ChopperScotchStudios

Masterlist: https://worldofgriffia.com/masterlist/21408 So this is what my life up until now has lead to, huh? The horrible realization that both I, and my best friend weren't unique compared to other Bagbeans. We weren't one in a billion. We were one OF a billion. Maze was always such a cheerful and loving griffolk up until now. Instead, she was awkwardly watching me as I ugly cried on her stoop. How was she faring with such devastating news? ...knowing her, she was worried about ME. "Hey, I'm sure it's not that bad, Haze--" She started to say, but I cut her off almost as soon as I heard my name. Was it even MY name at all? "Don't call me that!" I roated, whipping my gaze to meet hers. "I never want to be called that ever again! It's not MY name! It's what I am, apparently......." I said. Tears were running down my face now, and it was then that I realized just how much I was scaring her. She took a step back, her ears falling at the sound of my hostile words. She was shaking like a leaf as I looked at her. Was she actually afraid of me? I had never seen her as anything but happy before. She can get upset about things, sure. Everyone does. But I had never seen it before now. I felt like a monster in that moment, looking away to wipe the tears from my face. "Well... what should I call you then...?" She asked softly, keeping a careful eye on my movements. What was I doing? Who even was I anymore...? "I... I dunno. Not Haze, though." I replied softly, still avoiding her gaze. "Maybe... maybe call me Halzie instead. It's close enough so I can still remember it's mine, right...?" I looked up at her then, only to be greeted by her goofy grin. "That's a good first step! I think I'll do that too! From now on, call me Malzie! That way we can still have similar names, like before!" She said. "Now, we have to work on making ourselves different than the other Hazes and Mazes, right? I don't think we can do very much right now, but..." She trailed off, frowning. I figured she was thinking that making our appearance different would require us to have items that we simply don't have, and can't afford just yet. I watched as her ears dropped once more, and her tail wrapped around her feet. Maybe now the whole scenario was begining to dawn on her? I watched her curl up around herself, the tears in her eyes starting to well up. "Malzie? You ok?" I asked, looking at her with a worried expression. I reached out, holding out my arms for a hug. She quickly accepted my wordless offer, letting my signature tight hugs wrap around her waist, and melt all of the horrible thoughts from her mind. "Maybe we can do something with our hair? Like, if we grow it out and dye it and style it, it should make us look different enough, until we can afford to truly be different." "Yeah... yeah that's..." She sniffled a bit, pulling out of the hug to look at me. She wiped the now freshly fallen tears from her face, before meeting my gaze. "That's a good idea, for now... And maybe we can style it a bit too? I dunno, it's just a thought." "Well, it's a great thought! I should have stuff for coloring our hair at home, plus some brushes and combs, and all that junk for styling too." I said, doing my best to make this bad situation a bit more bearable for her. She deserves to happy. As I took her paw and lead her back to our house, all I could think was: everything is going to be ok, and I'm going to make it that way. I know now, as I laugh with Malzie about the way my hair is turning out because of the bleach and the hot pink dye I chose, that even if I am 'just another Haze', that doesn't mean that's where my identity ends. In a place like Griffia, I can be anything I want to. Today, I'm choosing to be me. I'm choosing to be Halzie, and whoever that ends up being is unique in ways that other Hazes can't match.

Masterlist: https://worldofgriffia.com/masterlist/21409 As I sat next to my best friend Haze, I knew that this time, comforting her would be next to impossible. The realization that both of us had just faced was rather dark, and horrible. We weren't unique compared to other Bagbeans. we weren't one in a billion. We were one OF a billion. Haze was always so adamantly unique up until now, faced with the reality of being a Haze, just as I was faced with the reality of being a Maze. "Hey, I'm sure it's not that bad, Haze--" I started, trying to break her out of whatever vicious cycle of thoughts were spiralling through her mind. "Don't call me that!" She exclaimed angrily, taking her head out of her paws. "I never want to be called that ever again! It's not MY name! It's what I am, apparently..." She said. Tears were running down her face now, and it was rather clear just how much this affected her. I took a step back, my ears falling at the harshness of her words. She had been such a bright and wonderful bagbean to be around only a few minutes before. I had admittedly never seen her upset before. At least, not this much... She got upset about other things, sure. Everyone does. There was one time where she cried about a snake for around an hour, because they didn't have arms. But compared to something like this? "Well... what should I call you then...?" I asked, looking at her as she wiped at her face. "I... I dunno. Not Haze, though." She replied meekly. "Maybe... maybe call me Halzie instead. It's close enough so I can still remember it's mine, right...?" She was avoiding my gaze, but eventually looked at me, only to see my excited grin. "That's a good first step! I think I'll do that too! From now on, call me Malzie! That way we can still have similar names, like before!" I said. "Now, we have to work on making ourselves different than the other Hazes and Mazes, right? I don't think we can do very much right now, but..." I trailed off, frowning as I realized that making our appearance different would require us to have items that we simply don't possess right now. We don't even have any money for anything like that. My ears dropped once more, and my tail wrapped around my feet. I couldn't provide a solution for Hazlie this time. I ALWAYS provided a solution to all of our problems. The weight of this whole thing was now beginning to settle on my shoulders. If I was one out of a billion like me, then was being the go-to problem solver not really something unique about me? Were all Mazes good problem solvers? "Malzie? You ok?" Halzie asked, looking at me. She reached out, holding out her arms for a hug. I gladly accepted her wordless offer, letting her strong grip around my body melt all of the horrible thoughts from my mind. "Maybe we can do something with our hair? Like, if we grow it out and dye it and style it, it should make us look different enough, until we can afford to truly be different." "Yeah... yeah that's..." I sniffled a bit, pulling out of the hug to look at Halzie. I wiped my own tears from my face, before meeting her gaze. "That's a good idea, for now... And maybe we can style it a bit too? I dunno, it's just a thought." "Well, it's a great thought! I should have stuff for coloring our hair at home, plus some brushes and combs, and all that junk for styling too." Halzie said, her outgoing personality shining through once more with full force now. As she took my paw and lead me back to our house, all I could think was: everything is going to be ok. I know now, as I watch the various shades of green hair dye set in my short hair, that even if I am 'just another Maze', that doesn't mean that's where my identity ends. In a place like Griffia, I can be anything I want to. Today, I'm choosing to be me. I'm choosing to be Malzie, and whoever that ends up being is unique in ways that other Mazes can't match.

The portal that Kokoro created was absolutely gorgeous to look at. She guided Cola through it, into a place just like she imagined it would. It was nearly identical to the Apocrypha from Skyrim, save for the various enemies, and pools of questionable black liquid all over the place. There were towers of books stacked in an organized, yet chaotic manner, and a soft breeze smelling of old book glue blew a few stray pages around in circles. The sky was an eerie, unnerving, and yet rather welcoming shade of green. An imp approached Cola, her demeanor rather cold and unpleasant. Her fur was a full lavender color, with various shades of pink accenting her chest, hood, and the tip of her long, fluffy tail. She wore a mask with a slightly broze-ish golden color, obscuring her face. It was near identical to the mask another character in Skyrim was known for: a mask named Miraak, named after the character who owned it. There were subtle differences in the Miraak mask and the one the purple imp before them wore, but there was no doubt that one likely inspired the other. And considering the situation with Hermaeus the Impim, and Hermaeus Mora the Skyrim character, it's likely that the mask in game was based on the mask this imp wore. "Lady Kokoro? We weren't exactly expecting you. Nor were we expecting you to bring a mortal to the Plane Of Truths." The purple imp said. "It's a bit complicated, Miraak. I need to speak with Hermaeus though. If you could get us to wherever he is, that would be very helpful." Kokoro said. Miraak nodded, motioning for both Cola and Kokoro to follow her deeper into the seemingly endless library. She made no effort to start up conversation, and Cola got the sense that she was a very cold and uncaring Impim. That persona she had built up almost instantly melted away after a dark green and black Impim snuck up behind her, emerging from the floor beneath you by phasing through it, before grabbing her waist. Miraak gave a shriek mixed with surprise and delight, before the sound devolved into giggles. "Hermaeus, stop!" She chuckled, trying to break free of the one eyed imp's playful grasp. He gave his own chuckle, letting Miraak go before taking down his hood and turning to Cola and Kokoro. Hermaeus was unlike any Impim you had ever seen before. His fur was unbelievably short, giving the illusion he had none at all, if you were far enough away. His singular eye was the only part of his face. No mouth, no nose, no snout, just one, large, green eye, that seemed to peer into your very soul and beyond. Hermaeus took a rather long moment to look at you, as if assessing the situation before him. "Kokoro. It's rather usual to see you here. It's even more so when you arrive with a mortal such as this." He said, his voice progressing at a slower, and clearly very calculated speed. It was as if he took a great deal of care while he chose his words. Strange, how Miraak had done just the opposite. She immediately blurted out the first thing she thought at the sight of Cola and Kokoro entering this realm. Despite all of that, they had essentially expressed the same exact sentiment as each other: Kokoro being there was in no way, shape or form normal for any of them, nor was the fact that Cola was there with her. It gave off the impression that Hermaeus had no idea as to the reason this could be. But Cola could see the glint in that singular emerald green eye. He knew damn well what was going on. He wasn't even making much of an effort to hide it, either. Even with no mouth to do so, Hermaeus managed to pull off an expression reminiscent of a devilish smile. Cola gave a gentle shudder at the thought. Hermaeus had all of the answers in the universe at his fingertips. Every scrap of knowledge that ever was, or will come into being. It was even true for the Skyrim character of the same name. He knew. He knew that Cola knew. And yet, he still insisted on dragging this interaction out just a bit more than truly necessary. It was as if this interaction was just a game to him. Cola was snapped by her rather concerning thoughts about the green imp before her, realizing he had just asked her something. "Huh? What?" Cola looked up quickly, snapping her attention back to Hermaeus. "My apologies. I asked what your name was. Kokoro has informed me of the situation already." Hermaeus drawled, as slowly as carefully as always. "O-oh..... Uh.... My name is Cola. I uh..... I work at a fast food place. I'm not sure about all this talk about me being some sort of god, or whatever though. I've always just been me. Cola. Dreaming about stuff like this being..... Well, being real but..... I never expected to be right. If that makes any sense." Cola half mumbled, avoiding the rather intense, yet non-chalant gaze of the green Impim. "Oh no, you make perfect sense my dear. Such revelations aren't common at all amongst mortals. As far as I'm aware, you are currently at the very center of rather alarming events amongst the gods." Hermaus hummed, casually inspecting his claws. "Wait..... What do you mean by 'alarming events'? And why am I at the center of it?" Cola was beginning to a bit more worried. In the fantastical adventure she dreamed of, she often forgot about what being a protagonist often meant. There was pain, and sorrow, that frankly put, Cola was not ready for. She had glamorized fantasy scenarios such as this, but stupidly managed to forget all the hardships she wouldn't be able to avoid if it was truly a reality. Hermaeus wasn't the type of guy who seemed like he would sugar coat things for her either. And as she expected, he didn't. "Oh, dear..... You don't realize it do you? You're currently a target for the God of Chaos, War, and Hate. He wants you dead. And there is currently a rather persistent mortal hunting you as well, now that you've become involved in their search for their family. Kokoro has been his target for some time. Taking her has placed the target on you now, my dear." 1084 words