"He doesn't have a temperature...And neither does she... Their vitals seem normal. But, I'm sure you've all noticed it." Lucinda says.
"Huh?" Kim asks.
"Yeah." Garroth says.
"Noticed what?" Kim asks.
"Kim, you haven't known Zane and Violet long, but look closely at their faces." Lucinda instructs.
"Hmmm. Kinda hard to see Zane's entire face with the mask on." Kim admits.
"H-hey!" Zane protests.
"You don't need to see his entire face to know something is off." Lucinda laughs. "See anything with Violet?"
Kim looks closely at me. "What is it?"
"Their eyes..." Garroth says sadly.
I watch myself glance at Zane's hideous green eyes and for the first time I wonder if mine are now green as well.
"Their eyes?" Kim repeats. "They look the same to me."
"They're not---" Garroth sighs. "My baby brother's eyes are naturally blue. And my baby sister's eyes are naturally purple, hence her name. But their eyes are green!"
"Oh!" Kim exclaims. "You're right! I didn't notice that before!"
"I think we were all too caught up in finding them that we didn't think to question it." Lucinda says.
"To be honest, I was just glad they were back safe and sound." Garroth says.
"We all were." Kim agrees. "Especially Aphmau."
"Zane, Violet." Lucinda asks. "What exactly happened with your eyes?"
"What are you talking about?" I ask.
"Your eyes are a different color!" Lucinda tells me. My stomach rolls. So my eyes really
are green... I wonder if they're the same minty color as Zane, or if my purple made them darker?
"They are?" I ask.
"Yes, they are. Does anyone have a mirror?" Lucinda asks.
"I do!" Kim exclaims. "It's small, but it should work!" She pulls a small hand-held mirror out of her pocket. "Here, Violet, look."
I take it from her and find a complete stranger looking back at me. Well, not a complete stranger, but this girl doesn't have a trace of laughter in her face anywhere. No smile, no sparkle, no twitch of my next joke, ready to pop out.
Just horrible, swampy-green eyes that glint as much as Ein's do.
"My eyes are green." I hear myself say as if from a distance. "That's my natural eye color."
"NO IT'S NOT!" Garroth yells. "Violet, please remember...."
"Look, Geroth, was it?" STOP. BEING. IVY!!! "I appreciate you... no, all of you, in helping us recover from the cold."
"But we DON'T appreciate you guys acting this way towards us." Zane says.
Stop interrupting me, you fat little nugget!
"What do you mean?" Lucinda asks.
"Well first off, Garroth here keeps screaming he's our brother." Zane starts.
"And even if he isn't screaming it, he's giving us this dirty look." I add.
"NO I'M NOT!" Garroth says. But when I glance over, his face is screwed up like a weird constipated mole's. "What?" he asks when we all stare at him.
"All I'm saying is, I'd like to be respected a little more around here." Zane says.
"Me too!" I chime in.
"We understand that." Kim says. "Don't we, Garroth?"
"Yyyyyyyyeessssss..." He sighs. "We understaaaand. I'm sorry, Violet, Zane. I guess. Something is just really getting to me."
"Well, I hope whatever it is resolves itself soon." Zane says.
"Yeah, me too." Garroth says sadly.
SO DO I, YOU STUPID BOOB NUGGETS!!!
"Okay, well. Now that that's out of the way, we---" Lucinda starts.
"WAIT!" My mouth blurts. "Is my brother okay? I had gotten separated from him before."
"Brother?" Lucinda asks. "You mean Zane?"
"No, my other brother."
"Are you talking about Vylad?" Garroth asks excitedly. "Wait---Is Vylad here?"
"Huh?" Kim asks. "Who's Vylad?"
"I'm sure you remember him. He went to school with us!" Garroth assures her. "Anyway, last I remember, Vylad was traveling for some personal reasons, but it's very possible he---"
"No, we're not talking about Vylad!" Zane says.
"OH! So you remember HIM???" Garroth asks angrily.
"Garroth! Please!" Lucinda snaps. "Go on, baby." She croons to Zane.
Excuse me???
"Baby?" Zane repeats, turning red. WHY IS HE TURNING RED?? "Uhhh, all right. Well, we were in the woods camping and next thing I know, we got separated in the storm that was building up."
"Zane." Garroth says. "What is your brother's name?"
YES! YES!!! FINALLY!!!
"His name?" Zane repeats. "Bahaha! What is this? Some kind of joke?"
"No, it's---"
"GARROTH!" Kim squeaks. "Lay off the brother thing! We're going to drive them away from telling us anything if you keep this up!"
KEEP IT UP, GARROTH, KEEP IT UP!!!
"All right..." Garroth sighs.
NOOOOOO!
"What was the last thing you remember, guys?" Kim asks.
"All I remember was a flash of green, and then my brother was gone." Zane replies.
"Same here." I hear myself say.
"Flash of green?" Lucinda asks.
"Yeah." I tell her. "Big, bright flash. It was really pretty. Like an emerald." I say. YES, SELF, YES! KEEP GOING! I CAN SEE THE GEARS TURNING IN LUCY'S HEAD!!!
"An emerald..." She repeats. She stares at my eyes for a moment.
"What?" I ask.
"It's... nothing. I just----I need to go check on something. I'll be right back." She turns and runs out fast.
"Lucinda, wait!" Kim cries, running after her. Once they're both gone, Garroth sits at the table with us and says nothing, just glaring at us when he doesn't think we're looking.
"So what exactly set you on edge?" Zane finally asks.
"Uh---huh? Oh, me?" Garroth asks.
"Uh, yeah, there's no one else here!"
I've never wanted to death glare at Zane more. STUPID. POTION.
Garroth glances at me like he totally expects it. But when nothing happens, he just clears his throat. "Uh, it's really nothing."
"Seems like someone upset you." Zane says. "Was it Kim?"
"Uhh...oh, no it wasn't Kim." Garroth assures him. "I guess... it's more so like I feel like I've upset some people."
"Was it Aphmau and Lucinda?" Zane asks.
"No, uh, don't worry about it." Garroth says. "I'm just on edge is all."
GO BE ON EDGE AT HOME!!! NOT HERE! GET. EVERYONE. OUT!!!!
"Hmm I see..." Zane says.
"Where's Lucinda?" I ask. "She's been gone for a while."
"I'm not sure." Garroth admits.
"I'm getting a little worried." Zane says. "Now that I think about it, Aphmau---"
"Uh---uh----Hey Garroth?" Kim comes racing in. "Can you get us some chicken noodle soup? That might help Zane!"
What am I, chopped liver? This isn't like Kim at all! And it isn't like me, either!!!
"Oh! All right!" Garroth says, happy for an excuse. "What about Lucinda?"
"Oh! She's, uh...in the bathroom! Don't worry! She's fine! Just, uh, major backup you know!" Kim giggles nervously.
Okay, ew. TMI!
"Ew." Garroth says. "I didn't need to know that." He shudders. "I'll go get the soup."
"Maybe you should go with him, Violet." Kim suggests.
"She should stay here with me." Zane says firmly. "I already got separated from my brother. I don't want to accidentally lose her too."
For just a second, I glance over and can see Zane shining through the green. The REAL Zane. Which makes me wonder... is it possible to break out for a short amount of time?
"Hmph!" Kim says, a weird shadow on her face. She still inches closer to Zane. "Do you believe in ghosts?"
Weird question alert!
"What?" Zane asks.
"Like, do you think they are real?"
"Well... I have. I kinda like the idea of ghosts." Zane admits.
Kim gives off a very witch-like laugh. "You do??"
Garroth comes out of the kitchen just then, before I start mentally punching myself. "I got the soup, guys! Here! Gaah!" He trips and splatters soup all over Kim's shirt. "Oh, Kim! I'm so sorry!"
"Huh?" Kim shakes her head like she's coming out of a daze. "What happened?"
"Are you okay?" Zane asks.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just...I'll go get cleaned up." Kim says, leaving the room.
"Huh? Kim?" Garroth sighs. "She's been acting weird lately."
SO HAVE WE, BOOB BRAIN!!!!