Reconciled hearts: a season9(Lloyrumi story)

Chapter. 149: Crazy Old Women

Harumi groaned; she felt someone was shaking her shoulder, wanting to wake her up. Harumi tried to shake the person away. Then she heard Lilla's voice; she shot up, and then she saw that she and the girls were in a junglish type place. They all looked at each other shocked.

Kaitylnn looked around, then asked where they were. Harumi told them that they were in a jungle, until Jade said that there was a town right over there, so they couldn't be in a jungle. Lilla began to explain, and Harumi sighed, knowing they had to keep moving to get back home.

They traveled through the small village; it seemed that they were in a small market place. People were shopping, enjoying their day. Harumi looked around; she had never seen anything like this. Then, she accidentally got separated from the girls when something caught her eye. As the girls kept walking, they finally noticed her missing.

Lilla looked at the girls then asked, "Has anyone seen Harumi..?"
Jade shook her head, and Kaitlynn did as well. They panicked, then ran to try and find her.

Meanwhile, Harumi walked inside a strange shop, like ones you could only see in movies. She walked around and saw a monkey's paw..

Not knowing why, Harumi reached out to touch it when she gets startled by a woman popping out of nowhere, scaring her and making her fall. When she got her breath back she glares at the woman. "What was that for?!" The woman waited for a second before answering her.

She says only a few words, "You are not from this world, child; where you come from is in great danger." Harumi was confused, as the woman then went around, seemingly frantic, grabbing some potions. Harumi asked what she was doing, but the woman didn't answer at first.
The woman went over to a cauldron, and mumbles words. She poured the potions and ingredients in at the same time. Harumi was confused; when she went to walk out of the shop, the woman plucked a piece of hair from her head. She moaned in pain, rubbing her head.
She watched as the woman threw the piece of her hair into the cauldron. Harumi walked over to peer into the cauldron when the woman covered her face with her hand. Harumi gave out muffled yelps.

Outside the other three girls met up, and asked each other if anyone had found Harumi yet...
Jade was about to speak when an explosion was heard.
Lilla looked at the girls, and asked, "What was that?!"
A man walked over and said, "Looks like the crazy woman is at it again..."
Kaitln asked what he meant, and the man explained about the crazy woman who lived on the hill. In worry, the three ran there fast.

Inside, Harumi coughed some dust out of her mouth. The woman pulled out a necklace that she made using all those things she put into the cauldron.
She went to hand it to Harumi, who asked, "Why are you giving this to me?"
The woman explained, "It will help you in your journey. Each time you unlock a new part of herself or discover something, a jewel will appear in the necklace; when all the jewels are present, you will unlock your true power."

Harumi was confused, but before she could ask anything else, the girls burst in and took Harumi out of there. They asked her a lot of questions, and Harumi didn't answer at first; she just looked down at the necklace in her hand, wondering what the heck the women meant...
~ ~ ~
Fast forwarding to an hour later, the girls were heading through the town, looking for another rift to travel through. They had passed countless shops and even small stands or stalls dotting the picturesque but dusty streets around them. Harumi thought back to a few minutes ago when they had almost lost Lilla to a hand-sized fruit. . .
Lilla was examining some sort of small pale green, speckled fruit that the girls had never seen before, ready to sink her teeth into it.
Right as she lifted it up to her mouth, a hand abruptly knocked it out of her fingers, just as the skin of the fruit brushed her tongue.
The girls looked at the owner of the hand and saw that it was the same man from earlier who told them about the crazy woman.
"What was that for??" Lilla questioned angrily, until she was surprised at the bitter taste left in her mouth by the mere skin of the fruit.
"You might be untrustworthy strangers, but I wouldn't let anyone eat a poisonous fireleaf. That thing could kill you in minutes."
"Fireleaf?" Harumi questioned warily.
"Yeah, tastes gross and bitter and then starts getting wayyyyy too spicy until you swallow it. Then the poison goes into you."
Harumi shuddered at the memory and at what would've happened if the man hadn't been there to knock the fireleaf away. Her mind switched to a later incident, this time evoking her Oni powers. . .
Kaitlynn was casually walking side-by-side with the other girls, until a pretty-looking bird sat on the edge of a wooden stall off to the edge of the street. She instinctively went to secure it, as it sat still next to a ton of sharp weapons; knives, clubs, and swords lined the counter, but the colorful green bird remained next to them, unfazed.
She split from the girls, who looked at her questioningly and shrugged, going after her. The second her hand touched the wooden beak of the bird, it shattered, and she shrieked. A ball of metal spikes came flying at her face, and a hidden trap door opened up under her.
Harumi instinctively shot her hands out, forming a small violet bubble that held Kaitlynn in the air, safe from the death trap. She looked at her friend, sweating and eyes dilated, inside the ball.
Harumi shook off both events, but that didn't stop her mind from wandering to the third...
Lost in her mind, Jade had been keeping her eyes trained on the parchment map someone had lent them about half an hour ago. She hadn't looked up once, and once Harumi focused on their surroundings for the first time, the familiar vines and creepy bugs shocked her. She looked at the other girls, who were lost in their own conversations, and at Jade, who was still looking at the map, walking...walking...walking---
"HELP!" Jade screamed, as her foot slipped off the edge of a pointy cliffside. "HELP ME!" As she fell, two of her fingers latched onto the cracking ground, and Lilla slid to grasp her red hand. The map slowly floated to the ground below, impaled on the sharp rocks.
Jade frantically struggled to hold on to Lilla, who pulled her slowly up with the others' help. She finally came up all the way and lay on her back, spread out like a starfish.
"Maybe someone else should take the map...?"
Harumi mentally scanned the streets, as they were finally back to the village. That was three times too many that something had almost gone horribly wrong; she was hoping the rest of the journey would be smoother with less obstacles. On the other hand, Harumi wasn't one to back down from a challenge.
Currently, it was around dusk, and the skies were getting darker. The girls had originally planned to keep looking for the rift, but the villagers had insisted they stay overnight. They had mentioned many dangerous animals lurking in the jungle at night, and had instead invited them to the bonfire.
The girls arrived at the bonfire late-ish, and the villagers welcomingly shifted to squeeze them in the circle on the wooden logs.
Stories, ghost stories, and recipes were tossed around as everyone pooled their cutlery to feed the whole village. Harumi looked around and saw the familiarity and kindness that passed around the fire, side by side with the eerie noises from the jungle in the distance. Her mind wandered to settle on the old woman who had given her the necklace.
Everyone seemed to be having a good time, until Kaitlynn felt that something was wrong. It was like that gut instinct that told a person they were being followed, or being watched. She turned to the girls.
"Does anyone feel that?" she asked.
Jade and Lilla, who were busy eating, were confused and shook their heads. Harumi, on the other hand, knew what she was referring to. "I feel it too--"
The crowd of villagers erupted in chaos all of a sudden, and Harumi felt the hair on her neck stand up. She slowly turned around and drew her dagger from its sheath, clutching it tightly. The other villagers fled from the scene, and the girls saw a swirling black vortex opening up in front of them.
Harumi saw Nadakhan, Krux, and multiple nindroids emerging from the portal, their weapons drawn. She and the girls got ready to fight them, but then she saw two more figures coming into the Jungle Realm.
It was Cloud, trapped securely, it seemed, in the arms of someone she knew all too well. Harumi glared, her heart shattering with betrayal.
"Uncle Acronix."

(A/N: Hello again guys! I'll be honest, I wrote this chapter at the last minute and almost didn't finish... XD But I hope you all are doing alright in quarantine. Best wishes to everyone and I will see you soon! ~ Ash)