Room for One More

"So, you don't want to talk about it."

There was no reply.

Nico chewed the inside of his cheek. He thought about it, then added, speaking louder as the wagon's clanking and clacking rose while cresting a bumpy patch of gravel, "It's just that you seem a little... on edge."

Snatch grunted.

Nico hesitated. "... see, usually, when someone is found covered in salt on the shores of the Misty Lake, there's a story behind it."

"Is there."

"And you're on your own." Nico scratched his head. "Lady Nuptuel off on another errand?"

Snatch stared balefully at Nico, eyes as dark and glittering as coal crystals. "How should I know?" he snapped at last. "She goes where she wants. We only worked together on a couple jobs, for fuck's sake."

Nico blinked. He glanced down and started tapping his fingers, silently counting.

"Stop that!"

"I thought you two were—well—" Nico scrambled a moment, searching for a synonym for 'partners' that wouldn't get Snatch up in arms. He'd known Snatch for a few years now, and the thief was always sore about something or other, but ever since he'd started working with that Lady Nuptuel, he'd been a little easier to deal with. Maybe because it was harder to take his gruff attitude seriously with the sunshine-and-daisies druidess prancing about beside him. "What about the catgirl?" he managed at last.

Snatch glowered. "What. Catgirl."

"Easy does it, Nico," murmured Morgana beside him, as the cart hit another bump. In the comfortable coach, she and Nico were mostly cushioned from the worst of the turbulence, but Nico winced in sympathy as Snatch bounced up and hit the floor of the back of the wagon hard. The thief did not even shift his folded-arms stance.

Nico glanced at the goblin maid, whose eyes were concealed beneath her wide-brimmed straw hat. He looked back at Snatch. "You know what? Nevermind. So you needed a ride to the nearest town, right?"

"Just wherever you're going through first." Snatch turned and gazed at the passing foliage. "Ideally outside of this damn forest."

"Well, we're hanging a

gentle

southward turn," Morgana said lightly, pastel-blue fingers delicately tugging the two dire goats out of the path of an evidently tasty-looking thistle bush. "That will land you in the Western Plains. Then I'm afraid we have to turn back around."

"Is that by a town?"

"It's by the... oh, I forget the barony." She sighed. "It's the barony with the flying mules.

Very

precious. Slightly famous, too, I believe."

"Hm." Snatch looked dubious. "How long a walk?"

"It's a safe walk, Snatch," Nico said, giggling. "I've taken it myself. And honestly, we'd take you the full way, but this is already well out of our way. We're just not so cruel to leave a lone traveler in the Evergreen."

"I can handle myself."

"You'd be surprised how much extra trouble being alone here can get you into." Nico gestured up at the canopies above. Unlike the Greatest, Darkest Forest, the Evergreen Forest was lush and well-lit, positively glowing in the morning light. "Plus, there's only one Ranger's Lodge along the whole path, right in the middle of the wood, and they charge arms and legs for basic necessities like water. It's expensive to maintain a Lodge this far in."

"Expensive in...

human resources

," Morgana added with a sly smile, licking her lips.

"Hm." Snatch stared dully out into the woods. "Never gave us trouble before."

There was a long silence.

Nico bit his lip. "Snatch, where is Larya?"

The thief did not answer.

~ ~ ~ ~

"So,

he

was...

fun

." Morgana's voice was as light and feathery as ever—the goblin witch had a way of whispering her words no matter how loudly she spoke, and in his reverie, it took Nico a moment to even register what he was nodding along to.

"Mm. Yeah." He sighed, resting his chin against the backseat cushion of the wagon coach. "Sorry, I wouldn't have told you to stop for him if I'd known he'd be... like that."

"He insulted my goats." Morgana sniffed. "I take it he's normally quite a lot nicer?"

"Yeah. Well, no, not... exactly. But he usually doesn't smell so

briny

, at least."

"Nico, darling, you are too forgiving for your own good." Nico turned to see her flashing him a sly grin, showing her ever-so-slightly sharp teeth. Her soft pastel-blue skin stood out against dark, fulsome cobalt lips, and her deeply-shadowed eyes were heavy-lidded. "I insist you stop making friends who take advantage of you so."

"Aw, Morgana, you're not

so

bad."

She tsk'ed and swatted his arm. "I don't know why I bother with you! All you do is

mock

me, Nico." She pouted. "Won't even let me

wed

you.

Honestly

."

Nico gave a nervous little laugh. Morgana liked to joke, but he'd been her friend long enough to know just how far she was willing to take a 'joke' if pushed the wrong way. And the coach was a little snug at the moment, and in the morning chill, she'd wrapped him in one of her fur coats—big and fluffy and smelling like her—and was leaning against him as she drove. "I appreciate you

very

much, Morgana." He patted her hat.

"Ooh." She smiled and wriggled slightly, eyes half closing but staying on the road. "You're lucky I can't stay mad at you. More trouble than you're worth, honestly."

Nico turned and regarded the forest around them. "This place really is pretty in the morning. I don't often get to see it like this."

"Nice and safe?" Morgana suggested, a little too flirtily. "From the

comfort

of my coach?"

"Mm." Nico nodded unconsciously, then blinked as he spotted something. "Say! Pull up, Morgana!"

The goats brayed as the goblin tugged on the magical spirit guiding them. The spirit gave a nasty mosquito-like whine of complaint, but the cart came to a stop. "What is it, little deer?" Morgana teased him.

Nico flushed. "I told y—nevermind." He pointed at what he'd spotted: a patch of dark blue amid the bright green bushes. "Look at that!"

Morgana blinked, following his gaze. "Oh, those are some pretty flowers!"

He shot her a wry look. She smirked up at him. Morgana was an expert herbalist, and Nico knew his wildlife well enough. "It's shadowfoam, you imp."

He hopped out of the cart and crunched over to the patch. They weren't flowers at all, but very fine and dense-growing fungi only casually similar to meadowfoam. "I haven't seen a patch of this stuff in years!"

"Careful, thee," Morgana called. "We don't need you all dizzy and vacant." A pause. "On second thought..."

Nico rolled his eyes. "It's not like I'm going to inhale it. But aren't you curious..."

"Oh,

Nico

, little deer, no."

"Not even a little bit?"

"

Nico

."

"You don't wonder where it's..."

"

Little deer.

"

"I mean, it doesn't usually grow in..."

"

No.

'

Nico glanced back at Morgana. The witch's arms were folded, and she was pouting. He gestured toward the shadowfoam, which he'd noticed was growing deeper and thicker off the path. "Don't you want to see where it leads? Shadowfoam always has a source point. Usually something fey-related."

"All the more reason." Her nose wrinkled. "Nico, you are too curious for your own good."

He walked back to the cart and hoisted up his backpack. "I just wanna check it out."

She huffed. "I still remember the time I had to wait two hours while you tried and

failed

to extract yourself from conversation with a single chatty waiter. You're

going

to get caught up!"

"I won't."

"I'm going to go and finish the errand without you if you get caught up!"

"I won't get caught up!"

"You will! You'll lose track of time and I'll be

sleeping

out here!" She made a show of clutching herself and shivering.

"I will

not

, Morgana." He rolled his eyes. "You've got to trust me a little here. I'm a lot more assertive these days."

She stared across at him, eyes narrowed. Then something entered her eyes—a faint spark. "Oh, fine," she murmured. "I'll just... kiss you goodbye, then."

He wasn't sure he liked the sound of that, or the look that had entered her eyes.

A pleasant humming started to rise around them. He blinked slowly. Then again, Morgana

did

have... rather pretty eyes.

She curled her finger, the corner of her lips creeping upwards. "Come here, Nico."

"I won't..." He leaned in obediently and let her kiss him on each cheek. His eyelids fluttered. "... okay, Morgana."

She smiled brightly. Out of the corner of his eye, Nico vaguely noticed something wispy and almost mosquito-like flitting around his head. "And wouldn't you rather come back with me?" she cooed, tickling under his chin.

"Um." Nico blinked rapidly, finding himself smiling back at her. "Huh?"

She beckoned, curling her finger—not unlike the gesture she'd been using to steer the goats. Her eyes shimmered. "Come along, then."

Her words poured like honey into him. He nodded dreamily, feeling as if a leash was tugging him along. "Mm. Um... okay."

Morgana giggled. "You look a little

sleepy

." She gestured behind him. "Tell you what, little deer... why don't you go and get a good, long, closeup look at the shadowfoam first?"

"Ooh. okay." He giggled and obeyed. Morgana knew best. The pretty humming in his head reminded him of that. He wasn't sure why he'd been disagreeing before.

He stumbled back towards the shadowfoam and bent down...

"Remember to take deep breaths!" the goblin witch called sweetly. Of course, he thought, smiling and nodding. Why wouldn't he? "That's right. Nice, long,

deeeeep

—

shit!

Cut tha—

ACK! GIVE IT BACK!

"

The humming suddenly turned to angry mosquito buzzing, and Nico flicked his head irritably. The blissful calm suddenly left him as he turned to see Morgana fighting with one of the goats over her hat. Without the controlling spirit helping her with the ornery animals, the little goblin appeared to be in the fight of her life.

He stared at her, consciousness trickling back to him. "

Really?

"

"Oh,

poo

." She yanked the straw hat back and huffed, stomping her foot. The buzzing faded, and the goat seemed to instantly calm and return to its post. She put the hat back on, a significant bite taken out of it. "It's for your own good, Nico. You

know

this can't end well!"

"I'll be fine." He rolled his eyes. Morgana wasn't

evil

, exactly, but to put it nicely, he was one of her only friends who wasn't. He tried to be a good influence. "Thanks for your concern, but you have to let me make my own choices."

"Not if your choices are

dumb

," she retaliated, pouting. "How many choices will you be making when you're some nymph's whimpering boytoy? Or chattering away the hours about the weather with some airheaded cotton dryad?"

"I'll be

fine

." He waved. "Back in five!"

She folded her arms and sat back. "Five minutes," she said reluctantly. "I'll be back tonight if you get caught up."

"I won't!" he called, as he ventured off into the woods.

Morgana meant well. Honest.

~ ~ ~ ~

Shadowfoam was hardly unheard of in these parts, but Nico had never seen it growing this thickly. Normally, it only took root near rare fey treasures or certain fey concoctions—for whatever reason, the fungus could only grow near fey magic. Nymph nectar was a common catalyst, but it normally only created little patches of shadowfoam, nothing like this.

That said, Nico's attention had been largely diverted by the other creature following the trail.

It had taken him a moment to recognize it, and when he had, he'd almost called out in excitement. The bird was about the size of a somewhat plump robin, and its feathers shimmered a silvery gray that would be practically invisible set against a misty morning or cloudy sky. A proud crest jutted from atop its head. It was called a silver cardinal, and Nico wanted to see if it was nesting near here. He knew a few Rangers who would love to know that there were silver cardinals in the Western Evergreen.

He kept his eyes trained on the bird, glancing down only occasionally to mark that he was still on the path of the shadowfoam. One benefit to following the false flowers was that the Evergreen Forest would be hard-pressed to get him lost if he had an obvious trail to follow back. The Evergreen liked to cheat, but it hated cheating when it would get caught.

The bird flitted from branch to branch, occasionally swooping down some ten meters ahead of Nico to peck at a particularly tasty-looking clump of shadowfoam. Occasionally it glanced back at Nico and made a menacing warble, and Nico would pause for a moment and step back. Once it was assured that it was receiving the proper respect, the bird would continue its path.

Nico followed the bird for a few minutes, mentally trying to calculate whether he would have to run back to catch Morgana before she gave up on him. She was a worrywort, but she was right about one thing—one did not want to spend any extended length of time alone in the Western Evergreen. Nico knew firsthand that its catgirls could be merciless when they found prey foolish enough to travel on his or her own.

Morgana was also right that Nico had a bad habit of getting caught up and carried away with stupid things. Conversations that went nowhere, interesting wildlife that went in circles...

The steel cardinal appeared to be in no hurry at all, though, and Nico had to suppress the urge to rush the bird.

Come on, now

, he thought, biting his lip. Pine needles crunched under his feet as he hurried after.

Just go home, bird!

The steel cardinal looked up from its meal, a clump of shadowfoam in its beak. With a warble, it fluttered up into the air—and to a nest high above. Nico heard the eager complaints of several hatchlings.

His face split into a relieved smile.

Okay. Now I know. Now, let's get back before...

As his eyes left the nest, he finally registered the forest around him.

And it suddenly hit him just how thoughtlessly he'd wandered.

"Oh," he said quietly, looking around at the suddenly very dark woods. "Where... where is this, Nico? Where've you wandered to now?"

The Evergreen Forest was almost entirely deciduous, belying its name, but the thick scent of pines hung as heavy as the dark green curtain above. Despite the darkness, the forest floor was lush and verdant, the soil soft and blanketed with moss—and a little marshy. Nico's shoes sank about a centimeter into the ground with every step, but the moss and flowers just sprang back up when he was gone.

The shadowfoam grew thick as ever here, and bright blue, slightly luminescent mock-blossoms bloomed all around. The bulk of it, however, was leading onward—just a few more steps, beyond a curtain of hanging lichen.

Nico swallowed. He glanced back at where he'd come from. He knew the way back.

Surely he could... He started to take a step forward, then stopped himself.

No

, he told himself firmly.

No more Curious Nico Gets Himself Into Trouble. Morgana won't leave the path to save your ass.

The memory of the catgirls teasing him over that curiosity still hung heavy in his mind—one of his first encounters a couple years ago, when he'd still been a green adventurer at the age of 19.

But now he was 23, he was a

sensible, seasoned adult

, and he was only going to take

one damn peek

before heading back. He nodded resolutely and resumed his careful creep forward.

And as he carefully brushed the lichen away with the back of his hand and peered beyond, his eyes widened.

A dense ring of brilliant blue shadowfoam grew in the middle of the clearing, casting a pale periwinkle light against the hot pink glow coming from the ring's center.

In the center of the ring grew a most curious flower. Superficially, it resembled a cupid's cup waterlily, except it wasn't in the water, apparently hadn't bloomed, and was even bigger than Nico. Though the outside of the petals was alabaster white, the rosy glow creeping through the cracks spoke of a brilliance unspoken. Blinding, overwhelming, and probably hypnotic. It was a good thing the flower was closed.

Nico had a visual way of observing the world, but the second thing he noticed was the smell. It was sweet and floral, like a sugar-rose bush in full bloom, and it complimented the nutty, liqueur-y smell of the shadowfoam wonderfully. Nico tried not to breathe in too deep, realizing with a slight buzz of unbidden delight just how strong the shadowfoam's fragrance could be when there was this much of it and you were totally surrounded by it. And something about the lily's sweet scent just made his mouth water, even what little of it he was getting. It was a good thing the flower was closed.

Nico was quite observant, and even distracted as he was by the smells and sights, it wasn't long before he noticed what he could hear a sweet, gentle humming coming from the blossom. It had a high-pitched, feminine lilt, and seemed to echo in Nico's head, as if a pair of lips were right next to each of his ears, humming a soft, intoxicating lullaby. Even from this distance, with the petals muffling the song, Nico felt a nice, warm glow, and he couldn't help but nod his head absently for a moment before he snapped out of it. It was a good thing the flower was closed.

Nico stared at the lily, wide-eyed. It almost... looked like...

The lichen kept tickling his face, annoying him and obstructing his view. He scowled and took just one little step into the clearing.

The humming stopped for just a moment, then resumed.

And at the same time, the white lily's petals opened.

The petals unfolded quickly, but delicately, peeling back before Nico could even react. As they did, a warm pink glow flooded the clearing, accompanied by the sweet scent of roses—more overpowering than ever, even stronger than the shadowfoam's ever-present heady aroma. The lily's petals only opened part-way, leaving a deep 'cup' that rose to just about waist-height, but did little to conceal its contents.

Instead of a stamen and pistil, and normal, well, flower parts, glowing sunset rose-colored nectar sloshed over the sides of the flower. And at its center, standing in the nectar, were two women with pastel green skin, brilliant thickly-lashed sunset-colored eyes, flowing emerald-green hair—one had her hair done up in pigtails, while the other's hair cascaded all the way down to her wide, luscious hips—and massive, positively decadently bouncy breasts. Aside from hairstyle, they were positively twins in every regard

They beamed at him, liquid delight in their gaze. And then they began to speak, and Nico found it a little difficult to keep up at first, overwhelmed by the sudden outpouring of sensations. Their voices were sweet as sugar, filled with happiness and welcome, and as they spoke they finished each other's sentences—even more confusingly, while one spoke, the other would nod along, smiling, continuing to hum the tune.They didn't miss a beat.

Nico bit his lip and focused, forcing his gaze on the base of the flower to avoid any... distractions.

"... so

nice

to have a visitor!" the one with pigtails gushed. "What's your name, cutie? I'm—"

"—Mai-Mai," continued the other, giggling. "And this is Bell-Bell!" She pointed to herself. "What's your name, cutie?"

"I..." Nico blinked rapidly between them. Despite his best efforts, it was hard to keep his gaze off of the creatures. Rude, too. "Nico? I'm Nico. It's really nice to meet you." He bowed, feeling a little nervous—and a little dizzy as he accidentally breathed in with his head bowed and got an extra dose of the shadowfoam.

They both cooed. "Ooh, so polite!" Mai-Mai fanned herself. "He is a

good

boy, isn't he?"

"Ooh, yes!" Bell-Bell licked her lips, running her fingers through her long hair and twirling a strand around her finger. With her other hand, she rubbed Mai-Mai's shoulder. "It's so rare we find—"