'What's worse than a drunk Nami?'
'Trurururu... If you answered: A drunk Nami with the powers of the Mera Mera no Mi, you got it right!'
I laughed at my own thoughts.
My eyes were blurry from the drinks and I felt more foolish than ever.
"Noah, that's enough."
"It's mine!" I shouted, but quickly went silent.
I looked at the one who stole my wine and saw Nojiko, that wicked woman, drinking from my wine bottle while giving me a defiant look.
--
--
"Ow, my head..."
I woke up with a terrible headache.
It felt like someone was hammering my head hard.
When I saw where I was, I looked around the room and found the magic carpet in a corner.
'Was it you who brought me back? Thanks.' I sat up in bed, frowning.
I had never drunk that much before.
I won't deny having sneaked a drink before, but since I was afraid of getting caught, I never overdid it.
This was the first time I had genuinely gotten drunk.
'Is this when I'm supposed to say: I'll never drink again in my life?'
"I'll never drink again..." I said, not too loudly.
And then, as if it were a summoning, my door opened and I saw Nojiko at the doorway.
She laughed as she said: "Haha, that's what everyone says after waking up with a hangover, but they always go back to drinking~"
"..." Is there really some higher power that makes someone appear when those magic words are said?
"Don't just stand there, go wash your face and brush your teeth." She told me: "I made a soup for hangovers, come if you want that pain to go away."
"I'm coming, thanks." I said, getting up.
By the way, I hadn't seen Cri-Kee.
'Must be with Nami.' I thought.
...
"Good morning."
When I got to the dining room, I saw Nami and Nojiko.
Nami in particular had a pained expression, similar to the one I had seen in the mirror...
She looked at me and said, "Good morning," looking like one of those gloomy people who barely leave their room, before going back to eating her soup.
Smiling, Nojiko was more welcoming: "Come, sit down and eat. This will help you."
Looking at her, I found myself thinking: 'Is her head made of iron? She clearly drank more than both me and Nami combined, but she still acts like she doesn't even have a hangover...'
--
--
Later, after having the hangover soup, I jumped out the window—my goal was to summon a card. But what I saw made me stop.
Beside the house, not far from my window, I saw Nojiko throwing up.
She looked a little... wrecked.
She was no longer that calm woman with a lovely smile on her face, as if last night's drinking had never happened. This was a version of her I had never seen before.
"Noah..." She noticed me.
At first, she showed shock, then embarrassment, but it quickly turned into a forced smile.
Still looking at me from the corner of her eye, she spelled it out, word by word, in a warning tone: "You... saw... nothing..."
Once, I read a saying that goes: A wise man knows when to retreat.
I felt that saying was quite appropriate for the situation I found myself in now.
"Saw what?" I asked innocently.
"Mm, good that you understand~" she smiled.
How do I put this? Her smile, though very beautiful, made the hairs on my arms stand on end.
Not wanting to embarrass her further, I started walking away quickly.
Normally, she would ask where I was going, but this time she didn't.
...
Alone, behind a mountain, I didn't notice anyone nearby.
Holding a card, I clicked on summon.
In an instant, a whirlwind appeared before me, and soon the whirlwind was replaced by a car that quickly transformed into a white horse with wings.
With intelligent eyes, Pegasus looked at me and, galloping around, stopped in front of me and neighed happily, lowering his head in submission.
I reached out my hand, and he let me pet his head.
Pegasus was a large horse, over 200 cm tall.
His mane was light blue, just like his tail.
"Well shoot, lemme show up too, now—dang!"
I heard a voice, it had a funny country accent.
Looking a bit sad, Pegasus stepped back.
Then I saw the horse transform into a tow truck.
"There we go. Daggum~!"
Rolling back and forth, the tow truck — Tow Mater — had a mouth on the front of the hood, two big white teeth sticking out, and instead of a windshield, he had two big eyes that opened and closed with something acting like eyelids.
Looking at me with his big curious eyes, he said: "Howdy, my name's Mater — like tuh-Mater, but without the tuh."
"Hello, Mater. My name's Noah, kinda like Noah's Ark." I replied.
"Noah's Ark?" He looked confused.
I smiled, shaking my head and changing the subject: "By the way, Mater. Do you know how and why you ended up here?"
"Well shoot, 'course I do — sir." He said real quick, making funny noises with his mouth: "That voice that kept honkin' inside my head explained it all real clear. Somethin' about a 'Bang,' then a 'dum,' then a 'pan,' and then I'd be goin' to another world with weird-lookin' folks like yerself and—pam! — right?"
"..."
I swear I've never been so confused by someone talkin' to me. His words, while mostly easy to understand, I just had no clue what he meant.
'Let me recap... I now know someone spoke to him beforehand and even warned him about being summoned... Probably. And then, he possibly agreed? Now, he's here.' I thought.
"In short, you agreed to be summoned by me, correct?" I asked.
"Well shoot, ain't that how it's s'posed to work?" He asked, rollin' around me on his four wheels.
"Mm, that's right." I nodded.
"By the way, Noey," he asked, messin' up my name, "where we at?"
"My name is Noah." I said. "And to answer your question, we're in a village, behind a mountain."
"Well I'll be." He whistled and said: "Wanna ride up that mountain? Y'might not know, but I was actually a mountain climber—won a whole buncha medals. Folks used to call me Mater, the Great Mountain Conqueror~!"
"Mater, sorry to ask this, but when that invitation came to you... did you, by any chance... die?" I asked.
"Iahahaha-ha!" He let out a happy laugh, then got a little sad: "Truth is, lil' ol' me wanted to know what it felt like to be faster than fast. So, I got myself modified. When I started racin'—ahh, I can still feel the wind in my hair, even though I ain't got a head—Iahahaha!"
After laughin', he continued: "Long story short, I must've gone faster than the speed o' sound, and then my modified parts started fallin' off and... well, you can guess the rest. Haha."
"My condolences," I said.
"Nah, it's all good," he replied. "I just feel bad for my best buddy, McQueen. I didn't even get to say goodbye to him..."
His 'eyelids' drooped.
But then, he practically bounced up with his front end, saying: "Iahaha! But he'll pull through, he always does..."
I changed the subject, since I could tell he was getting uncomfortable, even if he wouldn't admit it: "Mater, do you know if it was the same for Pegasus?"
"Pegalus? Who's that?"
Seeing his confusion and hearing him say the name wrong, I said: "It's not Pegalus, it's Pegasus and... he's the horse... the one with wings you asked to let you take over."
"Oh, him," Mater said. "Lemme think... Oh yeah, he said somethin'. What was it again?" He started pacing back and forth, thinking. Then with a shout, he said: "I remember! It was somethin' about 'pa,' then somethin' about 'boom,' then a baby? And then, time passed, all lonely 'n lonely, and then the voice talked to him and dumdum! here he is. Oh, and I think he really likes you, y'know?"
Touching my chin, I thought carefully: 'He must be saying that after Hercules died in Pegasus's dimension when he was still a baby, Pegasus stayed lonely all this time, and then heard a voice and accepted being summoned by me, right? And the reason he likes me must be because I'm assimilating Hercules.'
'Status.'
Summon [2/3]: [Cri-Kee (Mulan) - ★★★ (Loyalty: 56.5%)] - [Trinity - ★★★★☆☆ (Loyalty: 99.1%)]
When I saw that, I couldn't have been more shocked.
Such high loyalty from someone—or rather... from such a special existence—made me smile from ear to ear.
'I can still summon one more. Should I go for Moana? Or maybe Ariel?'
I held both cards.
The problem was, if I summoned either of them, I wouldn't be able to summon anyone else.
Meanwhile, Trinity is a special existence that can even transform into a ship.
Looking at Mater, I spoke: "Mater, you must know you can transform into a ship, right?"
"Correct. I kinda figured it's possible, but I ain't tried it yet. Should I?"
"No, no." I waved my hands, saying: "It wouldn't be good to turn into a big ship here. Wait until I take you to the sea, then you can go full ship form, okay?"
"Alrighty. Look, I dunno why, or who exactly you are, but Noey, I feel like if I do what you say, it's the right thing to do. So, I promise not to turn into no ship." He said solemnly.
"Thanks for your trust." I smiled.
"Aw, don't mention it—Ihahaha!" He climbed up the mountain a bit, then turned back to me: "Noey, should I head up now? Ya sure ya don't want a ride?"
With a simple jump, I landed on his back.
"I'll take you up on that—let's go," I said.
"Daggum! Let's roll~!"