Sick Break

“Bleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh!”

Ora’s pitiful wail hailed through the rose garden.

“Seriously?”, Cherry raised an eyebrow has she watched her Mistress in bed sneezing up a storm. “You can get sick?”

“Of course I can get siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick!”, Ora complained while guzzling down her herbal tea. “What? You think just because I am literally the greatest ultra omnipotent being in the multi-verse I can’t get sick? What kind of sense makes thaaaaableeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!”

The little host gasped and then evacuated the herbal-tea plus contents of her stomach(mostly candy) into the grotesquely large open beak of Preminger.

It reminded Cherry a bit of bird feeding.

“My poor Mistress!”, the butler Penguin doted, after he gulped the disgusting load down with disturbing ease. “I knew you shouldn’t have dined upon all that confectionery!”

“I don’t get iiiit”, Ora shivered and cradled the icy cold Kemari ball she received as a gift from Yuki. “Candy was never an issue for me in the past! Why did I suddenly got sick?”

“Yeah, it’s a mystery”, Cherry said while blinking very slowly.

“No, I know exactly what this is”, Ora hacked out. “This is another ploy by that nefarious and evil ghost host! She poisoned the penguin suckers Shar send to me!

Curse that ghoulish ghost host. Her cunning is only outmatched by her blueness! I should have know that commercial request was too good to be true! It was nothing but a diversion!

Her true aim was always this!

“She plans to kill me and recruit me for her season. I don’t want to be on the ghost season! Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Ora flailed her arms and legs.

“You are not going to die”, the pink maid stated firmly.

“Yes, I am”, Ora sniffled pitifully. “This is the end of Ora, the voyager witch, hailed as a Goddess. The universe will weep three billion tears, but even if all the trails in the sky cry, no candle can replace the radiance of a super nova. This is not an Eulogy, it’s a Lacrimosa. And that’s powerful.”

“Did you use AI to generate that nonsense?”

Just...Cherry...p-promise me one thing…”, Ora weakly looked up.

Cherry groaned and clutched her head.

“If it gets you to shut up.”

“A-after I’m gone, take care of this season.”

Cherry raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t want Mean Maids to get cancelled...that’s...that’s not I fate I want for them”, Ora looked away.

In response, Cherry scratched her head. Then she sighed. “Fine, I take care of them.”

“Thank you.” The little host closed her eyes and showed a weak smile. “And maybe you can find in your heart to forgive Magi-chan?”

“Don’t push it.”

The withering host nodded.

…

“Also kill the ghost host.”

…

“And wear a hula costume while hosting Mean Maids. One with coconut-shells as a bra.”

…

“You can only move from place to place while hula dancing. And whenever you’re on screen there should be a ukulele playing. Your catchphrase should be: Cherrylicious, that's a spicy..."

“Give me that!”, Cherry roared and snatched the kemari ball.

“My baaaaaaall!”

While Ora whined and trashed around furiously (but not furiously enough to actually get out of bed), Cherry shoved the ball down Preminger’s beak. “Return this fucking thing already. Fucking hell, I’m in my room!”

“Y-yes, of course, Dame Cherry”, Preminger gulped, bowed deeply while the furious maid stomped out the room.

Meanwhile Ora chuckled softly.

“I like her better that way. Cherry is better when she’s energetic. Like she used to be. Remember, Preminger? She was such a plucky, little thing.”

“The ravages of times are unkind to all of us, my Mistress”, Preminger agreed solemnly.

“She will be a worthy successor.”

The butler penguin gasped. “My mistress…you couldn’t possibly mean...!”

Ora smiled.

“I lived a long life, Preminger. A very, very long life. I have no regrets.”

Then Ora, the voyager witch closed her eyes.

“It is time that I rest.”

…

…

...

After, Dr Hayabusa was brought up and diagnosed that Ora had the common cold. She ordered rest, plenty of hydration and chicken soup.

Ora was fine the next day.