Chapter Text
“How do you like the suit 4c?” the princess calls from the other side of the door. Rather than answering, he just swings the door open. Cherri clasps her hands together when the slime reveals himself, and she gasps. “You look perfect!” The slime stands awkwardly in the closet’s doorway. Everything is so itchy. Is it supposed to feel like that on his shoulder?
“I don’t think it fits very well,” 4c laughs. “I won’t lie, it’s a little uncomfortable. I don’t wear this fancy type of stuff often.”
“It looks great,” Cherri insists. 4c gives up on arguing. As the princess picks out a suit for herself, a question brings itself to the forefront of the slime’s mind.
“Where did you get my suit?” he inquires.
“I got it from Soluna, of course. This is my first time away.”
“Oh Soluna! Right.” He nods. Of course it’s from Soluna. Of course it is. Where is Soluna again? Is that Cherri’s home?
“4c, you look all sad and confused. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” The princess raises an eyebrow. The slime feels himself melting. “Okay, okay! Maybe it’s not nothing. I just feel bad because I can’t remember things for the life of me! You let me borrow this amazing suit, but I don’t remember ever hearing about Soluna. You said it like it was obvious. Was it obvious?”
“I swear that I’ve mentioned it before... Wait! You met my father. You led him and Alistar to me a few days ago.”
“I did, didn’t I?” 4c mumbles in disbelief. “I’m so sorry Cherri. My memory has been awful after the whole thing with Nom. I wouldn’t be surprised if the mace did a little something extra to me than I thought it did in the first place.”
“No, don’t apologize. You’re good! You should just stop by the mages’ place after the masquerade some time. If you forget, I’ll take you myself.”
“Thank you!” He waves goodbye to Princess Cherri and makes his way over to the Blue Kingdom castle.
Everything goes as expected in the beginning. A woman called Temperance introduces the party goers to the game of the evening. Everyone must find their partner based on a word they will both slip into conversation. Then they will make fireworks together. Surely this won’t be too difficult.
4c is fascinated with the fae magic of the masks. The moment he tries to think of any person’s identity, it is immediately swept away from his mind. While he talks to Death, he tries to remember any blond men he’s met in the kingdoms. He can’t think of a single one. Assuming that this is magic and not his horrendous memory, this is great for him. No Blue Kingdom members will recognize him and take him in for the bounty.
He makes polite conversation with the Sun and Devil. People come and go, slipping in and out of conversations. It’s hard to keep track. He’s left alone for a moment. Taking a small sip of his ambrosia, he stares out at the sky. He has always loved sunsets.
A voice from the background grows a bit louder. Maybe it’s getting closer. He turns around to look back at the castle.
Oh! Someone is talking to him. It’s the redhead in the green dress. Her name is something funny, but he doesn’t remember what it is. .
”What did you say your name was?” she asks. Okay, maybe everyone is having trouble remembering the names. That’s good.
”I am…” He stops and skims his invitation. “The Hermit. And you are?”
”I’m the Fool,” she says with no hesitation. She sways a little and grabs the railing in front of her to steady herself. “Oh, it’s happening again!” the Fool cries out. “Don’t drink the ambrosia! Don’t drink it don’t drink it don’t drink it— Oh, I don’t feel so good!”
“How many bottles have you drank? You’re not supposed to drink full bottles!” 4c is quite stressed for this (he doesn’t actually know his relationship with the Fool, but he assumes that they’re friends) friend of his. He holds her hair back as she vomits over the side of the railing. “Are you feeling better?”
“Yeah, I think I got it out of my system.” That’s great. He doesn’t need to worry for his mystery friend anymore. The Priestess comes and flirts with the Fool, and 4c feels like a 3rd wheel. He leaves the balcony area to give them some space.
4c coughs as he stifles a laugh. Everyone in the kingdoms has been acting so rudely and coldly to the members of the other side recently. He’s sure people are having interactions that they will regret when the masks come off, but it is fun to see everyone getting along for once.
“Ah! What have we got here?” the Magician exclaims, causing 4c to jump a little. How do people keep sneaking up behind him?
“Hello! I’ve heard people have been saying you’ve been drinking a lot.” Maybe that was the Priestess. Or was it the Fool?
“Well, who is to say what other people have been saying,” the Magician slurs his words, leading the slime over to a table. He pops open another bottle of ambrosia and pours it into 4c’s glass. “Ching Ching!” he cheers. They both down their glasses, and 4c is hit with his first bout of nausea.
“Woah I don't feel so good! That’s the first time I’ve felt that. I just got a little nauseous.” He closes his eyes for a moment and feels better once they’ve opened. “You’ve been drinking a lot, how have you felt?”
”I’ve been feeling alright! I’ve been feeling calm and composed.” Huh. The Fool drank a lot before getting sick. The Magician also drank a lot, but still hasn’t felt sick yet. Is 4c just different because he’s a slime?
The Magician rambles on and on about a magic trick that neither of them understand, and 4c zones out for a bit. He notices that he’s sitting in an empty booth and moves to an area with more people.
Justice asks him about some sort of ‘server’ and everyone laughs. He can’t remember why it’s funny. Voices overlap and the slime chokes on the sip of ambrosia he’s taking. While he coughs and sputters, the room spins as well. Everything feels too hot and too cold. Everyone is too loud.
The slime stumbles into the hallway, then hides under the staircase. It’s funny that he knows the layout of this random building. He doubts that he’s been inside of it before. He blinks away tears that he didn’t realize he was crying. There’s a stupid mask on his face stopping him from rubbing his eyes. He reaches to take it off, but a jolt of pain goes through his arm. What’s wrong with his shoulder?
Another bout of nausea captures him and he lets out a sob. He can’t remember if he worships any gods, but if he does, he wants them to make it all stop. The world is still spinning. Maybe his god hates him.
He sobs again, this time sending him into a fit of coughs. They loudly tear his lungs to pieces, like it’s their last show and they need to go out with a bang. The sound echos and catches someone’s attention.
A woman dressed in green stands above him. She takes off his mask and repeats the name of someone the slime doesn’t know. There are commands and comforting statements in between, but he can’t quite make out what they are.
“4c please! Stay with me please. Graecie is getting the mages. Hold on just a little longer,” he barely hears behind the ringing in his ears. Something dribbles from his mouth. It looks red.
The slime leans back against the wall, his eyes locking on that girl who’s talking to him. He doesn’t know her. He doesn’t know 4c. He doesn’t know Graecie. Maybe she thinks that he’s a different person than he is.
He’s… Cherri’s friend, right? The slime stares out at the sky once more. He’s Cherri’s friend, he loves sunsets, and he’s great at guessing the layouts of strange buildings he’s never been in before.
One last breath rattles through his chest, and everything turns dark.
Katie sees the mages running towards them, and she breathes a sigh of relief. She turns back to 4c to tell him that he’s made it, and he’ll be fine now. The slime opens his eyes.
And he lunges.