My Sudden Monster Convergence

“Oliver….where did you go?” Danin asked himself as he quickly rushed down the street. He didn’t find Oliver at his daughter’s workshop, not even a footprint and worse yet there was a mor on the loose somewhere in the town. He wondered why the watchers couldn’t do their damned job, letting a mor to escape?! He shook his head before quickly turning down a different street and running down to the next intersection.

“Oliver?! Are you there?” He called as he rushed forward, sadly there was no response. Leaving him with little choice but to keep running around like a headless chicken as he continued onward.

“Oliver!? Are yo-” He began to call again at the intersection.

“Who’s that?” A young wom-

“Uh, Charlie right?” He asked, a flash of recognition on his face. The woman had entered his store a few weeks ago and actually suggested the carve fairies drinking vinegar water! Everyone knows fairies love snowmelt and syrup.

 “YUP! Just uh don’t wear it out cool?” She stared at him with a large smile, waiting for a response.

“I se-” He began only for the woman to quickly sharply breathe.

“So you lost a kid? You know child endangerment and negligent behavior is really frowned on by the law.” She quickly advised him then paused a moment after only to begin as Danin tried to open his mouth. “Several races hate that kind of poor attention span. Why long ago, naga and even nya-jin would’ve had these people strangled or filled with tar like a balloon.”

“I see…..Well, I was just trying to find my-” He began.

“But I guess you could also be like one of those people who give a person’s name to a pet too but then that could be a problem that-”

“Jordy?! What happened to you?!” Came a shout full of surprise and shock.

 “Excuse me miss vinegar.” Danin quickly rushed down the street and into an alley, leaving Charlie mid sentence. She shrugged and lazily padded down the street and into another store. Shouting about grapeseed oil heals all fairy wounds.

As Danin ran down the Alley he found two green skinned women. One with a large flower growing at the back of her head with long green strands flowing from it like a ponytail. Her skin extended into a pink cloak that covered her shoulders to her elbows and while her trim waist changed from a dark green to a more vibrant one while brown thorns grew from her knees. The other looked to be a few feet taller around seven feet, her skin was a pale mint green that had a slight fuzziness to it. Her hair was a bright yellow styled like those newer anime in a short spiky bob cut, a curled bang covering one of her pink eyes. She wore a dress that looked like a closed summer rose that tightly hung to her large chest and hips. While she stood on spear like feet as if they were her tippy toes.

Between them lay another green woman, largely hidden behind a large bush that looked to have stretched to hide her. Laying in a pool of almost transparent liquid that smelled rather sweet and sugary.

“Jordy? What kind of heartless person would do this?” The one with the cloak asked, sounding more annoyed than sad.

“Don’t know but I don’t think our performance will be half as good without her.” The one in a dress said with a frustrated voice. The air around her shifting like large waves colliding with each other.

“Oh no! My honey pop said he’d give me an extra pounding if we did great. Now he might not give more than regular!” The cloaked one whined as she pressed her thighs together, almost grinding them against each other. The area around her feeling sticky, almost humid with a slight prickling like small needles. 

“The Jordin?! What happened here?!” Danin asked as he approached them slowly.

The one in the dress turned to face him, the air around her stilled as she eyed him. “Human….no, hunter.” The air around her felt like a warm breeze while a vine stretched out from the ruffles of her dress, pointing at the woman on the floor. “My fourth cousin is missing a limb and much of her stored blood is poured out. Forcing hibernation.” Her eyes widened as she looked at Danin, turning to wet puppy eyes. “Could you please help her?” She asked with a soft, almost weak voice.

“Yeah! Please help my bestie out! We can’t show our worth to our bonded without her.” The humidity rose and gained a nice fizz to it as the cloaked one quickly turned to him. 

Danin looked around, his eyes narrowing. He saw the large hole in the building behind them, brick shattered and exposed piping, it looked like something was dragged through the wall. Looking opposite of the collapsed jordin he found the missing arm with what looked either like claw marks or teeth. Right next to a clawed footprint that deformed the concrete.

“Alright, it shouldn’t be too hard to help her.” He walked over to the arm and used a cloth from his shoulder bag, picking up the discarded arm and placing it where it would've connected to the woman. Reaching into his bag, he pulled out a small bottle with a clear liquid that shimmered a gold color when disturbed. Uncapped it and slowly tilted the bottle until a single drop fell onto the woman’s clear blood before quickly pulling his wand out and mumbling fairy script. His wand glowed a dull gray color as he slowly aimed it at her head and with a flick, the light flew at her and into her mouth.

Her eyes shot open while the flesh of her stump began to grow like an octopus squeezing out of a can. Green string like tendrils grew and patted around, the moment they touched her blood, they bundled up into three thicker vines, greedily drinking up the blood. Once they were finished, they easily found the detached arm, pulling it close before pressing together until the gaps closed up into one single veiny elbow.

“Looks like a minotaur dick.” The woman in the cloak said, the air around her feeling jumpy and bubbly. “Think she can fis-”

“Sunny! Now is not the time for that.” The one in a dress warned as the temperature around her dropped slightly. She quickly turned to Danin and gave a small nod. “Thank you hunter.” The air felt like a soft morning blanket. “You have saved our performance. If there is anything I can do to show my thanks then please notify me or any performing mail fairies.” She said with a calm face that struggled to hide a giddy voice.

“If at all possible, can I ask your cousin about the nature of her forced hibernation?” He asked with a businessman like smile.

“Why of course! But please do not take too long. We have a musical performance to attend to very soon.” She said with a slight hurried voice.

He turned back to freshly awakened jordain. Who was rubbing her head while Sunny played with her reattached arm, lifting it and dropping it, watching it flop to the ground like a fish.

“Hello, I’m Danin, a hunter. How are you feeling?” He asked with a calm voice.

“Ugh…….. I feel, ok?” She looked at Sunny flopping her arm around. “Has it been a week already?”

“No. I healed you with a fairy potion. But I was hoping to figure out how this happened to you.” He asked.

Her brows pressed together, eyes almost bulging out. “A sugar mead!?” The air around her seemed to ripple with a heat not dissimilar to a lit fireplace during a blizzard. She sat up and bowed her head to Danin holding it low for a long minute before lifting it. “My arm……..it was…I-I was” Her head dropped, painted in disgust and shame. “I wanted to explore the marriage armors. I thought perhaps my cream puff would look extra sexy with a cod piece or something to make his chest look larger. But um….” Her voice lowered. “I found a squirrel.” Her eyes flinched at that. “It was fluffy and I thought it wanted some of the seed I was cultivating. I was trapped in its huge paws and before I knew it, the little brown thing had grown huge. I had no choice but to….” She looked at her floppy arm, slowly hardening.

“I struggled and snapped my arm off thinking I could stand the pain.” Her brows pressed together in a upset face. “I guess I overestimated my body’s endurance….. Then a few moments after, I heard something step into the alley. I thought it was a wight with how it appeared then faded into the background.”

“A wight?!” Sunny half shouted as she jumped and clung to the one in a dress. “Ryen! We must warn the garden! The humans too!” She turned to Danin with a fearful face on the verge of tears. “You must get your guardians hunter!” She begged as she hid behind Ryen. the air around her fluctuating and pulsing like a crazed heart.

“Sunny.” Ryen called with a firm voice, getting her attention. “Jordy said she thought, not knew or felt.” She turned back to Jordy. The air feeling warm and soothing like the sun on sore muscles. “Continue please.”

“Uh……The mor slammed its tail and……….then-then….it was slashed? Or it flew into the wall?” She said not sounding too sure of the order of events or perhaps too scared to remember. “Then a lizardman appeared but it wasn’t a plain old scaled one. It grew horns and large golden wings flapped behind it.” Jordy’s head snapped to Ryen, her eyes almost popping out of her head. “It was a lord of dark fire! Just like the one your great mother warned of!” Her other hand shot up and pointed at the now darkened sky. “It took the mor and flew into the sky! Then I woke up with everyone here.” She finished, her eyes stuck on the sky.

Danin’s eyes narrowed, this lord of fire sounded rather familiar to a certain lost glutton. But dark fire? What did that mean? While he considered this the other three discussed with whispered voices.

“A lord of Dark fire? But nothing is burning or reduced to charcoal!”

“I felt her cold mana, it swallowed me like an ocean!”

“Maybe it was a wight pretending to be one?”

 

 

“Oliver?”

“Huh……? Oh! Uh, hey Grandpa.” I waved at him from my seat, even the kid sitting with his grandparents waved at him. Everyone else just sorta stared at me like I gutted an alien from outer space and proceeded to stuff it in front of them. 

As Grandpa came in, his eyes snapped to everyone there, he took small steps as he watched them. “Hey Oliver. Is everything ok?” He asked as he frowned at the people there.

I tilted my head away for a moment before deciding to shrug. I’m ok, completely fine, nothing to worry over. “Yeah. Just got lost….uh, Soooo, wanna head out?” I asked as I slowly stood up like it was time to go home from a party.

“In a moment.” He said before quickly making his way to the kitchen. He poked his through the door then walked in.

Great. Now it was just me and staring people again. While I stood there, I considered how today went. Saw lots of people and how they celebrated their hero’s kind gesture as something like love. It was kinda sweet to see, I might’ve even participated if I knew a cutie that wasn’t me and had significantly less scales, wings, tail. And wasn’t a dragoness…. Got loads of things at the random shops, souvenirs included though I wonder if my friends back home will like them? Also saw Mom win every grand prize she set her eyes on.

The creepy alley….that annoying woman…………the dead one….the blood and gunk…. My shattere-!

My hand shot up to my head but all I found was bits of glass, some red powder and much of my hair sticking up or rolled into bundles….The only thing I could find of the glass flower crown was the rubber parts that clung to my horns. I quickly removed and pocketed them. Sadly my coat jacket was ripped up and had several holes in it too. Covered in red and brown dust, it looked like I stepped out of a battlefield.

Right…..that explains the people and might make things harder to ex-

“Come along Oliver. We have work to do.” Grandpa called as he casually strode for the door.

Right. Work.

The moment we left the restaurant and the door closed, Grandpa looked at me. His eyes narrowed, slowly going from my head, down to my feet. His face morphed into a very worried one, eyes getting watery and a deep shadowy frown.

“Oliver.” He said but it sounded like he was asking a question or hoping for something. He swallowed. “Are you feeling ok?” 

“Uh-yeah? It was kinda frustrating to lose Mom.” I said honestly.

“Then what happened in the alley wasn’t unnerving? The blood or that mor?” He quickly shot back, his eyes narrowing.

“I…” I paused, feeling a dull ache in my chest when I tried to keep a calm facade. Instead, flashes of the green woman laying lifeless on the ground carved its way through my head. The clear liquid, her chewed up arm tossed aside. Dead, gone from this world, maybe even from all worlds. I looked Grandpa in the eyes as my brows flared together. “Then you saw the green lady.”

“Yes.” He answered flatly as he kept eye contact. “Her friends are taking care of her.”

“I see.” I failed to hold myself back as a sigh escaped my lips. Damn it. “Then I guess they want to press charges?” I asked. They probably saw me leave. Might even think I killed their friend.

Grandpa’s face changed from suppesting to a serious face. “W-what? You saved their friend. No one would blame you for that.”

“HUH?! But-she was dead! What kind of person can live through a missing arm?! She died before I could do anything to help her and her friends coming, spooked me……I…I ran.” My hurried voice falling to a whisper.

Grandpa just looked at me, his head moving as if he was thinking or wanting to say something before finally closing his eyes and sighing. “Look. You saved her life and the town by handling that thing” His eyes seemed to have a sudden intensity to them as he spoke. “I’d rather you didn’t rush off into danger or run when things look difficult.” He said honestly before dropping his shoulders.

Alive? She’s not dead? Not pulled to another world? She’s here! ALIVE!

“Is your mana concealer still workin-” He finally began but my hands clasped his shoulders as my eyes forced in on him.

“She’s alive?! I-I, thank GOD!” I shouted as my heart happily banged a thousand gongs and wet liquid stuff poured out through my eyes! I instantly pulled Grandpa into a full body hug, wrapping my arms, wings and tail around him. “She gets to see more! Gets to have a life!” I swung him side to side in my hug, giving a tighter and tighter squeeze.

“Oli-ver?!” Grandpa tapped my shoulder. “Too tight!” He gasped out.

“OH!” I quickly put him down but when I tried backing away, he almost tripped. My tail had looped itself around his leg. “Uh, Sorry about that.” I tried to remove it but felt weird to do so, even my mind didn’t like the idea of letting go.

Grandpa’s eyes widened for a moment before he started chuckling all while I started to pull on my clingy tail. It wouldn’t listen no matter what I did, I was so focused on trying to remove it that I didn't notice Grandpa had reached down until he started to pat it. That-it……it felt soft and warm? Like a long hug or like holding hands with someone you love. I-uh, that…what’s going on?

With that my tail loosened its grip and slowly pulled away but inside my chest lingered on that warm, more than happy feeling. “Uh, w-what was that?” I barely manage to stutter out.

Grandpa looked at me and smiled. “Proof you’re a good egg.” He patted my shoulder before turning toward the festival grounds. “Come on. I know a spot where we can watch the show together.”