Anomaly

Although the situation was far from comforting, or even favorable, considering everything that had happened up to that point, I had to admit that the sight before us was undeniably impressive. I could think of quite a few of the most incredible things I'd ever witnessed throughout my life, whether they were anomalies of absurd proportions or simply enormous structures.

Then again, the facility where I spent most of my time was already a good example of that. Considering its sheer size, the place was absolutely colossal. Dozens of anomalies were scattered throughout its various sectors, each kept inside its own containment cell, with corridors, containment areas, and security systems taking up an absurd amount of space.

So, naturally, I was already used to seeing big things. But this... A gigantic mushroom growing right in the middle of this strange landscape somehow still managed to stand out. Its sheer scale was difficult to process at first, and the purple glow emanating from its structure made the whole thing feel even more surreal.

Anyway... to sum it up, it was a pretty peculiar sight. It definitely wasn't something I'd expected to find, and it would probably be difficult to forget anytime soon. Naturally, I wasn't the only one having thoughts like that.

Arthur, Victor, Rupert, and Charlotte all seemed to have reached exactly the same conclusion. Their slightly parted lips, subtly widened eyes, and the way they continued staring at the gigantic mushroom without saying a word made their reactions pretty easy to interpret.

Charlotte was the first to finally break the silence: "That's..." She stopped halfway through the sentence, as if she were still trying to find an appropriate way to describe what she was seeing. She swallowed, narrowed her eyes slightly, and looked up again, following the enormous mushroom towering over us with her gaze.

Then, after a few seconds of contemplation, she concluded: "...a huuuuuge mushroom" Silence immediately descended over us again. Victor, Rupert, and Arthur didn't answer right away. In fact, none of them even seemed to consider the possibility of disagreeing with Charlotte's statement. Instead, all three simply nodded slowly.

And these weren't subtle nods, either. They were so emphatic that they almost looked like an official declaration on behalf of the entire group. And honestly, Charlotte wasn't wrong. No matter which angle I looked at it from, or how hard I tried to find some distinguishing feature, it was still a mushroom. A visibly gigantic mushroom. Ridiculously gigantic, actually.

Come to think of it, I figured it would be a good idea to give everyone some time to get used to the presence of the gigantic mushroom. After all, it wasn't exactly the kind of thing you came across every day. However, even after several long seconds of silence, nobody said a single word. Strange. Didn't they see it?

I frowned slightly and began observing Victor, Rupert, Arthur, and Charlotte's expressions, looking for any sign of surprise, confusion, or even discomfort. Nothing. None of them seemed to have noticed the presence I'd detected after I stopped worrying about the mushroom itself. That only made everything even more unsettling.

I tore my gaze away from them and turned my attention back to the enormous mushroom, or, more precisely, to the dark purple mist continuously emanating from its body. It spread around the mushroom like an incredibly dense cloud of gas, slowly swirling in on itself. There was something strangely hypnotic about the sight, yet at the same time, some instinct deep inside me was telling me to keep my distance.

What the hell was that? I had absolutely no idea. Still, there was something about the phenomenon that my eyes could perceive while the others apparently couldn't. I focused on my vision again, and little by little, the thing I was looking for began to stand out. Then I saw it.

A thin, multicolored thread, made up of every color of the rainbow, silently stretched toward the gigantic mushroom. I followed the thread with my eyes until I reached its source. And in that very instant, all my doubts about the mist disappeared. Well... at least the doubts concerning how to get rid of it.

Naturally, we didn't spend the entire time standing there with our mouths hanging open, admiring the giant mushroom. As soon as our initial surprise began to fade, we turned our attention toward what actually mattered: figuring out how to destroy this thing. It didn't take a genius to arrive at the most obvious conclusion.

This gigantic, and incredibly suspicious, mushroom probably had something to do with the strange behavior of the people, both in the city and in the residential area. After everything we'd witnessed up to this point, believing otherwise would have been far too absurd a coincidence.

I was the first to step forward. For a few moments, nobody said anything, but I soon heard the others' footsteps behind me. As we approached, the impression I'd gotten from a distance became increasingly clear. This thing was genuinely gigantic.

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The closer we got, the harder it became to even comprehend its proportions. Its thick stalk rose before us like an actual wall, while its enormous cap disappeared far above our heads. It was so large that we couldn't even see its sides in their entirety.

When we finally stopped just a few steps away from its base, Rupert broke the silence: "This giant mushroom is responsible for the people in the city and the neighborhood acting weird, right?" He tilted his head back slightly, trying to follow the mushroom's immense height with his eyes. Even so, after a few seconds, he seemed to give up: "I mean... it has to be, right?" He let out a quiet sigh: "I can't think of any other explanation for this"

Nobody answered immediately. After all, we were all thinking practically the exact same thing. Rupert then crossed his arms and stared at the enormous structure before us for a few more seconds before asking: "But how exactly are we supposed to do that?" He made a small gesture with one hand, pointing toward the mushroom: "I don't think any of the equipment we have on hand right now could do any substantial damage to this thing" The grumble at the end sounded much more like a complaint than a genuine question.

Rupert had a good point. Naturally, I still had a few options at my disposal if we really ran out of alternatives. I mean, I could simply burn the entire mushroom to ash. Although, to do that, I’d probably have to use a little more power than I’d originally intended... It would probably be fine in the end.

Fortunately, we were somewhere underground, inside this isolated space created by the anomaly itself. Wonderful! That basically meant I could stop worrying about the surroundings and just go all out. Naturally, I’d still have to protect Victor, Rupert, Arthur, and Charlotte from the collateral damage. But that wasn’t exactly a problem.

I could do that... Probably. With that thought in mind, I cast one last glance toward Charlotte. Considering that, technically speaking, she was the one who had gotten us into this whole mess, I’d expected Selyra to interfere somehow at some point. So far, though, we had done practically everything on our own.

Selyra had brought us here, but ever since then, her involvement had been almost nonexistent. After a few seconds, I simply gave up on waiting for Selyra to help us. If she intended to do something, she would probably act when she deemed it necessary. And if she didn’t... Well, I already had a Plan B. And Plan B involved fire.

However, the moment my eyes landed on Charlotte, I realized there was something deeply different about her. The air around her seemed heavier, almost as if some invisible tension had accumulated around her.

Her eyes, normally so calm, were now fixed on the enormous mushroom with an almost sinister seriousness. She stared at it as though she were facing a mortal enemy that had to be eliminated at any cost.

Besides... Was it just my imagination, or was Charlotte’s hair floating slightly? A few strands were lifting around her face, moving slowly despite the complete lack of wind. My lips parted slightly.

For a moment, I considered asking if she was all right, or perhaps simply calling her name. However, before a single word was necessary, Charlotte’s eyes left the mushroom and turned directly toward me. And that was when I realized it. That wasn’t Charlotte. At least, not completely. The presence emanating from her body was entirely different.

The calm and gentle impression Charlotte normally gave off had disappeared, replaced by something far more imposing, almost majestic. It was exactly the same feeling I had experienced when Charlotte and I saw Selyra in that dream... Or whatever that thing had actually been.

“Are you ready, sister?” The tone was still Charlotte’s. Her voice, cadence, and even that slight accent remained exactly the same as before. And yet, there was something profoundly different behind her seemingly casual words. That was definitely not Charlotte.

Naturally, I wasn’t the only one who noticed the change. Victor, Rupert, and Arthur also looked rather intrigued by the sudden shift in Charlotte’s personality. It wasn’t as though she had become an entirely different person. Her essence was still there, as were her mannerisms and the way she spoke.

And yet, something about her was different. It was as though, somehow, Charlotte had simply... Matured. Her gaze seemed more confident, her words carried a different kind of weight, and even her posture conveyed a level of confidence that hadn’t been there before.

It wasn’t an obvious change, the kind that could easily be pointed out and explained. It was something much subtler, almost imperceptible, yet undeniably present. Honestly, it was difficult to put into words.

Apparently noticing my thoughts before I could even hide them, a faint, ironic smile tinged with subtle amusement appeared on Charlotte’s lips. Or rather... Selyra’s: “You don’t have to look so surprised” Her smile widened just slightly as she tilted her head: “I never said I wouldn’t help”

Selyra paused briefly before turning her gaze back toward the enormous mushroom towering before us. The amusement slowly faded from her expression, replaced by something dangerously close to visceral disgust: “It’s true that what I can do in this body is quite limited” Her eyes narrowed: “But against this disgusting thing...”

Charlotte’s face twisted with pure disgust as Selyra stared at the giant mushroom once more. The expression was so intense that, for a moment, I had the distinct impression she might simply charge forward and rip the mushroom out of the ground with her bare hands: “I’m more than enough”

Any trace of playfulness had vanished from her voice: “Even limited by Charlotte’s half-human nature, I’m practically poison to it simply by existing” Selyra raised one hand, studying her own fingers for a moment before looking back at the mushroom: “We are complete opposites”

A faint smile returned to her lips: “Everything it represents...” She paused briefly, as though carefully choosing her next words: “... is exactly the kind of thing my existence rejects”

Selyra then turned her face toward me: “So, yes” Her smile became slightly more confident: “I can help. And against this thing, I’ll probably be the most suitable ally you could ask for”

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