Inside 71: All I Want For Thanksmas Is You

[Recaiden]

[Perfectly Normal Apartment]

The redhead leaves her to it and goes to do other things, like plan out dinner and figure out how this might affect his schedule, if at all.

Going through the junk pile reveals a lot of useless things and trash and the like.

With enough things moved around, it also reveals that whoever put all this stuff here was apparently a hobbyist gardener who dabbled in alchemy. Lots of flowerpots, some broken, some packs of seeds and other things, some dead flowers and plants, and even a couple other potted plants that might still be alive (and also might have magical effects. Maybe.). Plus, a handful of books on potions, a lot of glass bottles among all the clothes. Gardening tools and such. Some (expired) potions, and some that have almost definitely gone bad because they weren't sealed enough. Jewelry, too: the owner liked wearing cheap jewelry, apparently.

There are three particularly magical things, though. A love elixir, a magic camouflage cloak that shifts to look like its surroundings, a magic ring with water design that lets you breathe underwater for a while, and a really spooky-looking flute whose magic effect is that it makes people around you really scared while you play it. Would not recommend playing.
Plus, y'know, expired potions and almost-dead magical plants.
The love elixir is probably a little expired, too. Might do something weird if it's opened. Probably wouldn't recommend.

So at first, the work is mostly moving trash from here to there, piling it into the semi-broken flower pots, trash in trash. But then real things can be found among the mess.

Poor plants. Left alone in a tiny room and forgotten. The mutant sympathizes. Those, she brings out to put near any window the apartment might have.
When she finds the gardening tools she sets them out in a row beside the door, already thinking how they might be misused.
But the best find is the cloak! A new cloak! Well, it's a pretty old cloak, but it's new to her and in much better condition. She puts it right on, and gives an excited cry at its chameleon properties.
She doesn't know how to play the flute, not even a note, so the spooky instrument of fear holds little temptation.

And the love potion, you know, it seems special somehow, compared to the other mysterious bottled liquids. Because it's so much more magical. So the mutant unstoppers it to have a taste.

[Cat Chariot]

The imp shrugs. "'s not my job to be subtle. In fact, when you're this small you gotta' overcompensate in the other direction to get some attention. I'm just supposed to give the people the information they need."

"Have you considered being bigger?" Although a bigger imp would be proportionately more horrifying, Yone thinks.

The chariot comes to a stop at the mouth of an alleyway between two brick-walled buildings, with black and white streamers and flags strung between the two.
It's better kept here than most of the surrounding streets, and there are a few people here - mortals, not fey - loitering suspiciously.
Yone hops off the chariot and walks into the alley, ignoring all this and heading for a heavy metal door down on the side of the left building.

[5a Violista]

Visiting the Church of Venus

"Yeah. I suppose you're right," Venus says, staring at the darkening sky. "Even the most basic and fundamental things are so different and new that sometimes I wonder how I can even function."

"This fairy stuff was actually a relief because after friendly vampires and coping with being alone and haunted paintings and seeing ghosts and stalker mind-control books and janitor cultists and crossdressing to make a living and nothing meaning the same thing and becoming two separate people and being told over and over that I might have to kill someone eventually, fairies and things actually felt kind-of normal because I finally met other people who had more than just one name. Ha! How weird is that? Growing deer parts and flowers and being able to turn into a church is the thing that feels most like home for such a nonsense reason."

She's laughing, but she's also wiping away a few tears and playing with her ring.

But,
"Yeah, it was nice. Thanks to you, too." Venus reaches down to grab some of the vines that are growing here. "It feels so close to me being able to do this. I think I've amost got it."



meanwhile! Probably at another time and place
[Brimstone Park]

Those succubus-nymphs seem pretty interesting, right?

There is a mask lying on the ground. Fox-shaped. Very interesting and appealing. Definitely worth putting it on.

It looks like somebody was going to throw it into the the lava pits, but...it got too hot and the rose bushes got in the way.


[A perfectly normal apartment]

The plants really appreciate being put into partial sunlight and in new places around the apartment. If they could talk, they would surely thank her.

Opening the love elixer gives off the scent of cherries that have been sitting outside in the sun for too long
And it'll give her extremely intense but extremely brief feelings of love and possessiveness for the very next person or notable object or thing that she sees.

After that, tasting it will have the effect of making her develop a crush - not strong enough to drive her to do anything beyond what she would normally do - to the next person she sees. The redhead is in the kitchen, cooking again. Tacos, this time, but not as many because of how much food there was earlier with all the noodles and bread and beans and such.

The reason why the smell's effect is so strong but the taste is so mild is because most of the love magic separated like spoiled milk and then evaporated.

[Earl of Purple]

Inside City College

"Thank you." The strange man smiles, showing off his feline teeth, and turns to walk to the library.

When he gets there, he goes toward the nearest librarian, student or random passerby. "What is the purpose of boredom, and what does it feel like?"

[Rebonack]

[Visiting the Church of Venus]

Rose listens with interest as Venus relates all the strange things that have happened to her since being in the Nexus.

And...

It's a lot of really strange things.

Some WAY more strange than others.

But the one that really stands out to her is: "You became two separate people? Like there's a Venus and a... who? Another Buttercup? Or do they have one of your other old names instead?"

Nope they've got Buttercup.

They just aren't part deer.

"I guess that all is pretty funny. To find this familiar because it has something in common with your home that makes sense," Rose says thoughtfully. "Are Names where you're from like Names to faeries? Masks that you can swap out when you need to play a different role?"

That's a normal thing to do when you have multiple names, clearly.

"Maybe I can help?" Rose offers as she reaches out put her hand over Venus'. She isn't sure if her magicing while Venus is magicing will help at all but maybe it will? She causes a few rose vines to grow amidst all the other vines.

[Deathkeeper]

Inside City College

The man goes up to a bubbly-looking woman with furry ears who giggles at the question.
"Are you taking Philosophy classes, or are you practicing your riddles for the Sister Sphinx tryouts? Because I dunno if you heard, but we have an actual sphinx now and if they convince her to try she's going to be hard to beat." she tells him with a mischievous look.

[bc56]

Carousel Court

"It's not done yet. But I've made great strides in more universally fitted armor. I found this weird suit in some old ruins, and I've been reverse-engineering its design. Fascinating stuff. I've got a new prototype that automatically fits anyone who puts it on, although it's not perfect yet." Jade could just go on and on about what she's developing. Jason seems to have heard this all before.

[Recaiden]

The most notable things are definitely the ones that got their own descriptions.
Forget the potion, look at that-
That ring with the water design - it's perfect! What a flawless piece of design, the very image of civilization's progress, the purpose of art itself! She has to have it! Luckily she does, it's right there. And now she's put it onto her one hand. What a joy to have it, all hers, and-
The mutant slowly blinks her left eyes. What is she thinking? What is she doing? It's just an ordinary costume ring. Or, but think of all the good times she and the ring have had together!
No, it's clear. The ring is a sign, a waking dream. She needs to go down to the water, and bring back the stones of the sea, for the...for something, surely, if not for where they would belong, underground.

So it is that she heads out of the spare room, one whip idly brushing the ring on her hand, another wrapped around the old love potion.
-and stops when she catches sight of the redhead, just watching him cook the tacos.

[Earl of Purple]

Hodgepodge Street

Because that creepy magic ape told you to eat someone, Jeany. Really, read the narration.

Prumathe is quite easy to follow, he's not paying much attention to where he's going and bumping into people. This slows him down and ensures he's leaving a trail of upset individuals in his wake, especially because he's sticking to populated areas. Jeanette can catch up quite easily, as a result. He's likely to jump if she startles him, however.

If she touches his shoulder to stop him, Prumathe turns and swings a fist at her face, boosting his strength using his biomancy to ensure he hits very hard. He's not got a lot of experience at throwing punches, however.

Inside City College

"No, I am studying mortal society and psychology. Boredom is a fascinating subject, I find." He's incapable of it, even if there's really nothing to do or see. "Oh, an actual sphinx? How interesting. Where can I find her?" He smiles, possibly giving her a view of his sharp teeth- they'd be more at home in a cat's mouth than a human's- but it doesn't quite reach his eyes. He's trying to blend in, but... facial expressions are hard, and he's not even really mastered the smile.

[Deathkeeper]

Inside City College

"Oh, I saw her come in earlier. Go left and look around that wing. I think someone told me she's in bio? Good luck...sir." The girl thinks that he's probably a faerie or a djinn or some other immortal. Best to be polite to those.
The library is vaguely + shaped with a domed roof in the middle. Most of the shelves are fairly uniform wood, though each has a slightly different color scheme on the walls. The strange feline fellow leaves the brown tones of the south entrance (should he follow the woman's directions) and the red of the central circle towards the more blue wing to the west. Tables are laid out all over but especially in the middle section.
The West Wing, also known as the Blue wing, is fairly long. However, its lanes are mostly straight, and looking for a sphinx is not particularly difficult. After several minutes of walking he will likely notice the hindquarters of a tawny lioness and the tips of great falcon's wings visible to his right. The rest of her is around the corner.

[Shadowcaller]

[Court of the Deep]

Reina clears her throat. "Ahem! Treasure Hunter Extraordinaire," Reina proclaims defensively, apparently still sharing the name despite not actively using it. "Extraordinary, honestly?" She grumbles to herself. Rein clearly needs to renew his branding to the world.

"Anyways, none of that should be a problem." Reina turns to the person with a gas mask and inclines her head. "Nice to meet you Tybalt. What do you do?" Her guess is chemical warfare, but maybe he just thinks the mask will help against fey pheromones. Not an unreasonable idea. Reina's heard about the dangers of breathing the air around nymphs.

[Cat Chariot]

"Have you considered being bigger?" Although a bigger imp would be proportionately more horrifying, Yone thinks.

The chariot comes to a stop at the mouth of an alleyway between two brick-walled buildings, with black and white streamers and flags strung between the two.
It's better kept here than most of the surrounding streets, and there are a few people here - mortals, not fey - loitering suspiciously.
Yone hops off the chariot and walks into the alley, ignoring all this and heading for a heavy metal door down on the side of the left building.

[Court of the Deep]

Dena let's out a chuckle as Reina corrects her. "Right, sorry. It was a while since I interacted with... either of you I suppose. But nonetheless, I think you're gonna do great. Just adapt your best civil servant impression and we're going in." She takes up her phone and puts it in silent mode as Reina turns to Tybalt.

"The same." The mercenary mumbles through his mask. "And I do gas, smoke, and other saboteur stuff that's not really relevant right now.
This whole new diplomacy thing we're trying out doesn't really fit most people's skill sets." He gestures at the other mercenaries. "Or at least the old guards."

"Oh shush you, as I said, you're going to do great." Dena interjects. "I picked you since I believe you can learn a thing or two from this and all you need to do is look official and observe. Will be a walk in the park compared to what we usually do." She eyes Reina. "Right, Reina? Not that we should assume too much before we get a look at this place..." Dena takes the lead as she strides towards the building, Tybalt seemingly waiting for Reina to join in so he can take the rear.

[Cat Chariot]

The imp looks confused. "Why'd I ever want to be bigger? You' guys can seriously injure yourself by falling." The imp shakes her head and takes a disinterest look around the place before flying after Yone. "So what's this place then? Not exactly fey-central here."

[Earl of Purple]

Inside City College

The man walks off, barely noticing the bubbly lady's farewell or honorific.

He follows the directions given, and will approach the giant feline rear he can see, circling around to see the front as well. "Hello there miss. Wasn't expecting to see another of us around. Are you studying mortals too? Fascinating things. So fragile, yet so determined not to hide and cower from things so much bigger than they." Despite his words, the man looks human, or mostly so. He doesn't return to his sphinx-shape, at least.

[Rebonack]

[Hodgepodge Street]

Jeanette hurries after the fleeing man, slipping between pedestrians rather deftly.

"'sucuse me. Sorry. That guy dropped something. Pardon me. Hey, you dropped your bag of-"

She taps him on the shoulder and gets a firm right hook that knocks her flat on her back and sends her cap flying off her head.

"NO!" Jeanette seems pretty upset about her hat being forcibly removed.

"Nonononono stay small come on stay small," she yammers as her skin begins turning into blue hide and bronze colored plates begin growing across her forehead. As a second pair of arms grow under her jacket and a tail pokes out of the top of her pants. As her hair grows into a mess of blue tendrils fluted with little breathing holes. Her face still looks surprisingly human, though her nose is reduced to barely even a little bump. She's got her arms hugged around herself as if she were trying to prevent herself from bursting by doing so.

Once she's SURE that she isn't going to get huge, she carefully stands up and moves to retrieve her hat-

-which just got grabbed by a gull.

Jeany's eyes widen in panic.

"Hey. Hey, you don't want that it isn't food. Just give it back okay?" she says as she approaches the bird.

The bird, being contrary and terrible, flies away with Jeany's hat.

"NO! You stupid bird! Friggin' feather covered sky rat bring that back!"

But it is too late.

The bird will not heed her.


[Carousel Court]

Morning Glory's eyebrows go up at that.

"ANY body type? Even a body type that's only nominally humanoid?" Morning Glory asks as she rears up on her hind hooves and strikes the most heroic pose she can muster.

It's actually kind of surprising just how flexible equestrians are. And when they're standing upright like that they have a remarkably human-like build. It's the torso, really. In most quadrupeds the torso is quite long compared to the legs. In equestrians they have a fairly short torso for an quadruped AND they're really leggy. The end result is something that could pass as a human with a heavy coat and a hat.

Some of the equestrians who live in more humanoid dominated even stick mostly to a bipedal gait. They call it 'hind-hoofing it'.

[Deathkeeper]

Inside City College

Approaching from the other end the man will find a sphinx crammed into the hall of books. She is perhaps a bit larger than your average lioness, and her human (or rather half-elven) head and chest are therefore larger than human in order to properly fit together. Said human parts are quite conventionally pretty, as one might expect from a nymph's daughter. Her hair is a brown just a shade darker than her lioness coat and hangs neatly around her elf-like ears.
For now. She's not sure what she's going to do when she needs a haircut.
Both the great clawed and winged beast and the nymph-like features are sort of ruined by the THE MITOCHONDRIA IS THE POWERHOUSE OF THE CELL shirt she's wearing.
Sphinx discovered that she can use her bibliomancy on anything with a complete-ish sentence on it. This means that she can get a shirt on, but she hasn't been able to find any underwear or jackets with enough text to count. Though at least she's realized that while going out in the cold is uncomfortable, given that she doesn't wear anything for her hind legs anyway, worrying about warmth is rather pointless anyway. Especially after Chimera helpfully pointed out that the lot of them are generally immortal. That tends to help.
"Oh. Uh, no. I've been investigating arcane creature's biology. And the history of sphinxes. I'm trying to find a way to control my shape like my sister Chimera." explaining to strangers the Sister's situation is hard so she just says Chimera. Wow it's weird having people talk to her like she's not mortal.

[5a Violista]

[Visiting the Church of Venus]

Venus starts magicking while Rose is also magicking. It feels weird. Like, she's sharing control of something with someone else. Like, it's part of both them. Like...kind-of intimate. Maybe it's just because they're here in her church, but it feels really personal, or something.

While trying this and getting a feel for it, she discusses the things: "So, only like two other people even really know about this so I'm not sure how to explain it properly, but..."

"There was me, a guy, and her, and we both had and still have all the exact same names. She got the Buttercup name the exact same time as me but didn't change at all, and the things she did didn't change me either. But it's still more like...we're still the same person? If I ever concentrate hard enough or get distracted enough, it's like...I'm just one person controlling both a right and left arm at the same time, where 'arm' is a metaphor for 'body'." She demonstrates by opening and closing a hand.

"Was really overwhelming at first but I got to the point where I can ignore what she's seeing and feeling, like closing one eye while winking."

She now moves a foot out from under herself and waves her foot. "Traded my 'Venus-Buttercup' name with hers which is how I have these legs. She didn't change much, since it was only one of our many names."

She looks down at the growing vines (which aren't growing near the ladder). "Oh! Yeah! I think it's working! I can feel what you're doing. I think I might be doing it too?"

So anyway, "So, it's pretty similar, I think, but not like exactly the same. Like...not like literally pulling off my face but more like...each of my names means something. A different aspect of who I am. So I use the name that seems most relevant to the situation I'm in and how I need to act and be to fit in the situation. Like, when I first got here I was using Minerva-June because I was lost and scared and alone and that name is me overcoming difficulty. Also has some implications on how I do it, too"


[Perfectly Normal Apartment]

If the ring were conscious, it would probably enjoy the attention it's receiving.

The redhead keeps on making them. Cooking the meat and beans, heating the tortillas, chopping up the lettuce. . .

Out of the corner of his eye, he notices that he's being watched. He turns his head (but his hands keep on stirring and moving) to her. "Hi! You taking a break? How's it going?"


[Brimstone Park]

A succubus-dryad named Redcurrant is the one who finds the mask. Unlike the gaiads, she looks much more like a normal beautiful woman - if women had red berries in their blonde hair, demonic wings, a spaded tail, and dressed like that.

Redcurrant bends down and picks up the fox mask.

It's very interesting.

She flips it over and examines it.
Huh.
She really wants to put it on

[bc56]

Carousel Court

"Better than that. It works for me when I'm fox shaped." It's not quite perfectly comfortable yet, especially for nonhumanoids, and it pinches her fur sometimes, but Jade's working on it. "It's pretty impressive. It just looks like a blanket with a hole in it until someone puts it on."

[Recaiden]

[Cat Chariot]

The imp looks confused. "Why'd I ever want to be bigger? You' guys can seriously injure yourself by falling." The imp shakes her head and takes a disinterest look around the place before flying after Yone. "So what's this place then? Not exactly fey-central here."

"Not me. Haven't you heard? Always land on our feet."
Yone carefully opens the door; it's dark out here, but it's darker inside; no light manages to make its way in through the doorway.
"A temple. Just one fey, but again, they will tell others."
Yone hops inside.

[Perfectly Normal Apartment]

If the ring were conscious, it would probably enjoy the attention it's receiving.

The redhead keeps on making them. Cooking the meat and beans, heating the tortillas, chopping up the lettuce. . .

Out of the corner of his eye, he notices that he's being watched. He turns his head (but his hands keep on stirring and moving) to her. "Hi! You taking a break? How's it going?"

The mutant smiles, well, okay, probably was already smiling.
"Hi." "Or-gan-ized"
She steps over towards the kitchen, and goes to set down the potion bottle near him.
"Need" "To" "Go" "Get" "..."
Then she can easily point out the ring without needing to use her tail whip.
"See"

[5a Violista]

[Perfectly Normal Apartment]

The redhead, if he isn't already smiling, smiles back.

"Oh, really? Great!" he says. He looks at the potion, and...huh, it looks interesting. Not interesting enough to make him burn the food, though. He wonders what it's supposed to do and if potions ever go bad.
So if it's all organized, he's got to get a trash can and bring it in there to grab all the trash and take probably five or more trips out to the dumpster.

He turns down the heat on the stove.
Now, he can turn and get a closer look at whatever the mutant wants to show off. "Oh! Cool! You found that? It looks pretty nice."

[Reinholdt]

[Court of the Deep]

Dena let's out a chuckle as Reina corrects her. "Right, sorry. It was a while since I interacted with... either of you I suppose. But nonetheless, I think you're gonna do great. Just adapt your best civil servant impression and we're going in." She takes up her phone and puts it in silent mode as Reina turns to Tybalt.

"The same." The mercenary mumbles through his mask. "And I do gas, smoke, and other saboteur stuff that's not really relevant right now.
This whole new diplomacy thing we're trying out doesn't really fit most people's skill sets." He gestures at the other mercenaries. "Or at least the old guards."

"Oh shush you, as I said, you're going to do great." Dena interjects. "I picked you since I believe you can learn a thing or two from this and all you need to do is look official and observe. Will be a walk in the park compared to what we usually do." She eyes Reina. "Right, Reina? Not that we should assume too much before we get a look at this place..." Dena takes the lead as she strides towards the building, Tybalt seemingly waiting for Reina to join in so he can take the rear.

[Court of the Deep]

"No worries. Government semi-official, hmmm..." Maybe just pretend she was like Sophie for a little while. That'd probably suffice for civil servant aura.

Walk in the park, huh? "Well... probably. But to be fair, I do remember the era in which parks were exceptionally hostile and you'd be safer walking down a dark alley alone under a blood moon than you would be going to a park." Reina laughs a little and falls into step beside Dena on approach. "It'll be fine. Hundred percent. You have my personal guarantee!" And really, what more could Tybalt ask for? En route, she pulls out a very official looking (novelty) black notebook and pen from her hammerspace. Reina flips the notebook open a third of the way to make it seem used and scribbles some notes at the top of the page to grant it the air of authenticity. Case number 4899, reports of Serf Harassment.

[Recaiden]

[Perfectly Normal Apartment]

The redhead, if he isn't already smiling, smiles back.

"Oh, really? Great!" he says. He looks at the potion, and...huh, it looks interesting. Not interesting enough to make him burn the food, though. He wonders what it's supposed to do and if potions ever go bad.
So if it's all organized, he's got to get a trash can and bring it in there to grab all the trash and take probably five or more trips out to the dumpster.

He turns down the heat on the stove.
Now, he can turn and get a closer look at whatever the mutant wants to show off. "Oh! Cool! You found that? It looks pretty nice."

A smile! How unusual and exciting.
"Try" she says about the potion, not knowing that most of the magic evaporated and that it won't help him realize the importance of the ring or other signs.
As for the ring, the mutant tries to explain "Nice"
"Also" "Means" "Things"
"Need" "To" "Need" "To" "Go" "And" "Get" "Things" "To" "Work" "With"
She groans and brushes the side of her face with a whip, frustrated by her own difficulty with saying things.

[Purple Eagle]

Spoiler

Show

[Plum Mountain Park - Mercs]

"Oh thank God, people. HEY! Could you tell these dumb pixies that rocks aren't magical just because they've got sparkly bits in them? They don't believe me," comes the voice from the other side of the bushes. Whoever it belongs to isn't apparent just yet.

Thus far this doesn't seem very nefarious?

Not even a LITTLE bit nefarious, really.

[Plum Mountain Park - Mercs]

"Oh, I'm well-acquainted with magic rocks," "Klaavi" lies. She really isn't. "But could you come out of the bushes first? We don't want to introduce, but we'd rather be able to see you."

[Plum Mountain Park - Mercs]

For now, "Hoss" lets "Klaavi" do the talking. It's definitely not a good idea to walk into the bushes with their guard down, anyone could be on the other end. The apparently non-pixie could be in league with them, too.

Also, keeping quiet could ensure that those within only think there's one of them, rather than two.

[Rebonack]

[Plum Mountain Park Mercs]

"You don't want to- Oh, yeah, you wouldn't would you? The whole name thing. Just a sec-" comes the voice again. What emerges from the bushes looks like a cross between a fox, a deer, and a rat. Its fur is pitch black, its eyes luminous gold, and its mischievous smile like a crescent moon. It's balancing a VERY sparkly rock on its head, a stone with many tiny quartz crystals growing all over it.

Several pixies, like tiny butterfly winged humans with flowers for hats, begin peeking out of the shrub at our heroes. Several are carrying MORE sparkly rocks. They eye the mortals suspiciously.

"So! Hi! I'm a pooka," the pooka introduces himself. Much like kumiho, they don't typically have names. He cranes his neck (which seems far stretchier than it ought to be) out so the mercs can get a better look. "So here's the rock, do you know what it is? Not magical, right?"

"It's definitely magical!" the group of pixies all shout in unison. Their voices are juuuust slightly out of sync with each other so as to make the sound a little disorienting. "Everyone knows sparkly rocks are magical!"

"No they aren't, it's just a normal rock," the pooka retorts.

"Nuh uh! It's magic!"
"Is not!"
"Is so!"


[Carousel Court]

"Wow, that DOES sound pretty impressive," Morning Glory replies. "I don't suppose you feel like showing off? I've got about an hour before I need to get to my next appointment."

Oooh.

Sounds like MG wants to check it out.

Surely our heroes won't be accosted by random villainy on the way to Jade's hideout.


[Visiting the Church of Venus]

It DOES feel kind of intimate. Like two people working together on a potter's wheel. It's nice, being this close to someone. Sharing something with them.

"It must be kind of like going unbodied," Rose reasons. "Where the whole place is you, kind of? It's not usual for someone from your world to have all the same names, right?"

Rose is thinking it probably isn't. Someone who has all the same names would need to have done all the same things and have the same destiny, right? That seems pretty unlikely.

Vine growth continues, meanwhile, and Rose smiles. "I can feel you doing it, too. I'm definitely not the only one telling them to grow. Now I'm just going to-" she carefully removes her hand from Venus' to see if she can keep it up on her own.

"How many names do you have all together?" Rose asks curiously. "I've only got four. Rose, of course. Alexander and Alexandria. And of course Buttercup."

[Morty]

[Court of the Deep]

The door flings open as the MERC team approach. Or rather, there's an attempt to make it fling open, but since the door is barely hanging on its hinges, it mostly flops back and forth. The person behind it is... a bird-like individual of some kind. Thin, lanky, covered in black feathers, with a long beak that doesn't really resemble any particular bird, and bright yellow eyes. He's dressed in an extravagant, flowing outfit, or what's left of one. It's torn, stained and worn. At his hip hangs a saber, that actually looks somewhat intact.

"Ah! Guests! Finally our court sees some proper visitors. And in proper numbers. Have you come to pay your respect to the master of the house? Or do you come from the King?" the figure croaks in a ragged voice. Its eyes light up when he mentions the King.

[Plum Mountain Park Mercs]

Alright, so a weird... fox-rat-something creature. Olvisin can't remember the name of the last part. And pixies, with flowers for hats. So far, so good.

"Magic rocks are often sparkly, but not every sparkly rock is magic. It'd need to do something other than sparkle to be able to say for sure it's magical."

[5a Violista]

[Visiting the Church of Venus]

Yeah, it is nice.
"Comparing it to going unbodied...huh. I've never really thought of it like that, but it kind-of is pretty similar."

"It's not really common at all. It's rare to even have one whole name in common, let alone all of them. Especially after childhood," Venus says. "Someone thought she might be my 'dream-self' or something like that. I've also thought it could be, like, some sort of multiverse stuff where we both just happened to have exactly the same life and memories and then woke up in the Nexus the same way. There's probably a dozen different explanations, actually, but I'm not sure if there's any way to prove which it is."

After Rose's hand is removed, Venus falters for a little bit and it slows down more. But...it keeps on going! Not as well, but it seems to excite Venus that it's working.

"Eight," she answers. "More than most people my age, actually. Well...nine. Technically ten, if you include my birth name but that one sort-of got replaced by my first own name." With her free hand that's not on the vine, she counts them out: one and two, "Nikita Eloy and the Anani were both from different prophecies," she says, and then three, "Mairi and Nina I got in my childhood from how I was," and four and five, "Talah Cathwulf and Seraphina Gabrielle from what I did as a teen," and then because she only has five fingers rolls back over to one/six and two/seven and three/eight but with her fingers pointed downwards this time instead of upwards, "Minerva June, Florete, and my other one were all before I got married from special circumstances, and" four/nine "obviously Venus-Buttercup."

"Yup, that's nine," she says.
Venus looks down at the vine. "!" she says. "Still doing it! A little shaky but if I can still do it tomorrow then all I'll need is more practice." And she thinks: "I did trade a Mask with June. You think she'll be able to do this too?"



[Perfectly Normal Apartment]

Try the potion?
Um...
"Sure," he says. The redhead puts down the spatula and the spoon. He grabs the potion. He drinks about a quarter of it. "Tastes like cherries, sort-of," he says. But a little old. Not awful, though. Something he'd drink a glass of if it were in a larger container.

He puts it down, and unfortunately doesn't realize the magnificence of the ring. All the gaseous magic had already come off in that room and is diffusing and being quickly neutralized in the air.

He looks at her mouth, to get a better idea of what she's trying to say. Sure, it's hard to understand but he thinks he can get the gist of it, anyway. He did say that she looks nice with the cloak off, but now that he's actually getting a good look at her and not feeling awkward because of what she was wearing, she's actually kinda cute. The rest of her is , sure, unusual, but it isn't that bad. Pretty interesting.
The redhead bites his lip. That would be weird to comment on, though, right? Especially since she's his guest. Could potentially make things awkward.
Thinking about it, he blushes and turns back to the food. Oh, right! Good thing he turned the temperature down earlier. Looks like it's almost done, too. "So you need to go get something, huh?" he says, wondering if there's an easier way to communicate. Can she write in one of the languages he knows? he wonders. "I could help you with it. Haven't really got a ton to do for the next couple days, anyway." Wouldn't mind helping her and hanging out with her, to be honest. "You any good at sketching? Could draw what it is and then I'd be able to help more."

He turns off the flames, since the food's pretty much done now and just needs to cool for a few minutes before it can be eaten.



[Brimstone Park]

Redcurrant puts on the mask.

It hurts.
It hur ts so m uch.
She ca n't b re a th e
I t h ur t s

She falls unconscious from the pain.


Several hours later, she wakes up. The mask is gone. Everything still hurts, but it's more of a dull throb. She can feel that her ears have changed - she has fox ears in addition to her demon wings and demon tail. And...she feels like she has more tails. She looks behind her, but doesn't see any. Just the normal spade-tipped one. But she can feel several of them. They don't...they don't...she can't find them. They're not there.

[Shadowcaller]

[Cat Chariot]


"Not me. Haven't you heard? Always land on our feet."
Yone carefully opens the door; it's dark out here, but it's darker inside; no light manages to make its way in through the doorway.
"A temple. Just one fey, but again, they will tell others."
Yone hops inside.

[Court of the Deep]

"No worries. Government semi-official, hmmm..." Maybe just pretend she was like Sophie for a little while. That'd probably suffice for civil servant aura.

Walk in the park, huh? "Well... probably. But to be fair, I do remember the era in which parks were exceptionally hostile and you'd be safer walking down a dark alley alone under a blood moon than you would be going to a park." Reina laughs a little and falls into step beside Dena on approach. "It'll be fine. Hundred percent. You have my personal guarantee!" And really, what more could Tybalt ask for? En route, she pulls out a very official looking (novelty) black notebook and pen from her hammerspace. Reina flips the notebook open a third of the way to make it seem used and scribbles some notes at the top of the page to grant it the air of authenticity. Case number 4899, reports of Serf Harassment.

[Court of the Deep]

The door flings open as the MERC team approach. Or rather, there's an attempt to make it fling open, but since the door is barely hanging on its hinges, it mostly flops back and forth. The person behind it is... a bird-like individual of some kind. Thin, lanky, covered in black feathers, with a long beak that doesn't really resemble any particular bird, and bright yellow eyes. He's dressed in an extravagant, flowing outfit, or what's left of one. It's torn, stained and worn. At his hip hangs a saber, that actually looks somewhat intact.

"Ah! Guests! Finally our court sees some proper visitors. And in proper numbers. Have you come to pay your respect to the master of the house? Or do you come from the King?" the figure croaks in a ragged voice. Its eyes light up when he mentions the King.

[Plum Mountain Park Mercs]

Alright, so a weird... fox-rat-something creature. Olvisin can't remember the name of the last part. And pixies, with flowers for hats. So far, so good.

"Magic rocks are often sparkly, but not every sparkly rock is magic. It'd need to do something other than sparkle to be able to say for sure it's magical."

[Cat Chariot]

"Yeah, right." The imp seems skeptical of such an ability. "Just point me at the fey and I'll tell them all about those elementals. I even got a sketch of em'. Not to brag, but I'm quite of an artist. 's my job in fact. Mostly it's painting portraits of the boss but I can do other things too."

[Court of the Deep]

Dena eyes the figure from behind her sunglasses, she had heard all sort of stories about fey so it was impossible to tell which ones were true or not. Indeed, it was said it was dangerous to meet to gaze of one as they could take your soul that way. But other stories claimed that you should never look away from their gaze as that would be considered impolite. So perhaps them being unable to tell wherever you were looking in their eyes or not thanks to a pair of cool shades would do.

"Erm, not quite, sir. We're from MERC under the employment of the Red Zone Safety Division, and we have a few questions regarding your current situation. Is it okay if we come in?" Hopefully all the extra wards she was wearing would protect her from any influence the fey would try to hold over her.
Tybalt keeps himself in the back, just giving the creature an odd look. Best to not interact with anything in here...

[bc56]

Carousel Court

"Sure, I've got time to kill. You got the cake, right?" "No thanks to you. You could've at least helped pick it out instead of chasing chickens." "I said I'm sorry!" The pair get up and head just a couple blocks, where they have a car, an unassuming black sedan. A large cake labeled "Happy Birthday!" in cheerful letters sits in the back seat. "Sorry it's a bit of a mess, just get in."

[Recaiden]

[Perfectly Normal Apartment]

Try the potion?
Um...
"Sure," he says. The redhead puts down the spatula and the spoon. He grabs the potion. He drinks about a quarter of it. "Tastes like cherries, sort-of," he says. But a little old. Not awful, though. Something he'd drink a glass of if it were in a larger container.

He puts it down, and unfortunately doesn't realize the magnificence of the ring. All the gaseous magic had already come off in that room and is diffusing and being quickly neutralized in the air.

He looks at her mouth, to get a better idea of what she's trying to say. Sure, it's hard to understand but he thinks he can get the gist of it, anyway. He did say that she looks nice with the cloak off, but now that he's actually getting a good look at her and not feeling awkward because of what she was wearing, she's actually kinda cute. The rest of her is , sure, unusual, but it isn't that bad. Pretty interesting.
The redhead bites his lip. That would be weird to comment on, though, right? Especially since she's his guest. Could potentially make things awkward.
Thinking about it, he blushes and turns back to the food. Oh, right! Good thing he turned the temperature down earlier. Looks like it's almost done, too. "So you need to go get something, huh?" he says, wondering if there's an easier way to communicate. Can she write in one of the languages he knows? he wonders. "I could help you with it. Haven't really got a ton to do for the next couple days, anyway." Wouldn't mind helping her and hanging out with her, to be honest. "You any good at sketching? Could draw what it is and then I'd be able to help more."

He turns off the flames, since the food's pretty much done now and just needs to cool for a few minutes before it can be eaten.

"Had" "For-got" "Cher-ries" the mutant admits, but she agrees, it's a fine drink.
She nods at his questions, and glances at the food, but she doesn't know anything about when a taco is ready.
"Yes" "Give" "To" "Sketch" "With" Paper kept getting wet and ruined where she was before, the idea of having more to work with is interesting. It distracts her from the need to go out and get the perfect materials. She thinks she can write in the language they're both speaking, so that might work as well.

[Cat Chariot]

"Yeah, right." The imp seems skeptical of such an ability. "Just point me at the fey and I'll tell them all about those elementals. I even got a sketch of em'. Not to brag, but I'm quite of an artist. 's my job in fact. Mostly it's painting portraits of the boss but I can do other things too."

Inside the building, if they're still inside a building after all, it is deeply dark. The only light comes from the candles burning on an altar a little way away. They must have been burning for a while, but they haven't gotten any lower. It's not the wax that's burning.
"Go up there." Yone says, literally pointing.

[Reinholdt]

[Court of the Deep]

Reina watches the proceedings with a critical frown and marks in her notebook Dilapidated doorway, needs repair and double underlines it. The pen is both loud and scratchy. She also seems to have an opinion on the bird-like individual's outfit, but it doesn't get included in the official notes. She'll make sure this place gets up to code!

Having no concerns about her soul getting taken (the warlock protected against such nonsense, right?), Reina clears her throat and takes on the tone of an overworked secretary. "Boss, it is traditional to announce one's presence to the master of the lands prior to conducting business in their domain."

[5a Violista]

[Perfectly Normal Apartment]

The redhead notices that she glances at the food: "It just needs to cool off for a few minutes," he explains. "Then it will be ready." Gotta eat before leaving to gather materials.

He steps out of the kitchen, to the hallway. Where does he have paper that isn't already partially used...? he wonders.
He snaps. Oh! "Okay! I've got some over here."
He continues into the front room, and goes to the bookcase. He looks through it, and finds a notebook. He opens it up, tears out a few already-used pages, and then grabs a pen from the bookcase too. (It was on the bottom shelf; he has to crouch down to get it.) "Got it!"

He stands and turns, holding them out. "Here you go. One notebook." He smiles again, glad that he could help her.

[Morty]

[Court of the Deep]

The bird-like creature recoils and gasps as if Dena's words offended it greatly. It looks like an affectation of haughty arrogance, but it's so clumsy that it looks even more grotesque than the real thing.

"No, no no. The first people to enter this court after its restoration will not be some common mercenaries, churls and busybodies. You can return to your employers and tell them that the court is just fine. And awaiting a proper welcoming party."

[Recaiden]

[Perfectly Normal Apartment]

The redhead notices that she glances at the food: "It just needs to cool off for a few minutes," he explains. "Then it will be ready." Gotta eat before leaving to gather materials.

He steps out of the kitchen, to the hallway. Where does he have paper that isn't already partially used...? he wonders.
He snaps. Oh! "Okay! I've got some over here."
He continues into the front room, and goes to the bookcase. He looks through it, and finds a notebook. He opens it up, tears out a few already-used pages, and then grabs a pen from the bookcase too. (It was on the bottom shelf; he has to crouch down to get it.) "Got it!"

He stands and turns, holding them out. "Here you go. One notebook." He smiles again, glad that he could help her.

The mutant takes the notebook and sits down to start writing and drawing.
They shakily draw a beach, with the sun in the sky and the waves waving back and worth, and under the water are lots of rocks, and one of the rocks has an arrow pointing to it.
It's not a good drawing. Honestly it's downright bad. But it should be understandable enough.
And she adds a note.
((Sadly, the narrator and the mutant cannot write any languages in common. But a machine would translate it to `क्षमा करें। मैं अपने दाहिने हाथ का उपयोग करूंगा। लेकिन अब मेरा दाहिना हाथ नहीं है।`))