Inside a cave with glowing stones in its every crevice, Marty and Eli finally stopped coughing as soon as they coughed out this weird-looking, kinda reddish black blob of blood. It looked like a mix of marshmallows, gelatin, and slime. About the size of a golf ball.
"Ugh! What is this?" Marty wondered, trying to poke it with his finger, disgusted, but it wouldn't burst.
"I'll put it in my inventory for now," said Eli. "Who knows? Could be useful one day."
Marty shrugged but did the same anyway. He then inspected the black spots that grew on his skin. They were itchy and stung a bit but nothing he couldn't ignore.
"Why'd you have less of those than me?" Eli asked him, referring to the black spots.
"Don't know, man. Not like I'm a witch. How about we start finding these ingredients already so we can get this over with?"
"Yeah, good idea!"
Eli then checked his watch and counted with his fingers. "Well, isn't this a perfect timing! My cooldown has passed. I used it around 3 or 4 in the afternoon and it's already 11."
Without waiting for Marty, he started using his ability.
"The closest mystic stew ingredient from us," he muttered, repeating it three times. Then with a relaxed and stable position, he positioned his feet shoulder-width apart, his hips and shoulder aligned.
An arrow materialized in his left hand, a bow to his right. He then nocked it and shot it forwards as he turned to face Marty. "For the next hour, I will lose my sense of direction so I'm counting on you."
The arrow he released floated in the air. It turned 30° to the right and slowly moved forwards, leading them deeper into the cave.
***
Almost dawn when Lilia finally woke up. Donna was still rowing the boat and Lilia asked her what happened.
Donna told her everything. How they escaped the cannibals and got cursed by a witch instead. How they suddenly teleported in a boat in the middle of nowhere with piranhas everywhere. How she was starving already and how she vomited a disgusting blob and how that same blob came out of Lilia's nose when she was still unconscious.
Need not to say, Lilia was horrified but calmed down after a while.
"Thanks, um, you must be getting tired, right? Let me do that so you could rest," Lilia volunteered in rowing the boat, not sure which Donna should she speak to. There were two of them.
"Nah! It's okay. Save your strength when we actually need it. As you see, my power's pretty useless in fighting. That scream thing of yours is so f*cking cool. Besides, d'you even know how to row? We can't be going circles, you know?"
Lilia forced out a laugh.
"Haha. You're right. Haven't ridden this thing my entire life."
With nothing else to talk about, the two fell into awkward silence. Just the sound of waves, the piranha's teeth as they rapidly opened and closed their mouths, and Donna's rowing. It wasn't until Lilia suddenly flinched and stood, almost capsizing the boat in the process did Donna speak, breaking the silence.
"Is… something wrong?"
"I can hear people. Lot's of em," said Lilia while pointing towards the island they were headed to. It was pretty dark with only the moon's illumination. And because it was dark, they could somewhat see the huge fire coming from the island. "I can hear something else too," she added. "It's swimming towards us really, really fast. Here it comes."
And not even ten seconds after saying this, a tentacle rose from the ocean, stretching to the sky. A several hundred feet long tentacle with suckers running its length. It rose and froze momentarily before it rapidly crashed into their boat. The piranhas weren't ones to waste opportunity either.
***
The twins weren't in any better situation. After the blinding red engulfed them, they found themselves in a village. Thea was coughing like crazy as black spots appeared on her skin but Theo only felt an itch at the back of his throat. After putting all his points in constitution, like Donna, he was barely affected by the curse.
Only…
As Theo was occupied in healing his twin to no avail as it was no normal ailment but a curse, gasps and murmurs erupted from behind him, making him turn around quickly and was immediately surprised by the tens of eyes looking at them with horror and misplaced devotion.
He looked back at Thea who was in no way good condition. After all, she didn't put a single point in constitution. Instead, she put them all in agility and strength, 5 points each.
The twins had this planned out from the start because anything health and stamina related will be covered by Theo. While Thea was in charge of defense and running away if possible. But this seemingly foolproof plan obviously backfired on them and now, Thea could barely raise her head with how much she was coughing.
"Drusilla, the Goddess of Vengeance, has answered our pleas," exclaimed an old voice. "Capture the witch!"
"Everyone, wait! It's a misunderstanding!" Theo tried to reason out with them but none of the villagers was interested in listening as they grabbed Thea away. Pitchforks, scythes, and other farming tools were aimed at his neck.
***
Dexter's eyes widened as he saw who entered the meeting room last and was now standing behind Erebos, The Higher Up.
"As much as I detest having to replace Rat, we must move forward. And here we have our newest addition, the clown. Try not to disappoint me."
The Rabbit's hands trembled in anger under the desk but while doing so, the eye in Erebos' hand turned 360° and settled on him.
"Do you have anything to say, Rabbit?"
Dexter flinched as he subconsciously straightened his back. "Nothing, sir."
"Hmm… From today onward, please treat the clown the same way you treat Rat. That's all for today. I expect a splendid show, Rabbit."
The clown then flashed his signature smile: Unsettling, playful, and enigmatic. "I look forward to working with you all," he said while bowing in an exaggerated way.