"Brooke!" Nika's high pitch and unbearably sweet voice squealed as she opened the door, "I had no idea you were coming! And with guests?" She smiled at them, her thin and finely groomed brown tail flicked from side to side excitedly, her ears, also brown, perked excitedly forward as they poked from her light blue colored hair.
"Yes well it was sort of an unplanned visit, we can explain later. But this is Sarah, and Wendy. And I am sure you remember Darius?" She said stepping aside to reveal the tiny Darius perched on Sarah's shoulder.
Nika gasped, her dark brown eyes widened as she saw Darius, "I think I remember him a tad taller" She laughed, giving Brooke a look. She brushed a strand of light blue hair from her face, "So, what brings you out here?"
"What, a friend can't just come to visit?" Brooke said with smile, walking through the door.
"Do they usually have blue hair?" Wendy whispered to Sarah.
Nika laughed, "No, we don't. I like to play with my hair color"
"It's very beautiful" Wendy said with a smile.
"Aw! thank you!"
Darius rolled his eyes as they started to go into a conversation about it, "Um, perhaps we should get a little down to business" He spoke up.
Nika grinned, "I knew something was up, but I'm glad to help as always"
Brooke sighed, dropping down into a padded chair, "Our friend has gotten himself into a little trouble. Do you remember that necklace?"
"Ah, yes the pretty red one?"
"Right, well he sort of broke it while under its effects"
"Oh no. How did he manage that?"
"I wonder the same thing myself" Brooke said throwing Darius a grin.
"So do you think you could help?" Darius asked.
"Hmm, well let me see?" Nika said holding her hand to Sarahs shoulder so he could climb over. She smiled down at him, glancing at Brooke before walking over to a table and sitting down.
Darius pulled the necklace and the three shards out of his pocket, holding them up to her. Nika leaned down, straining a bit to see.
"And these are the only pieces?"
"Yeah it was a clean break"
"Well that's good, if it had shattered you would be hopeless" She tapped her chin, "Yes, I think I can manage this one" She surprised Darius by suddenly hopping onto the table with unexpected agileness. She lifted her hand over her head and dropped it down towards her feet, a line of light suddenly swirling around her body. With that she suddenly dropped to a few inches in height, still taller than the minuscule Darius, "Though this will make it much easier!" She grinned.
"You can do that?!" Wendy nearly screamed as they crowded around the table.
Nika laughed, but nodded, "I can't quite get the effects of say an enchanted jewel, but once you learn how to harness the magic you can do all sorts of things"
"Yes, Nika is much more advanced than I" Brooke said sliding her chair over, "I can make potions and enchantment but my abilities in casting spells by hand are still rather rudimentary. Nika on the other hand is incredibly-"
"Please Brooke you're embarrassing me!" Nika laughed, "And you are very good, you picked up a lot of this stuff faster than I did"
"Only because I had a good teacher"
Nike lifted the tiny necklace and three shards in her hand, sitting down next to Darius as she tried to piece them together, "Yes, I think we will be fine" She assured him, she looked up to the others, "I will have to hold the melding spell for a while" She cupped her hands together, a bright red light suddenly shooting through the cracks of her fingers, "It is actually kind of nice to be able to do it at this size, the energy is easier to condense"
"To, um" Wendy said, trying to follow.
Brooke smiled, "Well, I guess we could go gather up some wood? I see you are running a bit low"
"That would be nice, and maybe collect some fruit from my garden? I'm sorry but I don't have much else to offer for dinner. But I will be here for a while"
~~~~
They sat in silence for a few minutes, Darius staring into the red light seeping through her hands.
"So I never thought I'd see you again" She said with a soft smile.
Darius laughed, "Well it is a pleasant surprise, especially under the circumstances"
"I think I am even more surprised to see you and Brooke together"
"Ah, so you know all the details?"
Nika nodded, "She got mad at me for a while, but she seemed to blame you mostly"
"Yeah, it was pretty bad" Darius said shaking his head, "Bad enough that I thought my life might have been in danger the two times I bumped into her like this" he laughed.
"I can't wait to hear the story, perhaps over dinner you can tell it in its entirety"
Nika sighed, "So, do you regret what we did?"
"In hindsight...well I'm not sure"
"I know what you mean. But, I guess had I known how it hurt her" She sighed again, "So, are you two?"
"No, no" Darius assured her, "It seems she is over me just as she is over being mad at me"
"Maybe, it took years though I can assure you that. The first year afterward, once she would see me again, she would spend hours crying into my shoulder"
Darius hung his head, "It pains me to hear that. But maybe in the end it is for the best, it is good to have her as a friend again"
"And good for her too, she has never had many" She looked over out the window as one of the girls passed outside, "So what about those other two?"
"Well Wendy is still a young girl, and unfortunately can't get this notion out of her head that I am some sort of hero"
Nika laughed, "A tiny one at that"
"As for Sarah, well...She is a princess, literally"
Nika gasped, "And what is she doing with you guys?"
"It will be explained later"
"Oh yeah, so?"
"So um, well I don't know. I guess I can tell you that part of the story now" He started, explaining the night, briefly touching on the events leading up to it.
Nika laughed, "That is almost too strange to be true" She shook her head, "So, do you think there is anything there?"
Darius shrugged, "She is a beautiful girl, and her heart is in the right place"
"But?"
"I don't know if there is a but, I am nearing my thirties and she has yet to reach her twenties"
"Well that is not unheard of"
"I know, but that is for prince's and kings"
"She is a princess though?"
"And I am no prince. And I have tainted her innocence already, I am no man for a girl like her"
"Then who are you for?"
Darius shrugged, "I may never know that one"
Nika giggled, "Well you were mine for a night"
Darius chuckled, "If only more people shared your friendly attitude towards-"
The door opened as Brooke reentered with a pile of sticks in her arms, "How is it going?" She asked, a bit out of breath.
"It shouldn't be much longer" She said as Brooke came near, "But once finished we won't know if it was a complete success until tomorrow once the spell is ready again"
"That is if the anticipation doesn't kill me" Darius grumbled.
~~~~
Later that night they all sat around the table, taking turns explaining the many parts of their story. Darius found the first day or so rather interesting when told from Brooke's perspective.
"You guys should write this down" Nika laughed, "Surely a tale that could be told for ages"
"Like in the books I have!" Sarah said with a wide smile.
"Oh you like books?" Nika asked, "I have a rather big collection"
Sarah nodded, "Father forbid me from reading but I had them brought to me in secret" She looked down towards the table for a moment, the room fell silent after she brought up the king again, "It is so strange that he is gone" She looked over to Darius, "Not sad, mind you, just strange"
Nika cleared her throat as she suddenly placed her hands down onto the table, a long blue bottle suddenly appearing in her hands, a grin across her face, "Let's have a little drink"
"Nika I think we have someone here who is probably not old-"
"Hush, of course she is" Nika smiled to Wendy as she poured a glass, sliding it to her first.
"I want a drink!" Darius yelled out, eyeing the bottle.
"Me too, I have never tried myself!" Sarah responded.
~~~~
The night went on and the bottle slowly disappeared. Nika and Brooke had moved off to one corner of the oddly roomy cottage, reflecting on old times. Darius would have liked to join them but was whisked away to another corner with Sarah and Wendy, a particularly tipsy Sarah and Wendy.
Nika tipped from side to side slightly as she talked, finger slipping on the rim of her crystal glass, "Gosh, I can't remember the last time I relaxed like this" She sighed.
"I know, and where did you get these glasses?" Brooke asked, swishing the blue liquid around inside.
"They were a gift" Nika giggled.
"From who?"
Nika smiled, "Oh, the Prince"
Brooke laughed, "No!" She said skeptically.
Nika nodded, "It actually was more of a business thing, you know they have been after me to come work with them at the palace"
"And you always turn them away" Brooke sighed.
Nika shrugged, "I like it out here, the riches never really appeal to me"
"Well at least you live in a place where you are allowed to turn down the kingdom"
Nika shook her head, "Yes, it has been quite a sad era as of late in your kingdom hasn't it?" She turned her head to look over to Sarah and the others, "Seems our Princess has had a bit too much" She commented as Sarah sat slumped over in a chair, asleep.
"Hmm, I am afraid to ask where the other has gotten off too" Brooke shook her head, "Well I think I will take a page from her book, thank you for helping us again" She said covering her mouth as she yawned.
~~~~
Darius sighed, bouncing slightly as Wendy stumbled her way outside.
"It's so beautiful out here" She said, her voice seeming to have a bit of trouble finding the right volume.
"I guess" Darius commented, he was starting to lose his drunk. Wendy found a seat on a log that was artfully placed in the grass before her house.
"I've never known" She paused a moment, covering her mouth as she stifled a burp, "Excuse me" She laughed. Her brow furrowed as she tried to think of what she was saying, "Um"
"You've never known?"
"Oh! Right, I've never known a place that didn't have trees" She said, her eyes looking out over the wide plains that stretched out below the white light of the full moon.
"There are plenty of open areas around the Castle" Darius commented.
"Yeah but...but they always still have them!"
Darius laughed, "You're drunk"
"No..." She smiled down at him.
He leaned back, "Well I can't wait until I can get back to normal, I will throw that damn necklace away"
"I can"
"Is that so?"
"Because It's so fun to have a little knight to have" She laughed.
"For the hundredth time, I am not nor have I ever been a knight"
"Yes you are" She said.
"Nope"
"Stop saying that, you are too"
He just shook his head.
"Did Brooke start that fire for me?" She asked. Darius laughed, "She did didn't she! That bitch!" She nearly fell backwards as she laughed. Darius fell forward onto her chest as she lifted her hands.
He pushed off her skin, "Uh..."
"Hey! What are you doing there!" She giggled lifting him off.
"Wendy lets not go through-"
Wendy suddenly brought him back up to her lips, his time not giving him much of a chance to speak before pressing his face to her tongue, humming as she did. He struggled but was forced to endure this for a few minutes.
"Wendy" He finally yelled as she pulled him away, his hair sticking on end from the saliva.
"What?"
"I thought we had been over this..."
"Oh come on!" She laughed, "Don't act like you don't enjoy it"
"That is beyond the point"
She frowned, "I'm not beautiful enough am I?"
"You know that isn't true"
"It is! Is my hair not blonde enough like Sarahs? Are my breasts not nice and large for you like Brooke or Nika? Maybe I should turn my hair blue and sprout little furry ears!"
"You're hardly even making sense Wendy. You are a very pretty girl"
"I am?" She smiled and went to bring him forward again.
"Stop! Wendy!" He yelled again, she recoiled a bit, "Sorry, but it is simply that I am too old for you"
"Fine, we can wait then! I will be seventeen soon, and then just one more year-"
"No, Wendy"
She frowned, "But...you are so much more to me than you are to them"
"What do you mean"
"You saved me! You avenged my parents"
"I avenged my own"
"But you are a hero! You tackled a tyrant while being so tiny-"
"It wasn't by choice"
"But you still overcame!"
"I did what I did out of hate, I wish you would learn that"
"It is not hate if it is an evil man" She grumbled.
"I am an evil man"
"No! How could you say that?!"
"When I had just gone into hiding I became desperate"
"What are you talking-"
"Stop, let me finish. When I had gone into hiding I became desperate, I had no food, I saw a man walking down the road with a fresh hunt-"
"Stop it!" She cried, "Stop telling me this" She rose to her feet.
"You need to know that I am not who you think I am, for your own good"
She shook her head, storming back up towards the house. She set him back down on the table and nearly ran away towards one of the back rooms that Nika said they could sleep in. Darius sighed and sat down with his back against the tall blue bottle. He couldn't wait until tomorrow.
Giantess World
