Good news…

I have a room now!... My room! For me to use at my heart’s content, they gave me the key and everything. Granted it has nothing inside besides a bed, a chair, and a bookshelf-balcony that is embedded with the windowsill. And it is also the only room that the little… shack? Hut? The small house has, aside from a little entrance corridor.

They kind of… just left me here with a bowl of chicken stew, though I didn’t see any livestock in the village so I wonder where it came from.

As for other news…

They placed me here without explaining too much of anything? Well, it’s not like I can understand them yet. My little abode resides just behind the clinic/pharmacy with that creepy guy. And I think I'll be having to see him a whole lot more.

And regarding that thing flopping around on top of my head, well, long story short…

I pulled it out.

…It didn’t exactly hurt per se. It felt like ripping out an extra thick strand of hair, but it also felt like having a bone being dislocated. It was weird. There wasn’t any blood or anything that looked bad enough to be worried over, the flower doesn't have any roots, only a white-grayish bulb on the bottom that I think is a part of my ripped scalp.

The flower itself looked to be doing fine and dandy even though it spent a considerable amount of time without any sort of dirt or water to be planted in. It has big thick petals arranged similar to a buttercup flower, there aren't any leaves attached to the stalk, instead, the stalk itself has a fuzzy skin with soft hairs, they split up at the top in an inverse bell shape that hugged the base of the flower. Its color is nearly identical to my own hair, without the huge flower it wouldn't look out of place being hidden on it.

That’s all I could surmise before the eccentric doctor swooped in and took the thing out of my hands, put it in a jar, and skedaddled somewhere, before leaving me here.

‘*sigh* just another odd thing to add to the list… O’ body mine. What in the hell is wrong with thee?’

…

I’m bored.

I start fiddling around with the wooden bowl and spoon, they are simple in shape but have intricate carvings decorating them, depicting flowers and shapes that flow into each other in a unique design.

I run around the room and do stretches, this body being more flexible than what I was used to, I could actually touch my toes without falling over!

Laying down on the bed, oh dear god the bed, I sunk into the blissful softness. This isn’t your average mattress filled with springs and synthetic foam. It feels like clouds would be like if they were actually solid. The pillow is much the same and the blanket is made of a thick but squishy fabric.

Without much to do, I end up falling asleep.

——— –– –– -- - -

*BANG*

I jump out the bed, falling down on the floor in a heap of limbs and blankets.

Before I can register what and where the noise came from I'm forcefully liberated from the comfort of the sheets and hefted high up. Get thrown over something and start being shaken up and down. The sudden motions shaking off any sluggishness my sleep gave me.

I open my eyes and see that I'm slung over someone’s shoulder upside down, my first instinct was to think I was being kidnapped and to punch whoever’s back I am on top of it harshly. I hear a pained “Oof” and a cry of playful indignation, but otherwise, they do not stop. Looking down I see the familiar clothing of the doctor’s, minus the apron and now he’s actually wearing proper pants and shoes.

‘Oh, it’s just him… Wait– what are you doing to someone in the middle of the day!?’

We cross a street corner. Cranking my neck as much as I can, I spot the corners of the giant pavilion thing, it looks like that’s where we are headed. Though everything is darker for some reason.

Looking up at the sky, I see the dimming of the sun painting the sky orange.

‘What!? Is it already so late? How long did I sleep?’

We arrive by the entrance, and I see that lady I first met waiting atop the set of stairs with a baffled face. The doctor greets her with a boisterous call and a big wave of one of the hands holding me, he almost drops me but picks back up after some missed steps.

When we get closer, she swiftly takes me off his hands and rewards him with a loud smack across the head. Berating him in a hushed yell. She kicks him inside and yells something while pointing her finger.

‘I’m so confused… what’s going on this time?’

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

She pats my head, her hand fumbling a little awkwardly around my horns. And gently takes my hand while saying soothing sounding words in her language.

Next, she takes me directly to the place where the meeting of people was happening earlier today, the glowing rocks and light rods that they use barely illuminating the high ceiling.

We pass by someone standing guard as we enter through the faux-door frame that divides the outside from inside the room. I'm met with a row of old-looking elves sitting in large cushions. There are six of them, one of them is glaring at me, and the rest have a look of contemplative surprise on their faces.

‘...’

With the woman beside me, she pushes me forward, keeping a hand on my shoulder. I’m presented for them to look at me, for what purpose? I do not know. They all start trading words and talking amongst themselves, after some time Gaviel finally shows up and joins the fray.

And so they talked and talked…

And then talked some more…

…Throughout all this, I’m just left standing here with nothing to my name.

At some point I see the creepy doctor peeking his head in when no one else was looking along with another mature-looking woman who also wears glasses, from what I could see, she has that tied hairstyle with her hair thrown over her shoulder. When they see me looking directly at them, they make a shushing motion with their hands and hide themselves again.

‘...???, um, well, ok? I'm curious, but whatever they are doing is none of my business.’

After some time watching them and growing bored, I discreetly scooch over to the side and lay down on an extra cushion from the pile I spotted on the corner. Gaviel sees me and throws a side glance, but otherwise doesn’t say anything, the rest of them don’t look like they even noticed my movements.

I keep on observing the tense debate with a morbid sense of curiosity and creeping anxiety.

It’s actually kind of funny since I don’t understand a single word they are saying. Well… I do get one or two words, actually, but not enough to make sense out of anything.

Until then, I entertain myself by rolling around aimlessly… The meeting room, hall?. place. Is pretty spacious and looks like it’s designed to hold a myriad of different events judging by all the different sorts of furniture and crates lying on the far sides of the room.

Or rather, the pavilion-convention center— I still don’t know the right word for it. Is made to address all sorts of gatherings, and they set up this space for a meeting. Maybe all the tables, chairs, and rugs lying over there were for that thing that happened earlier today, and they didn’t have the time to put them away elsewhere?

…I end up making a pillow fort out of the sitting cushions and beanbags that are lying around. I peek over towards them from inside the confines of my impenetrable fortifications, I see that Uncle Gaviel just gives me an exasperated eye roll, and the security by the entrance gives a double take at me with an utterly confused face.

‘If you’re going to bring me here just to leave me without supervision, you shall deal with the consequences of your own actions by leaving me to my own bored shenanigans.’ I tell myself with a straight face.

——— –– –– -- - -

Despite being completely and utterly bored, and surrounded by cushions that have no right to be as comfy as they are, I couldn’t really fall asleep.

I had already slept most of the day away at that marvelous bed. And I know the adults are having a serious discussion that is most likely about me, but I just can’t sit around without being able to input anything into the conversation and also not being able to understand them anyways, leaving me with a growing frustration and inquietness that left me wanting to just stand up and leave since they don’t really need me here.

I hear them starting to steadily quiet down as whatever they are doing is finished. Before I could peep out of my cage again to check on the situation. My house that was built on blood, sweat, and tears is ruthlessly destroyed by the hands of the giants.

I whine in protest, though I didn’t really care about it, knowing that it would be a temporary thing at most, it still miffed me a little.

The giant in question, Uncle Elf, or Gaviel, picks me up and sets me on the ground. In front of me, is that lady that was peeking inside along with the doctor. I don’t see him anywhere. She crouches down to my eye level, reminding me of my shortness, giving me that sort of secretary-type smile you give to unknowable kids.

I didn’t have the opportunity to carefully look at her before when she was sneaking around, but she has an attire that is suspiciously similar to the person she was with, a simple sweater with cotton pants and flat shoes… At least she isn’t smelly like that other guy.

I give her a raised eyebrow but she doesn’t react.

Instead, she says something that is distinctly different from the language everybody else around is using. It sounds much more heavy and it uses more “R’s” and “L’s”, but it is still something I don’t understand.

‘I guess that confirms that there isn’t just one common language in this world… Though I guess that’s expecting a bit too much, people each have their own culture so they must have native languages as well, a universal sort of language bestowed to all was expecting too much.’

Seeing I don’t react as she expected, with me tilting my head in confusion, she switches over to another language, pausing to measure my response. ‘Oh! Is she some sort of linguist then? Neat.’

It doesn't work, so she tries another one.

And another…

And another…

And another until she stops and stays silent.

‘There was only one that kind of sounded like Latin… if Latin was made by a Russian with an Australian accent. I don’t speak Latin anyways, so that was a bummer…’

She sighs deeply, and says something in an oddly confused tone, standing up and turning towards the rest of them, she says something in an excited tone, and a resolute tone next, then in a somber tone next.

The discussion goes back and forth between her and the rest of the elves for a bit. Ending up in a round of nodding heads and agreeing-looking gestures.

The discussion goes back and forth between her and the rest of the elves for a bit. Ending up in a round of nodding heads and agreeing-looking gestures. Though, I did see one of the elder elves look particularly displeased.

They all turn to Gaviel, he sighs, stopping to think for a moment before nodding and telling them something in a delegating sort of way, adding a pointed comment towards the bespectacled woman in the end.

At this prompt, the woman bows deeply towards everyone, and this signals the meeting to conclude with everyone going their separate ways.

I made my way towards Gaviel. However, I got stopped, this time instead of going with Uncle Elf over there. It looks like I’m going with another person, namely, the new lady that showed up. She takes me by my hand— ‘What’s with everyone and hand-holding? I can walk myself thank you very much’— and leads me away towards another direction.

Looking back, I give a sidelong glance towards Gaviel who was looking at me, along with a confused wave of my hand. He blinks and returns it with a nod of his head, then turns away and goes away else just like everyone.

We go through the entrance of the room, through the corridors of pillars and glowing lights, into the outside of the open village that was lit by the night sky and the lights of the few that were still awake inside their homes. The streets glowed with a weak glow, not from torches or those magic stones, but from bioluminescent plants scattered about and purposefully planted near the pathways.

Just as we exit the shadows of the vaulted ceiling of the grand hall, the woman jumps and squeals with apparent joy and squishes me in a much too-tight hug, babbling away about something to herself.

She squeals something right beside my ears while she’s hugging me. Hurting my ears in the process.

‘...Just what have I got myself into?’

——— –– –– -- - -