Chapter Text
It was a breezy quiet morning at the playground. Once again, the kids were all gathering to play together. The wind “Basil, do you have anything more interesting to say?”moved the grass and the trees in a calm way. The same friendly music accompanied everything. OMORI and his three other friends were walking to the red picnic blanket where Mari and Basil happily waited for them. The mums swayed alongside.
"I'm STAAARWIING!!!" Kel cried out drooling all over Mari's picnic basket. "What's for breakfast Mari?!"
"Oh! Today I brought some jam and toast!" The girl excitedly exclaimed.
"JAM?!" Kel stretched out a big hungry smile. "That's the best thing you could've brought!!! You're the absolute best!"
"What kind of jam did you make Mari?" Hero leaned forward to take a look.
"Very healthy pickle jam, of course!" A bright grin shined on her face.
Aubrey snickered looking at the now stiff Kel.
The boy's eyes widened, "Is there... Any other kind of jam?..."
"Of course! There's sour pickle jam, sweet pickle jam and many more!" Mari hid her mouth with her hand.
Kel sunk into the picnic blanket, "I'm not that hungry actually... I think I'm going to sit this one out..."
Mari couldn't hold her quiet giggles anymore, "Oh I'm sorry Kel, you know I'm just kidding around! I know how much you love jam." She began unpacking the big contents of her basket onto the blanket. "I wouldn't do something so cruel to you."
There were so many different jars. All of them uniquely colored or otherwise marked. Strawberry, apple, raspberry, peach and plum jams were a few OMORI could see. They looked perfect . He felt his mouth now drooling too.
Kel's face sparkled up once again and he began grabbing toast slices almost right out of Mari's hands, combining all kinds of jam in thick layers together and stuffing his mouth with them. Soon everyone else followed. The friends couldn't stop complimenting and thanking Mari.
"Oh, it's nothing you guys, I just hope you're all enjoying yourselves."
At this point Kel put so much food in his mouth everything began overflowing and dropping on the ground.
"Ewww Kel!" Aubrey scooted away from him. "Please, can you eat like a normal person?"
"Be careful Kel, you might get a stomachache later," Hero patted him on the back.
Kel slowed down and everyone continued gradually eating their food. Mari enjoyed toast with grape jam, spreading it a normal amount. Hero's toast somehow looked like something from a high-quality restaurant. He put blueberry jam most of the time, but wasn't afraid to experiment. Aubrey put a little less jam on her slice of bread than Mari. She chose the watermelon one. OMORI didn't even know those existed. Basil usually chose berry jars, mostly strawberry. He spread an extremely thin layer of jam on his bread. Too thin OMORI thought. Can he even taste it? Well, Basil was always a guy with blander taste buds. OMORI wanted to try everything that his sister had made, but he found himself mostly going for apple or lemon jam. He liked putting a little more than a normal amount of it on his toast.
"Hmm..." Basil nibbled on the last piece he had. "How is jam even made? I would love to try to make some myself once my garden fully grows."
"Easy!" Kel mumbles with his mouth still full and face smeared with orange marmalade. "You grab some stuff... munch... munch... Then you squish that stuff and munch... munch... munch... There you go!"
"Actually Kel, it's not that easy!" Hero was already cleaning up his spot. "To make good jam or marmalade first of all, it's important to chop the fruit, or whatever you want to make into jam, and put the pieces in a large pot or saucepan then a small amount of water to help soften the fruit and prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan. After that, cook the fruit over medium heat until it starts to break down and become soft. Don't forget the sugar of course! As a general rule, you'll need about an equal amount of sugar to fruit by weight..."
As Hero continued explaining how jam's made, the friends all eyeballed him. Aubrey even leaned in. Kel was munching a little more silently and dropping food less, Basil blinked at him not moving and Mari wore a faint smile on her face, resting her chin on her clasped hands. They were all intently listening to the guy. Hero sometimes closed his eyes, sometimes left them open but his gaze wondered of somewhere, sometimes he made gestures with his hands, swaying them all around, sometimes sat completely still. All kinds of splashes of color floated around the blanket. OMORI wondered how one person could know so much about jam.
Suddenly, Hero stopped and awkwardly glanced at everybody.
"Hah... Is everything alright guys?" He made a shy grin and scratched his face.
"No- Yes! It's ok, please continue," Aubrey quickly blurted out as if an interesting story had been left on a very intriguing cliffhanger.
"Well..." Hero's back straightened out. "As I was saying, after you put the jam in clean jars, leave a little bit of space at the top of each jar to allow for expansion during storage..."
His friends continued to listen without saying a word. Hero was almost done explaining when he stopped again, "No, guys, seriously, is there something in my teeth?"
"No, everything's alright! You're explaining everything so well," Basil gave him a big kind smile.
"Sorry if we keep distracting you, we're just so invested!" Aubrey made a guilty expression.
"Ah... I guess I have been blabbering about jam nonstop... Eh... Sorry. I don't know what happened."
"Oh Hero, don't be sorry!" Kel cooed. "You were just talking about something you loved! No one should apologize for something like that."
"Plus, I love the look you have when you're focused," Mari added a cheeky expression.
Hero's cheeks started to slightly tint pink, "Aw... Well thanks guys. I'm glad you think so. I'm not really sure why I was apologizing earlier."
"We always get a little embarrassed when we share something dear to us with others. We sometimes get scared of what others will think and how they'll react. But it doesn't have to be that way! Just know that you can share anything with us Hero," Mari batted her long eyelashes.
"And that goes for everyone else too," Basil chimed in. "Like OMORI, you're always a bit quiet and don't share a lot, but just know that everyone will always support you. No matter what."
OMORI looked around and everyone seemed to happily agree.
"I don't ever get embarrassed!" Kel suddenly shouted, interrupting the quiet almost whispering of others. "Why would I get embarrassed over something that makes me happy?"
"It's because you're never self-aware..." Aubrey rolled her eyes.
"Mari doesn't get ever embarrassed about anything either." He defended himself.
"I try to, but that's just not true at all!" Mari calmly started, "I do have to agree with you Kel, we should believe in ourselves more. Especially Hero."
"Thank you, Mari, thanks guys, that was really nice to hear." Hero said softly.
"Oh, yeah, we will always have your back!" Kel energetically stood up. "Besides, it's always interesting to hear what the world's greatest chef has to say!"
Hero chuckled and waved his hand at his brother, "Yeah, yeah, of course."
"Bootlicker," Aubrey murmured under her breath. Kel heard her and was about to reply, but Basil interrupted.
"It's kind of true, though... You are a great cook Hero!"
"Yeah! No one can beat your amazing pies!" Aubrey commented.
"Or your cute chocolate muffins!" Mari added.
"Or your fluffy pancakes!!" Kel continued the chain.
Hero began to look overwhelmed a bit by all the compliments, but happy and proud. Sparkles seemed to gather around him. OMORI remembered late evenings when they all sometimes met up for dinner. Hero (and occasionally Mari too) would make a grand meal, including a big main course, snacks, deserts and all kinds of other things. The air would be warm, smelling of different combinations of herbs and spices, bread, buttery pastries and, if they get lucky, even chocolate. Surprisingly, OMORI would get the best sleep after those kinds of nights.
"All of these things are also just as perfect as Mari's cookies!" Basil turned to the older girl.
"Oh yes, of course we can't forget Mari's delicious cookies!" Aubrey excitedly agreed.
"Even I can't seem to master those," Hero shakes his head, but keeps his smirk.
"Aw man, I'm starting to feel hungry again..." Kel's stomach loudly growled.
"How?! You just ate!" Aubrey made a baffled expression. "There must be a blackhole inside thereor something..."
Mari quietly titters, covering her mouth, "Then I guess you guys are in luck!" Everyone glimpsed at her. "I baked some cookies yesterday evening and brought some today as a little surprise."
"This is the best breakfast ever!!" Kel shouted at the top of his lungs, stretched his arms and fell on the grass. Everyone felt like there was more room inside their stomachs.
A weird white-green lightning-like flash filled the view. A strange annoying beeping-chirping sound could be faintly heard too for a brief moment. As soon as it appeared it vanished. Everyone sat around dumbfounded. OMORI almost thought he had imagined everything if it wasn't for the anxious looks everyone exchanged.
The friends started discussing what could have possibly happened, but Kel's whining interrupted.
"Has everyone forgotten about the cookies already? We can explore what happened later!"
Mari ruffled in her never-ending picnic basket. "Ah..." was the only thing she let out. She put a huge pretty jar on the blanket. It was neatly decorated with red dots and even a neat bow on top, but the main thing was missing - the cookies. Inside the jar were only brown sugar crumbs left.
"Huh... Strange, they were here this morning," She scratched her head.
"Oh no... Do you think they could've spilled somewhere along the way?" Basil gave a concerned look.
"You don't think that... Someone could've taken them?" Aubrey shivered.
"This seems serious..." Hero narrowed his brows and began to think. "I think we should investigate this-"
" HECK YES! WE'RE PLAYING DETECTIVES AGAIN!! " Kelcouldn't sit still and started violently shaking everybody.
"Haha... I'm excited too Kel," Basil added to the enthusiasm.
"Then let's not waste time, guys! Someone could be munching on our cookies as we speak," Aubrey bounced up and adjusted her bow. "Or even worse... they could be all eaten by now!"
"Aw don't worry Aubrey, I'm certain you guys will find them. I'll make sure to look around as well!" Mari gave her a reassuring smile.
"Whoever stole the cookies is going to be toast !" Kel cracked his knuckles.
The group sat around in silence for a bit before ignoring Kel's unfunny pun and moving on to the investigation. He didn't add anything more. Basil made sure to take a quick picture of the 'crime scene' before leaving and OMORI put on his detective's hat with a little bit of pizzazz .
The gang decides to question everyone in the playground first. One by one Hero took the kids playing around to the side and started interrogating them. The friends made a little integration room with two chairs and a table. They couldn't agree how an interrogation room looks like, so there were a lot of unique decorations clashing with each other.
"Do you know your Miranda rights?" Hero took out an oversized flashlight out of his pocket. He began menacingly shining it on his face.
"N-no?... What's that?" Daisy nervously fidgeted in place.
"Um... I think you're supposed to say 'yes'. You don't really know how this detective thing works, huh?"
"No... Sorry!..."
"It's okay!" Hero makes a quick smile. "I'll help you!"
"Ah... Alright."
Hero's eyes sharpened and he ruffled his hair, dropping down little stars and glittering sparkles.
"So, how are you feeling?" He shined his big eyes at her.
"Me?... I'm feeling okay..." Daisy was breathing more normally now.
"Hm? Oh, that's good!" The interrogator chirped. "Do you remember what you were doing at approximately 9:13 AM today?"
"Um... I was... Picking some flowers... For someone..."
"That's so sweet of you! Were you planning on giving that special someone anything else? Perhaps something sweet?" Hero leaned in closer, leaving less room for Daisy.
"Hm... No, I was mostly focused on the flowers."
"Oh, I understand," The guy leaned in even closer. It was almost suffocating at this point. "But was there a slight chance you might've nabbed some kind of tasty pastry nearby? It's completely understandable why you would do that. People always want the best for their loved ones!"
"Um... No... I think he's only interested in puzzles..."
Hero stared at her for a hot second, but then swiftly retreated, "Thank you Daisy, you were a big help! You're free to go."
"Alright... T-thank you," she plopped down from the chair that was too high for her and tip toed away from there.
After a few hours Hero finally interviewed every kid in the playground. He sighed exhausted and leaned into his chair, "Aubrey, can you please go over the notes one more time?"
Aubrey sighed with him, "Around 9:13 AM Daisy was picking some flowers and observing Neb somewhere west of the playground, Neb was solving a new puzzle somewhere around the center of the playground, SHARLEEN was just standing around alone looking after her friends somewhere southwestern of the playground, MIKAL was stuck in a tree next to the swings after swinging too hard, REN and SHAWN were stargazing and coming up with their own constellations somewhere north of the playground, HAPPY and BROWS were chasing each other around the whole playground while Bangs was quietly lurking and finally, Bun and Nose were playing patty-cake next to the slide... I'm not sure what to make of this."
"Hm... So, no suspects yet?" He closed his eyes. OMORI wasn't sure if he was trying to focus or sleep.
"Seems so..." Kel stretched himself. "Being a detective sure is difficult."
"C'mon Kel, you aren't even doing anything!" Aubrey raised her voice.
"Of course I am!" Kel began raising his voice as well. "I've been protecting all of you from evil bad guys this whole time!"
"Sure, if sitting and picking your nose counts," Aubrey clenched her clipboard so hard, OMORI thought she's going to break it in half.
"Oh, of course you're the absolute best one out of all of us here Aubrey!" He glared her teeth at her.
"I don't even know why we're doing this. You probably swallowed all the cookies when Mari wasn't looking and we're just wasting our time," Aubrey wouldn't back down.
"Are you seriously playing the blame game right now?! if anyone from us stole the cookies it would obviously be you!" The boy was yelling so much the birds were scattering from the trees nearby. "Or Hero! He's sitting and questioning everyone without casting any suspicion on himself! Honestly, it's the perfect hiding spot for a criminal."
The friends suddenly turned to the older guy and waited for his response.
"Me?! Guys, I've done nothing but help! I can't believe you would accuse me like that..." Hero was boiling with anger now too. "If anything, It would probably be-"
"Please stop!" A shaking voice echoed. Startled, the kids stopped and glanced at the direction of the tone. "Sniff... I can't stand it when everyone is yelling like that..." Basil managed to whisper out, wiping his teary eyes with his hands.
They all looked at their feet and gulped. Hero rubbed his neck, Kel chewed his cheek and Aubrey played with her messy hair.
"Please forgive us Basil, we didn't mean to upset you," Hero spoke first.
"Yeah... I'm sure Aubrey didn't mean what she said!" Kel was speaking more usually now.
"I'm sorry Basil, it's just one of Kel's usual dumb tantrums," Aubrey tried to comfort her crying friend.
The boy sniffed some more, but calmed down. His eyes were bright blue and glossy, "It hurts seeing you guys like this... Please, no more fighting."
"Basil's right," Hero spoke up once more. "We shouldn't blame each other like this. We're friends after all."
"That's right, we're stronger together than apart!" Kel was enthusiastic again.
"Ultimately, who cares about the cookies when I have you guys!" Aubrey joined in.
"Hey, hold on, let's not be too impulsive here..." The younger boy stopped her.
"Guys, if I'm not wrong there are two more people who haven't been interviewed yet," Basil thinking like a detective partner again.
"Oh, right! Where did Berly and Van go?" Kel glanced around the playground.
"Didn't they say they had some kind of plans yesterday?" Hero remembered.
"So, not everything's lost!" Aubrey looked more like herself again. "Let's go guys, we have to find them!"
The detective gang started marching through the Vast Forest sometimes humming a fun little tune. Some sprout moles and bunnies were running around, but they tried to avoid them for now. The sun was biting and, although not very helpful, the breeze was comforting. At least the trees seemed to enjoy themselves. The scenery was colorful with lots of greens and blues. Soon, they came across one of Mari's picnics. She had brought some delicious pastries again. They snack and chitchat for a bit. Basil looked over his photos, Aubrey read her notes again as Kel wouldn't leave anyone alone. Aubrey started yelling at him while Mari and Hero calmed her down and scolded them both. The usual.
However, OMORI got a weird feeling in his gut... He heard an ear-piercingnoise and suddenly another white light flashed. He blinked a few times. Did he fall asleep? The boy heard muffled screams somewhere nearby and when he looked around saw Kel inside a bush struggling.
"Kel, stop messing around and get out of there already. It's not funny when you do weird stuff like this," Aubrey shouted to him with her eyes narrowed.
" PWWWAAAAH! " Kel's hair was full of mud, face dirty and overall was covered in leaves, sticks and scratches. More than usual. "Wha-? I swear this wasn't- I have no idea how-" He stopped and stared at the girl for a couple of seconds. Suddenly, he burst into uncontrollable laughter.
Aubrey grunted, "You're unbearable! What's with you?!"
Kel let out a few incomprehensible words, but no matter how he tried, he couldn't stop boisterously laughing. Mari quickly looked at Aubrey and let out a quiet gasp, "Aubrey! Your face!..."
"Hm? What's wrong with it?" The girl took out a pretty pink handheld mirror out of her dress' pocket and screamed with horror. "My!... My!!... MY FACE !!!" She had a red moustache, a beard and other silly drawings drawn on her visage.
"Kel! That is it! Apologize to Aubrey right now! You better hope it's not permanent marker!" The ground shook with Hero’s voice. Basil and Mari helped the poor girl wipe everything off as she silently pouted and sniffled.
"Hah, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Kel collected himself. "But I swear to Hector it wasn't me!"
"Wait, what's this?" Something fell out of Hero's pocket. It was a bright red marker with no cap. Not only did it ruin his pants, but now it cast a dark shadow over him. "I- Guys, you have to believe me, I have no idea how this got here!"
As the tension grew, Basil caught a brief glimpse of his photos, "Wha-? How did this get here? This isn’t right I didn't take this!" Everyone looked at the photo. It was a picture of all of them, presumably taken right here a couple of minutes before, but they were all in weird poses, making embarrassing expressions. The friends exchanged concerned glances. The worst was yet to come though. After discussing this bizarre situation for a bit, the kids realized that the picnic basket was empty now! Again!!
"WHAT'S HAPPENING?!" Kel started freaking out.
"I DON’T KNOW!” Aubrey screamed with him.
"Guys, guys! Do not panic!" Hero tried to calm everybody down, his pocket still bleeding red. "We've been in weirder situations before. We'll figure this one out too!"
Basil was visibly shaken up as well, but tried to keep a positive smile, "Hero's right. Everything will be all right."
"Of course, don't lose your heads now. I believe in all of you! You can solve this weird mystery, just like you solved everything else before. Together," Mari spoke calmly and her hopeful smile seemed to put everyone at ease. "I know you can do this little brother," she said before OMORI and his friends left to continue their investigation.
They calmed down and gathered their thoughts.
"So, Berly and Van are the only ones who haven’t been questioned yet. Where else could they go besides the playground?” Hero began speculating first.
"Oh, remember when they mentioned some kind of secret candy stash hideout? Maybe they're hiding in there?" Basil perked up.
"It’s a shame they never told us where it is...” Aubrey started thinking. “Hm, where could such a thing be?”
“I guess the sooner we start looking, the sooner we’ll find it!” Kel’s body pulsed with energy and liveliness.
The friends searched around not too far away from the playground, but they didn’t need to for very long. Next to an old tree there was a crooked wooden sign with an arrow pointing to a manmade burrow.
THE SECRET CANDY CASTLE CAN ONLY BE ACCESED WITH A SECRET CODE PROVIDED BY THE SECRET NOBLES. DISOBIDIENCE ISPUNISHED BY PAINFUL DEATH!!!!
------->
"Huh, how nice of them," Hero commented before crawling inside the hole.
One by one everyone elseentered after him. It was dark and filthyin there. A bunch of candy wrappers, sweets’ bags, junk food packs and other similar things were almost drowning the room. There was no furniture and barely any other stuff. Only an old beat-up pump and a few deflated tetherballs. It also looked like the dirt and roots were going to collapse any second. Did they dig this place out with their own two hands?
"Hello?!" Kel shouted into the void, " hello, hello, " He pretended that an echo answered back.
"Hm... They're all empty..." Aubrey pouted after she shook a couple of the packets.
"They don't seem to be in here," Hero looked around every existing corner.
"Wait, guys, look over here," Basil pointed to one spot. There were at least 5 empty cookie jars that looked identical. They also completely matched Mari's cookie jar from this morning. The gang observed the scene in confusion.
"Does Mari have multiple of the same jars?" The boy continued.
"No,she always makes each and every one unique and special," Hero murmured while examining the scene.
"Well at least we know who the thieves are now. How typical of them," Aubrey scoffed. "They can't resist sugary things, those sweet tooths."
"Before we go, I would like for all of us to mourn the loss of Mari's delicious cookies that we weren't fast enough to save..." Kel lowered his head, closed his eyes and clasped his hands.
After eye-balling the kid for a short moment, his friends joined in and stood in silence. Only the distant chirping of birds and the howling of the wind could be heard. Probably a solid minute passed like this before Kel finally spoke again, "Amen. May you rest in peace. We will bring justice."
"Well now we're out of options again. Where do we go next?" Aubrey whined.
Hero picked up one candy wrapper and examined it for a few seconds, "Hmm, isn't this the candy that the mailbox sells at the playground?"
Kel quickly bolted to his brother and grabbed the wrinkled wrapper. He took one whiff and then gave it a one big lick, "yep."
"...Okay, let's go back to the playground then. Maybe the mailbox can provide us with more information?"
They carefully exited the burrow. Before leaving Kel managed to leave a little drawing of himself on the sign with the red marker he had nabbed earlier.
Hero was in the front enthusiastically strolling towards the weird blue box, "Hello, Mailbox, how are things with you?"
"Oh, if it isn't Hero, my best customer! Only discounts and bargains for you my charming friend! How may I be of service to you kids kekeke ?"
"We just wanted to ask if, by any chance, Berly and Van were here to buy candy?"
"Hmph... Not too long ago they tried to sell me some kind of weird gadget they didn't know the purpose of, but I didn't give them any ca- Wait what?! There's actually missing a whole bunch! Grr, those hooligans, when did they manage to snatch my goods?!”
"Wait, did you say a gadget?..."
"Huh? Oh, yeah, I've never seen anything like it before and since they didn't know what it does, I didn't take it. How am I supposed to sell something I have no knowledge of?! Anyway, if I had to describe the machine, it was pink, but very muddy and smelt of dirty laundry."
"Hm, why does that sound familiar?..."
"That sounds like something a SPROUT MOLE would have," Basil pointed out. “Those cute brown creatures with a tiny leaf sprouting on their heads!”
"That's very strange... What were they doing with a thing like that?" Aubrey darted her eyes at everybody.
"That I don't know. All I can do is sell and buy." The mailbox answered monotonously.
"Well thank you anyway kind mailbox, we'll be going now-"
"What?! And you're not even going to buy anything? I'm not fond of casual browsers I'll have you know!..."
Hero put one foot in the other direction, ready to leave, "Oh, sorry I'm not sure how many clams we have-"
" Please !! No one's bought anything from me in AGES !..." The mailbox cried out desperately.
"Well... If it's like that, I guess we can buy some apple juice or something..." Hero, looking a bit startled, gave the poor mailbox some clams he had saved up.
"...Thank you, thank you..." It said before closing the small opening it was speaking from.
"This case is getting stranger and stranger..." Aubreylet out an exhausted sigh.
"But that's what kind of makes it fun though, no?" Basil encouraged.
"I guess" the girl mutteredas they began wandering through the huge fields of lost, upset sprout moles causing ruckus. The friends finally found a peculiar mole dressed in a white scientist coat. Carefully, the gang tip toed near it.
"Where am I?! Oh my, have I gotten lost?..." It was desperately turning in circles.
"Please don't worry Dr. Scientist mole. There's no need to get aggressive," Basil gave some tofu to the scared creature. He always has some on hand, it's his favorite food after all. Good thing this kind of bland-tasting treat is not that hard to find.
"We will help you if you'll help us first!" Kel approached the creature with confidence. "Does pink, dirty laundry smelling, weird gadget ring any bells?"
The scientist mole mumbles, "Pink... Dirty... Laundry... Mmm... laundry... Eh- Why, of course, that would be one of my many gadgets designed for the magnificent beloved sweetheart !"
" You created a gadget?" Aubrey gazed at the creature, eyes widened.
"Ah, yes... I keep designing more and more amazing machinery, but they're just not good enough for the one and only sweetheart. I don't think it can ever live up to her standards. I keep throwing them away, but I realized that I can actually use some of my last machine's parts for my next big idea. I went on an epic quest to find my creation, but it seems that I might've gotten a bit... Lost..." Scientist mole squirmed a bit.
"Do you remember the last gadget you threw out?" Hero tries to get the conversation back on topic.
"Oh younglings, I might be a scientist, but my head isn't what it used to be. I'm a solid 3 and a half years old now and I don't think I have much time left. I want my life to mean something before I go. I want moles all over the world to know my name! That's why I'm making these machines. That, and because I want Sweetheart to notice me of course!"
"We will get the gadget back for you Dr. Scientist mole! Don't you worry your little sprout!" Kel flicked the mole's leaf.
"Thank you, generous kids, that would be very much appreciated."
"Is there any more information you could give us involving your inventions?" Hero spoke again, motioning Aubrey to take out her notes.
"Hm, well, all of my machines have one faulty weakness I can never fix. The machines can't handle loud noises, reading books or mentions of sending someone to the dungeon whatsoever. They get too stressed out.”
"Thank you for the help, Dr. Scientist Mole!" Aubrey pointed behind their new friend, "I'm pretty sure the Sprout Mole Village should be right past the Pyrefly Forest," The gang looked towards the entrance of said forest. The cobwebs were obscuring their vision, but OMORI could hear a gentle instrumental melody in the distance. The twinkling notes would be nice if it wasn't paired with the sounds of bugs, probably spiders, skittering around. OMORI felt a shiver run down his spine. Hero made a loud gulp as well. There's no way they're ever going in there.
"It's ok, you don't have to walk me through there. I'm a SCIENTIS MOLE not a BABY MOLE!" It was almost like Scientist mole was sensing their worry.
As the tiny thing stepped one foot into the giant forest, he turned around, "You know, friends, I think I’ve finally understood something. I've made various types of machines for sweetheart over the years and my other mole brothers and sisters have made a lot of stuff for her too. But... She would never say thank you for our efforts... Heck, she wouldn't even look at us most of the time! Why do we want her approval so much? What will it grant us? I feel like I've been wasting my precious short life for something stupid and insignificant for too long."
"Wow maybe for once we found an actually intelligent sprout mole!" Aubrey whispered.
"I'll- I'll make machines for myself... for my other mole friends... Today is the day that everything changes. Today is the day I change! Today is the day there will be a revolution! Today is a day that-"
Suddenly, A black cat creature with spider legs emerges from the dark misty forest, grabbing Scientist mole from behind and dragging him inside. Only the mole's struggles and cries could be heard echoing through the trees, but soon they grew quieter and quieter. Until there was no sound at all. The friends' blood ran cold. They slowly made a U-turn and, pretending like nothing happened, continued their strange investigation.
"All this running around and questioning, but no results!" Aubrey was moping again.
"That's not true, I can feel that we're close!" Hero patted her on the back. He seems to like doing this.
"How do you know?" Basil looked at him with his big eyes.
"Ah, well, it's like my 6th sense, y'know?"
Once again, a short flash interrupted their work. Everyone tripped over something and fell like a sack of potatoes. After groaning and grunting they looked back and saw a huge pile of rocks?
" Gah ! Who... Who put that there?!" Kel was rubbing his nose while complaining and shouting.
Aubrey painfully rubbedher head, "Guys, I think that-" She began, but stopped once she saw Kel and started giggling.
"What? What are you laughing about?" He frowned even more at her. All the kids now were looking at them to see what's going on. On Kel's forehead, there was a message written in red saying 'stupid head'. The others started snickering too. "What's so funny?! I don't understand, you all fell too!"
"Guys, guys," After settling down, Aubrey began showing weird motions with her hands. "It would really suck if someone got sent to the dungeon , right everybody?" They all watch her in a funny way. "I- I wouldn't want anyone to get sent to the dungeon . That would be really bad, right guys ?? T-the... Dungeon?" They all blinked at the frustrated girl.
"Aubrey, what the heck are you talking about?" Kel looked genuinely weirded out.
"...You know Kel, that message on your face describes you perfectly," She mumbled.
"What message?"
A few quiet cackles came from some bushes next to them. Then they stopped and something shuffled.
"Oh!" Basil grinned. "I understand you, Aubrey. Let's read some books . That could be fun," He squeezed out a few old, torn comic books from his pockets and handed them to everybody.
"I thinkI know what you mean now," Hero joined in.
"What is up with everyone today?..." His younger brother still stood baffled.
Everyone began throwing the comics in the direction of the commotion they heard earlier. Colorful Superhero comics, old recipe magazines, crossword collections and similar books flew through the air, like confetti.
"Oh, so that's where my cooking magazine went," Hero followed it with his eyes.
After some time, OMORI stopped and briskly took out an air horn and with no warning blared it full volume, making his friends cover their ears.
"Ow?! Why did they do that for?!" A voice wailed somewhere nearby.
The gang rushed towards it, "We got them now!!" Hero was in the lead again.
"Oh shoot! Click the dang button! C'mon they're coming!" The same voice, now terrified, commanded.
"It's not working, Berly!" Another shaky voice whispered out.
"You're doing it wrong! Let me!" A bunch of error sound effects played. "WHATS WITH THIS THING?!"
"Caught you now thieves!" Kel exclaimed all proud and heroic as the friends surround Berly and Van.
"Aw fish sticks, run Van!"
"Urf ... I can't!... I think... I had too many sweets..." Both kids look a bit... Different. They're both very round, almost like tiny balloons, and move at a snail's pace.
"Hgh- Since when has moving been this hard?!" The girl struggled to move before sighing in exhaustion and giving up. "Oh, there's no use... Fine, you caught us. Way to ruin the fun, thanks."
“Ok guys, time to explain yourselves!” Aubrey accusatively pointed at the two.
Berly made a slight pause, "Grumble grumble... Fine. Yesterday, we found this cool alien-looking thing just sitting here in the middle of the forest all willy-nilly! We didn't know what to do with it so the logical first action was to sell it, but that good for nothing mailbox wouldn't take it! Grumble, grumble... But maybe that wasn't so bad, because later we realized that it could actually control the dang time!"
“That’s a loud of baloney!” Kel yelled out interrupting her.
“You're a loud of baloney!! I swear on everything sweet we have that it did! It sent us back in time and then later we also learnt that it could pause time too. So, we made use of it. We um... We borrowed some of your cookies a couple of times...
“That would explain the multiple jars we found...” Hero hummed.
“Oh yeah, we also borrowed some candy from the mailbox, hid a puzzle piece from Neb... And... heh, heh, how did you like our little pranks?”
“Of course it was you! Who else could it be?” Kel groaned.
“It was my brilliantidea actually,” Berly exclaimed, no shame in her face.“You have to admit, it was pretty funny.”
“It wasn't funny at all! You're so cruel Berly!” Aubrey squealed at the other girl.
"Okay, maybe it was a teensy-weensy bit funny," Kelcoughed out. Aubrey furrowed her brows at him.
“Wait, so you found a machine that can alter time and you just... Stole sweets a bunch of times and messed a little with people?” Hero tilted his head at the two little thieves.
"I mean... Yeah, what else could we do?" Berly looked at Van and he looked at her.
“Can we look at it?” Basil curiously asked.
Berly showed them the gadget. It was just as described, although now it looked even sadder with screws falling out and rusty springs poking out.
“It served well. The only downside I guess was that it made this annoying high-pitched laugh every time we turned it on.” Van finally spoke.
“I kind of wanted to try it out...” Kel frowned.
“Well, at least they’ll be no more shenanigans” Aubrey sighed in relief.
The gang sets off rolling the two kids like two giant boulders to their 'Data Base'. Aubreywas lost in thought before finally voicing out what was on her mind.
“I wonder what we would do if we had a gadget like that?”
“Pfft, easy!” Kel spat out almost without thinking, “I would go back and guess all the correct lottery numbers!”
“Yeah, right, as if you wouldn’t do the same thing Berly and Van did,” The girl rolled her eyes at him.
“Ye- I mean, what?! No! Who do you think I am?” The boy yelped out defensively. “What would you do then, huh?”
“Hmm... I would probably explore the past royal castles with magnificent gardens and pretty pink princess’ chambers! I’ve always wondered how it would look like to see them in person.”
“Isn’t that just Sweetheart’s castle?” Berly intervened.
“What? No! That doesn’t count! You shush!” Aubrey blurted out annoyed. “Hero, what about you?”
“Oh, I think I would... Correct my past mistakes, tie up loose ends, resolve dumbs conflicts that didn’t need to happen...” He spoke like he’s already thought about this before.
“ Booooooriiiiing !” After a short second Kel rudely shouted.
“Yeah Hero, I thought you would come up with something more interesting,” Aubrey shook her head disappointed.
“Wha-? I- What's wrong with my answer?” Hero managed to let out, but his question fell on death ears.
OMORI began to think now too. What would he do? Does he have any past mistakes? Unresolved conflicts? Something he would want to change? His vision started to blur, legs a little weak, something dark surrounded him.
“Basil, do you have anything more interesting to say?” Aubrey asked.
“Me?” Basil jumped flustered. “Well, I have no idea... I don’t think I would do anything. Where am I supposed to go when I already have everything I want here?” A shining smile lit up his face. “Wouldn’t you agree OMORI?”
The fog cleared. The black and white boy got a grip of himself. Yeah. He already has everything he wants here. If anything, he would pause the time just to savor these moments. OMORI moved his head up and down, agreeing with Basil, who was warmly looking at him with his unblinking eyes.
They finally arrived at their destination and explained everything to Mari. She began giggling before full on belly laughing, which made everyone else cackle as well. Even though she appeared to loudly laugh, Mari's laugh wasn't loud at all. It was more elegant and graceful.
Berly and Van weren't laughing for long though. As punishment, they had to help Mari clean up after she baked some more cookies the next morning and clean up after everyone ate.
However,one by one OMORI's friends secretly offered them some cookies or sweets because they felt bad, but the two delinquents couldn't even look at sugar without feeling sick anymore. That only lasted for about a day though.
"It was fun while it lasted though, ey Van?" OMORI overheard Berly say while they were washing the dishes.
He glanced at her, "Well, as long as you're having fun, I'm having fun too."
