[text sn: healerprincess] Rumors keep falling on my head

[im_gonna_heal_u]

[ Lately, especially in the wake of transformations and people getting wounded, you might have heard some of the Prismals start talking about a particularly strong rumor as the floods settle down.

"Have you heard of the Healing Monster? They say she comes in a red dress, and snatches up anyone who's wounded out in the streets."

"She's terrifyingly adorable! I heard her warn someone about being reckless because she couldn't heal them if they turned into tomato paste!"

"I saw her trip up a petty robber and then heal his wounds while the Moon Knights dragged him away!"

"I want the Healing Monster to terrorize me!"

It sounds so stupid, and yet someone, absolutely clueless that she fits the description perfectly, shows up on the network one day and asks, ]

Lately, I've been helping out Prismals who got wounded due to the violent floods and other accidents but they keep giving me these weird looks. Anyone know why that is?

Comments

[have_hat_will_travel]

... This is. A thing I guess?

Though if everyone left after I'm gonna guess graduating...

[im_gonna_heal_u]

Yep.

We graduated, and so most everyone moved on. I bet we'll meet up again when we go to fight the Lifemaker though...

[have_hat_will_travel]

Some kind of megathreat on par with a demon lord?

[im_gonna_heal_u]

You got it in one.

A final boss so dangerous, we have to fight them in space.

[have_hat_will_travel]

... I don't know a lot about space, but it doesn't sound like a good place to fight.

[im_gonna_heal_u]

On the contrary, the damage won't harm bystanders, but being able to fight in space is... kinda difficult! But I'm not a mainline fighter, I'm a healer. I just need to keep my friends alive and quick.

[have_hat_will_travel]

That... Is true, but for the rest...

[im_gonna_heal_u]

Unfortunately I don't make the rules here. The bad guy did. Picking a fight in space was like... so they could use all of their power without restraint. I forget all the other details unfortunately.

[have_hat_will_travel]

That... Is definitely. Not convenient, no...

[im_gonna_heal_u]

Do you remember a bad guy who ever made things convenient *without* politeness being one of their main tenets?

[have_hat_will_travel]

... I kinda kept doing it...

[im_gonna_heal_u]

Did you now?

[have_hat_will_travel]

Orders were orders, and 'keep setting up the heroes to think you're the culprit and killing the actual problem in the process' meant being convenient in ways they should've recognized were stupid.

Maybe their bard did, I dunno.

[im_gonna_heal_u]

That's odd.

Konoka's not sure what to think of that, since that could go either way [ between "her employer isn't as villainous as they thought" or "employer was a jerk sending Pidonus to eliminate competition". She couldn't think of any way to ask this, though. ]

Your boss must have been weird.

[ So she settled for that. ]

[have_hat_will_travel]

More like 'willing to sacrifice me at a moment's notice if that, and I wasn't mentally capable of realizing that until after the fact', to be quite honest.

The ploy kept working, but...

[im_gonna_heal_u]

That sounds awful.

[ So it was even worse than Konoka thought. ]

I'm glad you escaped, though.

[have_hat_will_travel]

Yeah. Thus why more than anything I don't want to go back.

[im_gonna_heal_u]

And I can see why.

[ It leaves a lot of questions of what happens when they find the way back home, ones that Konoka has no answers to and doesn't want to deal with... not yet. ]

I'm thankful Lunatia is largely good to us, even if it has its issues.

[have_hat_will_travel]

The fact that for me it's objectively an upgrade other than no longer having the friends I had on my last world thing...

[im_gonna_heal_u]

Last world thing?

[have_hat_will_travel]

I guess 'thing' isn't entirely the world, but the place was kinda.... The world was screwed up by wild magic, and we were working to stabilize that.

I made some of my first friends there. And none of them have made it here...

[im_gonna_heal_u]

I'm sorry to hear that.

[ Konoka had only a vaguely similar experience a few years ago. At least then she was able to reunite with everyone... ]

I'm missing a lot of friends too.

[have_hat_will_travel]

That... Would be the norm here. But for someone like me who didn't really have friends for her early existence who weren't just charmed into it...

[im_gonna_heal_u]

That must sting something fierce.

But even with their memories, you don't need to forget them. They're the reason you decided not to pursue the path of evil, right?

[have_hat_will_travel]

They're the reason I had the choice in the first place.