to make a joke, leading everyone still present to stare at him. After stopping his laughter and coughing awkwardly, he apologetically says, "Right, not a good time."
But then Gimbal's eyes began to flutter open, and seeing this, Rocky exclaimed, "Master, you're okay!"
Suddenly, the old man sprang to his feet like the living dead and yelled, "Such a strong will!"
"Better than okay, it seems.", Pythor said from the side of his mouth.
Gimbal resumed feeling up Basil, and the young man yelled, "Okay, seriously, if you don't stop touching me, I'm going to hit you again!"
Pythor tried to bite the old man's hands, but he pulled them away just in time. Then the old wizard exclaimed while clicking his heels, "Yes! A strong will, heart, and soul! The true character of a Chosen Touched!"
At this point, the people who were waiting outside and hadn't heard anything before came in only to listen to this, and they yelled with Marigold's adventuring party, "What!?"
Marigold and Basil both started to sweat bullets, but Basil tried to dial everything back down again by playing it cool and telling everyone, "Ah ha ha ha! You sure are a funny old man. I have no idea what that even means. I'm just a baker living in the middle of butt fuck nowhere."
As Basil tried to retreat from him, the wizard grabbed his arm and proclaimed, "No! I know who you are! What you are! Basil the Chosen Touched! I have felt your power! It overwhelms me even now!"
This time, Pythor clamped his jaws around the wizard's arm and let the old man let go, though he showed no signs of pain. Even as Pythor whipped his head around to pull the limb off, Gimbal stared directly at the man.
As this went down, the cleric asked in amazement, "Are you seriously a Chosen Touched?"
Basil began to sweat and was trying to hide the nervous expression begging to come out. Even Marigold looked tongue-tied no matter how much she wanted to help. Basil had no idea what Marigold's party would do with this information, but he didn't trust them enough to keep it secret. What if this ruins his everyday life or her ongoing dream? Neither of them will get any peace with news like this swirling around. Constantly hounded for answers or some dangerous adventure he's forced to do! It would be too much!
Just before he thought things could break apart, one of the townsfolk from Ash End spoke up and exclaimed, "Ha! I think this coot has lost his marbles. Basil, a Chosen Touched. What a riot."
To this, the whole bakery exploded into laughter as the townsfolk all joined in on the jeering.
"I think the old man has finally passed his expiration date!", said one woman.
"Oh yes! The baker is the Chosen Touched! And the undertaker is actually the king!", laughed another man.
"What a load of hooky!", laughed a child.
Hearing all these people laugh and vex the old man, Rocky became very upset on behalf of his master and cried out, "Stop jeering my Master! If he says it, then it must be true."
"Yeah, and chocolate milk comes from brown cows.", Marigold also chimes in, allowing her party to laugh with them.
As Basil also played along, he grabbed the two men and pulled them into the kitchen, saying, "Why don't you both come this way? That bonk on the head must've done a bigger number than I thought. Teto, run the counter while I'm gone."
Once they were out of earshot from the shop, Basil forcefully pushed the men against the back door and hissed amongst the many magic pots, pans, and ovens all working to make food, "Now you both listen and listen good! If you breathe one more word of me being a Chosen Touched, I will feed you to my unicorn!"
"You don't have a unicorn.", Rocky blatantly argued, only for Basil to summon Gossamer at his side, who looked down at the men and snorted threateningly. Rocky went pale and gulped hard, saying, "You do have a unicorn."
"Shall I tear them to shreds?", Gossamer asked telepathically.
But seeing the two men, mostly Rocky, cower in fear of the enormous beast, Basil shook his head and told him, "I think they get the picture.", He then got uncomfortably close to the two men and, in a low voice, hissed threateningly, "Now take your sorry selves back to whatever dusty ancient tower you crawled out of and leave me the heck alone!"
"But-!", Rocky tried to argue pathetically.
"OUT!" Basil yelled before the back door was flung open, and the two men were kicked out, quite literally, by the toe of Basil's boot! As they both landed face first in the dirt, Basil popped out his head and chimed, "Thank you and have a nice day.", All before slamming the door behind him, where a sign hung on the back with the words, 'SCRAM!' printed in all caps.
Getting up from the dirt and cleaning himself off, Rocky quickly helped Gimbal up from the ground, where they noticed they were surrounded. In front of them was the entire Small Torah community, staring at them with happy smiles. However, these smiles were quickly discovered to be anything but friendly as a shadow cast over their eyes, bleeding their rectangular pupils and yellow irises to show their malicious intent. This was further prompted by the sight of them holding up various pointed and small gardening tools.
After leaving the two men to deal with the sheep creatures outside his house, he began to return to his bakery. Just before leaving the kitchen, Basil sighed in relief and said, "I hope I won't have to deal with him again."
Gossamer snorted and said, "I feel you may come to regret those words."
So the man despawned the unicorn and returned to his bakery, where the atmosphere had seemed to take a left-hand turn drastically. Even though the townsfolk had helped in diswading his secret from being revealed, which he was massively grateful for, Marigold's party was not so convinced as the whole scene and revelation proclaimed by a legendary figure made the air thick. He has to find a way to make things return to ease, but what? He was so close he just needed a little push, especially before the adventuring party became suspicious and started pressuring him for answers.
Then, as if fate was on his side again, one of the large, fuzzy, and dumb-looking Rock Bee drones accidentally entered the bakery and began bumping into everything with a sweet scent. This gave Basil an idea, and grabbing the huggable bee, he offered, "So, who wants to hug a bee?"
Unfortunately for Basil, Gossamer was very correct in his last comment before kicking the two wizards out of his home. Over the next several days, the two wizards persistently and consistently came to his bakery, making all kinds of noise and proclaiming him to be the Chosen Touched and other such nonsense he paid no mind to. Though it was more like Gimbal was making all the noise and proclamations while Rocky just sort of stood off to the sidelines and either agreed or parroted him. And to make it worse, he would always make the same moaning noises all the time and try to feel up Basil.
Only to be physically booted off the property. Sometimes, they'd have to be shooed off by the townsfolk of Ash End or even chased by any of the available monsters. This went on at any time of the day or night and in any intervals ranging from a few minutes to all hours of the day! As one could reasonably imagine, it became too much, and Basil quickly lost his patience. This was especially true when the two wizards' constant presence caused Marigold to cut her visit short to protect his secret. Then, about a week later, it all came to a head when Gimbal was outside his home and making those same moaning or chanting noises he always made when around.
He woke up from a dead sleep and looked out the window of the second story to see the old man standing at the foot of his Bakery, still making those noises and calling out to him like someone trying to summon a being from beyond the beyond. He slinked back into his room and tried to go back to sleep while putting one of the pillows over his head to drown it out…but it didn't work. And so he fell off the bed, pulling at his long hair while his bloodshot eyes bore holes through the ceiling.
"I can't-! I can't take it anymore!", he stressed in aggravation and sleep deprivation.
So he quickly summoned his fairy companions for aid. The three fairies appeared, sleeping, and nearly fell from the air, but were able to catch themselves before they fell. As they flew up to eye level, they rubbed the sleep from their eyes, yawning and stretching while looking at the man with a mix of tiredness and aggravation.
"Basil?", Slow comments.
"What are you doing?", Moe asks.
"It's night.", Flo states.
But the man interjected and exclaimed in a half-crazed tone, "Shut up and get ready to blast an old man!"
The three fairies looked at him weirdly, then one another, then shrugged as they all converted into the fairy amo for the Fairy Gun. The three balls of light encircled his hand, and he shaped his hand into a gun. He manically smiled while running to the window, tearing off the sash and pointing his finger at the wizards, unloading all at once!
Unfortunately, Gimbal countered his attack with ease. Reaching into his shoulder bag, he grabbed a handful of powder and threw it into the air while saying a phrase. The powder scattered and formed a barrier that blocked the three fairy bullets. Seeing his attack fail, Basil flopped over the window sill, sobbing in stress.
As the three fairies return to his side, the man bitterly says, "I can't believe I forgot he was an Arch Wizard."
"Arch Wizard!?", the fairy triplets said in unison.
Grabbing and dragging the man away from the window, they let him flop to the floor, where he told them, "Yeah, Gimlet Umbrella or something like that."
"Gimbal Umbersyle!", they all exclaimed again.
The three of them then managed to roll the man to his back, where they stood on his face and questioned him one after the other.
"What does he want with you?", questioned Slow.
"He found out about…you know what.", Basil answered.
The fairy triplets all seemed not to know what he was referring to, and so they stood in silence before Slow guessed, "He found out that you're still a virgin?"
"No.", Basil answered.
"He found out about how your hair looks from the back?", Moe guesses.
"That's the second comment I've gotten about it. And what about it from the back?" Basil answered and asked questions.
"Oh! He found out about you being a Chosen Touched.", Flo guessed.
Finally losing his patience to stress, he snapped while sitting up quickly, "No! He found out about me being a–oh no, wait. That was right. Sorry for yelling.", He apologetically said while holding the irritated fairies in his hand.
After fixing themselves and smoothing their wings, Slow asked, "So what does tall, pale, and bearded even want from you?"
Basil opened his mouth to answer but quickly stopped. Seeing this, Moe asked suspiciously, "You have no idea, do you?"
Basil awkwardly sweat dropped, trying to play it off cool, before dropping the facade and slumping over in defeat, replying, "Not a clue. I just wanted him to stop yelling about me being a Chosen Touched."
"Well, why don't we find out so we can convince him to leave you alone finally.", Flo offered.
"And if that doesn't work, we can start shooting, right?" Basil hopefully asked, only to get weird looks from the fairies, who made the man clutch his face and whine in stress, "I'm just so worried and tired, okay!?"
The fairy triplets sigh before following the man down the stairs and out the front door. There, they are met by the old wizard's strange hand gestures, wild eyes, and moaning sounds. The fairies are so shocked and appalled by this sight that they hope Basil will just shoot him right now.
But before they could suggest, Gimbal saw Basil and proclaimed, "Chosen Touched, Basil!"
Basil flinched, and the fairies flared up in anger at seeing this. So Slow looked at the old man's face and snidely remarked, "Yes yes, he's a Chosen Touched."
"Clap clap.", Moe joined in, clapping his hands.
"Ya want a cookie or something?!", Flo angrily asked the man.
"You have fairies!", Rocky proclaimed in amazement, ignoring their previous remarks.
The fairies shifted their focus to him, and Floe shot back, "Congratulations, captain eyesight. Do you also want a cookie?"
Rocky was taken aback by this and said uncomfortably, "I never knew fairies were so…prickly."
"That's because you keep messing with our boy!", Moe yelled at him while poking his nose.
"Now whaddya want!", Slow screamed at him.
Gimbal then pushed past the boy and proclaimed, pointing at Basil, "I want you!"
Hearing this, the three fairies looked blankly and promptly summoned their magical weapons with malicious intent! Seeing what was about to happen, Rocky jumped in and explained quickly, "Oh no, no, no! Not like that! Forgive my master; he's uncultured in the modern way of speaking."
The fairies all de-summoned their weapons and gave him an unamused look as Slow said, "Our collective mother is far older than him, and she knows.", The other two nodded in agreement.
Rocky blinked in surprise before asking in wonder, "You all have the same mother?"
"We aren't called the fairy triplets for nothing.", the three fairies said in unison, interlocking arms.
Basil got things back on track just before the young wizard's sparkling excitement overtook the conversation.
"AHEM!", he loudly announced, getting everyone's attention. I'm not entirely sure what's going on, but can we please get back to the topic at hand?" he asked in a 'do it or else' tone.
"Oh, right. Whaddya want!", the fairy triplets yelled in the wizard's faces.
"I want-.", Gimbal tried to say before being cut off.
"Yes yes, you want him, but for what?", Slow asked.
"We have journeyed from far away to meet you! I felt your power radiating from across the lands. All the way-.", Gimbal began to recall like the storytellers of old, only to get a unified expression of unamusement from Basil and his fairies.
"Just get to the point!", they all cut him off in a yell.
So, surprisingly, Gimbal got to the point and told him, "You must come with us back to the Dauntless Kingdom to begin the prophecy, as told long ago!", But before Basil could respond, the old man was already grabbing his arm and pulling him off while stating, "Come come. Make haste and grab your essentials! It will be a long journey to-."
"HOLD IT!", Basil cut him off while yanking away his hand. Looking back at the breathless and frazzled man, the wizard listened as Basil exclaimed, "I think you're getting a bit ahead of yourself there, super gramps. Just who says I'm going to uproot myself, travel to the middle of God knows where, and purposefully put myself in the line of fire over some vaguely scripted poem that you deciphered from tabloids far older than you."
"The master, of course. He says it.", Rocky interjects, getting glared at by the man and the fairies.
"And where exactly is my consent in all this?", Basil demanded while poking the young man's chest.
Gimbal cut in again and boldly stated, "There is no need for that. It is your duty, your privilege, your destiny. Now come, you are needed to fulfill it!"
Rocky clapped his hands at this and stated while happily turning to the man before falling off, "Isn't that…wonderful?", set before him in as not the expected smiling face but a forced smile that was used to conceal burning anger. So he stepped away from the fuming man and said, "You don't…look so happy about that."
"No, really? What gave it away?", Basil rhetorically asked, gritting his teeth.
"I thought you'd be happy. You'll be a hero and-.", Rocky tried to smooth things out, only to be cut off again.
"Hero!? A hero!? Are you kidding? I don't want to be a hero! I don't want to leave my home. I don't want to train or whatever you have in store for me. And I definitely don't want to be part of some thinly veiled prophecy that makes no sense!", Basil scolded them with a shout.
"But why? It doesn't make sense for you to act like this.", Rocky asked, but with complete innocence, like a puppy who got yelled at for chewing the wrong thing.
Though this didn't quell the man's growing frustration, and before he could speak or act, Slow offered, "Should we hex them?"
"That'll get 'em to leave.", Moe chimed in.
Slapping his forehead and grunting, Basil replies, "Honestly, yes! I'm tired of talking to these two brick walls."
But before the man could walk away to let the fairies have their fun, Rocky ran ahead and stood before the man while exclaiming, "Give one good reason: being a hero is so bad."
Basil shot him a look as if to say 'oh, really' or 'challenge accepted' before saying, "One? I'll give you several, free of charge. Firstly, anyone with common sense wouldn't want to be a hero. Second, it ruins and controls nearly every aspect of your life. Third, the unwanted attention. People hate you for no reason other than titless or connections. The loss of self, the loss of loved ones, the foreseeable ultimate sacrifice, shall I continue?", but the young man stayed quiet as a mouse while looking off to the side, uncomfortably. So Basil took that as his answer and said, "That's what I thought. I just wanna live my life as a baker and nothing else!"
"I don't see why you are so against it. It would be best if you had tutelage in order to control your unlimited power and-.", Gimbal tried to argue against him.
Only for the fairies to cut him off and Slow to chirp, "Tutelage? Did you hear that?"
"What nonsense.", Moe giggles.
"I think the years have finally caught up to him.", Flo jeers the old man.
While the three fairies were giggling to themselves at the two wizards, the elder wizard asked, "What are you three going on about?"
The three stopped laughing, and Slow inquired, "Did you not hear?"
They said nothing in response, so Moe continued, "Not only is he being taught magic, but he is also managing his power with help from a Night Hag Spawn."
"But also Gossamer himself.", Flo finished off after a long, suspenseful silence.
The two men gasped, and Rocky exclaimed, "That unicorn he summoned was the Gossamer?!"
"And he recently slew the Ancient Black Dragon, the Dreaded Anaya!", Flo interjected again with a toothy smile.
"So he definitely doesn't need your help.", The three fairies stated firmly in unison.
As Basil proudly smiled, he walked away with a swagger from the two stunned wizards until Gimbal opened his mouth and blurted out, "And here I thought you could walk the path similar to Prince Eidolon."
Basil stopped in his tracks to a skid, and turning around slowly, he asked in a dangerous tone, "Ah-Ha. What did you say? Prince Eidolon. You mean to say that you are why he's out there fighting monsters…at his age?"
Gimbal missed the hint and proudly proclaimed as if it would help, "Why yes! The moment I saw the Title of True Hero was passed, I personally saw that-."
Before he could finish that thought, Basil ran up to him with Quick Escape and decked him straight across the face! Causing the old wizard to fall back into an unconscious pile!
"Master!", Rocky cried out while running to his side.
Basil stood above the two wizards with ragged breath, hunched posture, and blood on his fist. After catching enough air to speak, he screamed at them, "That's for ruining an otherwise happy childhood for that poor boy, you sicko!"
Rocky shivered before the oppressive aura the man gave off. He was so frightened he couldn't even bring himself to cry in fear! That is until Gimbal miraculously woke up, ate something from his shoulder bag, healed his wounds, and caused him to sit up and then stand up fast!
"Such vigor and spirit! You truly are-!", Gimbal began to praise until Basil stood there with an irritated and unamused expression before activating his Sigil Magic and teleporting the two wizards away.
Much to Basil's determination, his sleepless state, coupled with his having little magic to cast such a potent spell, nearly caused the man to black out. As he fell to his now shaking knees, the fairies flew to his face, not out of worry but shock and irritation.
"Hey! You said I could hex 'em! Not fair!", Slow complained.
"I wanted to give them the shitting hex. Pooping pants is never fun at the wrong time.", Moe added.
"Aren't you two forgetting something?", Flo scolded her siblings, who looked at her dumbly. The fairy sighed at her siblings and flew to Basil, asking, "Basil, where in the world did you send them?"
After Basil recomposed himself, he replied, "No clue. I just wanted them gone."
"Basil!", all three fairies yelled at him, making him jump from their reaction. "You can't just teleport someone without thinking or knowing of an endpoint!", they all yelled simultaneously.
"Why? What happens if you don't?", Basil cautiously asked them.
Flo was the one to open her mouth but let it hang open as she had no response. So she told him, "Actually…no one knows. But it can't be good."
Trying to play it off, Basil assured them, "I'm sure they're fine. That super gramps may be old as dust and kinda daffy, but he is an Arch Wizard. Besides, it'll be a bit of a warning for next time they think of coming back.", all while hobbling weakly back into his home, up the stairs, and falling into his bed as the fairies returned to wherever they usually go.
xXx
Meanwhile, within the Head Mages Tower in the Dauntless Kingdom, a set of ruins glowed to life at the bottom level of the tower. The ruins took several shapes on the stone, and each one broke free from the ground and floated into the air, forming a ring. The ruins glowed brighter once the ring was formed until a swirling color portal opened up! Several tentacles shot out, and two wizards ran out of the portal! The younger wizard, who was Rocky, blasted the tentacle with different spells while nearly panicking! The other wizard, Gimbal, casually strolls out without caring or excitement on his elderly face.
"I can't believe he sent us to the Astral Reaches! Such power!", he exclaimed with amazement before swiping with his hands, causing a powerful beam of magic to slice the tentacles and sink them back into the portal.
Rocky acted fast and removed one of the ruins, causing the Portal to collapse and break the connection. Once safety was assured, Rocky sighed in relief and said, "I can't believe we're still alive! How did we escape that, master?"
The old wizard held up a strange cub of many colors that always seemed to refix itself into different cubes. He explained, "I always keep a Planar Homing Cube on hand, just in case a spell goes astray and I find myself in a different plane of existence. It'll always bring me back to my tower."
"For what it's worth, master, I'm glad to be back.", Rocky gasped while falling into a nearby chair.
"But we must go back!", Gimbal explained while grabbing his arm.
Rocky jumped to his feet and exclaimed, "What!? Master, it took us months to get there!"
"I've been there already, so now I can teleport back at any time.", Gimbal told him with a twinkle in his eye.
Although he marveled at the news, Rocky fell off the hype as he said, "That's amazing and all, master. But I truly think we shouldn't. Basil made it abundantly clear he wants no part in anything regarding us or the prophecy."
Gimbal finally lost his excitement, the light fading until his eyes reflected his physical age. He gingerly sat in the chair beside the one Rocky sat in and lamented, "It seems he truly would prefer to live his life as a baker. But I know it's all a matter of time.", he sighed deeply and longingly as if in great thought. He set his staff down and took off his shoulder bag with much more effort than when he first put it on. After slinking into the curve of his seat, he mused, "Fate is a fickle mistress; she works in many unseen ways. I fear the boy will eventually have to come to terms with the fact he will have no choice but to act with the prophecy."
Rocky sat beside his master and asked with bated breath, "But…what if he acts against it."
"Then the world may be doomed.", Gimbal said with dread in his tone.