Chapter 6: On the Way

 Creamy :o

Creamy couldn't sleep. When he finally did sleep, it wasn't a good sleep and he didn't dream.

When he woke up, it was barely dawn. The sky is a dim light blue - barely a blue. He couldn't see any stars through the white birch branches. Othr was still asleep, or pretending to be asleep. Creamy couldn't tell. He wanted to call his name but didn't want to wake him up just in case he was actually asleep.

Quietly Creamy pushed open the door, feeling dawn's cool breeze on his face. He closed it behind him, hoping that he didn't make too loud of a sound. He must have did, because a second later Appa flew out and landed on his shoulder, looking tired.

The Confire was lit up, the only light in the dark town beneath the trees. Creamy spotted Scissors on top of the scaffolding. "You stayed for the night?" Creamy asked.

"Yes." Scissors was cooking fish. 

"Don't tell me that's for breakfast."

"It is. Since you woke up so early, want one?" 

Creamy looked to Appa, who shook her head in horror. "Uh, no, we don't need fish."

"Who's we?" Scissors asked.

He probably couldn't see Appa in the dark. "Me and my parrot." Creamy answered.

"Ah, wait! Are you going to bring him into the arena like those smart contestants last year and use him as a messenger?" Scissors asked.

"Her," Creamy corrected, "and no, probably not. I think the simulation only remembers things registered by Cyclo or Leo, so if she's killed she might not be able to come back."

Scissors nodded, "come closer," he told Creamy.

Creamy did until he was right under the scaffolding. "I heard Webby's going to bring in his spider army somehow. Omega has this super powerful diamond axe. I think Stick has a bunch of sticks that according to him has magic in them."

"So everyone's going to sneak things in?" Creamy asked.

"I mean, once you get into the simulation with your thing you can't exactly get punished for it until you get out." A new voice joined them, Pleebs. Perhaps she had stayed at ConCraft for the night as well. "Remember last year? The parrot that Viper and Rift brought in helped them win."

Creamy never had the patience to listen to the entire story, even though Ryan and other storytellers told it often. He pieced it together that Viper and Rift won the simulation with the help of their parrot, and almost made it to the top five in the global before getting wiped by the Lifeboat contestants. "Was that the closest we've ever came to winning?" Scissors asked, throwing fish down to Pleebs.

"I'm pretty sure. If the remaining contestants from the other district had killed the Lifeboat contestants somehow - or even just one of them - then we might have had a victory. If only things turned out a tiny bit differently." Pleebs threw the fish back up at Scissors. 

"Aw." Creamy couldn't tell whether Scissors aw-ed for the fish or aw-ed for Hive District losing last year. "I bet Peace Garden's almost like a graveyard." 

"I've always thought of it as a graveyard." Creamy sat down beside the Confire, staring up at the sky. Was that Creamy's eyes or did it get so much brighter?

"You've never been to the Peace Garden?" Deputy mayor Omega walked into the clearing from behind the Great Fallen Tree, looking at Scissors. "I thought you lived in Jay Blossom."

"That place scares me." Scissors shook his head in thought. "It smells nice though, kind of like flowers."

"It's called Peace Garden." Potato emerged from his shack. "Did you expect it to smell like fish?"

"Not really, somewhat close to that though." Scissors answered.

"You are obsessed with fish." Emberz said from the other side of the clearing. "Which should be my thing. I'm the penguin here." He paused, sitting down beside Creamy. "I kind of wish I signed up for the simulation too."

"But at least you'll be the acting mayor here." Pleebs said, then added, "the gathering at the dock will happen soon. Do you know who will be there to meet us?"

Creamy exchanged a confused glance with the others. "Cyclo?" Potato guessed.

"Nope," Pleebs said.

"Leo? Splodger? Holly and Jolly?" Scissors asked.

"You guys should pay more attention to everything around us." Pleebs shook her head. "It's Honey Marigold."

Creamy squinted. Had he heard of that name before? 

"Uhhh...who's this Honey Whatsit?" Emberz asked, looking just as confused as Creamy.

Pleebs facepalmed. "Let me explain." She said in a Ryan voice as she sat down on the logs beside the Confire. "You know that every district has a treasure it must protect, right?" 

"Yeah," Creamy had heard stories about treasures from Othr. The others looked pretty confused, however.

"It is a requirement in order to be admitted as an official district by Archiva." Pleebs continued. "Our district has a beautiful flower which we call the Marigold. It brings the power of healing and was able to cure pretty much all illnesses known." 

Now Creamy remembered. It was something mentioned in the storytellers' tales.

"Every treasure has a Guardian and a Wielder. Sometimes they are both the same person, sometimes they may also be the/a Deputy or even the Leader of a district. The Leader, Guardian, and the Wielder are the only people who are supposed to use the treasure. Of course, every district has different rules on this."

On his shoulder, Appa chirped loudly. "Quiet down," Creamy whispered.

"The Guardian and Wielder of the Marigold has always been a bee. To honor her, we named her Honey Marigold." Pleebs finished. "We'll be seeing her with us today, and maybe even the Marigold itself."

"Maybee." Emberz corrected.

"Maybee." Pleebs said.

:o

By the time everyone had just gathered at the clearing, Conhadda was already up at the Great Fallen Tree. "Let all ConCrafters gather beneath the Great Fallen Tree for a town meeting! Oh wait, you're already here."

Creamy joined Blue, Uni, and Omega at the very front. "We don't have time, the gathering at the dock is in like, three minutes." Omega reminded him.

"Ah, that's right." Conhadda tilted his head in realization. "I just want to wish everyone good luck. Now everyone participating, come with me."

Creamy lingered back, "Appa, you should stay."

The parrot shook her head.

"Well, I don't want to bring you into the simulation, just in case you die in it." 

Appa blinked.

"Alright, but stay at the Spectator Dome." Creamy called to her before catching up with the crowd. He fell behind Omega and Conhadda in the lead, listening to their conversation. 

"What do you think Honey Marigold will look like?" Conhadda's voice grew louder as Creamy approached closer.

"A normal bee." Omega answered. "Although one with pink eyes."

Conhadda squinted. Or at least, Creamy thought he did. "I'm pretty sure they are yellow."

"Nah, they are definitely pink. Unless The Great Book of Treasures is lying." 

"Woah, I thought there's only like, three copies of that book in the entire world." 

Creamy tried to remember Ryan's stories. The Great Book of Treasures was written by powerful Archiva District residents. Only three copies were distributed to the public, and they will automatically update whenever the authors make changes to it. 

"Yeah, Archiva gave those copies to the top three districts at the time the book was written: Quintessence, Lifeboat, and Spawnsquare." Omega answered. 

"Huh, kind of unfair." Conhadda said thoughtfully. "I think we should get one too."

"But Hive District is nowhere even near the top." Uni chimed in.

"And you guys should probably discuss your strategies in the simulation instead of talking about some bee's eye color." Blue added from behind them.

"It's not just some bee, it's Honey Marigold." Creamy told Blue.

"But at the end of the day, it's the Marigold that's the treasure, not the bee." 

Creamy frowned, Blue had a point. "It's not like everyone can use the treasure. Pretty sure even Splodger can't." Uni said.

"Of course Splodger can, he's our Leader." Conhadda said as the group rounded the corner where the dock is in sight.

"Sometimes Leaders can't use treasures." Omega informed them. "Leader Molly can't wield the Aventura."

"Then why was she selected to be Leader?" Uni asked.

Omega shrugged.

Ahead, Creamy could see most of the non-ConCrafter contestants gathered in front of the dock, although no one is on the dock. They left a path in the middle, "Honey Marigold will come through there soon." Conhadda told them.

"Soon should be now." Blue pointed out something behind them. Creamy moved to the side to make a path. He had never seen Honey Marigold before. Silence filled the air as he tried to listen for the bee.

But Honey Marigold was silent. So silent that Creamy hadn't realized her presence until she was in sight. She did have pink eyes. Kind, empathetic eyes.

Cyclosword appeared after her, "we thought we'd bring out the Cirandeiro again. Although...she's a bit too big to stop beside this dock. We're going to the beach."

"That gives me flashbacks to yesterday night." Uni shuddered.

"I think the Hive needs to control their underwater mob problems," Blue said.

"We kind of have a lot more things to deal with," Creamy remembered. He'd heard somewhere...it must be from another one of the elders' stories. He looked through the crowd. Ryan was falling behind, in the back. "Hold on." He brushed aside the crowd and called his name, "Ryan!"

"Oh hello Creamy, you are Uni's friend, aren't you?"

"Yes. Didn't you say in one of your stories that every once in awhile the lowest ranking districts must compete in something?" Creamy asked. He hoped that made sense.

"Yes, it's called the Circle Trial. The district who loses will be revoked of its title as a district, its treasure is taken away and its territories will be up for other districts to claim." Ryan explained. "It happens once every seven years."

"Wait, that's this year right?" Creamy asked.

"Is the quotient of 224 and 7 a whole number?" Ryan asked. 

Creamy didn't have the patience to do math in his head. "I don't know."

"It's 32. So the 32nd Circle Trial is happening this year, just after the global." Ryan didn't push any further.

"Hive District will always be one of the lowest ranking districts, even if some miracle happens and we win the global this year. We can't avoid this year's Circle Trial no matter what." That's another voice beside them. It's Sterloin. He was holding a netherite sword gleaming with enchanted light. 

"We've survived all the other Circle Trials. We'll be fine." Minji added from ahead of them. "Worry about the simulation instead of something not happening until the end of the year."

But Creamy could see that behind those assuring eyes, she was worried too.

:o

The Cirandeiro is like this full-on cruise ship. Despite being put into retirement, she still hasn't lost her former glory.

"I seriously don't think this is necessary to go to Jay Blossom." Creamy heard Blue whisper to Uni.

"I mean, it is a tradition," Uni said back.

Creamy met up with Othr on the deck. Appa soared through the air and plummeted a couple of times, almost hitting the water before flying back up into the skies again. 

"You've heard of the Circle Trial?" He asked Othr.

"I indeed have." Othr answered.

"So...what's your opinion on it?" Creamy asked.

"It's unfair. Those districts didn't deserve to be stripped of their title," Othr paused. "Do you ever wonder what happens to the people living in those districts if they did lose the Circle Trial?"

"I'm guessing they go to other districts...?" That wasn't something that Creamy worried about a lot.

"Ah, those fallen districts." Creamy turned around. He didn't recognize who this new voice belonged to. The speaker was almost like a shadow, his footsteps completely silent. "Their cries of help ignored, trying their best just to face the inevitable."

"And...what about them?" Othr asked, frowning.

"Oh, those who were cowardly turned to the other districts." The shadow answered. "But there's a greater force...lying underneath, out of Archiva District's watchful eyes. Planning to rebel, to end such a brutal fate forced upon us all."

"Uhh, are you speaking something sensible?" Creamy asked.

"My words tell the most honest truth." The shadow answered.

"You're like...speaking in rhymes. It's hard to understand." Othr told him.

"They'll all make sense if you get to know him for a bit." That, Creamy suspected, was the shadow's teammate. His hair was aqua, standing out against the others, but somehow not at the same time. An aura swirled from him, but Creamy could only feel it for a moment. "His name is Bat, he's a spy for the Defiance."

"What's the Defiance?" Creamy asked. Appa had landed back on his shoulder, eager to hear the conversation as well.

"It's the rebel force. They mostly consist of fallen districts stripped of their title and treasure by the Circle Trial." Bat explained. 

"Never heard of it." Othr glanced at Creamy. Creamy shook his head.

"At this point they really can't do much, especially with Archiva being as strong as ever." Said the one with the aura.

"Archiva sounds pretty awful." Creamy thought aloud. Appa nodded her head in agreement.

"Not exactly." Bat answered, "for they want us to be happy too. I believe there is a much larger, underlying force."

"My head is going to explode." Othr said. "Can we just worry about the simulation for now?"

Creamy couldn't agree more. But when the Cirandeiro stopped at the edge of Jay Blossom, he still couldn't get the Circle Trial and the Defiance out of his head.