My Sudden Monster Convergence

BOOOOOOOMMM!

all around us flowers were sent flying away as Maeve began wildly swinging blades of Green magic that splashed into the flowers before exploding wildly. without a thought she launched blades every where she saw the slightest movement. It was a flood of wild magic that washed right through the forest and tore apart even the very ground around her.

“Maeve! Calm down! this isn't going to help us get one of the better flowers!” I shouted at the belligerent fairy. God damn it! Why did I think giving her some mana would help!?

She was tiring herself out while I was stuck respawning, I could see it on her face as we tried to cut through the forest. her once graceful swings of her magic sword slicing through the giant flowers went from cutting fourty to twenty and then only two at a time. Each time she used her magic she would grimace as if someone was cutting into her but she kept pushing into the forest. slashing and cutting through as many flowers as she could until her magic vanished and the orange glow in her wings turned pale before her wings vanished.

but she didn't stop, she instead used her fists and legs to push and punch the flowers out of the way. if she continued then she might make herself faint and we’d be behind the pixie team by leagues while Maeve tore herself apart! remembering what my mana did to the other pixie i gathered my mana into my palm before placing it on her back and pushing my mana into her withering form. She seemed to pick up but only a little, she was still panting and looking unfocused so I pushed even my mana construct into this, covering her body in a layer of orange and red mana. 

“OOuuuuuuuuuggggghh!” Maeve moaned and shouted as her body began to burst into a bright blazing sun. in the core of the mana i could barely make out the silhouette of Maeve as pure white wings materialized from her back as if it was superheated metal.

“HAHAHAHAHAHA! watch my beautiful show! worship the very ground my toes graze! Let’s go, my cutie! we have much-much and very truly much more to entertain!” She called as she spun in circles with her arms outstretched as blades of magic burst from her fingertips as if she was a damaged hydrant! with the flick of a finger she cut through a bundle of flowers like she unsheathed a sword in anime, sending a storm of hundreds of cuts upon the sad flowers.

the flowers in front of us shattered into a thousand little blocks that littered the floor and even revealed the middle of the dungeon. There was flowers that looked like blue crystals growing on a vine around the tall plants, giant lily pad like flowers that floated in the air as if floating on unseen water and Berries that grew around the suspended root. There was giant berries that opened up to powder the floor with some orange powder that smelled like cherry icing, there was a huge tree with pure black glass like leaves. in the depths of it’s darkened leaves, twinkled  four pointed yellow and green stars while a ring of flowers grew around it, releasing a pleasant breeze.

but this wasn't the most interesting part! There were flowers made of some golden liquid that would glow brightly before turning into either a butterfly, dragonfly, bee or ladybug. it would then open its wings and fly to another spot before flashing and turning back into a flower. to the left was a huge green flower as big as a normal desk and the moment it opened up i thought i found my true love as i smelled the mouth watering aroma of freshly grilled steak served with caramelized onions! And even better, it released thousands of seeds (?), spores or maybe pollen? Either way it smelled like french fries! and it floated in the air moving like a colony of birds, forming cylinders and even waves as it moved into the sky!

It would’ve been beautiful to watch if we weren't in the middle of an event and Maeve…. wait where is she? looking around I noticed several petals sliced into bits, creating a trail of flora carnage, leading to a pissed looking Maeve who was charging something in her hands and spooking the opposing team’s male pixie. Maeve’s magic flashed brighter and brighter in her hand, becoming a spiral of green white and red while the pixie cowered in fear at her growing magic ball. i would’ve rushed to stop her but i saw her other hand had one a quarter the size bigger than the one she was making and realized she was almost finished.

Shit! Was this that grenade she talked about destroying a whole dungeon floor?! AND IT’S CHARGED WITH MY MANA! a second later the ball flashed, reaching the size of the other one, looking like a large grapefruit in her hand, Maeve chuckled to herself as the pixie shriveled at her finished bomb. I was about to die and there wasn't anything that could stop it! Maeve lifted her two grenades, ready to throw them before a little cotton ball bee landed on her hand, distracting her as she called it the cutest little Skidd Fluff in the world before the bee flew away with Maeve giving chase. leaving the Pixie in a small puddle as he trembled like a little dog freezing its nose off. 

He looked at me with a gaze as if he saw his ancestors. “I’m just going to go over there, j-j-j-just keep HER away from me!” He cried as he dragged himself off to another corner of the flower haven.

RIght! turning around i rushed after the crazed Maeve I created who was now cutting petals while her grenades hung tied to her belt somehow. 

“Maeve. Maybe we should get whole petals?” I asked nervously as she stuffed slices of petals into her pockets, poking and moving her grenades every time.

She looked up at me and shook her head. “Nopeie! caaaannn’t take more than thissss!” She said almost drunk. turning back she rushed over to the tree with twinkling stars and pulled off a leaf and gave me one. “You can see the dungeon with it!” She said with a smile before running to one of the floating lily flowers.

looking down at the black glassy leaf, I wasn't too sure what she meant. The leaf was just dark….sorta see through, this wasn't like a mana ore was it? lifting the leaf to my eyes I looked through them only to see the once colorful and vibrant forest turn a greasy gray and black. The dungeon looked wittered and suffocated under an ocean of brown chunky oil, the flowers looked like boney spires. The small insects flying around now floated upside down in the oil. God… this looks horri-

“AHHHHHH!” I screamed as I dropped the leaf, falling on my rear, trying to crawl away from the motionless leaf. “What! No! H-HOW! that, it-oh my god!” I spoke to myself in wild confusion. that wasn’t real, just some trick of the light, yeah! gathering what pieces of my sanity I could, I slowly walked away, only grabbing small bits and pieces of petals.

No way was I going to ignore what Maeve said, drunk or not, she had to know about that-that thing was! I might've only seen a glimpse but I'd rather not actually give it a reason to notice me, whatever that bulging mass of inky black hair was attached to, I’ll just um follow Maeve around! Yeah! Nothing wrong with that. Nope!

Cautiously I retraced Maeve’s every step and avoided a spot by one of the trees that looked like it was made of stone with bird like leaves growing around it. Watching Maeve, I saw her carefully grab the edges of petals, breaking them off, leaving the flower with a trim. So I did the same thing, never taking more than the edges and treating the flower like a sick bird each time I picked one up. But that other pixie only seemed to do the opposite!

He grabbed any shiny flower, Giant petal and even the roots! He left flowers in a disfigured state, he didn't even fully cut them down! stuffing everything he collected into a small bag that seemed to suck up everything he put into it as his grubby hands tore anything that looked remotely magical. I couldn't help but watch the guy run around, every step he took and every move he made I mentally flinched. Wasn’t he aware that this place was special?! His group asked for this place, surely they didn't just assume a special spot in a dungeon didn’t have some unique challenge or guardian protecting it!

 Swallowing before nervously looking back at the stone tree, I hoped to god this wasn’t enough to pull whatever that thing was into this reality! I wasn’t sure but I swear the grass looks a little grayer and even the tree looked like someone sprayed black paint on it. The bird shaped leaves were even shaking, making a soft creaking sound like a flock of birds all gathering around us, watching us.

As I was eyeing the tree that pixie swaggered his way up to it, walking like he was some movie hero and a smug face grew the closer he got. I could only wish what happened next didn't pull me into a huge mess!

“AwwwRighty!” Maeve shouted cheerfully, getting my attention.

Patting her stuffed pouches Maeve turned to me with a big smile. “Awww, good! Let’s adventurrrrr!” She shouted while I quietly followed the living embodiment of dangerous knowledge. I don't want to be left alone here! Nope, no way am I staying with………That!

If it only goes after that pixie then I’d gladly let my mother dress me up for a year! No questions asked and I’ll even pose for pictures!

But whatever or however Maeve learned about this, I want to know where so I can stay a whole solar system away from it! Dungeons are not a place to be-

“URRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHH!”

A roar bellowed not just from behind us, the very flowers and shifting ground poured out this deep guttural, spine ripping and skinning cry! The ground shook and loose dirt pushed away, the flowers twitched while their petals curled open and closed like individual fingers moving on their own! The world itself seemed to move like a bag filled with squirming snakes and huge insects, all wanting to break free and eat us, eating holes though our still living corpses.

In that moment I somehow found myself hiding behind Maeve’s broad and understanding back. “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!” I cried as I buried my face into her back, hopping to god it couldn’t see us! 

At this Maeve pressed her hand into my chest before giving me a wink as my body began to glow a bright orange.

“I’ll see you when I respawn, kay.” She said as she held a wildly pulsing grenade in her other hand. wait! you can't! 

As my vision began to be blurred by orange light I saw something black fester behind Maeve like a million pimples popping and oozing at once. It reached for Maeve with a dark claw that looked like a finger twisted and broken in several places with bones cutting through its skin. Maeve at the same time turned around and lifted her grenade.

Everything flashed in a wild mix of orange and darkness as I lost my vision.

“Pinepen! What happened!?” Phoebe shouted, shaking my arm.

“Oooh…. ugh…” i groaned, my body felt like i was forcibly pulled, squished and snapped apart. “Wha…” was all i could say before i saw a blackened crater clearing the forest straight to the other base. “Maeve! where’s Maeve!” I cried as I looked around wildly before Phoebe pulled me into a hug.

“I guess she did something?” She said after a while of holding me.

“S-s-something came up behind us, it was like a nightmare given…..” I didn't finish as I tried to calm down. “She, uh, she pushed me and used one of her grenades and I woke up here.” I finally said before I realized I was clinging to something in my hands. pulling away from Phoebe, I looked down to find her belt with pouches attached and a familiar glowing orb. She gave me her petals to keep the us on our feet

 “I think Maeve gave us a chance by destroying the middle.” Phoebe said after some thought. pulling me  to my feet and slowly making our way to our base to prepare for the final stretch of the event. “Besides, whatever that thing was, Maeve's grenade vaporized it so there’s no point in wasting this time! just gotta focus on the task and nothing else!” She said with a forced voice.

“Alright, Let’s just get on with it.” I quietly said as she led me to base.

So as we walked in, Phoebe explained that she’ll fold and put together the Kai-mays, creating the shapes while I applied a mixture called ma-u between the glowing petals. These glowing petals would hold a spell by being imprinted on with Phoebe’s mana weaving.

“Imprinting allows you to write the idea of a spell on soft surfaces, so it’s not exactly enchanting which uses metals engraved with a spell written in runes or apostle’s script. I’m more giving the petals a memory of a spell.” She explained as she softly pressed her fingers into a tiny petal before her fingers glowed softly until the petal started to sparkle and glow.

“.....What spell did you put into that one?” I forced myself to ask as I watched the petal.

“Just a cello spell, it draws the attention of other spells and magic.” She explained as she started on another one.

“Here. use this to break the itk.” Phoebe said, handing me a heavy teardrop shaped stone. I was slowly grinding down a stick of crystalized mana amber. Not trying to let what happened waste Maeve’s efforts I listened to Phoebe’s explanations.

 Apparently it held a potent amount of mana that allowed us to waste less mana in performing what we needed. by mixing this into an ink, being the ma-u and applying a certain amount, you could make the petals hold magic for longer and even create a sort of timer to when a spell was activated. you just had to draw lines between each spell casing, the thicker a line, the longer it takes to activate a spell. while the thinner was like a faster fuse, so a spell’s activation depended on the speed and the spells used together in any nearby casings. sorta like adding vinegar and baking soda together, at least that’s how Phoebe explained it to me.

“But why does it need it though? doesn’t magic just last until you stop using it?” I finally asked, confused. At this, Phoebe’s eyes widened, almost as if she found the center of the earth was filled with fifty lifetimes of snacks, gold and some god blessed metal.

“Your magic just keeps going?!” She asked with a surprised voice.

“Kinda? it sorta just keeps going.” Leaning back, I looked at the ceiling. “It generally just, goes until it hits something or I rip it apart?” I said absentmindedly.

“Wait! I didn't know your magic was this potent! I just thought it was some control issue. you know, pouring a bucket of water instead of a cup.” Phoebe turned back to the petal she folded as she started applying reshaped petal bits Maeve and I collected. These bits glowed brightly like a magic spell but released nothing beyond glowing. “You know…I was banking on that crazy amount of mana you have but……” She stopped working, giving her hands a hard stare.

“I wanted to win this. Hearing who was involved just made me angry. I just, I have to pin that fake Gnome in shame.”