Ethel walked through the cracks in the Marshall family's backyard under the cover of darkness. She had waited until Barron thought it was safe for her to return to the house. As Cal worried, correctly, they had attracted a great deal of attention with Andy’s disappearance and the state of the house following Cal’s late-night death match, which somehow no one died in.
She held a pet carrier in her right hand and Frank’s pot against her chest with her left. She had plans for Frank. He may have started as a magical mishap, but she felt a connection to him, and if everyone else were off playing with magic, she would do the same. Plus, she had new guests to drop off.
She exited the cracks into a small room in her realm. It was built in the branches of a giant tree that had been growing along with the world from the moment she first set foot on it. Mr. Oakbert called it a world tree. The fruit it produced nourished all her guests and, most interestingly, slowly changed them.
“Hello, Ethel. Do we have some new visitors?” A bird the size of an ostrich that looked far more like a parrot asked.
“Yes, Gus, I found these poor souls half-starved in an alley on the way to Cal’s. I’ve nursed them back to health as best I could in the void house, but they will do best here.” Ethel set the carrier down and released two tiny kittens into the room.
“Alright, good.” Gus typed away at a strange keyboard, which looked to be growing out of a tree branch. “The root system has cataloged your sigil. Retrieval will now happen at the start of every loop. I’ve alerted the cat grotto, and Mother Scrump is on her way to meet them.”
“What would I do without you, Gus?”
“Dedicate even more of your mana reserves to this insane otherworldly sanctuary?”
“True, I would do that, but it’s important. I won’t allow any creature to suffer if I can help.”
“I know, and I’m not really judging you for it. I wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for you.”
“You shouldn’t exist at all, and I still don’t see where your egg came from.” Mr. Oakbert said. He had entered the room while Gus was speaking.
“Be nice, Oakey. It’s not Gus’s fault that he’s an impossibility. The world is full of them these days.”
“It shouldn’t be possible for anyone that isn’t a mana-based lifeform to be born in a mana realm, though.” Mr. Oakbert was adamant on this point.
“What about the plants?” Ethel asked.
“Plants work differently. They become part of this world when their seeds germinate here. That’s why Frank became loop-aware. I bet if you checked him on the R.I.S., you’d see he is now some sort of mana plant.”
“Well, I was an egg. Maybe it’s different for birds!” Gus tried to defend his birth.
“Enough, you two. I have some theories, and if you two learn to get along, I may just share them. Now, I’m going to be here for most of this loop, so I don’t want to hear fighting. We have animals to raise. Plus we are going to see if Frank here can grow. Gus is right about how much of my mana is taken up with the root network, but I’m not willing to change that. So, instead, let’s turn Frank into a tree titan. I want to help Cal defend the world for at least two hours. So what do you say, Frank, ready to be a superhero?” Ethel looked down at her awakened sapling.
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“I do like the wrestling shows Bug showed me. Yes I wish to be Frank, the masked tree titan, defender of all nature. Gus, I want a costume. I demand a costume!” Frank’s leaves rustled the louder her voice grew.
“Frank, what have we discussed about requests?” Ethel chided the plant.
“People are not beholden to me just because I’m great. I’m sorry, Gus, could I please have a costume?” Frank asked again. This time, his tone was much friendlier.
“Yeah, we will get to work on something,” Gus said.
“Mister Gus, Professor Ethel, I was summoned for a pick-up.” A large orange and purple cat addressed them.
“Mother Scrump, perfect timing. I found these two today. They need a good home. Also, may I say your new colors suit you.” Ethel scratched the cat’s back, eliciting a loud a pur.
“Thank you, professor. It appears the longer we live here, the more acclimated we become with the world.” Scrump sniffed each kitten. “They need a proper cat bath.”
“Yes, I was too late to save their mother. Next loop I will make time to search for any litter mates I may have missed.” Ethel continued her scratching of Scrump.
“Come, kittens, it is time for you to meet the clowder. I have several children for you to play with.” Scrump prodded the kittens on with her head every time they tried to stop. She finally had them both out of the room, but their mewings could still be heard as she brought them to their new home.
“Oakey, Gus, tomorrow I want a full meeting of the animal chiefs. I want to update everyone on some new developments outside. For the rest of the day, though, I want no interruptions. I’m going to be pouring all the mana I can spare into Frank.”
“Okay, boss. Good luck.” Gus said.
“I will prepare a training center for you two as well. Something where Frank can be safely destructive.” Oakbert added.
“Thank you both.” She picked up Frank’s pot and left the room.
Her realm was a world of natural beauty. Mr. Oakbert and her had discussed in detail what she most desired, and instead of the random nature of Cal’s manifestations, they were able to build a sanctuary. She had initially wanted to protect all animals, humans included, but for some reason, she was unable to bring any human she wasn’t bonded to into the realm. It was a fluke of the reality magic that annoyed her the most. It was a rule she fully intended to break one day, but first, she had much work to do in mastering her current magics.
Her core was solid, and she was nearly constantly using her mana channels to supply the root network with the energy needed to rescue all the animals she had marked at the start of each loop. She was reasonably sure if she went up against Cal all out, his core would give out before hers, but that wasn’t the type of magic user she wanted to be. She would help him save the world, of course. She would also save everyone, animal, and plant she possibly could along the way.
Ethel led Frank to a small grove of pear trees. “Hugo, can you grab me four of the ripest fruits you can find?” Ethel called into the grove as she placed Frank’s pot on the ground and sat beside him, leaning her back against a tree.
“Yep, no problem prof.” A nasally voice called back from somewhere in the trees. Moments later, an opossum dropped out of the tree and plopped down next to her, carrying four pears.
“Here you go. Perfectly ripe.”
“Thank you, Hugo. Now, if you don’t mind, Frank and I will need some privacy for the next part.”
“No problem, take care, prof.” The small opossum scurried away, giving Ethel her requested privacy.
“Alright, Frank, I’m going to eat all four of these pears and try to push as much of the mana directly into you. This may be a bit dangerous, so it’s important you listen and do what I say when I say it. Start with pushing the mana into your channels through your body. Focus on growing into what you want and push more mana in the direction that most needs growth. Do you understand?” Ethel’s voice had taken on a solemn tone. She was concerned about the potential harm this may cause both her and Frank, but growth required risk.
“I think so. Let’s pump me up!” Frank exclaimed.