Chapter 138 - Pool

"It's happening," Fily said while being carried by Venedette back to the mansion.

"G-Gem," Venedette halted in mid-air after seeing Gem do her magic with total concentration from up above.

"That's the thing…" Venedette muttered which Fily heard.

"Hmm?"

"N-Nothing. I just remembered something," Venedette said and even flashed a faint smile before paying attention to Gem again.

'That's the same liquid that made Gem into a cocoon back when I first met her,' Venedette thought to herself before Gem suddenly paused her movements and was attacked by the great pressure from the water that looked as if a pipe had been broken.

And in this case, it was the black pearl that Gem managed to break, releasing an unfathomable amount of Energy slime that even Gem could make use of in her next evolution.

"Gem!" Venedette shouted and headed straight to Gem and the boys who were now also beside her after being thrown to the wall..

"The pups, you've got to push them inside!" Fily said while tapping Von's shoulders violently.

"But Gem-"

"I'll take care of her," Fily said, which made Von agree immediately.

"Lei! Help me push these pups into the pool, quick!"

"Petunia!" Fily said after seeing Petunia in Lei's arms.

"Here," Lei quickly passed Petunia to her and helped Von with the pups.

"My cloud, my formula, everything's gone," Petunia whispered between her sobs while hiding her face in between Fily's boobs, "there's no more hope for me." 

"Shh, we promised to save you, and so we will. We just have to do this first," Fily whispered with her sweet voice while patting Petunia's back softly with her hand.

"My cloud, my formula…" Petunia repeated, seemingly in a traumatic state which made it harder for Fily to convince her that everything's going to be fine.

"Shouldn't you also join them?" Fily suddenly thought while getting confused on why Petunia was exactly crying when this cure was supposed to also save her.

"It's a different formula. It won't work on me," Petunia said, her voice cracking from the lump on her throat, "It's either I try and die or start from zero."

"Why is it easier to make a cure for strangers than myself?! Why am I so stupid? Why can't I get my formula right for my own sake?!" Petunia suddenly ranted and paused when she realized something.

"Wait, I can talk to you again?" 

"Petunia!" A high-pitched female voice called from the pool while waving at her.

It was a girl with purple hair.

"Monica!" Petunia stood up on Fily's arms and waved back enthusiastically to Monica.

"Monica?" Sir Graham's expression suddenly softened after hearing his beloved.

"The wolves! They disappeared!"

"Look! There are people and kids in the pool!"

"What are you waiting for? Help get them, quickly!" a commander said to his fellow soldiers who were just watching and gossiping about those naked kids, choking in the glowing pool.

"Monica," Sir Graham called to the girl with purple hair in the pool who was waving enthusiastically to his opposite side.

"Papa? Papa! It's me! Can you finally hear me?!" Monica shouted after turning around and seeing her father in tears.

"Monica, I never believed you were dead, I knew you had to be alive somehow, and I was right! Thank heavens you're alive and well!"

"Papa! I'm so mad at you!! You didn't even bother paying attention to me when I was a bird!"

"Oh, Monica. If only I knew," Sir Graham cried while hugging her child who didn't even grow one bit from the last time he'd seen her.

"I still look the same," Monica laughed while looking at her human body, that was also the moment that she realized just what happened.

She's back, she's finally back in her original form and it's all thanks to Petunia.

"You should get dressed," Sir Graham said while wiping his own tears.

***

"I see," Fily suddenly said, which caught Petunia's attention when she was supposed to jump down and go to Monica.

"Her change affected you. When she was about to die, you reflected yourself in her and accidentally gave her a piece of you."

"A piece of me?"

"A piece of your heart yes, you cared about her enough to sacrifice your beloved Gummy clouds until the ingredients that you have been collecting for your own reversal potion ever since forever," Fily said, stating what Petunia just did without much thought.

"I'm stupid! We even wasted this much Energy slime when we could've conserved it for much better use, like Gem's evolution and my formulas!" Petunia said, having the urge to cry again.

"Gem! We need to give her healing potions!" Fily suddenly panicked which made Petunia panic too for not having her latest Gummy cloud anymore.

"I don't have anything with me right now!" Petunia said, finally breaking into another crying session.

"I don't have anything anymore!"

"Shh, you still have us, okay?" Fily tried to calm her down but it's just no use. Fily knew she should give Petunia time to calm down on her own so she placed Petunia down to the nearest table or chair she could find before trying to pick Gem up from the ground.

"Ughh, come on Fily!"

"We'll take her to the infirmary." Von suddenly appeared out of nowhere with Lei beside him.

"Ah, thank goodness," Fily said when she already knew how she couldn't save Gem with her current strength level.

"The kids! Aren't these the missing kids from town? Hey, are you alright?" a soldier said to his fellow soldiers and to the kid beside him.

When the kid did not respond, the soldier went ahead and asked him personal questions.

"Do you know your name? How old are you? Where do you live? Do you remember what happened back there?" he asked but was only met with blankness.

Turns out, Monica was the only one who remembered every single thing about being a bird.

Even Sir Durish Gray couldn't remember the details of it all even though it was him who started the trouble in the first place.

On second thought, thanks to Monica being able to retain her memories, they were able to punish the people responsible for poisoning Monica and Sir Durish into madness.

"Thank you for your noble work, Princess Venedette, Leviathan. May we always be in your debt for saving our town. We bless you in your journey that you may succeed whatever it is and ask help from us if you need any. I couldn't thank you enough with words, Venedette, kids. But please do know that I appreciate your work so much."

"You're welcome, Sir Graham," Venedette answered with much respect as well.

"So do we get a reward or something?" Petunia suddenly asked which made the hall dead silent.

"…"

"Of course you shall," Sir Graham laughed which was then followed by a series of laughter from the people.