Twisted Wonderland 2

Simple Misunderstanding

Riddle and Azul walk down the long flight of stairs. Riddle carries the Thunder Spear as Azul follows behind.

"Allow me to carry the spear." Azul offers. "Hauling giant weapons is a job for the rank and file. After all, the leader should be out in front protecting me."

Riddle stops suddenly in front of Azul, nearly causing him to collide with the red head.

"There's definitely been a misunderstanding. I'm not protecting you. I'm protecting the rules."

"What?"

Riddle hands Azul the spear and keeps walking. "You're an octo-merman, and you take a transformation potion to maintain your human form, correct?"

Azul fumbles with the heavy spear but follows after Riddle. "Yes, that's right. But what does that have to do with any rules?"

"Transformation potions are special." Riddle answers. "They require government authorization and specialist supervision. Only medical mages can issue prescriptions for them. And licensed potion pharmacists are the only ones who can formulate them. I presume you already know all this, of course."

Azul stays quiet.

Riddle continues. "Those who take them undergo major physiological changes. So treating injuries of such individuals requires more care. It's actually illegal to practice medicine on them without a specialist license. Which means that if you got injured here, I would risk running afoul of the law. And that must be avoided at all costs! Hence, I cannot let any injury befall you. It's that simple."

Azul is quiet for a long moment before he bursts out laughing.

"Why are you laughing?" Riddle asks. "I didn't say anything remotely funny."

"Unbelievable." Azul says when he finally stops laughing. "Is that what you've been worried about this entire time? You really are eccentric."

"I am not! It's every citizen's duty to follow the law!"

Azul throws his hands in the air. "You could have just said so! I was convinced you thought I was a weakling."

"What?" Riddle exclaims. "I explicitly said I knew you could fight! Why wouldn't you take me at my word?"

"Given how you were acting, I think it was reasonable to assume you were patronizing me." Azul rolls his eyes. "Your absurd adherence to the rules isn't intuitive to most other people."

"It's not absurd! It's literally the law!"

A growl alerts the boys to something further down the steps.

"Something's coming!" Riddle throws a glare at Azul. "Now look what you've done. Your loud guffaws drew the enemy right to us!"

"Oh, I'm TERRIBLY sorry. I'll take extra care to avoid getting hurt." Azul snickers.

The boys ready themselves as a phantom charges up the stairs. The two fire spells until one struck the phantom, dissolving it into an inky puddle.

"The Phantoms are considerably stronger down here." Azul observes.

Riddle nods. "Definitely. We made the right call resting while the spear was charging. Fatigue can affect your concentration, which is just asking for trouble as a mage. Speaking of trouble, l'd like to double-check something. Your transformation potion won't suddenly wear off, will it?"

Azul shakes his head. "Not so long as I take it as prescribed. It used to be that one dose would maintain a transformation for three days max. But with recent advancements in the field, transformations can last anywhere from a week to ten days. The potions aren't exactly tasty, so I appreciate having to take fewer doses overall." Azul smiles. "But even then, Floyd sometimes forgets to take his. And then I hear things like, 'Hey, my ears are fins again!' or 'My fingers grew some webbin'!'"