Dr. Hugo's eyes nearly popped out of his head as he took in the scene before him.
"Gah! What is this? A hurricane hit my clinic?" He slapped his hands on his cheeks, looking like a fish out of water. "What happened to my windows?! They were imported from the finest glass makers in... wherever! I paid good money for those!"
He rushed to the bathroom door, now lodged awkwardly in the corner, his voice rising to a high-pitched squeal.
"Not the door too! That was a custom piece! A work of art! How could you..." He turned to the group, blinking rapidly as though his eyes were playing tricks on him.
Then he spotted Fioren tied up and leaning against the wall.
"Wait, what? Why is there a beautiful woman tied up in my living room?!" Dr. Hugo's hands flew up in exasperation. "This isn't a dungeon! It's a medical facility! I help people! I don't... I don't even know what's going on here!"
The others stood in silence, completely mortified. The chaos in his house was beyond repair.
"Okay, okay, everyone. Take a deep breath!" Dr. Hugo started pacing in a circle, muttering to himself. "First, we have a window that costs more than my entire year's salary... destroyed. Then a door that seems to have flown off the hinges... And now we have a perfectly good woman just chilling on my floor, tied up like it's no big deal! Great! Just great!"
He turned to them with wide eyes. "Did someone break into my house and just... take all the furniture and common sense?"
"Well... Dr. Hugo," Stitch started, trying to ease the situation, "it was a bit of a... misunderstanding."
"A misunderstanding? A misunderstanding?!" Dr. Hugo laughed maniacally, his hand waving in disbelief. "What was the misunderstanding? That you thought my living room was a wrestling ring? Or was it that we've decided to start a new hobby of... destroying property and tying people up?!"
The group awkwardly shuffled around, but Dr. Hugo's face softened just a little. He sighed, finally raising his hands up in defeat.
"Alright, alright. You know what? Fine. You broke my windows, destroyed my door, and somehow made my house look like it belongs in a crime scene... but if you promise not to do it again, I'll just pretend this never happened." He crossed his arms, giving them a dramatic eye roll. "Just... don't tell anyone I was a part of this. I have a reputation to uphold."
"We're sorry..." everyone, including Fioren, chimed in unison, looking completely defeated.
Dr. Hugo paused for a moment before muttering under his breath.
"Honestly, what did I do to deserve this?"
Temoshí leaned back casually, his hands behind his head as he surveyed the chaos around him with a smirk.
"You know, I honestly think this looks more like my kind of place. Sure, it's all wrecked, but c'mon, Hugo. You've gotta admit, this place is still way better than the hole I used to hide in when I was a kid. And yeah, I'm calling it a compliment." He threw a mock serious look at Dr. Hugo, clearly trying to rile him up.
Dr. Hugo's face twitched as he processed the disaster before him. "You, young man, should NOT be a captain, at all!"
Temoshí blinked, a slow grin forming as he tried to process the insult. "Hey! I am a damn good captain, if I do say so myself. I even made Chiaki blush!"
At the mention of Chiaki, her hair stood up straight like an angry porcupine, her eyes swirling and face turning a shade of red that made her look like a tomato. She whipped around, glaring at Temoshí.
"That was NOT your doing!" she snapped, voice like a whip cracking through the air.
Temoshí merely rubbed his nose and whistled quietly to himself, the image of a smug cat who had just knocked over a vase and was pretending to be innocent. "Mmhmm, sure, sure."
Dr. Hugo glanced between them with a concerned look at first, then slowly his expression shifted to one of utter confusion. He placed a hand on the side of the sofa and let out a sigh, shaking his head, "Ah, the tumultuous love of young people. Though, I must admit, I've seen worse."
Chiaki's face immediately flushed with embarrassment, and she jumped to interrupt, her voice rising, "I'm not in love! This woman over here played some messed-up tricks on me!" She pointed an accusatory finger at Fioren, who was still seated calmly.
Fioren remained silent for a moment, her expression unbothered, before she spoke up with a sly smirk. "Don't try to hide it," she said confidently, tilting her head and raising her chin. "All I did was spark a little heat, nothing personal. It worked wonders. If you're not in love by now, well, I guess I'll just sit here, tied up. I don't need to touch you to cast a lust spell on you."
Chiaki's usual calm composure broke as she got visibly angry, her frustration seeping through for the first time. She glared at Fioren, her voice low but firm, "If you do that again, you'll be the one in the bathtub!"
"Alright, enough with the small talk. What do we do with her now?" Phoebe asked, looking around, but no one seemed to have an answer. Fioren hadn't really done anything to them.
"I mean, is she even an enemy at this point? She looks more like the type who'd prank kids on Halloween and call it a day," Stitch added, flopping down on the sofa as Fioren sat there, completely unfazed.
Fioren, hearing that, raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Oh, so is that your way of calling me gorgeous? Because, you know, I agree. Thanks for the compliment."
Stitch's face turned bright red, clearly flustered. "That's not what I meant!" she shot back, suddenly regretting speaking to her at all. "You're beautiful too," she added, under her breath, as Fioren just sat there, looking smug.
Stitch groaned and buried her face in her hands. "Why did we have to tie her up? Now I have to listen to her flirt with me non-stop."
Phoebe then decided to interrupt the ongoing conversation, her curiosity piqued by Fioren in a way the others hadn't shown. "Fioren, right? So who exactly are you, and why did you come here? Don't tell me it was just to mess with Chiaki and everyone else?"
Fioren adjusted herself, leaning back against the wall with her hands still tied, her expression calm. "I was sent by Phalris, a goddess, to bring you to the depths. Specifically, the underwater city beneath Cascade Cradle—Coral Bastion. It's where the Voreans live."
"Yeah, we saw that underwater dome," Temoshí remarked, crossing his arms and glancing at the others. "But it's so deep, probably surrounded by some nasty fish. Not to mention, I can't even go underwater."
Stitch, lounging on the sofa with one leg crossed over the other and her chin resting on her hand, added, "I've heard of the place, but no one from the surface has ever gone down there. I've heard rumors about the Voreans, but no clue what they really are."
Fioren chuckled softly as Phoebe untied her wrists. "I'll fill you in later. But right now, the important part is that I need to take you there. The sooner, the better. Hollow's trying to bring the Voreans to the surface and break the barrier, and if that happens, it'll be chaos—both above and below. So, no time to waste. Follow my lead."
To be continued...