Unrecognizable

~Chapter Twenty-Five~

Why did he do that? Sage himself didn't entirely know nor remember. He thought it might be fun at the time. It would provide him more of a challenge. It would make all of this much more exciting. The cat's out of the bag, what to do now? But now, he was just... tired. While his showy flourishes used to come naturally, they had become more of an actual show lately, much more forced acting rather than just simply being himself. His conversation with Grumbot had taken a lot out of him, and it hadn't even gone well; Grumbot didn't relent and join his team. And he just dropped the act entirely around Void and Citrus. It's not like they cared much. Sometimes he did add a bit of flair, just to spice things up, but he was mostly just, well, normal around them.

However, differing from Sage, Citrus seemed to be enjoying herself immensely. It seemed to not drain her at all; she thrived on the attention of others. It was like that was her sole purpose-- which wasn't entirely untrue-- and so she did it well. She was always ready for something new, something else to make her feel useful. That was something that Sage admired a lot, but also feared in her. Just before Sage and Void had come back down into the laboratory, Void had helped Citrus get back to where Stress was. She had barely given herself a break at all. Sage was admittedly concerned. She could get hurt. She was seemingly not worried at all, though, and continued to push herself more and more, despite Sage's recommendations to chill.

A faint sound of footsteps came from the other room and Sage took that as the time to leave. Pressing the button to unlock the door, Sage came out of the room to see Void coming down the stairs. In his hands were a couple of feathers. "It was just a chicken," he explained. 

Sage blinked. A chicken? Surely that would not have made that much noise. He couldn't help being a bit suspicious. "You're sure it was just a chicken? It seemed pretty loud." 

Nodding quickly, Void put the feathers in his pouch. "That was the only thing I saw, anyway. Must've echoed," He confirmed with a shrug. Void changed the subject quickly, leaving Sage even more confused. "Anyway, let's not waste any time. Let's g-" His eyes fell on the paper Sage clutched in his hand and cocked his head. "What's that?"

"Hu-? Oh, that." Sage shook his head out of his stupor and held out the paper, which was now slightly crinkled. "I wrote down the password for the door in case either of us forgets." He chuckled slightly, knowing full well that if either of them would ever need the paper, it would definitely be him. "Want to see?" 

As Void nodded, Sage handed him the paper before turning back around to the door. He folded his arms. "So how much do we even have left to do, anyway?" He questioned. "We're almost ready, correct?" The two had been working almost nonstop, and Sage couldn't wait for all of this to pay off. Then they could release Mumbo and Jellie-- no hard feelings, right?-- and finish what they started. After that, Sage had no clue, but he'd deal with that when it happened. 

When. When it happened. Not if. When.

As Void punched the buttons, he responded, "Well, I still have to figure out how I'm combining the chorus fruit and the sword. I still need a few more pieces-- the more you can get, the better, really." Because the number of chorus fruit Sage got would directly influence the effect of the sword, the more the merrier. "I need some phantom membrane," Void continued as the door unlocked and the two entered the room. "Blaze powder would be nice; I'll hop by the Nether later to grab some."

The two pulled out chairs and sat down. "Anything else?" Asked Sage as he sat back in his chair, folding his arms. 

Seemingly mildly uncomfortable, Void nodded. "Yes, but I'm not exactly sure what it is yet. Or how to get it, for that matter," he added under his breath. Huh. What was up with Void lately? He seemed off. Of course, Sage couldn't expect Void to not be on edge; one small mistake and he could ruin everything. All of this would have been for naught. And not to mention the guilt he must feel.