DISCONTINUED The Alchemist, The Warrior, and The Medic

Chapter 4: Cocoa

So far, the day in the bookshop had been interesting for Ophelia, she'd never really done much exploring without Cass by her side, so she's never seen this particular bookshop before. It's got a little bit of everything! Even some fairytales. 

She opens one, just for kicks, and gets absorbed in the world of magic and fictional princesses. She's never really read fiction. Her dad never read her the classic tales, he told her real stories. He told her about war, and heartbreak, and glory. From a young age she could explain Corona's law system better than Jack and the Beanstalk. 

Still, she found the book fascinating. "A cat with boots? That's crazy!" She laughs. Varian, despite managing to stop his previous panic session, was still a bit nervous about Ophelia. With Cass he had been much more outwardly confident, but Ophelia is different. She's so sweet and soft, like Uncle Monty's candies. Sadly Monty is a bit far from Varian, so he lacks the sweets from Monty's shop.

"Yeah! You- haven't read that one before?" Varian's surprised,  he thought everyone would have read The Master Cat. But mayhaps not.

"No, I haven't actually. I think it's good!" She smiles up at him warmly, then places down the book. She feels a bit hungry, and knows Varian does as well.  "You ready for that replacement sandwich? Or- whatever they have wherever we end up I suppose." 

He had honestly forgotten it was lunchtime, it's hard to keep track of time when you're with a friend. Especially a friend like Ophelia. "Yeah! I think I am"

So they leave the bookshop and walk around Old Corona. It's a quiet village, filled with kindly people, mostly farmers. Old Corona is responsible for most of Corona's crops and food, so it makes sense it's an agricultural town. 

Crops aside, it's also quite nearby the forest and quite lovely to stroll through. There's plenty of friendly little critters in the dense forestry, and Ophelia knows Cass knows it like the back of her hand.  It's warm and sunny, but there's just enough of a cool breeze for it to be comfortable here in Corona. It's always comfortable weather here in Corona. It snows a little, but never too much. And it rains here and there, but always just the right amount.

As they walk into the woods a bit, about halfway back to Corona or so, they come across the snugly duckling. The drinks there are tolerable, and the food is sometimes worse. Ever since Atilla opened that cupcake shop anyway.

Still, the pub thugs are actually pretty decent guys for being literal pub thugs. Cass never really liked letting Ophelia go there though. Cass and the Captain were both very concerned about her wellbeing. She wasn't really a pub thug brawling type, and they literally have an hour specifically labeled for throwing a guy around. Who even invented Shorty tossing anyway?

But inside the Snuggly Duckling they went, and in the Good Ol' Cozy Quaker, they found Big Nose and  Hookfoot chatting about Ulf's newest painting. It was, like all of Ulf's work, invisible. The mime loves what he does! Even if it is a bit- bizarre. Shorty was hanging from the chandelier above and honestly smelled like pee. What a funny little old man. And last but not least, there was Vladimir and Killer talking about a unicorn blanket. 

All in all an average day in the pub. Ophelia and Varian seated themselves at the table, and Big Nose, who wasn't sure what they wanted, turned to face them.

"Uhm- hello there- what are you two doing here?" He asks with some confusion.

"We're hungry." Ophelia says with a shrug. She doesn't see anything wrong with grabbing a lemonade from the tap. Or maybe a ginger water, assuming they have ginger here.

Big Nose and Hook Foot exchange a look. They aren't sure what about this place screamed child friendly to these two, but it's a bit concerning.

"Uhm... you sure you guys don't wanna eat somewhere else?" Hookfoot questions uncomfortably, gesturing to the door with his head.