Inside 71: All I Want For Thanksmas Is You

[bc56]

Dread Bog

Rose descends into darkness. The marsh is impossibly deep. Soon, she may become hopelessly lost in the mire, unable even to tell which way is up in the gloom. Unnatural shapes twist and writhe in the darkness, just outside of Rose's vision. There's a distinct sense of being watched. A smooth, muck-covered rock juts forth from the darkness, then another. Rose finally finds the bottom, a silty layer of debris and rocks. Weeds tangle at her like clammy hands. This is not a pleasant place.

[Rebonack]

[Plum Mountain Park]

"Oh no you got turned into a sphinx? How did that happen?" the pooka asks as she leaps onto a snow-covered branch above Sphinx. "Whoops!"

The snow just sloughed off.

It's headed straight for Sphinx!

Does she have sufficiently cat-like reflexes to avoid getting burred again? Stay tuned to find out!


[Dread Bog]

Yuck.

Why does everything in hell have to be SO GROSS?

After a few minutes of trudging along the bottom with weeds tangling around her legs Rose decides that enough is enough. She starts getting hot.

It begins in her chest and belly, a dull red glow. It spreads quickly across her body, those central points turning from red to orange, orange to yellow, yellow to white. Before long the water around her is probably boiling just from being in contact with her. Hopefully that'll be enough to burn those dumb weeds trying to tie her up. Hopefully unhampered, she wades on through the swamp. How long should she stay down here, anyway? Will Sapphira eventually give up and leave? How is she going to find Sekhmet again?

A random thought intrudes upon her mind.

Where are all the damned souls?

Shouldn't they be stuck down here somewhere, drowning for eternity? She has gotten the impression of slithery things about but she hasn't actually SEEN anything.

[Deathkeeper]

[Plum Mountain Park]

Sphinx twists out of the way, so the snow only buries one of her hind legs and a small portion of her back.
It's still pretty cold, though.
"Yow! Stop that! It's really cold and I'm built for arid climates!
Ack. I inherited a magic title like Chimera who runs the Park. And since mine is Sphinx I poofed when I tried to read a book really hard for a quest. I need fresh water and someone to help me dunk it on a big monster because I don't have hands anymore."
Sphinx admits she REALLY should have remembered that she was specifically told that before she decided on purpose to stop having hands in order to read books really well.

[bc56]

Dread Bog

Rose begins to heat the water around her. The weeds shrivel and drop away, and in the little bit of light, she can suddenly see.

She probably wishes she was wandering blind again, because coiled in front of her is a monstrous creature, a massive cross between an eel and a centipede, black on its back and translucent on its belly. Through its distended gut, she can make out the half-dissolved forms of more damned souls, answering that nagging question, unfortunately. She can make out a few other things too. A large mound of rocks is full of holes. Some of them are small enough that she could fit in, but it couldn't. A tangled patch of seaweed offers another source of potential cover. And there's the open plains of muck. Perhaps she could outswim it.

[Recaiden]

The imps are waving their hands and cheering as the chariot swirls around, causing a few of them to fall off as they're not holding on tightly enough.
But for those that stay on, this is great!

Meanwhile, the imp lord is left scratching his head. "Well, that doesn't fit at all..." He rapidly taps his chin. "Don't suppose you know where more fey could be found? I understand that parks within this city are popular among your kind yet you're the only one we found in this particular park. So where are all the others?"

The ride of their lives, surely.

"Uh, they like parks because parks remind of nature, but here, there's the whole actual natural world. You should be looking Outside." Yone explains.
Also there's only a few handfuls of her sort of fey, as far as she knows. But no need to tell the imp lord that.

[5a Violista]

[In the Painting]

That was the perfect set-up for June to reply with 'I know'.
But...to be honest, she doesn't really know Arthur or Yssa that well, so she doesn't know how it'll go over.
June manages to bite back her tongue.

The hair-thing feels nice.
Really, it does. Since coming to the Nexus, she's really missed this part of being in a relationship. Ugh. Being alone is just the worst. And why is just something as simple as this making her longings come back? She needs to get through the night, but this is making her relax a lot more than intended. She's been way too tense in this body, probably because she had just barely gotten used to being supernaturally stronger and not having to worry or even think about anything. And that's not even getting into everything that happened before running into that painting. Ugh, it's been such a long day. Already pulled an all-nighter, and then there was that whole Buttercup thing, and there were way too many grabby people at work. And then all this, of course.

June tries to discreetly wipe under her eye.

Well...by the look of things, he probably sleeps in a different bedroom, right? So no need to worry about that.
But...
Practically speaking, he is stronger than she is. As long as he's around, she probably doesn't have to worry about anything else, right? Just has to keep an eye on him, and he would be able to take care of whatever burglars or maids or stableboys or the-dead-rising-from-the-grave or whatever else fate decides it wants to do to instigate the same outcome.
But, then again, can she walk the fine line between convincing him to sleep together and sleeping together? Does she even want to risk it?
Then again again, him playing with her hair is honestly the first time in weeks that she's actually felt this relaxed.
Why did this have to happen when she's so worried about someone sneaking up on her and trying to murder her?

"...hey," she says. She might as well ask, right? Might make it easier to plan things out. "You'll stay in here tonight, won't you?"

[Rebonack]

[Dread Bog]

Oh.

Haha.

Wow.

A giant... centipedeel? Full of damned souls writhing in its gut. Neat. Fun. Fantastic. It hadn't attacked her right away. It could have when the lights were still out, right? So maybe... it isn't hostile? Since she's a devil, too?

"Uh, hi!" Rose calls out, her voice carrying through the mire. "I was just passing through. Since I'm looking for my Princess. About this tall, wings like mine but on her back, ball of fire between her horns? It's pretty bright it would be hard to miss her."

Will the other devil help her?

Or try to eat her?

Just in case it's the latter Rose is scootchng toward that porous rock nearby. She might be able to wriggle into the thing and nettle at the centipedeel devil until it leaves her alone if it proves to be hostile.


[Plum Mountain Park]

"Sorry! Didn't mean to that time," the pooka replies through a fit of giggles.

There is a non zero chance that she DID mean to and is lying.

"Chimera? You mean the Plum Sisters?" the pooka asks, sounding a bit puzzled. "You must be thinking of someone else. Chimeras are those big monsters with three heads and wings and stuff."

She's probably thinking of D&D chimeras.

People usually do.

"OH! If you need help I can have hands! I can throw water at things great. Especially if you've got water balloons. What kind of monster is it?"

[Deathkeeper]

[Plum Mountain Park]

Sphinx scoffs. SCOFFS!
"Clearly you didn't know that the Sisters can combine to form a super cool three-headed Chimera. Who doesn't have wings those are a different subspecies." Sphinx says, who is immeasurably proud of her sister to the point that she says unscientific terms like 'super cool.' Well, that and the pooka sounds kinda young so she's using kid-friendly terms.
"And it's a nuckleavee. Really scary. No offense, but while you could probably get water all over it, I don't know if I can trust you. What if you pranked me by not being there when I needed you most?"
That would not be a good prank. She would rate that 0/5.

[bc56]

Dread Bog

The creature hisses. It rears up out of the muck, its razor limbs extended. Then it lunges, its mouth snapping wide open in a bid to swallow Rose whole.

Luckily, she was prepared for that. She manages to dodge it and get back to the rock. It slams headfirst against the hole she retreated into. Its legs scrabble against the rocks, kicking loose small pebbles. Its angry hissing grows to a fever pitch.

It was not friendly.

In the Painting

"If you wish. Would you prefer for me to bring a mattress in from another room?" Judging by that comment, Arthur probably doesn't expect curtains from Yssa. "It will be good for you to have company, in case your illness gets worse " Someone will be able to take care of her

[Rebonack]

[Dread Bog]

"Eee don't eat me I taste terrible!" Rose cries out as she gives her tail a powerful pump, launching herself toward the rocks and into the protective cover they provide!

Great shrimp impression, Rose.

Hmm.

Well.

This creature sure isn't very nice is it? As the monster lunges at her, Rose forms a barbed spear of green crystal and tries to plunge the weapon straight into the centipedeel's face! Should she manage to skewer the monster even more hooks will grow from the weapon, trying ti embed themselves deep into the devil's flesh and render escape rather difficult. Expecting the devil to try pulling away, Rose will brace all four of her feet against the stone and hold fast, doing her best to pull the monster's face firmly against the rock!

She's got a plan, here.

If she manages to skewer it like a worm on a hook then part two of the plan will come next.


[Plum Mountain Park]

"Oh! I didn't! That's really cool!" the pooka says as she leaps out of the tree and tries to land on Sphinx's backside. The fae isn't much larger than a small goat, so to a super strong semi-divine felinoid she should weight practically nothing. "What? Nooo I wouldn't do that! Getting someone eaten by a monster isn't a prank it's just MEAN! What's a nucklebee can you tell me about it? I want to help! Oooh, maybe I can prank the nucklebee, too!"

[Deathkeeper]

Plum Mountain Park

The pooka lands safely on Sphinx’s backside.
Sphinx immediately tries to dislodge the pooka, which likely looks very silly as she squirms about.
Eventually she has to keep going regardless of success.
”They’re skinless and four-legged and they make people get sick and die. No offense, but I’d like to talk to my sisters about it. It would be rude of me to visit them and not actually visit them you know?”
Sphinx had it sort-of explained that Chimera’s selves embody their park. Sounds pretty weird. But it does explain why she had fruits growing out of her. That’s something Sphinx can be glad she doesn’t have.

[bc56]

Dread Bog

The creature ignores Rose's plea. It lunges again, and this time gets a mouthful of spear for its trouble.
This might not work out in Rose's favor, though. The thing is strong, very strong, and outmasses her by an order of magnitude. It pulls back with great force as soon as its mouth is impaled. The spear bucks and twists in Rose's hands, and her feet may begin to slip on the wet rock. In all likelihood, either her grip on the spear or her grip on the tunnel will fail before she can anchor it in place.

[Rebonack]

[Dread Bog]

Oh.

Rose just got yanked out of the hole by the other devil.

She really should have rooted her feet to the stone before she stabbed it in the face. Ah well. So much for that plan, she'll just have to improvise something else. Thankfully she's pretty good at improvisation.

First order of business?

Conjure more crystal spikes humming with mingled infernal and eldritch magic and send them flying into the centipedeel's mouth. If she can fill its mouth up with jagged shards and rapidly spreading brambles she might be able to prevent it from chomping on her at all. With a flick of her tail and wings she releases the spear at the height of the devil's flailing, tossing her behind it. From there she pumps her wings again, trying to dive down onto the back of the monster's head and sink her claws into it. For good measure rose petals and razor sharp shards of crystal begin whirling around her. Between that and her ambient heat she's hoping that she may be able to overwhelm the other devil and force it to flee.

Or possibly slay it.

Big monsters like these are NASTY. But they almost always have blind spots! And if you can plant yourself in those blind spots taking them down gets way easier.

"We could have just had a nice chat!" Rose yells at the serpentine monstrosity. "But you just had to be RUDE instead!"


[Plum Mountain Park]

The pooka just sort of...

Sticks there.

Like a piece of tap stuck to your fingers. Every time you pull it off one finger now it's clinging to a different one.

"Wow that sounds really scary! Are they a mean faerie or something else?" the pooka asks since she has never heard of such a creature before.

It is, in fact, a mean faerie. A boogie. The worst kind, too. The sort that feeds not only on the fear it creates, but also the death and suffering.

How come boogies have to be such jerks all the time?

[bc56]

Dread Bog

Rose fires more spikes at the thing's maw, but it twists its head away. It heaves and rolls as she lands on it, trying to dislodge this hot painful sharp thing from its back. If it succeeds, it will...

Run away! With the spear still stuck in its mouth, it will try to escape this adversary that is too persistent for its predatory instincts.

[Rebonack]

[Dread Bog]

It's trying to shake her off and escape.

Should Rose just let it go?

It's probably doomed already with the mouth injury she inflicted on it. Predators with injured mouths usually don't last very long. It'll probably leave her alone, but...

The great big meany attacked her! It attacked her when she tried to be NICE! Rose feels like she's got a pretty good philosophy going here. Start off by extending a hand of friendship. If friendship is met with violence then destroy them without mercy. Better to put this thing out of its misery.

Rose is flailed around, momentarily dislodged by the devil! She quickly beats her wings and tail to pursue, another harpoon crystallizing into place in her grip. This time around a vine is connected to the end, leading back to the infernal gaiad. With practiced form she HURLS the weapon at the devil's back! If she manages to spear it with the barbed projectile she'll use the vine to haul herself back onto it again.

And if her spear and reel plan fails?

Well... she isn't THAT committed to chasing this gross devil around through the mire. She still needs to find Sekhmet after all.

[bc56]

Dread Bog

Rose's spear strikes true, and she's now trailing behind the fleeing devil. It turns around and rises up to face her as she reels herself in. She's caught it, now she'll have to keep it from killing her while she kills it. Razor-sharp legs reach out to stab at her rapidly. The creature seems more motivated by desperation than hunger now.

[Rebonack]

[Dread Bog]

The good.

Rose speared the devil!

The bad.

The devil wants to spear her back!

Rose has one very significant advantage in this altercation. The devil may be REALLY BIG but Rose is small and agile by contrast. As soon as she sees the centipedeel lurching towards her she darts away and to the side, moving to swing around just out of its reach while launching volleys of spikes at it. That doesn't carry anywhere NEAR the oomph of getting in close and clobbering it, but at a distance this monster is going to have quite a bit of difficulty fighting back. And quite frankly fighting fair with huge brutes like this thing is a dumb idea.

A thought briefly flits through her mind. Why is she even so intent on killing this thing? She isn't completely sure. But it might have something to do with the fact that she's tapped out on her magical reserves and that giant monster is just FULL of power sources waiting to be liberated from its guys. Some part of her knows those souls can refuel her.

They'll be locked in a dance for a little while, Rose and that centipedeel. Rose staying just out of reach and blasting it repeatedly and the centipedeel thrashing around wildly. It's going to have to really pounce at her if it wants to get in range.

[Shadowcaller]

The ride of their lives, surely.

"Uh, they like parks because parks remind of nature, but here, there's the whole actual natural world. You should be looking Outside." Yone explains.
Also there's only a few handfuls of her sort of fey, as far as she knows. But no need to tell the imp lord that.

Several of their lives actually.

The imp lord shakes his head and waves his hand dismissively. "No, no, no, it has to be Inside-" He pauses a moment. "See, I happen to know that fey in Inside are in danger. The same sources that informed me about your whereabouts also whispers into the ears of more... savage forces. So if you know of any fey, regardless of their origin, I could warn them of an attempt on their lives or worse."

[Deathkeeper]

Plum Mountain Park

Sphinx could scream. How much farther is this tree?
”Yes. It’s a killer boogie. About as bad as it gets.” she says after consulting her mental database. That’s nice to have at least. It makes her feel a little better to remember she has nice things like that.

[bc56]

Dread Bog

The dance goes on for some immeasurable time. Eventually, the creature is worn down by the constant attacks. It sinks to the ground and dies.

Rose's devil instincts are acting up again. She could take those souls in its gut for her own. It would recharge her power and make her even stronger. She killed her prey, she should be rewarded. Surely there wouldn't be any negative effects, would there?
Or she could draw on its power directly. Consume its corpse with her magic and add its essence to her own before it regenerates. That couldn't be harmful either, could it?
Or she could investigate the woman's voice calling out, "Coo-eeee, succubus! Over here!" from the rock mound.

[Rebonack]

[Dread Bog]

Ha!

Haha, Rose won! Take that you dumb centipedeel! You thought you could eat Rose but you were wrong, now you're going to get eaten instead! Maybe you AND all your scuzzy swallowed souls! Rose lashes across the devil's belly, spilling the devoured souls everywhere. She reaches down and pulls one free, dragging the half-digested corpse out and giving them a sympathetic look.

"Wowie, you're in bad shape. I wonder what you did to end up inside a gross devil's tummy. Maybe you could help me out instead? I-"

Wait is she really doing this?

Is she really considering eating damned souls? Incorporating their evilness into herself just for a power boost? She's gone to a LOT of trouble to avoid being a meany, so maybe this isn't a great plan?

Then someone yells at her!

She squits off through the mire back toward the pouros rock she had been hiding in.

"Oh, hi!" Rose calls back toward the rock, though she doesn't move away from her kill just yet. Without thinking about it she spreads her wings a bit to block it from view. "You aren't going to attack me too, are you? Wowie ZOWIE am I ever getting tired of other devils trying to kill me."


[Plum Mountain Park]

The books had covered in pretty great detail the nature of the nuckelavee, its habits and quirks, how to survive its plagues, how to fight it off, how to protect villages from it, and so on and so forth. The rural seaside communities that most often had to deal with the terrible creature tended to be absolutely mortified of it for good reason. The disease it spread among animals and people, mortisheen, was as repulsive as it is deadly.

"Well if it's another faerie then I should DEFINITELY help you! Pranking other faeries is great, especially the mean ones," the pooka decides. "I'm a pooka! My old name kind of fell off but that's okay, I wasn't really using it anymore. I haven't picked a new one yet."

[Deathkeeper]

Plum Mountain Park

"Fine. You can follow along for a little bit, but I'm still going to visit my sister because we don't have a bucket and I still feel like it.
How does a name 'fall off' anyway? Did you fall into a faerie sticker-bush?"
Sphinx has a vague idea that those things can actually happen. You end up eating something or touching something in a faerie forest and bam, faerie. That doesn't seem to be as big a deal in Chimera's though, because Chimera is/are a good person(s).
Sphinx keeps going for a little bit before adding, "And would it kill you to walk yourself? I have enough trouble getting used to this without you sitting there."
The perils of being quadruped. Small people and faeries always asking for rides.

[bc56]

Dread Bog

"Seems like you'd be too much effort. You going to finish that?" Something jumps out of a crevice in the rocks. It's a huge spider with a disturbingly human face. "Are you new? We don't see many succubi around here." She moves towards the dead eelipede hungrily.

[Rebonack]

[Plum Mountain Park]

"I kept sneaking out to the park to eat the fruit that grows here since it made me feel magical! Eventually my old Name just fell off," the pooka replies, prancing in a little circle on Sphinx's back. It looks like she isn't going to leave. "But that's okay, it was worth it, the fruit was good AND now I don't have to go to school or do my chores or ANYTHING! I get to play and prank people as much as I want!"

Ah.

Another victim.

See?

This is why Chimera is thinking about burning this whole magical forest to the ground.

Then the pooka turns in a little circle and lays down on Sphinx' back.

"Nah this is more fun than walking."


[Dread Bog]

Okay that devil is really ugly but Rose can deal with ugly. There are lots of ugly things. What she has more issue with is murdery. Especially murdery directed at her. There has been WAY too much of that lately.

The the question, Rose looks down at the corpse/soul in her hands. Then back at the dead devil. Then at the spider thing again.

Is she going to eat it? She was thinking about it. Wowie was she ever thinking about it. But is that really a good idea? To make something so mean part of herself? She had flushed out the corruption when Blossom barfed all over her, but would that happen here, too?

"Um... I guess I probably count as new? I'm here looking for my Princess. She went into the bog just a little while before I did, but it's hard to find anything down here because of how murky it is," she says, responding to the second question first. She's really waffling over that first question, though.

Is she going to finish it?

Still holding onto the one damned soul, she folds her wings and steps aside for the spider. "No, I guess I'm not. You can have them if you want?"

Part of her is disappointed. Part of her feels like this was the right choice. She looks down at the corpse in her hands again.

"This is probably a dumb question, but what happens to the souls when you eat them?"

Yeah she is definitely new.

[Deathkeeper]

Plum Mountain Park

Wow the park has been here a month and this kid actually managed to eat her body weight in plums.
That's kind of hardcore.
"Fine but you better not make any more trouble." Sphinx folds her wings down. They and the warm pooka do a decent job at making her back feel warm again.
It's still kind of cold, though.

[5a Violista]

[In the Painting]

Oh!
That's actually great news.
And he can fulfill the role June had contemplated giving to Lilly, before...y'know.
In that case, "Either one," she says. "I'll let you choose."

June bites her lip and thinks. This could mean the difference between being chased through an unfamiliar house and being possibly safe.
"...thanks. I feel a lot better now."

Unfortunately, it also means most of her planning that she actually did basically gets thrown out the window.
But...let's be honest: her planning was kind-of trash anyway.
Nothing really went as planned, she couldn't keep to a singular plan of action and constantly changed her mind, and she kept on getting distracted and lonely and doing things in hopes of finding someone else even knowing that they might try to kill her and even though interacting with others only made them more suspicious that something was up with her.

[Recaiden]

Several of their lives actually.

The imp lord shakes his head and waves his hand dismissively. "No, no, no, it has to be Inside-" He pauses a moment. "See, I happen to know that fey in Inside are in danger. The same sources that informed me about your whereabouts also whispers into the ears of more... savage forces. So if you know of any fey, regardless of their origin, I could warn them of an attempt on their lives or worse."

"Why don't you let me pass on the warning? They'd trust it more coming from another fey." Yone suggests. Of course, she doesn't think the imp lord actually has a warning to give. He's just looking for a way to find more fey for his...mad science project? Actually Yone is still pretty confused about his aims.
"But probably they're staying hidden. I only came out since your puppet-thing was asking for a trade."

[Shadowcaller]

"Why don't you let me pass on the warning? They'd trust it more coming from another fey." Yone suggests. Of course, she doesn't think the imp lord actually has a warning to give. He's just looking for a way to find more fey for his...mad science project? Actually Yone is still pretty confused about his aims.
"But probably they're staying hidden. I only came out since your puppet-thing was asking for a trade."

"That... is true." The imp lord admits as he strokes his chin. "But how can I trust that you pass it on? You fey aren't exactly trustworthy so what about this... a single one of my servants will accompany you as I let you go. You can kill 'em of course but then you would have broken our agreement." He looks away for a moment. "Hey, didn't you have a chariot? I could have sworn it was standing right there..."

[bc56]

Dread Bog

The spider devil looks at the pile of souls. "More for me then." She begins spinning a cocoon around one of them, then when finished, goes to another. With each one she envelops in silk, she becomes larger, her spider parts more frightful and threatening. "Oh, you really are new. Well, sweetie, it works like this. You eat that soul, it becomes a part of you. You get power from it, all its knowledge, everything it has. And it gets a reprieve from eternal torment." She seems to think for a few minutes. "And no, I haven't seen your 'princess.' Have you tried the stronghold? All the nobles are there."

In the Painting

"Right. I'll bring a mattress then." Maybe Arthur doesn't trust Yssa, or maybe he doesn't want to catch whatever she has. Either way, he's not going to be in her bed tonight. "Do you want something to help you sleep, or can you manage?"

[Recaiden]

"That... is true." The imp lord admits as he strokes his chin. "But how can I trust that you pass it on? You fey aren't exactly trustworthy so what about this... a single one of my servants will accompany you as I let you go. You can kill 'em of course but then you would have broken our agreement." He looks away for a moment. "Hey, didn't you have a chariot? I could have sworn it was standing right there..."

"We do exactly what we say." Which is hardly ever what you think they said.
"That's acceptable. But why do you care about warning the fey? It's j-"
Yone tries to shift slightly under the nets to look at where the chariot should be.
"Your minions didn't do something with it, did they?"