Stuck In Paradise

Pyrefly Forest Pt1

Omori was a little bit behind, talking to the snake and collecting 750 clams before making his way out as well.

Hero was in no way used to seeing Mari. She just acted so...real? If that was the right word. He couldn’t tell. He had dreams of Mari before, normally a nightmare and on a lucky occasion, it was him reliving a memory.

He sighed when he caught up to Kel who was already bragging about getting ten dollars from Aubrey to her.

He wondered if anyone else here felt the same way. Well, probably not, after all, it isn’t like he, Aubrey, and Kel were all having the same dream...right?

Actually, now that he thinks about it, that could actually be the case. It could be that he is sharing a dream with Kel and Aubrey. There is a lot of evidence that supports it, like Kel getting the ten dollars he and Aubrey betted about in secret. The currency here is clams, not dollars, if they were dream versions of themselves Kel would be talking about clams instead.

Omori also acted strangely. He may not talk but his body language says a lot about him. What if he actually is Sunny? The temptation to call him that is large but he feels like if he says it something unpleasant might happen.

Hero suddenly got an idea. He would text Kel about what happened in this dream and see if Kel says he had the same thing happen to him. He would just need to find the time to do it.

Right now however Kel was waving him and the others over to Mari.

“Hey, Mari!” Aubrey waved.

“Hello, Mari!” Hero walked forward with Aubrey towards Mari who was looking at them with a huge grin.

“Hello everyone! Glad to see you all are safe.” Mari warmly smiled at them.

“Yep! We’re all good!” Kel smiled.

Omori walked up to Mari and opened his arms. She took that as an opportunity to hug him, “Glad you are safe as well Omori!”

Hero’s heart melted. Everything he would trade in the world to see Mari and Sunny like this again, for everything to go back to normal. It hurt to watch.

“So, do any of you have anything to bring up about finding Basil?” Mari asked.

“Still nothing. I don’t think he would be in...Otherworld? That is the name right?” Kel looked over to Hero who nodded, “Yeah Otherworld is its name.”

“Yeah, I don’t think he is in Otherworld either. He would have been found by Spaceboy by now.” Aubrey added.

“So Otherworld is checked off. Are there any other places we can explore?” Hero asked Mari.

“Hmm there is a forest west to the stump but I have a feeling you wouldn’t like going there, Hero. Nor would Omori by any chance.” Mari informed the group.

“Huh? Why?” Hero asked as Omori tilted his head.

Mari nervously clicked her tongue, “Um, well, there are a lot, and I do mean a lot of insects crawling about.”

“Huh? Well yeah, it is a forest after all.” Kel rolled his eyes, “Hero and Omori should be fine.”

“Yeah, I would normally agree with you Kel but most residents in the areas are mainly spiders…” Mari trailed off.

Hero and Omori both froze at the mention of spiders. A million thoughts began going through his head at lightning speed.

This is a dream, right? So they should be absolutely harmless, right?

Once again though this is a dream. What if they are absolutely terrifying? Hero doesn’t want to deal with that.

“Oh, I think you broke them…” Aubrey muttered under her breath.