This is Not a Diary, It is a Lychee!

[Piefan]

Me and Artemis continue talking for a while more. I do not know exactly how long, but time does not matter. We will stay here for all eternity, until one of us - likely her - are deemed good enough to go to the normal world.

Normal world. The term sounds strange, suddenly. What makes that place normal and this one not?

Artemis seems to sense what I am thinking. "I personally call it just Earth, or the Solar System," she says. And she lifts a paw to move her hair out of her face. Her eyes are ice blue, large and round.

"Solar System. We should probably shorten that. SS?" I suggest.

She shakes her head. "No... Time is the only thing we have left, and we might as well take full advantage of it." I ponder her words for a while, eventually deciding that she is right.

"Solar System then."

That was what happened three hours ago; I am sorry for confusing you with the tenses.

Two seconds later, three voices filled my mind. These were not normal voices, like the kind I imagine for my own amusement, they were real. Already I could feel their differences. The voices continued shouting, making me scream in shock, until they gathered themselves and split into three parts of my brain. One was purple, another brown, another blue.

Each spoke a sentence in turn, introducing themselves. "I am Henry," says one.

"And I Reef."
"I'm Lucy."

Artemis looks at me in concern. I make wild gestures to my head, and she seems to understand. "Are you okay? The first time this happened, I nearly fainted." I nod in reply.

She smiles happily, and I feel her mind connect to mine. "Must you?" I groan, annoyed. She shrugs.

Then the other three begin talking. "Is that another person?"
"Yes."
"I'm Artemis. And you?"

They introduce themselves again, and I feel a faint air of annoyance from Lucy.

"Okay, back to what we were here for, please?"
"Lucy, we did not have a goal."
"Indeed we didn't.
"You mean you took all the troubles for no reason that you know of?"

Artemis sounds frustrated. Lucy laughs.

"Well, I think the weird voice in our heads said that we could free one of you and bring you back to Earth. It also said a bunch of other stuff. Heck, I think you could read our minds if you wanted. It said my mind was insane."
"Oh. Really?" I then peer into each of their minds. I start with Henry, the one who had spoken the least. He put up resistance, but he eventually gives up. I slip past them and enter his mind, noticing that it is not made up of words alone. It is not simply verbal thoughts; I enter his being itself.

I notice that, first of all, he has a relaxed mind, with curiosity overshadowing everything else. I mumble something, and he strains to hear it. It is then I realise how much knowledge means to him. As I press on, with maybe a few insults along the way, he gets annoyed and his mind lashes out. When it comes, his anger is like a strong gust of wind, intense and wild, not hesitating to do anything it wants to. It seems as if it could easily capture me. Then eat me too. And if my thoughts were solid, it probably could. His mind is strong, much more so than mine. Artemis pulls me back out of concern of what could happen. I thank her for this.

Then I enter the mind of Lucy. Her mind is largely blank, and I snicker at the implications of that. Her brain is empty. I realise she can hear me when she growls at me about how my mind is equally plain, clearly annoyed, and I sigh. A tune of music captures my attention, and I realise that visuals are not how she portrays her emotion: That honor would go to sound. The music carries all she is. I relax, listening to it; the sound is beautiful but so inconsistent that I have no idea what is happening. One moment it is happy, the other it is sad. From her mind I withdraw by myself, pondering what it means. Perhaps that she is confused?

Next, Reef. She is the most reluctant to allow me access to her mind, but after Artemis assures her that all is well, she agrees. And when I see her mind, it is different from that of the others. It is so utterly boring, so blank, that it is almost unique. I comment on this to her, and at the insult, I almost feel her fur bristling. How dare you? she silently bellows, unleashing a tsunami of emotion. All these feelings fill the whole of her mind, suppressed anger and sadness. But the wave is very controlled; if Henry's mind is strong, so is Reef's. I feel Artemis's panic, along with the shock of Henry and Lucy, but Artie does not have the opportunity to pull me out before I am forced out, in a daze.

Reef curses at me, and I stumble.

"Wow, Reef. Remind me to bring you hunting sometime. That should help with the anger thing." She hesitates before replying.

"Of course." She sounds strangely calm, and my sister scowls. "Artemis, if you wish to express your annoyance to me by frowning intensely, please turn around. You are looking in the wrong direction." Lucy seems like she is about to die from laughter; Henry is mildly amused, as am I. Artemis's exprsssion does not waver, but I sense from a twitch in her mouth that she too is.

"Are you going to actually do something now or just keep sitting around and picking fights?" Artie snaps.

"Both, probably. And none of us tried to pick a long-lastig fight. Besides, we're all standing. Excluding Reef, she got tired."
"So she's sitting then?"
"No, I am lying down."

Artemis stares at where Reef told her to, sighs, and herself lies down, crossing her forelegs in front of her.

"We're not sitting nor lying down... Our physical forms partly disintegrated so we could talk to you."
"And you still don't know what to do? You let your bodies disappear for a reason you don't know?'
"It would do you good to ignore Lucy, Artemis. She is often wrong-"
"Hey!"
"-and this is one of tne many cases."

Lucy jabs at Henry with her mind, but Henry barely even notices it, and I conclude that either her mind is really weak, or it was just a playful, friendly thing. We talk for a while more, and the subject of the reason they are here comes up.

"Well?" I question, curiosity piqued. Despite all that happened, I find that they still have an odd charm to them - Henry excluded, but he makes up for it in knowledge. "Why did you come here?"

Henry begins a statement that they are not actually there, but Lucy growls at him. This gesture is more for the sake of letting him know to let her speak than trying to intimidate him, and he obeys.

"I think we already explained this, Artemis."
"I agree with Lucy. Indeed, we have said that we were here because a strange voice - whom for whatever reason, she refers to as 'The Author' - told us we could free one of you."
"Actually-"
"Fine. We did not originally come here for that reason."
"Wow. This is happening, and all of you are just 'Hey, Lucy, you stink and 'Hey, Reef, you stink more.' Seriously?"
"Hey, Henry.
You stink."

Artemis begins laughing, as do I. Reef is once again amused, but Henry is annoyed.

"Wow, Lucy," my sister breathes. "That was so beautifully funny."

"No, it isn't," Henry grumbles, but our mirth is contagious and his frustration soon fades away.

***

After about ten minutes filled with laughing, talking, and Lucy humming, nothing significant has changed. Henry is less tense, primarily because of Reef and Lucy, and I believe more than one private conversation between him and the purple one.

('The purple one' sounds like a funny nickname... I shall use that in future)

Then Reef intervenes. "Do you remember when we said that we could retrieve one of you from this place?" she asks, and we - Artemis and I - nod.

"We aren't actually with you, you know. We can only see more major movements. Unless you begin nodding like a punk rocker, it won't be visible to us." Henry is the next to speak. Just to annoy him, I do not reply verbally, instead nodding heavily.

Artie suddenly realises what this means. "Wait, so one of us can escape this damned void?" She says this in such quickness and vigour that I am hard-pressed to capitalise the word "void". Shame.

"Yep. You two decide which of you. I'll leave now, before you begin spouting some cheesy speech meant to be touching," Lucy says. Then she withdraws from us. Henry and Reef say their goodbyes before doing the same.

At least they were moe polite.

When they leave, Artemis blinks, closes her eyes, and rolls over, rainbow dust everywhere around her. Not for the first time, I wonder where it comes from.

"So, um, shouldn't we be having some meaningful conversation about who leaves now?" I ask.

"Nah, I make decisions better in silence. Do you want to talk?" she replies, and flicks her tail. I shrug, thinking it over in silence for a while.

And then I realise that if I decide, in quietness, that I think better out loud, then that would likely be a wrong decision, since I would not be able to choose properly in that state. But then, the choice that I... choose... is that I will talk aloud, so if that is a bad one, then that means I should think silently. But then I would make a bad decision because of that...

I am so engrossed in this paradox that it takes Artemis a loud cough and a punch on the shoulder to get my attention. "Um, Apollo?" she says. She is now standing. "You weren't even thinking about anything related to this, were you?"

"Well, I was figuring out the answer to a paradox. Does that count?" I reply, and she sighs.

But before she can say something, the presence of the three appears in our minds.

"Well?"
"That's an awfully small amount of time to make such a big decision."
"Nothing's perfect, Apollo. Deal with it."
"As much as I do hate cruelty - shush, Lucy - I would agree with her. Make your decision now, or forever stay. We have limited time, I believe."
"'Make your decision now, or forever stay.' That sounds like a line from the climax of a story."
"Oh. Is that so? Would punching you in the face multiple times over if I ever had the chance fit the role too? I haven't slept in a day and my beautiful body half-disappeared. Hurry up already, so I can fix that."
"Wow. I think that made our decisions. Apollo, you're getting out of here."

She shoves me forward.

"Wrong direction again... 70 degrees to your right."
"Oh, um, is this enough?"

I turn around and stagger forward as if pushed, the pain certainly helping with that, before glancing back at Artie. She has walked up beside me and sits down, staring distantly upwards.

"Goodbye," she says, and I detect faint sadness. "Until next time." She lowers her head, as do I, and we nuzzle.

"I hope 'next time' does happen," I reply. I feel Lucy's annoyance and hear her growl, but Reef nudges her mentally. I admit I probably should have had all this conversation earlier on, when we were given the time alone to do so.

Another mind, heavy and thick, weighs down my mind, though unlike the rest it does not take up a specific part of my mind, instead manifesting itself as a green mist of sorts, floating throughout everything. Do I really need a fifth one? I wonder.

Yes, it says. Its voice is louder than the others', and it just feels right somehow to embolden its words. I am your creator.

I blink and close my eyes, trying to remember any similar scenes that would tell me how to act around this person in order to gain its favour.

No need for that, it says. [I]I'm here to get you back to the normal world. Or, as you choose to call it, Earth.

I nod. "Is there a catch?"

That would depend on what you call bad. You will forget about Artemis. However, should she get to leave the Void, I will give her a special phrase that will send all memories of this place back. It turns its attention to her. It is as follows... It recites some gibberish, and in a daze, she nods.

Apollo, Reef, Henry, Lucy. You will get all of your original memories back, and no longer remember anything of this. I will create new experiences that will replace them, and you will believe them to the fullest extent. Apollo, your diary will appear in your room.

I hesitate before nodding and stating my agreement mentally. Artemis simply curls up. "I shall sleep when you leave, and I shall not wake up for a long, long time." I take note of the sudden change in her style of speech, which I choose to attribute to grief.

That's really not a good idea to pass the time, even though it's possible. The voice does not explain itself before I am whisked away, waking up in my room.
_____
Wow. Reef has a strong mind, knows about music, is physically strong, and is smart. Isn't she way too unrealistically perfect? Nope, or at least I hope not. She is better with music in theory than practice, and her singing voice is trash. Cooking isn't her thing either.

By the way, I realise I seem to have completely forgotten about the exams. They will be mentioned soon, no worries. (I'll have to come up with an excuse, though, for them taking so long to mark...) The rules of Earth seem not to apply here, because... do I really need to explain this? The work will regain its lighthearted tone by next entry.

I was actually going to have the Author be a recurring character too, helping out the characters and such, but then in conversation that would sound like nonsense:

"Ooh! In this story, these characters got these epic powers!

"How? You don't usually read high fantasy, so I'm guessing they weren't born with them."

"The author gave those to them! ^-^"

"Yeah, that's obvious. In the plot, what form did it take?"

"I just told you! The author gave them the powers!"

"..."

[mermaidva]

mmmmmmmmmmmmooooooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!! *-*

[Piefan]

Thanks! ^^
____
Evening, Lychee! It was... a boring day today, basically.

I got my exam results, and I failed a lot of things. But, probably because of Henry's help, I did improve from last year.

That wasn't going to be enough for my parents, though. What was I supposed to tell them? "I did terribly in these tests, and I probably won't improve by the time the more important exams come 'round. But I did get better than last year. Hooray!"

Actually, that might work. Maybe. If I rephrased it a little, or changed the entire thing along with sugarcoating and flattery. I didn't think of that at all, anyway. Dang it, mind, why do you always think of this stuff five hours later while writing in a lychee?

Instead, I made a complicated plan that needed mostly luck and stupidity to succeed. Also, I took the inspiration from 7-month-olds' creative writing projects at school. It worked. Yay.

I probably should explain what exactly I did. So I will!

When I reached home I ran to my room instantly to think of how to present it in a way that would get me grounded the least. (Wait. Why exactly would I hate being grounded so much? I spend most of my time in the house anyway... And I don't even use the computer. Seriously, mind... You should think of this stuff earlier.)

I took the advice of Henry, which was, simplified, "BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS. BOOOOKS." I took the nearest book, since I didn't want to go aroumd searching for all of them.

It was from elementary school. The principal, or the teacher, or whoever, decided to put all the best compositions into one giant book and give it out to everyone. Not really the best choice for the situation, but who knows?

So then I read it. One of the pieces was about a cat. Who got really bad marks. 38, to be exact. So then the cat, I think the name was Lavenda, realises "Hey, if I put a few lines there, then it'd be a 88.

I don't know what happens next, she probably realises that cheating is bad or something. I took the idea from that - no, I didn't change my marks or anything.

I know for a fact that my parents really like honesty, so I could probably manipulate them using that. A few lies should be more than enough.

So I picked up a pen to make it easier to believe, in case someone was watching. Then I let it hover over the paper for a while, until I dropped it abruptly and walked out, carrying the report card.

My parents were in the living room. I probably should have added how they look like earlier, so here they are.

Dad ------------ Mom

I don't think my mother usually wears that hat, actually. And my father is bulkier. But I just traced the pose from a photograph, so I think I can just say this is artistic deviation. That's what my art teacher says everything is.

My mother will be in pink because it fits. And my father in grey. Or maybe blue? I think that's his favourite colour...

"Hi, Apollo. How's school?"
"It's fine. I got my report card today. I was going to just forge your signature, but..."

I have no idea how good or bad my acting is. I know the habits people use when angry or sad or whatever else, but imitating them is different. They seemed convinced, though. I made sure to act guilty as I passed my marks to them.

"But you didn't."
"Exactly. I realise now that lying is bad, and I'm sorry. I know I did terribly, but I tried my best."

This was where their obssession with honesty came in. They would feel like they had to reward me for not choosing to lie, even if I had considered it. Hooray for psychology. They were aware of this trick, but they didn't really think about it much, so they wouldn't guess what I was doing.

If they did see through that, I would probably be saved by my fake sadness that should guilt-trip them, and if not? I'd figure that out when it came to that. I don't want to lie more than I need to, so probably just give in.

My speech patterns were a problem, though. It's hard to sound guilty with my voice and natural tone, along with the kind of words I usually use. I was sounding like Henry there. Still, they didn't see me sad often, so they might pass it off as the guilt eating away at me. (Weird expression. Why would guilt want to eat dogs?)

Anyway, my plan worked. My parents hesitated a little, but then smiled.

"It's okay, Apollo. We don't mind, as long as you really tried your best."
"O... Okay..."

I smiled, then ran to my room so I wouldn't give it away. I'm a pretty bad actor, and if they looked hard enough they could probably notice a shifting paw where I should be still, or a flattened ear, or subtle shivering, or whatever other obscure body language cues. Of course, this would probably be easy to cover up. I was nervous that they wouldn't believe the story, and what happened there would call for me being nervous. My hatred for lying, and the fact that I needed to do it anyway, also made me frustrated, so that too would add to the illusion - this would imply I was angry at myself for doing badly.

Oh, sorry, I guess I was kinda in my element, so I wrote a whole lot more for that than I really needed. I didn't get to see the reactions of the rest of the team to their marks, though. I really would have liked to see that.
____
The forgiveness was rushed, I know (what are the odds that they would react like this in real life?) but it was supposed to read like an eight-year-old's writing's scenarios.

I know this trick is something you'd expect more from a villain than the mainly good protagonist, but as far as alignment goes, he's more of... Hm... Lawful/Chaotic Neutral than Lawful Good. How many Lawful Good philsophical farmer athletes do you see anyway? I don't see many.

[Piefan]

Lychee, I can't really describe today in one word.

Boring? Nah, not exactly. Exciting? Nope, not it... Hilarious? Nope... There were about two funny moments.

Um, maybe something like kinda-normal-but-also-not-normal?

Yeah, that's it. My day was kinda-normal-but-also-not-normal. Yesterday the exam results were given out after lunch, and then the teacher said that we should discuss it later when not in class.

Naturally, the first person I looked at was Henry, because his reaction should be really extreme, and because of that funny. Either so happy his face gets disfigured from his smile, or so sad he grovels on the ground. There is no inbetween for Henry.

Well, that was what I thought anyway. This was the first exam in this year, so I wouldn't know. Anyway, he seemed more on the sad side, but also not that sad. I guess there is an inbetween. O well.

I didn't know what Reef got, but her expression was completely unreadable, and I wasn't paying much attention to the rest of her body language. So I guess I'll just have to ask her, except I don't really care. Lucy was basically staring at her card, blinking, and then tossing it into her bag, nothing special to note. Not surprised, since she never really seemed to care much about her grades.

At lunch, this was basically the conversation:

"So, how've your days been?"
"Wait, what did I say to Reef back in the beginning of the year? It was something like... hm... Oh yeah! 'We were in the same places for literally all of the day'. I think that's it."
"True. Still, what else do you want me to ask?"
"Did you try maybe generic personality test-like questions?"
"I don't really use personality tests..."
"Considering the thousand adjectives Lucy has used to describe herself in the past, I would guess she has."

Reef looked at Lucy as she said that, smiling slightly.

"Yep! You're right."
"Congratulations, Lucy. Now either leave me to eat or start."
"Eh, okay. I did kinda forget most of the stuff asked, though."

We continued eating then. Not much happened. The cafeteria's food today tasted terrible, but I've eaten worse. Around that time,I remembered the entire reason we were together and trying to get along: the extra marks in the exams.

Oh yeah, I didn't mention that earlier, did I? The marks were terrible in comparison to what I could've gotten if I was grouped with people I had more things in common with. We barely talk to each other during class, since Henry is the only one who actively cares. And maybe Reef, but she doesn't really talk much anyway.

But then, lunch is different from classes. We get along well enough when we do start up a conversation. When one of us asks for advice, the rest give it... though I can't really remember the last time Reef, Lucy or Henry actually thought we would be able to help with their problems. Let me rephrase that: If one of us actually needed help they could get from the rest, we probably would help.

Probably.

So then Lucy coughed, seeming uncomfortable, and spoke.

"So, how'd you fare in your exams?'
"Aha! That's the kind of questions we wanted you to ask!"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Well?"
"Primarily because of your influence, I did terribly. As in, only got two A+s terrible."
"That sounds positively terrible! "

Reef's wording was much more exaggerated than usual, and it was clear she was being sarcastic.

"Don't."
"Why not? Me using sarcasm on someone is either a sign of extreme hate or extreme trust. It seems like it is trust in this case."
"Fine. At least it's trust, I guess..."
"*cough* Back to the question? I did fine. I think. The only lesson apart from music I got an A in was English."
"English? Why that?"
"I don't know. I guess it's because I get a lot of practice, talking so much."

So. She got an A in both English and music. I probably should have seen that one coming. And Henry found two A+'s terrible. That's not surprising either. Reef later on mentioned hers were average, but then, what is average to her?

But I guess I should add in my own marks too. The only subjects I got above 50 for were literature and science.

Literature because I interpreted everything perfectly and found hidden meanings in some stuff from certain wordings. That was a cheap trick, really, I'm not even sure the author meant that. But either way, the teachers couldn't find a way to say that 'everything happens for a reason' wasn't the lesson to be taught from a piece about a person eating an apple and learning that the apple she just ate gave her magical powers.

(Yeah, the answer was ridiculous, but then, so was literature.)

Science because most of the questions were about plants. Did I ever mention I live on a farm? I think I did. Fifteen times.
_____
What happened to Artemis, you ask?

... heh.

Anyway, I'm running out of plot ideas and this story has run its course (heck, the famous Cactus had about fifteen entries; this would be four times the posts if there were so much as 5 more), so this shall be ending soon. I might have a sequel, though. Thus, I'm going with the cliché 'they have a dance, romance is implied/stated outright' thing for an ending. :D Nothing too live-happily-ever-after-with-no-problems.

[Piefan]

Hey, what d'ya know, Lychee, there'll be a dance in two weeks. There were posters on every wall of the hallways and I didn't notice at all. Last year, a bunch of troublemakers would stick random, offensive ones up, so I guess I just began to expect that and so don't bother reading them. I don't really like being called 'stinky and disgusting' in the morning. He same goes for Reef. I don't know about Henry, but he probably just skims over the title and stops reading if he's not interested.

And naturally, Lucy was the one who noticed. Candy is, apparently, in charge. The principal had some sense and she's supervising. (I hope her logic is better than I think it is... 'I'm setting the most irresponsible person in the school as leader' is a terrible idea...)

Anyway, conversation is cool. And so:

"Hey, did you hear about the dance?"
"What? What dance? Did I miss something important?"
"The one on the poster a few metres behind you."
"There are posters in the cafeteria? And what dance?"
"... They printed out a thousand fliers and gave them out."

I imitated the sound of a cricket. Who knew dogs' voices were that versatile? (Yeah, remember that dictionary I mentioned all those entries ago? I did write about it, right? Probably not... I lost it about a day after getting it, but .en I just found it again.)

"Are you kidding me? Do you pay no attention to what happens around you?"
"Well, no. Just give us whatever info you want to and begone."
"'Begone'? Why..."
"I felt like using olden English. Well?"
"I... Here."

She passed us a flyer with an orange background. I don't remember what it said, but I know some stuff about it. I think it's to celebrate the end of the exams, and it'll be held in the gym. Also, it's in a fortnight and they still haven't worked out the food. Or the music. Not to mention the fact that all the cleaners apparently threw down their brooms and quit the job when they were told that a gathering of an expected 100+ kids were partying in the gym.

Well, the farm's about to open up a minor catering business anyway. (I know I probably should have mentioned that earlier, but did you really want to know about business? About the financial state of the farm and how much profit we're earning? Even I can barely understand that gibberish, and I've been raised with it for years.) Maybe we can help out with the food area.

Whelp, better go now. I was just entrusted with the amazing honor of replying to all (non-personal) letters sent. Though my parents obviously check on what I write... If they didn't, then the entire farm would be as terrible as the school.
_____
The foreshadowing is strong in this one.

[Piefan]

... Wow, Lychee. I really should have seen this coming. Candy just sent a letter, and guess what? Yep, the farm-catering-company is now catering for the dance. Oh, and we're being paid $100. She seems to have as much money as she does free time.

(Seriously. Every time I show someone around [excluding that one time with Pony] she happens to conveniently walk/fly towards us.)

Anyway, I approved of this because why not? I don't really like Candy, but she's been nice to me so far, even if she hasn't to some others. Besides, the money's good and it's a simple enough job. My parents didn't mind either, so yeah.

The information given about what + what not to do was so vague I could probably put deer meat into stew without her being able to complain about that. Luckily, I have no idea why the heck I would choose to cook stew at a high school party.

It'll be in about two weeks anyway, so I'll have plenty time to decide. Oh, and obligatory 'the team reacts' conversation:

"Hey, my farm's catering for the dance."
"Oh. Cool."

... Yeah, that's it. What were you expecting? Some hilarious joke? A touching scene on why my classmates are proud of me for something I'm not really involved in? Pfft, that'd be ridiculous.

Oh, and for more details: Candy'll be coming to the house the night before the dance to check on stuff. Most of the stuff we're thinking of making will be prepared a day in advance, so I don't really mind.
____
It's been a couple days since I last wrote in you, Lychee. Well, actually, almost two weeks, but I've been busy. Busy doing what, you ask me? Not writing.

Anyway, I don't think I have much time (actually, I do have a lot. I just felt like wasting it today) to go write down a detailed summary or whatever on what happened the last few days.

So instead, I'll write down a small conversation between the team during lunch. It does kinda make it easy to guess what happened.

"So, 'Pollo, how's the weird... catering thing going on?"
"Exactly how badly do you hate Candy to be asking this much?"
"A lot."
"... Oh. Okay. Anyway, it's fine.
"Cool. I got a little gathering of outcasts and populars to be in a band I made up and play a few songs at the dance. The populars and outcasts don't really get along together, but I doubt they'll argue at the actual performance, where it matters most. Populars care too much about their rep, outcasts just can't be bothered."
"How much money would you like to bet that when you play, someone is going to throw down everything they're holding and scream in terror?"
"Hey!"
"I am unsure about you, but I believe that is a very likely possibility. Ten dollars."

I think Lucy finally learned how to laugh at herself, since she was, y'know, smiling? Hooray.

When we moved on from that subject, we talked about some random stuff. Mostly stuff I don't care about, but still.

Today was the day Candy visited too. As always, she flew, so I wouldn't have seen her coming even if I was looking out the window. I think she stood on the roof (we should change to a less flat one someday) for a while before flying down and knocking on the front door.

As it turns out, the catering thing was a terrible idea. There were only four people to homemake enough food for a hundred kids - meaning we had to depend on the fact that a)our food wasn't so good that everyone would flock to it and b) the visitors would be too busy partying to pay much attention to the food. Luckily, the supplies weren't a problem. We received a shipping of supplies a few days ago, like starfruit and sugar. So when she came in, we were all in the kitchen, doing stuff. (I think my parents plan to get out of this business...)

"The door's unlocked, come in!'
"Okay, thanks."

Okay, Candy's and Mom's colours are way too similar... I'll switch Candy to darker pink. She chose to use her feet as she walked in, rather than her wings.

"So, um, how's the stuff going?"
"Badly, if you didn't notice."
"Oh. That's a shame."
"Right. Anyway, you're the inspector and customer, we're supposed to ask you questions."
"Alright. Ask away."
"Not really related, but where's your principal anyway?"

By the way, in case you were wondering, I wasn't speaking throughout all of this because I was busy mixing brownie batter. My father was the only one not really cooking, since he was doing everything else. Cleaning up whatever mess we left, herding a flock of sheep (well, actually, we don't have a flock of sheep... just crops) and everything else.

"Oh yeah. She was running to her house, saying something about police catching up to her for past sins."
"That's... mildly disturbing."
"True. But then, a lot of things regarding her are."
"Wait, so you mean there are other weird things she's done?"
"Yep. Hey, look at the time. I'd better go."

I waved to her slightly as she walked outside before taking off in flight.

Tomorrow, the dance. At least it's in the evening; I don't think we could prepare enough by noon. It's already a stretch as it is.

And we're definitely quitting the catering business.
____

shipping... starfruit and sugar.

Apollo = Greek god of sun = star = starfruit
Candy = sugar
Shipping = shipping

FORESHADOWING? Nah, kidding.

Also, this was supposed to be split into two posts. Oops. And I'm running out of titles.

[Piefan]

Lychee, it was a pretty good day. Yeah, the dance did turn out to be an utter disaster, but nothing's perfect. School itself, I have nothing to say about it.

We managed to get the food ready by the deadline, and went there an hour early to set up the food. I offered to help out with the other stuff, but the principal insisted I had already done enough. I didn't want to leave and walk all the way back, though, so I sat down on a chair they set up and watched the rest do their thing. Everyone was busy with decorations or whatever other stuff.

Lucy came around twenty minutes later with two others. One a fox, the other a dog. We talked for a while, and I think they seemed pretty nice. The fox's name is Garfield, the dog's Arianna. They mostly spoke of music with words I didn't even understand, so I won't write it down here.

Lucy gave me permission to go backstage (they managed to set up a makeshift stage... why didn't they just use the assembly room to hold this, I wonder?) as long as she was playing or about to start playing. Cool, I guess, though I didn't really plan on going there anyway.

I watched them practice for a while. If she had the choice, Lucy would probably have played rock/metal and nothing else, but because she was working in a group, she had to follow their wants too. They were scheduled to play for about half the event while others got the rest.

Soon the actual dance began, and after thirty minutes, I saw Reef come in, followed by Henry. Both were wearing their usual clothes - Reef her blue dress, Henry his trench coat. She was standing on all fours so that she was level with him... Well, except he was taller. He's the tallest one in the group, did I ever mention that?

I walked to them, getting bored of sitting around.

"Hey! I had no idea you two were coming."
"I do try to keep up with all important events, and I expect this will be one. A friend of Henry said something significant would happen and be mentioned in future rather often."
"Oh. Good or bad?"
"I have no idea."
"I came because of that bet about Lucy's music. So..."
"Everyone seems to like it so far."

I said my goodbyes then, leaving them to talk about whatever stuff they wanted to talk about. I probably wouldn't be interested anyway, so I just watched Lucy play with her band. She was playing a guitar, Arianna a tuba or something like that, and Garfield drums.

Really, nobody seemed to actually notice the music. They were all talking. So I moved on to check on the food and asked around about whether it was good. (I avoided anyone who looked like they were in the Nerds group. Not because of any hate for them, but because I don't even understand them. )

I saw that one cat I showed around the school - Cookie, I think? She was at the food table, so I had a reason to not look like a lonely, friendless loser while not actually needing to make friends! Hooray for tour guideship! Here's her picture, in case you don't remember her:

"Hey, Apollo!"
"Hi. How're you doing? And how's the food?"
"I'm fine. And this food is... really bad. They didn't even bother with presentation! Don't they know that's everything? What a terrible catering company... They should be fired."

I blinked once, blankly, before squinting at her, annoyed.

"Yeah. Thing is, though, that's my family's company. You just insulted me, my family, and my farm."
"Oh. Um... *coughs awkwardly* Hey, I'm going to go over there now."

Really, I wasn't that offended. Cats aren't really the best to pass judgement... I talked a little more to some others. The food, according to them, was fine.

Anyway, since I saw nobody else I knew, I slipped backstage.

No, literally. I was walking in the general direction of it when I slipped and fell on my face. Then I slid there against my will. They should have stairs or something there.

Nobody was looking. Excluding Candy, Lucy, and overall everyone who would gossip about it. The universe must hate me.

Candy, at my request, did tell everyone who saw to never speak of it again, at least. I got up pretty quickly, and mumbled curses. Did I do something wrong? Karma is a cruel mistress... Anyway, Lucy and band's performance was done, so she wandered out to meet me. My stomach, face, and most other parts of my front hurt, but I kept upright, though Reef mentioned later I had a 'more noticeable slouch and a subtle limp to my step'.

"That was hilarious, Apollo."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Great performance there."
"Thanks. Hey, where are Henry and Reef?"
"I don't know."

There was a short silence as I looked around for them.

"There. On the dance floor."
"Wait, they're dancing together?"
"Yep. Actually, just standing out there moving slightly, but that apparently counts as dancing."
"Cool. What'd you plan on doing the rest of the party?"
"I don't know. Play a few games? Check on the food, mainly. Wanna play Truth or Dare?"
"Sure. I guess. Shouldn't we be playing with more than just two people, though?"
"Well, yeah, but what's the worst that couod happen?"

One hour later, Cookie was running through the room, wrecking many things in her way; Henry was about to be stampeded by a herd of deer, after walking out through the back door; Lucy was wearing a wig, coat, and sunglasses as she tried to get out of the room; and Reef looked ready to strangle somebody - no, scratch that, she looked ready to strangle everybody .
____
I went to a buffet today. They served lychee ice cream. It tasted rather bad.

[Piefan]

Sorry for cutting the entry off, Lychee, but I was distracted. Anyway, I think I should probably explain how all that stuff happened.

The only minor disaster that happened that wasn't related to our game was... wait, no, Henry's stampede was kinda caused by us.

We started the game, and ti was mostly smooth sailing. And then...

"Truth or dare?"
"Do yoy even need to ask again? Dare."
"Good enough. I dare you to give this to some random cat."

She pulled a leather bag (... wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Isn't leather made of... OH) out of a pocket from the inside of her dress.

"A bag? Um... Okay."
"... The contents of the bag, for goodness sake!"
"Oh."

I took it from her, opened it up, and sniffed it. Inside were leaves and some flowers, all white and tiny. I looked around for Cookie, the only cat I knew, and saw her across the room. Whelp, maybe I could just get her to think I had a crush on her or something, and was giving her flowers because romance. Either that or, if she was really that psychologically unintelligent (hah! And Henry said I couldn't understand words more than ten letters long), she'd just be really oblivious. I sniffed it again, thinking I recognised it, before gasping.

"Waaaiiittt... Isn't this Nepeta cataria?"
"That depends. Does that mean catnip?"
"Yeah, pretty much. Except fancier."
"In that case, yes, it is Neopets Cafeteria or whatever it is you said."

I stared at her for a while before walking away. Cookie was standing around, talking to a friend, so I waited for her to finish, as I put the opened bag behind me and sat down. Once she received its effects, then I could just give it to her and walk away. The smell should be fairly strong, and a fan was behind me.

When she did finish talking, I said something to her, hoping to hold a conversation for a few minutes.

Nothing happened. She didn't even seem to notice it. I was annoyed and I couldn't be bothered spending all that time. So I just took the simplest route.

"Lucy dared me to give this to you. So here. Nepeta cataria. That is all. Goodbye."
"Oh. Okay."

With that done, I walked back to Lucy, who was watching me from where she was at first.

"That was less dramatic than expected."
"What were you expecting?"
"I don't know. Something more... climatic, I guess."
"Which means?"

She blinked once, then explained. After she did, we continued, doing some random stuff that was mostly kinda boring. I think we all ran out of dares and questions halfway through the game. I actually had to find a bunch of deer and herd them outside the school for one. Then Henry and Reef appeared next to us, and after some persuading on our part, they joined in. Though they mostly avoided any dares. Still, could be worse.

Later, Cookie, being... Cookie (the one person so cheerful I had to add smilies just to show her happiness), showed up, and this happened.

"Hi! ^_^ Henry, since you're one of the more well-known nerds, would you happen to know..."

I detected that they wwre going to talk about Gates-knows-what and zoned out then. After some time, a table fell on me. I am still so confused.

Reef did later give me a brief explanation though... Henry offended her by complaining of her cheerfulness, and then she flipped the table beside us. I checked it later, and it's actually kinda light, so that explains it. Anyway, I ducked so that the tabletop couldn't hit me, though the legs pinned down some of my fur at a cheek. I jerked my head away, tearing the hair off. Ow.

Reef and Cookie had a small shouting match, meanwhile, and Lucy watched. I knew there would be someone who wanted to eat popcorn!

"Traditionally, one will injure the person who annoyed them, not a largely innocent table."
"I don't care about what's traditional! We're in the modern world now, and if I want to overturn a table, then I'll overturn a table."
"How rude. Regardless, that is incredibly unreasonable."
"Whoo, how terrifying! Miss Breaks-her-cousin's-arm thinks I'm doing something wrong!"
"That's what the last one said..."

She proceeded to run around the room, using her claws to destroy what she could and pouncing on everything else. At this point, people seemed to finally start paying attention, and they were staring. Everyone associated with us seems to have something bad happen to them...

Henry stared at her for a while, and then began to slowly inch out with obvious fear. He could probably beat her if he needed to, but considering he hunts a lot, his fighting style would be mainly 'aim for the neck and kill quickly', which probably wouldn't be a good idea here. His larger size wouldn't give him much of an advantage; if anything, her smallness would make it harder to hit. She was being pretty quick and agile too, so it would take some time to land a hit.

Did I mention one of the dares was to gather a herd of forty non-sapient deer at the back door? And he hunts deer. They probably recognised him, and because of that, charged. It would be hard to fight all those alone, so he had to run instead.

"Why is it I just know you two caused this somehow?"
"... Apollo did it. Blame him."
"Hey, what now? You gave me that dare!"

____
I was going to say that Cookie went temporarily insane because of the catnip, but then stuff happened.

[Piefan]

Okay, distracted again. I should mention the dance went on for longer than said in the flier.

Anyway, here's a recap on what happened last entry: Henry angered Cookie, who wrecked the room, and then he ran off. Unfortunately, a stampede of deer was waiting for him.

Reef glanced out the door, checking whether it would be safe to go after him. It wasn't. The deer didn't seem like they were going to stop soon, and she'd basically have to cut off half her dress to go the same speed she needed to.

"Should you not be more concerned?"
"Well, probably. But listen to those deer! The symphony of their synchronised stomping! They worked so hard for this, Reef."
"Oh, shush. If you truly will not help him, should we not stop Cookie?"

She waved a paw behind us, and at her own fur. It was uneven, some clumps cut shorter than others, and er dress slightly torn - though that was probably unrelated. As for what was behind us, Cookie was running around, doing what she had been doing the whole time. Wrecking the place.

Her rampage probably would have lasted about five minutes if not for the others insulting her, which I honestly don't think was deserved. And, looking back, the solution should have been to get the rude comments to stop and then wait. But we never thought of that.

"I think we have a better chance with the deer."
"... Still staying here."
"Oh, come on!"
"My reputation's been thrice-shredded this year. I don't need it getting any worse. Besides, does he look like he can't get out of this himself?"
"We-"
"Well, that's too bad. I'm off to change my name and move out of the entire continent. If you need me, you'll never find me!"

I blinked, watching her walk away. She headed backstage, where she had two guitar cases lying. She opened one, then pulled out a wig and red cloak. She placed the wig on her and covered her back with the cloak, pulling its hood over her head.

Then the brief moment of silence and whatnot was interrupted by a deer's... neigh? Grunt? ... What do you call the sound a deer makes? Anyway, Reef grumbled as she hurrried outside, and I joined her, because dang if it wasn't partly my fault. We shouted to be heard over the hoofsteps of the stampede against the hard dirt, and sometimes stone.

"Apollo! Do you have a plan?"
"No, I don't!"
"Oh. Have you made your will yet?"
"What? No..."
"You two! Quit your pessimism and hurry!"

Upon hearing Henry's voice, Reef sped up, and as always, I did the same. Henry was at the front of the herd, so it would be hard to get to him.

"Do you think we can go at the side of this thing instead of behind it?"
"There's no sense in that. Deer are as fast as dogs, and these are smart. They could easily regroup to make it harder to reach me."

I grunted in response, though he probably didn't hear it, and did so anyway. Piling on the speed, I soon was ahead of even him. When I was, I slowed down and looked back for Reef. She seemed to have given up solely keeping the pace, and weaved through the herd with surprising agility. (She said it was adrenaline again...) She stumbled a whole lot, and she honestly looked like she would get trampled herself, but she managed, and the herd had to slow to not bump into the dog among them. Yeah, they could easily continue at their speed and not care about her, but they didn't. They'd probably accidentally step on each other too.

When they slowed, so did I. Henry, with less stress on him, seemed to finally come up with a plan. Reef, I think, noticed that they slowed mainly because of her, and continued darting around, wrecking the order. She stayed close when she could, and Henry got thr chance to explain when she was near:

"We'll lead them to the woods. Over there, it's going to be harder to see us, so we can escape then."
"In movies, they usually have a more advanced plan than this..."
"It's practical, that's what matters."

So that we did. The forest was about a kilometre from us, so I made a sharp turn, and the herd did the same. They somehow decided I was also their target, I guess. Reef was having a hard time there when they did, needing to adjust her routine to fit. Eventually, she stopped, and went up to the both of us.

She and Henry shared some short conversation, with shorter, clipped words (I think she used a contraction there. Wow.) and simple sentences, but I think it helped with hope and stuff. I basically led the run until they finished, at which point Henry took over.

The path we were following led into a thick forest, though not really dangerous unless we got really deep. Henry suddenly switched his gait when we were near it, going from quick four-legged trot to bounding leaps. Reef was prepared for it, I wasn't. The herd sped, and I would have gotten trampled if I wasn't suddenly shoved out of the way.

Hooray Lucy.

Candy had convinced her to play at least a tiny part in this, using a bunch of paper shredder metaphors, so she managed to get there taking a shortcuft. She apparently just so happened to have a pair of fake deer antlers and hooves to blend in. With that job done, she nodded briefly and ran off in the direction of school. (Why didn't she go home? A mystery.)

I joined the rest after catching my breath. Both were concerned about me, but continued anyway. Majority outweighs the few, and Henry had somehow decided the residents of the town would all die if they stopped for me. They said something about a butterfly reaction.

At this point, we were practically in the forest, and Henry shouted:

"Split!"
"Got that covered."

I ran to the left and Reef to the right, while Henry continued with his straight line. After running a few metres, I turned back and continued, soon seeing her looking exhausted

"The school should not be far."
"I noticed."

____
2 votes for the poll of 1/5 and neither have told me what I should improve on. Please, guys?

[Piefan]

Henry met us after a while, back at the school. Why didn't I go home? Because I'm obliged somehow to help out. That's what Aunt Amelia once told me while giving you to me, anyway. "Give your diary a weird name!" I almost named you Goliath because of that. She also told me that "this is really, really, important. Keep it, don't lose it, writ eeverything you possibly can in it. And life advice: Whenever something exciting happens, it doesn't matter whether it's dangerous or unnecessary, it doesn't matter whether it's certain death. Go for the best part you possibly could and write it down in your diary!"

Hm. Actually shouldn't have followed that.

We walked back to the gym, and I could barely be bothered to even pay attention to Cookie. As it turns out, we were only gone for ten minutes. How? I thought we were doing that for at least twenty!

She was still messing things up when I came, and I practically collapsed. Reef, Henry and I went backstage, where Lucy and her little band was, and I took a seat on a chair. As did the rest. Backstage was surprisingly untouched, since its original purpose was a bomb shelter. The doors were made of metal and locked, then, and so were most of the walls. The lock, too, was steel, so it would be hard to break, and Cookie's blind rampage wouldn't do anything to a bomb shelter. The atmospere was terrible. But it was fine.

"So what now?"
"Well, we are a band, no?"

Arianna, that brass-playing dog, is in green. Because she has a green headband.

"Oh! I get it! You'll use the persuasive power of music! I-"
"-I was actually going to suggest that we hit her with percussion mallets and cello bows..."
"I... suggest... you... go with... Apollo's... plan..."

Yeah, she was panting a whole lot. But then, we did just have to run five kilometres in ten minutes.

"Yep. It should be easier. I don't think we should use musical instruments as weapons."
"Fine. But what then?"
"Allow me - subtlety is the key. Make subtle attempts to make her stop, little things that she can't directly place. The music is just a background, to calm her down slightly. Alternatively, just talk to her. You know, the thing anyone with common sense would do?"
"Talk to her? Pssh. We're young teenagers, none of which are really normal. Don't you think it would be logical to do this?"
"No. No it isn't."
"Well, it is."

Garfield (that fox in her band) managed to convince Arianna to convince Lucy to convince Reef to convince Henry to go along with the plan. Or at least not mess it up. So we continued with it.

First step - the choosing of the music. I didn't really participate in this, because music isn't my thing. I like it, I listen to it, that's about it. I never really bothered with learning it and stuff like that. The band was the only one doing this. I got a little snippet of their conversation:

"I think genre is important. Not as in 'oh-no-they're-playing-classical-and-I-don't-like-classical-so-I'll-destroy-something' important, nobody above the age of seven would have that kind of reaction, but important in the sense that there are distinctive differences in style and notes in each different category, which affects-"
"Your sentence is getting way too run-on..."
"Ugh. I was about to end it then anyway, so you can go from there. Garfield, any input?"
"There's nothing to say."

... Okay, Garfield doesn't seem to really talk much.

Second step, execution of the plan! And by that I mean we used the plan, not beheaded it. I think. We did completely butcher it if that counts. Subtlety was thrown out the window and landed on a sidewalk before being run over by a thousand bicycles. And then it was struck by lightning and burned to ashes.

Lucy's band (hey, they should really get a name) chose a song while I was zoning out. A jazz-y instrumental probably suggested by Arianna. She seems like the type of person who would like that.

In the end, Henry basically forced me to use his idea of talking like 'anyone with common sense would do'. I still say it would have been better to go with the original one, though. Like, 'accientally' trip her or something.

(Thinking over it again, he was right.)

Henry wasn't willing to go out himself. Neither was Reef. Or Arianna. Or Lucy. And it just seemed crazy to ask Garfield anything to do with talking. Seriously, the only words I heard him say was that there was nothing to say. And everybody else was next to useless. And so, they decided that I was the only person who could do anything.

And as Lucy's band played some sorta-awesome music, I spoke. Cookie was busy with a banner, tearing it to shreds using her claws. She stood on a table, which made her look taller than she actually was. Seeing as she is a kitten, she can't usually go anywhere near matching my height.

"Hey Cookie. Could you drop what you're holding and run screaming out of the room? It's... for a bet..."

I swear, I could feel Lucy narrowing her eyes at me.

"Um. No."
"Aw. Are you sure?"
"Yes. I'm sure. Now cut to the chase."

I was going to make a joke about the 'cut' part, considering what she was doing, but that woul be one of the more stupid ones. Instead, I chose to ask something I just know Henry was wondering:

"So, I've been wondering: Doesn't it take more than just one insult to get you this annoyed? I'll admit to not really knowing you much... or at all... but you always seemed more cheerful than that."
"*bitter laugh* Well, you really haven't been paying attention, have you? Haven't noticed a pattern in what I do? Anything?"
"Well, no. I don't understand your species. I don't understand you, for that matter. Those two things are the essence of a person's very being, and without understanding of one or the other, I cannot predict what you plan to do or why you do things. As such, I-"
"The one time you decide to display intelligence..."
"I was kidding. There is no order to what I do. Anger is like that, you know."
"Not necessarily. But anyway, you haven't answered me."

She jumped off her table and regarded me with an annoyed gaze.

"The simple answer to your question, and the solution to your bewilderment, is that your assumptions were wrong altogether."
"Assumptions? You mean...?"
"It wasn't a single insult, but many more. Or not quite insults. I hate all the Populars. Every one of them. And just look at their numbers here."
"Um... There... aren't many..."

Most of the people had left by now... Most of the populars, at least. The outcasts, nerds, and some jocks were still there.

"Oh. Right. But still, before that? There had to be at least fifty, and they annoyed me greatly. I'm not sure if you've noticed, but I'm not all that popular. They mocked me, and I hated it. I went to your little group, thinking everyone looked friendly, but nope! And that was the straw that broke the camel's back."
"Oh. Okay."

I shuffled back backstage, where the rest were waiting. Lucy and her band had long finished playing and were sitting on the ground, and Henry soon slipped in from wherever he was at first. That went better than expected. It was also kinda awkward, but hey.

We talked for a while. And then we walked out - everyone there. Cookie had jumped back onto her table, and seemed to be now using its top as a scratching post. As always, everyone else seemed to be utterly useless. And we stll hadn't done anything about the destruction.

Just then, a ragged-coated dog bolted inside, and I noticed that the newcomer was taller than any of us, excluding Henry, whose height she was equal to. It took a few moments to notice one thing: that was our principal. Cookie seemed to realise this earlier than the rest of us, and was already running off.

"What happened here?"
"... Certain stuff. Where were you while the room was being destroyed?"
"Don't ask."

She ran to the stage and said, in an obviously thrown-together speech:

"Attention, all! The previous project of the school, which consisted of forcing together one person from each group to work together, is now cancelled! And Candy also has more power now! That is all, thankyouandgoodbye!"
"Er... Anyone care to explain what just transpired?"

Just as abruptly as she'd come, the principal immediately ran off in. A blue cat then came.

"Where is Abigail?"
"You mean the principal? She just ran in that direction."
"Blast it! She must be purposely using children as a shield, so that we won't do anything to her... "

And then he ran in the direction Lucy pointed him in. I still don't know what happened... Anyway, we just decided to concentrate on the news of the project being abandoned. Yay! Finally this moment has arrived! Can't believe it! I don't know why she chose to suddenly do that, but who cares?

Henry, Lucy, and Reef gathered with me, all with the same happiness, and I grinned at them.

"I cannot believe this!"
"Neither can I. But we've been waiting for this, right? I'm glad it's arrived."
"I can't say I've really been anxious for this - not at current, at least. You have all shown yourselves not to be the bumbling idiots I first took you as."
"Neither was I. Honestly? I'll miss you three. You all, I can't really work with, as in homework and stuff, but you were pretty good companions!"
"Apollo, I will not miss you, hopefully, nor you, Henry, or you, Lucy."
"Oh, come on, Reef! Show some respect for the drama of this moment!"
"... I did not finish. I will hopefully not miss you, for I will have no reason to. I will speak to you whenever I can; tell me how to contact you and I will."
"Oh. Well, okay then."

Well, I'm running out of pages now. Until next time, Lychee!
____
Such comes the end of the Lychee; I hope you enjoyed. It was a pretty fun trip for myself, with Reef being my personal favourite to write. With that said, I do plan on a sequel, but that'd depend on whether anyone wants one. If they don't... I'll still write it anyway, just not publish it.

Anyway, these are the ideas for a sequel I have:

1. Mystery-themed. The principal (whose name is apparently Abigail) is a criminal, and the team assists the police in their investigations. And danger follows them. Epic fight scenes may or may not be involved. This one I have planned very little.
   
   Alternatively, what is literally the opposite:
   d
2. A year have passed, and the team has drifted apart. By some twist of fate, they end up together again, and all of them have turned to the wrong paths in life: one a thief, two con artists, and the final... not much, actually, just hates the Populars and participates in their fall. For this, I have at least some idea of what will happen.