“Is this a normal thing?” I asked Yen. We stood in front of their house, witnessing the clown show.

  Basil was strutting towards us with Daena by his side. A mountain of goods and baskets were layered on top of his arms. His face, which was already covered by his ruffled hair, was now buried.

  “It’s fine, it’s actually below average for this week’s groceries. We still have some Terror Raptor leftovers from yesterday,” Yen replied.

  “It’s a shame that Aktaaf already left in the early morning. I was hoping to thank him before he left.”

  “Don’t worry about it, Mom and Dad have a good system down for managing things. I want to find someone to rely on just like them,” Yen replied with pursed lips. She stared at the two with a wistful expression.

  “Too fiery,” Haunt muttered.

  “What did that obnoxious bug say?” she shouted. Haunt curled behind me whilst beckoning the infuriated sister with his legs.

  “Too angry,” he hammered.

  “Hmph, stealing Mom’s attention away. Basil already takes some of it, now this Nighthaunter crawls in and starts bribing her with alchemy ingredients?” muttered Yen. She began idly kicking dirt at Haunt as Daena and Basil drew near.

  “Very mature for an eighty-year-old elf,” I laughed.

  “Hey! We age differently than other races!”

  “What’re you two shouting about?” yelled Basil. He chucked the mountain of goods on the ground. Daena maneuvered out of the way as they let out a dull roar.

  “Let me guess, it’s just like the dishes, you don’t let Daena use her magic to carry the goods because carrying them yourself builds character?” I asked.

  “…No,” he said, twiddling his fingers, “I don’t want Mom to carry anything or use any magic while she shops.”

  “My son is so sweet isn’t he?” Daena said, squeezing Basil’s cheeks. “You know, when he was ten years old, he swore to me he’d always carry the groceries for me—”

  “I’M GOING TO WAIT AT THE NORTH GATE, GOODBYE,” shouted Basil, booking it away from our group.

  “He means well, just don’t tell him I cast magic to make the goods slightly lighter,” she said, winking at us.

  “He forgot to take any of the supplies you prepared for him,” Yen said.

  “Supplies?” I asked.

  “I spent some time going over my old enchantments and brews, I figured you might need them in your travels,” Daena said. She rifled through the mound of goods and pulled out a small box.

  Opening it revealed to us a ruby pendant, a vial, and a carved wooden figurine of a butterfly. The pendant had a glossy sheen that reflected incoming light. The vial was vomit green, with the occasional bubble fizzling at the bottom. Did the wooden butterfly move?

  “Use that pendant if your group is ever in danger. It will create a protective bubble, giving me and Aktaaf enough time to fly over. Finding your friend is a big priority, but to meet her you must survive in one piece,” Daena said.

  “Thank you…this didn’t take too long for you to enchant, did it?”

  “Don’t fret, this is my specialty. Now, if you meet a particularly fearsome foe, use that vial of acid. I concentrated the venom Haunt graciously gave me.”

  Haunt covered his eyes as Daena finished speaking. One of them peaked through as she waved at him. A lingering leg gently waved back.

  “Finally, after it is all said and done. If you need to fly back after finding your friend, summon my old friend. Throw it into the air and they should transmute. Please force Basil to ride with you. Knowing my son, he’ll go off hunting or working out for a season,” Daena said.

  “You have a place to keep those things? My mom put a lot of effort into—mmmph!” Yen cried as Daena put a hand over her mouth.

  “Go on, and good luck Sallix, Haunt,” Daena smiled.

  **********

  “So, what did my mom end up giving us?” asked Basil. We were already out of the village. The gate rumbled shut behind us as the final bits of civilizations prostrated before the overwhelming majesty of the forest ahead of us.

  Exploring Fleurwind, the people, the shops, everything…that would have been amazing. But how can I be excited about that when I have a twenty-year-old overdue apology? Vila needs to be here to explore with us. Only then, and only then will I have the courage.

  “Uhh, so I guess nothing then?” Basil asked again. His voice snapped me out of my brooding. Let’s find our friend.

  “Sorry, and your mom ended up giving us a few backup items,” I replied, showing Basil the handcrafted goods Daena had given us. He slapped his forehead and let out a dull groan.

  “I keep telling her we don’t need it. I’m here to protect things now. She won’t even need to lift a single finger,” he muttered.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  “You know, she does that not because she thinks little of you. She just wants to help her son. You will never, not be her son.”

  Basil continued marching forward, his hand fiddled with the ruby pendant. He pursed his lips…but they disintegrated into an early spring smile. “Yeah, and she’ll always be my Mom.”

  “Switch moms?” asked Haunt.

  “Over my dead body,” he laughed. Basil curled his hands around his eyes and began peering out into the forest. “Now let me scout out the forest,” he continued.

  “There’s no glass to magnify your view,” I said.

  “Don’t tell my eyes that! They’re just starting to believe my hands. You’ll never see far with that kind of attitude.”

  “…So what do your elf eyes see.”

  “Nothing, the forest is not on my side today,” Basil said defeatedly. His shoulder slumped down with his spirit. “Maybe if I yell loud enough, the monsters will come to us!” he said, jumping back to his feet.

  “No, I got it,” Haunt and I said in unison. His body had already flown into the nearby trees. I turned to Basil, “what monsters can we expect?”

  “We’ve just started our journey, at most, we got some Pitcher Plants and a few Furgal Bears. Speaking of which…oh Lesi~” Basil shouted.

  The familiar brown bear came barreling through the bushes. Lesi tackled Basil to the ground as her tongue began noisily licking his hair. It was unfamiliar, the regular pinkish hue I expected was shattered by a tongue covered in green moss.

  Amid Basil prying away Lesi’s maw, Haunt managed to return.

  “Large plants in group. Further up,” he said.

  The fungal networks across the earth reaffirmed Haunt’s scouting. Major complaints rocketed through the hyphae network. Five plants were stealing the nutrients of nearby trees.

  “Let’s go,” I said.

  “You sure you don’t want me to shout for the monsters’ attention? I’m pretty sure we can take them,” said Basil, flexing his biceps.

  “Out of curiosity, how would you kill a ghost if you only rely on your muscles?”

  “Clearly, if you punch anything hard enough, it will die,” he replied, wearing a self-satisfied smirk as if he discovered the solution to a Millenium Prize problem. The blinding confidence that Basil emitted complimented the self-doubts I had about our mission.

  “Why help us? You already led us to your home and your parents helped chart out our course,” I asked, lifting a tree branch for the group. Lesi lazily pawed at her ears as Haunt continued fastening silk strands along her back. The occasional fly would end up getting trapped in the rudimentary bug catcher.

  “Because I want to help. What else is there to justify? You’re not a bad monster, are you?” he replied.

  “No…I guess not.”

  “Besides, I get some fighting experience this way!”

  Stumbling through the path revealed our foe. The group of pitcher plants, blown up to the size of an adult man, were arranged in a circle. Their leaves camouflaged them amongst the surrounding foliage.

  A robin flew to the edge of one of the plants. Its beak nibbled the side of the plant, licking up some of the dew that had collected. As it scurried along the edge, it made a fatal move. A foot slipped from the edge, and the bird disappeared into its gullet. It didn’t have time to chirp before being drowned in the gastric acids.

  “What is it doing,” asked Haunt.

  “It’s digesting a bird, menacingly!” cried Basil.

  “Can’t we avoid them?” I asked.

  Basil chucked a pebble onto one of the overgrown roots. The moment it hit the appendage, hundreds of smaller roots grasped the pebble tightly…and then let go.

  “If prey doesn’t fall in first, they’ll grab whatever’s nearby and forcefully chuck em in. You’re a tree so they won’t care about you,” Basil replied.

  “Wow, thanks.”

  “But for the rest of us, we have to kill them, their roots have spread everywhere,” Basil said, cracking his knuckles.

  “Okay so do we burn them from a range? Would Haunt’s venom work? Can’t I just—”

  “AHHHHHHHH,” screamed Basil as he charged into the entire group of plants. Lesi concurred and roared with him.

  “We abandon?” Haunt asked.

  “No…we help,” I said with the maximum depressive lilt I could muster.

  The duo reached the nearest plant and immediately began beating at the nearby roots. Whenever a vine would grasp around either figure, the other would swiftly punch or gnaw it off. Basil’s punches and Lesi’s bits ransacked the plants.

  A few mana circles will do the trick. Two fireballs the size of Basil’s head roared through the air and crashed into two Pitcher Plants. Their stomach acid bled out through the gaping wounds.

  “Aw, it reeks of spoiled apples,” Basil complained, holding his nose close with a hand. A vine managed to grasp around his foot and hold him up in the air. Lesi tried to jump for him before getting similarly bound up.

  “You’ll be fine!” I yelled. I careened through the area, my roots smashing into the opposing plants. No attempts were made to stop my advance. I reached the plant holding up Basil and Lesi. The vines swung them around wildly in the air.

  “I think I might be vacating my stomach again!” Basil choked.

  “Haunt!” I yelled, “Make a landing net for them!” Haunt skittered off the other remaining pitcher plant. Two holes were neatly pierced into its side. The former greenery had been painted violet. It lay on the ground twitching as venom spread across its nodes.

  I used up most of my mana, killing the first two plants. My roots aren’t strong enough to pierce that Pitcher, maybe if I practice with it?—

  “Yeah, it’s coming up,” Basil gurgled.

  “THEN WE’LL GO WITH THE OLD RELIABLE,” I shouted. Haunt had already made the net below the two hostages. I flexed my roots just like Basil during his squats. With one explosive movement, I flung myself into the plant, body-slamming it into the ground.

  The poor thing didn’t even have a chance to react to this wooden bullet. Stomach acid exploded from its body, leaving a scattered puddle of viscera. The final purpose of this plant was to cushion my impact.

  The vines holding up Basil and Lesi dropped lifelessly to the ground. Haunt’s net dulled their fall to the earth. Basil began dry heaving while Lesi’s paw rested on his back.

  “Where’d you learn that move?” Basil asked in between heaves. Luckily, no fluids were vacating from his orifices.

  “I figured I’ve grown enough where I can throw around my weight. I also got inspiration from a certain elf,” I replied.

  “Aww, really? Shucks,” he said, dramatically putting his hands on his cheeks. He turned his head away from me and bashfully stared at me.

  “Disgusting,” Haunt said.

  “It’s a shame about the plants. If you manage to harvest the sugar from the edge of the pitcher, you can make a nice jelly out of it,” Basil continued. He stripped away any loose strands of vine still clinging to his tunic. “Let’s keep going then.”

  “No, there’s still use for them,” I replied. The stomach acid did nothing to me. The sap dripping out of the corpses was also emitting faint mana nodules. I draped my roots across the bodies.

  “Grow,” Haunt nodded approvingly.