Chapter 16 - Candy and castles.

Chapter 16

Zelia Pov

A castle like something from a romanticized Arthurian fairytale, rising from what could only be a swamp… or maybe a bog… the definitions were always so similar. Swamps were considered to be forested, this was something much more decayed and dying. A simple path leading through the muddy waters, bubbles rising to the surface like the last screams of a drowning creature.

From a path we strayed after giving that poor child Anna to the system, back to where we came from. Depositing her into a dark hole of red crystalised blood. I nearly asked Lilia to take her back with us, that it would be better for her to be by our side… but seeing her in so much pain, even if she was supposed to be just a character… It brought such feelings of motherhood to me that I only really have felt over Lilia and Kiera, something I would never tell them. I'm not the one that was deemed fit for motherhood… I look over at Lilia, my brain going from strange places to one of longing. Damn I wish I had that body in my arms right now. No, nooo serious mode here. Phew… calm down Zelia you dumb lesbian now's not the time!

Keeks looks at us both, surprise in her eyes "Uhh do you think this is where that psycho blue bitch lives nye?!" I mean it's kind of surprising I guess, I mean did her playthings build this?

Lilia coughs and shrugs in confusion, "M-maybe she just really likes pink moo?" I close my eyes for a second and then open them, looking at Lilia in disbelief. Keeks seems to follow suit as Lilia stares at us both back, back and forth before finally opening her mouth, "Uhh d-did I say something wrong moo?" Her anxiety ridden face causing me to instantly try and dispel her doubts. Keeks beating me to the punchline.

Her hands out in confusion she slaps Lilia on the belly, throwing her hands wildly at the castle "It's not fucking pink! It's a fucking blue rock with a door nye!" I… wait what?!

I put my hands on Keeks' shoulder and Lilia's side and hold them both, "I see an old Arthurian castle, like something from england… in a sw-bog! Like with a big ass pass going through it, like a huge castle, i-is this part of the dungeon that it's messing with our perception wan?"

Lilia takes hold of my hand and I feel her warmth, bringing a tingling feeling through all my moth's, a sensation overwhelms me as I feel the urge to scatter, wanting to cover her with myself. "I see… a pink house… made of candy and chocolate… l-like something from a fairytale moo.." She looks away shyly, a small blush on her face.

An idea manifests itself and I try to puzzle it together. "Keeks… if you were to think of what the blue fairy's home would be… would this be it wan?"

She stops to think for a moment, her foot tapping the ground, puts her hands wide and confirms my thoughts. "Yeah I guess, so dumb blue bitch dumb blue rock for a house nyhehe!"

I nod and state my conclusions. "So her dwelling 'changes' our perception to what we were expecting it to look like…" Ugh there must be more to this… something I'm missing… "Lilia, are you able to point to where the door to her house is? Keeks, can you do the same wan?"

Keeks seems to point directly to the center to where my castle door is, but the giant castle door was never a normal entrance, the real entrance is to the side. Lil seems to directly point at my normal door. This must be it…

I clear my throat and ask again to make sure what I'm thinking matches up. "Alright… where does your path start wan…" Keeks points to the right of where we are standing and Lilia to the left… mine also being on the right where Keeks pointed. "Okay… so it's a puzzle wan!" I look at them both with such happiness that they can only smile back. Then look at each other in confusion. Uhh right, right. "2 of us see the same path and the same entrance, but it's all jumbled up, so we need to follow the path that both of us are seeing, which is Keeks and I and then go through the door that Lil and I both see! The other way must be a trap or something wan!" Finally something in this dungeon that I can actually help with that isn't just combat!

I check my status information one last time to make sure I'm ready to proceed, the possibility that combat will be happening once we enter is all too possible. I had already distributed my points before, although I haven't had anything as 'fun' as Lil, I've been practicing with my scatter ability since we entered, considering how much mana and regeneration I have, it doesn't affect my mana pools enough to matter so splitting off parts of myself and trying to form symbols in secret has been too much fun.

Status Interface

Name: ZelAwoo

Level: 14

Race: Lupine

Gender: Female, She/Her

Max Health: 45

Max Mana: 155

Max Stamina: 54

Points remaining: 0

Strength: 10 (9)

Dexterity: 10 (9)

Constitution: 10 (9)

Wisdom: 50 (70)

Intelligence: 29 (51)

Charisma: 10 (12)

Luck: 2 (6)

Health - 185

Mana - 526

Stamina - 165

The splitting headache that is starting to arise is getting worse… but I want to get better at it… be useful to my beautiful companions…

I feel a hefty arm reach around my shoulder from the side and grasp onto me, pulling me gently into her, I melt into her embrace. "Hey love, you ready moo?"

I nod and inhale, making sure to get my dose of her smell, different from real life but still comforting and womanly nonetheless. "Yeah… ready, should be a cakewalk at least wan!"

…

"Pick me up pick me up I dun wanna fall nyyooo!!!" I try my best to pick up the screaming Keeks, barely grabbing onto her as she had fallen through the ground ahead of us, she was only a foot ahead though, and we both had the same path didn't we!? Lil grabs me from behind and pulls, taking all of us down onto the ground. "Y-you said we were on the right paatthhh nye!" Keeks tearfully looks at me betrayed.

I- don't get it, I thought I was right… unless there's something else too that I'm missing, I ask her just in case. "Isn't this where your path goes wan?!" She looks at me with big eyes and then shakes her head.

"N-nyoo… mine goes off to the side nye…" She puts to the left where my path diverges to the right. B-but we are supposed to have the same path…

Lil interjects, interrupting my train of thought, "my path is over there on the right now moo…" oh… OH! I groan and hold my head in shame. Of course there's three of us, so the path could cross all of us since its viering so wildly… that explains why the path is so long as well… lots of time to change what is real and what is… apparently a gaping hole into nothingness under the swamp uhh bog… whatever.

Keeks kept following her path thinking it was the right path but she went left instead… thankfully we were so close together otherwise we would have lost her… I hold Keeks close to my chest, wishing I had more there to comfort her with. "I'm sorry cutie… we need to keep checking with each other as we go to make sure at least two of us are always going the right way wan…"

I revise my plan and go over it with the girls. "We all hold out our weapon and point it to where the path is going, we take it very slow… if the path moves lots, then move your hands lots so we can all see it change… hopefully we have no more cuties falling into holes wan!" Keeks sniffs and pouts a little then starts muttering something about heights and why did it have to be her.

Lilia grins and brings up a better idea, bringing a big smile to keeks face.

…

"Forwards nye!" "Forwards wan!" "Forewards Moo!", Right Nye!" Left wan! Left Moo!" "Guide us oh great mooship nye!" Lilia has picked me up in her arms, Keeks riding on her horns and we have given up all sensibilities. Keeks having been revitalized by the prospect of being a pirate captain on the great mooship once again. Every few seconds as we slowly meandered along we would call out the direction, all while holding our hands out, then we would course correct as we went.

It was slow work… but it made all of us smile, something that was hard to do in this place. We finally made it to the end with a sigh of relief, then a squeak of discontent as Keeks was taken off Lilia's shoulders. I would love to try and ride her shoulders one day… but I could only feel embarrassment… I'm so much larger than Keeks… and surely heavier… m-maybe Lilia will use her release the titan's form and become bigger for me so that I can ride her… hehe…

Ahead of us lies the castle/candy house/giant blue fucking rock. A place where the Blue fairy lay waiting for us… surely knowing we were here now after our clown like display. Ahhh… I just want to go home and snuggle Lilia. I check my terminal for the time back home and see that only a few hours had passed, despite what seemed like nearly a day in here… some kind of time dilation… that's one way to make it feel more real.

I guess we should get on with it.