Percy and Harold knew right away that Lapis was a spy. She had to be from another kingdom... Why else would she be wearing such strange clothes?
This story follows an alternate universe version of Lapis after she fell into a time portal that dropped her off in another time period. Lapis' clothes were ripped and torn as she fell through the portal. Eventually, Lapis was dropped into a field where she fell unconscious and was eventually discovered by two boys.
Fortunately for Lapis, these boys took her and brought her back to their barn where they waited for her to wake up. When Lapis did awake, the boys offered her a new set of clothes that she graciously accepted. After getting changed, Lapis returned to thank the boys but couldn't find them where they once were.
Suddenly, a blindfold was forced over her eyes by someone standing behind her. Lapis' body was wrestled to the ground and rope was wrapped around her body. Her legs, arms, and ankles were all tied up by this mysterious person leaving Lapis with nothing to do but squirm in protest.
"HEY! WHAT'S- MMPHH!!!" Lapis cried, before a gag was forced into her mouth.
Bound, gagged, and blindfolded, Lapis was dragged along the dirt by her ankles before her feet were latched to a buckle in the ground. Lapis' body was then propped up against a wooden beam so she was sitting up right. Lapis continued to fruitlessly fight against her bindings until she heard a voice she recognized.
"So, you thought you could sneak into our kingdom, eh?"
"MGHH??"
"Don't bother denying it, we've seen through your façade."
"MMGHH!!"
"Looks like the prisoner is resisting. We're gonna have to use harsher means of getting information out of her."
Standing in front of Lapis were the two boys who found her unconscious in their field. One boy, the brown-haired lad, was named Harold. The other boy was Harold's friend, Percival, and his family owned the barn and field they were standing in. Percy was the one in charge of this operation.
"Harold, prepare to subject the prisoner to our Advanced Interrogation Methods."
"Uhh, remind me again what kinda information we're looking for?"
"Don't be stupid Harold, it's obvious!"
"Is it?"
"Yes! Tell me, why did we capture this girl."
"Uhm, we know this girl is a spy from another country."
"And how do we know that?"
"Because she got weird clothes on when we found her. They're definitely not from our country so they gotta be from somewhere else."
"Good. Now, which kingdom is this girl from?"
"Uhhh... I'm not sure, Percy."
"Mhm, and why is she trying to sneak into our country?"
"I don't know that, either."
"EXACTLY! This is the information we're trying to get out of her!"
"MMRRNNNMM!! MMMGHH MMPHHH!!!"
Lapis was definitely not a spy for any kingdom, and she had no idea what country she had even landed in. Lapis desperately wanted to communicate this information to her captors, but they seemed to be totally convinced she was their enemy.
Upon Percy's instruction, Harold grabbed Lapis' feet and wound some string around her two big toes. Lapis let out muffled protests as even more freedom of movement was taken away, but her efforts were met with Percy just yelling at her some more. Her feet were then placed into Harold's lap where Lapis felt a finger begin poking and prodding at her sole.
"MMPH! NNGH!!" Lapis pleaded into her gag.
"Oh, you don't like that? What about this?" Percy said, then snapped his fingers.
Harold then began dragging the tip of his finger along the bottoms of Lapis' feet.
"MPH MPH MPH!! MMPHHH!!!"
"If you want us to stop, then tell us what we want to know! What kingdom are you working for? Why did you sneak into our farm? What information are you after? Are you trying to steal my family's prized pig???"
"NNMMMGHHH!!! MMMNNNNHHH!!! Lapis began shaking her head wildly back and forth. She wasn't any of these things.
"She's still resisting! Harold, make her suffer!"
Harold obliged, using all his fingers on Lapis' feet to itch and tickle them silly. It was actually quite a pleasant experience, feeling Lapis' big and soft feet squirm in his hands while this enemy spy suffered under his touch. Percy made sure to tell Harold to keep tickling Lapis and to not stop until she spilled everything.
The two boys continued to tickle Lapis well into the afternoon. It was late into the evening when the boys finally thought to remove the gag.
Lapis, finally able to speak, explained that she was not a spy. Percy and Harold believed Lapis instantly, though they were both upset they just wasted an entire day.
= = = = = = = = = = =
Citizens gather to listen to a song about hero. Lapis sings of Percy's great victory over the plant attacking the town.
Harold, the unwitting sacrifice, is given no credit.
Things didn't start off very easy for Lapis when she first landed in medieval times. Fortunately, she met some two older boys local to this time period who were more than willing to help Lapis. The boys gave Lapis new clothes, let her sleep in their barn, showed her around the town, and generally became very good friends with her. The fact that the boys had tied and tickled Lapis for an entire day the first time they met was water under the bridge at this point.
They already got Lapis to apologize for wasting their time and effort.
The two boys Lapis befriended were named Percival and Harold. Percy, the red-headed boy whose family owned the barn, was the more charismatic of the two boys and liked being in charge. Harold, the brown-haired boy, was homeless and very distrusting of Lapis even after she explained she wasn't a spy. Lapis admired Percy's out-going personality and willingness to do anything to get what he wanted.
Over time, Lapis wound up developing a crush on Percy. She started following Percy around, offering to help him in his schemes to achieve his ultimate goal of becoming a Knight. Percy was very driven to achieve this goal, and had lots of ideas for how to do it. Most of his plans were focused on getting him more popular around the town so he could receive the title of local hero. Lapis could relate a lot of Percy's ambitions which is why she became so infatuated with the older boy.
One day, Percy went out to go see an acquaintance of his and took Lapis with him. This acquaintance was a young blind girl that lived out in the forest. The girl, named Ursula, appeared to be small and helpless at a glance, but those who knew her quickly learned that this girl was a powerful witch that dealt in many methods of magic. The girl also had a devious side to her.
When Percy came to visit Ursula, she surprised him with a new magic item he could use to gain popularity in the town village.
"What are these supposed to be?" Percy asked, now holding a bag seeds.
"Those are special seeds, belonging to a special plant." The witch explained, "The plants are common but the seeds are not. It is very common to find these things out in the wild."
"What kind of plant will these seeds grow?" Percy asked.
"The tickling kind. Kitchee Berries, a dangerous plant that grows over night and grabs any hapless victim that dares to get too close to it." Ursula replied, "It's nearly impossible to cut down since anyone who tries will get grabbed."
"The plant sounds amusing, but I don't see how they can help me get famous." Percy said.
"Oh, but that's where you're wrong. You see, there is a trick to getting rid of Kitchee Berries." The witch said, "The plant will only ever grab one victim at a time. So long as there is someone in it's clutches, another can walk right over and cut it down."
"I see! That sounds incredibly simple, and I know just how to use these. Come along, Lapis, we've got work to do!
- - - - - - - - - -
It was the dead of night, and darkness covered the town. Lapis and Percy snuck into the town square and got to work digging a hole in the middle of a road many people liked to use. Percy planted the seeds while Lapis looked for anyone that might spot them. Once the seeds were planted, both kids took off back to Percy's farm.
As the night passed, the seeds started to grow.
By the time morning hit, the Kitchee Berries had fully grown and its tendrils were on full display for all to see. Most citizens of the town recognized the plant right away and made the right decision to stay away. Unfortunately, due to its location, the Kitchee Berry plant made travelling through town inconvenient as the main road through the area was being blocked.
Discussion rose about what to do with this invading flower but no one had any solutions. That's when Percy appeared with Harold and Lapis following behind him. Percy announced to the crowd that he would save them from this monstrous fauna and that he would do it all for free. Curious citizens gathered around him to see what Percy had planned.
"Okay Harold, remember what we discussed." Percy said.
"I just gotta walk up to the plant and let it catch me." Harold said, "Then, when I'm got, you'll come cut me loose."
"Yes, yes, now go stand in position." Percy instructed.
Harold walked towards the plant with Percy walking close behind. Percy was gripping the collar of Harold's shirt the whole time, which confused Harold since he didn't plan on running away. Once the two were in position, Harold made to turn around but didn't get the chance since Percy pushed him earlier than he was expecting. Harold stumbled forwards into the range of the Kitchee Berries' tendrils.
Harold was immediately scooped up into the air by one large tendril wrapping itself around his body. The boy's legs flailed around until another tendril tied them together. More and more appendages coiled around Harold's person until he was made fully immobile by the absurd amounts of foliage cocooning his body.
Harold was about to verbally express his discomfort with how tight these tendrils were squeezing him, but a fruit was suddenly shoved into his mouth without him getting out a sound. The fruit was large enough to fill his whole mouth, making it impossible to speak properly. However, within seconds the fruit started to swell with juices until it was practically double in size and much too large for Harold's mouth too handle.
Just when Harold thought his face was gonna burst, the juices inside the fruit started gushing out and into his cheeks, puffing them outwards to their fullest. Harold had no choice but to swallow the juices, though that proved quite difficult as these juices were very viscous. It tasted sweet and oddly energized him, but it was so thick it could hardly be called a liquid. Still, the juices kept coming and there was nowhere else to go but down the gullet.
*GULP GULP GULP*
It was the only sound Harold could make. He couldn't even let out muffled complaints to Percy who was standing just a few feet away. At least Harold would be cut loose in a moment and be set free...
That's when the tickling started. Harold could feel it on his feet, a tendril pressing into his sole and wiggling itself back and forth. Then a second tendril drawing in circles. Then a third and a fourth. One tendril snuck between Harold's toes and started driving him absolutely crazy. All of this was happening while no one was doing anything, so Harold tried calling out but...
*GULP GULP GULP*
Percy wasn't even looking at Harold. Instead, Lapis had appeared with a bucket and a lute, placing the bucket in front of Percy so he could standing on it while Lapis started playing a little song. All of a sudden, Percy started doing heroic poses while Lapis began singing a prepared song about how Percy just saved the village by using his cunning and wit. Now no one would have to worry about the plant attacking them because it already had its prey.
Harold realized Percy must've already forgot to free him from the Kitchee Berries, so he tried calling out, but couldn't make enough noise to be heard over Lapis' singing. All the townsfolk were ignoring Harold as well, either focused on the song or going about their daily life. Harold was left tied up and helpless, forced to guzzle Kitchee Berry juice while being tickled silly for hours and hours.
Eventually, when Lapis ran out of songs to sing, she and Percy just got up and LEFT.
Harold was then ignored by every townsperson that walked by him. Hours continued to roll by and the tickling was unending. Harold's bladder quickly filled and he felt an indescribable urge to pee... but the juices had become too thick in his bladder and just sat there. Kitchee Berry juice can only be absorbed into the body when consumed, which takes several days to complete.
Three days went by before the Kitchee Berry plant ran out of berries. Harold was immediately let go and the plant proceeded to whither away.
Kitchee Berry juice is highly nutritious and an excellent hydrator. Harold didn't need to eat or drink anything for many days after that, though he did spend most of that time needing to pee.
