NOVEL NEXT Ch.77: Into The Next Event
Staring at the banner, I was largely confused and out of it. The medusa with the crescent blades was a total blank, even the other banners had a name for the characters or series but not this one. The sight of the blade hurtled chunks of boiling acid into my gut as my wings tensed, hovering over my shoulders like armor. There's more fuckers like that snake out there? That worm! If it was still alive I'd be having roasted shrimp right now!
“Oliver? What's wrong?” Steph asked as her own body height lowered and her tail coiled around me creating a wall. “Did you hate this character?” She asked in a low angry voice.
Turning to her, I ignored her silted eyes and stared at her. “Do you know where she comes from?” I demanded.
“From Sally's world of Mirrors. She is an ex-member of A-wave, a merchant company defense division. She helped the protagonist escape a doom cult in the show and sorta pops up now and then to tease and steal away odd useless items.” She reported robotically.
“Any idea what the group she was from is based off?” I asked, looking back at her curved blades, while the tension of my wings loosened.
“None. I liked the show but not enough to obsess over.” She responded quickly, this started to calm me down a little.. Maybe I can find the cosplayer? Why else would they have a picture of them up here. The anger in my gut started to cool off. Maybe the cosplayer has some info on the character or group……
“You guys cool?” Came a curious voice.
Turning around I found Penny with that guy who hit on me smiling and giving a wave. I think his name was Murphy? No, it was Alex. Penny wore a red skirt with a white hoodie while the guy wore a plain white button up that was oddly form fitting, though he still looked like a nervous weirdo. But there was also a pair of large eyes peering at me behind Penny's head and a pair of twitched black bendy straws?
“Yeah, just saw something that confused me.” I looked at Steph. “I guess we got a little worried we wouldn't find this cosplayer, she doesn't have her name written on the banner.” I said, pointing at the banner.
Penny looked at the medusa and rubbed her lower lip for a moment. “Nope. Haven't seen her either. Might be a promotional for photo ops?” She said before looking back at us with a raised eyebrow. “Though I didn't think Steph would be that aggressive.” She said with a teasing smile.
Steph looked at her like a lost puppy with adorable eyes as she looked at Penny and to herself, coiled into a ring around me. “Oh, this? Hehe, I'm uh really friendly like a bee.” She said giving a nervous look around like her mom was showing her embarrassing baby pictures to me.
“You think if I get popular enough all the girls would be after me like that?” The guy asked Penny who rolled her eyes.
“Hardly. I think you’re trying too hard bud.” She said with a cocky smirk.
“Hehe. I don't think you have to worry about that, Caramel Onyx.” A small bee person hoovered over to the guy from behind Penny's head. Her voice sounding like a doting mother. She patted his head with her bright yellow hand that appeared from her yellow arm fuzz as her legs playfully kicked back and forth.
The bee person didn't really look any taller than a toddler, maybe a short seven year old? The part where her eyes met her lower face was hairless and without a nose, there wasn’t even holes there. Instead the space between her eyes and mouth was shaped like the nose of a low detailed anime character. While large blue eyes that shimmered like several glass discs met her upper yellow hair. Her yellow hair was styled with bangs and ended an inch past her neck. Her yellow fuzzy chest was bulbous like an egg on its side and had four arms that started black at the shoulders but turned yellow and fuzzy at the forearms. While what would be where her lower ribs are and downward were black and smooth, looking like a girl in a crop top and black spandex pants. Behind, sitting above her rear was the large bulb that most insects had, her's was yellow with three black bands that looked like lightning bolts. Her legs looked longer than her arms with a garter with a flowing blue mesh vail hanging from around her thigh.
“Hey! I can’t find love or passion without a cutie to hug!” Whined the guy, crossing his arms in annoyance.
The bee girl folded her lower arms on top of his head while an upper free hand curled his hair and only giggled. “Onyx, oh sweetie what are we going to do with you?” she said in a knowing voice only a mom or older sister would use.
This was the first time I saw a bee person. I was now more confused than I was frustrated. I've seen a few different bug races already but never a bee before. She looks really fuzzy like a kitten and her face looks really smooth like polished marbles but moves like a normal human one. Her cheeks bunching up when she smiled, her lips moving up and down as she talked. It was weird, like watching a cute girl making interesting facial expressions or an animated show, I just had to keep watching.
“Oliver?” Penny waved a hand in front of me.
“Huh? Oh- sorry about that, just never seen a be-” I began.
“A waxiuan? Of course you've never seen one! We live in faraway cities that you would have to go on an adventure to find.” She said, spreading her upper arms to show how wide the distance. “Some even float in rivalry with the clouds!” She said in a mysterious tone as she wiggled her four fingered hands.
Penny shook her head with a nervous side look. “Anyway, Oliver, this is my mom.” She motioned to the bee girl. “And mom, this is Oliver, my clas-”
“You're pretty cute!” Penny’s mom cut in. “Though I haven't seen another dragoness, I know a beauty when I see one!” Penny's mom said with a warm sunny smile. “And you've got style too! Why couldn't I've been molted with a lovely scale pattern like yours.” She gushed with a toothy grin. I was really surprised at how quickly her face changed expressions that I was silently watching with wide eyes.
Penny looked at her mother's friendly face and back to me. “Mom, I think it's happening again.” Penny sighed while her mother quickly covered her mouth.
Huh? Where's my animated face? It looked so pretty! Give me your face! Or- The three newcomers inched away, Onyx tried to hide behind Penny who hugged her mother. Steph just watched them with a raised brow.
Stepping back, I quickly folded my wings behind my back. “Sorry about that….My mana kinda reacts quickly with my instincts.” I explained feeling a bit embarrassed while my tail curled around my right leg.
The first one to recover was Penny's mother who flew up to me and gently took my hand. “It's ok honey. Instincts are very weird when you didn't grow up with them. It’s ok to cry when you need to or get a hug when your day is too much.” She said with her eyes looking deeply into mine. M-mom?
“Uh…thank you for understanding, it’s nice, miss.” I said trying to keep my head above all the incoming friendliness.
“Just call me Moll-” She began.
“M-mom! You have to have a sense of authority!” Penny suddenly argued to her mother with a worried, almost strained look.
Her mother eyed her with a confused head tilt as all her limbs froze in place making her look like a floating statue. It wasn’t until her mother tilted her head to the other side did her eyes widen. “My my! Where are my manners!” She said with a clicking finger snap. “You can call me Mrs. Molly!” She said turning back to me with the biggest smile as if asking to be praised for getting an A+. Penny only slapped her hand into her face in response.
“Well, uh, thank you for your kindness, Mrs. Molly. Not many are so relaxed with approaching a dragon.” I said with a friendly smile while she rubbed the back of her head with a big toothy grin.
But before I could ask what Penny was going to explain, Mrs. Molly rushed off and asked Penny and Onyx if they could hang around longer. The two looked at each other, Onyx nodded his head excitedly but Penny didn’t look too happy about it as she stared him. But Mrs. Molly countered with big puppy eyes, pleading with all four hands clasping each other. Penny gave a worried look as if her first child was about to cross the street. Her shoulders finally drooped as she gave the ok which made Onyx and Mrs. Molly hold hands and cheer.
“But you have to ask them for the go ahead.” Penny said sternly.
Mrs. Molly zoomed over to us so fast that she looked like a yellow and black smear. “Could our two troops become one big swarm?” She asked with a pleading look.
I looked at Steph, we were supposed to be a group with Emily. So I wasn't sure if this was a good idea, maybe if we were here in a different situation but…
Steph looked back at me, raising an eyebrow and giving a smirk. She slithered up to Mrs. Molly and took her hand. “Yeah! That would help out actually but maybe….”she whispered something to Mrs. Molly, her eyes widened and snapped to me before she giggled to herself. What are you telling her?! Pulling away, I watch as they stare deeply into each other’s eyes so intensely that the air even felt hotter…… and jumpy? Is this how mana feels like normally? But the only person I could feel mana from was Mr. Minnow, why now-wait, they really are planning something if I can feel this!
Sadly neither would tell me what was going on. Mrs. Molly would wave her pointer fingers like a wand before giggling while Steph would make odd shapes with her tail before quickly changing the motion. This left me confused on what she was trying to say and leaving me with an annoying headache as we walked in the event space.
Inside the event area, there were rows of tents, small building facades, large statues of anime characters and platforms with people posing on top of. The floor was paved with large stone bricks, each one having logos or mascot characters on them, one even looked like a familiar white bear I saw a long time ago. The air here smelled like a relaxing mix of pine and cherry wood, it kinda made it feel like I was out in the woods hiking with my family. Some booths were made up of large white trees with coiling red vines around the trunks, the canopy made completely of dark gray grass and leaves. One booth had a giant green plant with red smear stripes and the canopy was the gaping maw of venus fly trap! Its mouth was held open by a large white thorn the size of a long sword pointing at the middle of its mouth threatening to cut into it. The plant’s mouth walls were lined with hundreds of red knife like teeth that a thick see through goop hung from like honey or syrup, this goo held glowing beads. Another booth was on top of a giant robotic arm that came out of the ground, the arm was paneled in plates of metal that had a weird rainbow glow like it was a giant microchip. The arm came out halfway from the forearm was a bulky rectangular shape and painted mostly red and yellow while the fingers were projecting a giant ball of white, blue outlined energy. And it was playing an anime in the middle of it of two large mecha blasting and slashing at each other.
There was a minotaur walking around with a robotic arm made up of gears and pipes, he wore brass colored goggles. One guy wore a weird body suit that I could literally see right through to the other side, the only solid parts were green lines that made up his body. There was a girl with tall rabbit ears and tanned skin wearing a short white dress accented with gold threaded seeds between rabbit ears. She was handing out flyers to anyone who passed her.
Steph instantly grabbed my hand and led me to what looked like a giant flat screen tv big enough to flatten a city block. The weirdest part was people were walking in and out of the tv, their features looking more like an anime mixed with a western cartoon. Big eyes, thick to thin out lines, slightly limited animation movement and all colored like a certain insane adventure.
Mrs. Molly even began to loudly talk to Onyx. “You know I hear girls look twice as pretty in places like this.”
“Really?! I’ve never been in one before.” Onyx exclaimed with wide eyes. He turned his attention to the giant tv, his face morphing into a wide hungry grin. Though he looked like he was watching a Majin-mew swaying their hips side to side in a puffy yellow skirt, that made Penny look away with a furrowed brow.
“I’m sure any pretty girl that walks in there would be noticed~!” Mrs. Molly called while giving Penny a giggling smirk that she didn't see.
“Come on, let’s be a couple of beauties!” Steph cheered as she dashed into the tv, pulling me along for the ride.
The moment my body hit the tv screen my body shivered, it was gooey and sticky like a pool of glue mixed with clumpy old milk. The worst part was how it was slightly warm like saliva, making me almost gag but I wasn't going to let myself get a mouthful of this mess! Being pulled in, I shut my eyes with both my protective third eyelids and my normal ones as tight as I could to keep out the goo. It was a nightmare to feel the clumpy goop push past me as I entered this attraction, I could feel the clumps hit my body pulling apart like melted cheese.
“Oliver. Look!” Steph called, I could hear her smiling at my grossed out face. I can feel it!
Opening my eyes only to instantly wince at the bright saturated blue sky, quickly closing my third set of eyelids again, making the colors duller and less vibrant. Slowly taking in the view, everything looked animated! People were somehow a mix of 2D and 3D, a nearby tree had its bark drawn in browns and blacks, creating a detailed tree you’d only see in an award winning anime film! Someone wearing a cloak with a silver whip looked almost like Trent from fortress mania anime. The clouds were like painted cotton candy, statues looked both realistic and beautifully drawn! I looked down at my hand and-
wow.
My crystal scales glimmered and sparkled like waving water while my yellow scales looked so smooth, like it was painted on me! My black claws were super polished like wood inside sanded smooth resin! It was so-its amazing! I touched my face expecting to feel super smooth skin but I was only met with the same regular smooth skin that was springy.
Damn.
“Heheh. Expecting to be silky smooth?” Steph asked slithering into view, scratching her chin. OH MY GOD WOW. Her checks had visible blush and her hair was braided in the softest looking ponytail! Her hair looked super fluffy and full of flowing locks that I just reached for my own hair to see if it felt soft. Sadly it was a normal kind of soft that brushing or combing got you. Her tail was a dazzling yellow with a light shading of peach. Her scales making her tail look like braided bread, ready for the tasting in its soft flakiness and glazed surface. Her eyes were larger and shaped like large circular plates holding a sea of stars.
“A little.” I said, looking away to downplay the excitement and disappointment on my face. I spotted a human girl with a lamia in wedding dresses kissing under flower covered arches. All while a guy crouched with a large camera and took their pictures, making me look elsewhere. Only to spot a large Oni guy cradling a small girl with hooved legs like she was a baby. Shit, she was right about this place.
“It kinda looked more than a little~.” She teased as she leaned with a smirk on her face, making me nervously back up.
“No, I think I'd know if I was that excited.” I argued as I looked up at the sky and crossed my arms now trying to maintain my cool.
“Well I think you look pretty cute and fluffy.” She said, getting close enough to my face that it was hard not to see her smug face dripping with ego.
Instantly my checks felt like hot coals at her entering my personal space just centimeters away from bumping noses. My back shuddered as I almost tripped trying to back away. “Uh-um, whoa there. Hehehe, haha….” I chuckled nervously in my sudden stupor while I tried to widen the gap between us. But nope, Steph quickly moved to close the gap with a sly smile as if she found the ultimate weakness as held her hands and scratched the back of her hand.
“What’s wrong? I’m just inspecting your face.” She teased with a small smile. “It’s really pretty by the way.” she said while her tail formed a hook shape that she fanned herself with. I think that translates to really cherry….? What’s she saying?
“Should I ask?” I motioned with my eyes at her fanning herself before she stopped and eyed her tail.
Quickly moving her tail behind her back, she chuckled. “Just a little hot, tha-” she began when her tail began to poke and rub her back. “Ooooh- That's not wa- AaaaAhhhh!” She moaned like a masseuse was loosening up a knot in her back. An arachne dressed in a white corset and wore several black straps and belts, giggled with a red face.
Craaaaap. “Are you alright?” I asked as I opened my wing to block the spider girl’s gaze, she just pressed her smaller legs into her groin. God damn it!
Instantly a bee girl with large cheeks, large almond eyes and a large curled cowlick flew up to Steph. Another girl with large semi circle eyes and a nice pleated skirt ran up to them.
“Hey, Oliver? We're going to take Steph for a quick moment to the ladies restroom.” The really cute bee girl said in a motherly voice.
“Yeah, could you watch Onyx and make sure he doesn't get kicked out.” Penny said.
What just happened? Looking to my right stood a skinny guy with his hair combed to the side in a really stylish hairstyle. His dark hair looked spiky with two pink streaks that flowed to the opposite side of his combed hair. His eyes looked really relaxed but held the glint of a playful cat.
“Hey.” Onyx said coolly.
