Inside

[Keeper]

A Local Shrine

"For the most part, any sort of spiritual threat that would come after a bunch of tasty-looking vulnerable spirits like me and Stela. Or something trying to get its claws in the minds of the citizens around here. Those colorful phantoms feed and propagate on negative emotions"
Properly speaking her body is fine. She just needs to turn it back on.
The idol itself is a fairly accurate jade carving of a fox that looks suspiciously like Jade, curled around the fox-pearl.

[quillpleasant]

Draco Street Bakery

Simon's mention of 'her' confirmed what she had suspected when he had entered the room. It wasn't the first time she had encountered hermaphroditic dragons but it was something she was deeply fascinated by. She wondered if that meant the two of them could reproduce but that was a question far too private for a first interview.

That tome of hers is scrawling all these thoughts down as Ambrosia gives Simon a slow nod.
"While it sounds like you have come to enjoy the final outcome, I feel like I have to express my sympathies. Since that doesn't sound like a pleasant way to go." Though she suspected neither of them wanted to linger on that subject.
"But while the dragon that killed you was especially violent you knew they both sapient and capable of conversation?" That needed to be confirmed. "Furthermore, any information you have on this particular kind of dragon would be valuable. Since while I do have ways to, well, 'scan' you I'd like to know as much as possible first to be able to interpenetrate whatever information I glean from it."

She makes a circular motion with her hand. "Does your kind of dragon have any sort of connection to spirits or other beings known for possession for instance?"

Draco Street Bakery

Rowan continues to squirm at being complimented. "The pie didn't even do what it was supposed to do. And I'm not hot." he insists quietly.

Draco Street Bakery

"The pie was still way better than the alternative. As to your hotness, let me be the judge of that," says Simon cheekily. He glances with interest at the self writing tome. Now that's something you don't see every day.

"Yeah I mean, obviously getting eaten sucked. But I always kind of figured that's how I'd go- cannibalism runs in the family and my siblings always had it out for me, so I'd say this was an improvement over that possibility," he says with a shrug, oblivious to the bevy of questions that raises. He drums his claws thoughtfully on his coils.

"She said some stuff before eating me. Mostly the kind of taunting 'ohh foolish human you've gone too far off the trail' shtick that evil monsters seem to enjoy. I was a little distracted to pay attention to the details. As for specifics on the dragon..."

His stinger tail swishes. "Very poisonous tail. I'm pretty sure she's an acid breather, since I have mad heartburn like all the time. She had some sort of camouflage magic, since she was disguised as a fallen tree when I stumbled across her. Flightless, which is a real bummer." Flying is one of the coolest parts of being a dragon. After the awesome dragon bod.

"As for spirits, I'm not sure. But the forest I found her in was rumored to be haunted. So either she was the cause of those stories, or she just lived in a place with a lot of ghosts. Maybe she absorbed some ghost jubies?"

[Shadowcaller]

Draco Street Bakery

Cannibalism? For a moment she wasn't sure if he meant among dragons or humans since she had never heard of it practiced among humans before. Not so commonly as to expect it at least.
"Yet you're the one possessing her it would seem. Except your old body isn't exactly gone either." Ambrosia observers, not able to make much sense of it. Too many possibilities. She could ask thousands of questions and yet not get any closer to any answer, especially as Simon didn't seem to know all that much about his condition.

She folds her hands and gives Simon a nod. "So about that 'scan'... I think I want to do it now and ask more questions later. Would you be okay with that? It would involve interacting with your soul, essence, inner-self, mind, whatever term you prefer. The part of you that's not reflected in the physical world."

[TeChameleon]

[Spacy Invaders]

(OPEN SCENE)

Above the city centre, storm clouds roiled as thunder boomed and lightning flickered.

Then the cloud cover surged, curling apart like the bow wave of some enormous ship... which is precisely what dropped down through the sky a moment later. A flying saucer-shaped mothership, bigger than the city itself, roared out of the sky, slowing to a halt as it hovered ominously for a long moment.

Then, in some bizarre, eye-searing, perspective-twisting fashion, it dropped down closer to street level without disturbing any buildings, yet somehow remaining the same size, squeezing its awesome bulk in some impossible fashion that suggested it occupied a few more dimensions than the usual eleven.

A hatch popped open on the bottom of the craft, and a hairless grey head poked out, huge black eyes blinking slowly, and not quite in sync with one another, before a level voice appeared inside the brains of any onlookers without needing to do anything so crass as to pass through their ears.

"Excuse me," it 'said', "but could you tell me what dimension this is?"

[Shadowcaller]

Had Pax cursed them?

Raheeda wouldn't know but nor did she knew enough about the subtleties of human threats to believe so.
Though as Harley had a better grasp of what the old king had told them back in Trog's he might at least be be taking a glance behind them as they walked out of that tavern. In case one of those headless guards or indeed the seer himself had decided to follow them.

But there's no such thing. Only the inn itself, its bright light casting long shadows as they're leaving it behind.

As if sensing his unease, Raheeda turns to him only to nearly walk straight into something.

She stops herself and heard the all too familiar sound of neighing. Then the smells of it hit her tongue.
Oh, a horse. Or more accurately, horesis.

Six of them to be exact.
All standing there as if they had been waiting for them. Though the figure in driver seat of the carriage they're harnessed to definitively seems to have been. Since they're staring at them, the grinning mask peeking out from the hood of their black robe plainly visible even in the fading light of Trog's.

While the style of both the mask and the robe is decidedly different from Raheeda's the words the driver utters might make Harley make the connection between them. Since they sound like a series of hisses that sound all too familiar to what he's heard her speak before and what she uses again as she replies to the driver after what seemed to have been a moment of stunned silence.

"I- I need to get on." She explains to Harley while gesturing towards the carriage.
It's an enormous thing. Larger than even a train wagon which probably meant it couldn't travel very fast even while being pulled by this many horses.

If Harley had ever seen the ancient trireme kind of ship the design and features of this carriage might remind him of it. With a pointed "nose" in front of the carriage seat that seems intended for ramming (though gods knows what considering there were horses in front of it) and of course the distinct eye which have been painted near the front of it.

[Earl of Purple]

Real Arcade

Agate sighs at Asami's irritation, and draws back her bow and launches an arrow into the swirly portal thing that's spewing goblets out. Rather than kill them faster, she's hoping it'll stop them- or at least slow them down. It might not work, however, or a goblet might emerge in time to get hit instead.

[Gold]

To Lore & Game

Octavia leans in close to the demon, clearly fascinated. -so its effects are just to create the illusion of a real combat, and increase the thrill of the game? and everyone taking part agrees to this? how delightful!-

It's not irony. To Octavia, combat has always been an unfortunate necessity, but mimicking aspects of it in a controlled way sounds... well, fun. Which is still a concept she's exploring.

-i imagine you could use it to intimidate people who are unaware of its nature. few would dare to attack someone they perceived as being a demon master- Seems like a useful, if unintended benefit.

The angel studies the creature for a moment longer, then impulsively reaches out to poke it before teleporting a good fifteen feet back. She knows it's safe, of course. But she's not taking any chances.

-so you can create other beings as well? like the herald of the arc light?-

[To Lore & Game]

"That's exactly right!" Micah confirms brightly. Though he's no fan of pain, and no sadist either, the Duelist believes the extra incentive to protect your own life points adds a layer of decision making that makes every Duel that much more interesting.

A speculative smile crosses Micah's face after Octavia brings up more practical uses of the Duel Disk."I guess you could, couldn't you? Not to mention making it seem as if an area can't be passed, or just making a loud noise." Micah knows that newer models can even do things like change spectators' outfits to match the field, but those can prove rather difficult to get one's hands on.

Octavia's finger barely disturbs the image, save for a few tiny ripples of distortion, and the defending monster does not react at all.

"Of course! Duel Disks can project any monster - but..." Micah looks around. Most of the other PREP students hanging around the gate have left already. "That might have to wait. Even though the walk is short, we should get going sooner or later." Unless Octavia objects, Micah will remove the Archfiend's Awakening card from the Duel Disk, causing the hologram to shrink into a ball of purple light that shoots back into the device leaving no evidence it was ever there. He'll then shuffle the card back into his deck and disengage the device, making the card zones retract back into it.

[quillpleasant]

Cursed?

Harley is definitely uneasy leaving the inn. Talking to the king had made his skin crawl, and that kind of vindictive bastard is absolutely the type to put a hex on them- or just hire a thug to break their legs. Hopefully he'll lose interest and find some other patsies to torment.

Either way, Harley is eager to get back to GLoG and sleep for the next twenty or so hours. He's about to say as much when-

Horses! Harley doesn't like horses. Although he's pretty sure they don't eat rabbits, they can sure step on them. He lost an uncle that way after he strayed too close to the farmer's barn. However, it's not the horses that are the worrisome part here, but the... everything else.

It doesn't take much to realize the driver is a yuan ti, since Harley knows they use masks to disguise themselves. And the hissing is a dead giveaway. He's always wondered why the translation magic of the Nexus doesn't work on it, but it's probably something to do with it requiring a unique mouth situation to pronounce correctly. But he doesn't need a translation to know this is trouble.

"...Okay." If Raheeda says she needs to, he won't argue- there could be any number of important cultural things happening, and he doesn't want to immediately argue without knowing more. "Sure, let's go. You can explain on the way." He gives a little wave at the masked driver.

Because there's no way he's not coming with, and that he will argue. Everything Raheeda has told him about her people paints a very unflattering picture of them, and it's hard not to think that if he lets her go alone, it'll be the last he ever sees of her. So that's just not going to happen.

---

To Lore & Game

Perhaps it says something about Octavia that her first thought upon learning about a game is considering how it might be weaponized. It's not that she's a living weapon built for combat or anything- oh wait, yeah. She literally is.

Upon realizing that the monster has no real physicality, she steps back up alongside Micah, watching with interest as he packs up the device. -thank you for showing me, micah cardcaptor. perhaps another time i can see some of the other monsters- Even if she doesn't know how to play the game yet, it's undeniably cool visually.

-alright, lead on!- she says brightly, ready to follow his lead to the store. -you said your grandpa runs it, right? what is a grandpa?-

[Morty]

[Cry Havoc]

Wenomir becomes a blur as he weaves, dodges and parries the orbs. But even his agility has its limits, so one of them painfully connects with his left arm, forming a bruise under his armor. It's only a matter of time before one of them strikes his leg... so he has to act.

He takes a deep breath, bows down, getting closer to the ground, and dashes in the elf's direction. Once more, he moves with eye-watering speed, possibly fast enough to outrun the orbs. When he's close to her, he abruptly changes direction, spinning in a dance-like motion to get behind her. The intent is to force her to try to stop the orbs before they collide with her - and in closer proximity, keeping them from hitting her might be harder.

He does also keep up the pressure on her. His sword suddenly shimmers and blurs, turning into a long-hafted axe. He grips it close to the blade and gets in close to try dealing some deep, gouging wounds that her regeneration might have trouble closing.

[Shadowcaller]

Cursed?

"Oh, uh-" Raheeda looks confounded at his statement for a moment.

Meanwhile, as Harley waves to the masked driver the don't wave back. It's even unclear if they've so much as looked at Harley. Their eyes impossible to see through the mask and the darkness of the hood.

"Give me one moment."
Then Raheeda replies with a series of new hisses while gesturing to Harley.

In response the driver shakes their head which prompts more hisses from Raheeda and then from the driver.
It sounds like they're having an argument of sort.
But as that's going on Harley suddenly feels his eyes being drawn to the carriage itself as a voice can be heard. But this is not a voice of someone talking to him. This voice sounds like his internal one, but louder and clearer.

"Who are you, human?" As he's being asked this not only his response will be read but whatever what he's thinking too. The mysterious voice boring into his mind in a hunt for information and the only thing Harley gets in exchange is the feeling that the source of the voice is inside that giant couch.

[bc56]

A Local Shrine
"...did this thing change into a statue of me?" Jade wonders. But she has other things to think of. It's time to bite the bullet.
"I wasn't originally a spirit. I don't have any idea how to do anything... Spirit-y. I'm going to need help." She needs her body back, for one.

[[brackets lover]]

[Security Room]

And lo and behold, something does happen! A bunny-eared, cloaked creature with a red pom-pom atop its head walks through the front entrance of the bank. It scans the room for a second before fixing its eyes on a security camera, floating up towards it slightly and lobbing a yellow paint balloon at it, completely obscuring the view for Eddie. The co-worker seems to have no noticed.

[Real Arcade]

Asami has a smug look on her face upon not hearing any further comeback. For her part, she moves to the side of the orb and begins to take a few swings at it, electing to ignore the rest of the goblets. It feels like it goes down easier than the goblin, or rather, its easier to get more hits in on it as its a stationary object. A few cracks form when its slowly damaged, building up more and more as it becomes close to breaking. Finally, it shatters into shards of glass falling directly downwards and not scattering at all. The goblets it spawned remain. An opening formed in the wall behind the orb, leading back into the open field again.

"Okay, we runnin' now!" declares Asami as she breaks into a sprint through the opening.

[Spacy Invaders]

Asami, all dressed in his winter clothes and walking on the street, looked up to the mothership. "Uh..." he said hestitantly, "The Nexus, I guess?" After a short pause, he continues, "Cool illusion, by the way."

[TeChameleon]

[Security Room]

Since people generally didn't block security cameras unless they were doing something they did not wish to be seen... or they were intensely shy, possibly... Eddie figured that it was time to move, especially as the cloak-wearing creature matched the image he had been shown of the 'supervillain' that the spook had apparently decided to sic Eddie on.

He hopped down out of his chair with a heavy thud, told his co-worker he was going to check something out in the lobby, and walked out.

Barring anything unexpected happening, he would turn up behind the moogle in about forty seconds, moving far faster and more quietly than you would expect a being made of stone to move, although rubber soles might account for part of that.

[Keeper]

A Local Shrine

"Possibly! It's not too uncommon. Some particularly nasty spirits like to possess people just to see how their own traits rub off on their poor victims. Anyway, don't feel too bad. Plenty of us have been there before. You should have said something!"
Ryu chuckles, floating about and eventually reclining as if he was laying on a couch. Which makes sense for his dragon self but looks a bit more off for his human one.
"I'm pretty sure I haven't. But really it's not that complicated. You just gotta feel out your powers. And then you mostly show up and shank things if they get nasty." adds the spirit koi.
"...unless you'd rather try to just get a replacement. If you really hate the idea of sticking with us." Oh no not guilt-tripping!

[quillpleasant]

Cry Havoc

It's true that the angelephant is at quite the disadvantage, reaching into this hole, something that Raheeda demonstrates as her glaive slashes its arm. The dense tangle of bones making up the base of its cleaver are extremely tough, but the blow still breaks through some of them, leaving the natural weapon bent at an unnatural angle. It bellows, pulling itself back up to street level.

Of course, the sewers are full of water, and despite its low intellect the beast is well aware of how deadly that can be in conjunction with electricity. Its tusks begin to charge up for another lightning blast. The elven man seems unaware of the danger, just tilting his head to listen to the growing hum with an expression of concern.

But here comes Kothar to the rescue! Restored by the holy light, he should be more than a match for the wounded behemoth...

But then something very fast moves across the street, and he finds himself surrounded in an instant by the coils of the rodentipede. Having finished consuming its fallen brother, it's grown to almost twice the length it was before, and sports a dense exoskeleton of hair and bone. Rearing up, it strikes at Kothar like a cobra, its mouth filled with haphazard razor sharp incisors.

Meanwhile, Wenomir performs some more improbable acrobatics, the balletic spin positioning him neatly behind the elven woman and causing the orbs to spin out to the side as they try to get a better angle. But before they can do that, his newly formed axe is slashing into her shoulder-

Except it passes through empty air as her torso splits in half, the shoulder mouth opening wide, revealing rows of crocodilian spike teeth. While the orbs are less effective in close quarters, she certainly isn't, and without bothering to turn around she sends three lashing sticky tongues shooting out, each one covered in thorny bone spikes.

The middle tongue tries to wrap around the shaft of his axe, while the other two whip out to grab at his shoulders. Her goal is to pull him in and bite him in half, a feat that her mouth is more than capable of doing.

---

Draco Street Bakery

"Me possessing her? Huh... I've never thought of it like that." Simon is thrown for a loop with that theory. It does make sense, as this is her body... but is it? "Yeah, I don't know... when I change this body kind of just flickers out, like it's a projection or something. It's weird." It's not a physical shapeshifting, but more a sudden replacement.

Simon gives an awkward thumbs up when Ambrosia suggest starting the scan, his claw ill suited to the gesture. "Right on, go for it! I don't know much about souls or whatever, so it's kind of cool to get it confirmed that those exist anyway." He waits curiously, wondering how exactly this scan will take place.

---

Cursed?

Harley watches the argument with narrowed eyes. He sort of expected something like this- this seems to be some cultural event, to which the presence of an outsider is probably not appreciated.

Then there's a voice in his head. He glances sharply at the coach. Oh, not again. I hate telepathy. At least this one isn't trying to control my actions.

Consciously, he thinks a reply, focusing on coming off as confident but nonthreatening. I'm Harley LaLune. I'm Raheeda's friend and traveling companion. Wherever she goes, I go.

But his mind isn't exactly hard to read, and subconsciously, there's a lot more. Human... still weird to think of myself as human. Splitting hairs, I guess. Splitting hares. Ow. Okay, no need to get too worried. God I'm so worried. What if this is a Yul thing? It definitely is, isn't it? Maybe not. Maybe demanding to come is just making things worse, and I should let her go. It's probably rude, and maybe I'll even get her in trouble. But if this is some important test or Moon forbid a punishment of some kind, I need to be there. Not that I could do much, she's way stronger than me anyway. Damn, she's cool. Well, I can at least be a distraction if things get ugly. Heroic sacrifice would be a good way to end things. If I die then I'll never get to hunt down Pax though. Not that I should, but I want to. I want to do a lot of other things too, like... Doesn't matter right now, this isn't about me, it's about Raheeda. Gotta keep her safe. Well, help her keep herself safe. And this voice isn't exactly giving me much confidence. I still get those nightmares about the shadow thing, I think I might have a mind control phobia. Wait, telepathy, mind control, what's the other thing? Mind reading. Wait, can it also read my mind? If it can talk in my mind, that's a possibility. Okay, think about something to block it out. Pink bunnies pink bunnies pink bunnies those horses are scary pink bunnies pink bunnies if they try to stop me it's not like I could start a fight or could I? Pink bunnies pink pink bunnies Raheeda pink bunnies pink bunnies pink bunnies.

Harley's thoughts are a little fast right now, it seems.

[Shadowcaller]

Cry Havoc

Being super-heated the glaive at least, much like a lightsaber, instantly cauterizes the wing-o-phants wounds. But this also spares Raheeda and the elf from being covered in blood and gore as the creature is nearly dismembered right above them.

But based on what had happened last time she had managed to wound it, it was once again time to retreat.
Or at least that had been the plan at first, but as Raheeda looks up and the wing-o-phant one last time to see how it was planning to retaliate she realizes the magnitude of the situation.

She needed a new plan.

The yuan-ti looks to the elf.

She looks to the manhole.

The new plan had been born.

"Friendly fire! Run! Get out of the water!" She shouts to the elf before taking a moment to make sure she's positioned right underneath the manhole while holding her glaive pointing upwards.

Then she reaches into the robe to touch a small rock she had in one of the pockets of her belt. It was the Wyrd Stone of the Meteor. Normally used to close the gaps between her and bad guys or jump over something, at least when she remembered that she had it. But this was the first time she would use it to go straight up.

Once activated she just had enough time to grab the glaive with both hands before she's suddenly propelled upwards like a meteor, leaving leaving scorched air and waves of energy in her wake as the effect took hold. She's aiming to do it before it had the time to do another discharge and if she isn't launched straight into the angelephant she hopes that she will at least be in a position to stab it right at the end of her burst of speed.

At the very least she should grab its attention so it doesn't discharge right into the sewer.

Draco Street Bakery

"Alright, then I will just put my hand over yours. It isn't absolutely necessary but it will help." Ambrosia reaches across the table and if Simon obliges and offers up his hand she will place hers upon it. Even with her metal gloves it's quite small in comparison.

Then she closes her eyes.

"This will take a minute. Possibly a few. It might also feel a bit peculiar."

And so she sits there in silence, breathing in. Breathing out. Breathing in. Breathing out.

This was a form of meditation similar to how she made herself leave her human body. However, this one just helped her extend herself past it which was why it didn't take as long. An observer able to perceive spirits and such things will see the head of a dragon, not much larger than a snake, enter Simon through his hand. It wasn't fully entering him, only peeking its head inside to have a look. Its senses able to perceive his being with much greater clarity than she could with her human eyes.

Cursed?

Are you a god? This time the voice sounds exactly like his own internal voice but once again much clearer and distinct. Making it stand out against his own thoughts despite being so eerily familiar.

As his thoughts have turned to mind control it probably doesn't help. Since if the voice could masquerade as his own like this, then how did he know that all thoughts in his mind actually were his?
The fact that the presence kept probing his mind for thoughts and feelings that this question provoked probably didn't help either.

Meanwhile, outside Harley's mind, the argument suddenly comes to an halt when the driver turns his head towards the carriage and nods before gesturing to Harley with a final hiss. This prompts Raheeda to utter some confused hisses in turn before looking to Harley. "Huh?"

Seemed like he was suddenly the center of attention.

[Earl of Purple]

Real Arcade

Agate sighs as Asami runs off, and charges after her. She tries to avoid any of the goblets that might try to interpose themselves between herself and escape, and doesn't stop to poke through the glass shards. She's pretty sure something's hidden in there, like that healing potion from the goblin, but she'd rather keep an eye on Asami to make sure the star-girl isn't getting in trouble.

[Morty]

[Cry Havoc]

Reliant as he is on mobility and evasion, Wenomir is quite vulnerable to being grappled. But as his weapon and shoulders are pinned, he reveals a trick up his sleeve. The Answer shimmers again, becoming a long poleaxe, which he tries to jam into the elf's mouth, so that she can't close her jaws without impaling them. Holding on tight with one hand and both legs, he takes out his dagger again and sets to cutting through the tongues.

[bc56]

A Local Shrine
Jade shrugs. "Reach out to my powers... That I've never used and have no idea how. That's like trying to fly the moment you sprout wings or something." She checks behind her to make sure she didn't sprout wings when saying that. She didn't.
"It's not like I can just say I want my physical body back and get it," she says, "Anyway, I'm not going to leave you. I didn't ask for this job, but I'm not the type to leave people in need. Protecting is what I do, I, wait... WHAT!?" as Jade describes her convictions, her robes are suffused with a bright glow, and then shift and change. A moment later, she's wearing armor. It's loosely based on her superhero costume, but white and red in color and both highly stylized and clearly magical; much more lightweight than her bulky power armor. Jade looks down. "How?" She examines the new costume a little closer. "High heels? Really?" It's not a problem right now, since she's incorporeal and floating, but fighting in heels seems like a terrible idea. "See? I have no idea how that happened!" Jade throws up her hands in frustration.

Cry Havoc
The rodentipede strikes at Kothar, but the paladin deflects the attack with his shield and follows up with a swing from his axe, not slowing his advance at all. If it survives, he'll follow up with another chop; he doesn't want it to keep distracting him when he goes after the angelephant.

[quillpleasant]

Cry Havoc

Meteor time! The sewer elf's response is lost in the echoing of the stone's fiery wake. Raheeda flies up out of the sewer like a rocket, catching the angelephant entirely off guard. Since its enemies didn't have wings like it, the beast has assumed that they were unable to fly. It hadn't counted on anything like this.

The glaive pierces deep into the angelephant's ribcage, the force of the ascent fully impaling the behemoth with a horrible series of cracks as the tangled network of bones within it is punctured. It opens its mouth to bellow, but no sound comes out- what passes for its lungs have been severed. Despite its power, there's no way it can survive such a grievous injury.

But it doesn't know when to quit, and there's a long way between dying and dead. Before Raheeda can extract the glaive from its bulk it lashes out with its trunk, trying to grab and crush her like a boa constrictor, charging forward as it does so to prevent her from simply backing out of its reach.

This will bring it quite close to Kothar, who is currently swatting away the rodentipede. But the many legged monstrosity isn't going down easily. Even as his axe leaves great gouges in its flesh it is undeterred, as if unable to feel the pain of its injuries. It coils around his legs, trying to trip him into the path of the angelephant's huge crushing feet.

Wenomir's poleaxe strategy would work on a creature with a self preservation instinct. But the elven woman seems confident enough in her regeneration to not care- or maybe she's just blinded by bloodlust. The mouth closes on the poleaxe and keeps going, the weapon piercing either side and coming out below her arm and through her other shoulder.

And this means it's now embedded in her. As he slashes at the tongues, she suddenly floats up into the air- and if he's unwilling to let go, then he'll be taken with her. She rises up towards the skyline, her tongues flailing wildly and slashing at his face and arms even as he manages to cut through the middle one entirely.

---

Draco Street Bakery

Simon is happy to acquiesce, slithering over to offer his hand for the ritual. Staying quiet and still can be a little difficult for him, but he's willing to put in the effort for this. Should he be meditating too? Well it couldn't hurt right? He closes his eyes and waits.

Ambrosia's spirit peeking should reveal some very interesting information- namely, that Simon appears to not really be there. Well, his soul is, if she can see that- and it's not the only soul. There's another, although it appears dormant currently. But the body that they're inhabiting is essentially just a physical illusion. It's not real- it's more like a projected image, or perhaps an avatar. It looks like this avatar contains a small, currently closed portal within it.

Putting this all together, it seems like the body that Simon inhabits when he's not in dragon form might physically be shunted through this portal to... somewhere, while the dragon projection is active. Since his soul stays in the same place, it doesn't even notice when it goes from inhabiting a body to an artificial facsimile of one.

This is all really weird.

---

Cursed?

Am I a god? No, right? If a human is reincarnated as a bird, they're not still human, and that's kind of what happened with me. If I was a god, I could fix this all right away. I'd just go invisible and follow them and then swoop in to rescue Raheeda if she needed it. That'd be pretty impressive, right? Wow I miss flying. Focus! Pink bunnies! Wait, what are they talking about?

Harley looks between Raheeda and the driver. What are they looking at him for? He can't understand what they're saying.

"Uh... hi. What are you talking about with him?" he asks Raheeda. Wow, this whole situation is making him anxious. Am I making this worse for her? Wait, what if whoever's reading my mind is beaming my thoughts into the driver? What if they're beaming into Raheeda too? Wow, that would be embarrassing pink bunnies pink bunnies pink bunnies.

[Shadowcaller]

Draco Street Bakery

Puzzling.

Would she be able to discern what kind of magic which has created this physical projection? As in divine, spiritual, infernal, arcane (the "neutral" kind of magic many magic users use), etc.?
Since while the portal certainly was the interesting aspect about all of this she's going to leave it alone for now and focus on this other, dormant, soul. Can she tell anything else about it by focusing on it?

Cursed?

"Er, uh-" But before Raheeda can explain the driver interrupts her with a hiss as they gesture to Harley.
"Oh! She said you're free to come inside!" Not that it would have been possible to tell the drivers gender for Harley.
She's acting nervous though, more nervous than usual even. Constantly shifting her grip on the spear. "-but only if you want to."

Leaning in she adds in a whisper. "Meeting great one. Bad." As she utters it, her eyes dart to the driver as if afraid she overheard. Yet they have no visible reaction to her words.

Raheeda's words are ominous but at least there are no further prompting questions from that mental voice inside his mind as far as he can tell. Though as he looks at the carriage he gets the strange feeling that whatever is inside it is waiting for him now. Expecting him even.

[Morty]

[Cry Havoc]

This elf just doesn't know when to quit. Fortunately, neither does Wenomir, even if he doesn't have the physical resilience to back it up.

Unwilling to be stuck to an airborne enemy, he concentrates on the Answer. It briefly becomes incorporeal, passing through the elf and inflicting weakness in its wake - which here is secondary to releasing her hold on it. If it works, he redoubles his efforts to try cutting through the tongues until he's free.

If the tongues give out, he'll fall freely towards the ground, but he'll stop to swing his weapon in a wide arc. This will halt his descent for a moment and produce another blade of wind that slams into the elf; this one is much stronger and has something of a sharp edge.

[Keeper]

A Local Shrine
Jade shrugs. "Reach out to my powers... That I've never used and have no idea how. That's like trying to fly the moment you sprout wings or something." She checks behind her to make sure she didn't sprout wings when saying that. She didn't.
"It's not like I can just say I want my physical body back and get it," she says, "Anyway, I'm not going to leave you. I didn't ask for this job, but I'm not the type to leave people in need. Protecting is what I do, I, wait... WHAT!?" as Jade describes her convictions, her robes are suffused with a bright glow, and then shift and change. A moment later, she's wearing armor. It's loosely based on her superhero costume, but white and red in color and both highly stylized and clearly magical; much more lightweight than her bulky power armor. Jade looks down. "How?" She examines the new costume a little closer. "High heels? Really?" It's not a problem right now, since she's incorporeal and floating, but fighting in heels seems like a terrible idea. "See? I have no idea how that happened!" Jade throws up her hands in frustration.

A Local Shrine

"Well, either it's responding to your intentions, or maybe your magic has a mind of its own. I'm a merchant spirit, not a psycho-analyst. Val certainly never wore high heels. He tried those tall sandals once and fell over."
Ryu nods.
"I'm going to be honest though. It probably doesn't. You need to stop acting like this is a foreign entity and not something baked into you. Doesn't mean you have to like it. I sure wish I was something a bit more imposing." Given Jade's perspective, he is definitely pretty small.

[bc56]

A Local Shrine
"I didn't intend to change clothes!" Jade protests, "I didn't even try to use magic! It just happened! It makes no sense!" She would stomp her foot in frustration, but being incorporeal, it just clips through the ground when she tries. "It doesn't matter if it's a part of me or not, if it won't behave rationally and I can't control it, it might as well be a foreign entity."
She frowns.
"I need it to be returning me to my body so I can find where my phone went in this getup, assuming it didn't get magicked out of existence, and if it's just going to mess around changing my clothes and appearance, it's not much use to me." Maybe don't tell her, but when she mentioned it changing her appearance, her hair and fur shimmered and turned an inky black. No doubt learning that will frustrate her even more.

Cry Havoc
Kothar stops moving when he feels the rodentipede begin to constrict his legs. He can't afford to be knocked down again, so he has to finish this thing off first. He strikes at its head with his axe, putting all his superhuman might into the blow in an attempt to decapitate the monster. If it's dead, it doesn't matter that it can't feel pain.

[quillpleasant]

Draco Street Bakery

An examination of the kind of magic would reveal that it appears to be arcane, but with a distinct technological bent. It's likely that this is some sort of advanced technomancy, and appears to be set on an automated loop of sorts so that it can continue functioning without outside input.

The other soul appears to be part of the same loop, remaining in the same physical space regardless of which body is currently there. It's also undoubtedly draconic, as a dragon expert easily notice. But there's something unnatural about it, akin more to a ghost or other form of undead than a healthy, living soul.

---

Cursed?

"Oh great! Tell her I said thank you." Harley had expected more of an argument. Although he can't help but feel like he's just being allowed to come, for reasons that he may not like if he knew them.

Well, don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Or anywhere else for that matter.

He gives Raheeda a half smile of reassurance- which to be fair is the only kind of smile he can give. "That's exactly why I want to come," he whispers back. If it was a simple fun excursion, then it wouldn't matter if he went. But if meeting a great one is as bad as she says, then nothing in the world can stop him from backing her up.

"Well, shall we?" Before she can try to convince him further to stay, he walks over to the carriage and opens the door.

[Shadowcaller]

Draco Street Bakery

Technology was not her expertise, she had associates for that sort of thing though she wasn't sure they would make much sense of this either.
She's going to take a closer look at that portal though, while not going through it still determine where it leads. Like someone peering through a hole.

Cursed?

Raheeda hesitates a moment before giving Harley a curt nod and hisses something back to the driver.

She doesn't respond as her attention has quickly turned to the horses who seems to have become restless.

With that done Raheeda considers the matter a bit further before whispering back to her friend. "Alright but please be careful. This one is a heritage evaluator."

To her surprise Harley then step forward first to the point where he actually opens the carriage. "Uh, alright. Then let's do this thing. Probably won't take long."

So she steps inside and presumably Harley enters right after her. It should be noted that there are actually two doors Harley could have opened. One near the front of the carriage and one near the back which is larger. But as the back door is locked it can be assumed that he opens the front door.

The inside actually appears to just be a relatively small section of the carriage, appearing like some sort of waiting room which is curtailed off from the rest of the couch by a thick purple curtain illuminated by the faint glow cast by a brazier firmly secured in the middle of the room. This purple smokeless fire casts this section in a violet light, revealing that the room is filled with cushions and blankets of various sizes and colors but no chairs or seats.

As Raheeda grabs a thick pillow and sits down before the curtain it seems to be assumed that Harley should do so as well. After all, there's more than enough space for him. Five people could easily fit in here comfortably.
If he too takes a seat and closes the door behind him a forked tongue, nearly the size of Harley's arm, suddenly slides out from between the curtains and seems to "taste" the air.

Raheeda seems as nervous as before as part doesn't seem to shock her.

"Raheeda Al-Sshara." The voice behind the curtain comes out slow and rhythmically as if the speaker was trying to teach them a new language.

"Yea-" Raheeda starts as there's a longer pause, but before she can finishes the voice suddenly continues and she instantly goes quiet again.

"The results of your evaluation."

There's another pause and this time Raheeda looks unsure wherever to speak up again or not but like last time the voice continues.

"I'm contesting them. Which is why I'm bringing you before me."

"Oh." A beat. "So... more tests?"
It's hard to make out much of Raheeda's expression in the dim light but she sounds absolutely miserable.

"Yes."

As this exchange is happening Harley can feel that prodding sensation in his mind again. This time it's trying to discern his thoughts and feelings to what is being said.

[Cry Havoc]

Raheeda is suddenly grabbed by the trunk and feels herself getting hugged by it tighter than even Arinema was capable of.

It's not a pleasant feeling.

"Urk."

She tries to resist using all the strength her belt gave her but she knows that ultimately it would only buy her some time.
But some time would be all she needed as tries to bring her hand into position to touch that stone again.

The Wyrd Stone of the Meteor

With her sudden momentum she hopes to escape the creatures grip by going straight up into the air.
She hasn't planned where to go from there but that's a problem for future Raheeda, present Raheeda just want to escape the trunk-grapple.

[quillpleasant]

Cry Havoc

Wenomir's incorporeal weapon trick catches the elf off guard, and that surprise combined with the induced weakness is enough to free him from the grapple. With a hiss, the wounded tongues retract and the mouth slams shut, teeth interlocking with a series of meaty clicks.

And a moment later the wind blade hits her, sending her spinning back through the air.

Below, the angelephant, blinded by the death mist filling its eyes, isn't expecting Raheeda to use flight to escape its trunk. As she rockets up it grabs at her, just missing grabbing her legs. It gives a bellow of rage, and immediately turns its attention to its other enemy.

But difficulties aren't over for Raheeda. Her uncontrolled ascent brings her crashing directly into the flying elf, who immediately lashes out, her fingers lengthening into vicious claws as she rakes blindly before even realizing what's hit her.

As for Kothar, as the rodentipede strikes at him, his axe comes around in a single mighty blow and decapitates the foul beast. Foul ichor spurts out, and the many legged coils thrash wildly, its body taking a few moments to die. Victory!

But it's short lived as the angelephant charges, head down, seeking to spend its last moments on the feeling of trampling a final victim underfoot.

---

Draco Street Bakery

The portal is currently closed, so there's little information that could be gleaned by from it. However, if this is the method by which Simon's bodies switch, then causing such a switch while watching the portal would likely provide more information.

Of course, that would involve getting him to a state of high emotion in one way or another.

---

Cursed?

"Careful is my middle name. Figuratively," adds Harley as an afterthought. But he's wondering what a 'heritage evaluator' is. From what he's learned of Yuan Ti culture, they're pretty big into caste systems and steer uncomfortably close to eugenics. So he's hoping it's not anything too awful.

Following Raheeda through the front door, Harley looks around curiously, his eyes lingering on the purple fire. This is much roomier and more comfortable than any other carriage he's been in. The pillows are a nice touch too. If this wasn't such a confusing and stressful situation, it would actually be really nice.

Upon taking a seat on the floor, he tenses up. That is a big tongue. And he's betting that means there's a really big snake behind that curtain. Which would be the third giant snake he's encountered in the Nexus. Hopefully he won't end up having to fight this one.

And what's this about tests? Harley wish he knew more about what was going on, but what is apparent is that Raheeda doesn't want to be here. He reaches over to give her shoulder a reassuring pat. There's not much else he can do at the moment.

But his mind is racing, and despite his outwardly calm demeanor he's extremely worried. Whatever these tests are, they can't be good from her reaction. That means they might be dangerous. And if she fails... I don't want to think about that. I need to know more but I can't just ask her to explain everything. Or maybe I can? Moon guide me.

I should have asked a lot more questions a long time ago so I'd know more going in, but we were always questing and it never felt like the time and I hate to pry. If we both get through this, I won't make that same mistake again. Why is it so hard to just be honest? Am I that scared of disappointing her? But none of that matters if her life is in danger, and for all I know it is. Hey, I can feel you rooting around in here. I can't really defend myself against that, so have at it I guess. Just please don't hurt Raheeda.

Out loud, he says "So... what kind of tests are these?"

[Shadowcaller]

Cry Havoc

The elf was probably as unprepared to collide with someone as Raheeda herself. Since what were the odds of that happening?
Luckily for the yuan-ti more mundane kinds of attacks like that activate the same power field that was last seen back while they were fighting the garbage witches of Inside. It won't stop the attacks outright but will like any armor make it more difficult for them to connect, which was how Raheeda got away with wearing no armor besides her robes.

As for her own reaction? Panicked flailing before instinctively trying to grab onto anything that might keep her from falling, which happens to be the elf who she attempts to pull into a hug.

Draco Street Bakery

Interesting.

With that learned, she pulls back into her human body and after a few more seconds she opens her eyes and lets go of Simon's hand.
"That was educational." She remarks, pausing as to give them some breathing room before she started sharing what she had seen.

"I saw past your body as if it was a projection, an physical illusion basically. Created by magic originating from something... technological, if you excuse my vagueness. Inside you I saw a portal, the magic kind that transports people directly from one place to another. It seemed like your human body seemed to be jaunted through it, presumably when you turn human. Making your projected dragon body disappear at the same time. I couldn't tell where it lead however, we would need to activate it first. Finally, both your soul and a dragons are both present within you but the dragons is dormant right now."

Ambrosia then folds her hands together and looks between Rowan and Simon. "Needless to say, it was one of the strangest arrangements I've ever seen. Do either of you have any clue what it could mean?"

Cursed?

The black tongue suddenly changes direction and starts to taste the air in Harley's direction as he speaks up.
"Tests needed for our people, not humans." A pause. "Though... considering your unique nature I would be willing to subject you to them as well if you're curious. Since I happen to be curious as well."

Raheeda's eyes widen as she hears this and she quickly leans over to Harley. "They're just... measurement and sample taking. Really boring." She tries to assure him, her discomfort with the situation getting more and more apparent.

"I can assure you they're not dangerous or harmful. Nor will the results have any major impact. It will simply decide reproduction rights."

Raheeda closes her eyes as she hears those words, it seems to be the source.
But those words were intended to provoke not just a reaction in her but in Harley since the presence wanted his thoughts and feelings on the matter.

[Morty]

[Cry Havoc]

Wenomir isn't pleased that the elf is getting away, but he has to admit that none of his attacks were doing much to hurt her. He might have more luck if he drew some fire into his dagger again. As he falls down, he sees one of the other mutants charge... Kothar?

The warrior shifts his posture in the air, turning his fall into a plunge. He aims the tip of his poleaxe at the angelphant's head, aiming to crash down onto it with thunderous force.

[[brackets lover]]

[Security Room]

The moogle hasn't yet noticed, moving his attention to the next security camera and pulling out another paint bomb. From here, Eddie can see that the moogle had bright-white fur and that he was quite small, even for his species.

The bystanders did little more than stare on as bystanders do. One gentleman carrying a grey briefcase walked through the front doors, ignoring the commotion and electing to go straight and walking straight to the clerk, clearing his throat. "Ahem, the keys to my deposit box, please."

[A Real Arcade]

Asami and Agate go through a relatively peaceful area until they come to a cliffside, with a wooden gallery road leading downwards. Asami took one look at the length of the road and rose a finger to her chin, cheerfully looking towards Agate. "Onyx, I found a way down!" calls Asami before she runs towards the gallery road and jumps off the side of it, plummeting out of Agate's sight.