Inside 71: All I Want For Thanksmas Is You

[bc56]

Burning Depths

Corpse Blossom sidesteps the kick. "Really? Do you think you can... Aargh!" She clutches the new, oozing wound on her face in pain. "What did you..." There's a twist in her body. Some of the weeping sores in her skin heal over, her matted, stained hair becomes a little more full and vibrant. "Ugh. You're trying to make me weak, like you!" Corpse Blossom throws her dagger, another immediately materializing in her hand to throw again. She hisses, "Guess what I can do. I can make you strong instead!" Her mouth unhinges inhumanly wide, and a stream of familiar black sludge sprays out. Rose better not get splattered!

In the Painting

"You can't? Are you all right? Did you hit your head? When did it start? Should I send for a doctor?" Arthur releases a torrent of questions. "Oh, Yssa. You don't even know what I've done, and you still forgive me."

[Rebonack]

[Burning Depths]

Oh no.

Nonono that isn't what Rose meant to do! Why is there gross soul tar coming out of the sting on her tail? Why does she even have a sting on her tail?!

Even as she fights down the panic, Rose can't help but notice that the festering wounds on Blossom are starting to close up and the stomach churning stench around her isn't quite as terrible. Maybe... maybe it's undoing the devil things that were done to her? Maybe her sting cures devils? Rose is hopeful that's the answer but deep down she doubts it. That venom she's producing is just like that black goop Charcoal was barfing up.

Rose doesn't have much time to contemplate though since there are daggers being tossed at her.

Good thing the very first action she took was conjuring armor, huh? The first one bounces off her breastplate and she swats away a second that was aimed straight at her face with a gauntlet. "Blossom, listen, this isn't how you're supposed to be and you know it! This isn't YOU Sapphira is trying to control you! I just waACK!"

That 'ACK!" would be Rose getting disgusting slime vomited all over her. Ew ew ew some of it got in her mouth! Eeew it smells so bad! Ew ew ew... ew?

One second she was dripping with the stuff and the next it's gone, absorbed into her body. Rose blinks, her arms still shielding her face from the stream of tar. All of a sudden the end of her tail feels absolutely engorged a moment before it spasms, expelling a puddle of black gunk from the sting all over the floor. Okay. So. Summary. Soul tar gets absorbed by her, routed to the venom gland in her tail, processed into her own virulent strain of the toxin, and any extra gets spit out.

"...okay that was really gross and creepy but not bad I guess?" Rose mutters, her voice shaky. It still felt strange and disgusting. She squares up her footing and forms a series of seals with her hands, preparing a spell to cast. She doesn't loose it right away, though. Not yet. "This isn't a fight you're going to win, Blossom. Just stand down, okay? I don't want to hurt you."


[Arkham Street]

Sphinx makes a choice.

It's so fast it doesn't even feel like anything. That's it.

Done.

Her mind feels practically boundless. A well that lacks a bottom. Everything she has ever read EVER is but a thought away. Cross referencing all her knowledge is simple and effortless. With a whim she can flip through these three huge tomes in a matter of minutes and memorize every single detail. There.

And there. A reference here. A half-bit of conjecture there. The name was hinted at.

A puzzle. A riddle.

But what's a riddle to Sphinx?

Arrvak.

The name of the nuckelavee is Arrvak.

Easy! Simple as catching a mouse.

[bc56]

Burning Depths

"Funny," Corpse Blossom snarls, "I do want to hurt you." She lunges, yellow, talonlike nails slashing at Rose's throat, noxious stench roiling around her. "So die."

[Deathkeeper]

[Arkham Street]

GOSH! Sphinx wasn't able to put her paw on it but something felt wrong with her this ENTIRE time and she can finally figure it out!
It's the pants! The entire time she's been here it's been bugging her! The absolute moment she makes that decision her feet are finally properly shaped and those stupid denim things finally explode off of her and she can start doing important things! Like reading.

Which works great. Arrvak easily. Now she just needs to-
bop.
Sphinx looks down at her bag that she left by the table. And the stuff that was in her pockets. And her very non-polydactyl paws.
Shoot.

Sphinx goes off to find Howard. Worst case scenario he can hold onto her stuff. Off to find him and- oh. Sphinx looks down at herself. Oh, right. Echidna was a nymph. And Hydra inherited that look. And now she did, too. Oh, dear. She hadn't been thinking about that.
"Howard? Do you have anything for reshaping clothes and stuff? I didn't think this plan through entirely." she whispers a little loudly.

[Rebonack]

[Burning Depths]

As Blossom lunges Rose ducks her head slightly and aims to shoulder-check the other gaiad straight in the chest. She gets a few scratches on her face for the trouble, but the nice thing about having armor is that... well... it does a pretty good job of protecting you, you know?

Then?

She releases her spell.

There's a crackling noise moments before lime green crystal springs from the floor in a bid to envelop most of Blossom's body and bind her in place!

Really.

This is basically THE go-to spell for any one-on-one fight where you don't want to kill someone. Even if they DON'T get totally immobilized they might still get slowed down by the crystal growth! Rose is really hoping this will work. Mostly because, like she said, she doesn't want to hurt Blossom. Not even a little bit! She's pretty sure that if she can find some way to get Blossom out of here then Sekhmet should be able to cure her! Just like she did with Charcoal and herself!

...right?

"NO you DON'T!" Rose shouts back. "You don't want to hurt me! You don't want to serve Sapphira! You don't want ANY of those things! You don't want to be a meany, you want to be NICE and KIND and HAPPY!"


[Arkham Street]

Well.

Sphinx has the information she needed.

Great!

She also had a wardrobe malfunction.

Less great.

As she begins padding around the library she'll get this odd impression that she just sort of knows where everything is. Every person. Every book. Every spooky artifact. Everything. It makes sense of course. She's this library's guardian now so of course she knows what's going on in here. Finding Mister Howard is easy he's busy dusting off some old scrolls with one of those little fluffy static cling dusters.

"I am afraid such magic is neither my forte nor my interest nor a topic of particular importance to the library's collection, Sphinx," Howard replies matter of factly. He seems completely unphased by Sphinx' appearance. "However, I do believe I have a tarp in the tool shed that could be suitably cut to provide you with a temporary reprieve to your state of undress."

[bc56]

Burning Depths

It works. Corpse Blossom is ensnared enough to be immobilized. "What makes you think you can tell me that?" she spits at Rose, "I like being bad. Leather and chains, that's my style. You want me to go back? Back to that addle-brained do-gooder ditz your kind turned me into? I'd rather die! But you don't have the guts for that, do you."

[Deathkeeper]

[Arkham Street]

She’s not in a state of undress! Her shirt just got a little messed up. And is kinda tight now fitted over her new nymph/beast shape. Which is larger than she was as a human because Sphinx is pretty big. Silly old-school people with their sensibilities.
”Thats fine, I’m covered alright. But my bag was full of my stuff. It’s over where you left me in D7, can you just keep and eye on it for me. I sent the books back to their places.”
She just flicked her wings and they floated back there. It was pretty great.
”Yeah there’s a Sphinx of black quartz in that bag and I’m on a quest to break the curse on her. So just keep anyone from picking her up and look after her if I win and the curse breaks. Bye! “
Oh there she goes. Where to next? Well she needs fresh water and someone to throw it at the monster now that she has no hands. Oh, maybe Chimera can help? The park should have water at least. And she can say hi!
Well she might find a bucket on the way to the docks. But she kind of wants to visit her sister. She just feels extra sisterly right now. Either way hose water around the port won’t be fresh water. Unless fresh seawater counts. So she should stop by the Park either way for the water. Off she goes.

[Rebonack]

[Burning Depths]

Okay.

Good.

Fight averted.

Rose is going to snatch up the crown and stuff it in her fanny-pack along with all the other junk. The crown, the vial, even the sack of bones! How does all that stuff fit in there? As she does so, she answers, "Because I went through the same thing you did, dummy! Sapphira's corruption magic made me LIKE being evil, too! It felt GREAT! But it was all a LIE! I never really felt that way and I bet you never did, either! Did you like being awful like this even before you got Named Buttercup? I bet you didn't. I sure know I didn't."

Crown in hand, she starts heading toward the door.

They aren't going to be able to help Blossom. They're going to have to run as soon as she gets back to Sekhmet. They might not ever be able to come back here. Which would mean leaving Blossom in Sapphira's clutches.

Rose heaves a sigh, pausing briefly at the door.

"You're wrong about a lot of things," Rose says, her tone resigned. "I'm going to find your garden and I'll see you again."

The crystal prison seems to grow tighter, deeper, seeping into flesh. Rose raises one hand, bracing her middle finger against her thumb.

"Shatter."

And then she snaps.

The crystal prison explodes with great violence.

Then Rose goes dashing down the hall back toward Sekhmet. She can only hope she didn't take too long trying to help Blossom.


[Arkham Street ==> Plum Mountain Park]

"I will ensure that your belongings are safe," Mister Howard says as Sphinx goes bounding off. "My, what a hasty young person."

So!

Off toward the park!

Thankfully it isn't terribly difficult to find. You know. What with the giant mountain and plum tree in the middle of it.

It's a pretty decent distance away, though. And Sphinx is going to have quite a ways to run. Unless, of course, she decides to use those wings of hers for something OTHER than turning the pages of books. So what's it going to be Sphinx? Going by land or by air?

[bc56]

Burning Depths

With a horrible scream, Corpse Blossom is rent apart. Fragments of diseased flesh rain throughout the room.

With her trophies, the bag, key, crown, and vial, Rose escapes! Just on time too, as another violent tremor shakes the palace. She emerges to find Sapphira and Sekhmet locked in combat. The two are flying around the outside of the palace. Sapphira is throwing lightning bolts at Sekhmet while the younger fiend dodges and attacks back with fireballs. Once, they close to melee range and wrestle, which results in Sekhmet being smashed into the palace wall and another tremor occurring. Sapphira looks as fresh as ever, but Sekhmet is clearly exhausted by all this.

[Rebonack]

[Burning Depths]

She'll be okay.

That's what Rose assures herself.

Blossom had a garden. Her spirit will return to her garden and slowly rebuilt itself over the next lunar cycle. She'll be fine. Rose and Sekhmet will just have to find her and cleanse her and everything will be okay.

Rose comes racing out of the palace just in time to see Sekhmet getting smashed into the wall! That definitely isn't an encouraging sigh. Not even a little bit.

What should she do? There's no WAY she's going to be able to take Sapphira in a fight. At best she might be able to distract her for a moment so Sekhmet can... do... something?

That's what she's going to go with. See if she can't get Sapphira off balance so Sekhmet can get a hit in. Hopefully she doesn't get obliterated for her trouble.

Sweeping one hand in front of herself, Rose conjures a trio of crystal spikes that launch themselves toward the devil queen with incredible force, little trails of rose petals drifting behind them. They should be able to impact with enough power to send knock the queen off balance as clinging vines try to hamper her movement.

"You leave her ALONE!" Rose yells at Sapphira. "She's NEVER going to join you and neither am I, you liar!"

[bc56]

Burning Depths

Sapphira laughs darkly. "As you wish." The darts embed into her, but she does not even flinch, tearing through the vines without the slightest exertion. She dives towards Rose, the air screaming around her, her claws extended. "No! Mother!" Sekhmet dives too, aiming to strike Sapphira off her lethal course. Both converge towards Rose at a frightful pace.

[Rebonack]

[Burning Depths]

Oh.

Yeah, that didn't do anything did it?

Except manage to make Sapphira focus on Rose and oh geeze they're fast!

Rose gives her own wings a beat, lunging toward Sekhmet and touching her Princess moments before Sapphira reaches them, words in Sylvan already on her lips. There follows a potent explosion of magical force as Sekhmet and Rose both seem to disintegrate in a blast of rose petals. They're fine, though. They've just been teleported a respectable distance away from Sapphira and down that pit the palace hovers over. Rose has already got her wings tucked and she's diving for all she's worth!

"Hurryhurryhurry that was my last big spell!" Rose says frantically. "I got the crown we need to go!"

Does Sekhmet have a means of allowing them to go faster?

Or maybe be somewhere other than hell?

If she does that would be really handy right now because Rose would really like it if Sapphira doesn't rip her head off. She likes having her head attached to her body.

[bc56]

Burning Depths

Sapphira lets out a howl of fury as the pair teleport away. She's not going to be fooled into thinking they disintegrated. In fact, she already knows where they are. Sekhmet leaves such an obvious trail.

Sekhmet confusedly crashes into Rose before getting her bearings. "I, uh, don't think I have enough left to make a new portal, so, uh, we need to run for it." Sapphira is already visible, tearing towards them through the lightless sky of this hellscape. "She can, uh, follow me easily in her domain. We, uh, need to lose her somewhere else." Sekhmet begins flying along the mountains. "There, uh, should be a swamp this way. That's the, uh, border of Terror."

[Rebonack]

[Burning Depths]

Rose is beating her wings as hard as she can, the muscles straining as her breath comes in ragged gasps.

Must!

Go!

Faster!

"Okay! Okay okay so we have to hide in the, haha, in the domain of another ruler of hell? Okay! That's the plan," Rose replies, her voice high and strained. She's pretty afraid right now! And excited! A little more terror in her life wouldn't hurt, right? She's pretty sure that if Sapphira catches up with them that she is going to get ripped apart into little itty bitty pieces. She needs time to rest and replenish her stockpile of magic. Once she's filled up again with fiery infernal power and the whimsies of the Dreamheart she'll be ready to pull out some more tricks!

But right now?

She's tapped.

She's still got her not at all inconsiderable martial prowess to fall back on but she's pretty sure that'll be about as effective against Sapphira as throwing snowballs at an angry moose.

"So, eheh, so I prayed to Fate! While I was looking for the crown! I think it helped!" Rose says as she thrashes her wings against the air.

[5a Violista]

[In the Painting]

No, wait, that's too many questions!

She shakes her head, trying to answer as many questions as she can at the same time. "It'll get better with time, I'm sure," she says, dismissing the concern.

Then, she adds, with a laugh, "If you don't want me to forgive you, then just say so and I won't."
Come to think of it, she's not entirely sure what Arthur's referring to. Must've skimmed through the diary too fast.

[bc56]

In the Painting

"No! It's just... You're a better person than I, Yssa." Arthur plays with June's hair in a way he know Yssa likes.

Burning Depths

A dark smudge on the horizon grows larger and more defined, until it's clear what it is. It's a slimy, fetid bog. Gnarled, tumorous trees jut up from it like the fingers of buried giants. The water, if it is water, is a sickly yellow color, thick with scum.

But our heroes have greater concerns. Sapphira is nearly on top of them. A lightning bolt arcs past, near enough that they can feel the heat of it on their backs. Then the Archfiend dives again, her speed increasing as she tears towards the pair.

[Deathkeeper]

Arkham Street/PMP

As soon as Sphinx leaves the library that 'all is right with the world' feeling fades away, leaving her in a bit of a state.
Namely, padding down the street is starting to give her the very weird sensation of everything being unfamiliar. She knows lots of things about being Sphinx, but her counterpart sure never got to walk around a city. Or wear shirts and jackets, properly sized or otherwise. It's also highlighting how strange it feels to be well, everything she is right now. Maybe she should stop to get a top that fits. How did Lydia change shirts on a regular basis?! Oh wait, Sphinx can't get something else; she has no hands to fetch her wallet. At least she answered one question: yeah, it's pretty cold going around with just your fur. At least her jacket covers a lot of her, even if she has no idea how she's going to get it off later.
Bearing in mind that she has no idea how to fly other than ancestral memories, Sphinx is content to run for the time being. Until the sensations of grimey street on her paws starts to set in. And walking by one particular fellow takes the opportunity to jeer at her and make a comment about her current state of appearance and dress.
That is enough to make Sphinx want to be anywhere but here. She spreads her falcon-like wings and lunges, letting instincts guide her.
And then she's off! She's about as graceful as you would expect a lion with wings and human parts stapled on to be. But she's in the air and doesn't crash at least for the duration of her flight to PMP. Even if she does struggle to land and end up falling quite heavily into a little garden of shrubs and plum trees.
"Ow."

[Rebonack]

[Burning Depths ==> Dreadbog]

Oh hey Rose's hair is frizzed up a bit now.

Sapphira is getting closer. She's getting closer and Rose has no tricks left. She unlatches her pack and shoves it into Sekhmet's arms, an apologetic look on her face.

"Tell Sister Iris and Brother Oyster I'm sorry I couldn't deliver the crown to them in person," she says, a sad smile on her face moments before she gives her wings a beat to launch herself back at the devil queen in hopes of delaying her for just a few scant seconds so Sekhmet can make it to the swamp and out of Sapphira's territory.

I don't know if you've got any miracles left Mister Fate, but I could really use one. Please let Sekhmet get away. Please give me the strength I need to slow down Sapphira just a little. This stuff with the crown is all my fault. Bad stuff shouldn't happen to Sekhmet because I wasn't strong enough to resist Sapphira's corruption.

Crystalline armor rapidly forms over Rose as she tries her best to tackle the arch fiend out of the air.

This is a terrible plan.

She's probably going to die.

But it's more important that her Princess escapes with the crown.


[Plum Mountain Park]

Sphinx crashes gracelessly into the ground.

Ooww is about right. She's uncannily resistant, but face planting into the dirt still isn't a fun experience. To add insult to injury, several pixies begin heckling her. The look like tiny people with moth wings, green skin, and raspberries for hats.

"Haha did you see that?"
"Catbutt straight into the dirt POW!"
"Hey lady your chest throwing off your balance there!"
"Hahahaha!"
"Hehehehe!"

What a bunch of rude pixies.

[Deathkeeper]

[Plum Mountain Park]

Sphinx groans and gets shakily to her feet. All of them. Man, this is weird. She shakes herself (which looks really silly) and then with some frustration spends several moments trying to extract a twig from her shirt. Which goes about as well as you'd expect someone without hands trying to manipulate something would go. Mostly it's a lot of slapping her shoulder with her paw.
"That label doesn't make any sense. I'm mostly cat, unlike a faun or centaur that often get that kind of label.
...also my chest isn't that big." Kind of hard to tell without a mirror.
What was she doing? Oh right. Lambslaurel said to talk to the trees if she ever visited. So she bops one of those for good measure.
"Hi Chimera." oh boy, even when her sister is a park she can't help but call her Chimera in person.

[bc56]

Dread Bog

"Rose? Rose!" Sekhmet looks horrified, but she keeps flying away. Rose hits Sapphira and the two go tumbling through the air. Sapphira lashes out at the gaiad with her claws, tearing through armor as if it's not there. Behind her, Sekhmet dives beneath the foul marsh and is gone from view. Sapphira roars in frustration and kicks Rose away from her. "You..." She says coldly, a hateful light burning in her eyes. Rose has only seconds to figure out what to do!

[Rebonack]

[Plum Mountain Park]

The pixies continue heckling Sphinx in the background because of course they do.

Sphinx touches the plum tree and speaks.

...nothing happens.

Well, not nothing.

The pixies go silent for a few scant seconds, holding their breath in anticipation, then begin heckling Sphinx even harder.

Hmm...

Maybe Chimera is currently incarnated? If that's the case then she won't be able to hear Sphinx talking to the trees since she isn't inhabiting the park. She might even be somewhere else right now! It's hard to guess, really. Could be pretty much anything! Maybe Sphinx could check that huge tree in the middle of the park? That seems like an obvious meeting place.


[Dread Bog]

With an "Eep!" Rose back-peddles through the air away from the claw swipe, narrowly avoiding messy disembowelment. There are several gouges across her belly that are oozing bright orange molten rock; testament to how close she was to getting gutted. They hurt, but hurting is something Rose got use to a LONG time ago. An adventurer that folds at the first sign of injury tends to be a dead adventurer really quick.

Oh shoot um she's still alive Rose hadn't really thought this far ahead.

"Me!" she shouts back and- wait.

She can still feel that calming light of holiness and purity inside her. As soon as she started feeling celestial power she had grabbed onto that stuff and bottled it up for her own use because of course she did. Rose is still a warlock and learning to make use of any power source you can get your hands on comes part and parcel with the job. Maybe if she-

Please Fate, let this work.

Thrusting both of her hands out in front of herself, Rose expels the divine holiness in an unfocused blast. There's nothing complex here. No spellwork to speak of. Just releasing that light and hoping it makes a flash of brilliance bright enough to momentarily blind Sapphira. If Rose gets her miracle she's going to turn tail and dive into the bog after Sekhmet.

[Deathkeeper]

Plum Mountain Park

Sphinx shoos the pixies and gets on searching the park. She does indeed think the giant cornerstone tree in the middle is a rather obvious place. Chimera is pretty distinctive and should be hard to miss.
Unless she’s separated? It was suggested they can do that and that’s when they’re extra faerie-like. They’ll probably recognize Sphinx on sight, at least.
Sphinx decides to just run though because she doesn’t want to crash land again.

[bc56]

Dread Bog

There's a burst of light.
Sapphira stumbles backwards.
When her eyes clear, Rose is gone.


Rose finds herself underneath the muck of the bog. The stench of decay is everywhere. The foulness is in her mouth and nose. Something slithers past her leg. What was that? Where is Sekhmet? She can't see more than a few inches in front of her. But if she surfaces, surely Sapphira will see her.

[Rebonack]

[Dread Bog]

Thanks.

Less thanks over diving into a pit of slime, though.

Eew eew eew why does everything in hell have to be so gross? What just touched her leg? Eeeeeew! Rose begins beating her tail, propelling herself deeper into the mire. She needs to make sure she's going down and away. It's so disorienting in this muck. Swimming in lava is WAY better why can't they have lava here instead? Is Sapphira allowed to come into a different arch-devil's domain without their permission? Rose isn't sure. Would she be able to call out for Sekhmet? If she did, would Sapphira hear her?

No.

Stay quiet.

And just keep swimming.

Just keep swimming swimming just keep swimming.


[Plum Mountain Park]

The pixies are shooed. They laugh and cackle at Sphinx until she's out of sight. Sphinx, meanwhile, begins her walk! It's a pretty nice walk, all things considered. The forest is a little chilly but HEY that's no big deal! Right? Sphinx can take it. Just walk along this forest road where the trees are dusted with snow and-

-with a FLUMPH! a snowdrift falls off a tree and likely buries Sphinx in a great big heap of white powder.

Somewhere up above there's more cackling.

Stupid faeries!

Should Sphinx turn her gaze skyward she'll see a pooka leering down at her. Black fur, golden eyes, and like a cross between a squirrel, a fischer, and a goat. "Hahaha oh wow the look on your face! How you doing down there?"

[Deathkeeper]

Plum Mountain Park

Oof!
Sphinx shakes herself free of the snow. Like last time, the giant lion-bird-lady in a tight man’s shirt and jacket looks pretty goofy.
Oh gosh this is awful. There’s snow everywhere it’s all over her furry half (two-thirds really) it’s down her back it’s in her shirt why did it do this.
”I’m doing quite well for myself, th-you.” Nim lives in Inside and read the memos about dealing with faeries.
”You seen the spirit of the forest? Trying to talk to her.” she growls.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Buttercup, You're Under Arrest?]

"Aaww... Mister Flowerface was just about to spill the beans..." Buttercup laments. Poor Buttercup. Now she might not EVER know what Mister Flowerface's favorite type of pie is!

But oh ho, now Ithuriel is asking the questions!

"I dunno! Maybe? Sometimes she just says things to me But it was only that one time so I'm not sure how often sometimes is."

In other words?

Who knows!

Buttercup sure doesn't.

"You could try saying things to Big Mama Buttercup and maybe she'll hear you?" Buttercup suggests. She's trying to be helpful!

[Buttercup, you could try being helpful?]

Ithuriel sighs. "Well the way she suddenly chimed in earlier - the timing sort of suggested she was paying attention, don't you think?" Ithuriel asks, leaning forwards slightly. "Now we don't really know much about Big Mama Buttercup, but we're curious why she'd offer this temporary reprieve, and whether there'd be any opportunity to talk to her directly and discuss some means of preventing any further conflict."

[Rebonack]

[Plum Mountain Park]

"Oh yeah! I did! She's having some kind of big meeting at the threshold tree about something. Sounded important," the pooka confirms. "How would you rate that prank, by the way? I'm thinking it was a little weak. Sorta fun in the slap-stick kind of way but really one sided. I thought it was hilarious but it doesn't look like you enjoyed it."

Is...

Is that pooka seriously asking Sphinx what she thought of the prank? Is that furry little weirdo out of her mind?

Or at least she sounds like a her.

That's definitely a childish, female sounding voice.

Really, though, it's hard to tell with pookas. Shape shifters and all.

"Maybe rate it out of five? One being 'terrible would not get pranked again' and five being 'wow that was lots of fun I would recommend being pranked to my friends!'"


[Buttercup, You're Under Arrest!]

"Hmm..." Buttercup replies, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "MAYbe. I know Big Mamma Buttercup is called Big Mamma because she's the BIGGEST Buttercup and kind of our mamma sort of? She's the WHOLE springtime part of the Enchanted Forest! That's pretty big."

Just enormous.

"She didn't tell me why we needed to stop naming people just that we did. Oh! And there was a thing! There was going to be a special dance that was going to let Big Mamma Buttercup use one of our bodies but it got stopped so unless there's another one she can't be here," Buttercup explains. Then she looks concerned! "What do you mean conflict I thought we were friends?"

[Deathkeeper]

Plum Mountain Park

Sphinx glares at the pooka.
”I’d give it a two, and only because it didn’t involve hurting me or eating my name. Bye.”
And then she tosses her head and starts padding to the Tree before more stupid nonsense happens.
Hopefully she can actually accomplish that.

[Rebonack]

[Hodgepodge Street]

A rift of swirling pink eldritch power rips itself open in the middle of the road and disgorges a huge beast with shaggy white and tan fur. It looks like someone mingled features of a human, a reindeer, and a wolf into an awful, terrifying amalgamation. Cold and hunger and fear swirls around her, but she doesn't leap on the frightened people backing away and taking refuge in the stores of the stripmall she just got dumped outside of.

Oh no.

Certainly not.

Because in spite of the fact that she can feel her mind slipping, Magdalene hasn't gone completely feral.

Yet.

The monster grips its antlers in its claws and with a bellowing roar she snaps them off. The beast rapidly begins rotting away, frozen chunks of decayed flesh sloughing off until all that remains is a very small, very frail looking human girl who couldn't possibly be older than fifteen. She staggers a few steps and falls into the snow. Several people run to her, dragging her out of the cold and wrapping her in a way too oversized coat.

"What the heck was that?"
"She doesn't look any older than my daughter."
"Hey kid? Kid? Can you hear me?"

"Fido..." Magdalene mutters as she wavers between lucidity and unconsciousness. "Where's Fido? Gotta... gotta get him out of there..."

And then the warm dark of sleep takes her.


[Plum Mountain Park]

"Bye!" the pooka agrees.

...and then starts following Sphinx.

"Hey, so, how do you think I could make the pranks better?" she asks, leaping from one tree to the next effortlessly. "I'm kind of new at this and I don't think I'm very good at them yet."

[Deathkeeper]

[Plum Mountain Park]

Sphinx is not having the best time. She's cold, she's weird, and now she's wet.
"Look, buddy, I accidentally turned myself into a lion-lady half an hour ago, could we maybe can it this time?
Besides, shouldn't you be at this meeting too?"
If Chimera already called it Sphinx will probably meet up with her after it's over. This critter is missing the whole thing. Sphinx would normally want to look into such a weird creature but well, none of the faeries have even the slightest hint of actual biology. And she's not feeling terribly scientific right now. She feels like a wet cat. A wet cat who has had people making fun of her right after she-
Well. She definitely lied about it being an accident. But she somehow didn't think it'd be this bad.