Discovery

A short story by AJ CUISINES.

My first story on this wiki! Hope you guys enjoy it!

Blurb:

Phantom researchers discover multiple secrets about Jamaa's one-eyed and eight-armed foes. These findings change everything about the world's understanding of phantoms, and could possibly explain the "unexplainable" events in history. Or, rather, the other way around...

Researching the Enemies
It all began when I was lounging around in Appondale just before sunset, trying to spot an animal such as a zebra in the nearby grassy plains. I had even brought my new, golden binoculars I had received from the Alphas as a gift for researching phantoms and giving them information on how to defeat them in combat. However, I wasn't having much luck with finding zebras, only occasionally spotting a bird or two flying just above the tall grass. There didn't appear to be that many wild animals out that day. It was very unusual for the level of activity here to be this low.

After thirty boring minutes of seeing practically no wildlife, I decided to head back to my den and call it a day. It was getting quite late, after all, and I had been lethargic throughout the entire afternoon.

Just when I was about to exit the area, I saw it.

A small puddle of what appeared to be phantom goop.

I was lucky enough to not step in it.

(THIS SEGMENT IS CURRENTLY A WIP)

"Could you tell me what you believe the elemental composition of this goop is?"

"Huh? Well, from my understanding, ninety-nine percent carbon, sulfur, phosphorous, nitrogen, iron, blah, blah, blah. It contains just about everything, really. There's also probably a tiny bit of toxic elements in there."

I pretended to be at least slightly impressed by his dumb little speech.

"Nearly ninety-nine percent arsenic and mercury. Less than one percent iron, noble gases, sulfur and other elements," I corrected, continuing to clean out the beakers.

Frosty's jaw dropped. However, he quickly recomposed himself before making another comment.

"Wait, seriously? That much poison? No wonder Jamaa still hasn't been able to defeat the phantoms after all these years." he said jokingly.

Frosty and I paused for a short moment, before he once again broke the silence.

"Wait!" he exclaimed.

I swiftly turned to face the white rabbit, and despite his fur being blanker than a new sheet of paper, he somehow looked paler than he did a few minutes ago. His eyes were wide, his pupils dilated. Terror, confusion, frustration. The emotions I could see in his eyes were enough to tell me that he knew something was wrong.

"This doesn't make any sense at all! If the material is ninety-nine percent toxic elements, surely Jamaa would have become a desolate wasteland years ago! The goop should have poisoned everyone during the phantom flood waves. So how is the world still teeming with life and not covered in purple pollution?"

Wow, for someone who dropped out of high school during junior year, Frosty came up with a pretty good counterclaim in a matter of seconds.

Anyway, he was right. I admit that something definitely was wrong about my observation.

''Ninety-nine percent poison? It's impossible for even a substance such as phantom goop to be that much of a health hazard. I'd estimate phantom goop contains about five percent harmful chemicals, maybe just a little bit more. So, could the phantoms have created a new weapon? If so, why was there such a small amount of the goop in Appondale of all places? How many years would it have taken for the phantoms to become this advanced?''

These questions continued to swirl through my mind. I stood motionless near the lab sink, pondering about the substance for a good ten minutes or so. It was so quiet that I could still hear the faint sound of water droplets dripping from the faucet, despite having turned off the sink three minutes ago.

Then, the realization hit me.

After that thinking session, I concluded the sample of goop I discovered in Appondale didn't come from the tendrils of a phantom. There was no way.

It came from something much, much more powerful.

"It... It wasn't a phantom that left the goop there." I murmured to myself.

All of a sudden, I heard a high-pitched voice that nearly made me jump.

"Pardon?"

Right. Frosty was still here. He probably thought that I looked like an absolute idiot.