Home 26: Rooms to let, fifty cents

[bc56]

RME Hunt vs 841

Jade feels the "hole" again to be sure, then shouts back to Aries, "It's not destroying anything! It's just invisible!" Not that that makes any more sense than anything else going on here.
The reflected forest... Should she recognize that? She feels like she should, but she doesn't. Curiously, she reaches out and just gently, with the first finger of her right hand, touches it.

[Rebonack]

[RME Hunt vs 841]

"Oh, umm... that's n-not so bad then, right?" Aries replies.
"Sounds kinda cool to me," Leona reasons. "Like, drive a car through it. Invisible car."
"Yeah but invisible cars are REALLY hard to find in parking lots," Drakaina points out.

Then Jade touches the anomaly.

For a brief fraction of a second the scene in the mirror changes. It's like Jade is looking down on some endless, dark, chaotically raging sea. There's an impression that it isn't actually water. It's... something. Or nothing. Or anything. And bobbing in that sea, soaked and terrified, is a little red fox. Somehow, with great certainty, Jade will know that fox is her somehow. The fox sees Jade and reaches out a paw to her as if asking for help-

And it's gone.

Also Jade's right arm is now translucent and ethereal. She can see the ghost bones inside it. This is rather spooky!

Unlike the previous anomaly touching this one doesn't make it explode and start shooting nonsense everywhere.

[bc56]

RME Hunt vs 841

Jade sees the fox, herself, bobbing in the endless sea. She wants to rescue her. She reaches out her hand, but it's already too late. And the cold, tingling sensation runs up her arm, and when she looks at it, she can see all the way through it and it doesn't seem solid.
She's not especially spooked by the changes in her arm, but what she saw in the mirror leaves her shaken. What was that vision? She's locked in silent contemplation for a few moments, trying to make sense of what she witnessed.

[Rebonack]

[RME Hunt vs 841]

Jade just went really quiet.

Which leaves Aries feeling a uneasy. Chimera comes pacing around the anomaly, a look of clear concern on Aries' face.

"Jade, are you okay?" he asks. "O-oh no! W-what happened to you arm?"

Sadly Aries really doesn't have any way to help with ghost arms.

The anomaly itself is doing... something.

Since Jade touched it a new mirrored rope has been added to the chaotic mess.

That MAY be significant?

Drakaina, meanwhile, is examining the anomaly closely.

[bc56]

RME Hunt vs 841

"I'm fine. Just saw something strange in there." Jade brushes it off and takes a closer look at her arm. "It feels fine. Just a little cold and tingly. But..." She waves her hand through the shaft of Bellerophon's spear to demonstrate. "I don't think it's all there anymore."

[Shadowcaller]

[Kitsune Recovery Service]

"I didn't say that." Kitsuki insists. She rubs her eyes. She's just so tired and it was a struggle to try and explain herself. "I told you, she doesn't really know what she did. Or she doesn't remember doing it. It's more complicated than just that. That's why I told you she reminded me of these old stories. Of cannibalistic foxes. If those stories were about people like her, then she needs some kind of help."

[Kitsune Recovery Service]

"What... what if she can lend my breastplate? That might suppress whatever caused her to do that until we can get some proper help. I mean... our children are here, Kitty." She gestures in the direction Ana went. "I know you trust her but... you understand my need for precautions, right? If these legends you're talking about are true we also need to protect her from herself until we can get her help. And solve this murder thing too."

[Rebonack]

[RME Hunt vs 841]

"O-oh, umm... it's probably not permanent?" Aries says hopefully.
"No way it's permanent, dude. You'll be fine," Leona insists.
"What sort of strange thing did you see?" Drakaina asks curiously.

None of these questions or comments are making the weird mirror ropes go away.

If our heroes wanted to nullify a bunch of magical ropes that make things invisible how might they do it?

Judging from the beard cube it MUST be possible to do something to these objects that causes them to cease to be.

But...

What?

Would it be something that makes sense? Or something that DOESN'T make sense?

[bc56]

RME Hunt vs 841

"I saw a fox drowning in an endless ocean. But, it was me." Jade still looks shaken, even if she's trying to be strong. "Let's just get rid of this thing and worry about it later." Jade raises Bellerophon's spear in her left hand and tries to drive it into the mess of cables.
Will that work? Hard to say. These things are weird.

[Rebonack]

[RME Hunt vs 841]

Definitely weird.

Jade tries poking the anomaly with the spear!

...it scoots away to avoid allowing the artifact weapon to touch it.

Huh.

That's different.

That's the first time one of these things has tried to avoid something.

Why could that be?

"That sounds s-scary to see," Aries says as Chimera observes the anomaly moving. "Are you sure you're going to be alright?"

[bc56]

RME Hunt vs 841

"I'll be fine. Don't worry about me." Jade jabs at the anomaly again. Since it probably moves away again, she has an idea. "Can you breathe some fire and cut off its escape? It doesn't like the spear."

[Rebonack]

[RME Hunt vs 841]

The anomaly, once more, scoots away.

Chimera also backs up to make sure they don't get run over by the thing.

"Original-recipe fire or extra-crispy?" Drakaina inquires.

She probably means the regular chemical fire that Chimera can breath versus the much more destructive Eternal Flame.

"Umm... normal f-fire or the divine fire," Aries decides to clarify.

He's very helpful like that.

Leona, meanwhile, is keeping a close eye on the anomaly and making very scary faces at any idiots who are being stupid enough to try getting closer.

What's wrong with them? Any idiot can see this thing isn't safe.

[bc56]

RME Hunt vs 841

"I don't think it matters. Just enough to keep it from retreating again." Eternal is probably better in that respect. Jade readies the spear to strike the anomaly once the fire is ready.

[Rebonack]

[RME Hunt vs 841]

"Coming right up!" Drakaina says as Chimera's three heads all blast flames into the ground behind the anomaly. As before the fire flashes to white-hot as soon as the three streams cross.

Jade will be able to feel the intense heat wafting from the fire even at a distance.

The anomaly seems to dislike moving into the fire and seems to hesitate for just a moment.

Just long enough to stab it with the spear.

There's a sound like shattering glass and snapping rope as it vanishes.

Along with all its effects.

No more invisible road!

And no more ghost arm.

"Oh hey that sure helped!" Drakaina quips. "The spear must count as an object of order with respect to the whole order versus chaos motif of the ancient world."

[bc56]

RME Hunt

"Ooo...kaaay," Jade replies. That doesn't really make sense to her, but if the spear works on the weird things that's enough information for now. "No clues about where it came from though. Should we try another one?" It might not even be useful. These things might not even have a source.

[Rebonack]

[RME Hunt vs 841]

"It's a mythology thing," Drakaina clarifies. "An agent of order using a sanctified tool to destroy an agent of chaos. When it's linked to foundational myths it's known as chaoskampf, the struggle against chaos. Technically my siblings and I count as a chaos monster since we're one of the offspring of Echidna. I'm pretty sure that's why the spear can de-chaos-ify us and make us human again."

A beat.

"Still know idea how any of that works, just to be clear. But I've looked into a TON of comparative mythology since we're comparatively pretty mythological."

Which goes without saying.

"I'm glad your arm is okay," Aries says, offering the best smile he can muster. His teeth are WAY sharper than a sheep's have any business being. "Does it feel fine?"

It does!

Maybe a little tingly, still.

Chimera sits down on their haunches as a huge cat might, Drakaina craning her neck so she isn't flat on the pavement. "These things are clearly some kind of chaos magic. But what could be a source for something like that...?"

[bc56]

RME Hunt

"My arm's fine. And don't ask me about the magic. The only thing I can do is turn into a fox, and I don't know how that works." Jade looks around. Have any of the other anomalies been banished while they were busy with this one? Do any remain? "Wherever they come from, there doesn't seem to be much purpose behind them." Unless "cause random chaos" counts.

[Rebonack]

[RME Hunt]

It's honestly hard to tell from street level if more of the anomalies have been destroyed.

They were in all different directions as far as our heroes could see from on top of that apartment building.

"Do you LIKE being able to do fox junk?" Leona asks, always quick to cut to the heart of the question.

"N-not that you have to answer that question if you don't want to," Aries is quick to add.

"Either no purpose or a purpose that isn't immediately obvious," Drakaina reasons as she hoovers up her white flames before setting off again. "Maybe causing chaos IS the goal. But why? There's got to be a reason, right?"

That's just how Drakaina thinks.

All reason and logic.

The idea that someone would do something like this, to go to all the trouble to create these anomalies for no reason at all, is a foreign concept to her.

Maybe she makes a pretty lousy chaos monster.

[bc56]

RME Hunt

That's a hard question. And despite Aries urging, Jade feels like she should answer. "I don't really care. It's a thing I can do. It doesn't make any sense when I think about it too hard." The old Jade really enjoyed it.
But this is a different Jade, one who hasn't been twisted into a predatory fox spirit.
Could there have been good things about her that were lost when her mortality was restored?

[Rebonack]

[RME Hunt]

Aries considers the time they spent together to be a good thing and Jade lost that. He would really like to find a way to get Jade her memories back and his siblings are inclined to agree. They might not know Jade quite as well as the ram does but she's their friend, too.

"We're gunna find a way to get you back to normal," Leona declares definitively. "Get your memories, too."

She sounds so resoundingly certain.

Not like 'oh this is a thing we should try'.

No, this is a thing that will happen and that's all there is to it.

"Those temple people messed up. We'll fix the mistake."

So! Heading off to hunt again. Drakaina is quiet as she usually is when she's puzzling through something, occasionally muttering to herself. Aries looks concerned for his friend. Leona looks determined.

And the floating wooden baby head surrounded by birds with kittens riding on them looks weird. Man, just look at that thing. Weird as heck.

[bc56]

RME Hunt

Jade nods, although she's not so optimistic about their chances. And does she even want to remember her time spent as a cannibalistic monster?
On to the baby head.
It is weird. It also can fly, which will make poking it with the spear tough. Before approaching, Jade stops a ways back to just observe. Is it doing anything other than looking around? How is it affecting the area around it?

[Rebonack]

[RME Hunt 055]

There are definitely some problems going on.

For one?

There's a guy over there whose head is busy rotating. Just spinning around and gradually picking up speed. He's looking pretty ill, but otherwise unharmed.

There's that woman over there who 's arms have turned to wood. One of the arms has rooted into the ground and is busy growing into a tree. She doesn't seem very happy about this.

Also?

There are an awful lot of cats and falcons all over the place. They seem distressed.

As soon as our heroes begin approach the sphere it locks its gaze upon our heroes and launches a bird with a kitten riding on it straight at them!

This one seems more aggressive than the last one.

[bc56]

RME Hunt 055

Why are the cute ones always dangerous? This looks actually bad, in comparison to what the last one was doing. Jade ducks under the onrushing falcon, but doesn't have time to bring the spear to bear. She's pretty sure that being hit will cause something bad to happen, probably her turning into a tree or having her head spin off. And what's the deal with all the kittens and birdies?
At least she can think of worse baby-related things to inflict. She can be glad it doesn't make people pregnant or something like that.
At least, it doesn't seem to.

[Rebonack]

[RME Hunt 055]

Chimera is WAY bigger than Jade and has more trouble avoiding small, fast projectiles.

Normally avoiding small fast projectiles isn't a problem for Chimera since their hide can not be pierced.

But this particular projectile isn't meant to pierce anything.

The cat/bird projectile strikes Chimera and-!

Their teeth vanish.

Along with Aries and Drakaina's horns.

They don't appear to notice, though. Instead they try blasting flames at the wooden sphere! It is now successfully on fire!

Which doesn't appear to help.

At all.

It lobs another volley of avian and feline projectiles at our heroes!

[bc56]

RME Hunt 055

Jade hears Tristan get hit and turns to see what's happened. "Are you okay? Your horns..." And teeth, but those are less obvious.
Sadly this comes at a cost. With Jade paying attention to Tristan, she's not paying attention to the birds and kittens. One kitten strikes her in the small of her back and she stumbles.

[Rebonack]

[RME Hunt 055]

Jade gets hit by a baby cat!

She has a strange realization here.

She has suddenly gained the ability to travel forward OR backward in time one minute! However, each time she does so she will age somewhere between one and ten years.

That could be useful for undoing a single horrible thing.

Right?

Chimera, meanwhile, begins running and leaping laterally to make themselves harder to hit. This time around the projectile goes wide as the trio open up with their searing white flames!

FWOOOSH!

The bab-o-sphere seems to be pretty distracted getting set on fire EVEN MORE and doesn't lob any projectiles this time around.

[bc56]

RME Hunt 055

Huh. That's a weird thing to suddenly realize. A power like that though could have drastic consequences. Jade'd better not use it unless things get dire. But the baby sphere seems distracted, so she'll rush towards it and leap at it before throwing the spear. It seems about the right weight for that.
If she's right, all its effects will vanish when it does, which means she'll probably lose the time travel. Not a huge loss though, since it's hardly relevant and very risky to use.

[Rebonack]

[RME Hunt 055]

The spear sticks directly into the floating wood sphere with a-

Okay it doesn't make a sound like you might expect wood getting stabbed by a spear to make.

It sounds more like two cars smashing into each other followed by a loud HOOOOOONK!

Except the honk is a goose.

From the point where the spear penetrates the object begins imploding on itself, sucking in all the birds and cats first, followed by itself until it vanishes with a loud BLORP!

The white flames and spear clatter to the pavement.

Jade doesn't feel any different so maybe the time travel power went away? Though Aries got his horns back so... probably? She would have to try to find out. Chimera trots over to the heap of divine flame so Drakaina can begin siphoning it up. The spear, of course, will be utterly unharmed by the blaze.

Also?

When the anomaly vanishes a little plastic tube of the sort shoved into pneumatic delivery pipes is launches from the point of its departed and lands nearby with a thump. It looks like there's a note inside of it?

[bc56]

RME Hunt

Jade's not about to try. She doesn't want to age 10 years! Instead, she's more interested in picking the spear back up. And she sees the canister. "A message?" She walks over to it and picks it up before carefully opening it. It could be a trap, after all. Or another of those dumb prank anomalies.

[Rebonack]

[RME Hunt]

But if you age yourself up really quickly you can acquire MORE TAILS, Jade!

That's how it works, right?

Every one hundred years you get an extra tail. Just jitter back and forth in time for a bit and acquire ALL THE TAILS.

Anywho!

Jade picks up the canister and opens it.

Within?

Is a note!

Well aren't you nosy?

On the back is a crudely drawn map with a equally poorly drawn picture of Jade's head. There's an arrow pointing to her labeled 'dumb fox, bluh bluh'. The head appears to mark her current location in the City and a large X indicates the Acme Portable Hole Factory several blocks away.

This is probably a trap.

[bc56]

RME Hunt

Jade waves the paper at Tristan. "Hey Tristan! Someone sent me an insult, and a map!" She holds it out to him, map up. "It's obviously a trap. Want to check it out?"

A portable hole factory sounds weird and maybe dangerous. Isn't there some thing about how you shouldn't put a magical container in a portable hole? Jade doesn't really know. She doesn't get magic. Also, how do you make holes using a factory?