Terra Rium...Something to Chew On

Finn found himself in an increasingly uncomfortable situation.

He was currently sitting at one of the back tables of the restaurant Quin had referred to as "Vix's." It was a simple enough set up for the small eatery. Along the far wall were four booth areas, and on the opposite wall was a bar. In between were ten roughly organized tables. The walls and support beams were made of wood, most likely cut from the surrounding forest. The roof was a collection of different metal plates from various sources that had been fit together in the best way possible to prevent leaks when it rained. Finn could almost imagine the noise that the metal roof must have made when it rained with all that water smacking against it.

Piper and Junko were currently sitting at the small table with him. Next to them, at a larger table that had been scooted over to allow conversation, were seated Francis, Rick, Quinn and Harley. Brahm had already left, though he didn't say where he was going, as expected.

In front of Finn, on the table, was the source of his current troubles. Piled high in an odd looking bowl was a large mound of green mush with hard looking blue chunks strewn about the top like sprinkles on a sundae.

"What was this called again?" He asked as he poked the mound for the tenth time since it had been placed in front of him.

"King's Surprise." Quin said with a vicious grin. Quin was currently enjoying a vegetable stew as he stared at Finn. It was a simple stew with a creamy broth, but to Finn it looked like heaven compared to the meal in front of him. The others all had the same dish, except Finn and Junko who had the current source of Finn's worries.

"What's the surprise?" Finn asked, already fearing what the answer would be.

Junko was currently scooping out the last bit of mush from his bowl. "I think it's the beetle shell." He said as he stuffed the last bit into his mouth. He the picked up the bowl that the mush had been sitting in and, after giving a quick inspection, took a bite from it. "Yep, definitely beetle."

It was then the Finn realized that it wasn't a bowl in front of him, but was actually the hollowed out shell of an over sized beetle.

"I think I'll pass." Finn said as he pushed the untouched food away from him and across to Junko who happily picked it and began eating it.

"Hey, you were the one who wanted some protein. King Beetles are the best source of protein we have around here." Quin said as he scooped up another bite of his vegetable stew.

"I thought King Beetles never got bigger than a fist." Piper said as she looked away from Junko finishing off Finn's lunch.

"You'd be surprised how things are different here at Terrarium." Francis said with a grin.

"Terrarium?" Piper asked, raising her eyebrow. "You mean Terra Rium, right?"

"Only to those nerds at The Sky Council." Rick said with a quick laugh.

Francis chuckled a bit before addressing Piper. "Sorry, my own little joke." He said with his usual grin. "The official name is Terra Rium, yes. But, that is only because The Sky Council lacks any originality when it comes to names. Every thing is Terra this and Terra that. I try a little originality and they misread it as another Terra. Though I guess the spelling works out either way. I figured it was as good a name as any. We are on a small area with a veritable dome above us that keeps us separated from the outside world and have life growing here that is quite a bit different than any other terra you have seen."

"So what makes the place so special?" Finn asked as he grabbed a roll from the bread basket in the middle of the table, eager to have something in his stomach that looked edible.

"Well it wasn't really that special until about twenty years ago." Francis said as his mind seemed to drift back into old memories. "It was originally a barren terra, barely any life beyond insects and a few sparse plants." A gleam seamed to form in Francis' eye as he continued. "Then one night, something happened. The clouds suddenly formed around the terra and started producing massive amounts of energy that prevented any kind of scan we had available. The clouds were so thick that it prevented anyone from safely navigating their way through."

"So how did you guys make it?" Finn asked.

"We almost didn't." Francis said with his usual grin. "Damn near crashed into something every ten minutes. Thankfully, the squadron assigned to protect us had good reflexes and we made it through with only a few scrapes. Of course it was lucky when even found the terra at all. We had tried multiple times to make it through the clouds only to end up on the far side or somewhere else entirely outside of the dense clouds. The energies in these clouds are just hell on navigational instruments, as I'm sure you know by now. And the strong winds are constantly knocking you off course. When we found the terra, we halfway to crashing into it. But we managed to pull up in time, the calm within the dome helped greatly. When we saw all the lush greenery that was spread across this once barren terra, we knew something miraculous had happened. We didn't even begin to understand just how things were changed on this terra until a few days later, when the real miracle occurred."

"What miracle? What exactly happened?" Piper asked as she leaned closer to Francis, curiosity piqued.

"Everything changed!" Francis said with a bright smile, his arms extending out in an excited gesture.

"Hey!" Quin yelled, banging his fist on the table. "How about we not go telling all our secrets without Gubbio's permission?"

"Calm down bro." Harley said, reaching a hand over and placing it on her brother's arm. "He knows better."

Francis let his arms slump back to his sides. His smile, while not as wide as before, didn't fade. "Once burned, twice shy." He said simply as he gave Piper a quick wink. "Don't worry. I have a feeling that, in time, all the wonder of this terra will be yours to see." And with that, Francis stood up from the table and rebalanced himself with his cane. "Come along Rick, we have to see to your studies."

"Awww, do I have to go?" Rick asked trying to sound as pitiful as possible. "I barely got to spend any time with the guys."

"Don't worry. You'll have plenty of chances later." He assured Rick in his kind tone. "But, for now, we have much to do."

"Fine." Rick said in a huff as he scooted his chair from the table and followed Francis outside.

Harley and Quin stood up next and made their way to the door. Harley paused and looked back at the the group. "Once your done here, feel free to head over to our carrier. I'm sure they must have some info by now." She gave a quick wave then followed Quin out the the door.

"Well, that was fun." Finn said sarcastically, taking a small bite from his roll then swallowing it. "I hope Aerrow had a better time than we did. I'm curious to hear what he got out of Repton."

"I'm more interested in what happened here twenty years ago." Piper said as she leaned back in her chair. "He said it was a barren and unwanted terra. Now just look at it. Heavy amounts of crystal deposits and an overflowing jungle teeming with life." Piper's eyes gleamed as she thought of the possibilities. "What could do that?"

"Miracles?" Junko asked as he sat back, just finishing Finn's beetle.

"That would be one hell of a miracle that I'd like to see." Finn said, his thoughts wandering for a moment. Then he stood up and motioned for the others to join him. "C'mon, let's go check on Aerrow, I don't have an appetite anymore."

The others got up and followed Finn out the door.

Time to check on Aerrow. ;)