Catherine jumps from her couch, back at home where she wanted to be. On her chest laid a note. She reads it.
Sorry for the sudden teleport back home! Something came up and I didn't want you guys to get involved. Once you get a chance, it's imperative that you come back later. Be safe!170Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡztFuN8Zx8X
~Verna
"...Okay.." she slips into her coat pocket. Suddenly, a knock on the door. Trudging with a slight limp through her still unfinished apartment, she opens the door. Talia was on the other side, smiling at her.
"Oh. Hey Tal."
"Hi hi!"
"Do you wanna come in or...?"
"Uhm..." Talia takes a peek inside. "If you want me to, I guess?"
Catherine opens the door more, allowing her to get in. They walk in the house with careful stepping and maneuveuring onto the lofty couch.
"Wow, it's like you were barely even here yesterday..."
"Heh..." she chuckled, as Talia was somewhat right. "I just didn't want to look bad in front of my best friend..."
Talia notices a small burn mark on Catherine's leg, from Pierrot's explosion-fest the day before.
"...What?"
"There's...a burn on your leg."
"Oh, that! I was being clumsy as hell and burned myself with the damn iron...yeah..."
"...Are you okay? You're not as talkative as you usually are.."
"I'm fine, it's just a little burn. It'll clear up in a few days."
"It just...feels like you're hiding something from me..." Talia puts a gentle hand on Catherine's shoulder. "Is there something you need to get off of your chest?"
"...I'm fine, I told you."
"You're not fine, because the Catherine I know would've told me what's wrong by now.."
"Why are you being so damn persistent on finding out?"
"So, there is something wrong?"
"No!" Catherine's Gift finally snaps, and she dives into the floor like it was water.
"Catherine!?" Talia asks while looking around the couch.
Catherine peeks her head from inside the floor. "...I guess you're not budging without an explanation, huh?"
"No..." Talia says sternly. "No, I'm not."
Catherine pulls herself out entirely, before sitting on the floor.
"I'm...a Prodigy.."
"...A what?"
"A time traveler! I'm a time traveler, damnit!"
"But...this doesn't make sense..."
"It didn't make sense to me either. But... yeah. I can phase through stuff and travel through time now."
"What's that gotta do with the burn on your leg though?"
"Yesterday, me and some others beat this pretty insane jester guy. Had explosives and almost killed us.."
Catherine pulls out the note. "I have to go back today, as a matter of fact.."
"Oh..."
"Now, you might wanna stand back..." Catherine pulls her watch out of her shirt and begins to do the ritual.
A strong breeze of wind dashes past them. A dazzling blue light begins to form. Talia, wide-eyed, watches as the time warp opens up for Catherine to jump into.
"I'm gonna go now. Don't screw up anything while I'm gone."
And just as Catherine hops, she feels Talia grab her hand, and they both fall through, back into the Time Realm.
Catherine frantically looks for her friend.
"Tal! What the hell?!"
"Sorry, sorry!" Talia apologized, getting up. "I was just so curious, you know?"
"You've gotta go back. I'm not letting you get killed because you decided to follow me!"
"Hello again...Catherine..." Nathaniel makes himself known, not far behind from where they were standing. "And might thou be?"170Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDeSNtAMtAw
He looks towards Talia with less hostility.
Catherine could hear Talia's heart pitter-patter out of her chest.
"Uhm...Talia?"
Talia didn't respond. She was too focused on his face to. Catherine snaps her fingers in front of her face, trying to wake her up.
"... People from thy time are...strange.."
"I know...just don't mind her.."
"...Well, shall we return to our sanctuary?"
"Is that what we're calling it?"
"For now.." He walks off.
Catherine began to follow him, but Talia pulls her aside.
"My heart is about to beat out of my chest..."
"I've noticed.." Catherine pulls her arm from Talia's. "I'm sending you back now... don't tell anyone about this..."
Talia peeks over her shoulder.
"Tal!" Catherine places both of her hands on her face and forces her to look at her.170Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxPqsZhwhPh
"I'm serious! Don't tell a damn soul!"
"Okay! Jeez.."
"Good.." Catherine pulls out her watch and begins to open the time warp. "Now hurry."
The warp opens, the dazzling blue gleam flickered on their faces.
"See you tomorrow?"
"Maybe..."
Talia walks through, disappearing from the Time Realm.
"Catherine.." Nathaniel's voice echoed. "Can thou go any slower?"
"I'm coming.."
The duo makes it to the sanctuary, where the other half of the Prodigies, Isabelle, Ezra and Arsenio, were chatting with each other. Their conversation was put on hold when Catherine and Nathaniel walked in.
"H-Hello Catherine...Nathaniel.." Isabelle said, sitting on her bed.
"Yes, very nice to see you two again." Ezra added.
Arsenio was laid back, sipping a drink.
"...What are we talking about?"
"W-we were talking a-about A-Arsenio's handcuffs...and some ways to get them off.."
"Yep." he takes another sip. "I've tried unscrewing them, but they're still locked tight."
Arsenio pulls out a handful of screws and pours them onto the bed.
"I'm pretty sure I took every single one out. It might be something on the inside that prevents someone from taking it off by disassembly."
"Prodigies!"
The door opens once again, and Verna's frantic face was on the other side.
"Someone just went through a time warp!"
"And?"
"I suspect it's a normal person!"
"... Catherine.." Nathaniel states angrily at her.
"...Oh crap.." Catherine pulls out her phone and calls Talia.
"Catherine!"
"Tal! Are you alright?!"
"I don't know! I'm in the middle of nowhere! Where the hell am I?!"
"Stay calm, we're on our way, just...hide and stay quiet."
All eyes were on her.
"I...might've sent Talia to a dimension instead of home..."
"Well then, hurry! I managed to pinpoint the dimension's location and I don't know when a Timebreaker will appear.." Verna turns to Ezra. "You have to stay here, for your safety."
"Okay, just make it back with Isabelle.."
"I-I promise I'll be okay.."
"Good." Ezra waves them away.
The Prodigies jump from their relaxing positions and bolts into a time warp opened by Verna.
On the other side, another Timebreaker was already starting to terrorize Talia. Its arm, covered in vines and flowers, hand and tree-like fingers gripped onto Talia with relative ease.
"Talia!"
"Catherine! H-Help!"
The Timebreaker finally showed itself to the Prodigies. Venus the Timeblossom, carried Talia to the middle of the dimension.
"Poor girl..." The Timebreaker whispered. "She doesn't even understand what is happening."
"Catherine, distract her..."
"Why do I have to?"
"Thou have no ways of attacking, thou will only hurt thyself.."
"...Fine." Catherine attempts to phase through the platform they were standing on, but she didn't seep through..
"Of course the moment I need to use this damn thing, I can't!"
"You can't fall here.." Verna explained. "You'll have to find some other way to get her attention."
"Oi! Flower lady! Let my friend go!"
"But she's so delicate..." Venus begins to tug at her clothes. "And it seems your friends are keen on attacking me.."
Vines unearthed themselves and begins to attack the other Prodigies.
"This new flower of mine. I shall keep it.."170Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2R03CG009F
Venus places Talia in her flower crown, stuffed in between other flowers and plants aplenty.
"I would really love to stay, but I have a home and family to get back to!"
"Now... I'll need to do something about the weeds..."
She cups her hands and blows into them, allowing glowing dust to fly into the air...and into the Prodigies faces...
Nathaniel, Isabelle and Arsenio were blown away from the air and pollen blasting into their faces..
Isabelle, who seemed to be fine from the impact, sneezed abruptly.
"Bless you, Izzy.." Dawlly said, pulling itself from her pocket with a tissue.
"T-thank you..." taking the tissue and cleaning her nose.
The other two hadn't gotten up yet, until the girls had their backs turned..
"Catherine! Something's off about Nathaniel!" Talia said from afar. "He looks angry about something!"
"Eh?" she turns around after picking Isabelle up. "Nate? Is something the matter with you?"
"This is another part of my abilities...I have amplified their emotions with my spores.."
Nathaniel and Arsenio slowly stand up, clearly affected by the pollen that was thrown into their faces.
Nathaniel responded with anger, where he leaps at Catherine as she jumps back.
"Nate! What the hell did I do?!" she screamed as she ran.
As for Arsenio...he ran straight for Isabelle. But as Nathaniel was trying to kill Catherine where she stood, he tried to... cuddle with her?
"D-Dawlly! Help!"
"I'm trying, but he won't budge!"
"Why would I? She's so warm.."
The two girls try their best to fight them off.
"Verna! A little help here?!"
Verna appears and clears her throat...
"Tempus: Cessatio!"
Time stops, but this time Catherine and Isabelle can move...
Catherine breathes heavily. Isabelle slips through Arsenio's arms and runs towards them.
"Okay...we need to come up with a plan. Right now, before Nathaniel cuts me to pieces and Arsenio...cuddles Isabelle to death?"
"W-what has h-happened to them? And why aren't w-we affected?"
"Obviously.." Catherine states, "... it's because we're the same gender as her..."
"B-but...how do we stop them?"
"We beat the hell out of them until they come to their senses, of course."
"B-but..." "I-I don't want to hurt them...t-they're our allies..."
"C-Can we hurry this conversation along? I can't hold onto time much longer.." Verna says, straining.
"Just hit him hard enough to where he's back to normal.."
Isabelle hesitates, then nods. "O-okay.."
Verna releases time from it's frozen state, the boys rushed towards them.
"Hey Nate!" Catherine taunts. "Come on, you have to run a little faster than that!"
As if on cue, he seemed to run three times faster. Just as she planned.
"Hah! Dumbass!" While he's still running towards her, Catherine holds a leg out and trips him. He immediately falls face first into the ground.
As Nathaniel's pulling himself up however, Catherine holds him down with one knee, and both arms behind him.
"Now, snap the hell out of it!"
She slowly feels his body slip from under her. Suddenly, the tables had turned.
"...Alright alright, let's just talk about this, okay? First, I'm sorry for tripping you..."
Nathaniel calls upon his Gift and prepares the fatal blow, the thin, sharp point just inches away from her face.
"O-okay! Alright! No need to get aggressive! Just...put away the sword-shield thing.."
No matter how much she tried to negotiate, it didn't seem like he was switching back to normal. With an arm raised, he swiftly jabs down. Catherine just managed to move out of his attack.
"Alright, that's it, I'm gonna use my foolproof escape plan!"
"There is only one way out of this, Catherine. Dea-"
Nathaniel feels something press against his nose, catching him off guard. Catherine tried to catch him off guard by... poking his nose.
"Boop." She said playfully.
"What did you just..."
His face scrunches up.
"...Nate. Don't you d-"
Nathaniel finally lets out a sneeze, which thankfully, reverts him back to normal.
"Nathaniel! That's gross as hell!" Catherine's screams, wiping the germs from her face. "Also, get the hell off of me!"
Nathaniel quickly gets up, dusts himself off, and pulls Catherine to her feet.
"Hey Isabelle! You just have to make Arsenio sneeze!"
"I-I would m-make him sneeze if I h-had the u-use of my arms!"
"Has thou tried struggling?"
"He j-just keeps hugging t-tighter!"
"...Shake your head, Isabelle."
"H-hm?"
"If he's behind you, you can tickle his nose with your hair...I think.."
"A-Arsenio..."
"Mhm?"
Isabelle begins to shake her head in a vigorous manner.
"Aww..."
"No! Y-You're supposed to sneeze!"
"But I don't want to sneeze on you..."
Isabelle tries making Arsenio sneeze again with the same strategy, to no avail.
"Dawlly! Y-You can do your ability!
"Alright, no one snuggles with Izzy and gets away with it!" Dawlly said angrily. With a strong tug of the thread, Isabelle's expression grew to anger. Large amounts of thread spilled from every inch of her body to wrap around Arsenio's arms.
"Get... the hell off of me...you pansy pillock!"
"Oooh...I like you better when you're ang-"
More threads wrapped themselves around his face.
"Shut up..." She pulls her pair of scissors out of her pocket.
"We just needed him to release her, Dawlly. Please, return her to normal."
Suddenly, Isabelle drops to the floor.
"Can't have you murdering him apparently, Izzy."
Isabelle gets up, lightly clenching the space around her heart, and looking up at Arsenio somberly.
"I-I'm s-sorry Arsenio, but it had to be d-done..."
"Just don't forget you have him tied up.."170Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3mkkxayycr
Dawlly said, slipping back into her pocket.
"We're gonna go get Talia, and we'll come back." Catherine and Nathaniel push forward towards Venus.
"I'll k-keep Arsenio company u-until he s-sneezes..."
"Good. Catherine, thou shall come with me to catch Talia and send her back home as originally intended..."
"Yeah yeah..."
Nathaniel walks towards Venus in an intimidating manner.
"Do you have a death wish, Prodigy?"
"I'm hoping thou would release that innocent young lady from thy grasp."
"...If you so desire."
Softly, Venus pulls Talia from her flower crown and tosses her into Nathaniel's arms.
"...H-Hi..."
"Catherine. Take her home."
"I've got it this time, I swear."
Slowly, Catherine does the time traveling ritual back home. Nathaniel puts Talia down.
"Okay, before I go in, are you absolutely sure this is going home?"
"Uhhh.."
Verna stares at the warp for a second.170Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrWpgyJAVcK
"Yep, that goes back to 2022."
"Bye, for real this time." Catherine chuckled.
"Bye!" Talia hugs Catherine. "Don't die on me, okay? I don't know what I'd do without you..."
"I can't really promise that, but I'll try, for you."
"...Come back every once in a while, okay?"
"Alright! Get out of here, before something else comes here!"
"Okay! Okay!" Talia pulls herself off and walks into the time warp. It then closes.
"Prodigies. Before you go." Venus' voice was very soft but stern. "There is something I must tell you."
"Yeah? What is it?"
"...Something or someone is doing this to us. Turning us...into these monsters. I'm just breaking from the trance, but I only have a little time...Pierrot and the other Timebreakers. We were all Prodigious like you. Something overtook us. Be careful, because if you see it...it is too late for you.."
A time warp appears behind Venus, she drags herself through it, never to be seen again.
"...Nate, you know the most Prodigy stuff out of all of us. What was she talking about? What is that it?"
"I am...not quite sure myself. What or whoever it is, however, they are pure evil.."
"Catherine. Nathaniel. A-Arsenio's back to normal...I-I think..."
"He better be!" Dawlly adds. "I won't hesitate to make her cut him open!"
Muffled by the amount of thread covering his mouth, Arsenio responds. "I think I'm okay...just a little confused on how I got in this situation.."
Isabelle twiddles her fingers. "Let's n-not talk a-about it..."
"Yeah, let's not. Whatever I did must've been really uncomfortable, so I'd like to apologize...as soon as I'm let go."
"A-Ah! I'm sorry!" The threads loosen, and Arsenio is let free.
Arsenio jokingly clears his throat and takes a deep breath.
"I'm sorry for making you feel uncomfortable."
"Y-You don't need to apologize...it wasn't in your c-control..."
"Yeah, but...I still feel bad. I mean, I know I like to charm girls and all, but I'm not gonna be disrespectful."
"...O-okay then..I-I forgive you, Arsenio.."
Arsenio gives Isabelle a light pat on the head. "Great, we're friends again."
"Kids." Verna appears. "Today, please? We have a lot to do tomorrow and I want you guys to be well rested." she hurried.
"We're on our way, jeez..." Catherine returned.
Verna creates a time warp, and the Prodigies return to the Sanctuary.
"E-Ezra, we're back.."
"Welcome back. I made some food for us, I'm sure you four are hungry after the adventure you've had."
She places a lavish meal in front of them, which the Prodigies promptly ate. After chatting a bit and some quiet time, the Prodigies all fell asleep in their appropriate beds. Except for Catherine, of course.
Something was keeping her up. Not her writing notebook, but an itchy pain on her neck. Maybe she had an allergic reaction to the pollen after all...
To be continued in Prodigy: Casters of Time Chapter 3
170Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjbZvtdQeiR
