Always Be Appreciative of Opposable Thumbs

Chapter Thirty-Four: The Barefoot Princess

 When she had at last caught her breath, Willow attempted to sit up so she could assess the damage. Aside from everyone being pale and worn down, there seemed to be no external harm done.

"Those mushrooms were sucking something out of you all," she said. "Probably me, too, before I woke up."

"So was Tuffet just a hallucination?" asked Jyoji as he patted Okami's nose.

Sera pulled her knees up to her chest and let out a crude laugh. "A mass hallucination. Now I've really heard it all."

"But we do all remember Tuffet, right?" asked Willow, glancing at her friends. "And everything that happened there?"

"Our wishes came true," Sera said sadly, resting her chin on her knees.

"My muse," Jyoji said, staring at the ground wistfully. "So none of it was real."

Furrowing her brow, Sera looked at Willow. "Then why is Willow still human?"

They all turned to her, and she shrank back. "I don't know," she said, glancing down at her fingers and thumbs. "Could the magic be lingering?"

"Then why is my muse not here?" Jyoji asked. He turned to Sera. "Do you sense her nearby?"

Shaking her head slowly, Sera eyed Willow and Hugo. "Nope. She definitely returned to where she was before."

Understanding what she meant, Willow gave her a sympathetic smile.

"Returned? To where? What are you talking about?" Jyoji asked.

Sera sighed and patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, Jojo, I can guarantee she'll show up again."

Hugo turned to Willow. "Do you remember how we couldn't figure out how long we had been in Tuffet?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think that maybe enough time went by that we hit your next transformation cycle?"

As she considered this possibility, she heard a door open, and someone called out to them. They turned and found a young woman beckoning to them from a tree. No, wait—from inside a tree?

"You lot look tired," she said. "Would you like to come inside and rest your weary bones?"

Sera released a low whistle. "I dunno, guys, the last time we went inside a weird house, we nearly got framed."

"Framed?" Jyoji repeated.

"Where else are we going to go?" asked Hugo. "We left the cart behind with the Spiders, and we're in no condition to keep going on foot."

"And at this point, we've had so much experience with strange goings-on that I think we can handle ourselves," Willow added.

"Fine, fine," Sera said as she rose to her feet. "But if we get turned into mice or something, don't say I didn't try to warn you."

The others followed her lead, and as they slowly made their way to the young woman in the tree, Hugo whispered to Willow, "Should I be worried that Sera was the one being cautious this time?"

Chuckling under her breath, she leaned her head against his shoulder. "Maybe it's the lingering effect that Tuffet had on you."

The memory of how affectionate Hugo had been in that imaginary town flashed through her mind. Her face flushed, and she quickly pulled away from him and averted her eyes. It hadn't been real. It had only been a part of her wish. She had to get it out of her head and try to return to her normal relationship with Hugo.

But that almost-kiss haunted her bereft lips.

"Come in, come in," the young woman in the tree said as she waved even Okami inside. "You look like a dragon chewed you up and spit you out."