Stuck In Paradise

Sweetheart's Castle pt3

That is when she remembered.

A few days before Sunny became a shut-in he was staying at Basil’s place as his parents fought about what to do about him. What if Sunny saw Basil covering over the photos with the markers? It would make sense, after all, she saw Sunny sadder than when he left Basil’s house to return to his own.

It made her blood boil. She bit her lip not to yell out in anger at the idea. What if that is why Sunny became a shut-in? Because his best friend destroyed those precious photos. Then why would Sunny work with Kel get the album back to Basil? Probably because he felt pity for the boy, that’s why. Sunny always was a pushover.

Damn it. This was honestly beginning to piss her off. She hoped there were more enemies to fight and soon, otherwise she might snap.

Omori suddenly walked towards her and pointed to a random pot.

“What? You want me to break it or something?” She asked.

Omori nodded in confirmation.

“Why though?” Aubrey stared at him confused.

He simply shrugged.

“...Fine, only because I hate this place.” She agreed, walking up to a pot and readying her bat.

She slammed it into the pot and immediately felt her anger lessen. Did Omori know she was upset?

Omori pointed to yet another pot and Aubrey smashed it. Turned out there were 30 clams inside it. Omori happily pocketed that.

“Using me for the money, damn.” Aubrey joked to Omori.

Omori simply gave her a thumbs up in response.

“Yay! Property damage! Do you think I could break something with my ball?” Kel asked.

“I mean, you could try but I don’t think it would be strong enough. “ Aubrey pointed out.

“Eh, still gonna try!” Kel grinned as he threw his ball at high speed to one of the pots. Instead of breaking it, however, it bounced off and hit Kel in the face.

“Pfff- HAHAHA!" Aubrey burst out laughing as Omori did a mini clap.

“OH, SHUT IT!” Kel yelled.

“Guys, please, by the time I wake up I am going to have a horrible headache.” Hero groaned.

“Sorry, Hero.” Kel and Aubrey apologized at the same time.

“Let’s get going, we don’t want to get caught…” Hero stated as they began to walk out of the gallery.

Aubrey walked near Omori and whispered in his ear, “Thanks for letting me do that back there…”

Omori looked at her and for the first time, Aubrey saw him give a small smile before returning to his normal blank face.

A memory suddenly hit her.

~~~~~~

Aubrey wasn’t feeling so good today. She doesn’t know why, her mood just feels bad. She hated it. Why is she feeling sad when there is nothing to be sad about? Emotions are weird.

She was hanging out in the park by herself. Mari and Sunny were busy practicing for their recitals and Hero were studying. And Kel? She just didn’t feel like dealing with his energy today.

This sucks.

Or that was until she felt plastic be pushed against her hand. She turned around to become face to face with Sunny who was handing her a Lunchables.

“Why are you here? Don’t you have practice?” She asked.

“Finished.” He simply replied.

“Why are you giving me Lunchables?” She stared at the container with confusion.

“You, um, looked hungry…and a little sad...” Sunny mumbled.

She stared at Sunny dumbfounded before letting out a giggle, “Thanks Sunny, I needed this.”

~~~~~~

Sunny was always good at reading her emotions and being there for others. So seeing him still caring for her and the others, despite going by a different name and being in a dream world, made her happy.

The group began walking back to the lobby until they saw a sprout mole in their way. The sprout mole stood still staring their group down. Aubrey can smell a fight from a mile away.

“Stop, imposters! I know what you are...NOT SPROUT MOLES!” He yelled.

“Shit…” Aubrey whispered under her breath. She had a feeling this wasn’t going to be good.

“Hmph! You must be wondering how I can tell, you see, I am much higher than those Harolds and Marshas!” The mole laughed.

“I am Sir Maximus! With my impressive lineage, I will be victorious and bring honor to my family!” He bowed his head so his sword pointed at the group, “UNGUARD!” He charged at them.

The group managed to dodge right as he blew past them.

“Gee! He is fast!” Kel pointed out as Maximus began swinging at them

“We know Kel!” Aubrey yelled as she swung at the mole.

The mole almost managed to dodge but she managed to hit him from behind and throw him at Hero who used his Baking Pan to whack him back to Aubrey.

Kel interrupted their game of throwing Maximus everywhere by hitting Maximus with his ball which made him land at the feet of Omori.

“No...I...Can not fail! My son needs me!” Maximus yelled as he jumped up and sliced Omori’s legs.

Omori didn’t like that so he tried to stab the mole who just rolled out of the way.

Omori is angry!

Kel once again threw his ball and hit Maximus. Aubrey joined in by hitting him from behind but not strong enough to send him flying like before. Omori ran forward and grabbed the mole, pinning him down and aiming to stab through the eye hole in the armor.

Before he gets the chance to do so, however, Maximus had one more trick up his sleeve.

He began to rapidly slash at the group causing a ton of damage and even managing to turn poor Hero into toast.

Omori did not succumb.

Omori managed to grab onto the mole yet again and Maximus tried to squirm his way out but it was too late. Omori was able to stab the mole and watched as he vanished from sight.

“...Well, that happened…” Aubrey muttered.

Omori might care for other people’s emotions like Sunny but he was ruthless when it came to battles.

He walked over to the flying piece of toast and whipped out some jam. He used his knife to spread it on the toast and Hero popped right back into existence.

“I...I still hate that…” Hero grumbled as Kel let out a tiny snort.

Omori made the motion for everyone to follow him and they headed into the lobby. They walked up the stairs and headed to the right. There were more statues and another door with a flamingo next to it.

Omori, however, decided to ignore the flamingo and simply walk in with the others. Inside revealed a mini dining room.

In the room was a group of moles with tiny chef hats surrounding another mole with a giant chef hat on a couch.

“Urg, my dear sous chefs...I am afraid my back can’t take it anymore! I must announce my retirement because I can no longer deal with my conditions.” The mole complained.

“But, without you, who will lead us in our tasks of baking a most magnificent cake for the main event?” One of the sous chefs asked.

“Sous chefs, I believe in you! One of you needs to step up and take my place.” The chief stated.

“Yes, I understand chief! I will take over for you, don’t you worry a thing!” One of the sous chefs stepped up.

The sous chef that spoke up turned around and looked at Omori’s group.

“Hey, you four! You are now sous chefs! Meet me in the kitchen, pronto!” The mole commanded walking up the stairs.

Aubrey felt like they were going to be in for an interesting experience…