The Forbidden Drink II: Return of the Titans

Ch. 7: Still Got Problems

While they were having trouble with their friend, in the Human Realm, Vee was having trouble trying to come up with a plan to help Tracey.

It was mostly about how to approach her to see what was wrong without seeming like the other people that had questions about her "incident" with Belos.

"Babe, why are we following Tracey?" Masha whispered to Vee.

"Because I only know her from when I was pretending to be Luz, I don't actually know anything about her." Vee said, "I can help more if I know about her."

""And we're doing that by stalking her?" Masha asked.

"We're not stalking and even if we were, how else would we learn about her? She doesn't seem to like you and she doesn't even know the real me." Vee whispered.

"Then why don't you use that like when you "met" me? Just bump into her, say sorry, and say you're lost cuz you're new in town." Masha explained.

"Does this look like a fanfic?" Vee asked.

"... Yes, it literally is!" Masha said, pointing to the readers. "See?"

"Masha, stop breaking the fourth wall." Vee said, slapping their hand down. "Now how do we do this?"

"Simple. I shove you out to bump into Tracey and hide so you can do the rest." Masha said, grabbing Vee's arms.

"Wait, what?" Vee asked quickly.

"Have fun!" Masha said before pushing Vee into Tracey.

'MASHA!' Vee thought before she stumbled into Tracey.

"Ugh!" Tracey grunts, nearly falling over before she stopped herself and turning to Vee. "Hey! What was that for?!"

"S-s-sorry!" Vee said, holding her hands up. "I'm, uh, I'm still new here."

"New?" Tracey said, looking over Vee and not recognizing her from anywhere. "I see, you are new to Gravesfield."

"Yeah, totally. I'm just a little lost, I didn't mean to bump into you. Sorry." Vee said before holding out her hand. "I'm Vee, by the way. What's your name?"

Tracey looked away.

"My name is Tracey, Tracey Miller." Tracey said.

"That's a nice name." Vee comments.

'Okay, so far so good.' Vee thought as Masha watched from the corner.

"Thanks. Anyway, where are you heading exactly? I'm not busy, so I might as well help." Tracey said, putting her hands in her pockets.

"Oh, I was just Checking out the town." Vee said, "I was recently adopted by the Noceda family."

Tracey went stiff.

"Then tell me something... is that bastard that took Noceda dead?" Tracey asked.

"Bastard? What bastard?" Vee asked, playing dumb.

"You must've been online right? you must've seen that clip of that weird sludge monster that appeared after Halloween or at least been told about it." Tracey said, looking at Vee. "I want to know, what happened to him? Did Noceda ever say?"

"Uh, all I was told was that the... problem... was taken care of." Vee said.

Tracey's shoulders relaxed as she released a long breath of relief, happy that the monster that possessed her was now dead and gone.

"Good." Tracey said softly.

"I'm guessing you had an... issue with that problem?" Vee asked.

"More than you know." Tracey said, putting a hand on some of her face scars. "Where were you heading again?"

"Just... around." Vee said.

"Around?" Tracey asked.

"Yeah.....I sort of got lost when I just wanted to look around town." Vee said, faking a blush.

"Okay then...Well, why don't I show you around?" Tracey asked.

"Oh, sure. That sounds great. Thank you." Vee said as Masha gave a nod.

'My plan worked but she better not try anything with my girl.' They thought as Tracey and Vee walked around the town.

It had become an unofficial tour as Tracey also gave a little history for Vee from whatever she knew at each stop. All while Masha was following from behind, mainly to keep an eye on Vee's progress... and to make sure blondie didn't try anything.

'I'm a little jealous and I'm not ashamed to admit it.' Masha thought, breaking the fourth wall again while glancing at the readers.

They turned back to the two, seeing them walk into the historical society. Once they opened the door, Vee saw Masha sitting behind the desk.

'Wait, what the fuck?' Vee thought, confused since Masha should've been behind them.

"Hello, welcome to the Gravesfield Historical Society. How may I help you?" Masha asked them.

"Oh, right, you work here." Tracey said before nudging to Vee. "I'm just showing the new girl around."

Masha looked to Vee and smiled at her.

"Oh Vee! She came by before Halloween with help for a strange map. I see she's still turned around." Masha said with a grin.

"Hey! It takes a while to get used to a new city." Vee said, faking being embarrassed.

"You're really cute when you blush like that." Masha said, giving Vee a wink.

"No I'm not! Wait, that's not what I mean!" Vee said, blushing for real now.

"I see you've already gained someone's attention." Tracey said, glancing between Vee and Masha.

"Yep." Masha said, looking at Tracey, "And don't you forget it."

"Firstly, I'm straight, secondly, I'm Aromantic." Tracey said, "So while I do think she's relatively adorable, I'm not interested."

"You find me adorable?" Vee asked in surprise.

"Yes but like I said, I'm not interested. Think of it like having a pet." Tracey said to her.

'I somehow feel insulted by that.' Vee thought.

"More for me then." Masha said with a grin.

Masha leaned over her desk and kissed Vee's cheek, making her blush even brighter than before.

Tracey was looking in a mirror, not paying attention to the others. She saw her reflection, as it twisted and morphed into a twisted and angry version of herself.

"Nice scars, loser." Her reflection said.

Tracey sighed from this, secretly used to visions/hallucinations like this from her own mind. It was another reason she distanced herself from her friends, so they don't find out and see her as anymore of a freak than she already looks.

'Shut up, you bitch.' Tracey thought to herself.

"You're a freak." The reflection said, "Nothing but a pathetic excuse of a human!"

'Shut up.' Tracey thought.

"You should've died after being possessed!"

'Shut. Up.'

"This is why your mother regrets having you!"

"SHUT UP!"

Tracey pulled out a piece of paper and it began to glow green, before she threw it at the mirror and broke it with several vines. She was breathing heavily as Vee and Masha looked on in shock.

'Did... did she just use one of Luz's plant glyphs?' Vee thought.

"T... Tracey?"

Tracey went stiff, temporarily forgetting that they were there. She quickly ran out of the place, leaving the two in shock. Masha turned to the readers.

"Well, this just got interesting, didn't it?" They asked, raising their left eyebrow.