In the heart of a wood which lost its name long ago, is a place where a seeker of stories
may go. If you've arrived and a story is your desire, come take a seat for what you require
is a tale from the second storytime.
Oh, welcome. I'm glad you've returned. Or, if you're arriving for the first time,
I am the second storyteller. I really am quite bad with faces, I'm afraid. Books don't have faces,
you see. Just prefaces. Some of you may be wondering if there was a first storyteller.
An understandable question, but perhaps a story for a different day.
Now, this room is one of the tower's great libraries. Stories of every kind find their way
to these shelves. And today, I was hoping to share a rather fun story, and I believe I've managed to
find one. This particular tale is from a series called The Platinum Clover Chronicles. The stories
from this series tend to be pretty ridiculous, but I find there's a certain charm in tales that
have a bit of whimsie, as you might say. Well then, it's quite lovely out, so why don't we have a
seat right over here by the window and enjoy some warm sunshine? If you're comfortable, then, today's
story is part one of The Platinum Clover Chronicles. She's a girl, she's a... cube?
Deep within a treacherous dungeon, a young man with messy blue hair and bright green eyes
leaned back against the cavern wall and slowly slid down against it. He was dressed in simple
leather armor and wore the most basic of steel swords at his hip.
The
man's name was Thorn Bootscape, and he was the worst adventurer in the entire land of Platinum
Clover. Thorn had grown up the son of a tavernkeeper. His entire childhood had been filled with
adventurers of all types of people. He was dressed in simple leather armor and wore the most basic of
steel swords at his hip. Thorn had decided early on that as soon as he was able, he would go on his
own exciting quests. However, at the age of 18, Thorn was just a guy with a sword and very little
experience. One day, while working at the tavern, he overheard a group of travelers discussing their
next quest. Thorn was a very good adventurer, and he was a very good adventurer. He was a
very good adventurer, and he was a very good adventurer, and he was a very good adventurer.
While working at the tavern, he overheard a group of travelers discussing their next quest.
We need one more. We can't do a dungeon crawl without a sword. A really buff ogre grumbled,
flexing without even trying. No, there's three of us, Crags. You are the muscle, I'm the healer,
and Parsnip is our mage. I think we're set, replied a young woman with black hair.
However, Parsnip objected. Parsnip was a turtle. Eventually, Thorn had wandered over and offered
his assistance. It was so exciting. The group accepted his help, and before he knew it,
Thorn was walking into his first dungeon with his first ever adventuring party. As they entered
the first chamber, Parsnip trotted over to something dangling from the ceiling. Everyone
watched for a minute, amused, because a turtle was trying to reach something high up, and that's
adorable. Finally, Thorn approached the dangling object.
Looks like a key, he said, and pulled it loose from the string it dangled from.
In an instant, the entire floor directly behind Thorn crumbled away, and his three
companions vanished into an inky abyss. Terrified, Thorn started to run. Traps began triggering
behind him as he ran. Arrows shot over his head, jets of flame leapt up from the floor,
just as he raced past, and the chaos only stopped when he reached the end of the tunnel,
where there was only a locked door. It was here that Thorn slumped down against the wall with
the key, and gave a voice to his misery. This is horrible. Why would anyone want to do this all
the time? Adventuring is the worst. Who sets up a trap like that anyway? He slowly stood,
and looked back at the tunnel he had run through. Bits of the floor were still very slightly on fire.
Thorn, well, I can't go back. There's only a chasm there now,
but there must be another way out, since I don't really have a choice.
Thorn shoved the key into the lock and turned the door knob. The door opened with a creak,
and he stuffed the key into a pouch on his hip, just in case it opened more than one thing.
He stepped cautiously into a very circular room, lit by torches. A staircase leading down,
lay at the opposite end of the room. It's a way forward, at least.
He was starting to regain his confidence. He knew he should feel worse about his dead
adventuring party, but he didn't honestly know any of them, and adventurers had a tendency to
fall into traps. Sad and shocking as it was, Thorn had heard thousands of tales where such
things occurred, and knew his only course was to press on. As he began to cross the room,
a sudden noise made Thorn stop. There was a sound like a drop of water, splattering on the floor,
followed by several more drops. Thorn looked up and jumped back with alarm. There was a large,
gooey thing attached to the ceiling. No sooner had Thorn backed up, the thing dislodged itself
from the ceiling and landed with the loudest squelching he'd ever heard. Thorn stared at the
creature open-mouthed. It stood only slightly taller than Thorn himself, though it was a great deal
wider and more cube-shaped. Two large eyes floated in the goop, occasionally spinning,
but fixing their gaze on Thorn whenever they could manage. Thorn could also see a skeletal
arm and leg drifting within the creature. He couldn't believe it. Thorn had found himself
faced a glop with a jelly cube. Uggg! Thorn screamed, unsheathing his sword. His legs shook as he
readied what he assumed was a fighting stance and tried to look as cool as possible without peeing
himself. I mean, stay back, you terrible thing! You won't add me to all that stuff floating in you!
The cube made no verbal response, but made a couple of splurked sounds. Then Thorn noticed
something else floating in the cube. It was round and despite the fact that the jelly cube was a
cloudy green color, it appeared to be a somewhat peach color, with a darker color near its center.
Thorn spotted a second object just like it, floating in a different corner of the cube.
It took him a moment, but then Thorn realized he was looking at things he had never seen before.
They had only been described to him in legends by the tavern patrons, but here they were,
right before his eyes. Thorn's boot scape was looking at a pair of tips. Realizing what this
meant, he sheathed his sword and fell to his knees. I'm so sorry! he shouted at the cube.
I didn't realize that you were a lady. You surprised me and I only just noticed. Please forgive me!
He looked up to see that the cube had shifted a couple of feet closer to him.
Thorn took this as a sign of forgiveness. Oh thank you! I will try not to be rude. I don't
suppose you're able to cover yourself, huh? Must be really tough for you. I mean, you're probably
super nice, even though you've got a tough side, that you use to keep people at a distance since
you're not sure if somebody wants to help you or if they're just interested in your body. And
people get the wrong impression, like you want them to stare at you, but you just can't help the way
you are so people don't respect you because they get out judgy and make assumptions, right? The cube
squanched closer. The skeletal arm floated towards Thorn until the bones of the hand reached out
through the slime. The hand waved in a grasping motion in an attempt to grab Thorn. He took the
skeletal hand and gazed into the gelatinous cube's eyes, which took a minute before they floated into
a position where he could look into both at the same time. Well you know what I think? I think
you just need someone you can talk to. I'm Thorn Bootscape. What's your name, Miss Cube?
The cube made a horrific sucking sound, like the sound of death queefing.
Jocelyn, huh? That name is so cute, it suits you perfectly.
Thorn grabbed a torch from the wall and headed for the staircase.
Come on, Jocelyn. Let's find our way out of this place together.
Thorn smiled. Jocelyn snapped the fingers on the skeleton hand in a dang it sort of way,
before she shuffled after Thorn with whatever the onomatopoeia is for jizzy footsteps.
The flame from the torch felt warm on Thorn's face, and he also felt a warmth in his chest
as he watched Jocelyn. She was unlike any girl he had ever seen before.
Could… could this be? Thorn took his head and began to walk down the stairs.
I hope you enjoyed our story today. This one was quite different from what we read last time,
wouldn't you say? As I've said, this tower contains every type of story that you could imagine.
It tells from the fantastical to the bone chilling, all within these ancient walls.
If there is a particular type of story that interests you, I would be more than happy
to take suggestions to find a story that you might enjoy. If I'm lucky, maybe I'll find
a cupcake recipe on this place last year too. But for today, be well, and carry today's story in your heart.
Today's tale has ended, but return once again to this place where you are considered a friend.
Return to this tower and its mysterious dweller for more from the Library of The Second Storyteller.
Thank you for listening to The Second Storyteller. If you have a prompt for a story,
please send it to thesecondstoryteller at gmail.com. If your prompt is selected,
your name will be credited at the end of the episode. Today's prompt was Adventure Story,
submitted by Penny Dreadful. If you would like to help support the future of this podcast,
please consider becoming a patron by going to patreon.com slash The Second Storyteller.
A donation of just $10 a month puts you on the list of current Library Card holders,
and your name will be read at the end of the episode. The Second Storyteller podcast and
the features stories were written and created by Katie Chacon. The role of The Second Storyteller
is played by Charles Scott. Today's voice of the story was provided by Katie Chacon.
The voice of the intro and outro is Chris Camp, and you can find the fantastic games he's worked on
at rix.itch.io. That's riks.itch.io. The music was written by Fintan, who can be found at garbagebag,
all one word,.itch.io. The Second Storyteller will return next month with more magic, fun, and of
course, a story to tell.