Meowtopia #1: Prisma's Quest Begins

Chapter 6

"Well, let's just hope you won't meet with the same fate as Spray Can's previous partner", Flora pointed out when she was done coughing because of her milkshake. Prisma suddenly remembered the cat on the photo she had found underneath her bed earlier and what Canny had said.

"Well, I used to have a partner for things like this, and I was gonna work with her this summer, too, but she's... not around anymore."

"W-what do you mean? What happened to her?", Prisma asked hesitantly. Flora leaned closer to her and Daisy so the others wouldn't hear her. "Her name was Pastel Blossoms. She and Spray Can were as different as two friends could possibly be, but they were both incredibly talented and perfect partners. They always had the most popular projects on the art festival", she explained. "But at some point, her creativity simply seemed to fade away", Daisy continued. "Many drop out of school here at the moment because of that, but Pastel is one that we remember because she was really popular. Now our only 'star' here at the moment is Spray Can. Oh, and Nebula Flare, that gal with the long purple hair. She didn't seem like a very good artist in the beginning, but damn, she's improved quickly! Maybe that's because Pastel worked a lot with her before she had to leave." Prisma remembered Nebula from the elevator when she had just arrived at the school. "Oh, I already talked to her!", she said. "Oh really?", Flora asked. "Yeah, she's been acting a bit weird though", Prisma replied. "Pff, that's normal for her. Nobody really knows where she's from, nor did she ever have any friends from outside the art school here to visit her", Daisy pointed out. Prisma found this weird and slightly creepy and didn't know whether she should stay away from Nebula or find more about her to understand her better.

Prisma's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Flora and Daisy standing up and picking up their trays. "Anyway... It's been nice talking to you, Prisma.", Daisy said. "Hey, you know what? Maybe you can visit us two in our room or something", Flora added. "We live in room 142. Oh, we didn't even talk about what kind of artists we are... Oh well, I guess you'll just have to come over to find out!", she said and winked.

After the two left, Prisma also picked up her tray, brought it back to the kitchen and left the canteen. As she entered the elevator, she remembered that she was supposed to get a chocolate bar for Canny at the vending machine. So she went down the hallway. It had gotten dark outside, so there was no light coming from the windows. The lights in the very back of the hallway weren't turned on either, so the only thing that was bright was the colorful lights of the vending machine itself.

Just as Prisma had pressed the little button that would make the chocolate bar fall out of the vending machine, she realized that she didn't have any money with her. "Aw, crap!", she said quietly while she was searching for some coins inside her pockets. "Need some money?", a familiar voice suddenly said. Prisma quickly turned to where the voice was coming from. It was Nebula Flare standing in one of the dark corners of the hallway. Her eyes looked even more as if they were glowing than when Prisma had met her the first time.

Prisma could have sworn that Nebula hadn't been there in the corner all along. "Jeez, you scared me!", she said and laughed nervously. "Where did you come from all the sudden?" "What do you mean? I've been there all along. You should observe your surroundings more carefully", Nebula said with a grin on her face. Prisma wanted to deliver some sick comeback, but Nebula continued talking before she had the chance to. "Anyway, I could borrow you a few bucks. How much do you need?" "Uh... Only 40 cents. For this-", Prisma replied hesitantly and pointed at the chocolate bar in the vending machine. "Ha! Only 40 cents? I might as well just buy this for you then... As a little gift since you came here just today", Nebula said. "Oh, that's really nice of you, but this chocolate bar isn't for me. I'm supposed to buy it for my roommate Spray Can", Prisma explained. Nebula's expression turned surprised and slightly angry as Prisma mentioned her roommate's name. "Oh, really?", she said in a monotone voice. "Well, if she sends you here to buy her something, she could at least give you some money, don't you think?" Prisma hadn't thought about that before. "W-well, I think she just forgot about that. I didn't think about that either, to be honest, and...", Prisma tried to defend her friend. "No need to defend her", Nebula interrupted. "As I said earlier, many students here seem to mysteriously lose their creativity at the moment. I have a weird feeling that that soon might happen to Spray Can, too." Nebula smiled. Prisma was confused and a little freaked out because of Nebula's behavior, but she remembered Daisy saying that it was normal for her.

"Uh, I think I'm just gonna go get some money from her...", she said, trying to escape the situation. "Oh, don't! I can still borrow you some. But just because I don't want you to get into an awkward situation with your new roommate. Not because I want Spray Can to get her candy." She put forty cents into the vending machine and pressed a button. "Here you go. Don't mention it." Not waiting for Prisma to say anything, Nebula turned around and left.

Prisma took the chocolate bar and silently looked at it, thinking about what a weird and awkward situation this had been. Nebula had appeared out of nowhere and been friendly to Prisma – kinda cold, but friendly – but as soon as Prisma mentioned Spray Can, Nebula had seemed as if she was in a bad mood - As if she didn't like Spray Can. And that creepy comment about her 'mysteriously losing her creativity' didn't make it any better. And what about Canny's previous partner, Pastel Blossoms, who worked a lot together with Nebula before she had left the school? Prisma was scared and confused. "Maybe it's just my imagination, or something very weird is going on here...", she quietly said to herself. "I'm gonna ask Canny about it."