✧ Chapter 57 ✧

Back inside the sweet world of Tartropolatté, the second unit were travelling near the end of the Jelly Jungle.

“Say, I never told you two ladies about my friend the mail guy did I?” said Mister Lollipop as he put his hands on both Styra’s and Cherry’s shoulders.

“Not that I know of,” replied Styra.

“Well dillydaddle me silly, he’s a pretty swell guy. He and I go way back. Best of friends. He wasn’t always the mail guy though. My good ‘ol pal lived in the Gumdrop Hillsides. Even Peppie knows him.”

“Yep! Speaking of The Gumdrop Hillsides…” mentioned Peppie as she spun around in excitement from spotting its majestic scenery in the distance.

The group scaled the place all around as a view of large vivid gumdrops hills were engulfed with streams of strawberry tea. Beyond it was the backdrop of a pink sky with fuchsia-colored clouds and a heart-shaped sun shining across the land.

As everyone was admiring the setting, Mister Lollipop pointed at the sloping cliffside they were on. There, at the bottom of it, were the gummy monkeys goofing around with the letter and fedora hat.

“There they are! Now we have one other issue to worry about… How is Cherry going to get my things back from those gelatinous scoundrels?!” he said while backing away from the cliff.

Styra interrupted his anxious demands in an attempt to comfort him.

“Relax… All we need to do is let Cherry get accustomed to her abilities. Since the gummy monkeys aren’t really aware of their surroundings from a far range, she could make a surprise attack and dive down. The momentum of the slope can also help y’know? Then, she can fly right back up and give it back to you.”

Mister Lollipop watched as Styra guided Cherry over to the cliff.

“Okay... From the looks of it, this ground is still really bouncy. If anything goes wrong, I’ll be here for you. I think the main thing you’ll want to take away from this is to utilize the environment to your advantage. You have to feel comfortable with the powers you use if you want to pass this test. Little tip also. When you dive, lift your legs a bit and keep your head up.”

“I see… So this is basically kinematics,” Cherry replied.

Not knowing the definition of it, Styra decided to enthusiastically agree with what she was saying.

“Totally kinematics… See? You already get what I am saying.”

Staring down at the huge gap, Cherry let out a deep breath before approaching the cliff which started to feel more enigmatic than anything.

“For Ararima…” she whispered to herself as she finally jumped.

Upon jumping this high, her body felt a lot more pressure from the wind as she was already beginning to feel her adrenaline spike heavily. Curling up into a ball while closing her eyes, she suddenly opened them only to find herself laying atop the cliff with the group.

“Cherry is not ready for this. We are wasting too much time by doing it that way,” stated Eternika.

Looking back at the gummy monkeys below who were still playing around, Styra went over to Cherry while holding out her hand.

“Hey… Everything oka—”

Out of nowhere, Cherry bursted out into tears. Her body shook with sweat seeping mostly from the forehead. Even her heart was pounding harder than before as if she had attached a heavyweight lock to it.

“I can’t do this Styra. I’ve failed Ararima, I’ve failed you, and now I’ve failed everyone. If it wasn’t for me, Aoki, Miri, and Hiroto wouldn’t be gone. I’m a waste of time. I do nothing but make everyone wish I didn’t exist.”

A touch of melancholy began to drip from Cherry’s eyes. It made Mister Lollipop sit on a gelatin rock out of shame that he may have forced her too hard. Even Eternika started to feel bad about what it had said about her.

With unit two disbanding for quite a bit, Styra stared at Cherry crying next to a blue gelatin tree. It reminded her of herself when she felt stuck in the Liquatics Laboratory’s drain room. Reminiscing in these thoughts, the weapon decided to admit to its flaws.

But not without a little help.

“I know you may not be happy with me after everything that has happened Styra. I did not mean to make your friend feel that way about herself. It is just that, time is running short and I feel that we may be too late to save Flight or Hisa from wherever they are now.”

The tension between the two proceeded to build as Styra didn’t know how to accept it after seeing just how sensitive her long lost friend really was to it all. Yes, with Flight and Hisa gone it was becoming quite depressing for her to realize that they could be literally anywhere. Then there was Aoki, Miri, and Hiroto dying at the hands of someone who was more merciless than Death itself. Something about the way it happened made her realize that Eternika could have teleported them outside of the building instead of focusing directly on herself being caught by Voltaze.

She had no clue where they could be now. If there was any sort of traces that could piece together what it would be though, the first choice to come to mind was a death world of some kind.

Either it was that, or they were completely gone like Ararima was.

In the middle of everything being so quiet, Styra saw Peppie suddenly come over to Cherry with a lot more mindfulness than before after what Flight had told her.

“Ararima told me a lot about you. After every memory I shared with her, I realized how much she really appreciated and cared about you. That’s why she gave you this… Remember?”

Using her magic, Peppie teleported a special item Ararima had given them before they left.

Candiere’s Heart Badge.

The gemstone appeared in midair as it glistened and sparkled with a liveliness that made Cherry gently grab the jewel near her beating heart. Upon viewing the the badge up close with both of her hands, she could see Ararima’s face in its reflection.

“The badge has the ability to remember whomever Princess Candiere holds deeply in her heart. Your friend loved you as much as you did Cherry. Ararima never told me you were a failure. If anything, she saw you as brave for being the only one back then that believed in her. I think, if she saw what you were going to do right now, she would be there for you.”

Cherry looked up at Peppie as she stood up once more. Slowly making her way to the cliff by herself, she jumped again with a lot more confidence than before. Pushing through the wind, she was approaching the ground fast.

Then something in her memory clicked.

She recalled the way Compass had used two fingers to create the suit Cherry had worn. Applying that logic to her current situation, her hands formed the same gesture towards the ground. Imagining one of the things she created in her diary, a bright light shot out.

From this bright spectacle, the transformation occurred as the glowing three-dimensional image of a flat cherry with curved stems facing symmetrically of each other on both ends appeared.

“Cherrirang, fly!” she shouted before using it like a large floating frisbee to throw at the gummy monkeys.

Upon flinging her new weapon at them, cutting through them was the equivalent of slicing multiple jelly cakes simultaneously.

Although this did work, the letter and fedora hat flew off from the extremely strong gusts of wind being created by the Cherrirang’s presence alone. However, as Cherry was about to catch it, the gummy monkeys were not dead after their bodies had been separated from their heads.

They caught up to Cherry in a frenzied state, swinging her around the bouncy gelatin ground.

Styra, Eternika, Peppie, and Mister Lollipop could hear her struggling as they quickly rushed to the cliffside.

Cherry needed help fast.

“I got this,” said Styra before diving off with Eternika to save her.

In under a second, the havoc that was happening below was resolved in a flash as they caught her friend, the letter, and the fedora hat all in one run. By the time all three of them got back up to the others that were watching, Cherry felt more embarrassed and ashamed that she still wasn’t able to do the whole thing on her own.

“I’m sorry everyone… I thought I could make it through. With me being behind like this, there is no way I can save Ararima. If she saw me now, she would be disappointed...”

As Styra returned Mister Lollipop’s possessions back to him, she walked over to Cherry and suddenly hugged her with a nearer fondness than the last time.

“W-what was that for? I don’t deserve a hug after failing like this…” said Cherry.

Swallowing out of guilt after the hug, she started to notice that her friend was touching her with care. To Styra herself, it was reminiscent of the same way Chelbie had caressed her hands when she was feeling anxious.

“I just want you to know that you don’t have to worry this time. That’s what we are here for. Gaining a new skill starts with the bravery you just displayed. Those small steps you took, they will add up eventually. I admire your love for Ararima too. It makes me not want to give up either.”

Cherry’s soft cheeks began to blush a rosy pink as the feelings she was having swelled within. Something about this was different. Where Ararima was like a pretty loyal friend, Styra was the sister she wished she had. One whose genuine affection could touch Cherry’s heart.

It was so moving that a gentle smile began to form on her face.

“Awww… You two are such a wholesome pair. Now, are we ready to keep moving?” asked Peppie.

The two of them nodded while Mister Lollipop gave his own sign of appreciation.

“I sure am too. Thanks a ton ladies. We are well on our way to sightseeing past the Gumdrop Hillsides. In order to get to Candiere’s Cafe, we need to take the other route to the left of that location called the Wafer Wonderlands. Once we go across that, our destination will be in view.”

“Wait, Mister Lollipop… I thought you wanted to visit your friend over in the Gumdrop Hillsides,” reminded Styra.

“Yeah that is true, but I can do that after I send this letter to the princess since you all are visiting her. It would be the faster route to get it there anyways,” he replied.

“I guess that makes sense. If you’re up to it, I definitely wouldn’t mind. Eternika, can you teleport all of us over there?”

“Gladly. We need to be in range of that place though if I am going to do that. We teleport to the Wafer Wonderlands first. Then once I spot visible terrain, that will transfer us over to the entrance of her kingdom.”

With unit two collectively agreeing on the weapon’s plan, they began their journey together to reach Candiere’s Cafe.