Zandre au Gratin

Oblivious to both the quiet breaking of Lily’s psyche and the silent rework of Maddy’s soul, Eliza, Amy, and Caleb rode on a gondola down to the shopping district. Eliza leaned over the edge and lazily ran her finger through the crystal-clear waters of the facade of Venice they were trapped in before looking at the other two.

“Anything in particular that you two are looking for while we’re out? Something I should keep my eyes open for?” The professor languidly dragged her fingers up, letting thin droplets fall from the tips before pulling back into the boat.

Caleb shrugged, “I’ll be honest, my sole experience with the sabotage shop and its contents is seeing what you all do to each other. When I was there last time, I didn't really spend much time looking at the contents.”

Eliza raised a thin eyebrow. “Really? Did it not occur to you that it might be helpful to know the sorts of things we might do to each other so that you could know when something was happening? Or at the very least know the risks we all were taking while being here?”

Almost involuntarily, Caleb wiped a hand across his face as if he could remove the white-hot shame he felt pulling in his cheeks, “I-hadn’t considered that…no. Dammit.”

The professor sighed, and for a moment, Caleb could only hear the disappointment of an older woman through the timbre of the young one that sat in the boat. “Caleb, no one is blaming you for not noticing everything, but please try to see beyond what is directly in front of you, ok? We can’t afford to just be noticing the obvious.”

Suddenly, there was a sharp popping sound. Eliza and Caleb turned to Amy, who had been humming in her seat but was now reaching up to her horn, which was now full again. The Oni paused and looked back with a grin. “Well, I guess that’s that then. Thankfully that didn’t last too long, though I’m not in a rush to test a bigger break or, God forbid, both horns.”

Caleb leaned forward to the annoyance of the faundolier as the boat shifted. “How do you feel?”

Amy shrugged. “To be honest, not that different, but it's hard to gauge, like gradually getting less drunk. You don’t always know the exact moment you’re sober, right? That’s kind of what this all was like, like being drunk or high. Still me, but not in the best control of my faculties.”

Eliza frowned and leaned to the side, “I might have thought it would bother you more.”

“Like I said, I'm not in a rush to repeat the experience. I like being able to think clearly, but like…when I got the transformation, I was worried I wouldn't be me at all during those times. It’s nice to know that’s not the case. Just the dials adjusted.”

“Soo…” Caleb smiled. “Still want to shop then?”

Amy snickered, “Trying to get out of it?”

Caleb shook his head and sat back, which caused the boat to shift again and earn him another annoyed glance from the faun steering. “No, not at all.” He adjusted his umbrella. “I just didn’t know if it was the result of your adjusted dials. I never really expected a date like this from you.”

Eliza considered it for a moment. “It does feel more like something Noemi or Lily would be interested in.”

Amy tented her fingers and leaned forward. “I…I don’t blame you guys for thinking that. I mean, the type of girl I am…probably don’t think about that sort of thing and me in the same breath, but…” The oni squeezed her fingers together. “I’ve never really done the date thing…any traditional kinds. Even here, first round was me going over data with Caleb and then the Mask last round…back in the world, if I was horny, I just did a one-night stand. I didn’t ever do relationships.”

Her eyes suddenly widened. “Not that this is- like boyfriend-girlfriend shit either! I just meant-”

Caleb chuckled. “No worries, Amy, I know you don’t want something serious.”

Even as relief flooded her features, a sharp pang was in Amy’s chest as she nodded, “Yeah, you get it. It’s just a new experience thing. I’ve never done it, so…I thought I’d try.”

Eliza glanced between the two and raised an eyebrow skeptically before lowering it and closing her eyes. “Well, one of the upsides of being stuck here is you can do pretty much whatever on your date. Lord knows Caleb isn’t going to say boo to it. So have fun, however you like.” She caught Amy’s eye and gave her a look.

Amy broke eye contact with Eliza and brushed her hair behind her ear. “Right, yeah.” Her voice trailed off as the dock came into view and the gondola clipped gently into port.

The trio disembarked and found themselves in the familiar environs of the bustling Faun Bazaar, the various cosplaying fauns hawking their wares. Silently, of course.

Caleb looked to the two women. “Straight to the Sabotage shop, or did you want to look around here for anything first?”

Eliza shook her head. “We won’t find much here; it’s mostly lifestyle stuff, walkmen, watches, that sort of thing.”

Amy pointed to the far wall. “There’s a boutique there that sells clothes and makeup. I want to head there at some point, but I don’t mind waiting until we finish with Arietta.”

So the three made their way off to the secluded alcove where the Sabotage Shop sat away from everything else. Pushing open the door, Amy was surprised not to see Arietta quietly lounging half asleep behind the counter, but up and about, dusting the shelves. On hearing the trio’s footsteps, the witch turned to look at them.

“Oh, customers, after Maya’s visit yesterday, I thought I might not see anyone for a while.” She smoothed the front of her robes and began walking toward the counter.

“Actually, we’re gonna all try to make it a habit to visit more often, get desensitized to the Sabotages; after all, they aren't all bad,” Eliza remarked as she moved towards the shelves.

The master nodded in agreement. “And the fact that I have BP to spend and can be targeted now…I should take them more seriously than I was.”

Arietta sat behind the counter and leaned on her arm. “Well, if that’s the direction you all want to go, it’s my job to assist you. Feel free to peruse at your leisure, and if you have any questions, feel free to come and ask.”

“Actually, about that,” Eliza turned, “Could you show me to the premium stock?” Arietta got back up and led Eliza away, leaving Amy and Caleb alone to look over the shelves.

Caleb’s eyes swept over the sea of silver cards. “Wow, I didn’t really fathom how many of them there are. Are they all different?”

Amy nodded, walking to the shelf. “Yeah, if you buy one, a new one appears to take its place on the shelf, so it’s never empty. So each separate instance is a different transformation. They seem to be loosely categorized, but lord help me, I haven’t figured it out fully.”

Nodding, Caleb ran his finger over a set of cards, peering in to read the descriptions. Some even sounded potentially fun, if they weren’t robbing the other person of their autonomy. Not all of them read as particularly sexy; they just seemed to be there to enable you to mess with other members of the cast. Being able to put words in other people's mouths, causing spontaneous allergies, creating fears or hallucinations- all seemed to belong to that category.

He kept looking through and glanced over at Amy. “Anything in particular that you’re looking for?”
The oni who had been walking around with her arms behind her back stopped. “No, not really. I’m…I’m still not completely sold on Eliza’s idea. I get it; the logic makes sense, but I guess I’m not ready to dive headfirst in. I’m more looking at the other stock for interesting items.”

“Other stock?” Caleb straightened up and walked over. “I thought this place just sold Sabotages.”

“That’s primarily what Arietta sells, but like there’s the masks and also Arietta mentioned our first trip other items. I was taking a look at some of them. And I found this.” Amy’s eyes sparkled as she lifted a small but hefty tome of a book marked with a pentacle on the front.

Caleb raised an eyebrow as he saw a smile creep over Amy’s face. “What is it?”

Amy's grin broadened. “It’s a spellbook! It’s got recipes for enchantments, poultices, salves, potions, all that stuff.” She pointed at a recipe. “And the ingredients it mentions fantastical elements, look: ‘flakes of faerie wing ’-that means they must be real.” She reached over and grabbed another nearby book. “And this is a bestiary about how to find them!”

Frowning, Caleb peered over the book, which was complete with sketched illustrations. “But that doesn't necessarily mean it’s from our world, right?”

Suddenly, behind them, a voice spoke up, “If our worlds are the same or similar, then yes, they should work.” Arietta stepped forward. “These were mine from before I came here.”

The oni’s eyes shone even brighter. “So the magic in them actually works? These creatures are real?”

Arietta smiled gently. “Real as any of this is, though who knows how time has changed the landscape of the world.” She raised a finger. “Keep in mind this magic is not like the hotel’s; it is not all-powerful or instantaneous. It is a work of effort, and even its small miracles can take time to produce and take effect.”

Undeterred, Amy held both books to her chest. “But they’re for sale? How much?”

Arietta’s grin broadened. “I’d give them to you for free, child. Knowledge is meant to be passed on. Alas, constrained as I am, they are 10 BP a piece.”

A girlish laughter like nothing Caleb had heard escaped from the Oni. “Sold! No hesitation, take my BP”

Amy: 34 BP - 20 BP: 14 BP Remaining
Caleb gawked. “That was most of your BP. Are you going to be ok?”

Amy was practically bouncing on her heels. “Caleb! Were you not listening, magic, real magic! In our world! Like after Harem Hotel is done! Am I ok with that? Um, yes, please! I told you I wanted to search for signs of magic in our world, but now, knowing that it's actually out there to find…Caleb, I’m so excited!” Amy practically tackled Caleb with her enthusiastic hug, nearly knocking Caleb back into the shelf.

“Oof,” Caleb grunted before breaking into a small chuckle. Amy was so…unemotive most of the time. She wasn’t one to carry her emotions on her sleeve, so for her to be this excited and happy really demonstrated how much it meant to her, and he was honestly happy for her. He wasn’t going to do anything to diminish this, as he gently patted her back.

“Hehe, sorry,” Amy stepped back, brushing her hair out of her eyes, “I got a little excited.”

“That is not something you ever need to apologize for,” Caleb beamed down at her.

Still, Amy turned on her heel, her countenance gently shifting back to the more impassive, calculating expression Caleb was used to. “Cmon, let’s look around and find something fun for tonight and then find Eliza and go clothes shopping.” She reached out and grabbed Caleb’s arm and dragged him deeper into the shelves.

On another boat across the map, Maya and Stella were riding their way to the Catacombs in relative silence. Relative because Maya was humming to herself and swaying from side to side while Stella looked on towards their destination, trying to swallow the seeds of doubt plaguing her mind.

After yesterday, she had decided that she wasn’t going to doubt herself in this any longer; if Caleb could tolerate her and say he wanted her around despite being what she was, then she had to stop wasting time self-sabotaging. Her goal was now to get through this game; she wasn’t insane like Maya and wanted to win, or self-obsessed like Mira and gonna save everyone, but she was gonna make it to the end. Then anything after that would be Caleb’s problem.

The issue was not knowing. Not knowing how bad these upgrades could be if they went south. She had the BP for three upgrades for herself. Statistically, it was unlikely they all went bad, but…She glanced at Maya. Hopefully, bringing the patron saint of unlikelihood with her would tilt things in her favor.

As they landed at the dock, Maya bounced up, “Here we are, friend! You ready to play some games?!” Stella tried to ignore the starry-eyed expression of the other woman as she clambered out of the Gondola.

“I’m just gambling, Maya. Honestly, I’d rather do the one in three times rather than risk a guaranteed loss against an ancient snake woman.” Stella remarked as she pushed through the door towards the upgrade shop.

A hiss gently entered her ear, “A snake woman with particularly sharp ears.” Suddenly whipping out from the shadows, the long black serpentine body of Kalliope wrapped around Stella and pulled her deeper into the chamber, with Kalliope leaning forward to gaze down at Stella

“Ok!” Sputtered a blushing Stella, “I am officially scaroused.”