Bridget, Midoricha, and Gurenji continued walking as they knew they’d come this far and couldn’t give up now. They noticed the trees spreading out and getting thinner before opening into a clearing.
At first, it looked as if a bright light emanated from the ground in front of them; however, as they got closer, a red plant stood, encircled with glowing orbs in their sights.
“Hey, could that be it?” Murasakiiro cried out to them. “It fits the descriptions I’ve gotten from my sources.”
“Really? That’s the antidote?” Gurenji asked, eyes narrowing.
“Well, it looks pretty,” Midoricha commented.
“Whatever it may be, we should get it and hurry back,” Bridget said.
“All right,” Gurenji replied.
“Wait, doesn’t this seem odd?” Midoricha asked worriedly.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, it’s out in the open with nothing guarding it...”
“We don’t have the time to stop and check. You heard what the Princess said, didn’t you?”
“The Queen needs this antidote.”
“You should be careful, just in case,” Bridget called out.
“Yeah, I know,” Gurenji replied.
“What if it’s not the real one?” Bridget whispered.
“Who knows?” Midoricha replied.
As they approached the plant, the orbs surrounding it made a brighter glow. Midoricha stayed back, worried he’d get in Bridget and Gurenji’s way. He noticed what seemed to be teeth sticking out from the ground.
“Look out!”
Bridget and Gurenji turned around, looked down in time, and backed away. The teeth broke through the ground, revealing an enormous mouth as it swallowed the red flower. The jade-green creature had what looked to be a poisonous tongue with large amounts of tentacles.
“What is that?” Gurenji questioned in horror.
“I’m not sure...” Midoricha answered.
“Well, whatever it is, that thing ate the antidote. We have to get it back!”
“Now, who’s saying obvious stuff?”
“What!? Oh...”
“Not the time, you guys,” Bridget mentioned, breaking the two up before they got into another heated argument.
The monster dug downwards; the trio jumped out of the way just as the ground erupted, and it lunged towards them.
It used its arms to attack Bridget, who jumped, ducked, and rolled out of its way. More arms broke from the Earth, attempting to grab the Pilkons. However, they freed themselves from its grasp.
The monster summoned thorny vines along with its many tentacles. Bridget tried to use fire magic to attack the creature, but the vines blocked it.
Not a single burn mark in sight? But how?
She readied her lightning magic while the monster charged an attack itself. She aimed and fired, but her magic was overshadowed entirely by the creature’s hyperbeam.
“Watch out!” Midoricha cried as he dashed over to stand in front of Bridget.
He created a shield of protection surrounding them, causing the beam to part around them like the Red Sea. Neither of them could believe their eyes when the monster's attack finished.
“What the—? How did you do that?” Bridget asked.
“No way, it’s the Pilkon Pact!” Gurenji exclaimed, “A Pilkon can choose their Master and become their guardian!”
“So, we can better work together and defeat this enemy?”
“That’s right,” Midoricha confirmed cheerfully.
“Uh oh, we have to do something!” Gurenji yelled as the monster roared and chased after him.
Bridget thought for a second before coming up with a plan. “I have an idea, but I’ll need your help.”
“You got it,” Midoricha replied.
“What about me?” Gurenji asked, while still being chased.
“You distract the monster!” Bridget ordered.
“Are you kidding me? Ugh, hurry!”
More arms appeared from behind the monster, moving toward Bridget. She jumped to avoid capture and froze a few tentacles with her ice magic, leaving them hovering in the air. She slid across one of the frozen limbs to where the monster’s body was, freezing any tentacles along the way.
When Bridget got close enough to attack, she leaped into the air and told Midoricha to encase a protection bubble around her. Bridget went inside the monster’s mouth, interrupting it while it tried to unleash another hyperbeam at her.
Gurenji gasped as he watched the monster stop moving.
“Bridget!”
The monster grabbed Bridget from inside it and threw her onto the ground before escaping. Gurenji and Midoricha rushed over as the shield around Bridget dissipated. She laid down on the floor, coughing.
“Ugh, my head feels weird...” Bridget groaned.
“Are you ok?” Gurenji asked.
“Yeah, I’m all right.”
“That was intense, and also gross. It took a lot of guts to do that.”
“I wouldn’t want to go through that ever again, though.”
“So, uh, did you get the antidote?”
“Yeah,” Bridget replied weakly, taking out the red plant from her pocket.
“Awesome!” Gurenji cheered. “Now all we have to do is find a way out of here...”
.-.-.-.
“They did it!” Murasakiiro cried out, causing everyone else around her to cheer. “Now, all we have to do is teleport them back.”
After a while, Bridget, Midoricha, and Gurenji walked out of the portal and greeted everyone.
“Welcome back, you guys.” The Princess greeted.
“Good to see you again.” Benjamin and Sebastian greeted Bridget.
Bridget gasped upon seeing the two. “Whoa, what are you two doing here?”
“Well, it’s a long story...” Sebastian replied, scratching the back of his head.
“And we don’t have time for that,” Benjamin added.
“That’s right; we have to save the Queen!” Bridget exclaimed.
And so they worked together on getting the cure done. Bridget sprinkled little bits of the red plant into the bowl. She had ground it up while the Pilkons had left to get the other ingredients.
They came back and plopped them into the bowl. Sebastian used a spoon to stir the concoction and a knife to chop them into little bits at the same time. Finally, Benjamin created a fire under the bowl to boil the contents.
With the cure finished, Murasakiiro informed Bridget, who held the bowl, to place it beside the bed. Sebastian and Benjamin, meanwhile, picked the Queen up and gently dipped her into the container where the cure resided.
After following orders, they simmered down and waited for the Queen to show some change. The group heard coughing and groaning coming from the bowl.
“What?” A female voice questioned weakly.
Princess Murasakiiro gasped. “Oh, Mother, you’re alive!”
The Queen opened her beige-colored eyes and looked at her daughter, smiling with tears in her eyes.
“Oh, Murasakiiro, thank you, and I’m so sorry I made you worry.” The Queen replied.
She got out of the bowl and hugged her daughter while the others watched them with delight.
“You have these guys to thank for that,” Gurenji stated proudly. “They’re Her Highness’ friends, and they’re the ones who got the cure for you.”
I see. The Queen thought for a moment before turning to the rest of the group, “In that case, thank you, everyone.”
“Don’t mention it.” Clause replied, looking away.
“You wanted to go to your world and save it, correct?”
That voice. Benjamin thought as he could have sworn he’d heard it somewhere before, recently, but where?
“Yes, but how did you know?” Sebastian asked.
“It’s rather complicated.” The peach Pilkon responded, “But never underestimate the powers of a Pilkon.”
“She is the Queen.” The Princess added rather proudly.
“So, if everyone is ready to go, then I shall fulfill your promises and-”
“Hey, wait!” Benjamin interrupted.
“What is it, sir?”
“I... I would like you to summon some of our friends here if possible.”
“Sure thing. Who exactly do you have in mind?”
“Just two people... Isabelle and Nicholas.”
“All right, here I go.”
The Queen closed her eyes briefly, then opened them as her body and eyes emanated a faint, white light. The glowing soon stopped, and two humans appeared, yelling at the top of their lungs.
“Isabelle, if we don’t make it out of here,” Nicholas said, his body quaking. “I just want to say that I- huh?”
The pair stopped screaming and looked around the place.
“Hey, we’re alive!” Isabelle exclaimed, breathing a sigh of relief.
“But where are we?” Nicholas questioned, adjusting his shades.
“Are those creatures from Earth?” Clause asked under his breath. “They look just like us, too.”
“Just what is Benjamin thinking?” Sebastian whispered.
“Wow, this is incredible,” Isabelle commented, astonished.
She went to inspect each of the Pilkons. They trembled around her and tried to move away from the girl.
“Stop that, whoever you are,” Gurenji ordered. Isabelle ignored him, however, and continued her examination.
“How did we get here?” Nicholas asked.
“Hello there, we don’t have time to explain, but I summoned you here from your impending doom.” The Queen interrupted the two newcomers, “It was Benjamin’s idea, though...”
“I see. Wait just a minute, Benjamin? Really?” Isabelle and Nicholas stopped with what they had been doing and turned to face the dark magician, who stood there and watched them.
Wow, late reaction much? Benjamin rolled his eyes and shook his head.
“But why?” Isabelle asked him, “I figured you hated me and all humans.”
“Well, I know, but—” Benjamin inhaled and exhaled before continuing. “Look, what I’m saying is, I need your help,” Benjamin admitted. “The more potent allies we have, the higher chance of winning the battle, right?”
It caught Isabelle off guard at first with his response, but she eventually gave him a warm smile. Benjamin cleared his throat and looked away, blushing.
“Don’t get the wrong idea. I will not protect your world like a superhero or something. I’m just looking out for myself, and me alone. Plus, I need to eliminate all the competition to stop them from impeding my goals.”
“Right.” Isabelle teased, not buying a single thing he said.
Bridget and Sebastian watched Benjamin in confusion. He acted a lot different from usual, but why?
“Are you all ready?” The Queen asked.
“Yeah!” Everyone cheered in response.
“All right, then.” The Queen closed her eyes and opened them again.
Her cream-colored aura surrounded her as she spoke the incantation. A magic portal appeared in front of her, a mix of aqua and cheese colored.
“Be careful.” She warned them, “Once you go through the portal, you’ll be out on a battlefield. At that point, there’ll be no coming back until we win the battle.”
The others followed suit, too, but Sebastian turned and noticed Clause continued standing there, lost in thought. Before he could ask him what the matter was, however, Clause answered, knowing what he would ask.
“I don’t know. I want to be brave and help Streterra, but a guy like me will end up as unnecessary baggage...”
“How can you say that?” Sebastian pointed out. “Did you forget what Benjamin said?”
“No, I did not.”
“Then let’s go. You’re an expert at magic. Don’t you want to help save the school? What would Glenda say? Doesn’t she trust you?” Sebastian inquired.
“Not really...” Clause muttered bluntly.
“Then why not try to prove her wrong? Show that you can be a—”
“Glenda trusts you more than me, though...”
“You’re not very good at this, are you?” Gurenji commented.
“Zip it.” Sebastian retorted.
“Well, the reason I’m going to your school is to stop my brother.” Akapin declared. “So, go because you have something you want as well!”
“I see... You’re right.” Clause nodded. “All right, I’m ready.”
Sebastian nodded in agreement. He didn’t mind that Akapin could get Clause into a confident mood and not him. Sebastian was just glad to see his teacher back to his old self.
“Good luck.” Murasakiiro, Gurenji, and the Queen said in unison.
“Thanks, and thank you for everything.” Everyone else replied.
“You’re welcome.” The Queen and Murasakiiro nodded.
“All right, this is for our school and our worlds!” The rest of the group cried out. They hopped into the portal without looking back.
