Serious Plots 9: Srsr and srsr

[5a Violista]

[Bucket of Slime]

So long as the place is well-specified, might as well show it off when given the opportunity, right?

Sophia made the mistake of asking a bunch of broad questions at once, so now there's not going to be a single well-defined answer. That is, unless her goal was efficiency, in which case her asking those questions was pretty useful because now the slimegirl's body will be thinking all the answers together. Sure, it'll be hard to clearly pick out individual answers, but Sophia probably actually has a lot of helpful experience, since she can probably pick out specific instructions from the whole hive's discussions.

She wants to get home, she wants to be able to talk aloud like anyone else, her big goals are to get pregnant/have children and raise them with someone she loves, and also to get into heaven, and her fears mostly include just losing herself or waking up one day and realizing she's not the same person as she was. Pretty normal stuff, actually. Probably the same as most anybody else, Gabrielle thinks.


[Mirror of Art]

The ranger does want to sleep, actually. Yeah, she nods, that's good. If she feels anything strange, she'll understand.

She almost goes back to sleep, but...
"Oh! You're new here. You have a tent yet? I can have someone put one up for you," she says. That way, Ein can sleep, too.
If Ein wants one, she'll go tell one of the people sitting around doing watch to set up a tent, and then she'll go to sleep until morning.

[Shadowcaller]

Orobou Office

Artie looks a little bashful.
"Well, I admit the whole thing was rather stressful. I got the Masks and a little bit later I was turning into a snake without really knowing why. I'm happy with all of it. The changes all felt like they were my decision at least, and I'm definitely fine being a lady. Um, I might have gone a little overboard in some respects." She looks down at some of her glittering golden 'eyes' down her sides. Vez might know that her predecessor certainly did have a flair for glamour in regards to their chosen forms, if he knew them. "-but the deed is done. I can't change much even if I wasn't satisfied, right?"

Orobou Office

"Overboard? By whose standards?" Vez inquires, seemingly not sure what Artie means exactly. "The most important aspect is that you feel comfortable in your new body. Don't assume that you simply will get used to something. If there are any issues, any issues at all, don't be afraid to mention them to me. My job is to make you feel as comfortable as possible after all. If you like to change your body in any way I might be able to do something about that."

[Deathkeeper]

Orobou Office

"Standards, oh. Well. Ah..." Artie doesn't seem to have an answer to that question.
"Oh, you can do transmutations, Administrator? That's very impressive. Ah. Well, I think I look quite nice, do I not? I made myself look like someone I would like looking at, I think. Mostly. Would people think me vain for that?" Her colors certainly are a little ostentatious. And even she does consider that maybe she made her figure a bit pronounced, that ran in her family anyway. It's only fair after the grief she gave her sister. "The wings serve a very important purpose. Without them I overheat. They are a bit silly but I just sort of like them." she certainly seems conflicted. Really, it seems more that she likes what she's done but can't decide if she likes the fact that she's going to attract attention.
”Oh, perhaps there is one thing? I’m not really sure about the tongue. It’s ah, rather like a frog’s. Frankly I don’t have a clue how that happened. I was under the impression that it was related to some sort of court tradition?”

Waste Land

Krayger feels like they should intervene but he would rather not a crowd coming after them.
"And what's this feud over?" he asks, looking out over the heads of those gathered.

Iconquest

Hector rolls his eyes. These girls really can't decide on anything, can they?
"We're going up, then."
The illusory human trots up the stairs with his sister nervously following behind him. He really doesn't need the illusion here but it makes him feel better.

[Recaiden]

[Bucket of Slime]

Right! Not just any slime can track geography so well!

There are other people who want things like that, yes. It's hardly universal. Sophia thinks about what she used to want, and how different it is now, and the ways its not different, but she doesn't think it would be helpful to talk about them.

Unfortunately, they don't know how to leave the Nexus for other worlds.
Sophia doesn't pick out any information about where a slimegirl's independent thoughts come from, but that'll probably be fine.
Still, she focuses on one follow-up question first. The other two can be asked about later.
"Raising a family? How does a slimegirl have children? You seem pretty different from other creatures."

[Mirror of Art]

"No tent yet." Ein will follow along with the ranger, and turn in to sleep. They'll need to rest eventually and now is just as good of a time.
They don't like the tent; it's discouraging to be out here in the field for who-knows how long, maybe never to make it home, and this just highlights what a questionable idea it was to come here.
It's good that the people sitting watch are so willing to help out, though. So unsuspicious.

[Earl of Purple]

Shivernight Manor

The halflings will step away from Mr. Sekhmet, instincts and experience ensuring they're not in his way. They're also more than willing to lead the whole group out of the manor, though whilst they're here they'll grab some of the dungeon's restraints and bind Bluefoot's hands and feet. I don't think she's able to fight back even with Geneva letting her open the voice-bottles.

Throne Room

Prumathe hears the advice, and though he doesn't trust the source, thinks it's good advice. With a little hesitation he'll start forcing his way through the crowd trying to mob him to Sapphira, though if they decide to just mob him and hold his limbs eventually there won't be much he can do about it. He can boost his strength and resilience, but he can't fight leverage except with leverage of his own. He's got his silver sword and trying not to drop it, and he's using his biomancy quite a lot. He might need a few days' rest after all this.

[Rebonack]

[Shivernight Manor]

~Okay, let's get everyone out of here,~ Geneva says as the group flee from the manor. ~Once we're out in the open I can transport us back to VIGIL.~

Technically she could use Teleport at any point.

But given the sorts of magic at work inside the manor Geneva is worried that there might be some kind of ward that would foul a teleport attempt.

That could be dangerous.

Better to be cautious, right?

Also?

She gives a little sub-vocalized command to her-

Oh.

Wait.

She doesn't have her wrist computer, does she?

It got left behind when she Transformed into Sekhmet.

Blast.

She'll have to hunt that down later. Hopefully before some scrapper tries to take it apart.

[bc56]

Iconquest

Jade is an engineer. Of course she can't decide on anything. Not until she's done a thorough analysis of all the options to decide which is the best.
But up is fine. She can do up.
She follows Hector up the stairs. While she doesn't like the idea of not leading, she also doesn't like the idea of a trap specifically designed for faeries blasting her out of existence and back into the Dreamheart. That would suck.

[Rebonack]

[Iconquest]

It WOULD suck.

Quite a bit, actually.

There's a good chance she would lose most or even ALL of her identity in the process.

Only faeries with the strongest of wills and the most resolute purpose can be emerged in the Dreamheart and emerge mostly intact.

Anywho!

Up the stairs.

The wood groans under feet and hooves with each step. As before, the seemingly meaningless sound somehow carries meaning. With each step it is more clear.

I'm kind of cheating, here. You're supposed to be fighting monsters and solving puzzles. If you decide to go after another I don't think I'll be able to get away with this again.

The Plum Sisters glance at each other, confused.

"Um..." Lambslaura mutters, tapping her fingers together. "Is... um... is your friend who made this p-place kind of like a gaiad, Jade? Is this part of her?"

Our heroes approach a fancy set of double doors depicting an angelic figure driving nightmarish beings into the sea while abstract depictions of humans raise their arms to her. The feeling of wrongness from the other side is incredibly intense.

[Deathkeeper]

Iconquest

Hector, who cannot feel any wrongness goes right up and pulls open the door. Well he tries but his illusions aren't good at handling heavy things so there's not a lot of force on it. There's the distinctive sound of paws scratching on a door.
Heather mostly restrains her giggles as she helps him with one of the two doors. Her brother being disgustingly cute helps to alleviate the cosmic horror that bubbles up in her chest from merely being here. The spooky voice doesn't help.
Yes she's aware that she talks exactly the same way all the time but it's nice and cute because she does it with moths and leaves and cute wolves.

[bc56]

Iconquest

"Zee?" Jade asks the voice. Then she answers Lambslaural. "I thought she was more like a kaiju. You know, big rampaging monster that destroys things, but with a side order of transforming them to be like her. This is new. I wonder if she has some sort of influence over this place, even when we're so distant?" Jade has no clue.

[Rebonack]

[Iconquest]

There's a sound of groaning wood as the door ease open.

And with the sound another message impossibly encoded within the notes.

Hehe. I'm very near to you. My shrines yield to my touch. But others grow curious. I can't stay for long.

Thankfully it doesn't seem like she needs to.

Before our heroes stands a round chamber flanked with twelve statues and twelve pillars. A alter awaits at the center. And above it?

Something.

Something burning shining crystalizing folding rooting blazing flashing irradiating-

Something was not, and will not be, yet is.

Something like... a mountain?

A great mountain burning with fire.

No. Like a star, plucked from heaven.

No. Like a great serpent that coils across the night.

No. Like a tree with roots as deep as the underworld and branches that stretch beyond the reaching sky.

Awe.

And terror.

"Okay that has GOT to be it, right?" Snapdragon says, shielding her eyes with one hand from the brightness.

[Deathkeeper]

Iconquest

"Well we're certainly not going to complain." Hector tells the empty air.
"Yeah, that definitely has to be it!" Heather declares, looking expectantly at the Sisters.
"So uh, you three gotta form up before you roll out, right?"
She's fairly sure she remembers the plan being them forming Chimera so they could cheat and use only one icon.

[bc56]

Iconquest

Jade whispers a quick thanks to the unseen Zee and nods to the triplet gaiads. "That's it. It looks like her. I think if you just grab it it should do its thing." Of course, she's not absolutely sure of that. But she's pretty sure.

[Rebonack]

"Yeah. Here," Dandelion says, offering the spear of Bellerophon to Heather. "Bop us with it once whatever happens happens."

And then?

The Plum Sisters join hands, a sheet of flame briefly obscuring them. When it falls? There stands Chimera. Lion, ewe, dragon. With claws like stone and legs of vines. A beast of the forest.

"Let's get it over with."
"W-wish us luck?"
"Here we go!"

And then?

They touch the Icon.

The light grows bright.

Brighter.

Brightest!

Until it's like trying to stare into the sun.

Probably don't do that?

When the radiance fades Chimera is still standing there.

But...

They're made of flesh and bone and blood instead of sticks and stones and gossamer.

And?

Aries has his ram's horns back.

"Hahaha! It worked! WOOOO! A winner is we!" Drakania howls with delight. "Back to being the butt again!"

[Deathkeeper]

Iconquest

Hector claps gently. Of course the only real sound that comes out is the sound of tiny foxy paws again.
"Congrats, you guys."

"Um. Yeah. Congrats. Uh...?" Heather slowly approaches and smacks Chimera on the back with the spear unless one of them stop her. She's just using the side of the point. They don't really want her to stick them with it, do they?

[bc56]

Iconquest

"It worked! Congrats guys!" Jade grins and watches the proceedings.
But she is worried about one thing.
From what Zee said, it sounds like each dungeon they raid will be harder than the last. That doesn't seem good.

[Rebonack]

[Iconquest]

Chimera gets smacked on the back with the flat of the spear and-!

The lead spear head bursts into flames and melts.

And just keeps melting!

Until Chimera is totally covered in molten lead!

Oh no!

Are they in danger?

Are they going to suffocate just like the original Chimera?

What's going to happen!

Mostly just Tristan stumbling out of the heap of molten metal, sputtering. He's still wearing that Greek-style armor that Dandelion was clad in. But now it's properly shaped for a human instead of a gaiad. Jade will probably notice that while the resemblance to Aries is there, that is the Aries her magic had created, it's clear that the real Tristan isn't anywhere NEAR that handsome.

"Okay, wow, it feels pretty great to have two legs again," Tristan sighs with relief, tapping a heel on the floor. "Thanks, everyone."

That smile.

Jade will definitely see Aries in it. Hector without a doubt will see Leona.

He holds out a hand to take the spear back. Its head is no longer on fire or melting.

"We got that one for free. But I would feel pretty lousy if we just bailed now," Tristan says, drawing on Leona's ability to INSPIRE. "There are LOTS of people who had their lives turned upside down by the Buttercupocolypse. We owe it to at least one more person to get another. Yeah?"

[5a Violista]

[Bucket of Slime]

If Sophia talked about what she wanted more, maybe the slimegirl could relate with her more.

She shakes her head. Her thoughts are pretty clear on the matter: she doesn't know. And a little sad about that fact. She just...doesn't know how a slimegirl would have a child. She's never met another one before, anyway, and so she's never had the chance to learn how. Sure, someone could argue that being divided in half would make a mother/daughter thing, but really it's more of a sister-thing. And if only one of them could think for herself while the other's stuck on instinct and basic reactions and such, would that really count? She'd need to be able to create some kind of thinking...thing for the other one for her to even accept it as counting, and she has no idea how she'd do that.

Most importantly, that wouldn't be the same! she thinks. It'd probably still be a sister-sister relationship because she would never be able to raise the other from babyhood and probably wouldn't even require falling in love with someone else.

Gabrielle just...doesn't know. It's her goal, but she doesn't know what steps she would have to take to get there from here.



[Mirror of Art]

OF course they aren't suspicious: they trust the ranger, since basically their lives largely depend on trusting the ranger. And if the ranger's okay with it, then probably they should be okay with it too.

It's night.

It's morning.

The ranger leaves with someone else pretty early, to go check out something. The pack with the mirror in it is left in the ranger's tent; Ein can go look at it freely. The majority of the stronger ones go out as well, while those who are less capable (and some guards) stick around the camp. There's a preteen sitting around camp with nothing to do, bored, who - if Ein isn't trying to be unnoticeable - could notice Ein and introduce herself and ask who Ein is and what Ein's doing.

[Recaiden]

[Bucket of Slime]

The sadness says something. Poor helpless confused slimegirl.
Ah, don't you worry. We'll figure out how.
Hopefully that reassures Gabrielle, and doesn't just frighten her.

Me, I used to want to matter. To have someone care, that I was important to. I didn't have any family to, or friends, just my work. I couldn't see how I'd change that, either. Until suddenly it happened. I ended up here, where they needed what I was, and who I was. Like now I had a purpose.

She lifts up the bowl in three of her hands.

[Mirror of Art]

The new addition to the camp doesn't sleep soundly, but they do eventually sleep.

Ein doesn't need to try to be unnoticeable.
But for now, they're trying to be noticeable, since they may need to interact with the residents of this camp for an extended time.

They introduce themselves to the preteen in turn and explain that they're investigating the mirror, before adding.
"There aren't many young people here." Expecting that the pre-teen has a weird story explaining how they came to be here.

[Deathkeeper]

Iconquest

Heather hands him the spear and gives him a quick hug.
"Yeah sure, if you want. It might help that half of us can actually touch things without instinctively freaking out."
"Yeah! Uh. So uh. Does it feel...good?" Heather asks.
Tristan has probably aware of how much Heather has been grappling with whether or not she wants to take a cure or let someone else go ahead of her on that.

[bc56]

Iconquest

Seeing Tristan in his real appearance makes Jade think. She knew he wouldn't look like he did that Spooktober night. But this just reminds her, in a sort of sad way, that she doesn't look right either. No matter how you consider it, there's no denying that the magic that imbued her with exceptional beauty did its job well. But seeing Tristan like that just makes her think of how her appearance isn't normal. Will he think she's unattainable because of the change? Is he even still interested in her?

"You're right. We've got one and we aren't even taxed yet." Jade gives Heather a pointed look. She's probably the one that will take it. For all her not wanting to kill things, Jade has a hard time wanting to take the cure. She actually likes her fox-powers, and she can live with this. She's been a good fox. Some other fox who's tried and failed to be good should get it first.

[Rebonack]

[Iconquest]

Even if none of the people here RIGHT NOW want to use the next one, there are plenty of people back Inside who ran afoul of the fae.

That was something our heroes had talked about before.

Finding enough Icons to cure everyone is probably impossible. But some people don't even want to use one. Some people are happy with what happened to them.

Tristan had been.

But the more he had thought about it the more he realized that it was his head(s) being messed with.

For the first time in several months he feels like himself again.

"Yeah, I mean, sure?" Tristan is off to an uneasy start since he wasn't totally expecting that hug. "Looking back at it in retrospect it's easy to see how much it twisted me up. But at the same time I don't think it was... bad? Not really?"

It is a WHOLE lot to process. Just POW! Fae magic gone! The triplets are, of course, jabbering at each other inside Tristan's skull trying to figure this all out themselves. But something more important than that catches Aries' attention.

Jade is worried.
You sure?
Yeah. I, um, I can see it in her body language.
DEPLOY HUG!
God you two are such dweebs.

Tristan steps over to Jade holds out one arm (since he's holding the spear with the other hand). "Exactly. We can do this." Unless Jade steps away, she's getting a hug, too. "Even if you gals decide to stick with it, there are other people who need our help."

[5a Violista]

[Bucket of Slime]

It is sad! The saddest.
Gabrielle finds it a mix of reassuring, but also weirds her out, a little (why are her kidnappers offering to help her now?). Why do they even care? Wait, is this some sort of weird arranged marriage sort of thing? They already know how it works and she's the second slimegirl and they're going to do something about that. Still kinda weird.

She was so busy 'talking' and listening for the first time in....forever, really, that she completely forgot about trying to escape. The bucket suddenly moving again reminds her of that, that she was going to look around for how to escape and then do it. Now that the bucket's moving again, though, she'll have to wait until it stops again.



[Mirror of Art]

The kid has black hair and purple eyes, and a black scale-leather jacket tied around her waist. "Yeah, I know, there aren't," the kid says. "They won't let me help out with anything. Everyone says I'm too young to have to worry about anything and I just have to sit around camp."

She throws her arms up. "But nobody else here can fly! I could do so much! I was chosen to come here, so I was already prepared and had trained! But all the grown-ups...I mean, [i]adults[i] just say not to worry about anything. Just clean up the camp and cook and stuff, and let the people who know what they're doing handle all the exciting stuff."

The kid gets closer. "So what have you done with the mirror? Anything cool? Anything fun?" She's clearly pretty bored and is willing to find anything interesting if it alleviates boredom.

[Recaiden]

[Bucket of Slime]

Something like that! You might find it weird in the details, but there's no reason not to help you along our way.

Sophia carries her towards that pool that was visible on the way in, the bubbling water glowing electric blue, the shore surrounded by spikes, things writhing beneath the surface.
Now it is also surrounded by six sedate creatures. Each like an unfinished clay sculpture by someone with only a vague understanding of the human form. Their too-long too-many fingers are laid in the edge of the water, and the air around them hums with power.

Gabrielle might want to hurry up the escape attempt, because in just a moment Sophia is going to throw the bowl, slimegirl and all, out into the water.

[Mirror of Art]

"People who are growing should focus on growing. But this isn't normal circumstances. They should let you help." Ein agrees. They don't look much at the kid though. They''re looking at the mirror.
"How do you fly? It is a very valuable power." Perhaps there's more reasons than youth to neglect this kid's contribution? Maybe they're just not very helpful to a group?

They shrug when questioned. "I've learned to control the other side, and move both sides around."
Their current goal is to move the mirror-ranger back to where they came from in the real world. Get in touch with the rest of the hive, somehow.

[Deathkeeper]

Iconquest

Tristan you were a Buttercup you know gaiads are huggy why did you not see it coming?
"Okay. It's uh. Well it's a lot to think about." Heather doesn't want to leave Hector behind. Or even Linus. And while it's nice to think about maybe getting to see what kinds of books there will be in five hundred years...her stupid deerbutt spreading flowers everywhere kinda makes that hard.
And she really misses sleeping.
"Well, we have to figure out how to get down first, don't we?" suggests Hector.

[bc56]

Iconquest

Jade is hugged! That's somewhat reassuring to her. She remembers the words. No matter what happens, we will always be friends. Even if they're not more-than-friends anymore, Tristan is still her friend. She hugs back, smiling. "We should just be able to go out the way we came in. We should get moving. I don't want to see what comes out at night here."

[5a Violista]

[Bucket of Slime]

Nope! Not interested in an arranged marriage, especially one arranged by kidnappers.
It seems exactly like the type of situation where you won't fall in love.

The slimegirl spots the glowing blue liquid. Wait, is that how slime pregnancy works? she suddenly thinks, jumping to conclusion after conclusion. The water is some other really-diluted slime and they're trying to mix the two of them together. Of course! It all makes sense now.

To be fair, she doesn't really have very much time to think, because Sophia is quickly approaching the blue liquid.

Gabrielle tries to leave the bowl as quickly as possible, and to land on the ground. No, you're supposed to fall in love before you toss two slimes in a pool together or whatever they're planning. She knows she said she wants children, but she doesn't want it that way. Definitely not without a relationship or marriage first!

Between gravity, the bowl moving, Sophia being partly in the way, and everything else, not all of her is able to escape the bowl at once. Ordinarily, she would then try to pull herself back together and reconstitute, but if that water really is another diluted slime trying to get her pregnant, she's not sure she would want to recombine with part of her that has already absorbed that water-slime-stuff-or-whatever-it-is.


[Mirror of Art]

"I know, right? You should tell them that," the kid says, latching on to the argument because it's something she already agrees with. "They should totally let me help. It's only common sense that you'd do that."

The kid smirks, then answers proudly, "I'm a dragon! I have wings. But haven't shed my coat yet," she gestures at her scale-leather, "so I'm not an adult. But! I've been practicing magic anyway!" And the preteen probably has very little control over it sometimes, or uses it in inappropriate which makes the adults less likely to trust her.

She gets closer to watch the mirror.
"Oh, cool. So what does the mirror, do, anyway?" she asks.


The mirror-ranger can, in fact, be guided there. Probably takes a little while to figure out where, exactly, it is and what direction to go to get there, but eventually it should work out.

The hive on the other side would probably be able to notice a psychic connection. They could probably even communicate with Ein through it!
However, unlike usual where they would just speak mind-to-mind, it would instead feel more like they're chatting over the web with an incredibly laggy connection.

[Morty]

[Waste Land]

The elf's reaction to a mention of giant bird is odd. At first, it looks like she's trying to remember.

"A bird..." Then, however, a change comes over her and her features smoothen as she seems to forget whatever she was thinking about. "No, we have not seen any large birds."

"Arravir has insulted Erika's family," a nearby human cuts in to answer Krayger. "This insult demands blood."

"What foolishness!" A well-dressed elven man seems indignant. "Erika has made advances on a man Arravir was courting. He couldn't let it go unanswered."

"I thought their quarrel was over debts," another elf says, her features briefly assuming the same blank look that was visible on the first speaker's face when asked about giant birds.

"Well, clearly the time for words is past and they must fight!" The human insists, which strangely seems to meet with approval and agreement from both groups.

[Arkhosia]

[Throne Room]

The bear grins madly as she charges up the stairs, aiming to get back to the roof again. If the door for some reason doesn't open she will attempt simply charge through it.

Blanche might not like that but there's far worse ahead. Anika will look behind her for a moment to make sure they're still being followed before she runs straight towards the edge and jumps out over it.

Let's see if the demons decides to follow them now.

Blanche indeed does not much care for what Anika has planned here, making a very uneager noise and clutching onto the bear's fur for dear life as Anika barrels onwards. A couple of worries pop into her head - can demons be trusted not to just fling their hosts off after them with abandon? - but she doesn't exactly have any suggestions to the contrary.

[bc56]

Throne Room

Anika and Blanche go plunging off the building, succubi in pursuit.
This may not have been such a good plan. Why? Because the succubi have wings. They leap off after the plummeting pair, flying in messy formation.

Against Kiun's will, the possessing entity shudders and shivers. Then its strength shatters, and it surrenders to her. As its host slumps over, it flows out as a red mist, wrapping itself around Kiun's arm in silent deference, almost as if it's waiting for a command. It shies away from the angelic projectile she carries, not willing to touch it.

Wenomir knocks Sapphira's weapon aside and darts off to behead some civilians non-lethally. They collapse unconscious, the succubus shapes evaporating off them as they return to normal. The fiendish queen starts to follow, but stops and turns as Prumathe, ignored by the possessed people, approaches her from behind. She turns on him, lashing out with one hand and trying to grab him by the throat and lift him off the ground. "I should just kill you. That would bring her running to me."

Shivernight Manor

One quick reorganization later, and the group should be outside and ready to teleport. Sekhmet gives a nod of approval, but is interrupted by the mysterious madman. "Lioness, wait!" He reaches up to his head, and with a grimace and a tearing sound, rips a clump of his hair out. "This means something to you. Remember me when you come into your kingdom." Sekhmet stares dumbfounded at the hair in the palm of her hand. It doesn't mean anything to her.
Ophelia groans in the grip of the two numbers and her tail thrashes. The malign entity that influenced her is starting to make it's presence known again. They'd best get to Vigil quickly and get her into somewhere secure. I'm sure Geneva can't always be on hand to suppress it.