# data[].attributes.body
"All packed."

# data[].attributes.body
Luci sighs. "Okay, are you packed?"

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I nod, not exactly eager to explain.  Hoping Luci won't comment on my newest additions...

# data[].attributes.body
"I was changing, and an empousa caught me."

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Luci looked up. "Where have you been?"

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"We're back guys."

# data[].attributes.body
They made it back quickly

# data[].attributes.body
Takashi followed.

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I took off one of my sandals and buried my bare foot in the dirt, feeling through the forest I sensed where a small group of demi-gods were.  Smiling slightly I put my shoe back on, foot still covered in dirt, and took off in that direction

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She shook her head and kept rapping.

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"Yea, do you know where they are?" I forced my vines to change completely pink

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//Not translating that one... Its a good song tho. Headphones arre definately needed to listen to that one...

# data[].attributes.body
She started singing another song. It was called AgustD.

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"We still need to go..."

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"Alright..." My voice was very small

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"Huh?" She snapped out of her trance. "No... That song relates to a past relationship... I don't wanna talk about it so don't ask...."

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"D-do you really think that?"

# data[].attributes.body
" Love you so bad, love you so bad
Mold a pretty lie for you
Love it’s so mad, love it’s so mad
Try to erase myself and make me your doll
Love you so bad, love you so bad
Mold a pretty lie for you
Love it’s so mad, love it’s so mad
Try to erase myself and make me your doll "

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I single word, I whisper a single word "Never."  Never would it be fake, never would it be untrue, never would Takashi have to change themselves for me

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Tears were streaming down Takashi's face. " Woo, I dunno, I dunno, I dunno why
Woo, even I, even I don’t know myself
Woo, I just know, I just know, I just know why
Cuz it’s all fake love, fake love, fake love "

# data[].attributes.body
Just a song, just a... song... I gave up, I let the thoughts flood my mind, a sob escaped my lips, tears spilled down my cheeks.  The vines swirled with a soft pink and a deep blue.  So they reflect my emotions now?

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//It's official im JungSH00K

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((........................... #ShookOuttaMyChair))

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//...just wow.

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" I'm so sick of this fake love, fake love, fake love
I'm so sorry but it's fake love, fake love, fake love
Why you sad? I don’t know. I don’t know
Smile, say 'I love you'
Look at me, even I gave up on myself
Even you can’t understand me
You say I’m unfamiliar, changed into the one you used to like
You say I’m not myself which you knew well
No? What do you mean no? I’m blind
Love? What the heck is love? It’s all fake love"

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Just a song, just a song, just a song.  I repeated my chanting over and over in my mind, blocking out all other thoughts

# data[].attributes.body
" Love you so bad, love you so bad
Mold a pretty lie for you
Love it’s so mad, love it’s so mad
Try to erase myself and make me your doll
Love you so bad, love you so bad
Mold a pretty lie for you
Love it’s so mad, love it’s so mad
Try to erase myself and make me your doll "

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//JungSH00K

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((0-0 I'm shook))

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I listened, trying to block out thoughts that maybe the song had some meaning.  Don't be silly Lesley, I told myself.  Don't kid yourself.  It's just a song.

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//LOOK UP BTS FAKE LOVE LYRICS IM NOT LYING

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((DUDE WHAT IN HADES THAT IS CRAZY))

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" For you, I could pretend like I was happy when I was sad
For you, I could pretend like I was strong when I was hurt
I wish love was perfect as love itself
I wish all my weaknesses could be hidden grew a flower that can’t be bloomed in a dream that can’t come true "

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//i chose a random song i liked. JUST WOW

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I looked away, I couldn't take it, was it a game, was it real, or maybe it was just a song... Maybe I'm over thinking... I just couldn't shake the feeling...

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" I'm so sick of this fake love, fake love, fake love
I'm so sorry but it's fake love, fake love, fake love
I wanna be a good man, just for you
I gave the world, just for you
I changed everything, just for you
But I dunno me, Who are you?
The forest just for us, you weren’t there
The route I took, I forgot
I even became quite unsure of who I was
Try babbling into the mirror, who the heck are you? "

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The lyrics hit home, what in Hades was this?!  I looked at Takashi, my cheeks, my vines, they were all pink.  My breath drew short, was it a coincidence?  Could she possibly like me too?

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"For you, I could pretend like I was happy when I was sad
For you, I could pretend like I was strong when I was hurt
I wish love was perfect as love itself
I wish all my weaknesses could be hidden
I grew a flower that can’t be bloomed in a dream that can’t come true "

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I tilt my head to the right, trying to place the notes.  As always, they sang beautifully

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Takashi started singing an unfamiliar song.

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I blush, realizing that Taskashi entrusted another secret to me.  "Right, of course..."

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"Oh, they dont itch. I just have to hide them from the others..."

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"There's a plant that could make the scabs itch less..."

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They go back to the other, Takashi rolling down his sleeves and pant legs.

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"Alright lets go, before she decides to make our lives horrid with some cold weather"

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Takashi nodded.

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"Of course she does."  A groan escapes my lips.  I really hate the cold

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"Yeah. Venti though. They're acting up, as if Khione knows we're coming..."

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"Don't we have Frank?"

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"Oh! Yeah!! That's even father, therefore proving my point..."

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"I thought we were going to Canada?"

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"It's fine. We need to get the others and get going though. I can't shadow travel that big a group to Camp Jupiter in one sitting..."

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"Still, I shouldn't have reacted the way I did..."

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"It's fine. It was a sudden change, after all.."

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As the vine drew back into my arm I altered it, making the tip our flowers, forever ingraining it in my skin "Takashi, I'm sorry.  Please forgive me..."

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Takashi froze up, surprised by the contact. However, she eventually hugged back. She also adjusted her harness.

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I felt her feelings of despair through my vines, I drew her near and wrapped my arms around her, him, who cares?  Takashi was my friend... and I loved them.

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She shook her head. Oh, if only. The stupid dreams had been broken, so what was left? You couldn't even leave camp, let alone the country. You could not fulfill your dream. Nothing was left.

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"You're beautiful, cuts or no.  You don't deserve those feelings." We were feet apart, pink spread along the vines, almost like the flush was an infection

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"I felt like it." She won't give a detailed answer. She had hoped you would settle for that.

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Before I could fully comprehend my vine was reaching out, carefully twining around her waist, the soft stalk was fuzzy with new growth.  I slowly drew her nearer to me "Why?"

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She only turned around, pulling up her back sleeves and pant legs. There were nasty red cuts, scabbing over all over her. "I don't need to explain."

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I cocked my head, at least she wasn't telling me to leave... "Alright," I spoke cautiously "But can you please come away from the cliff?"

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Takashi stared down into the dark abyss. "Do you wanna see why I started wearing leggings and sweaters under my camp outfits?"

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I followed after her, a vine poised to catch her if she tried anything "...please..." My voice came out in a whisper, carried along by the wind that ruffled her now short hair.  It looked great on her, I liked the rugged look.  Heat rising to my cheeks yet again I realized she just changed, like a Natai bloom changing from gold in the fall to white in the winter. ((Fictional flower lol)) I held my palm out, the intertwining flowers, our signature, growing.  "I made a mistake... I know, it was horrible, and cruel... but... I still love you." The last words came out in barely a whisper, I was unsure if she heard them but my cheeks flared with color, so much so that the vines even changed to a soft pink.

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Takashi kept walking, until she reached a cliff.

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"Co- Takashi.... I'm... so sorry..." The vines were already falling back into my skin as I took a few tentative steps forward "Please, please forgive me..." Tears formed in my eyes.  I was harsh, cruel, horrible.

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Takashi walked further away from Lesley. "I said go..."

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Even this couldn't snap me out of the trance I was in, I eyed the empousa and felt her sizing me up.  Finally something, some stray instinct, told her I was dangerous and she shouldn't attack.  But it was too late.  As she turned to run my vines shot out, one bound her as another speared her straight through her heart.  Turning her to monster dust instantly.

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Takashi was quiet. "Go away Lesley..."

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A scream escapes my lips, drawing the empousa's attention towards me.  Good?  Bad?  I don't know, I didn't care.  My face became stony, was it Cosmic?  I wasn't sure, but I knew they were a vital part of the quest.  Vines burst from my skin and stood, poised around me, like Medusa's snakes "Pounce.  I dare you." The noise that came from my throat wasn't my own voice, it was like a growl from deep within the earth, terrifying, powerful.  I wasn't a little flower anymore and this empousa knew it.

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Takashi was being dragged away by the empousa, unwilling to run away. She felt dead. She won't go home. Her best friend hates her. No more purpose...

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"Zeus!"  I ran as fast as I could, the plants at my feet giving me a boost, No one can die, no one...

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She heard victorious laughter from where Takashi ran, and it surely was not from Takashi.

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I stood there in silence.  No, it wasn't still her, the change was too much, besides, if I accepted it then it would be hard for me to leave her.  No... the flower in the meadow would be my apology...

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"Dude! Its still me! I'm genderfluid, so I wanted to be more gender neutral... Now I know I should haqve stayed in my cabin the night of the prank. Maybe I wouldn't be as hurt..." She took her bag and sprinted to where Frank had spotted the empousa.

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"Why should I tell you anything?" I snapped, I was a hurt flower on her last defense.  "You're not Cosmic or Luci.  The only two people I was close to."  I couldn't even tell Lu, she has enough to worry about...

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Takashi wondered what she was doing. "What's this about, Lesley. Tell me."

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I didn't care about dying anymore.  I didn't care, the only thing that mattered was gone.  I stood up, vines had embedded themselves in my skin, running up and down my cheeks and arms, curling in little patterns, I could feel them.  Another gift from my mother, an arsenal of active plants right under my skin.  I could spear a monster with the jagged ends of the vines, but on my skin they looked like harmless tattoos.  If Cosmic was going to change so would I.

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She came back. "Our distraction is ready." She bowed. Her chest was much flatter. Binder? Probably. "We need to go. If the empousa catches up, you all go and I will find you guys."

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I was vaguely aware of Takashi running off but I couldn't fully comprehend.  It was because of me wasn't it?  But I'm crying because of her!  Or... him... or... I started to sob harder.  This wasn't right!  Cosmic was supposed to be with us!  Not this... this... foreign creature!  I know I was being cruel but I had just grown comfortable with Cosmic.  Only for her to be ripped away...

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Takashi was hurt. She sprinted away, to cry and change. She was trying to be more gender neutral, not completely change herself... Why was Lesley being so harsh?? Eventually, she came back.

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I shake my head, the tears were forming flowers on the ground.  I couldn't bear to look at the blue roses, I turned them all to red.  "J-just go." It came out harsher than I meant to but I couldn't help it, this wasn't Cosmic, this was some strange life form that only looked like her.  Tears continued to fall, faster, faster, until I was sitting on a thick carpet of flowers

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Takashi ran up to Lesley. "You okay? Please tell me what's wrong, before I have to change into our distraction."

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"I-I...." What had happened to Cosmic?!  Tears started streaming down my cheeks.  I was weak, confused, and scared, where was the girl I loved?  Yes, I accepted it... I loved her... but now she's gone... maybe it's better this way.  Now when I die I won't feel so bad...

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Takashi shook his head. "We need to leave. An empousa is on our trail. I might need to change for... distractions."

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I was so confused, I just woke up and heard Cosmic- no, Takashi now- sing, then Luci freaked out, then... I rub my head tiredly "What in Hades is going on!"  I hate being in the dark, figuratively and literally

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((okay, I added you

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//Okay UwU

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((okay, give me a moment.

# data[].attributes.body
//Magic HS sounds rlly interesting

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((sure, I have three free. Which one, hp or magic hs?

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//Sure! Do you wanna set it up? I have 2 padlets wasted...

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((then we can add mrs.Baldwin and do that one instead?

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((I don't like Doki, and I haven't really seen Yuri. I was thinking Harry Potter? Or maybe just a magical highschool?

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//*cries* sure. I have 2 made. a DDLC rp an a YOI rp

# data[].attributes.body
((*puffs out cheeks* should we make another padlet, just us with another topic? so we're not just by ourselves waiting for the others to join in? LIke keep this one up, but also have another?

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//idk TT

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(( where is everyone?