Erasure

Chapter 3: The Forgotten Hero

Before Duo had even opened her eyes, she was met with the sound of multiple people giggling. Ungh... morning already? She thought to herself. She sat up from the ground and saw her friends crowding around something. Duo wondered what they were doing and walked over to them. "What's going on...?" she questioned. She was only answered with giggles and quiet laughter. She looked at Quote, who was holding a black marker in his hand. Upon directing her attention downward, she saw exactly what they were laughing at.

On the ground was Peri, who had several marks drawn on his face. 'Loser' was written across his forehead and crude drawings of him with an angry face were all over his cheeks. Duo couldn't help but crack a smile. Even she found the situation humorous. She joined them in laughing at Peri. Writ was laughing so hard that tears were forming in his eyes and he was holding his sides. "Me next! Me next!" he said. Quote handed him the marker and he kneeled down to Peri. Writ wrote something on his friend's face, but Duo couldn't see with the others in the way. When he finally finished writing, the others moved closer, eager to see what he wrote. "Um... Writ... I do not think that is how pranks work..." Quote mumbled.

Though Writ knew he did it wrong, he couldn't stop laughing, in fact, his laughter only got louder and more hysteric. Through his laughter, he managed to speak a sentence. "Come on, that's hilarious!"
"Well yeah, but usually when people do this prank, they write things like 'loser' or 'stupid' not, 'I struggle in social situations.'"

Writ was barely able to breathe. He laughed so loud that Peri's eyes began to twitch. "He's waking up! Oh my god, wait till he sees!"

Peri opened his eyes and glared at everyone intently. Quote, Shado, and Writ were barely able to hold back their laughter. Peri seemed to be the calm type of angry. He didn't say anything, but his eyes burned with rage. Duo couldn't distinguish what he was thinking, but she knew it wasn't good. "I'm only going to ask this once..." he said with dead serious composure. "what did you do?"

Despite how scared Duo was, the others only found it more amusing. The three whispered among themselves and giggled, probably deciding whether or not they should tell him. Once they had finished their discussion, they turned back around and faced Peri. Shado reached into the pocket of hear jeans and pulled out a small mirror used for applying makeup. She handed it to him, and he took it with unusual calmness. He looked into the mirror and kept the same straight face. He handed the mirror back, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. Duo wondered how he could be so collected, especially considering how he just woke up. He sighed and reached for his bronze glove.
Quote, Writ, and Shado backed away with terrified expressions. "Woah, woah, woah!" yelled Shado. "Peri, calm down! It was just a joke!!" Peri ignored her and slid on the glove, looking at his palm. "Come now, friend, it was a harmless practical joke! We are truly sorry!" cried Quote.

Peri held his hand out in front of him with his palm facing upward. The gemstone in the center lit up in an aqua color. "Run!!" shouted Writ. The three of them ran away and dove behind different trees, covering their heads. Duo stood in place, curious as to what Peri would do.
Water began shooting up from his palm like a drinking fountain. He brought his hand to his face and got it wet before rubbing in off with his free hand. The three troublemakers poked their heads out from the sides of the trees. "Oh... hahaha... you really had us worried there... No hard feelings, right?"

Peri kept washing off his face and checking in the mirror to make sure he didn't miss any spots. Once he was sure he had gotten it all off, he dried his face off with the end of his shirt before looking at them with a sly smile. He grabbed his wrist and took off the glove as he started to slowly walk toward them. They backed away with each step he took until their backs were against a tree. He reached over to Peri, making him flinch. Peri pulled out the black marker from within the prince's pocket. "Everyone, show me your wrists," he said, now with an almost glad tone. Shakily, they did as he said and pushed up their sleeves. Peri uncapped the marker and held Quote's arm steady.