The Island of Wonder

"Well, what can I say? We're fucked." Annie sighed heavily. "Or, well, it seems I am..."

"W-what do you mean?" Nicole stood in the doorway to their room. She had just come home and casually asked her friend how her day had been.

"Tora finished the blood analysis. In short—I have spores of some unknown mushroom in my veins. And—" Annie was interrupted by a series of coughs. "And in my lungs too, I would guess."

Nicole sat down on a chair next to the bed. Looking at the girl lying there, she could tell her friend was seriously disturbed. Her black hair was a mess, her face was pale, and her eyes were constantly either zoning out as she thought or darting around the room, searching for ideas.

"Maybe the natives know something? Maybe it's a common thing for them?" Nicole tried to cheer Annie up.

"Hah..." A humorless laugh escaped Annie's lips. "It won't hurt to make an appointment, but I wouldn't expect much. At least I still feel normal. I knew all that time among rot and death wouldn't do me any good." She leaned back.

"Get up." Nicole stood sharply. "Or, eh... I mean, let me help you into the wheelchair. No point in sitting here. I'm still working for the Queen for a few more days, so there shouldn't be any issue with asking for a doctor or whoever they have around here."

As Nicole and Annie moved through the streets, many passersby looked curiously at the wheeled chair, but neither of the girls had the time or desire to showcase the invention right now.

The first place they visited in the royal castle was Mizirim's laboratory. The Bee man and a few other workers were still there when the girls entered.

"Hey, I'm back already." Nicole weakly smiled. "Meet Annie, the one who was supposed to help with our work."

"Hello." Annie politely nodded.

"Ah, yes." The Voru'kai man turned toward them. "Is she finally ready to join us? If I'm not mistaken, we have only six days left before your deal with Her Majesty comes to an end."

Nicole rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. You're still salty about that. But unexpected things happened, I told you already. Her legs aren't functioning, and now we found out that she is... what should I call it..."

"Infested with mushroom spores," Annie said calmly. "I'd really prefer to stay alive and intact, so first I need to make sure I won't be consumed from the inside."

At the mention of Annie's condition, Mizirim frowned.

"Spores, you say? How do you know?"

Fuck, telling him about the AI isn't the best idea. The more people know about it, the more will try to get it for themselves.

While Nicole was trying to think of an answer, Annie spoke first.

"Using methods from Earth, we learned that something is wrong with my lungs. And considering I spent quite a while next to a pile of rotting bodies..."

The man looked at her thoughtfully.

"Methods? What methods, if I may ask?"

Expecting the question sooner or later, Nicole had brought the stethoscope with her. She quickly explained how it worked.

"This is... very interesting. Why didn't you make it earlier?"

"I-I just didn't think about it. You know, some things are so normal that you stop questioning them." Nicole guiltily looked away.

"Anyway," Annie continued, steering the conversation back. "Do you have any ideas about what to do?"

"Hm..." Mizirim rubbed his chin. "Well, if the issue is a mushroom growing in your lungs, you could try inhaling something that kills it. I'd recommend Goldmourn or Pure Maiden, maybe even both, though the former may be difficult to find on the market. I'm sure your alchemist friend will know how to prepare a proper mixture."

"Right. I remember Soi mentioning Pure Maiden's healing properties a while ago." Nicole nodded.

"Alright, let's try it." Annie shrugged. "Not like we have many options. Thank you, Mizirim."

Together, the girls headed to the orange district of the underground Hive. The large open-air market was as crowded as ever. The lack of a day-and-night cycle made life there easier, and many shops remained open at all hours.

It was Annie's first visit, and she stared at everything around her with fascination.

"Is that a giant red bear with a mouth in the middle of its body?!"

Nicole smiled.

Hah, is this how I looked to Soi when I saw one back in the village?

"Yes, they call it a Rubropecto. I saw one in the wild once and was lucky I didn't have to fight it."

I wonder how Tiralie is doing. Probably out on some wild hunt or something.

Eventually, Nicole spotted a stall selling raw materials. Among the goods were several flowers. As they approached, they were greeted by an older woman with small white curved horns and two cow ears. Despite her age, her enormous chest was still perky and bounced lightly as she moved.

Shomari—the cow tribe. Saw some at the party.

"Hello, darlings." The woman's voice was warm and welcoming. "What can I do for you? Looking for something specific? I'd offer you some fresh milk, but I'm too old for that now, haha."

She chuckled at her own joke.

"And my granddaughter ran away again, the little rascal." There was no real annoyance in her voice.

Milk? Right, I should have expected that.

"Is—" Before Annie could ask one of her strange questions, Nicole pointed at the flowers.

"Do you happen to have Pure Maiden or... what was it... Goldmourn?"

"Hah, Maiden is always in stock, darling. But Goldmourn? I'm afraid that's way above my league."

"Oh, that's alright. How much for one Maiden?"

The Shomari woman smiled politely.

"Two Claws."

Nicole barely stopped her jaw from dropping.

TWO CLAWS? Is that really the price, or is she trying to scam us?

"Alright... Can we get three?" Nicole asked, already counting her coins.

"Of course, darling."

Once the transaction was complete, the girls walked away.

"I should've gathered some back in the forest when I had the chance." Nicole groaned.

"Hey, that was rude! You didn't let me ask her everything about milking. I was curious!" Annie complained.

"I know. I just wasn't sure how she'd react. She could've raised the price if she thought you were being rude. Besides, Soi or I can explain it later. She is kind of into that, hah."

The girls spent some more time searching the market but found no one selling Goldmourn.

"Well, we can start by testing Maiden." Nicole sighed.

Back in their room, Iloe joined them and was quickly informed of the situation.

"Right. Goldmourns are kind of difficult to grow. The seeds need a fresh corpse to take root, and they take time to bloom. At this season of time, it's no surprise you couldn't find any. But if you need my help, I'd be happy to prepare everything."

The catgirl began gathering ingredients from her bag.

"Hey, remember the Melanasp honey you took? Do you still have some? I thought, why stop at just Maiden if we can add a few more things?"

Nicole closed her eye and checked her storage.

"Yeah, there's still some left."

She held a cup beneath her hand, and thick golden liquid slowly dripped into it.

"For now, we won't need much."

Iloe took the cup and mixed the honey with water in a bowl. Then she chopped the Pure Maiden flower into small pieces and tossed them in. Finally, she added a handful of pink Pietus dust and stirred everything together.

"Now we wait for it to combine." She carefully placed the bowl on the table.

"Hm. If we need to get it into your lungs, you'll have to inhale it. But starting a fire in here could be dangerous."

"Nah, no need for a big fire." Nicole smiled. "I think I have an idea."

A little something from my old lifestyle.

It took her a while, but eventually she presented what was essentially a hookah.

Annie immediately understood and chuckled. "Who would've guessed that something I spent years trying to get you to quit would have a chance of saving my life?"

By the time everything was ready, it was already late, and Soi had returned from training. Annie sat comfortably on her bed and took a deep breath.

"Let's try."

She took the first puff and immediately coughed.

"It's— It's fucking gross! There's honey in this! Isn't it supposed to be at least somewhat sweet?"

Forcing herself onward, she tried again, inhaling slowly and holding it in longer. By the fourth puff, her face had turned pale and her vision was swimming.

"I-I don't feel so good..." she muttered, leaning back.

She was holding the inahler with the use of her ability, as she tried to use every opportunity to get used to it and make it natural for herself. But now, her telekinesis seemed to fail. At the same time, she began coughing up tiny neon-blue particles.

"What the fuck is that?"

Annie stared at her palm, now covered in glowing blue specks.

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea..." Nicole glanced at the device she had made.

"N-no, it actually makes sense." Iloe clasped her hands excitedly. "If the medicine killed the spores in her lungs, they had to come out somehow, right? This proves the plan is working!"

"Y-yeah. She's probably right." Annie nodded. "But for some reason I can't use my telekinesis anymore. Strange."

She tried lifting the inhaler again but failed. "At least I feel better now. And look—no coughing! Thanks for the help, Iloe."

The catgirl blushed. "I-It's alright. I didn't really do anything..."

Yet the next morning, Annie could once again feel something building up in her lungs. It was still reather early and she was alone in the room.

"Ugh, fuck!" She groaned. "And here I thought we were done with this!"

Sighing, she reached for the hookah to stop the coughing again. She subcounciously used her power, even though it was not working all that time.

"Huh?" The hookah floated into the air in front of her. "Wait a second..."

A few hours later, Nicole and Iloe returned from the laboratory. As soon as they entered, they found Annie grinning. A stack of papers rested in her lap.

"I figured it out!"

"Figured out what?" Nicole asked cautiously.

"My ability isn't telekinesis—it's much more complicated." Annie licked her lips, eyes blazing with excitement. "And the spores in my lungs aren't a problem anymore either. I can control them! Look."

She raised her hand, and a chair with Nicole's bag on it floated into the air. Tiny blue uneven specks covered its surface.

"I'm breathing the spores out and controlling them. We couldn't see them before, so we assumed it was telekinesis. But I can gather them together into visible clusters."

She waved her hand, and the blue particles peeled away from the chair in a wave before dispersing into the air.

"Or I can spread them out and make them invisible. I also tested their limits. The heavier something is, or the faster I want to move it, the more spores I need!"

"And the coughing?" Nicole asked.

Annie grinned wider, proudly. "I just needed to learn how to breathe properly and release the spores before they built up. The problem was that they were gathering inside me without being expelled."

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