The Knots of Knowledge[]
"Now that we have the cactus, we can finish Papa Smurf’s Desert Flower perfume,” she mused. At King Gerard’s castle, Clockwork had been very eager to assist her and Mystico, although he was hesitant to accept him as a new friend at first. His majesty was busy with a few serfs at the time of their visit, so Moxette told his advisor to give him their regards, and then they left.
Presently they were gliding above the trees of the forest on Feathers; she held the baby plant, just beginning to bloom its first flower, and was careful not to touch the spikes. She learned from her companion’s mistake when he tried to grab it from the courtyard.
"Down there, Feathers,” she said, pointing below, “I see the village.” The great bird smoothly dived, pulling in its wings, and navigated through the underbrush. They came to a proud stop and hopped off right before the village limits.
“Thank you!” she called as Feathers departed.
"Come on, Moxie, I’m getting impatient,” Mystico remarked, already walking. She turned and followed him as he approached Papa Smurf’s laboratory; she knocked on the door and the village leader gladly welcomed them inside.
"Good work getting this cactus, my little Smurf,” he said, taking it from her. He set it down on his workbench and examined the flower atop it. “This smurf may be small, but it should work. While you were gone I smurfed up the other parts of the perfume, so all that’s left to smurf is this.”
He plucked the petals, assuring them that another flower would grow in its place later, and rested them along the windowsill where the afternoon sun shone in full glory. “We must wait for them to dry first.”
"What can we do in the meantime, Papa Smurf?” Moxette asked with her hands behind her back.
“Why don’t you go play with the Smurflings? They’ve been asking me about you since you left,” he replied, chuckling. The Smurfette smiled and took the Goblin’s wrist, leading him out.
"Okay, we will, but only because they’ve been so smurfy,” she joked.
"I’ll send for you as soon as the perfume is ready, Moxette,” Papa said.
"Sounds great!” And then they were gone.
“I’m not exactly good at playing nice,” Mystico groaned. Her response was a smirk and nudge which quieted his worries. “Sorry, I forgot you’re just like me.”
. . . []
"There she is,” Moxette whispered, spotting the female Goblin by the fountain. She pulled away a branch of the bush that concealed them from her sight, taking a moment to confirm her identity; it was Vira, all right.
“Why she smurfed back to your fountain, I can’t quite say,” she added.
"I can’t go up to her like this,” Mystico stated miserably. She turned around and looked him over.
“You’re right,” she replied, “You’re a wreck.”
She approached him from the front and proceeded to brush off the dirt and dust from his clothes, adding, “I guess you really don’t play nice very well. I’ll be sure to smurf that for later.” She stepped around to tend to his hair and found twigs and leaf parts from when he had stumbled into a Smurfberry bush earlier.
"It’s all thanks to those rotten Smurflings, Moxie, I can’t stand them!” he snapped, setting his ears back somewhat. “Don’t they know I’m not as young as them, after all?”
"Come on, they didn’t mean for such unsmurfy results,” she assured him, restoring his midnight-black hair to its former glory. Then she spruced up his hat from behind which startled him at first, but he made no attempt to stop her.
"Still,” he insisted, softening his eyes, “I don’t have the same energy I used to. Let’s face it, I’m old and should be departed from this world by now, but thanks to that -” he cut himself off, frowning just as she rubbed a smudge off his cheek “- that despicable fountain. The wizard who put me in it – stop it.” He put his hand over hers and leaned his head away, feeling claustrophobic with her inches from his face.
"Mystico, I’m not letting her smurf you like this. Just let me get that scratch,” she said rather sternly. Before he could answer, she used her other hand to rub off the dirt on the tip of his nose. “There, it’s gone.” He twitched his nose and let go of her.
"As I was saying, the wizard who put me in it ruined my life,” he continued, taking a step away from her.
"I think you became despicable because of the fountain’s curse. In spite of yourself, you let its power over-smurf you and even now that you’re free, it still has a smurf of you.”
He was silent for a minute and didn’t look at her; he jolted when she touched his shoulder. She added, “If you really want your freedom, you’ll stop smurfing in the past and be optimistic about the future. I mean, who knows what adventure or romance lies ahead for you?”
Mystico seemed complacent by the thought.
“Anything is possible. Don’t let these opportunities smurf by you is all – take hold and smurf the best you can of each moment, starting now with Vira!”
"Yeah, you’re right,” he said more eagerly. “She’s the one missing out if she rejects me again.”
"Atta smurf!” She rejoiced with a swing of the arm and a proud smile. He smiled too, feeling more confident by her encouragement. “And you might need this.” She pulled out the tiny bottle of Desert Flower from her dress pocket and handed it to him with one instruction: “Don’t overuse it. No girl likes an overpowering aroma."
"Thanks,” he said, holding it away from himself. He closed his eyes and turned his face away as he applied it; he heard Moxette take a few steps back just like Papa Smurf had advised. With three puffs, he set it down on the ground and shook himself off, hoping he didn’t use too much.
"Can you smell if from over there?” he asked.
"No, you’re good,” she replied, giving his a thumb’s up. “Go get ‘em, tiger!” With that, he swiftly turned and hopped over the bush. He landed and cautiously stood up, spotting the other Goblin standing at the edge of his fountain. She cocked an ear in his direction, so he took one step forward and waited for her to address him.
“You again? Now you’re just a pest, Misty,” she teased, shaking her head. She stuck out her left hip and crossed her arms, rolling her eyes. Despite this he approached with his head held high, silently reassuring himself that he could win.
"You know, Vira, this is where we first met,” he mused. He stopped at the edge of the fountain on her left and looked into the waters. “Why are you here?”
“I thought...” she began. She sniffed the air and suddenly her expression changed to a wickedly flirtatious smirk. “…I thought there was something different about you. What’s that pleasant scent I detect – vanilla? Lilac? It’s hard to label.” He smiled casually and turned his body more towards her.
“It’s called Desert Flower. Do you like it?”
She eyed him suspiciously while tapping her chin until she finally admitted she did; instantly his shoulders relaxed. She turned to face him too and told him, “Funny, though, my thoughts are getting cloudy from it...”
For a moment he was motionless and hesitated to speak, but at the risk of her leaving again and having another failed attempt on his conscience, he gathered his courage and made a bold move. He cupped his right hand around her left forearm which made them catch eyes. At first she appeared to be defensive, but it quickly changed to content at the sight of his wariness.
Then he chanced to do the same with her other arm; she resisted as he expected, but her growling ceased in moments. He assumed it was the perfume working to his advantage to diffuse her normally impenetrable opposition, and from the exhilaration of getting this close to her without being beaten down his heart began to pound. He refused to let himself ruin the moment with words; instead, he kept her eyes looking into his until he determined whether or not the next move was safe.
A minute dragged by, and then he thrust his lips to hers with his eyes closed, tightening his grip on her arms instinctively. Much to his relief, she didn’t fight him even though he trembled with weakness – he mentally noted that this, his first kiss, was simply one of the greatest feelings he’d ever experienced. However, he noticed that while they were together, light became brighter behind his eyelids, and a swirling breeze briefly picked up.
At last when they parted and he opened his eyes, he fell back in shock at the sight of the female before her: instead of a mocha and grey Goblin, there was a ravishing young Wood Elf with pale skin, pointed ears, dark eyes with long eyelashes, red lips, and long bangs of dark brown hair with a short cut in the back. She wore an ivy green cap, a matching mid-calf length dress with white fur trimming, and mocha arm-gloves and wrap boots. She stared at him with equal astonishment.
"How – who are – why – what happened?!” he stuttered, scrambling to his feet. His eyes were wide and ears lowered as he stood in a crouched position, touching his hands to the ground. He studied her fearfully as she explained her situation.
"Mystico,” she began, pausing to lift her hands, “You broke the spell.”
"What spell?” he demanded.
"I crossed a horrible witch’s path one day and when she saw how pretty I was compared to her, she got jealous and turned me into a Goblin.” She moved closer to him, but stopped when he retreated.
"Why didn’t you tell me that part when I first met you?” He inquired as he slowly straightened up. “It would’ve been nice to know who I was really dealing with from day one.” She dropped her shoulders and shook her heard.
"I wanted to, but she included internal silence so that I couldn’t tell anyone else about my true form. I was so upset that I spiraled into a fit of rage and ran to hide in the shadow of the moon."
"That explains why you treated me like dirt,” he muttered. He started turning away from her, but halted when she cried, “Wait!” With a bitter frown, he looked at her again.
“I didn’t mean to be so hard on you,” she implored, holding her hands like she was begging for forgiveness, “I just didn’t want you to fall for me because I thought I’d remain a Goblin forever – I thought I had to attract another Wood Elf to break the spell.”
She paused for him to comment, but he didn’t. She sighed and admitted in a quieter tone, “I was scared,” with a shrug. “...And I’m sorry.”
Mystico lowered his head and looked at the ground as he took it all in: the way he saw it, the girl he’d come to admire so much proved an imposter, and she expected him to forgive her for not revealing anything until it was nearly too late to turn and walk away from everything. He puzzled over her words and pieced together the events of their history – brief as it may seem – and wondered if her sincerity ought to mean something to him.
The whole ordeal with befriending the Smurfs and putting up with constant rejection, overwhelming advice offerings, roughhousing Smurflings, and developing a strong tie to his companion hiding in the bushes nearby had taken a toll on his body more than his mind. Regardless, he was mentally exhausted by the idea of accepting the first female Goblin he’d seen in centuries to be a pawn in a witch’s game.
At last he lifted his head: “Thanks.” He said it both honestly and sarcastically.
Then he took a deep breath and stretched out his wings, jumping into the air. He flapped hurriedly, only wanting to be far enough from her so he wouldn’t hear her in case she felt like protesting, nor did he want her – of all creatures – seeing him at his lowest.
Moxette called to him when he zipped over the bush, but he didn’t bother answering. He focused solely on flying and had no destination – it was simply a matter of getting lost and not being found. No one would disturb him, no matter what.
. . . []
Moxette returned to the village and explained everything she had seen to her fellow Smurfs when they queried for the tale. With a heavy heart, she found Papa Smurf afterwards and asked if they could talk privately. He accepted and they sat in stools facing each other.
"He just smurfed, Papa Smurf,” she explained simply with her hands on her knees, “I saw the look on his face, too. He was hurt badly.”
"I’m sorry, my little Smurf. That poor creature must be heartbroken,” he sympathized, patting her shoulder. “I should have known there was something odd about her when the snapdragons failed to smurf.”
"We tried,” she added. “Will he be okay?”
"I don’t know, Moxette. Mystico wanted to be alone, so we must respect his wishes. I’m sure he will return when he’s ready.” He smiled earnestly. “And I couldn’t help noticing you two have become quite a smurfy pair. I imagine you’ll be the first Smurf he turns to.” She nodded and sniffed, lifting her head with woeful eyes.
“I hope he comes back soon...”
"Be patient and he’ll smurf before you know it,” he assured her, standing. He took her hand as she followed suit and led her to the door.
He added, “I’m proud of you for changing your attitude towards him. When he arrived, you were most unsmurfy to him because of what he did to Clumsy, but through this entire smurf with Vira, I’ve seen your relationship blossom before my very eyes. It goes to show that time heals all wounds, and it’s very smurfy to lend a hand to those who need it even if they aren’t the smurfiest.”
"Thank you, Papa Smurf.”
She hugged him before exiting and felt better after hearing such kind words.
Sure enough, hours later while she was sitting on her bed at home with a book there came the familiar sound of beating wings. She looked out her window, but it was too dark to see anything; she raced to the front door and swung it open, poking her head out.
"Misty, is that you?” she called softly. She figured that he might not want the others to know he was back. To her delight, the old Goblin revealed himself from the shadow of the window sill on her right and she invited him inside, so he scurried through the doorway. She closed it behind him and beamed when he glanced at her.
"No one knows I’m here, got it?” he said. She nodded, so he dropped his arms and lowered his defenses just in time to be pulled into a firm hug. With slightly widened eyes, he looked at her and realized just how happy she was to see him by the way she nuzzled him. “...You can let go now...please."
Immediately she did. “Sorry, I couldn’t help it.”
"It's fine."
He shook himself off and rushed to the window to close the hatches before the neighboring Smurf saw him. He glanced over his shoulder at the other window, but it was already mostly closed and he felt it wasn’t something worth fussing over.
“Are you okay?”
"I needed time alone to think, and I’m here now because I worked things out with myself. I trust you not to blab to everyone else.” He approached her and they stood face-to-face so he they could lower their voices, avoiding possible eavesdroppers (Brainy came to mind first).
“I met an old friend today after I flew away.”
"You did? Who?”
"My best friend growing up before the wizard and his fountain arrived,” he continued, “His name’s Ripple, and he said he’s been here before. You know him, don’t you?”
For a minute or so she scoured her memories for the face matching the name, but there was nothing.
“No, I’ve never met him.”
Mystico was puzzled a moment, but then he shrugged.
"I’ll introduce you sometime. Anyway, we go as far back as I can remember, so he’s someone you should know. It’s weird to think of him with a female, but – meh.” He looked down to the left and added, “This isn’t as easy as I thought it was going to be.”
Moxette reached for his hand and asked, “Are you leaving?” He returned his focus to her and snickered as he said, “Don’t pretend like you didn’t expect me to, Moxie. I wouldn’t stay in this village even if my life depended on it. Plus, you wouldn’t want me around all the time.”
"Will you visit us then?” she asked with pleading eyes. He lightly nicked her chin with a side-smile as his way of saying, “Of course.” She smiled minimally and added, “Don’t be a stranger, Misty. I’ll always be here for ya.” She punched his arm playfully, too, to make sure he understood perfectly – he did.
"You’ll see me around, I promise.”
"Good,” she concluded, glancing down for a second, “So, I guess you better go before someone smurfs ya…”
"Yeah,” he said. She turned around and opened the door, so he walked out. Right before she closed it, however, he rushed back and gave her a hasty embrace and said good-bye. And then he took to the air and never looked back. Moxette waved as he disappeared into the night, smiling.
“Good ol’ Misty...”
Author's Notes[]
With that, we reach the end of the story!