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>>39428069

~

You put on your cloak and finally shake off the mental haze that has been present with you since finding the crystal. The day is still young and there’s much to do. The events of that rainy evening has left much business to attend to. But maybe, those things can be put aside for a bit?

>Debrief with Marissa about Sayuline’s summoning.

>Investigate the crystal in your room.

>Head over to check on Matthias and Aya.

>Write in.

>>39428120
>>Debrief with Marissa about Sayuline’s summoning.
Find out what happened, what went right and what went wrong.
then if we have time
>Head over to check on Matthias and Aya

Hello there!
>>39428277
Sounds good, hopefully we can see it through today.

>Writing

>>39428120
>Debrief with Marissa about Sayuline’s summoning.
then
>Head over to check on Matthias and Aya.
and let them have a look at the crystal, too. We owe them that much, and Aya might know something about it.

>>39428120

>Debrief with Marissa about Sayuline’s summoning.

fuuuuck why do I have to be busy tonight

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>>39428120

There’s something peculiar about this little crystal, but for now it will sit with all of your other relics, safely stored in your room.

Now if you can determine the exact source of those creatures that terrorized your town, perhaps you’ll have more idea about how exactly that crystal came to be.

You knock on the ajar door to Marissa’s room. “Excuse me…” You gingerly walk into the room.

Inside Marissa’s attention is entirely consumed with staring at her own reflection in her mirror. Her form modeling a vivid red dress, long lithe legs sporting a pair of stockings that directs the eye to matching pair of red heels.

That tail of hers, as if with a mind of its own, sways with purpose, before stiffening at the sound of your entering.

She cranes her head over her shoulder to examine her guest. “Ah, Sophia...” She twirls in an elegant flurry of red, with her eyes matching the rest of her outfit for the slightest moment, or perhaps just your imagination.

She grabs the leather bound tome sitting on her desk. “Shall we begin?” Already knowing full well why you’re there.

You pull out her chair while she settles carefully on the edge of her bed.

[1/2]

>>39429303

She hands you a folded piece of parchment. “Here are the exact notes of the structure of ritual circle she used, and the exact incantation she used, verbatim.”

You examine them and see that they’re more complex than anything you’ve ever prepared before, but you’re more than up for the task. “Good work, Marissa.”

Her expression sours a bit. “The only problem is having to do with the reagents.” Her arms cross. “It required a large amount of human corpses, she told me it took her a few weeks just for that.” Her smile returns as quickly as it left.

Well, at least you know why she bought so many shovels, but it’s still a troubling fact.

Your thoughts must show on your face. “But…”Marissa leans forward. “She did mention the potential use of a catalyst.”

Now there’s something promising. “What type of catalyst exactly?”

Her smile finally bears her teeth, you’ve never noticed how sharp some of them look. “I hardly believe it myself right now, but she described it as a purple gem of mesmerizing beauty…Sound familiar?”

What else could it be? Perhaps there’s a reason why she summoned those creatures in particular.

Marissa’s eyes peer closely into your own while you think. The red light of your ruby eyes reflected in her own, or maybe not.

“Something need clarifying?” The tone of her voice almost goading you to ask what’s really on your mind.

Perhaps you should avoid it.

>Ask if Marissa knows why Sayuline chose to summon those creatures in particular.

>Ask how exactly Marissa changed so much.

>Write in.

>>39429343
>>Ask how exactly Marissa changed so much.
Almost seems like you've ben delving.

>>39429343
>Ask how exactly Marissa changed so much.

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Also I figured I'd post this while we wait. Someone messaged me it yesterday, and I was very entertained to see all the details done right.

Thank you again!

>>39429343
>Ask how exactly Marissa changed so much.
>>39429480
I saw someone asking about that site yesterday in qtg, funny how it ended up here.

>>39429480
>soph4
I'm eager to see 1-3.

>>39429405
>>39429412
>>39429533
Getting right to the elephant in the room.

>>39429562
In time, maybe...

>Writing~

>>39429592

There’s no getting around it, her transformation is too rapid, there has to be something more to it than her just working at it.

“You know…” You brush a silvery lock of your hair out of your face. “You still haven’t told me how exactly your tail came around.”

“Really?” Her eyes look up in thought. “It appeared when I woke up after the delve before last.” She nods.

You toss her a skeptical look. “Oh, I could’ve sword you telling me it appeared immediately after returning human from that delve.”

“Ah. That’s what I meant, of course.” She gazes toward the window, the air around her distorting an almost imperceptible amount.

She’s trying to use her aura without fully transforming. How deviously sneaky. You wonder how susceptible you would be to it without your cloak on.

“You should forget about it, Sophia.” She places her hand lightly on your knee. “I swear to you that I mean you no harm.” She finishes in an earnest voice.

The distortion around her fades and she leans back. No sense in showing your hand yet, so you play you’ll part as the charmed victim. Ali would be so proud to see you now.

[1/2]

>>39430198

You shake your head out of a fake daydream. “Did Sayuline say why she picked those creatures in particular?” You rub the side of your head as if it were causing you pain.

Marissa’s eyes flash a look of relief before returning to normal. “She only told me that they were the easiest creatures to retrieve from the inner realms.” Her voice quiets to almost a whisper. “But I think she has something much bigger planned for the future. Wherever she is.” She shrugs. “She completely vanished as soon as those beasts made it through the portal.”

At least now you know where they originated from.

You stand up and put on a polite smile. “Thank you, Marissa. I think I’ve got enough information for now.”

You never have enough information.

She stands to get the door for you. “Anytime, Sophia.” She snaps a finger suddenly. “Oh, if you want I could look into that crystal for you.” Her tail sways behind her back. “Maybe she told something to one of her associates. I’m sure that I could –pull- the information out of them, but I’ll need to borrow it.”

She’s not emitting any sort of aura, so you’re free to reject her offer if you so choose. Which you think you might, but she is good at what she does. You doubt anyone relatively normal could hold out on her, if they knew something.

>Have her investigate the crystal for you.

>Decline her offer.

>Write in.

>>39430232
>Have her investigate the crystal for you.

>>39430232
I'd like that, but Laurent or I should come with. This is too important to risk having only one person, no matter how capable, guarding it.


Told you guys Marissa was trouble.

>>39430232
>Have her investigate the crystal for you.

>>39430321
I won't deny she's trouble, but it seems like she genuinely doesn't want to harm us. As for random civvies on the other hand.....

>>39430387
Watch her nick this crystal anon, There's a reason I wanted an escort for her. Just because she said she means no harm does not mean she actually means no harm.

>>39430310
>>39430387
Another mission for our 2nd apprentice.

>Writing

>>39430232
seconding >>39430321

Maybe warn her that having SOME fear is always handy.

>>39430436

You do have a lot on your plate now as it is, so why not let her do her duty as apprentice?

“Alright, but be careful.” You point at her with your finger. “Just because you’re more powerful than most people, doesn’t mean you should be totally without fear.”

She nods eagerly. “I understand.”

“Good. You’ll find the crystal in my dresser.” You head out of the room.

Marissa begins to shut the door as you leave. “Sophia...?” She calls out for your attention. “You’re beautiful.” She closes the door before you can even react.

Well, you already knew that.

~

You play toy with your hair while you walk into open air of the late morning. You grin excitedly as you trod along the path to Matthias’s house.

Surprisingly you come across quite a few people in what’s normally a journey of complete solitude. Many stare at you with curiosity before giving you hesitant wave or greeting, and since you’re in a good mood, you wave to them back.

You probably just seem like some weird girl to most of them, so nothing new really.

They all head in the same direction, the market, some of them coming out of homes that you’ve seen abandoned since you were just a child.

Why move here now?

The market as it is now does supply everything a normal person could ever need, but surely there has to be more reason than that for the sudden influx of neighbors.

You look up in thought, a few clouds dot the sky, but nothing to indicate any rough weather for the future.

What a picturesque scene…

[1/2]

>>39431186

You can’t help but think that as you stare upon the face of Matthias’s house. The fence has been repainted with a cream-yellow color, all the weeds have been removed the yard, and in their place, several colorful flowers sway in the light breeze. No pattern to their decoration other than the whims of the planter, whose identity could easily figured out by the rare charred patch of dirt.

Oh, you’ll be sure to make fun of Matthias for this.

You approach the entrance and knock impatiently.

A few moments later Matthias opens the door with one hand out of sight, and heavy scowl upon his face. “Who the hell are you?” He asks warily.

Behind him you see Aya carrying a large brown cake. She greets you with her normal smile before proceeding into the kitchen.

You could have some fun with him, but maybe that’s not the best thing to do right now given recent events.

>Identify yourself.

>”Let me in, loser.”

>”Hi, I’m the family planner. You sent for me?”

>Write in.

>>39431221
It's me Sophia, you lunk head.

>>39431221
>"May I join the party?"

>>39431221
>"Hi, I'm the family planner. You sent for me?"

Rolled 2 (1d3)

>>39431314
>>39431392
>>39431414
I like all this messing with him. But let's let the dice decide.

>Writing the winner.

>>39431464
You wrap your arms behind your back “I’m your new neighbor. May I join the party?” You ask eagerly.

“What the fu…Get lost.” He slams the door and you hear it bolt shut.

Damn it, you expected to be able to mess him a little bit more before he slammed the door shut.

You knock again, making sure to mimic the aggravated pattern he gives your door.

Behind the door, you hear Matthias arguing with Aya in a heated voice, before she finally opens the door and pulls you in by the hand.

“What are you doing?” Matthias demands, one his hands brandishing a short sword.

Where in the world did he get that?

“That’s no way to treat your only friend, Matthias.” You cross your arms, and let him get a better look at your face.

The sudden look of realization followed by dread is practically priceless.

“Can’t I still kick her out?” He asks Aya. “She’s clearly out of her mind.”

Tough luck for him, because within a few short minutes you’re enjoying a piece of freshly baked chocolate cake, and the look of confusion on Matthias’s face as he stares at you.

[1/2]

>>39432129

The two of you catch up on what you’ve been up to since splitting up that rainy day. His mouth is practically agape as you tell about entering one of the inner realms.

“I hardly have time to delve anymore.” He looks off into the distance with a look of nostalgia and slight sadness. “But…” He eyes Aya as she finishes the last of her piece and quickly grabs her to roughly messes with her hair.

She squeals with a mouth full of cake both in panic and delight.

“I have a good tutor when it comes to pyromancy!” He announces over the sound of Aya’s laughter.

This is almost too much, he lets her go after catching a glimpse of you smirking at the person he’s become.

But the idea of being tutored by a natural pyromancer is intriguing to you, and maybe you should take advantage of your being here.

You quietly observe Matthias casting quick sidelong glances at Aya to make sure that he didn’t rough her up too much.

Then again, maybe that should stay their thing.

Matthias clears his throat. “Where were we?”

>Ask for a quick pyromancy lesson from Aya.

>Tell him about the crystal you found while dissecting the creature.

>Write in.

>>39432155
>>Tell him about the crystal you found while dissecting the creature.
Also demonstrate how our fire changed color after our change.

>>39432155
>>Tell him about the crystal you found while dissecting the creature.
>>Write in.
>Ask about the blue fire

>>39432155
>Tell him about the crystal you found while dissecting the creature.
Just marry each other you two jerks

>>39432179
>>39432265
>>39432335
Everything here is a go.
>Writing~

>>39432335
>Just marry each other you two jerks
the TRUE OTP.

>>39432387

He seems pretty confident about his pyromancy abilities. Why not show off a little bit of what you’ve learned?

“You can have the best tutor in the world, but your flames will never surpass mine.” You can’t help but invoke a few small blue flames around the tips of your fingers.

Both of them stare at the blue light in awe, only serving to further feed your ego.

Matthias returns his attention back to you. “Maybe, but I can do this.”

He points a finger at your half-finished cake and instantly it immolates right before your eyes.

An action for which he immediately gets swatted across his back by Aya. You burst out into laughter, you don’t think you’ve seen anyone hit Matthias who wasn’t your grandfather, or didn’t get it back in return.

“Anyway...” Matthias continues moodily as Aya replaces your scorched slice with a fresh one. “That is an impressive flame, I think I’ve only seen her make it turn blue once before during a pretty bad nightmare.” He recalls the memory in fear.

“Any significance to the color change?” You ask, scooping a piece of cake into your mouth.

“Nothing more than a regular flame.” He responds. “Blue is a hotter burning flame, meaning you have a great concentration of power going into it.”

He is quite knowledgeable in this field, of course, you’ll never say that directly to him. This fact confirms what you already knew, this form significant modifies the power of your abilities. You can only wonder how strong you’d be if you could transform into your inner realm form
.
“I’m sure that that amount of energy, you could accomplish more than just invoking it around your arms.” He notes at the small powerful flame.

[1/2]

>>39433257

Aya scoops the flame out of your hand with the greatest of ease, before manipulating its shape into several delicate butterflies that flap lightly above your heads. This leaves no doubt in your head who’s the most capable at pyromancy right now.

“Other than that…” You pull your eyes away from the insect shapes floating above you. “I found something while dissecting that creature we dealt with that rainy day.”

You go into detail about the structure and features of the purple crystal that you found, even noting its potential use as a summoning catalyst.

Matthias rubs his scruffy chin. “I think I remember having an exam question about that a few years ago.” He thinks for a moment. “Something about it being highly theoretical, I think. I don’t remember anything else because I probably skipped that lesson to hang out with you.” He chuckles.

A lot of help he is. The guild knows enough about it to test their students about it, so if you want to learn more about it, you should turn your attention that way. Or at the very least have someone else look into it for you.

You chat for a few more minutes about nothing terribly important before getting up to leave. “I know you’re trying to lay low for the time being. So if you need help with something-“

“Actually…” Matthias stands as well to walk you out, and to subtlety get out of ear shot of Aya. “Do you mind snooping around the market to see if that Occult order is still in town?” He asks in a hushed voice. “I understand if you want to keep out of their way too, I’d just like have the peace of mind.”

You’re not so sure. If the players he mentioned earlier are still in town, stumbling across them as you are now certainly will bring up trouble.

>Agree to look into it.

>Apologize and refuse.

>Write in.

>>39433309
>"I'll send someone less conspicuous"

>>39433309
>>39433355
backing.

>>39433309
>>39433355
this guy gets it.
I'd imagine those guys will shit themselves when they see Laurent.

>>39433309
>>39433355
Double backing. Of course in our merry band, the only normal person left is Ellie.

>>39433414
>Of course in our merry band, the only normal person left is Ellie.
b...but I wanted to see the occultist band freak out by seeing laurent!
fine then.
switching >>39433410 so that we send Ellie, not laurent.
perhaps we can tag him with Ellie as an escort?

>>39433355
>>39433369
>>39433410
>>39433414
We'll be sure to get all of our human looking people straight onto it!

>Writing~

>>39433542
Let's hope that Ellie doesn't somehow transform as well.

>>39433623
YOU HAVE TEMPTED FATE ANON
WHY DID YOU DO SO

>>39433542

You certainly don’t want to leave him up in the air, but staying out the way of potentially precarious is the only way to keep up your work uninterrupted.

You nod. “I’ll send someone less conspicuous.”

You’re quickly running out of those kind of people right now actually.

“Tell me what you find out as soon as you can.” He looks behind him swiftly. “I may have change locations.” He laughs lightly. “There’s a large abandoned house by a lake with my name on it.”

“Will do.” You assure him.

“Thank you. Oh, and be sure to send us some more food.” He shuts the door and returns back to Aya before he arouses any suspicion.

But he doesn’t have any credit at the market…That bastard.

The hairpin comes a bit lose as you return home, you adjust it.

You sigh as you stare at all the people around you. If what you see around yourself is any indication of the town as a whole, the population has increased several times over in a terrifying short time.

You can only wonder what Ali has planned as you watch a small family begin to renovate a rather run down looking house.

She always had her eyes on the prize, you think, as memories of simpler times resurface.

~

“Understood!” Ellie salutes you after you finish telling her about the favor you’re doing for Matthias. The food you’re only getting because of Aya.

“Remember, if anyone asks you about me or what we’re currently working on, you ignore them and then leave.” You cover your bases for any information leaks, Ellie sure does love to talk when you get her started.

“Roger!” She gives you another eager salute, causing you to wonder if she’s actually paying attention to you at all.

You exhale heavily and rub your temples. “Keep an eye on her, Laurent.”

He nods slightly in response, still likely in a funk about all the transformations occurring around him.

In a few short moments the house is empty, all of your housemates gone on the mission you assigned them on.

Finally, some time to relax and-

[1/2]

>>39434687
>Finally, some time to relax and-
MARISSA STRIKES

>>39434687

SCREEEEEEENNNNNNNNNNNN

The deafening screech forces you to your knees. Covering your ears does no good, no good at all, The sound is originating from within!

You can’t, can’t think. Your mind is blank as it’s consumed by the persistent shriek. The top of your hair wetting with a warm fluid.

Blood.

The hairpin is digging itself into your scalp, whatever message it’s trying to deliver, unclear, only screeching surfaces.

In the furthest reaches of your mind, you think you may be able to make out a single voice. Steady, and repeating the same words to you over and over. Unintelligible, as if your head is underwater.

But to the same place in your thoughts comes the screaming of an impossible amount of people, their location hazy, but becoming clearer the more you focus on it.

Your own screams join theirs, but are drowned out, only the hot air escaping your wailing mouth to let you perceive that you’re doing anything at all.

With consciousness slipping, your hand wraps around the hairpin.

>Pull out the hairpin.

>Focus on the lone voice.

>Focus on the location of the innumerable voices.

>Write in.

>>39434736
>Focus on the lone voice.

>>39434736
>Focus on the location of the innumerable voices.
>Activate Wings

>>39434736
>Focus on the lone voice.
Work on control over this.

>>39434769
>>39434824
Roll 1d20, best of three or fewer if that's the case.

Rolled 12 (1d20)

>>39434935
Feeling lucky...

Rolled 18 (1d20)

>>39434935

Rolled 5 (1d20)

>>39434935

>>39434976
That's the ticket!
>Writing~

>>39435033

You can control this. You will control this.

You escape from the cacophony of the screeching masses, turning a blind eye to their incessant wailing to sink deeper into your mind.

It quiets, and you can breathe again. But you aren’t here anymore, at least, not your mind.

You slip past, carefully buried memories in pursuit of the voice. It grows louder and clearer as you float along.

It needs no identification, you remember hearing one word from his mouth, but it feels like you’ve heard thousands before.

The voice of Grievermillion finally crystalizes. “I need your help, Sophia. I need your help, little empress...”

~

>>39435303
Okay, that's where I'm going to end it for tonight. As always, I want to thank everyone that played today! If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to post them in the thread, and I will do my best to respond to them.

If not, then I wish you a good day/night, and hope to see you again next time!

>(Twitter)
https://twitter.com/QM_Auri

>>39435303
>“I need your help, Sophia. I need your help, little empress...”
shit just got intense.

>>39435354
>>39435303
And a really really big cliffhanger. Thanks for running Auri.

>>39435303
I knew it! I didn't know shit. I just felt like saying that.
Thanks for running Auri!

>>39435419
The beginning of many things to come.
>>39435421
You're very welcome! I just enjoy it too much, I think.
>>39435467
You're also very welcome! And it's alright, anon.

>>39435536
>The beginning of many things to come.
well shit. thanks for running Auri.

>>39435649
You're very welcome!

I'll be stepping out now. So, I hope to see everyone again, and until next time!