Chapter 59: The Beginning [4]
Chapter 59: The Beginning [4]
"Feed her this, Master."
Pebbles glanced at the normal-looking fruit in the green lizard’s hands.
It looked incredibly fresh, but he had no time to salivate.
When he heard that it could heal Nightstone, he didn’t hesitate to snatch it.
One moment the green lizard held it, and the next it was in Pebbles’ hands.
He placed it right in front of Nightstone, very close to her mouth. But because she was unconscious, she couldn’t eat it herself.
"Nightstone... Nightstone... wake up..."
Pebbles’ voice was filled with concern, and he was trying his best.
While the Shaman continued to cast her healing magic, Pebbles tried his level best to wake her up...
It worked.
She blinked softly and gently. Following that was her quivering mouth.
Pebbles could very well see the cracks around her mouth. There were also crumbles of her falling from her body slowly.
"M-master...?"
She made but a soft sound.
But Pebbles showed no restraint.
He moved his hands forward and around her and forced himself onto her. Then followed a tight, almost suffocating hug.
"NIGHTSTONE!!!" he screamed.
If not for her strong, stony ears and good eardrums, she’d have had perforations.
The scream naturally made her close her eyes tightly, but she didn’t go back to the state of unconsciousness.
"Nightstone, you are awake..." he cried out loud, or at least he tried.
But his voice was quite monotonous, and it lacked the necessary emotion. But his actions proved others wrong. They were sure that he was more than crying.
"Nightstone... eat this. Quick..."
Nightstone raised her head barely above her current resting position.
"Aaaannnnhhhh..." she opened her mouth wide. Her small, sharp fangs and teeth were visible, and a cute little tongue sat in the darkness.
Nightstone wanted Pebbles to feed her.
Everyone felt the scene would be cute. The green lizard couldn’t shut his eyes in this situation, and Broody and Mimasma watched with awe.
They thought the scene would be romantic... except, they stumbled upon a scene that seemed to be right out of a comic.
"Nightstone, here!"
Pebbles had barely completed his words when he pushed the fruit, which looked closely like an apple, right into her mouth.
It was the whole fruit, and it got stuffed right inside her mouth as if it were the perfect size.
"Uh...?"
"Hmm..."
"Nnn- Master...?"
The bosses were surprised by Pebbles’ innocent and confused action as he stuffed the food. They were almost controlling their laughter at the stupid look that the dizzy Nightstone gave.
"What?" Pebbles asked in the moment when someone called him.
"Ahem, the fruit... please cut it."
Pebbles blinked a few times and then stared at Nightstone, who stared back.
She tried to squint her eyes and give an angry look, but with the fruit stuffed in, she looked more like a victim who was forced to become a clown.
Pebbles mimicked a coughing action and then pulled the fruit right out of her mouth.
It was now drenched with Nightstone’s saliva, but she could finally breathe!!!
"Ugh, Master, you idiot. You donkey. You feed me a whole fruit and—" she almost bashed him with her tiny limbs that moved just a little.
But then came a series of coughs that almost took the life out of her.
Cough—cough—cough—
Each cough did its best to empty all the air in her lungs, and the way her body moved side to side, Pebbles could only watch in horror.
’This...’
Those who are born eventually die. But how they die depends on the life they’ve lived.
Pebbles wasted no time in slicing up the fruit into very small pieces.
And as soon as her cough subsided, even if it was for a minute, he fed her.
She couldn’t do the typical open-wide mouth and romantic moments, but Pebbles pulled her close to his arms and fed her as if he were feeding a baby...
Well... she was a baby through and through, and someone Pebbles adored.
Ding!
[Nightstone has consumed the Fruit: Heli(C)]
[Description: Heli is a detoxifying fruit that was named after the maiden Heliosi, who sacrificed her life to Mother Earth to make sure such a fruit came into existence.]
[Effects: Can instantly detoxify any poisons of rank B or lower.]
[Nightstone has been detoxified of the poison.]
[But the process has consumed a significant amount of stamina. Nightstone is falling asleep.]
The notification had just popped up, after which Nightstone gave a weird jerk, almost as if her soul was pulled out of her body, before falling down like a dead body.
This gave a scare to everyone standing there... but Pebbles knew that she was resting now.
The bosses had to confirm once and realized that her aura had stabilized, so everyone could now finally sigh in relief.
Pebbles sat on the ground.
He said, "Need some time."
The bosses nodded and exited the hut, and so did the Shaman. As for the very few injured goblins that lay in the hut, they tried to get up.
"The injured can rest here. I just want to talk to her, no biggie."
Those who had managed to stand up sat down, and those who tried to at least move remained motionless.
And finally, there was a silence that felt closer to peace than the silence before the storm.
Pebbles leaned back and placed both his hands on the ground to support himself. And as he stared at the ceiling, he murmured, "I’m glad."
"...I’m glad that I met you. I’m glad that you followed me. And I’m glad that you became a part of my small, insignificant... pathetic life..."
He closed his eyes for a few seconds.
"I’m glad that you stayed behind. I’m glad that you protected the goblins... and I’m glad that you could be detoxified..."
He opened his eyes now.
"Ha... I’m just glad... Nightstone..."
He recalled the first moment when he had met her.
"You were just a baby who gave off a strange energy. You..."
He didn’t know what to say.
He fell back to the floor and closed his eyes again.
"I thank the creator... the gods... the celestials, Supremes, and whoever it is that controls fate..."
He removed his mask, which had now been drenched with tears.
"I thank them for not taking you away from me... I thank them... I really do..."
He rolled to one of his sides.
Then he rolled to the other side.
"I thank the heavens. I thank them... I thank..."
Ding!
[You have accumulated a significant amount of fatigue.]
[You have fallen asleep.]
"..."
And Pebbles fell asleep.