With the hazardous haze now starting to dissipate, most of the party members were able to breathe safely. As everyone else let out sighs of relief, President Tert 's muscles began to disappear, his body mass quickly diminishing until he reached the size of the average, only standing a few feet taller than Nolai. Sitting up, he stretched and yawned before coughing out the rock that he ingested, saying, "Ahh, what a great nap. I haven't slept that well in ages!"
Gasping, Nolai ran over to her father and said, "Dad! You're back to normal!"
Looking up, Tert scratched his head and asked, "'Back to normal'? Whaddya mean, Nolai? Nothin's changed!"
"Uh, what? But dad, you were actin' all cuckoo these past few weeks! You were holdin' all those meetings, ranting about productiveness, and holing yourself up in this office all day! Hell, just now you were fightin' my friends here! You tellin' me ya don't remember any of this?!"
Getting up, Tert placed a hand on Nolai's shoulder and smiled, "Nolai, my daughter, I think you've had too much ice cream last night. You sure this wasn't just a bad dream?"
A deep blush covered Nolai's face, "Dad!! I ain't a little kid no more, I don't have nightmares like that! I'm tellin' the truth, believe me!"
"Sure you are." Tert patted his daughter on the head, "I bet your friends in the literature club would love to hear that crazy story of yours." Looking around, he inquired, "Speaking of which…who're these folk?"
Kantuta stepped forward and answered, "I am Kantuta. That orc over there is Yuchauzh. And this…" she paused, once again reminded of her friend's changed appearance, "Um…this is Siquioce."
Rubbing his chin, Tert walked towards Siquioce and said, "A Samanian? Looks a bit greyer than I imagined…hey Siquioce, Jumax walikïsktati? (You doing alright?)"
Completely unresponsive, both Siquioce and the chick on his head stared forward absentmindedly, their eyes cold and lifeless and their bodies as grey as statues as they let out a low groan.
"Hm…what's up with him?"
Placing his log on his back, Yuchauzh answered, "A few minutes ago, you were releasin' this weird black smoke. It's gone now, but something about it must've affected Siquioce; before that smoke appeared, he was all hunky-dory, but now he's practically a zombie!"
Tert raised an eyebrow, "Now you're spoutin' this nonsense, too? I'm tellin' ya, I don't remember doin' any of this…" the president's voice trailed off as his eyes widened in realization, "Wait…I wasn't suddenly muscular just now, was I?"
"Actually, you were." Nolai answered, "It was the strangest part of your transformation, to be honest."
"Damn it, I had a feeling…" Tert placed his forehead into his hand and groaned, "Nolai, I'm sorry for doubtin' ya; there really was something wrong with me!"
Kantuta took a moment to gather her thoughts before speaking up, "Erm, Mr. Tert, sir? Would you mind telling us what's going on?"
Placing his rear on the remnants of a chair, CEO turned to face the group and asked, "Have any of you heard of Yalda's Curse?" Seeing that the group was unresponsive, the goblin clarified, "Yalda's Curse is an especially powerful spell that can make any one person fall completely under the control of the user. It starts off only affectin' one person, but the spell can spread by havin' the host spray infectious gas all over the place. Worst thing is, I don't even know who cast it..." Shaking his head, he groaned, "God, I hope that Siquioce wasn't the only one I turned…"
Nolai shook her head, saying, "You might wanna take a look outta the window, dad…"
The boss gulped before walking over to the window on his right, his teeth gritted with tense anticipation. Once he peeked out at the streets below, a sharp gasp escaped his mouth as his eyes became like saucers. "Holy sh*t! My workers! What happened to them?!"
Yuchauzh responded, "Same thing that happened to Siquioce: they got mind-wiped. Though I don't see how that happened to him; I didn't hear him inhale or nothin'.
Kantuta stepped towards Siquioce, inspecting him closely until her eyes lit up with realization, "Ah, I think I know what happened! Siquioce might've been covering his mouth, yes, but he forgot to consider his gills. That strange gas must have seeped through those openings, I'm sure of it! And of course, that bluegull couldn't understand what was going on, so it inhaled quite a lot of the gas."
"Huh, okay…but wait, why weren't we affected? We inhaled some of that stuff, didn't we?"
"Perhaps it is not as effective over shorter periods of time." Taking another look at her ally, Kantuta's slightly proud look reverted to one of sorrow as she said, "But poor Siquioce here was not as fortunate. I fear that he may not be able to recover from this trance…"
Hearing this, Tert returned to the group, a serious look on his face, "I might have an answer." Without skipping a beat, he ran towards a closet in the back of the room before returning with a clear, diamond-shaped gem about the size of his hand. "I didn't wanna do this, but it seems like I have to. Nolai, I hope you're ready to say goodbye to this family's heirloom…"
Nolai gasped, "The Crystal of Cleansing?! B-but dad!"
Tert held up his hand, "I'm just as disappointed as you are, Nolai. But we hafta do this if we want to return everything to normal. Besides…" he gave a reassuring smile, "I know that you'll find something much more valuable later in your life."
Nolai stared at her father for a few seconds before nodding, "Okay. I know what needs to be done."
"That's my girl. Now, help me smash this thing, will ya?"
With that, the two goblins grabbed the diamond as one, holding both ends of the rock before throwing the precious stone hard at the ground. Once the stone crumbled, its pieces quickly disassembled, causing the air to be filled with sparkling bits of matter.
As this magical dust swirled through the room, Siquioce and his bird had their natural colors returned to them as their eyes regained their sense of life. Looking around, the Samanian asked, "Hey, what's going on here? Did the fight end?"
Overwhelmed with joy, Kantuta ran over to Siquioce, knelt down, and hugged him tightly, exclaiming, "Siquioce! You're okay!"
Siquioce let out a short grunt before asking, "What are you talking about?"
Realizing that she was being a little too affectionate, Kantuta got up and stepped away, straightening her robe as she replied, "Er, nothing. I'm just happy that we won the battle, that's all!"
"Em, okay…"
As Kantuta and Siquioce were having their exchange, Tert asked, "Wait, you can understand him? How?"
"Oh, uh, that's simple!" Kantuta answered, "I linked the three of us with a Translate spell."
"A Translate spell, eh? Interesting…anyway," the president smiled at the three adventurers, "Thanks a ton for freeing me, you all! Fjorjo knows what would happen if me 'n the others kept doin' what we were doin'…"
At this, Yuchauzh said, "Hey, that's great 'n all, but there's still a problem here: you and your workers are killin' everything with your damned factories!"
"Say what?"
Yuchauzh frowned, "You heard me. Thanks to all the smog that this city produces, all of the nearby plants are dying! That's the whole reason l came here: to knock some sense into you!"
"Wait a minute, lemme make sure I'm understanding ya. You're tellin' me that smoke doesn't help plants grow?"
"...You joking?"
"No, no, I'm serious! I thought I was gettin' two birds with one stone by both keepin' my business afloat AND helpin' the trees? Was I wrong?"
"Uh, yeah, absolutely. In fact, you're the exact OPPOSITE of helpin' them."
"…Wow. I had no idea." Holding his hand to his head, Tert muttered to himself, "Man, maybe I SHOULD'VE paid attention in biology class…" Shaking his head, he looked at Yuchauzh and stated, "Okay, I messed up. I'll get right to changing my strategies starting tomorrow."
Yuchauzh's jaw dropped, "Wait…really? Just like that?"
"That's right. Once the magic from the Crystal of Cleansing spreads to the dwarves, I'll send out an executive order for everyone to stop working as hard as they usually do. I'll also try to look into other ways of makin' jewelry, ways that aren't as harmful as they are now."
"Huh. You're…much more understanding than I thought you would be."
Tert chuckled, "Is it that much of a surprise? I ain't heartless like most other businessmen; I'm willing to accept my mistakes and change if it means helping others!"
Smirking in a victorious fashion, Kantuta glanced down at Yuchauzh and said, "Well, well, looks like your plan was unnecessary; all we needed to do was reason with him."
As Yuchauzh grumbled, Tert went back to his minorly-damaged desk and said, "Well, I think that'll be all. Thanks again for everything, I really appreciate it! Now, Nolai, would you mind showing our friends out?"
Nolai smiled and nodded, "Sure thing, pops." With that, the goblin headed towards the stairs, waving everyone over, "Okay, guys, this way!"