Take some (non-copyright infringing) pink bismuth.

I thought I killed you... again.

"Oh please, as if you could. A simple scare is all you managed."

Walking about the steeped streets of Bounty, I eventually found myself on a bench outside some old empty storefront, with only Gabriella, Zana, and the tiny golem Rocky as company. Ashes had seemingly gone off from the group while no one was watching, and so Cilla went to gather her; all while Scott still hadn't returned from his romp with the Priestess. Ariel's Alma was currently flashing periodically; something I had never seen before.

So, are you going to leave any time soon, Kalamari-Legs?

"If I could, I would; but, you're still alive. A shame, really."

I'm shaken a bit to my left by an leathery palm; drawing me out of the pleasant word shivs I had been exchanging with my headspace's new occupant.

"Monster... I'm sorry I asked you to shift last night." Says Zana, her other hand tugging at the rim of her hat. "If I knew it would cause you this much trouble..."

"Please don't apologize. Its not your fault." I say plainly.

What do I have to do to get you out. It had better not still be to...

"A consumed Core's request is binding, unfortunately for both of us. If not, I'd just make you eat a handful of sand, or dance on broken glass, maybe **** a town guard in broad daylight..."

How lovely your ideas are.

"I try."

I hear a man panting from far down the road, looking past a few locals chattering, I spot Scott; his hair ruffled, and the shirt beneath his vest torn in places. Spotting us, he makes his way up the path.

"Oh good, it's felt like a fortnight since last I saw you folks." He says.

"How many deaths this time?" I ask. "Its a new week, after all."

"Oh, none so far! I think. It just that my perception of time is simply horrible at this point. Hours are seconds, minutes are months."

I feel the presence behind my eyes stir angrily.

"Ah... Him."

Scott? What about him?

"HE is why I was a frontline guard. That upstart Tona took him as a mate after a raid on some stinking vessel, then used his curse to plot out a means to **** my mother, taking her place as matriarch..."

Oh. Sorry for your...

"Which foiled my plan to poison the old bitch! Then, she has the gall too put me at the front of the line to die first, to protect her claim to the throne! The whore!"

Oh, what a lovely family you had.

"Oh please, you'd have killed my mother too if you met her, she was a total asshole..."

I'm pulled out of my conversation once more, this time, by a hand tugging at my side which appeared to be coming from Gabriella. The Priestess stood silently, and walked past the bench, and inbetween an alleyway, the Alma flashing even more than before.

"Don't mind me, just off to say the good word of my lord." Says Gabbie, in about as believable of a lie as saying the sky is green.

"I'll come too. I haven't heard one of your sermons yet." I reply, waving to the remaining three as I follow. "We'll meet up at the Temple of Maiyo tonight like planned."

"O-ok."

"Oh dear... that'll be a bit awkward."

"Rocky likes water house..."

I follow Gabbie further into the alley, until she stops; bringing her staff down to the ground with an whispered Utterance of "O'Silence." A pattern is etched into the ground, one I recognize from the night before our capture. Standing in the circle with Gabbie, the voice of Ariel speaks through the Alma; his tone a strangely serious one.

"Ok. I have good news, and bad news."

"Fantastic. Bad news first." I say in a sigh.

Yay, more issues! As if the mountain I had experienced so far weren't enough of a climb.

"Tomoko just gave me a call... from the city of Whetsmyre; which is on an island not far from Yokong. Meaning... the woman I brought is an imposter. I'm so sorry, Monster."

...

I'm not sure which made the cracking noise. My fist, or the brick wall I had just punched to my right; imprinting it with a cobweb of cracks as tall as myself, as the noise echoed in this little bubble of silence.

Used... Again!

"Wow, the Light's Gods are this incompetent?"

Silence, or my next dream will be me turning you inside out with my bare hands.

"..."

"Hey! The good news is still up for grabs!" Ariel said; I can practically see him sweating bullets in my minds eye.

I don't speak, nodding to the jewel atop Gabbie's staff, glaring at it with murderous intent.

"There's only one mortal with enough illusory power to trick a... ahem, 'minor' god. One of your targets, the Grand Succubus, Halicarnassus. Go ahead. Track her."

Halicarnassus.

I nearly double over, strongly pulled downhill towards the general direction of the Temple of Maiyo.

So its true. That's why there was no... click. That wasn't Her at all. Not to mention the obsession with breeding...

Ariel appears in a flash of golden light and feathers. "Look man, I'm sorry I got duped. Its hard to focus when you're in like, seven places at the same time."

"Its fine." I reply tersely.

I begin to pace back and forth, thinking back to our conversations. The pieces slide together as the night before last plays out like a flipbook in my head. She must have done and said things based off either widely known information, or information known to the Dark's higher powers. She knew Her mannerisms enough to trick Ariel... and now she knows everything me and the others have done up until now.

She'll be able to report it all back to the Dark... They'll know where we're headed... They'll come for me...

I walk out of the silencing circle, pulling my hook from its harness.

But not if I kill her first.