Guardians of Terraria II: The World of Calamity

Episode 23.3 - Warnings and Wailings

It had felt so real...

What if he's going to take control of me again? What if I end up attacking William again? Or killing someone?

The Lunatic Cultist is dead, William's voice flashed in her mind. Sid killed him.

"But what if he's not?" She murmured to herself. "Or what if... there is another?"

Another... Lunatic... Cultist...

That was when she heard the scraping.

Sounding like metal against metal.

She shot to her feet, her bow in her hand.

What is that?

She shuffled through the warehouse, moving towards the noise, soon finding herself approaching one of the lead-plated walls. There was nothing there.

There. A thump.

From behind the wall. From the outside.

If it was some sort of monster, it could go off and end up terrorising the citizens. She couldn't have that on her watch. Trying to calm her nerves, she got out her pickaxe and hacked through the wall.

"Aaaagh!" Cirrus cried.

"Aaaagh!" Roxanne shouted.

"Aaaaagh!" Robyn screamed in return.

It wasn't a monster.

It was the Stylist and the Drunk Princess... making out.

"Oh, sorry!" Robyn cried, feeling like she was blushing. She'd had no idea the two of them were... you know...

"I didn't know you slept in there," Cirrus said. "Or are you and William..."

Robyn shook her head right as Cirrus started making a certain motion with her hands. "No! He's uh... out finding some more Power Cell Factories."

"Dang. Then what did you scream about then?"

"Uhh... nightmares."

The Stylist gave a gasp. "Oh, you poor thing."

"You should have a drink or something to take your mind off it!" Cirrus proclaimed. "Actually wait, are you sure you're 21?"

Robyn shrugged. "I have no idea."

"Good enough. On the house!"

A bright pink bottle named 'Fabsol's Vodka' was suddenly thrust into Robyn's inventory. There were a bunch of stat changes listed, some good, some bad, but regardless, she didn't think drinking alcohol right now was a good idea.

"I'll just leave you alone," Robyn said.

"Oh no, it's fineeee," Roxanne said. "It's been awhile since I've gone to a girl's night." She looked up at the stars. "I miss Emily, and Star, and Hayley... Kayla too. She could never catch a break."

Robyn felt a pinch inside of her at the mention of the Mechanic's name. Who had died by her hands, albeit with someone else behind the wheel.

"I didn't have friends where I came from," Cirrus said, then she started welling up with tears. "I've never had friends!" She raised her large arms up and began to blubber into them. Roxanne reached over and gave her a comforting pat on the shoulder.

"I don't think I was really close with many of the citizens," Robyn said. "Except maybe James..."

"Oh, he always spoke very highly of you," Roxanne chirped. "But I've been looking out for you too. Whenever I style anyone's hair, I always want to know they feel good about it, that it helps give them the confidence they need."

"Yeah..." Robyn said, in probably the most unconfident way her voice could get.

"I've been... noticing how us getting thrown to this world has affected you, and... well, I don't want to pry too much if you don't want me to, but I just want to say that, if anything does ever get you down, you can always talk to me. There aren't many of us left, and it's important we all be as strong as we can. Not just for ourselves, but for each other."

"And you can talk to me too!" Cirrus proclaimed. "Though Roxie's way better at talking. I mean, I love to talk, but she's better at talking goood." She raised a bottle that had been concealed somewhere in the folds of her dress. "Now let's drink to celebrate our happiness!"

"Woah woah woah," Roxanne said. "You've had three bottles already tonight. Remember you're trying to cut down?"

"Oh. Yeah. I forgot."

"I'll drink for you then," Robyn said, holding up the vodka Cirrus had given her.

Roxanne began to speak. "Oh, there's no need –"

"Do it! Do it! Do it!" Cirrus began chanting.

Robyn flushed a bit but raised the bottle. Like potions, the item immediately disappeared with a quick glugging sound, but she felt the taste in her mouth followed by... the strangest feeling.

"How does it feel?" Cirrus asked.

Robyn bobbed her head from side to side, trying to reconcile the effect with reality, then

"You know what? I feel fabulous!"

***

It was morning when William returned, with plenty of Power Cell Factories and Charging Stations – enough to fill up the warehouse, he was sure. When he saw Robyn waiting out the front entrance for him, he smiled.

"William!" She ran to him, Frostspark Boots propelling her straight into him, her arms wrapping around him.

"Robyn..."

She pulled away and started grinning. "Notice anything different about me?"

It took him three seconds to realise. "You... changed your hair."

"Yeah. I visited the Stylist."

"It looks good."

As they started to walk towards the warehouse entrance, Robyn said, "You were gone for awhile."

"There were quite a lot of enemies on the way, but it was no problem. Once we get inside, we can decode the ice lab's schematic."

She changed her hair, but you don't have to change how you vote! (Unless you want to)