“Sapph, you’re not a superhero anymore!” Wyatt called out from behind me.
“Yeah, no shit.” My eyes were trained on the mushroom people. They weren’t budging…but they weren't continuing with the digestion at least. I’ll take what time I can get for now.
“Listen, I know they were trying to break into your home but eating them won’t fix the door they broke–” a couch sliced cleanly in two caught my eye, “or the couch they broke.”
I shivered, watching two small glowing white orbs appear on their faces–followed by a white line. And here I thought the heads had faces.
“These humans have broken the treaty rules and will be dealt with accordingly.” Soft tone on the right. Female? They were both shaped the same way.
“And if you must know, I hate the taste of humans—anyway. I wasn’t gonna eat em.” Deeper tone on the left.
Wait, treaty? Humans?
“You mean you two aren’t humans?” I must look like an idiot.
They looked at me, then each other, and burst into a fit of laughter–wiggling their captives around.
“Us? Humans?”
“Not in a millennium! Hah! I like this one human; she has jokes.”
“In my defense, I've been asleep for 100 years, so…”
An audible gasp escaped them. Suddenly they shared a look, then they chucked the bodies out of their upper mouths and bowed before me–spilling a glowing neon liquid from above them.
“Um…alright?” That was easier than I thought. I kicked the thieves lightly; a wince from both assured me they were still alive. I scratched my nose, feeling proud of myself. I was completely unprepared for what happened next.
The mushroom couple tackled me to the ground.
“Oof! Hey!”
“Get off her!” A light tapping sound followed each of Wyatt’s punches. Wyatt…doesn’t punch. He’s not a physical man.
The good news was they weren’t attacking me per se–more like aggressively hugging me.
“Wahhh! She’s finally here!”
“At long last, our prayers have been answered!”
“Prayers? What–me? I think you’re sadly mistaken. Also, please get off me.”
“Are you not Sapphyra? The Dragon Who Ate the Moon?”
I blushed, and hearing Wyatt's chuckles didn't help.
“No. Not me.”
Technically, not a lie.
I never ate the moon; I punched a chunk off in anger, though. I think there's still a large portion of it floating around out there in orbit.
“You idiot! She cracked the moon–she never ate it!” The softer one smacked the other upside the ridge.
“Yoww! Okay, I'm sorry! Please don't hurt me there–you know I'm still healing from that last attack.”
Regardless of sex, it was a little cute to see the abuser kiss the abused wound. Wyatt and I locked eyes for a breath before I turned my nose up at him and looked away.
“Look, if I agree that it's me, will you get off me?”
It wasn't that I couldn't just lift them off me, but I'm still healing from that leap off the roof. The last thing I wanna do is make it worse.
They nodded.
“Yeah, it's me. Although I don't see how I can answer your prayers.”
I'd have to know what they were first.
“You are the great destroyer! You can vanquish the humans who lie and steal. We want to be free from them.”
“Oof, about that. What do you know about me besides the moon part?”
They shared another look and shrugged their very smooth shoulders. Do they even have shoulder bones?
“You punch things really well!”
“Yes, you can punch the mean humans for us.”
“Yeah…no. I’m sorry to tell you, but my punching days are over.” There was some relief in that statement…but it was still a bitter pill to swallow.
“What?” they cried in unison, scrambling to get off me.
“Yep. I’m more of a helper now than a destroyer.”
“Then you can help us–”
“I’m not killing people, human or mushroomoid or what have you. That’s a single rule I’m never breaking.”
“And she means that too,” Wyatt grumbled.
I rolled my eyes at him and stood up, dusting myself off. My leg felt better, not 100 percent, but enough that I didn’t need my tail to wrap around it to hobble. Maybe my healing wasn’t gone completely, maybe it was just slower now.
Stupid class change…taking all the good stuff.
“I…I see. Well then, if you won’t end their lives, then could you at least talk to them?”
I snapped my fingers at the soft-toned one. “You, do you have a name?”
“I am Silla.”
“And I am Corre.”
“Well, Silla and Corre, talking is something I can damn sure do.” My eyes drifted to the two thieves still wriggling in the water. They were breathing, which wouldn’t hurt negotiations–hopefully.
I grabbed them both and chucked them over my shoulders.
“Point me in the direction of the human side and I’ll be back.”
The goosebumps I got from seeing their hopeful faces made this wild ass ride almost worth it. I missed this, missed taking care of people. Hell, that’s probably why they assigned me Master Custodian.
Speaking of…
“Vacuum.” I sucked up their door and couch, then spat them both back in place, brand new.
“Oh! Is that your new power? I think I like this more than the destroying part!” Corre smiled, testing the door.
“Me too!” Silla sat on their couch with a sigh.
“I suppose we should call you a builder instead of a destroyer now!”
Blushing, I shook my head. “I’d be happy with just Sapphyra, thank you.”
They nodded, and I went off on my way in the direction they pointed. Occasionally the sacks of meat on my back would grumble and squirm. One tap and they’d drift back to sleep.
“It's weird.”
“What is? The landscape changed or the new fungoid neighbors? Careful, they’ll grow on ya,” Wyatt answered with a smirk. His humor was cringe…but even when I’m furious with him it never ceases to make me smile.
I stopped in front of a massive wall made of concrete. It was tall but not out of range for my leap.
“That. There wasn’t a wall here in the middle of the city before. At least not physically.”
“Well, we’ll never know what’s on the other side by just standing here.”
“If humans build walls, it’s for a reason, Wyatt. And with those walls usually come–”
“Halt!” a pair of people jettisoned down the wall, ropes attached to their midsections. They held guns…of course guns still exist, don’t know why I got hopeful that they didn’t.
Humans gonna human.
Still, that voice caught me off guard.
“Don’t move. Wait…are you human?”
“It can’t be.” I mumbled, turning towards him. Wyatt’s brow raised; of course, he wasn’t in the loop.
They shone a light on their leader. He wades through the water to me, the same eyes that I’d crushed on for years. The eyes that I thought were a dream come true, once upon a time.
“Sapphyra?” He smiled, putting his weapon away. His soldiers put theirs away too.
I thought I left those eyes in Sanctuary.
“Guy?”
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