My Sudden Monster Convergence

I didn’t understand what he meant by that, but that warmth I felt inside just made his answer feel right. I couldn’t argue against it or even question it. I just followed him. I just felt nice? No it felt like something more but I wasn’t sure if I could put a word to it.

I was happy the woman was alive, she could see another day! And not be pulled away into another world like I was. Though I don’t know if that’s how it works or if you’re unlucky enough to fall into a hole in space. But if it does work on death then she doesn't have to worry about being thrown into a world that has her previous logic turned backwards. Having to learn what was considered taboo is not only accepted but also encouraged. It can be really shocking. But then also having your body changed….. I’m lucky I didn’t go insane. Could every single person welcome that? Sure a few might love the change in morals or logic and I can think of a few groups back home who’d sign up. But if they couldn’t choose how they change or when it happened? 

I looked down at my scaled hand, the crystal like scales reflecting the light from the lampposts, creating an odd orange glow. I might’ve gotten over it if I stayed human and not a-thing. The thought of not being who I wanted to be, who I was, it’s. Cold. No telling if anyone else would feel the same or worse. I looked at my grandfather, still feeling the warmth I felt before. But at least I have my family. I’ll just have to keep moving forward, even if I get worn down.

But at least she’s free from all that garbage and really that’s all that matters. Though HOW she survived is probably an important topic. I might be able to resuscitate someone in a similar situation or even heal them like Jaque did for me. I could’ve helped Steph, maybe everyone I ran passed too. Maybe helped the woman grow her arm back?

My eyes slowly drifted over to my grandfather. He was mostly checking his phone, probably his email, while he led me somewhere closer to the festival grounds. The way the lights illuminated him, the shadows and light, it outlined his muscular arms. The creases and wrinkles in his skin looking darker. it Gave him an almost stylistic, rugged look. Like an old action hero, old but just as capable. 

“Hey, Grandpa?” I asked, breaking the silence between us.

“Yes? Is something up?” He asked as he put his phone in his shoulder bag and looked up at me.

Just gotta word this right so I don’t look weird. “I wanted to know if what you did for her would work for other people in a similar situation.” I asked, sounding almost like a hopeful kid.

“Not really. She’s of a plant race. What I gave her would only give you a random fairy's kindness.” He eyed me for a short second as he saw a pink fly hovering around me. “For humans, minotaurs, majin-mew and any beastkin with exposed skin, you can use a healing salve. Rub it around the injury, just clean away any grime, dirt or blood unless you want to weaken its effects.” 

“As for detached limbs, you can’t do much if you're missing a good three or more inches from where it was cut from. From that point, I'd say call a medical doctor.” He finished.

“What about lamia or succubi?” I asked.

“Not too sure how effective it is but you can pour weak healing syrups onto the wound itself. Their scales can be difficult to get around if it’s the tail part. And succubi? You’d need a heavy dosage….” He stopped, staring at me with narrowed eyes.

“Something wrong?” I asked with a worried face. “Should I not try what you suggested?”

He shook his head. “No. I think-no, I know that you should learn more magic.” He bent over and picked up a couple leaves then broke both in two. “Here.” He handed me two parts of a single leaf. “I’ll show you a minor healing magic called, Mayor’s save. It heals small scrapes and sallow cuts.”

He then held his own leaf’s halves and held them close enough that they looked to be touching. “The best way to close these is to use a script that means tread and fluid. In the case of a monster…….I think, thinking of one of those bio-healers that people float inside of in sci fi films might work.” He thought out loud.

I raised an eyebrow at that. “But usually the main character is in a pod with a hole in their knee or missing a few limbs. Not that I’m against learning how to reattach or even regrow limbs.” I gave an excited smirk.

“Noooooooo. You’re not learning nerve level surgery nor are you going to try unless you learn from a currently practicing and licensed professional. Wise ass.” He whispered that last part but my smirk grew wider. “Just think of the ones that use foam or some gel to heal a wound?” His brows pinched together. “When you get back to school, ask your magic teacher about healing stitch. That’ll get you closer to what you want.”

“Sounds good.” That gives me a place to start but until I get my new teacher, I doubt that Jaque, the battle nut he is, will help. I held the leaf halves up and thought of a goop pushing them together, channeled my mana into my fingertips aaannnndd… The leaf ballooned around my fingers and popped. Damn, not what I was going for. I heard a chuckle and noticed my Grandpa trying to hide a smile at my deathly healing. “You know, I’m not sure you’ve felt my love yet.” I said with an innocent voice.

Grandpa’s head snapped to me, face almost as white as a ghost. His frown grew deeper as he saw my arms flex, the muscle bulging around my shoulders and forearms. “Uh!” His eyes quickly zipped from one side of his face to another like a fly barely escaping a swatting. “Would you look at that! We’re here!” He quickly rushed to the side of a building with the name, Day-in Day-out, above the glass windows. He pulled out some keys and quickly unlocked the panel covering the latter to the roof. Looks like he owns this place? Could be a landlord too… I looked through the window and saw dark wooden statues, a playing board with white and black figures of knights and Oni. in the back I even saw pillar that was carved to look like a series of cliffs, several bonsai like trees and a waterfall or river that spiraled its way up the pillar. Nope, this is definitely his shop he mentioned.

Following him up the latter was a little weird with my dino legs and these clawed feet. The way I had to stand on only a third of that padding my feet had was pretty unnerving, like tightrope walking on just your tiptoes. Though I was able to move up the ladder faster, skipping two or three steps whenever I didn’t feel like I was about to fall and snap my neck. Which means….. I eventually met with a cross armed, waiting grandfather.

“Thought you’d be faster with your new height. That nervous about your new body?” Grandpa asked as I pulled myself onto the roof.

“No, I just grew taller earlier this week. A whole foot overnight. I didn't even feel coldness in my bones. Just knocked out and boom! I’m taller.” I said, trying to hide my feelings on, ‘new body’. The mere mention of it sent a millipede down my back, all those legs raking down my spine, egh!

“Well, just a fair warning, it’ll probably happen again. It does for minotaurs and most other larger races.” He pointed out.

“Yeah, I saw a picture of that drag…………Uh, the website said it was several meters tall. So I guess I'll either grow a foot every so often or have one wild growth spurt.” I shrugged but the moment my shoulders started to lower, I could feel them shake, no it was the bone inside that seemed to tremble. Luckily Grandpa was busy pulling out a large log disc and a chair. 

“Saw the picture too.” His lips shook then pressed into a thin line. “So if you do get that big then you’ll most likely have to live in one of the giant districts.” 

“Giant districts? How big do monsters get?!” I asked in shock.

“Well I went to one as a kid…” He rubbed his chin. “I think the biggest race I saw was the cyclops? The girl was huge and her father was taller than that. Kid me thought I was looking at a living mountain.” As he said that I looked at my arm, longer and the muscles looked larger. Oh god, how big was I going to get? “Hey! Don’t overthink it. No matter what size you get, you’ll have people around you to love you. So don’t worry, when that happens you’ll already be ready.” He then patted the log disc. “Now come over here, you’ll miss out on the performance. I promise you’ll love to see this one.” He said as he had a smirk on his face.

While we waited for the show to start I noticed how close we were to the event grounds, not right next to them but close enough that I could easily see the stage. It had several blue curtains that hung from the metal bars above, the way they were folded and even the white bubbles at the bottom made it look like a running waterfall. The stage had a smooth floor that looked like bark under crystal clear water that sparkled. While small brown trees hung around the back, they looked oddly hard and smooth, almost like a bulky plastic toy. Even its leaves looked weirdly shaped, like V and W shapes. Even the ground around the stage sat on was just hard almost rocky dirt, adding to the odd nature of the spot. If I ignored the giant mushrooms that were opening and closing their caps like some jellyfish or the huge pumpkins that were glowing with shadows of people walking inside them. And if I was seeing things then the horizon looked to be colored an odd yellow hue, possibly bright enough to look poisonous. 

It was crazy how it all looked but then I saw a swarm of glowing lights fly up from not only the town but also the forest. They all spun in the air, seemingly bouncing on the yellow sky, back and forth and when they finally met above the stage. The lights slowly spun around each other, slowly lowering into an upside down cone of lights. It spun for a few seconds, each ball of light bouncing up and down before it pulled apart like spaghetti. The lights circled nearby plants, mushrooms and even one of those weird snake chickens. The mushrooms started powdering people with neon blue spores which made some glow different colors, a few humans seemed to even get bigger like a minotaur and I spotted a few goblins floating and dancing in the air. The plants started budding bean pods regardless of what kind of plant it was, while the beans glowed, red, blue and yellow. The snake chicken opened its small wings and flew? Slithered? It flapped its wings and moved like a snake in the sky while the red fleshy part on its head glowed like fire, it opened its beak and-

*Bzzt*

A stream of blue electricity screeched out as it hit nearby bean pods. Then golden popcorn shot into the air but instead of falling, they floated in the air and grew mini palm trees with waterfalls….

Did the whole town enter a fairyland? As I looked around in confusion, the floating popcorn slowly changed color until they looked like floating miniature islands, turning green, brown and growing bushes. It then started pouring some watery mist onto the crowd which made their hair glow like shimmering soap and gold.

“Love the Giving Preshow.” Grandpa almost whispered, his voice full of joy but his eyes seemed to look past the preshow.

As wild as this preshow looked, I couldn’t pull my eyes away from him. Sitting there watching show, flashes of light illuminating his face. He scooted closer to the edge and leaned back like some ceo that was watching a presentation with an expressionless facade, pretending to hate every second word but actually loves the idea. He looked lonely.

So I just scooted my log closer and watched the show with him. 

“And now for the jordins you’ve all been waiting for! Here for you to end the night with a tale of old!” Came a voice that seemed to echo off of the trees, plants and stage.

All the lights dimmed, the fairies’ lights blinked out and everyone fell silent. A moment later a soft humming began, faraway at first but as it got closer, it turned into a woman’s voice. Her voice coming in like smooth butter, it had a joyful bounce as the owner got closer. Then the lights flashed on and there standing on stage was a green woman in a tight pink dress wearing a cherry red flower in her hair. She raised an arm and as she sang higher, the hard dirt around the stage began to move and crack. Until a few green things popped out, she sang higher and the dirt ballooned like it was filling with water before falling still. No matter how high or sweetly she sang, the dirt failed to move but unknown to her, the stage began to ripple. And a large watery bubble grew from the stage, it grew and grew until it began to shake and tremble before popping. Sending water everywhere, including on to the green woman singing and what came out of the bubble was two more green women, one of them looking oddly familiar.

The two newcomers both waved their arms and the stage started to ripple more and more. And then, water started to spill off the stage and poured over the dirt. The two walked closer and began to sing with the first woman, their voices melded together and somehow sounded like there were four people singing together. Weaving so well that I thought it was streams of water twisting, spinning and circling before finally becoming one giant stream. While they sang, dirt shifted several times before several bushes, trees and gemstones exploded from the ground, racing high in the sky before….. The plants, they just ripped a layer of earth up with them, then another and another. It kept going until the trees lifted the stage high in the air, ripping the earth it sat on up a good ten feet or more off the ground. The trees grew wider until they all looked like six vines tied together and the tops spread out like the petals of a flower or a giant hand holding up the stage. A stage that was spewing water that turned into a mist so thick, I thought they were waves of foaming ocean water.

As they sang the mist began to twist and swirl until a human shape pulled itself out of the mist. It was made of the mist and as it moved, the mist from its body and any it kicked up would swirl and float away as if it was underwater. The figure danced its way to the left until coming across a forest also made of mist where they not only ate fruit and vegetables but also met others. A minotaur, a goblin and a few fairies. They all danced and ate together until they fell asleep but as they slept, the women’s song dropped to a deep hunting bellow. It seemed to call out from every direction as if something from the very earth was calling out to the outside world. The mist around the figures began to twist into the air, forming tornadoes that blew the minotaur away. The trees twisted as tentacles spilled from them and pulled the goblin, trashing into the forest.

The human having seen this chased after the goblin, deep into the forest while two fairies went after the minotaur. But the deeper they went the more they started to see odd things. Giant claws that would fall from above and anywhere they crashed, would leave a squirrel or beaver that grew and chased after the human and fairies. The mutant animals all managed to grab all but three fairies while the human  fought them off with a sword or a stick and would launch red mist at the animal monsters. The four fought their way until they reached a building that looked to be mostly a pile of bricks, inside finding a staff with a ball at the top.

The women’s song rose into a dreadful screech as the human pulled away from the staff. But the fairies flew closer, the human pulled them away yet they escaped and flew around the staff, until it started to float in the air towards the human. Who flinched away from it as if it was deathly to them. But before the fairies could give them the staff, a huge clawed hand grasped the human and pulled them away.

From what I could tell, it didn't go well, the fairies flew into the staff, it grew and shrunk in certain places before the ball grew into a blade that shined like a sun. The human slammed their fist into the floor before running up to the brightly glowing sword that floated in the air and chased after the claw. A single swing sent bolts of wind and red mist that cut deep into the claw while the mist formed red chains around it. They then sent out a slash, from it a beam raced out, cracking open the earth wide enough to swallow the claw. The human raced up and stabbed the struggling claw through the palm and right into the ravine with the sword. It was there where the human left them, buried in the ground, they left looking lost, maybe depressed. Even the song fell into a sad tune that made me feel empty inside.

But by the end of the song, the goblin, minotaur and even some fairies appeared with the human. They all embraced and the song hit one last high, joyful note before it all faded away.