Awakening Moment/Mashed Potatoes

## Body of Sin

File:Sprite-Awakening Moment Mashed Potatoes.png

"Take this gold. Take everything."

"Oh... Sir, this... isn't a matter of money..."

"Please, I'm begging, lend me a ship."

Off the southern coast of Gloriville is an island visible in the distance. It's name: Sicilee.

Due to an invasion by the wicked elven plant "Flower of Evil", the royal family of Gloriville issued a decree sealing off the entire island.

Mashed Potatoes was sailing a small boat, crossing the seas on his own to get to here.

Because this shipping channel had been blocked, he had to spend a lot of gold to buy off the employee guarding over the route. The worker said, "You'll have to wait for dark and sneak by, and at that point, whether you live or die is none of my concern."

Mashed Potatoes agreed without hesitation and set off on the path of danger.

"That island is past the point of saving. It's crawling with foul things. Not even the Crown can deal with it, so what good will you do?"

The employee gave Mashed Potatoes this final piece of friendly admonition as he handed over the key to the ship.

He had just struck it rich off this Food Soul before him, and the prospect of spending the rest of his days in toil-free happiness made him feel a twinge of regret toward Mashed Potatoes.

Mashed Potatoes just shook his head and set off without a word.

In the eyes of others, he was perhaps a fool trying to play the hero, but he knew that this journey wasn't to save others. Rather, it was... to save himself.

It was he who had originally planted the Flower of Evil in the Polar Snowfield.

If at the time he hadn't planted that first seed, Minestrone wouldn't have been infected by it when he passed through the Polar Snowfield, and subsequently wouldn't have been able to use the Flower of Evil's power to destroy this entire island.

"This is all because of me. How can I stand by and do nothing... No matter how bleak the situation, at least let me do something to ease my mind some."

With these thoughts in mind, Mashed Potatoes ran the little boat up onto the beach and set foot in this strange land.

It was said Sicilee used to be Gloriville's most popular tourist island, where every season was as mild as spring, the scenery pleasant, and the people warm and hospitable.

But now it seemed all that was no longer the case.

A thick fog shrouded the towns here, making day and night blend together. In the dark nights without street lights, there were still orbs of eerie ethereal light sticking everywhere to roof beams, walls, and windows along the street.

Mashed Potatoes knew that these were nascent Flower of Evil spirits in search of a host.

They were like evil spirits roaming the night for food, restless and hungry. Seeing Mashed Potatoes approach, they started stirring one by one. Several aggressive ones wanted to pounce forward, but they were bounced back as if blocked by something.

Mashed Potatoes took a deep breath and gripped tight the necklace on his chest giving off a faint heat -- Inside the little glass vessel was the leaf of the Tree of Life and Death that Gaia had given him.

He knew the power of the Tree of Life and Death was protecting him, preventing the Flower of Evil spirits from attacking, but still, walking down the street by himself, he felt afraid all the same.

Mashed Potatoes knew he was never the brave and fearless type.

But every time he underwent a test, there was always someone at his side extending a helping hand, giving him strength.

Suddenly, he found himself missing Minestrone.

This was perhaps a bit inappropriate, since everything terrifying him on the island right now was all Minestrone's "masterpiece".

But Mashed Potatoes missed him all the same.

Perhaps it was because during the few nighttime adventures he'd undergone in his life, Minestrone was always right there with him.

In Polar Snowfield, in The Land of Eden, in those moments plunged into darkness and dreamlands, Minestrone never left his side.

Even now, after he'd witnessed with his own eyes the nightmare Minestrone had wrought, he still kept the memory of his friend who always protected him connected to the archcriminal responsible for all this.

"Just why would you do such a thing..."

Mashed Potatoes lowered his eyes, letting out all his grief, disbelief, pain, and confusion in that utterance, scattering those emotions into the night...

Then suddenly, the situation altered.

In his hand, the heat from the power of the Tree of Life and Death suddenly surged in intensity. Mashed Potatoes snapped to attention, and his heart skipped a beat. This wasn't good.

Before setting out, Gaia warned him again and again that the Flower of Evil was as psychic-based elven plant. It was most skilled at infiltrating someone when their negative emotions started piling up. It was true that Mashed Potatoes had the protection of the leaf of the Tree of Life and Death, but if his emotions became disturbed...

A ball of purplish-black ghostly light attacked. Mashed Potatoes whirled his head around, but there was no time to put up his guard as he became entangled in a brawl with the Flower of Evil.

"What... are these things?!"

Cries. Everywhere was the sound of bitter crying and wailing.

Mashed Potatoes clutched his head. The Flower of Evil's psychic attack sent him falling to the ground under its unbearable weight.

Just as they were summoned forth and before they could be put to use, the purple vines were already too weak to move and could only cling to the body of their master, protecting him as a last line of defense.

Countless distorted faces flashed in Mashed Potatoes' head.

They were wailing, squabbling, hysterically lashing out at an invisible enemy. They were the dead residents of this island.

The Flower of Evil clearly knew that the heaviest burden in Mashed Potatoes' heart was the deaths of these island inhabitants. And so, it replayed their pained expressions as they were about to die, so as to drive the guilt home deeper.

Mashed Potatoes felt like he was suffocating, and he couldn't bear to see any more, but the Flower of Evil forced him to stare at each and every gory scene.

Suddenly, in the illusion there appeared a most familiar figure.

It was Minestrone.

Mashed Potatoes took in a breath as he watched Minestrone walk past him wearing a ferocious smile that Mashed Potatoes had never seen on him before. Wherever he walked, black Flowers of Evil spread and blossomed...

Mashed Potatoes reflexively reached out to him, but the Minestrone in the illusion walked straight through him without noticing at all.

Mashed Potatoes turned his head in panic to see Minestrone slowly drawing near the pained, struggling islanders.

Minestrone grabbed one of the humans by the collar and laughed a vicious, cold-blooded laugh at him, without so much as a word.

But that person he'd grabbed seemed to have a moment of clarity, and upon seeing who it was before him, a deeper look of terror came over the person's face.

Just like-- just like seeing a demon returned from hell.

"H-- how could this be? How could it be you!!?"

"Long time no see... my... Master Attendant." Minestrone said with a smile.

Mashed Potatoes froze.

Without waiting for him to get a grip on himself, on the other side -- in the illusion -- Minestrone had released is grip, and the human fell like a heap of mud on the ground. Not long after, he flopped up like a dying fish and crawled on hands and knees to Minestrone's legs.

"P-please, p-please, let me go! Let us go! Don't kill me. I was forced to do it at the time! I had no choice!"

"Master Attendant, what is this nonsense you're spewing?"

Minestrone stood up straight and kicked that person away.

"Without receiving the order, we Food Souls are incapable of killing an Attendant... Isn't that the rule that you taught me in the beginning?"

Minestrone smiled and shook his head.

"How could I kill you then? I've long ago given up on the idea. It's just, who could've guessed that their experiments wouldn't torture me to death, that I'd survive, much less that I'd encounter this beautiful Flower of Evil..."

"N--n--no!... I-I was wrong! I was wrong!!! I shouldn't have sold you off, but honestly I didn't know that they would... do that to you! I thought they just wanted a Food Soul. A Food Soul to do work for them, that's all!"

"...Do your thing."

In practically a split-second, Mashed Potatoes saw a black ghost spring out at blinding speed from Minestrone's hand.

"Aaaaaahh--"

The world turned pale white, and all that was left was a dark shadow jumping around and devouring humans one by one, accompanied by a crunching sound.

Suddenly, everything ended.

Mashed Potatoes slowly opened his eyes. In the east, the first red rays of the sunrise tinged the island, and the monsters of the dark night were temporarily forced back into hiding. It was the natural turning of the world itself that just happened to save his life.

Mashed Potatoes laid down on the spot, breathing heavily. The vine tenderly caressed the wounds where he'd been attacked, but he was still in a daze and didn't notice.

Soon after, he stood up and dragged his spent body to a patch of earth in front of him.

Mashed Potatoes took off the glass vial around his neck and took out the leaf of the Tree of Life and Death from within, then buried it into the dirt.

In an instant, a faint blue light swept through here and rippled in wave after wave across the entire island. A blue sapling poked out of the earth, revealing a new bud.

"You'll have to take it from here."

Mashed Potatoes lightly patted it as he whispered.

The leaf of the Tree of Life and Death that Gaia gave him wasn't as strong as it would be in The Land of Eden, but it could still slowly cleanse the island of its negative energy. All it needed was time. Perhaps ten years, maybe longer.

But right now, he needed to leave here.

He knew that this road of redemption for himself, and also for Minestrone, now had a new direction.

He had to find out just who that Food Soul trader was that bought Minestrone from his Attendant and used him in unspeakable experiments. And how many more people might be involved.

Innocent, guilty, who could say? At any rate, there was no way to salvage the past.

He wasn't able to absolve Minestrone of a mistake he'd already made... but at least, maybe he could prevent the next one.

"This is the final atonement that I can make for you."