19 A Song for the Road

If there was anything that Jae Farley hated more than being alone, it's extremely close physical contact, or a kiss, with someone he doesn't love.

"Bleargh!"

After vomiting a dark brown substance similar to molasses, he entered a series of coughs. In discomfort, he spat whatever sweet residue was left in his mouth.

"Rude! How could you act like that after having a lucky pervert encounter?" Nora relentlessly admonished the crouched over Jae.

"It was just a kiss. There's no need to overreact," Melody frowned. Strangely, his vomit had the scent of tree sap, which attracted tiny insects.

Jae did not actually dislike women, however, he generally preferred men. Technically, Jae was fine with either gender as long as he loved the person. And, that person was not Iris Meyers.

"I'm not vomiting because of the kiss!" He retorted, albeit not denying he abhorred the interaction. When Iris's saliva invaded his tongue, he felt as if he were swallowing ten tons of sugar at once. Wouldn't Iris's future lover obtain diabetes he kissed the dryad enough?

"More importantly! What happened to your body Jae?" Scarlett shouted as he raised his head toward her.

Unlike an abnormal silver, his eyes were the same amber color as Iris's. Flowers enveloped a majority of his long black hair and vines crawled around his body. Whenever he took a step, flowers would spring to life beneath, waving their leaves and petals cheerfully at the distraught boy.

Without care, Jae ripped the vines and flowers on his arms and head off. But, every time a plant was removed, another would grow to replace it.

"Now, you have the same problem and body as I do! You're a dryad, Jae!" Iris teasingly said while she pretended the incident never occurred. She brought a bucket of water near the boy, which revealed his reflection.

"What. The. H***!" Astonished, Jae jumped up as his vines trembled erratically.

"Now you match with Iris! I wonder if you kissed me, you would have the same scales as me! Kiss me, Jae!" Scarlett leaped at Jae with puckered lips.

"Get away from me!" Jae stopped Scarlett's advance with a single hand pressed upon her face. His vines wrapped around the lizard girl, disabling her movements.

"This certainly is strange. I guess we have a better understanding of what the researchers did to Jae. He's clearly changed into something other than human like us," Jade examined as she came after hearing the commotion.

"Will I be able to turn back? Do I honestly have to kiss a human to return to my original state?" Jae questioned.

"Who knows? Kissing really isn't that bad. Simply find someone you love at the next town and do the deed," Melody replied, "It's not like it's having s*xual intercourse."

"Don't worry~. There, there~. Everything will be fine~," Wendy stroked the boy's head. Some petals dropped to the ground.

Jae sighed, squatting on top of Scarlett, who was still in the middle of her attempts to assault Jae. "I would rather live like this until we find a way to reverse everyone's changes," he spoke while he slapped the lizard girl's tail away.

"If you're fine with that, then sure," Melody shrugged, "But, that just makes more work for me. I have to hide everyone's racial traits with my illusions so we don't get lynched."

"Sorry about that," he sarcastically responded.

"No problem, boy."

A thought flashed within Melody's mind as she quickly turned away from the boy. "He's acting normal, huh," she mumbled, fleeing from the oversized dog who was still licking her. Soon after, Jade departed to finish her task with Alexis. The miniature crystal doll snugly sat in a pocket that Jae had sewn onto Jade's clothes.

"Hey, Iris. Why don't flowers pop out from the ground when you walk around?" Jae figured if he jogged a lap around the area, the village would overflow with multicolored flowers. That wasn't actually a bad idea considering the damage Ialantha had caused to the environment.

"You do remember that all the children, plants, and animals that I used to care for in the past died within a day, right?"

"Oh, yeah. But, that has nothing to do with this condition."

Iris lifted a foot as a single wilted flower was revealed. It was the most miserable flower Jae had ever seen.

"...so that's why you skipped community service at the garden and nursery."

Iris smiled as she crushed the plant underfoot.

"H-huh? W-what happened to you, Jae?" Natalie had just arrived at the scene with Clara and Layla in tow.

Jae sighed once again and explained. Twin pretty pink flowers on his head wilted at his dejection.

Clara rolled her eyes, "It was just a kiss-."

"Please don't repeat what Melody had just said. Really, sometimes you two speak like each other," Jae interrupted.

"Hmph!" She snorted. Disregarding Jae, she climbed into the carriage.

"*Crackle* Never interrupt Clara. *Crackle* Never be rude to Clara," the rarely speaking Layla warned as she followed Clara.

"Alright, alright."

Moving to pick up the littered bags, Jae finally allowed Scarlett escape from his butt and vines.

"Are you sure you don't want to change races to mine? I'm positive that scales are cooler than flowers!" Scarlett offered.

"No," he promptly rejected.

Jae pondered for a moment. If he were to accidentally kiss an animal or if some kind of food makes contact with his lips, would he become the same species as that animal or food? He shuddered at that prospect. No one wanted to be dead meat. In a literal sense.

However, that idea was highly unlikely since he hadn't transformed into a piece of fruit or any inanimate object his lips grazed.

"At the very least, we can save some supplies since dryads live off sunlight and water. Furthermore, it's a great thing that I didn't kiss Nora and become a puddle of goo."

The sound of a tentacle slapping upon flesh echoed in the rebuilt village.

---------

A sole wooden vehicle traveled merrily across the rugged roads. Although its destination was clear, its lengthy journey had just begun.

"La la laaaa~!" Scarlett rode on Pepper, the dog-like monster, in front of the moving carriage. She was singing a nonsense song as her pigtails bobbed up and down.

If Jae were awake, her voice would have reminded him of a squawking parrot. However, he was currently asleep on Iris's lap, savoring the sunlight which peered through the cracks under the foliage overhead. Snoring blissfully, he luckily avoided Scarlett's tone-deaf screaming.

"Scarlett! Please! Will! You! Shut your mouth up!" Clara yelled while her angelic wings fluttered fiercely. Her white feathers dispersed within the carriage. As an avian, it was time for her molting season and a particular skeleton would openly collect the fallen feathers. Not a single one would escape Layla Gibbs's clutches.

"La ti tu li la!"

"M-my ears!" Natalie covered the sides of her head.

"You don't even have ears!" Nora, who was ironically also missing certain appendages, retorted at the girl with fins for ears.

"I'm so sorry for all this," Jade apologized to an elf named Folred Pherlorna, a guide Castain had appointed to the children.

"Haha. Don't worry about it," Folred laughed with Pepper's reins in his hands, "I don't mind. In addition, I should be thanking you all. The village is brimming with life thanks to your dryad friend."

The dryad that Folred was referring to was not Iris, but Jae. He actually did take advantage of his new body to renovate the village with vibrant blossoms and robust shrubs. Before they departed, Jade harvested some flowers from the village and arranged a small bouquet. Alexis poked her head out of Jade's pocket to enjoy the sight of white heather and tulips in Jade's possession. Or, flowers similar to those.

"That is enough! Scarlett, stop your irritable screeches like a honking donkey and just let me sing!" Melody Sun hopped onto Pepper's back, behind Scarlett. She was surprisingly nimble as she balanced on top of the thick-furred creature.

"Why should you sing instead of me? I'm awesome at singing!" The lizard girl pouted.

The fairy proudly puffed out her petite chest; her colorful wings flapped gallantly. "Because I am the daughter of Dorian and Viola Sun, the sister of Lyra Sun, and upcoming idol of the century!"

Scarlett's eyes sparkled, "Woah! You mean the famous couple who dominated the entertainment industries and the famous singer! You're a part of their family?"

"Everyone knew that except you for some reason. Melody was famous for her family back when she enrolled in our school," Nora informed. The slime herself was in the middle of tying knots into cat's cradle using her slimy tentacles in place of a string. Wendy clapped at the slime's venture like a teacher complimenting a kindergartener for figuring out what one plus one equals.

"But, I heard that Lyra Sun was involved in a scandal two days before the field trip," Bridget noted.

"That's not true!" Melody retaliated, "Jia jie would never!"

Nora noticed that Melody said "older sister" in Chinese rather than in English. The slime remembered that Melody's grandparents were Chinese immigrants like her parents.

For a second, a wistful expression emerged on Melody's features before she shut her eyes. Taking a deep breath and exhaling steadily, she began.

A soft hum flowed out of her lips. It was a pleasing tune, which calmed the children. As her mouth slowly opened, a rich, yet mellow voice resonated with the sounds of nature.

"I can't remember,

How many times I have changed.

Mutate, remodel, reconstruct, transmutate

Into something other than me.

Whether I am a foolish lamb,

A stray ribbon,

An overgrown tree,

A rusted nail,

Or a candle never lit.

It never changes the way you look at me.

Not even when my body is torn,

Nor when my heart has reformed,

You will always find a truth within me.

A truth within the lie.

The single truth that I have long forgotten.

A warmth that flourishes,

As you remind me of who I used to be."