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[Morty]

[Wizards' Tower]

"Name at least two what? Besides, aren't you supposed to work on your muscles?" Batu asks, as he waves his hand vaguely, trying to stir the water in the tub.

[Deathkeeper]

[Wizards' Tower]

Spako gives a sheepish smile. He tried to shield Batu from his lewd humor!
"At least two members from my old family that would be all over you.
I don't really know what you mean? If you can cheat, cheat. You mean you should be working out too? Probably."

[Morty]

[Wizards' Tower]

Batu shrugs expansively. Everything he does is pretty expansive right now.

"Let's take it one thing at a time. Both the working out and your family members, that is. Let me see how it works..."

He raises his arms, causing the water in the tub to float up. He can't hold it there too long, though, so it splashes down quickly.

[Deathkeeper]

[Wizards' Tower]

Oh, my.

"You got it there. You need to try to make sure you don't start to put in extra effort; it needs to be constant. Like the effort needed to keep standing up." Spako suggests, suddenly twittering in his ear as a bird. It gives him a better view of what's going on, as it's not a huge bathroom.

[Morty]

[Wizards' Tower]

Batu nods, and tries again. He holds his arms steady and takes a smaller amount of water, so he manages to keep it stable for a longer time.

[Deathkeeper]

[Wizards' Tower]

"Good, good. You may have to be actually touching the water at this stage. I do remember meeting a few adepts who did that during their training."
Spako is mostly trying to use his experience to guide Batu along, despite not actually having much expertise in this particular field. His runes can manipulate water, of course, but Batu isn't here to learn runes.

[McBish]

[Later that night]

Ven laughs at Yna’s origami turkey, impressed with the fine control of the telepathic gift Yna has. She will show her guest the remote. ”I have a friend who is good with electronics like this so he wired it up for me. It doesn’t control everything, but a lot.” She shows off how to open and close the blinds, control the heat and lights, and access her music and video library.

She notices the time and jumps into action quickly explaining that she is running late for band practice. She assures herself that Yna will be ok while she is gone and heads out.

While Ven is gone Yna will have a chance to listen to all of the music R.I.D. has on Ven’s sound system. There are nearly 40 songs of Ven’s band R.I.D. in total, among the thousands of songs she has. Almost two full weeks’ worth if you listened to it all in one sitting. Not a ton of videos, some movies and a few tv series usually dealing with a cop or investigator. Since I can’t write lyrics for these songs, and am only so-so at describing music I am going to only pick a few to describe.

There is the song about flying a lady out to an tropical island for a happy weekend alone. The back and forth duet between Patty the lead singer and Hank the drummer, is reminiscent of Johnny Cash and June Carter. This is one of their few songs that is less electric and more analog. An upright bass and steel guitar replace the normal electric version.

One of the few songs where Ven takes lead vocals is about someone trying to keeping her from leaving. Verses of reasons to stay, a chorus declaring a dedication to leaving. Knowing what little Yna does of Ven’s history she can probably guess that it is autobiographical. To get a good idea on what it sounds like a mix between Jain and Alice Merton.

Not all of the songs deal with serious matters, one seems to be an epic story of making the perfect sandwich. A journey to get the ingredients, filled with obstacles like angry women in grocery stores and dogs chasing you down the streets. It is upbeat and played with a ukulele instead of guitar.

Of course there are more that I won’t describe now and lots more by other bands so Yna has more than enough music to listen to while Ven is gone. While at band practice several bandmates expressed surprise at Ven leaving a stranger in her apartment when she is gone. Ven explains the situation and how she trusts that Yna isn’t some sort of con artist, and that she can pull up a video feed of her apartment on her phone. She does so probably catching Yna napping on the couch.

After her band practice she stops by a grocery store to pick up some more meat to stock her fridge with. Lunch meat and a couple of hunks of meat to roast. She returns to the apartment and makes sure Yna is comfortable and then apologizes for how often she is going to be gone, but between her job and the band she doesn’t spend much time besides sleeping here. ”Not that I get much sleep these days.” She says with a sigh before heading off to bed herself.


Later that night Yna might be surprised by the sound of Ven moving around in the apartment. The lights are off still and the air is frigid breath visible in the air. Ven seems to be moving oddly, in jerking slow motions without a clear direction in mind. She is wearing a simple white nightgown and seems to be staring at the floor as she leaves her room slowly heading into the kitchen.

[Morty]

[Wizards' Tower]

Batu drops the water, walks over to the bathtub and submerges his hand in it. He then concentrates and pulls his arm out, a shimmering column of water surrounding it. He separates it from the rest of the water and waves it around a bit.

[Cola]

[Later that night]

Ven laughs at Yna’s origami turkey, impressed with the fine control of the telepathic gift Yna has. She will show her guest the remote. ”I have a friend who is good with electronics like this so he wired it up for me. It doesn’t control everything, but a lot.” She shows off how to open and close the blinds, control the heat and lights, and access her music and video library.

She notices the time and jumps into action quickly explaining that she is running late for band practice. She assures herself that Yna will be ok while she is gone and heads out.

While Ven is gone Yna will have a chance to listen to all of the music R.I.D. has on Ven’s sound system. There are nearly 40 songs of Ven’s band R.I.D. in total, among the thousands of songs she has. Almost two full weeks’ worth if you listened to it all in one sitting. Not a ton of videos, some movies and a few tv series usually dealing with a cop or investigator. Since I can’t write lyrics for these songs, and am only so-so at describing music I am going to only pick a few to describe.

There is the song about flying a lady out to an tropical island for a happy weekend alone. The back and forth duet between Patty the lead singer and Hank the drummer, is reminiscent of Johnny Cash and June Carter. This is one of their few songs that is less electric and more analog. An upright bass and steel guitar replace the normal electric version.

One of the few songs where Ven takes lead vocals is about someone trying to keeping her from leaving. Verses of reasons to stay, a chorus declaring a dedication to leaving. Knowing what little Yna does of Ven’s history she can probably guess that it is autobiographical. To get a good idea on what it sounds like a mix between Jain and Alice Merton.

Not all of the songs deal with serious matters, one seems to be an epic story of making the perfect sandwich. A journey to get the ingredients, filled with obstacles like angry women in grocery stores and dogs chasing you down the streets. It is upbeat and played with a ukulele instead of guitar.

Of course there are more that I won’t describe now and lots more by other bands so Yna has more than enough music to listen to while Ven is gone. While at band practice several bandmates expressed surprise at Ven leaving a stranger in her apartment when she is gone. Ven explains the situation and how she trusts that Yna isn’t some sort of con artist, and that she can pull up a video feed of her apartment on her phone. She does so probably catching Yna napping on the couch.

After her band practice she stops by a grocery store to pick up some more meat to stock her fridge with. Lunch meat and a couple of hunks of meat to roast. She returns to the apartment and makes sure Yna is comfortable and then apologizes for how often she is going to be gone, but between her job and the band she doesn’t spend much time besides sleeping here. ”Not that I get much sleep these days.” She says with a sigh before heading off to bed herself.


Later that night Yna might be surprised by the sound of Ven moving around in the apartment. The lights are off still and the air is frigid breath visible in the air. Ven seems to be moving oddly, in jerking slow motions without a clear direction in mind. She is wearing a simple white nightgown and seems to be staring at the floor as she leaves her room slowly heading into the kitchen.

[doing a spook]

"Have fun!", Yna says to Ven before she leaves for band practice.

The first hour alone is spent mostly listening to music, munching on turkey cuts, and sipping strawberry mango juice. Yna at least takes a quick listen into every R.I.D. song and hears the ones that catch her hear through to the end. She takes a particular liking to the one about the epic sandwich story, and the one about Ven's (assumed) inner conflict. She also listens to a fair bit of non-R.I.D. music.

Until the small harpy gets bored of music. Oh, how much she would like to get up and explore around the apartment a little, looking into drawers and closets! But that's highly disrespectful. And knowing her curse of bad luck, she'd probably carelessly break something while doing so, or be caught otherwise. Probably by that home security camera in the ceiling corner, discovered while taking a look around the room while listening to music. Ven seems to be a really decent peron, better not risk losing her favour.

So instead, Yna decides to sketch a little, using her own little, almost depleted notepad and mechanical pencil. Both had been hidden in her pants' surprisingly spacious pockets. Yna sits up, still wrapped in the blanket, and places the notepad on the couch table to draw. Telekinesis can be practiced and refined like any other skill, and having no hands means Yna has been doing just that her entire life. She wields the pencil with great speed and precision. After half an hour, three large, detailed sketches are done. One of which depicts Ven (or at least a woman with a very long neck and a buzz cut) from behind, standing on the roof and looking out over an epic-ified Metropolis Square, holding a guitar.

Until Ven returns home, Yna decides to nap. She'll express great gratitude about all the meat the green woman brings with her, and happily chats during dinner time. Yna jokes and laughs a lot while doing so. What might seem a little odd is that she has two different ways of laughing, one much rarer than the other.

The first thing Yna notices after being awoken in the dead of night is the frigid temperature, low enough to make her shiver even under the double layer of blanket. Wait, is there movement in the dark? Slow and jerky. A white ghost nightgown. Must be "Ven? Are you shleepwalking? Why did you turn the air conditioning to popshicle?" Yna doesn't sound afraid in the least.

[McBish]

[A Haunted Apartment]

Ven doesn't respond to Yna continuing to slowly jerk her way into the kitchen. Yna might notice a slight a slight green light that seems to be emanating from Ven, specifically her face. One hand raises and runs along the counter as Ven keeps walking through the kitchen at her jerky pace. Not providing any support more like she is checking for dust.

As Ven moves through the kitchen she turns slightly, enough to see the green glowing eyes. The distance may be to great to make out the detail of the substance floating in her eye, and that she appears to be slowly crying out. The green goo looks like a liquid floating in her eye like it was a lava lamp. But once it is outside her body it forms droplets that float up and quickly evaporate.

The figure still hasn't looked at Yna, but she might still be worried that the sleepwalking (?) Ven's path seems to be heading to the knife block in the kitchen.

[Cola]

[can't afford to live in a real haunted house]

Her host's eyes having turned into lava lamps, that does creep Yna out a bit. Still, she expertly suppresses her unease from showing in her voice. "Uh... Ven? You got shomething oozing out your eyesh there- oh, nevermind, it evaporated. Maybe you should shee a doctor about that?" As always, she laughs about her own lame joke, but quickly stops again when Ven still doesn't respond.

Yna wants to turn on the lights, but she can't. Only little of the city's light seeps through the blinds, and the light switch is probably a few metres away and has the same colour as the wall, so she can't discern it. And her telekinesis is based on sight. What isn't seen can't be moved. Yna could of course get up and press it with her foot, but... she doesn't want to startle Ven in that weird trance, or leave the blanket and expose herself to the frigid air.

Maybe secreting ghostly liquid is perfectly normal for a Luteelin? Maybe Ven just wants a snack? A drink? Why doesn't she go for the fridge or sink then? Only when Ven has almost reached her destination does Yna realise the woman is after the knives. Nope nope nope that's totally creepy now! "Ven, what you doing?!" Yna doesn't want her to reach them, just to be safe, and tries to yank the knife block towards the couch with her psychic power. Unfortunately, it is too dark to even see the thing properly, and the curse of bad luck resting upon her demands that something go wrong. Most of the pull force is applied to two knives only, both of which come out of the block and flying towards Yna at high speed. One zips narrownly past her head, the other hits her right in the eye - though only witharpy handle. The herpy squeaks as she goes blind for a moment. The block itself, still containing more knives, falls off the counter onto the floor.

[Deathkeeper]

[Wizards' Tower]

"That's it, that's it. Now just work on making it razor thin and you can use it as a sword!" Spako teases. "In all seriousness, you should work on this every day until you can do it easily and you can move onto fancier moves. Since this isn't my field I can't really suggest more than that." he admits.

[Skullfort Town]

Liria smiles, pays the cabbie, and shows "little" Susila out and into the town. "Would you like to do anything before we go to the temple?" she asks. Susila was just reborn an hour ago. She might be hungry. And Liria doesn't think she can just graze or something.

[Recaiden]

Susila nods.
"I'm hungry, and I want real clothes, and I want to know more about this place - just where are we?"
She asks. Just look around them! Pterosaurs, that giant skull, centaurs and people in masks and scarves, magic being done before everyone's eyes. Even the building styles and carriages are queer and unknown to her.

[Deathkeeper]

[Skullfort Town]

”Well the encyclopedia said the town was founded around the fortress after it was captured by the goddess’ then-mortal self.
What’s wrong with the skirt she made for you?” Liria says to the girl, probably missing the point of her question.

[Recaiden]

"It's small and flat and doesn't fit right around my tail." Susila insists, lightly stamping a hoof. It fits fine, actually, but it's not a type of clothing the girl is used to.
She gives up on getting an answer about where the town is, Liria is clearly being a typical clueless adult.

[Morty]

[Wizards' Tower]

"That's it, that's it. Now just work on making it razor thin and you can use it as a sword!" Spako teases. "In all seriousness, you should work on this every day until you can do it easily and you can move onto fancier moves. Since this isn't my field I can't really suggest more than that." he admits.

"This is so much easier than sorcery," Batu remarks. "No spells, gestures and trying not to blow your head off. Then again, it's limited to water, so..." He shrugs. "It should compliment it nicely."

[Deathkeeper]

[Skullfort Town]

Liria isn't even that old!
"Well, let's get you some lunch and then we'll go to the temple. If the Goddess wanted you to come maybe she'll have something else for you. Uh, what do you like wearing? And eating?"
Liria doesn't know if the goddess' servants have uniforms. Or if Susila will be a servant. Or if she's herbivorous.
Liria doesn't know many things.

[Wizards' Tower]

"Just carry water with you. I'm surprised though, that it doesn't work on any sort of rules like your existing magic. Oh, well. It makes sense for what you are." Spako says, waving his wings.

[Recaiden]

"The clothes should be-" Susila names some articles of clothing specific to her language that the Nexus refuses to translate, and scowls. "And they should be colored! Evening-colored and grain-colored, not this empty."
"Um, milk, and sweet rice, and toothfish? Will you get me some please?"

[Deathkeeper]

[Skullfort Town]

"Um, do those look like robes? I did find something your size in those trunks the fey had. Uh, and this?" she asks, taking a little knitted pouch from her pocket. It had been in the trunk, the only thing in there that wasn't just clothes. She wasn't sure if it was the human's or the minotaur's, and hadn't looked inside.
Then she'll try to lead Susila into the galley so they can find her some lunch.

[Shadowcaller]

[Ghost Fire Investigations]

There is a knock on the door of Kitty and Obriane's office. A costumer?
Whoever opens the door will themselves staring down at a black umbrella with white clouds.

Of course, there is actually someone underneath the umbrella. A short little figure wearing a lot of veils as dark as its umbrella. The figure looks up at the person and flashes a grin of sharp teeth so brilliantly white that they can even be seen through the darkness of the veil. "Fleterchmeche, m'am. But I'm in a hurry, I need someone to catch ghosts, can you catch ghosts for me?" The figure holds out its hand, covered in a stitched together leather glove, revealing what appears to be a small pile of blue gems.

[Recaiden]

"Kinda." Susila's eyes widen on seeing the pouch, and she grabs it up quickly.

In the galley it turns out that ocean fish of the sort Susila wants are not commonly found here, but other things are, and there's plenty to eat. The child will complain about how 'weird' everything here is. "Even the milk doesn't taste like milk!" But it's a lunch. When they reach the temple, Leah steps out to meet them, causing the minotaur to shrink back in fright, as if she could hide behind Liria.
"You must be Susila, and...?"

[Morty]

[Wizards' Tower]

"It comes from the god who gave me that form," Batu says. "Gods work on different rules. I wonder if any of the gods people on my homeworld worship are actually real or not. The shamans said they're not, but I've got it on good authority they're full of crap."

[Deathkeeper]

[Wizards' Tower]

"Yeah, it's a lot more clear-cut where I'm from. Hard to deny someone's existence when you've spoken in person." Spako says sheepishly.
It wasn't exactly his proudest moment.

[Skullfort Town]

"It's probably just not from the same animal. Where does milk come from back home?" Liria asks Susila, starting to get flustered. She's royalty and she's less picky than this!
"Princesss Liria of the Archeon, at your service." says the Archiain, with the barest hint of a curtsy. She probably isn't supposed to lower herself at all to someone but these are her hosts here.

[Nidda's Shrine]

A being touches down on the path to the humble shrine. Or perhaps it would be better to say that one arrives, but never actually touches down at all. A large shadow passes over the door, but hesitates, and there is a long pause before a quiet, nervous knock follows (or rings a bell, if there is one).

[Recaiden]

Hey, Liria, if you'd ever had a real childhood, you might have been pickier then.
"Blunt cattle, of course." But again, it is a lunch.

---

It's only reasonable, before a goddess.
"Thank you for escorting her here. Is there anything I might do for you?"

[Gullara]

[Ghost Fire Investigations]

There is a knock on the door of Kitty and Obriane's office. A costumer?
Whoever opens the door will themselves staring down at a black umbrella with white clouds.

Of course, there is actually someone underneath the umbrella. A short little figure wearing a lot of veils as dark as its umbrella. The figure looks up at the person and flashes a grin of sharp teeth so brilliantly white that they can even be seen through the darkness of the veil. "Fleterchmeche, m'am. But I'm in a hurry, I need someone to catch ghosts, can you catch ghosts for me?" The figure holds out its hand, covered in a stitched together leather glove, revealing what appears to be a small pile of blue gems.

[Ghost Fire Investigations]

Kitty opens the door looking confused. She looks like she hasn't been here long. She hasn't even taken her jacket off. "Oh, hello?" She looks confused at this person. "I wasn't expecting anyone. Did you call?" It's not like she and Obriane can keep a walk in office open. "But come in and we can talk business." She steps aside and gestures for the person to go by.

Kitty pauses for a moment to close the door, lifting up on the handle as she does so so it'll close properly. "Someone's supposed to be by to fix that." Maybe it'll actually happen this month. They move further inside and Kitty sits behind a deck below a water damaged ceiling. "So, how can I help you?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Ghost Fire Investigations]

"Hello!" The little figure replies heartily, and then shakes its head at the kitsunes next question. "Did not, not much time, no." It claims while entering. Once Kitty has taken a seat behind the desk, she can see that the figure have taken down its umbrella.
"Of course, fix soon." The figure agrees. "But... uhh..." It makes a grunt as it has to stretch itself to place all the gems on Kitty's desk. "To the matter at hand. I need to catch ghosts. Big disaster at vault, just when I'm going abroad. No time to get them back now. So I'll pay you to find ghosts with tracker and bring them to address you be given. Okay?" Did Kitty catch any of that?

[Deathkeeper]

[Skullfort Town]

What the heck is a blunt cattle, Liria wonders? Is it a cattle that is less sharp than another cattle?
And Leah is only part of a goddess, not quite the same thing!
"Well, at the moment I have nothing to do, and I probably won't be able to get to the city before nightfall, so a place to stay the night would be nice. But what do you plan for Susila?" she asks, definitely not asking because she's worried about the child like any temporary-big-sister would be.

[Gullara]

[Will-o-Wisp Invest-o-gations]

What a strange person. "We can pro= I mean yes, we can do that for you. Do you think they went far? I know you have a tracker, but what kind of travel are we talking about? And are they dangerous?" These kinds of things affect the price! Or so Obriane always reminds Kitty.

[McBish]

[Ghosts and Knives aren't toys.]

Ven's ectoplasm leaking eyes slowly track the falling knife block. Then they look up towards where the knives flew. She slowly tilts her head watching Yna as she gets up. Ven's mouth open up and half a dozen voices scream out of it at Yna. "Get out." With the scream dozen of ghostly green figures fly out of Ven. They spiral and fly around the room for a few seconds before disappearing.

Ven slumps and nearly falls over before catching herself on the counter. She looks around confused. "Yna what is going on?" The confusion in her voice is tinged with fear and accusation.

[Recaiden]

What the heck is a blunt cattle, Liria wonders? Is it a cattle that is less sharp than another cattle?
And Leah is only part of a goddess, not quite the same thing!
"Well, at the moment I have nothing to do, and I probably won't be able to get to the city before nightfall, so a place to stay the night would be nice. But what do you plan for Susila?" she asks, definitely not asking because she's worried about the child like any temporary-big-sister would be.

In a manner of speaking, yes. Less sharp.

"I'll get you a room at the inn here in town. The least I could do." Leah gives the princess a smile. "I had hoped Susila would enter training to become a knight. Or she could take up some other calling. It will be up to her to decide; saving her was its own reward."
All the minotaur manages is to squeak "She's a tiger!" to Liria in a frightened voice.