Chapter 200 - Rest

"Does this temporary potion really helps cure your memory sickness or it just prolongs the side effects?" Fily asked Petunia all of a sudden while she was trying to peel the skin of an orange tangerine.

"Heize had been using the same formula for five years now, that is if my assumptions are correct that this is the same formula she'd been using. But I know she'll be able to find a real cure soon, we might even surpass her to it," Petunia said while munching on a piece of orange.

"Yeah, only if we have that same technology she illegally bought from the other countries," Fily said bitterly, making Petunia pause in the middle of taking a bite and swallow the orange she was chewing in a hasty manner.

"What?! So that was the problem all along! I knew this smelled familiar, but I just couldn't pinpoint what I was missing, other than the main ingredient from Gem, I thought everything else was complete! So this was why I couldn't complete it! Heize had a hidden card under her sleeves the whole time! Did our parents also use a foreign machine to make the original curse potion? Is that why none of our ancestors were able to create this 'revolutionary' potion for centuries?! I can't believe it! We also need to get that machine, Fily! Let's win this tournament and get that thing over here! I want to fix this curse as soon as possible!" Petunia said enthusiastically, just like a literal child even though she's at least a century older than what she looks like at the moment.

"Okay, okay.. Chill. Why are you calling it a curse? It's not that bad. You can transform into a cat once the temporary chill's run out and then you'll get to make use of your cat benefits again and just transform back into a human whenever you need to. You shouldn't rush your progress, you know? Take your time, that's why we were chosen at an early stage to participate in this game. We'll need a lot of practice and determination in order to improve. Although I'm already at my last stage, I'm still willing to help you guys achieve your final stages."

"Why are you suddenly lecturing me? I may look like a small child now but I'm still older than you, okay? Hmph," Petunia crossed her arms and grabbed another orange before turning around and peeling it with a pout.

"You're not sure about that…" Fily muttered to herself which Petunia thought she heard her muttering something.

"What was that?" she asked as her senses were greatly reduced in her human form, making her unable to hear what Fily said clearly, but Fily only responded with a shrug.

"Nothing," she said and stood up to look for something else to do other than almost exposing herself to Petunia.

"Ahhh!"

Suddenly, Gem's shout came rushing in the room from the balcony, making Petunia almost drop her orange and Fily die of a heart attack.

"I hate it when you do that," Fily said and then went closer to Gem to push her while she was balancing her arms wide in the air as if she was just about to fall.

"Heyy!" Gem said and grabbed Fily's hand before falling down per her instincts, and in the end, both of them fell down on the floor even though it was not that hard to stand up.

"Ouch, what happened to you?" Fily asked after landing in Gem's body and her elbow on Gem's stomach, "Oh, sorry," she added and then immediately stood up.

"I almost fell from an invisible fifth floor!" Gem said and checked her body parts to see if they were still intact, "I can't believe I'm still alive!"

"You can't die, remember?" Fily said and then offered a hand for Gem which she then accepted before going back to what she was doing earlier.

"I wonder what's going on inside your dimension, can I also go there with you sometime and watch you do your thing?" Petunia said while munching another orange she just peeled, but instead of taking a piece and eating it at once, Petunia just shoved the entire thing in her mouth and munched on it like she was chewing bubblegum.

"It's not my dimension, it's called solitude, and yes maybe I can bring you there sometime. Just make sure you'll survive the fall, okay? I'm practicing something with the heights right now."

"Oh," Petunia said while her mouth was still full and paused to swallow the orange down her stomach before asking again, "How about Fily, don't you want to see that place too?"

And upon hearing that question, Fily immediately looked at Gem who had the same intuition that she had and looked at her too with that complicated look as if there was something bothering her mind about it.

"Can I?" Fily asked, clueless about the fact that she was the first outsider that Gem brought to Solitude but was also the only one who could not remember because of the side effects.

"Solitude is an anti-super place, that means every single one of your superpowers will be temporarily lost, and in Fily's case, it's her-"

"Brain I know. God, why do you two keep treating me like a baby?! I'm not dumb to not know what Anti-super means okay? Please be more respectful!" Petunia said with a pout.

"But you're just too cute! I can't believe you even look younger than me in your human form! Just as I thought that I was the youngest one here," Gem said.

"YOU ARE! You're the youngest here! And I'm the oldest! So show some respect!"

"Aww, are you going to cry now?" Gem said and slapped Fily's arms to urge her to also laugh but Fily was just like 'no thanks,' due to her fear of spoiling something big if she doesn't give respect to Petunia.

"You're too immature to be in this group, you know that?!" Petunia shouted to Gem who was only making faces to annoy her even more.

Somehow, the room was quite energetic even after those two long days of doing something interesting and heroic in the Alps. Their initial and only agenda with that trip was just to go to the elders and ask them for help about Gem's necklace and have a little nice trip with the team, but trouble just wouldn't let them go wherever they were.

"Girls, it's time to eat," Venedette announced after opening the door and finding a bed of torn pillows and feathers all over the place, the result of Gem and Petunia pillow fighting until their last breaths, or so as they called it.

"Girls?!" Venedette said while coming in and immediately closed the door behind her to hide the messy thing that the girls made in this room, afraid that the cleaners will see the mess and kick them out of the hospital immediately.

"This is not our place, what are you doing?" she said and walked closer while stifling her laughter after seeing Petunia getting beaten up with pillows by Gem.

"Venedette! Could you please get this bad child away from me! She's too strong and full of energy! I can't compete with her!" 

"Gem, please get off of Petunia," Venedette said while calmly wiping the tears of joy that she got from stifling her laugh.

"I have nothing to do with this. I tried to stop them but they didn't listen," Fily said and stepped back to show just how uninvolved she was in the whole situation. But Petunia immediately complained about her lack of involvement instead, transferring the blame more on Petunia than to Gem who was literally still on top of her, and beating her up softly with a pillow that was already in a pitiful condition.

"You're the one who hit me first! Why aren't you fighting back? You can't stay in defensive mode forever!" Gem said and continued throwing the pillow to Petunia but then, the pillow suddenly felt heavier and she was unable to throw it.

And when she looked back, it was Venedette's fault all along for holding the pillow and keeping her from throwing it.

"Enough, let's eat and get back to work," she said with a little bit more self-control, something that she was developing to herself if she wanted to be a leader to these kids until their day of the tournament has come.

"Okay, Petunia's such a loser. She couldn't even stand up while I was sitting on top of her. Am I that heavy?" Gem said and stood up, finally letting Petunia breathe peacefully while still laying down on the bed and catching her breath.

"No, Petunia's body is just a lot weaker than yours as of the moment. She never grew her human body from being a child. Just give her more time to train and challenge her again when she's finally at the same level as us, okay? For now, just let her off the hook and let her rest," Fily said and then helped Petunia up to lead her to the dining table even though there was free room delivery of food for the patients.