novelzi Ch 2.29: Illusions
Ch 2.29: Illusions
Ch 2.29: Illusions
“So, are we going to have someone keep watch, or...” Elaina felt silly as she asked it. Keep watch for what? She couldn’t see them, Tira couldn’t see them. Carline had felt them for a while, and Flora could only sense them if they were actively targeting them.
“I’ll take care of that,” Flora said as she stood up, giving a short smirk to the group. “I stopped the one before, so it’s best for me to do it anyway.”
Tira furrowed her brow, squinting at Flora before she seemed to realize something. “Wait, your flower crown, how are you—”
Flora put a finger to her mouth and shushed the question to an end. It took Elaina a moment to realize what was going on, but once she did it was impossible to notice. Flora was somehow wearing both the sundress she’d came to the woods in and her entire “outfit” granted by the system, the flower crown that only appeared once the rest of her outfit was supposed to disappear. And the crown is what lets her know when her allies are being attacked.
Carline seemed to realize the the contradiction, so Flora rolled her eyes and turned her back towards their captive. “You know, I’ve always wanted to try wearing body paint,” she said as the front material of her dress began to shimmer, sparkling in the night ever so slightly. “Just body paint, to be precise.”
“Are you four flirting over there?” their captive asked, unable to see the display from Flora.
“Only a little,” Flora said, winking at the party as she spun around. It wasn’t obvious before, but Elaina could tell the difference now. Flora hadn’t changed back into her regular clothes with the rest of them, wasn’t actually wearing anything at all other than the flower crown, just using [Body Paint] to create a version of her dress, one that didn’t quite ripple in the wind the same way real cloth would.
“Yeah,” Carline said, voice trailing off as she continued looking at Flora. “I’m sorry, I wish I could be more help there. I don’t know why—”
“Not in front of company, Carly,” Flora said, flashing a smile. “I’ll keep watch for tonight, and we can talk about that later. The prisoner didn’t seem to be reacting to the conversation anyway, still staring at the ground.
“Well, that settles it then,” Tira said, pulling a blanket out of her own bag and laying it out on the ground before climbing in and rolling it over herself. “The three of us need to get some sleep then, so we don’t burden Flora too much. Prisoner, if you keep us up I’ll put a ball gag in your mouth.”
“Yeah, whatever.” Still staring into the dirt.
Elaina was feeling a little lonely as she started to pull out her blanket, moving Temmie around in her bag as she did. She felt bad for not having talked to Temmie since the fight, but she couldn’t really do that in front of their captive. She settled with mouthing “good night” to the orb.
“Good night to you as well, Elaina.”
Elaina felt a little warm at the words, word’s she knew only she could hear. People outside the System couldn’t hear Temmie anyway, but somehow Elaina knew that message was just for her ears, not even the rest of the party. She closed the bag and pulled it into her arms as she got on the ground, somehow forgetting the chill of the night air as she bundled up with the satchel under the stars.