The "Best" RPG Ever-117

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"How familiar are you all with beastfolk, in general?"

"Not much, really, sire. Seen 'em around, but don't know any personally before now.."
"I had a few in my neighborhood back home..."
"When I was a lad, we had a nice couple a' Vulpin neighbors, though not all was nice to 'em..."

The prince had called a meeting with the soldiers he'd brought with him, and invited the adventurers to go on to their tents—and insisted that none of them take the first watch tonight. He did this while mentally acknowledging to Katherine that of course three out of the five of them would easily hear the conversation; it was more just that he wanted to make it clear he was addressing the soldiers specifically. And—if it didn't occur to them that the animal-eared girls could hear the conversation, they would still have the impression that the talk was in private.

"And those among our escort—what do think from seeing their behavior toward each other?"

"Errh, tell the truth, it's surprisin' to see 'em act so distant from each other. But then I don't know if that were just how the ones I knew were?"

"Right," Peregrine nodded. "It obviously will differ from one person to another, but it is nonetheless very common for them to express affection physically, among family or even just friends—apart from avians, of course. It is reasonable to assume that they're avoiding such displays in public out of consideration for our sensibilities, knowing that Kyzerath is a largely human kingdom. However, it may not be the same in private. I'm mentioning this just to warn you that if you go to wake one for her watch, you shouldn't be too startled to see them physically close to each other..."

The psion had taken up the same tent as Zack, for fairly obvious reasons. "I hate this body." He was busy taking his armor off, while she'd already used telekinesis to make a quick change into some pajamas.

Even though there wasn't anything to see, and even though she couldn't actually avoid picking up Zack's sensory information the whole time anyway, Katherine stayed looking out the open flap of the tent instead of at him until he was through. "You haven't thought anything like that in a while," she said.

"You know how I like to deal with my problems." I haven't thought about it at all.

"Well, clearly something's made you think about it today. Or should I say someone?"

Zack growled; he was finished now, so Katherine turned around to face him, sitting on the ground with her legs out to one side. "Zack. You know I'm not bringing this up to tease you or screw with you, right? I like to joke around, but I don't poke a topic I know is sensitive unless it's becoming a problem."

He seemed to want to get even angrier at first, but took a deep breath to calm down instead. "In what way. Is this a problem?"

"You're acting moody and grouchy—way more than usual, I mean—and by now, pretty much everyone's noticed? The guy we're meant to be escorting is worrying he's offended you somehow, but it's pretty hard to explain to him what you're really feeling without letting certain felines out of the sack."

"I just don't. Like him. Okay?"
"Okay, well, why not?"

The wolf-girl crossed her arms and glared off to one side, into the tent wall, for a moment. "Come on, I'm serious," the catgirl said, "I can't read his mind—mental defenses, which I don't want to offend him by attempting to pierce—and you're generally pretty good at reading other people's personalities and motivations. Is this something we should all be worried about, like he might betray us at some point?"
"No, it's nothing like that!" Zack snapped. He took another deep breath, realizing he'd come dangerously close to raising his voice, and switched to mental conversation as he went to sit down too, cross-legged. He's constantly worried about how to make everybody like him as much as possible. He tries to treat everyone not just equally, but ridiculously well, to the point of bending over backwards to apologize if he gets the vague idea he's done something wrong. But he wants to be honest at the same time, too, so he's made himself an expert at saying whatever opinion he has in an ultra polite way so it won't offend anyone.

So what do you not like, then?
It's annoying! This would've been a yell if it were speaking instead of thinking. He's so busy being 'perfect' that he doesn't act real! And this stupid body keeps reacting to it in weird ways, and when I try to push it down, I just get angry.

Well, then—who are you angry at? You, him, that witch, or whoever else is ultimately responsible for that body?
I don't know! It's not like I have a careful think who I'm gonna get mad at when I don't even know why I feel that way in the first place!

Are you angry at the prince? she asked more directly.

Zack growled softly, then sighed. No. Not really. It's not like he's trying to annoy me. Just like with everyone else, he just wants me to like him and feel good being around him.

It would do us all some good if you'd tell him that. Not the whole thing—just that you aren't mad at him specifically, and whatever explanation you think will convince him of that the best, Katherine suggested.

...I can try that, I guess. He was thinking about how to word it already, if only briefly.

Good enough, the psion said.

..It's not just that, you know. Have you noticed—even this voice, the 'mental' one? It sounds exactly the same as my real voice now.

Katherine tilted her head, thinking back a bit. When they'd first met...his thoughts had 'sounded' like a guy talking.

I can only sort of remember what I sounded like before. I didn't even think it was something that could change, but I'm so used to hearing this out of my mouth that it's all I can imagine now when I think of myself talking. It's like this stupid curse will take anything I'm not actively fighting it on.

She was about to say something in response to this, but Zack shook his head. I know—it could just be 'natural', and blaming it on the curse is dumb. But it still wouldn't be happening if I wasn't stuck this way!

She gave him a concerned look; he really hadn't been this upset in a while. Even the terrible thoughts that starfish demon's magic had dredged up hadn't hit him so hard, at least not after he used Aria's thoughts to break it. Zack...you know it isn't hopeless, right? Mira's been studying curses partially to figure out how to break yours, and even if she has to overpower it to do it, she'll definitely be able to before too long. Rayna might have a way to do something about it soon too, if she levels up that 'reality bending' stuff far enough. And any one of us would gladly give you a way to be rid of the curse if it was available.

He took a deep breath, knowing she was worrying about him and wanting to make that stop more than he wanted to help himself. I know, you're right. Maybe it'll be gone in a day or two and I'll only have been stuck for a couple of weeks, or a few months if you count in this world's time. It just...

For a while, I felt like I was fighting this curse to a standstill, keeping it from doing anything else I didn't want it to. Today I feel like I just suddenly noticed it's been pushing me back step by step without me even realizing. By the time it can be broken, will I even want to go back, and stay that way? Do I even want that now? I just, don't feel like I know anymore...

Katherine leaned forward onto all fours and crawled slowly toward him. Look: If we get rid of the curse, then it won't affect your mind anymore—if it's even affecting it much right now, which I'm really not sure it is. And once you're not stuck that way, you can make whatever decision makes you happier, right? I don't think there's any reason to be afraid of your own opinion changing, because it's still you, and your experiences—and not the curse or anything else—doing that. She pulled herself upright enough to offer the wolf-girl a hug, and Zack accepted it, hugging her back. You're not alone, you know? We're all here for you.

...Thanks. He leaned his head over her shoulder for a bit. The gesture was sincere, and he was no longer on the verge of tears; he ran a hand through her hair briefly.

Both of them knew, even if it was just some overpowered instincts hijacking his brain, this was something that made him happy. They moved over into their bedroll before pulling close and mutually petting and nuzzling once again to both relax. Lynn had offered to let Katherine try and use her dreams as a 'host' for everyone to meet up in, and Zack briefly made a request to join them before drifting off to sleep.

---

"I know, I know..what Weavers do is fundamentally different from how any normal mage casts a spell. But, hear me out here—so is what witches do, kinda? I mean, it's more that I work with something off to one side of regular magic, while what you do is 'intertwined' with it in a different way. But I think it should still be possible for you to affect ambient magic, at least enough to push out the chaotic junk." Once the witch finished making supper, everyone came to eat—and, since this was what was on her mind, it became their first topic of conversation.

"I cannot 'sense' chaotic magic at all, however," Nora said. "We've established before that it is fundamentally different from the natural elements."
"Hey, can you sense demonic magic?" Aria asked. "You've been around me and the sword for a while, not to mention Mira; anything stick out in particular?"
"..No," she shook her head. "Even when Mira uses demonic magic that has the same apparent properties as an element, such as fire or ice, my 'sixth sense' can only indirectly detect the change in heat surrounding the magic effect itself. I believe I can only affect what that sense detects, at least directly. But, I admit, I have never attempted to affect something indirectly before. I wouldn't even know where to begin..."

"Maybe you know someone who would know where to begin, though?" Rose suggested. "I mean, uh—whatsisname?"

"Fazren?" Nora guessed she meant.

"Yeah! He's been using that stuff for a long time, and he's old and maybe wise or whatever? Sooo, like, he might have a clue about how to do something like that?"
"It may be worth a try," she nodded. "I don't want to give you the impression that I wouldn't like to be able to do this. As you said, it seems like Ezra believes we will need as many ways of dealing with chaotic magic as possible in the near future. I'm only expressing my ignorance in terms of how to go about it..."

A few hours later, as Nora was getting ready for bed, Lupa knocked on the door to the bathroom between their bedrooms. "One moment, please...yes?" She opened it.
"Uuuhhm. This one is lonely in the room without Master," she said. "Could, sleep with Nora like Master or Kat sometimes do?"
Nora hesitated for a moment before deciding. "...I suppose you could stay with me tonight. Perhaps, not in exactly the same way, but if it'll help you sleep.."

"Yaaay!" Lupa ran back to get her pillow and cam charging for Nora's bed; the fox-eared elf placed a hand in front of her forehead, stopping her.

"Lupa. No jumping on my bed, okay? I don't want it getting broken."
"Oh..uhhm, fragile?"
"To an extent. Just, come with me, all right?" She picked up the small girl and took her to the bed, gently setting her onto it, lying down next to her and pulling the covers over them both shortly after. "There. This better?"
"Yes!" Lupa smiled happily and wagged her tail a bit before closing her eyes and seeming to instantly drop off to sleep.

---

These ruins again...

Rayna was standing in front of the collapsed section of the ruins. As in her mind's eye since looking into that crystal Thing, even after Tsaron had wiped the dangerous information out of her mind, there was blood coming out from under the giant pile of dirt and broken stone. It wasn't dry like before; instead it seemed to be fresh, slowly leaking out from underneath. And...on closer inspection, she wasn't quite able to identify why it was she felt so certain it was blood.

"Control..."

A man's voice echoed briefly through her mind; not a voice she recognized, but something about the word still felt familiar. The 'blood' was glowing...or, was that even the right word for it? It wasn't so much acting as a light source, as it was giving off the impression of vivid color independent of how much light was reflecting off of it. Which color? All of them. None of them.

"It is not that I think this won't work..." The words sounded familiar. They weren't really in English (or Common, or whatever)—it was just that something seemed to be translating them from another language 'for' her. "...the very thing which Chaos Magic abhors most."

It was like her eyes, or her mind, couldn't focus on any one color long enough to perceive which one it was before it shifted to something else. It was dizzying and threatened nausea if she stared for too long. The only way to look was up, away from the floor and lower walls, toward the higher part of the pile of rubble. It felt like she could almost see through it: Two silhouettes walking through the doorway that would be there if the space were still intact.

"Need I remind you what's at stake here?" A woman's voice: Slightly familiar for some reason; speaking the same language as the man's had been. "We are so close to having real results! Come now, I know that the rest of you are not cowards like—" (Rayna's mind didn't grasp the next word, but it was a name) "—If you won't do it, I will handle everything myself!" She sounded exhausted, but energized, with an edge of panic. It didn't sound like the ideal mood for someone to be in before some kind of dangerous experiment.
"No, no; that would be even worse..."
"You don't think I can do it alone?!"

He stopped, raising a hand to place on her shoulder. He said, "No—" (Name (hers?)), "—I'm worried because I know you can. I'm worried about what happens after. At least this way we have contingencies, if something goes wrong..."

Their voices echoed incoherently, and the vision of the two of them through the pile of rubble faded.

Rayna's dream shifted over to her memory of when she first encountered this area, visions of Mira and Nora appearing nearby. The witch was busy saying, "Well...I think something bad definitely happened."

The fox-girl stopped in place, just staring as the two of them continued forward. This was supposed to be her line, she knew, but she just kept quiet instead until Nora moved on to hers: "I-I don't know...th-that feeling of dread is back after seeing it, though."

After this, she felt the distinct sort of mental 'pull' from Katherine bringing people into a single dream. Most of the environment shifted to an open field, but the collapsed part of the ruins remained, the loose rubble and dirt keeping itself impossibly suspended in the air instead of falling out to either side onto the grass.

"...Theeere we go. Weird, there wasn't any resistance with anyone else..." Rayna turned to find Katherine, Lynn, and Zack all there, the psion floating slightly off the ground in her pajamas. "Hi, welcome to Lynn's dream!" Their host waved, and Katherine paused, finally noticing Rayna's expression. "Uh, are you okay?"

She exhaled slightly. "Think so. Can you read back what I just experienced?"
"Sure..?" The catgirl tilted her head, going through the contents of the brief dream in an instant. "Oh. Wow, what's..that about?"
"Those ruins I explored with Mira and Nora," she said. "Something bad happened there. And they were studying chaotic magic."
"Right—that spell Jacob's working on is based on the journal you brought back from there..."

"I need to go back," Rayna said abruptly. "I think that's what it is. I need to go back, and really Look at that collapsed area. It might be..important, whatever happened there. I feel like the problem is that I couldn't get a clear enough view before with all that dirt and rubble in the way."

"..And that you didn't even seriously 'Look' at all back, right?" the psion added. "You were a little busy worrying about the armor things. Not to mention, the 'blood' wasn't even there at the time..."
"Uhh, you two mind filling us in?" Lynn asked, coming up to them.
The illusionist shook her head. "I think I just got a dream from...whoever usually gives us 'special' dreams. Maybe blocked Katherine from bringing me in here until I'd seen what I was 'supposed to'. It was...I'm not really sure I can put everything into words. You mind just getting the memory direct?"
"Mmn, sure, why not?"

After the dream's contents had been shared with the others, and a few further clarifications made, Lynn said, "I guess there's no problem with some of us going out that way after we get back to town. But..you want us to clear all that rubble out?" she gestured to the pile still left over from Rayna's dream. "I'm not sure even Nora or Rose could do that much."
"No need to bother them," Rayna said. "After all, we've met an extremely high-level earth mage since then!"

---

"Well...here we are again, buddy." Aria gestured to the demon in the distance. It didn't reply particularly, but she was being sarcastic anyway. Even with everybody gone, the oppressiveness of the environment just wasn't anywhere near as extreme as it had been at first. Maybe she'd gotten used to the constant thought of blood, the sound of it pumping around her; maybe this place had become somewhere comfortable and relaxing because she'd been here with her friends so many times since then; maybe it was just the skill points she'd put into suppressing the demon's urges, or even just the fact that she'd been feeding it pretty regularly lately, including today. Whatever the reason, it was nice not to feel at risk of sanity slippage just from being asleep.

She turned around to the wall of static, then concentrated on it. She'd felt Katherine do this several times, and her dreamspace seemed amicable to the idea of reshaping that wall into a habitable environment, like her mind itself was used to 'stretching' in this particular way. For tonight, since she was alone, she formed a piece of her apartment from back on Earth—particularly focusing on the living room with the comfy chair she did most of her streaming from. It did require some concentration at first, and a bit of adjustment to keep the walls from being covered in pulsating veins, but she got it to work without too much difficulty, and went to sit down.

A controller appeared in her hand without needing to go get it, and the TV turned on. They'd managed to partially 'recreate' a few games from their memories over the past few nights, and since it had all been inside Aria's dream, it seemed to have left enough of a 'mental impression' for her to recall them and re-experience them. It wasn't exactly the same as actually playing the real things; the mere fact of being in a dream seemed to distort the behavior of the game and the functionality of the TV, and the demon's influence still crept in to make the games a bit...bloodier than usual, but that didn't particularly bother her. It was enough that she could more or less relax. In a way, this was her own form of meditation, and much easier to achieve than the 'traditional' method she'd learned from Tsaron from before. It just required more components that she hadn't had access to at the time. With this, it seemed to take no time at all for morning to arrive again.