Ghost Zone Trip (pt. 7)

It was a bittersweet moment of silence that fell across the ghostly forests. Though the fight was finally over... there was still a matter of rousing the fallen Prince Arthur awake. Being a ghost, Morgan knew that this wouldn't be the permanent end of him... but still, she couldn't help but sob as she was looking back to their harrowing evening, and how it led to him being incapacitated like this.

"Arthur...please wake up...please.." she whimpered, holding Arthur's head under her chin as she embraced him tighter, "I-I didn't mean to get you into all this trouble... p-please wake up.."

From afar, the two ghosts who started this mess were hastily packing their things. Zanna with bringing out the huge array of small, round bottles, while Reve was busy using his levitation magic to pour all the cauldron's potion into each bottle. The whole time, his back was turned from Zanna... seemingly lost in thought which naturally concerned her. 

"Reve, what's up man? The fight's over, let's just get out of here already." she urged, but he didn't budge from his spot. It was only a few minutes ago did he have that big revelation with Morgan... the girl who helped him so long ago when no one else would. The first time in years that they reunite, and it had to be through battle? Even for someone like Reve, it didn't feel right...

"...Zanna..." Reve mumbled as he finally got off the ground, holding some of the potions in his arms, "...We can't leave. At least, not right now..."

"What? Why??" Zanna didn't understand, "That old prince is out cold right now, we should run while we still have the-"

"-We can't, Zanna. We just can't, alright?" Reve turned to narrow his eyes at her, his expression full of guilt. Seeing this, it made Zanna reconsider her hastiness... then also feel guilty once she picked up the soft sobbing sounds coming from where Morgan was. Sure, she may not have known Morgan like Reve did... but with how much she was clinging to the prince, it seemed like she really cared about him.

"...look, I'm sorry Reve. I didn't mean to harp ya..." Zanna apologized, patting his back to comfort him, "If you wanna go help her out, you can."

"-Hm?" Reve looked up curiously, which Zanna replied with a sigh, "Come on, I ain't stupid. You feel bad about hurting this girl and you wanna make it up to her, right?"

Realizing she caught on, Reve sighed and silently nodded, "-Alright, so go ahead then." Zanna encouraged him by helping him off the ground and taking the pile of potions from his arms, but letting him hold one of them, "Give that to her and I'll get a headstart for us. Meet you outside the realm door?"

"Sure. Thank you Zanna." Reve smiled in relief, happy to have such an understanding friend. Once he saw her go off peacefully, Reve took a deep breath before he began to float over to where Morgan was.

By now, she wasn't really sobbing anymore... just sniffling back any leftover tears stinging her eyes. Only once she looked up did she notice Reve, making her move back a little in surprise,

"W-Wha...w-what are you still doing here?" Morgan nervously asked, wondering if he was planning another villainous move again. To her surprise, he just extended a hand out, holding a potion bottle for her. 

"...Take it." He simply told her, "It'll help him get better."

"Huh?" she paused, confused by why he was being so generous right now, after all that's happened.

"...Look, I didn't know it was you that was accompanying Arthur tonight...had I known I would've surely stopped ahead of time." Reve tried to explain, his tone turning more apologetic now, "So... just use that potion on him and he'll get better. I've made it hundreds of times before, so I know it'll work." 

"...I see then..." Morgan replied, feeling a bit conflicted now. Part of her was touched that Reve still considered her a friend enough to want to make amends... yet at the same time, such an ominous-looking potion made her wary of what'll happen if she gave it to Arthur. He already had it bad enough. 

...Still, with Reve being so generous with her, she decided to just trust his word for this one time. So, with nothing else to lose Morgan lifted Arthur's head up so she could pour the bottle's contents in his mouth. A few seconds passed of nothing... until Arthur started to cough and blink his eyes opens.

"Ugh...what...where am I?" Arthur grumbled, then gasped as Morgan happily embraced him, "Arthur! Oh good, I-I thought you wouldn't wake up!" 

Seeing Morgan's face again caused Arthur to smile lovingly at her, "My lady... you know I'd never leave your side." he assured, before pulling her in for another hug. Reve just stood back, relieved to see the young huntress get her lover back. Though... that relief was short-lived once Arthur glanced up in his direction, his gaze turning back to a glare,

"-YOU!" he growled, "What are you still doing here, you demon! Haven't you done eno-"

"Arthur! Arthur! Wait!" Morgan pulled him back, "Reve was here to help you... he gave you this potion to heal you. See?" handing him the bottle. The prince wasn't sure how to process this, glancing back between Reve and the bottle in disbelief, "-That is absurd! Why would someone like YOU want to aid ME??"

Obviously annoyed, Reve just rolled his eyes, "Well first of all, I didn't specifically come to help you. I did it as a favor for Morgan." 

"...Morgan's?" Arthur repeated, looking back at her in confusion, "What are you talking about?"

Sheepishly, Morgan took a moment to find the words... not wanting to risk Arthur getting upset again, "..Um, Arthur? Remember when I talked to you about that nice ghost kid who gave me the pearl?"

"...yes?" Arthur simply replied, "...Well, turns out.. it was Reve." she finally admitted, gulping nervously. Taking in this information, Arthur gave another accusatory glare towards the genie, "-It was you? Why?"

"-Because... I had to pay her back for giving back my most prized treasure. It was only fair..." he casually shrugged, "What kind of ' prized treasure'?" Arthur asked again, not feeling sure about buying his story. To answer him, Reve just gave a snap of his finger, prompting a familiar hiss to reach the couple's ears as a familiar purple ghostly snake slithered around Reve's arm. 

"Why, my dear little Jinn, of course~" Reve proudly declared, giving a little scratch under Jinn's chin. Arthur was flabbergasted at this... while Morgan, though at first unnerved by the snake for obvious reasons... started to find it cute how Jinn was responding so affectionately to her owner. Reminded her of her own pet Zipp back home, in a way...

"-Jinn, won't you say hello to Morgan, again?" Reve asked his pet, gesturing to bring it closer to Morgan, but Arthur tried intervening, "-Oh no! That beast shouldn't be anywhere near Morgan after what it's done to us!" 

"Hey! You watch your tongue!" Reve narrowed his eyes at Arthur, protectively petting Jinn's head, "Jinn was just doing that to protect me! She always does that around strangers she doesn't know... or, at least those she doesn't recognize."

"So... does she remember me now?" Morgan wondered, since she didn't have her helmet on anymore. "Well, you be the judge~" Reve smiled as he leaned his pet over to greet Morgan. Arthur still glared at the snake, not trusting her one bit... but luckily she proved him wrong once she began to boop and nuzzle Morgan's cheek, greeting her like an old friend. 

"Awwww... hey Jinn! Long time no see~" Morgan giggled, touched to know that the serpent remembered her so fondly, "You sure have grown last time we met, huh?"

Responding with another happy hiss, Jinn proceeded to nuzzle her some more... prompting Morgan to giggle again. Over her shoulder, Reve could tell that Arthur was growing more and more bothered by this display, prompting the genie to just smirk a bit in amusement.

"-Well, I better be going then." Reve declared, bringing back Jinn from Morgan, "Zanna is waiting for me on the other side, and we have plenty of errands to run. Farewell, Morgan." giving a bow of goodbye.

"Oh, well... bye Reve, Jinn!" Morgan waved goodbye back to them both. Arthur just huffed, prompting Reve to just roll his eyes and fly off... leaving the couple alone once more. 

Morgan let out a big sigh, relieved to be at peaceful standstill again. Still, once she noticed Arthur's tenseness, she couldn't help but wrap her arms around him, "Hey... what's the matter? No need to keep being mad..."

"...I'm not mad." Arthur lied, though obviously not well with his growling-like tone, "Just... tired."

"Well, either way we're alone now. So, let's make the best of it before morning, okay?" Morgan offered with a sweet smile. Though part of him wanted to stay mad... Arthur just couldn't once he melted more in her embrace, "...well, alright, my lady. Whatever makes you happiest."

"Great!" she smiled, "Let's start by going back to our camp... hope it's still standing after what happened." she chuckled.

"Err... if not I'll be more than happy to rebuild it. My honor!" he offered graciously. Laughing some more, she just nodded and helped up on his feet, following him back to go enjoy the rest of the evening in solace. It may not have had it's best start... but for now, all was right. 

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Finally, here's the next part to my Arthur/Morgan arc  , this time following to where Morgan's trying to rouse Arthur awake, having been so out of power and strength from using his dragon form. And while Zanna's trying to make her escape with Reve... she notices that her friend isn't feeling all that great, with so much guilt building from having hurt his old friend Morgan by attacking Arthur. Urging him to go do the right thing, Zanna leaves to make a headstart for them while Reve stays behind to make amends. 

To do so, he offers Morgan one of the bottles he made give to Arthur... which turns out to be a healing potion. It takes a little encouraging, but Arthur is able to wake up from it's contents and back to Morgan again. Though he's understandably not so pleased to see Reve there, Morgan does her best to calm him down by explaining that Reve was the one who gave her the black pearl... thus making her a friend in Reve's eyes. Proving his point, Reve even re-introduces his pet Jinn to her... which turned out to be the very 'treasure' she helped return to him all those years ago. 

While Jinn isn't usually one to be friendly to strangers, upon recognizing Morgan (which she couldn't earlier due to Morgan's hunter mask) she eagerly greets the human girl with one of her friendly nuzzles. Arthur gets annoyed at this though, and continues to stay huffy even after Reve bids his goodbyes and flies off with Jinn. Luckily Morgan nudges him out of it though, and for the rest of the night they go to enjoy themselves for once