A harrowing hour later, Rocky and Bonnie emerged from the hut fixing their clothes and trying not to wobble as they walked. Rocky cleared his throat.
"Um...ahem...we're finished," Rocky said in a voice that trembled slightly.
"Did you two have a good talk? " Kokichi asked impishly.
"Yeah...we did," Bonnie replied, taking a few deep breaths. Himiko just stood there, horrified. "Um...Himiko, are you okay?" Himiko didn't respond. She just kept staring as if she had seen a ghost.
"She's fine," Kokichi said. "She just happened to remember a horror story."
"Oh...about what?" Rocky asked.
"About these two lovesick teenagers who met each other in the middle of the woods and ended getting eaten by some vicious beast," Kokichi replied with a cheeky grin. Rocky and Bonnie stared at him with fear in their eyes. "Aaaanyhoo, since you two are finished talking, I think it's time to move on, shall we?"
"Yeah...you're right," Rocky said with a nod before turning back to Bonnie. "My love, I will see you again, soon, yes?"
"Yes," Bonnie replied, kissing Rocky on his lips. "One day, Himiko will take you to see my parents, and we'll see each other then."
"I will be counting the days, beautiful," Rocky sighed longingly as he kissed Bonnie repeatedly. Kokichi rolled his eyes.
"Can we just go, nooow?" he whined. Rocky and Bonnie looked apologetically at Kokichi and Himiko.
"Yes, of course," Bonnie replied, clearing her throat before smiling at Rocky. "Goodbye, Rocky."
"Goodbye...my sweet Bonnie," Rocky replied. Kokichi groaned.
"Oh, my lanta, let's just get outta here, already!" he said. After one last wave, Bonnie left with Kokichi and Himiko back through the Floral District to find the elevator that would take them back to the Oak Express. Once on the train, they remained silent the whole way until they made it back to the Emerald Forest.
"Well, um...I'm sorry for taking up so much of your time, Himiko," Bonnie said. "I guess I kept you away from your sick friend for so long."
"Nyeh...it's okay," Himiko replied, finally finding her voice.
"I suppose I can find my way back through the forest," Bonnie said. "You don't have to come with me."
"And you don't have to walk the rest of the way," Himiko replied. Bonnie looked at her with confusion. Himiko pointed her Guardian Mage staff away from Bonnie and uttered a spell. As she did, a portal opened up. "You can just walk through this portal, and you'll be home in no time!"
"Oh, thank you, Himiko!" Bonnie said. "Um...you will promise to help me with Rocky, right?"
"She promises!" Kokichi butted in before Himiko could answer. Himiko shot him an annoyed look, but turned to Bonnie with a smile.
"Yes, I promise," she replied. Bonnie smiled gratefully at her.
"Thank you," she said, and waved one final goodbye to Himiko and Kokichi before entering the portal. The portal closed, and Himiko immediately smacked Kokichi's arm.
"Nyeeehhh...why did you say that?!" she demanded.
"Cuz I wanna see Obsidian!" Kokichi replied. "I saw Aquaticus and Terror Time Again, or whatever, already, so I might as well see the fire kingdom, too!" Himiko huffed and rolled her eyes. "Hey, on the bright side, at least I didn't cause any trouble today, riiiight?"
"Well, I guess that's true," Himiko replied.
"See? I can be on my best behavior!" Kokichi said. "Soooo...can I go?"
"Yes...you can go," Himiko replied.
"YIPPEEEE!!!" Kokichi jumped for joy. Himiko smiled and rolled her eyes at him.
"Well, now we can finally get what we came here for," she said. They walked deeper into the forest until they found a a bush full of glowing purple berries. "Nyeh! The punzelberries!" Himiko exclaimed. She and Kokichi ran over to them, but as soon as they did, they heard high-pitched screaming.
"What's going on?" Kokichi asked, looking around.
"I don't kn-" Himiko began, but was interrupted by a bunch of mushroom elves screaming and running past the two. "Hey! What's going on?" Himiko asked one of them.
"It's Thorn, the evil earth fairy!" one of the elves screamed before dashing off in fear. Himiko facepalmed.
"Oh, no..." she groaned.
"Huh? What's so bad about this Thorn lady?" Kokichi asked.
"She's a mean, obnoxious, self-absorbed fairy who-" Himiko started. She was interrupted by a large thorn that shot straight into the ground next to Kokichi and Himiko. They looked up onto a branch of a tree to find a human-sized, green fairy with vines for hair and leaves for a dress. Her hair was adorned with a flower crown, and her long wings glittered in the sunlight behind her. An evil smirk formed on her pink lips.
"Who only likes to have a little fun," Thorn finished in a pouty voice. Then, she laughed evilly as she floated gracefully off of the branch she was sitting on. She raised one of her hands and a thorn magically appeared above her hand. She shot the thorn at Kokichi. Himiko shoved him out of the way in time.
"Ooo...you'll pay for that, Thorn!" Himiko growled, pointing at the wicked fairy. Himiko uttered a spell, and she began to levitate.
"Wait...you can fly?!" Kokichi asked incredulously. "Without using some magical object like that Ring of Hope from the alternate universe?!"
"Nyeh...I am a mage," Himiko pointed out with a smile. She flew up towards Thorn and faced her. "Nyeh...stop causing trouble, Thorn, or I'll have no choice but to destroy you!" Thorn merely smirked.
"Nice try, Guardian Mage," she said. "But you are right about one thing: you won't have a choice at all, because you'll be too dead to make one!! AAA-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!" She raised her hands, which began to emit bright green energy orbs. Thorns from bushes below shot up at Himiko. Himiko dodged them, but just barely. Himiko's eyes glowed bright green as she raised her hand, as well.
"Nyeh! Two can play this game!" she growled.
"WAAAAIIIIIIIIT!!!" Kokichi screamed. Himiko and Thorn paused to look down at Kokichi in confusion. "Himiko, come down here!" Himiko looked over to Thorn.
"Nyeh...one moment, please," she said before flying down to Kokichi. Thorn followed Himiko, curious to hear what Kokichi had to say. "What's wrong, Kokichi?"
"You have to fight her like a magical girl, remember?" Kokichi replied excitedly. Thorn looked over to Himiko in confusion.
"Uh...who is this kid?" she asked, gesturing to Kokichi with her thumb.
"He's my boyfriend," Himiko replied. "He's a nonmagical human."
"Ooohhhh..." Thorn nodded.
"Himiko, you gotta do an attack, and say something, like...like, I dunno, 'Diviiiine Ivyyyy!' Or something like that!" Kokichi said.
"Mm...I dunno, Kokichi, we don't have time for this," Himiko said.
"Pwetty pweeeeaaaasssse?" Kokichi pleaded. Himiko sighed.
"Ooookay," she said.
"YES!!" Kokichi squealed excitedly.
"Okay, now we can go back to where we were," Himiko said to Thorn. Thorn shrugged.
"HAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA!!!" she laughed wickedly. "Feel my thorny wrath!!"
"Nyeh...in the name of Terra Viridi, I will punish you!" Himiko said, doing a magical girl pose. She turned to Kokichi. "Good so far?" she asked. Kokichi nodded enthusiastically. Himiko's eyes glowed green again. She lifted her arm over her head and lowered it in front of her. "Diviiiiiine...Ivyyyyyyy!!!" she yelled. The vine from Himiko's arm elongated and coiled around Thorn. Himiko jerked her arm back. The vine around Thorn unraveled, causing her to spin around like a top until she landed in mud.
"Oh, no..." Thorn gasped with fear. She ran over to a puddle to see her reflection. Her face was caked with mud, and her makeup had smeared all over her face. "NOOOOOOO!!!! MY BEAUTIFUL FACE IS SOILED!!!!" she bellowed before flying away, sobbing. Himiko looked after her in amazement. She was surprised that had actually worked.
"HIMIKO!!!" Kokichi called out to her as he jumped up and down with joy. Himiko lowered herself to the ground. Kokichi threw his arms around her. "THAT WAS SO AWESOME, HIMIKO!! First, you were all like, 'I'M GONNA PUNISH YOU, BITCH!! ' and then you were all like, 'DIVINE IVY!! ' and then the vines went 'WHOOOOSSSHHHH!! ' and then, and then, that bad fairy lady was all like, 'OH, I'M SO UGLY! I'M MELTING, I'M MELTING!! ' AW, MAN, THAT WAS SO BADASS, HIMIKO!!!"
"Nyeh...thanks," Himiko replied, blushing as Kokichi kissed her cheek over and over. Kokichi sighed contentedly.
"D'oh, I love you, HimiCocoa Bean," he said.
"I love you, too, Panta Bear," Himiko replied, tapping his cheek. "C'mon, let's hurry up and find the punzelberries so we can get out of here."
"Yoouuu got it, Monkey Buns!" Kokichi replied. They gathered up the punzelberries in Himiko's hat. She then opened up a portal that took them right into Himiko's secret, magic room back home. Once there, Himiko immediately went to work on her potion.
"Nyeh...Kokichi, can you go boil some water for Tenko's tea, please?" she asked. "And when you're done, could you bring the mug to me?" Kokichi stuck his tongue out in disgust.
"Ew!" he exclaimed. "But, yeah, I'll go make that stank beast some tea." He rushed off, leaving Himiko to her potion. She added the punzelberries to the cauldron and stirred the entire concoction until it turned a bright glowing purple. Once she was satisfied with its consistency, she poured the rest of the punzelberries in a jar to save for later. Kokichi came just as she had finished.
"Nee-heehee...the pit viper's tea is ready!" he announced, carefully handing his mug over to Himiko.
"Okay," Himiko breathed, wiping her hands on her leafy skirt.
"Aren't you gonna change back into your normal clothes?" Kokichi asked.
"Nyeh...in a bit," Himiko replied. She took a ladle and dipped it into the concoction. She scooped some back up and poured the purple mixture into Tenko's tea, causing Tenko's tea to glow. A few seconds after, the mixture dissolved immediately, which turned Tenko's tea back to its normal color.
"Is that good?" Kokichi asked. Himiko smiled at him and breathed in relief.
"Yeah, it's good," she answered. "Thank you, Kokichi."
"I'm there for ya, babe!" Kokichi replied with a wink before giving Himiko a kiss. Himiko uttered a spell that changed her appearance back to normal. Taking the steaming mug, she and Kokichi headed up the stairs out of her magic room. Kokichi opened the back door for Himiko, and the two of them headed upstairs to Himiko and Tenko's room. Tenko was still doubled over on her bed, writhing in pain. Next to Tenko's bed was her desk, which already had snacks on it. Angie must have already made her way back from the store.
"Nyeh...Tenko?" Himiko said. Tenko opened her eyes.
"H-Himiko...where were you?" she asked. "I-Is everything okay?"
"Everything is fine," Himiko replied.
"Oh, there you are, Himiko!" came Angie's voice in the doorway. "I was super, super, super, super, super, super, super worried about you! You were gone for a long time!"
"I just think that I found something better than painkillers," Himiko replied. She gently blew on Tenko's tea to cool it down. "Here, Tenko, drink this tea." Weakly, Tenko sipped her tea. Slowly, she started wincing less.
"Hey...this is working!" she exclaimed. She felt the pain subsiding quickly, even when she sat up. She gulped the tea faster and faster until the very last drop. "Ha! Haha! I feel so much better!" She stood up and danced around. "Oh, my gosh! Himiko! What was in that tea?!"
"Nyeh...that was my special magic tea," Himiko replied mysteriously, giving Kokichi a secret smile.
"I knew it, Himiko! I knew you were magic!" Tenko squealed.
"Wooow, Himiko! You really are magical!" Angie chirped.
"Nuh-uh! All she did was crush some painkillers and slip them in your tea," Kokichi said, playing along with Himiko.
"No, if Himiko says it was magic, then it's magic, you degenerate male!" Tenko demanded.
"Yup! It was all thanks to my maaagiiiic!" Himiko said in a goofy voice.
"Magic paaaiiinkilleeeerrrsss..." Kokichi teased in a low voice.
"Tell us, Himiko, what store did you buy the tea from?" Angie asked.
"The magic store?!" Tenko asked excitedly.
"The drugstore, obviously" Kokichi said.
"Hmhmhm...a mage never reveals her secrets!" Himiko replied with a smug chuckle and a wink.