Chapter 118: Chipmunk Village

While Luna and Lulu cheerfully helped more chickens float into the air, the female elves were also having the time of their lives.

Passing the hens around, playing gentle games of ’catch the chicken’ and even competing to see who could bounce one the highest without tangling the balloon strings.

The entire clearing was full of clucks, giggles, and bright colors, and it felt as though the entire village had momentarily forgotten all its worries.

All the while, Leona stood a few paces away from it all, her usual composed demeanor making her seem detached, but her eyes told a different story.

They shimmered with warmth as she quietly watched her daughters laugh together.

Seeing Luna smiling so freely and Lulu’s face glowing with pure joy, filled her heart with an emotion she hadn’t felt in a long time—relief.

She had truly feared the worst that morning.

When Lulu had cried and panicked about the chickens being eaten, Leona thought this day would end in heartbreak and chaos.

She knew how deeply Lulu loved those birds.

But now, looking at the scene before her—at her daughter smiling again, surrounded by laughter and peace—Leona felt a gentle calm wash over her.

A small smile crept onto her lips as her eyes drifted toward Luca, who was helping a group of young elves tie balloons.

’He really did it again.’ She thought. ’Every single time, he finds a way to turn something hopeless into something wonderful.’

She clasped her hands before her, the wind brushing through her hair as she continued to stare at him with quiet admiration.

’I doubted him once.’ She admitted to herself. ’But he’s proven over and over that he truly is the Hero meant for us. The Goddess didn’t make a mistake.’

A soft smile tugged at her lips. Gratitude welled in her chest as she watched him.

But as she turned away, her eyes landed on something else—the neat row of shiny helium canisters glinting under the sunlight.

For a moment, her thoughtful expression faltered. A tiny mischievous spark glimmered in her eyes.

’I wonder…’

It was a silly, utterly childish thought. Something no matriarch, no dignified leader like her should ever do.

And yet, once it entered her mind, she simply couldn’t resist.

She glanced around.

Everyone seemed preoccupied.

Luna and Lulu were squealing over a chicken named Clucksworth who had just drifted into a tree branch, and Nyx was busy laughing with a few of the younger elves.

No one was paying attention to her.

Perfect.

So, very slowly and carefully, she walked over to one of the canisters.

“Just a little test.” She whispered to herself. “For science. Yes…for science.”

Making sure no one was watching, she crouched beside the tank, took hold of the nozzle, and stared at it for a moment.

Then, biting her lip nervously, she slipped the nozzle between her lips and turned the valve just slightly.

Psssssshhh—!

A small rush of helium filled her mouth and throat, tickling her tongue. She coughed lightly, startled by the cool, airy feeling, and quickly turned the valve off.

“Hmm.” She murmured to herself, swallowing once. “That wasn’t so bad. I don’t feel any—”

“Leona?”

Leona froze instantly, her eyes widening like a caught thief.

Behind her stood Nyx, hands on her hips, looking both curious and amused.

“What are you doing?” She asked suspiciously. “If you wanted to help the chickens fly, I could’ve given you some balloons, you know.”

Leona panicked, nearly jumping out of her skin.

She quickly shoved the nozzle back in place, straightened up, and brushed her hair behind her ear.

“I-I wasn’t doing anything!” She said hastily. “I was just…examining the tank. For safety. Yes, safety.”

But the moment she spoke, every single elf within earshot—Luna, Lulu, Nyx, the children, even the chickens—turned toward her with stunned faces.

It was as if time had stopped.

“W-What?” Leona said, blinking nervously. “Why is everyone staring at me like that?”

But the moment she spoke again, the reactions got even more exaggerated.

Luna’s mouth dropped open. Lulu gasped audibly. Nyx looked like she was about to explode with laughter.

“Leona…” Nyx said as she covered her mouth. “Y-Your voice…”

Leona frowned. “What about my voice?” She demanded. “Why are you all looking at me like I just grew another head?”

Except…the words didn’t come out like her usual calm, mature tone.

They came out high-pitched.

Adorably, squeakily, high-pitched.

Almost like a chipmunk trying to sound intimidating.

“Wha—What in the world—?!”

Leona squeaked again, instantly slapping her hand over her mouth.

“Why do I sound like this?! Why is my voice so…so…tiny?!”

And hearing this, every elf in the clearing went silent for a second—then laughter erupted.

“Oh gods—did you hear that?!” One whispered, trying not to laugh.

“Our matriarch sounds like a baby fairy!” Another snorted.

“Is that really Leona?! I thought some mosquito was whispering in my ear!”

Even the chickens started clucking in confusion, bobbing their heads toward her as if wondering who this strange, squeaky newcomer was.

Leona’s face turned bright red.

“S-Stop laughing!” She squeaked, clutching her throat. “Hello? Hello?! Am I the only one hearing this?! Why do I sound like this?!”

Nyx finally lost it. She burst out laughing, clutching her stomach.

“Oh my goddess, Leona—your voice!” She wheezed between fits of laughter. “I almost thought we had baby Leona back again!”

“Don’t laugh, Nyx!” Leona squealed furiously, glaring at her friend. “This is not funny!”

“Oh, it’s very funny.” Nyx said, grinning ear to ear. “Come on, say your full title for me! You know, like how you usually introduce yourself—’I am Leona Silverleaf, Matriarch of the Elven village.’ Go on! Say it!”

Leona gasped, mortified. “No! Absolutely not!”

“Oh, come on!” Nyx teased, resting an elbow on her shoulder. “Please? Just once! For me?”

The surrounding elves were already giggling uncontrollably, chanting softly.

“Do it! Do it!”

Leona groaned, burying her face in her hands. But finally, cornered by everyone’s expectant stares, she sighed deeply and tried to compose herself.

’I am a mighty leader.’ She thought. ’I will say this with dignity.’

She took a deep breath and spoke in her most regal, authoritative tone—or at least, what should have been.

“I am Leona Silverleaf, the matriarch of the Elven Village!” She declared proudly.

Except it came out like:

“I am Leona Siwverweaf, da matwiarch of da Ewven Viwwage!”

There was a beat of silence.

Then the entire clearing erupted.

Dozens of elves broke into uncontrollable laughter, clutching their sides, while even the chickens clucked wildly as if joining in.

Luna and Lulu both fell to their knees, covering their mouths but failing miserably to hide their laughter.

“She—she sounds like a baby squirrel trying to give a royal speech!” Lulu cried between gasps.

“I can’t—I can’t breathe!” Luna squealed, tears in her eyes.

“She’s so adorable I can’t take it!” Said another.

“Who knew the matriarch could sound so cute?!”

Leona stood there frozen, face redder than a tomato, while Nyx leaned on her shoulder for support, trying to catch her breath.

“Leona.” She gasped between laughs. ” I think I like this version of you. You’re much more…approachable now.”

“Approachable?!” Leona squeaked, glaring at her with teary eyes. “Nyx, stop it this instant!”

“Oh no, no, I mean it!” Nyx teased, patting her back. “I think we should keep this version of you forever. The cold and serious Leona is gone—long live cute baby Leona!”

The elves burst into another round of laughter while Leona covered her face with both hands, wishing she could disappear into the ground.

And just when she thought she couldn’t take it anymore, a familiar chuckle came from behind her.

Luca walked up, holding his sides and clearly trying to hold back his laughter.

“Alright, alright, that’s enough, everyone.” He said between chuckles. “Sadly for you, Nyx, this effect isn’t permanent.”

Nyx’s smile immediately fell.

“What? It’s not?” She said, almost pouting. “I was so looking forward to seeing Leona like this forever!”

“Sadly that won’t happen.” Luca chuckled and shook his head, still grinning. “And the reason she has such a squeaky voice right now is because she apparently inhaled some helium.”

“After all, it’s a gase that changes how your voice sounds. It doesn’t hurt you, don’t worry—but it gives you a high-pitched, squeaky tone for a few minutes.”

Everyone watched curiously as he gestured toward the canister.

“Just a small breath of helium can do it. See, if you take in just a little—”

He leaned forward, took the nozzle, and inhaled a short burst through his nose. Then he looked up with a grin.

“—your voice ends up sounding like this!”

The clearing exploded in laughter.

“Oh my gods!” One elf cried. “The Hero sounds so cute!”

“He sounds like a little kid who just found out his candy got stolen!” Someone else shouted, and the laughter only grew louder.

Luca tried to maintain his dignity, but every word that left his mouth made it worse.

“Stop laughing, I’m trying to teach you guys a educational lesson here!”

He squeaked, waving his hands dramatically—which only made everyone howl harder.

“Oh no!” Lulu said, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes. “I can’t take it! Luca, you sound like a baby!”

She then grinned mischievously, stepping closer.

“Luca, Luca—say ’goo goo ga ga!’ Come on! Say it!”

Luca groaned. ” Oh, come on, Lulu—”

But she clasped her hands together and widened her eyes, giving him her best puppy face.

“Pleaaaase?”

Luca sighed dramatically. “…Fine.” He took a breath and, in the most hilariously squeaky voice imaginable, said,

“Goo goo…gaga!”

Lulu immediately burst out laughing, nearly falling over.

“Oh my gods, you actually did it! You sound just like a baby!”

The elves were practically rolling on the grass now.

Luna had to lean against another for balance, giggling uncontrollably.

“I can’t—this is too much!”

But Luna also wanted to play with Luca, so she took his hand, her face glowing red but her eyes sparkling mischievously.

“Okay, okay, Luca.” She said through her laughter. “Now say this: ’Mommy Luna, help me out.’”

“Wait, what?” Luca stared at her blankly. “That’s what you want me to say?”

Luna nodded eagerly, suppressing a laugh.

“Come on, humor me!”

Luca groaned again, but gave in. “Alright, fine. Here goes nothing…”

He inhaled another little puff of helium, then said in the same squeaky baby tone.

“Mwommy Luna, help miii out!”

The moment the words left his mouth, the entire clearing lost it.

“Hahahaha!”

Lulu was literally wheezing with laughter and Nyx fell backward into the grass.

But Luna—Luna didn’t laugh.

She froze, eyes wide, before her face flushed bright pink. Her heart skipped a beat.

The way his squeaky voice said ’Mommy Luna’ made her entire body jolt with forbidden warmth.

“Ah—uh—” She stammered, trying to compose herself, but her ears were red to the tips. “O-Okay, maybe not that one again…”

Luca blinked, noticing her sudden flustered reaction. “Wait, Luna, are you—”

“Not another word!” She snapped quickly, face burning.

Before anyone could tease her further, Lulu jumped in excitedly, waving her hands.

“Me too! Me too! I want to try it!”

She ran to one of the tanks, grabbed the nozzle, and took a deep breath of helium before anyone could stop her.

“How do I sound, guys? Do I sound like a fairy?!”

The result was instantaneous—her already bright and childish voice became so squeaky and high-pitched that it could barely be understood.

Everyone burst into laughter again.

“Oh my gods, Lulu!” Luna cried between laughs. “You sound even younger than before!”

“Ha!” Nyx snorted, wiping her eyes. “I swear, if someone gave you a bib and nappy right now, I wouldn’t be able to tell you apart from a toddler!”

“I—hey!” Lulu squeaked indignantly, stomping her foot. “That’s mean!”

But the effect of her tiny voice only made it cuter. And not wanting to be left out, Luna smirked and said,

“Alright then, my turn.”

She gracefully took the nozzle and inhaled a bit herself. Then she exhaled and said,

“H-How do I sound?”

The sound was so tiny and adorable that half the elves clutched their chests.

“Awww!”

“She’s precious!”

“Protect her at all costs!”

Luca, still with a slightly squeaky voice, tried to warn them.

“Okay, okay, that’s enough! You’ll all run out of helium if you keep at this rate!”

But no one listened.

One by one, every elf—young, old, soldier, maiden, elder—lined up eagerly, taking tiny puffs of helium from the tanks and then bursting into laughter as their voices turned squeaky

An elderly elf woman took a puff and declared in a chipmunk squeak,

“I haven’t sounded this young since I was a hundred and fifty years old!”

Selma inhaled deeply and shouted,

“I’m a fairy princess now! Bow before me!”

Before Ivy shouted,

“Well, I’m the Queen of Flies, so you better heed my words instead!”

Meanwhile, group of children formed a circle, inhaling in turns and singing nursery rhymes in progressively higher pitches until they were all and collapsing on top of each other from giggling too much.

“Oh gods, this is the funniest thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life!” Nyx laughed so hard tears streamed down her face. “An entire village of squeaky elves!”

Even Leona, still humiliated from before, couldn’t help but let out a small giggle—though hers too came out as an adorable, chipmunk-like squeak.

Luca stood among them, his arms crossed and an amused smile on his face, his own voice still squeaky as he muttered to himself.

“And they said elves were the most dignified race…”

“…only for them to be a bunch of goofballs who love to have some silly fun.”

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