"Mousey hi hi, Mason Yu is a super mega villain!"
When Mira realized Ollie had already spotted her, whatever playful amusement she'd had at teasing the kids evaporated.
She quickened her glide, and in the blink of an eye she was right at Ollie's shoulder.
Mason Yu sucked in a breath and, on instinct, hurled the small knife in his hand. He'd actually aimed pretty well, but Mira sensed the danger and barely altered the knife's path. It missed everything and fell straight into the clear creek.
Mira swam up to the hand Ollie had extended and curled around his shoulder. Once she'd settled, Ollie crouched down again. With one hand he grabbed the fish he'd been about to catch and with the other retrieved the knife Mason had thrown to "rescue" him.
To everyone watching with horrified faces, Ollie calmly walked back to shore—bearing on his shoulder a dangerously venomous snake. He handed the knife back to Mason, who was frozen, and tossed the fish onto a clean leaf to be prepared.
"You—"
Mason tried to put distance between himself and the snake. He stepped back but forgot he'd been sitting on a rock and tripped on it, landing square on his rear.
"You, you, you! Take it away, take it away! Don't come any closer!!!"
"That's a venomous snake! Venomous! Are you trying to get yourself killed? You'll play with any animal?!!"
Mason was on the verge of a breakdown.
Joining this live-streamed variety show had been the worst decision of his life. First Julian had nearly driven him mad with anger, then Ollie had done the same—and now everything he'd been upset about earlier paled in comparison. Keeping his life felt suddenly more important than anything else.
Ollie was annoyed. Aunt Mira had the best temper of them all—so what if she was venomous? She wasn't trying to poison Mason. And she certainly wasn't trying to bite his head off!
"She's not venomous right now! She's just naturally good-looking—don't be superficially judging her! And look, her temper's great. You threw a knife at her, probably to kill her—she didn't even hold it against you!"
Mira obligingly swished her gorgeous tail. She didn't like humans much to begin with, and she especially disliked this one for trying to ambush her.
"I… I… I'm sorry! I'll apologize, okay?"
Mason didn't want to humble himself, but he was terrified.
He was convinced that even the tiniest act of defiance would make the snake pounce and bite him straight into the afterlife.
Ollie didn't mince words. "Then apologize."
Mason's face went green then pale, which was a gift for the live audience. Viewers were getting their money's worth—this was the first time they'd ever seen the rich kid look this humiliated.
"Okay… sorry. I misunderstood you. I apologize."
Mira didn't take pleasure in attacking humans for no reason. Mason had thrown the knife to protect a little one, so she decided not to make a scene.
She communicated quietly through soundless speech to Ollie; after hearing her, Ollie nodded and gave Mason a command that made him collapse inwardly.
"The little snake says she'll forgive you if you grill her a fish later."
"What?!" Mason's voice cracked on the high note. "Ollie, that's a venomous snake, I'm not kidding—what if someone gets bitten?! I'm begging you, okay? Don't you care that we're scared? Right, Anna?"
Anna Lang couldn't fight her curiosity. Her instincts told her to be careful, but her feet kept creeping closer.
Her gaze was locked on the brilliantly hued snake on Ollie's shoulder. She'd never seen a snake this beautiful. Even knowing it might be dangerous, she had an irresistible urge to reach out and touch it.
Mira caught the human's stare. Her cold, slit pupils swept over Anna, softened when she realized she was just a human girl.
Anna rubbed her hands together, practically vibrating. "Ollie… can I touch her? She's so pretty."
Mason: "??? Are you trying to get yourself killed?!"
Ollie almost refused—Mira's scales carried faint toxins. Those toxins were harmless to other magical beings, but fatal to ordinary humans.
Before Ollie could say no, Mira tapped his shoulder with her tail. Ollie listened closely and realized she wasn't in her true body: this was a condensed spirit-form, nonvenomous.
"Okay, come here. The one on my shoulder isn't poisonous. If you don't trust me, I can have her bite me first."
Ollie was a little extra, and to prove it he stuck a finger toward the snake's mouth. Even if she really had no venom right now, the image was enough to make people's skin crawl.
"No, no, no! Don't! Not necessary! Being bitten hurts—I trust you!"
Ollie's gesture shut down some would-be troublemakers in the chat, preventing anyone from accusing him of endangering the guest by bringing a lethal snake.
Anna's eyes lit up like stars. She reached out carefully; the blue snake cooperated, sliding from Ollie's shoulder onto her hand.
The cold scales brushed her skin. Anna tensed at first, but when the snake raised its head and met her face, she could finally take in how beautiful the little creature was.
"So pretty… her eyes are like jewels…"
Ollie was a little stunned. Mira was blushing at a compliment—was that even allowed?
Now that he knew Mira currently carried no venom, he relaxed and returned to the creek to catch more fish. The live chat joked that Ollie wasn't catching fish to feed everyone so much as because he'd gotten carried away.
The water was cool and he waded barefoot, skin pale and luminous in the stream—so pale viewers joked they wanted to pinch that perfect foot like some sort of collector's item.
[slurp… baby's leg is so soft]
[I want to make it a little red… white is okay too]
[hehe baby don't be scared, it won't hurt I'll touch it, this is normal, it'll feel good soon…]
?[Bro, pick up your underwear, it tripped me]
[Hey you all leave him alone! He's still a kid! I'm protecting him, not feeding your fantasies!]
[Chill, this is a family channel—keep it PG or the stream's gonna die]
Mason got up, picked up his knife and sulkily kept his distance from Anna and the snake, resuming the task of sharpening a stick to roast the fish later.
Damn Ollie.
Damn Julian.
Every time they showed up, something terrible happened. He ground the stick against the rock with loud snaps, but nobody was paying attention to him anymore; everyone was obsessed with the rare blue snake.
Mira seemed fond of Anna. She found a comfortable spot around Anna's neck, draped like a shawl, and began to doze.
She could sense a remnant of her brother's power nearby, but it was so faint she couldn't track its source. Whatever had happened that made Ollie lend out her life-bead had unsettled Mira. She decided to stick around; something told her staying put would lead her to the answers she wanted.
Hidden in the shadows, Quinn wasn't happy. What was the deal? When he showed up he had a million demands, but when Mira appeared she was all snuggle-snuggle? Was she getting petty revenge?
And wasn't she the one who said she didn't want to come? So what was she doing now?
Quinn took his true form and cast a glamour over himself. To everyone else, he now looked like a snake roughly Mira's size—but not jade-green like a pit viper. His color leaned toward deep black-blue.
Let them laugh. Quinn didn't care anymore. Except for the ancient top-tier monsters, few could recognize him; among the little sprites and demons, his aura and status were still intact.
Grace Jiang was gathering a pile of sticks when she noticed something on a large rock near the creek. The chat feed freaked out again. Quinn's shape, color, and the way his head looked slightly off all screamed "toxic" to them—more so than Mira's vivid blue.
[We should move, there are too many snakes here!!! Another one?! I can't handle this I'm out, see you tomorrow]
[Wait, wait, that head shape… that color… I don't know much, but triangular heads mean dangerous! Grace, go the other way]
[Oh my god it's looking back! Grace don't move!]
Quinn planned to slither through the water like Mira had and surprise Ollie, but when he turned he saw a human girl—if he remembered correctly she had live-streaming gear on.
Hiss!
No, please!
Even in snake form, he had an idol's ego.
Panicking, Quinn tried to leap into the water. Because his body was small and he misjudged the rock, he snagged himself on a jutting stone and ended up dangling: head and tail drooping while his midsection hung over the rock like a limp rope.
[Uh, this snake looks kind of dumb?]
[I can't, this makes up for the fact snakes have never tripped before in history]
[Honestly I never imagined something so long could get tangled… it looks poisonous but maybe not very smart]
Quinn knew he was done for. Back home the old crowd would roast him for a long time. The rope-like, soulless dragon hung there, wishing time would freeze forever.
Grace was gutsy. Thinking the snake might be knocked out, she sneaked up and, in one swift move, caught him by the nape.
Quinn: "???"
Of course he noticed the human creeping closer.
He'd made himself look like a venomous snake—humans should be running the other way! Right? He was one of the Four Divine Beasts, yet here he was, effortlessly subdued by a single human.
The chat collectively facepalmed.
Every move these people made could terrify them.
Grace, pleased, hoisted the long black-blue snake—who looked utterly resigned—and swung him in front of the camera, murmuring as she did.
"I'll take him back to show Ollie. Wonder if this one's edible? He feels kinda meaty; probably filling."
Quinn: "..."
Chat: "..."
Other monsters watching the stream: "..."
[End of broadcast notes omitted]
Quinn: [pathetic][transformed][splitting]
Mouseys: [scared][scared][scared]
Mira: [angry][angry][angry]
Chat: [sob][sob][sob]
Half-Summer Stories, more joy than ever.