Chapter 169: Coral

Ears twitching as she exited her internal world, Rachel took a soft breath of amusement, cracking open an eye to see her Little Bun making a commotion. Scarlet and Alexa were trying to help the crying child while a squishy, orange ball of pure terror floated above Nia’s head, biting down on her left ear.

"Stop it, Coral! Bad bunny. Let go! Ou-ou-ou!"

"Hold still, Nia," Scarlet hissed, being careful as the child froze in place. "I’m trying, but it keeps phasing through my hands—it’s like a ghost. Ms. Park?"

Alexa stood nearby, wearing a frightened, unsure look. "Scarlet, can’t you kill it?"

"No! No!" Nia protested. "She’s just—mean! Ou-ou! Stupid, spooky bun! Down, girl! Down!"

"Fifififi!" the little slime-bunny snickered, clearly not causing any permanent damage and just pestering her leader.

Her mom was surprisingly calm, observing the pair with a frown before spotting her waking up. "Rachel? Good, you’re awake. Nia is having trouble with what I assume is something to do with your powers. She insists that no one try to hurt it. Could you help her?"

Scarlet’s gaze darted to her. "Rachel! I, umm—"

Nia lurched forward as Alexa retreated to the corner, holding her arm. Collapsing over her legs, the little bunny child tearfully looked up at her with the snickering ghostly bun on her head. The kid buried her face into Rachel’s stomach, still whimpering and restraining sniffles.

"Major, help! She’s sooo mean! Ouuuu..."

Their newest soldier malevolently nibbled on Nia’s twitching left ear while looking up at her, fully visible through its cloudy, gel-like body. Perhaps going straight for an Event Moon entity with the Greater Harvest Moon was a bit of an ambitious start.

Feeling a little responsible after Big Nia warned her the soldiers wouldn’t obey her kid counterpart, Rachel lifted a weak hand and plopped it down on Coral’s squishy head. The orange bun’s ears went straight up between her fingers as she looked straight into the spook’s illuminated yellow eyes, firming her tone.

"Coral...release Nia."

The girl’s ear dropped out of the monster bun’s jagged, frightening mouth, and with a little effort, Rachel lifted Coral off to sit on her left side. Oddly, the ghost had no weight; her trouble was in lifting her own arm’s weight. Coral’s little tail wiggled as she was set down, and she started to bounce up and down, waiting for further instructions.

Alexa spoke up, drawing the bun’s mischievous gaze and making the blonde gulp. "What does she—why is she looking at me like that?"

Knowing she couldn’t leave the poltergeist out of her sight with how things had turned out, Rachel sighed and pointed up to her head; the vibes she got from the Halloween entity were that of a desire to cause terror.

"Come here, Coral. And she’s a ghostly moon bunny; her treat is fear. Nia, you can’t be afraid of her."

"Fififi!" The poltergeist showed a jack-o’-lantern-like grin at Alexa as she hopped up to float between Rachel’s ears. "Fififi."

Nia gave the blob a dirty, teary-eyed glare. "What do you mean, I’m a scaredy bunny?! Rude much? I’m your leader!"

"Fififi."

"Huh? Why does she listen to you and not me, Major? She’s been chasing me around for, like—like, five minutes, and you didn’t even help me! She’s rude and mean a-and pokes fun at me!"

Reaching over to examine Nia’s ear, the girl flinched, but there wasn’t really any damage. "Because Big Nia said you had to try and figure it out yourself. You have to be firm with her, Little Bun; if she senses fear, then she attacks. You remember what it was like to be under the Greater Harvest Moon. She can literally taste fright."

"Mmmgm." Nia crossed her arms and sunk her chin onto Rachel’s legs. "We were friends with all the ghosts and monsters during that fight. Coral’s just a jerk!"

The orange bun yawned sleepily with a short snicker from atop Rachel’s head, making Nia’s ears fly up. "Fififi."

"Oh, you take that back, Meanie! I’m the captain; you’re not my boss! I’m in charge!"

"Fifi."

"No!" Nia shouted, becoming flustered. "I could totally beat you up, but I’m a good leader, and I don’t hurt my soldiers! Humph." Huffily rising to her feet, now embarrassed since Rachel had tamed the bun, Nia pointed at Alexa and Scarlet. "Let’s go get something sweet to eat—something Coral can’t have because she’s on timeout!"

"Fi?"

Rachel reached up to pat the rousing poltergeist’s head as Nia squeaked and jumped away, defending her ears. "No fighting, Coral. Play nice."

"Fi-fi..." the bunny grumbled, glaring back at her upset superior.

"Hah! Yeah, that’s what I thought."

Alexa took Nia’s shoulders, steering her toward the door. "Eh-heh. Let’s not antagonize the ghost bunny, Nia. Umm, is it alright to take Nia, Rachel?" she asked, likely wanting to get away herself.

Rachel settled back in, surprisingly unable to feel the poltergeist on her head. She gave the anxious reaper girl a small smile as she addressed her sister-in-law’s question.

"I know we haven’t had a chance to catch up yet, Scarlet, but I need some time alone with my mom. Could you go with Nia and Alexa? Maybe you can bring me back something from the kitchens, too? I’m...heh, actually starving; it’s probably because I have no Lunar Energy right now."

Scarlet’s cadence brightened, and she nodded, following the other two to the door. "Mhm! I want to hear the story about this Greater Harvest Moon and what’s up with Coral. Despite her, umm, attitude, she’s cute."

"Fifi!"

"Traitor," Nia snarled at the defiant spook. "Treason!"

Scarlet forced a smile. "Is there anything particular that you want?"

Rachel shrugged, ignoring the two feuding soldiers. "Surprise me."

"Okay." The vespertine reaper turned to the dark-haired mom beside her. "What about you, Ms. Park?"

"No, sweetie," her mother said, in a somewhat cheery tone. "My stomach is feeling a little queasy. Oh, maybe a ginger ale?"

"Sure, I’ll, umm...wait."

Alexa giggled and held up her purse. "I have the bill. Don’t worry about it, Scarlet. Eh...see you soon, Rachel," the blonde added, trying to show a smile.

Rachel kept an upbeat tone, figuring her brother had talked to his wife in passing about pieces of the conversation they’d had. "Yeah, we can catch up in a bit, Alexa. I’m sorry about the cold shoulder I’ve shown you; I’d like to get to know you a bit better."

It rolled off her tongue so easily that it surprised Rachel herself, and Alexa’s nervous vibes diminished. "I appreciate that...a lot. Umm. Yeah, we’ll have to chat. We’ll be back in a bit. Oh, and, umm, it’s nice to meet you, eh...Coral?"

The bun lifted a ghostly ear in response as Scarlet waved, too. "Fifi."

With that, the two ’big sisters,’ as the bun called them, tried to guide the agitated bunny kid out as she fumed at her subordinate.

"What do you mean, ’Scare you later?!’ No, you will not! I’ll scare you! What do you think about that, huh? I’ll make you do jumps for days, you bad bunny! You’re the worst moon bunny!"