Doodle Champion Island Journeys!

Epilogue: A Champion's Epic

Kappa Makoto watched as Karasu Wataru emerged from a trap door inside Tanooki City Bookstore. It was the third night of the Championship and a winner had yet to show up, even though creatures were placing their bets on Lucky. The Smart Kappa wasn't so fond of such affairs - those were meaningless, and he found out during their little conversation earlier that she was troubled. Must one really carry the weight of the future? - he wondered.

"Two entire nights and that mage is nowhere to be found, in Tanooki Underground at least," Wataru sighed, "How are things going on your end?"

"Actually, Lucky has found her this evening. I just had a talk with Crane - he said she had been in the Inter-dimension this whole time."

"Really so? I almost forgot about that abandoned house, to be honest. I never thought that she'd try to go back even without a clear assurance of the outcome," the Karasu shook his head, "She'd getting desperate."

"Why wouldn't she? I mean, being locked away from home for more than a decade is certainly devastating. Being robbed of the life you've worked so hard for, away from the ones you love..." Makoto said monotonously, "Acting rational will only become harder as time goes by. Although, back on THAT topic, I suppose finding the mage as per Crane's request is not the only reason for you, the pride of Team Red, to sneak into a public bookstore in the middle of the night and go to the underground city, no less. Am I correct?"

"The Smart Kappa is never wrong, huh?" Wataru exhaled, "We all know that Tanooki Underground is a place where many secrets circulate, so I assumed there might be a formula or spell that can help the Trophy Master with her endeavor, or even better - that she might be looking for them herself. I did end up with something useful," he revealed a small piece of paper, "The Schwartz used to wield a secret which helped them transverse between worlds. Part of that still remains within their knowledge, which I've asked Petunia with her abundant time indoors to research on. The other part has been lost, yet it's no surprise that it lingers in the underground city. Now we just need to meet with that porcupine to complete the solution. Adding that to the high chance of having a winner this year..."

"Actually, I'm getting to that point," Makoto interrupted, "Petunia has gotten Lucky to go buy locks for her, and now there's five hundred locks in our way."

"And I'm not a Karasu for no reason. We'll go meet her first thing tomorrow morning. Now, let's allow Kota and Haru some sleep. As energetic as they make themselves be, their job is tremendously draining."

~

Karasu Wataru did not joke when he insisted on meeting Petunia through her locks. Showing up at her doorstep by sunrise, he first knocked, but after receiving nothing but her grunts as a response, he created a sliver of flame and snaked it beneath her door. Makoto heard the noise of contacting metal. Soon after that, Wataru swiftly opened the door as if the locks were nonexistent. Turns out, his mastery of fire magic had been tuned to perfection, so much that he could pick or melt away Oni locks even without looking.

"I am deeply sorry for the intrusion," he said to a raging Petunia, unaffected by her stuck-up porcupine quills, "I truly am, and will be regretting this for as long as I can remember - to my kind, that will be awfully long, almost to eternity. However, there are... matters we need to discuss without five hundred locks."

"Quit the fancy speech and get to the point," Petunia grumbled.

"We came to check on your process on the elixir," the crow's voice reverted back to its usual coldness, "With a newly-acquired piece of information we'd like to work on as well."