The Monster and the Reluctant Groom [Dimentio x Luigi]

(3) - The Fruit

The couple's judgemental stares seemed to fade as soon as his words sounded less hostile. Real cure or not, Adrian didn't want them upset with him. They were helping him get out of the woods, after all, and they still most likely meant well.

They'll reach a nearby town...eventually... probably? He couldn't tell right now. It was taking an AWFUL long time to reach a town, and he didn't think that he had wandered that far out.

"Well, then you will be happy to know that this cure isn't a potion, but a plant," the woman stated. "A pair of fruit with magic capabilities, to be precise."

Now Adrian was intrigued as he arched an eyebrow and tilted his head in her direction.

"A plant?" He questioned, giving her a skeptical look. "I had always assumed that my family was the only gardening family that dealt with magic flora and the like."

Ever since he was a baby, it was all his family could brag about. They didn't have much to their name, but their gardening magic was something of pride to them that no one could take away.

Hearing this elderly couple suggest that they knew some sort of plant-related magic that he and his family did not infuriated him...but also made him quite curious. After all, who's to say he can't learn something new? New plants are discovered all the time in new worlds whenever the seeds get carried, intentionally or not, through that fancy new town of Flipside!

"We don't deal with plants per se," the elderly man elaborated, "but we just happen to know of a certain fruit that can do just what you need."

Adrian paused to think, weighing his options. So far, with the luck he's had, their offer of help would be another dud. However, going off of the same idea of "luck", wasn't he bound to at least succeed once eventually? He needed to weigh the pros and cons carefully...

"...what's your price?" Adrian asked.

That was the first problem that came to mind. He already owed so many other people so much, and he didn't know how he could possibly repay any of them. Being indebted to another person seemed like one of the last things he needed right now on top of everything going on.

"Isn't your vision payment enough? Or do you suppose your vision wasn't a fair trade?" The elderly man asked with a smirk in his voice.

Adrian didn't like the way he said that. It made him shudder. The tonality of his voice made it sound like they were the ones who caused his loss of sight in the first place.

The elderly couple had now stopped walking Adrian along. For a moment, he thought that they were going to leave him here... wherever here was. What they said next came as a surprise.

"We can offer you either a cure for your vision... OR a solution for your inability to bear children," the elderly man said.

"If you choose to have this child, your vision will never be the same," the woman stated. "A child you shall never watch grow up, but you must care for them regardless."

The way they offered it did bring up many horrible thoughts in Adrian's head... What if he DID have a kid now that his vision was supposedly gone? There was a chance his eyesight could recover, yes, but what if it never did and he managed to have a child with his wife?

With his sight lost, would he even know what his child looks like? He would never know the color of their bright and curious eyes, see the happy giggling smiles as a baby, watch them take their first steps, nor anything else as they grow older... It was already painful enough knowing that he might never see his wife's beautiful green eyes, blonde hair, and pretty smile again.