This is still a story of the Becoming Monsters universe by Ai Loves, setting used with permission. All canonical and mechanical errors are my own. The yarrb is the exceedingly cute creation of FelisRandomis, used with permission.
Also making an appearance in this chapter, once again, is Quiverbow. The sharp-dressed weaponsmith is the creation of Domochevsky, my cover artist and foam-weapon creator, and also shares a name with a Minecraft mod he made. The Stormbreakers (including Suri, here) are the creation of Xel_Artz, and Saber is the creation of Golden Saber, from the Eye of the Storm Discord server. All are making cameos with the permission of their respective creators.
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Chapter 44: Great Expectations
"What..." I was slow to wake up coming out of the dreamscape, still tired from my efforts overnight. My scars were resisting the sudden movement after being still for half the night, my brain resisting the attempt to come to alertness. Nibbles the yarrb was nudging me with his left front paw to wake me up. Nice of him, really, he had quills which would have worked much faster.
As soon as my head caught up to the situation, I moved more quickly. My sword and shield gauntlet were on the nightstand, belted on in seconds. Lucy was still deeply asleep, and given everything I decided to leave her be. If I yelled, she'd probably be the first to make it to me either way. What was making the yarrb so nervous was immediately apparent, as I made my way out into the living room. The sword stayed sheathed, this didn't look like a problem I could slash my way through.
The source of it all was a soft white glow coming from Sarah's enchanting table. Nibbles was standing close, looking curiously at what was happening under the glass dome she had placed there. The circle it was locked into was giving a pale blue light, but that wasn't what drew the eye. Inside looked full of mist, each particle glowing, and they were behaving quite oddly. Even for Sarah's table, I mean. The glowing mist was stopping as if hitting something. A vague form was within, not quite identical to the Greater Masterwork it surrounded.
I didn't know what to make of it... but I knew someone who might. "Nibbles. Go get Sarah. She needs to see this." Nibbles, looked at me with one eyebrow raised. Oh. Right. Sarah was a SLOTH demon. Trying to wake her up at two in the morning stood approximately a 0% chance of success, short of setting off a grenade in the room. If I did that, it might get up to 10%. "Sorry, forgot. Okay, thanks for letting me know, Nibbles. I need to sleep more tonight, but I'll tell her about it in the morning." The yarrb nodded back at me, then padded over to the table and laid down next to it. He seemed... protective, somehow?
He knew something I didn't, and just couldn't convey it. Yarrbs were smart, Nibbles more so than most, but the one thing they couldn't do was speak. Not in English, anyway. Not usually an issue since he understood me just fine, but times like this it was incredibly frustrating. As I tried to settle back down to bed for the last stretch of the night, it nagged at my mind. This was potentially important, and had everything to do with the project I was absolutely depending on right now.
Though troubled, I must have gotten some rest in there somewhere. I didn't get to step back out onto the black plain. The next time my eyes opened it was to the sound of my alarm. Time to get the morning drinks ready. We had a lot to do today.
This night's efforts had been good ones, if still exhausting. The projections were... back to being close. Within margin of error. As coffee brewed and milk warmed, smells drew the others. I accepted my gentle removal from the kitchen at Gloria's hands, since I had my caffeine first. We were all taking this one seriously. One does not simply discount warnings of the magnitude given to me. Gloria managed eight different ways to cook eggs on four burners (nine if you count Nibbles, though since his was "two raw ones in a bowl" I personally didn't), we got ourselves equipped, and slowly inventoried our gear. Swords and wands, batteries and charms, shields, a bow, a stave. We were about to go get our armor and badges when I remembered the important bits of the night before.
"Sarah, Amber, before we leave I need you to check the Greater Masterwork project. It was doing something last night that I am not sure how to explain. Any thoughts as to what might cause a glowing white mist to form within the dome?"
Sarah's head quirked. "No, not really, but then again this is a lot of power and potential in one place. I'll give it a look, if it needs course corrections I'll have to stay here to do them." She was pulling out a couple of her tools.
"I'll give it a full Identification, too. We have enough time." Amber was stretching out. This would be the first time she used the ability on something she didn't already know the answer to. The two together worked as best they could without opening the sealed dome. It interfered with things a bit, but not as much as you might expect. The device was intended to let an Enchanter keep an eye on their ongoing projects, after all, while keeping random energies out. What they were doing was specifically non-intrusive. We needed information, but we also needed this project to not get knocked off-kilter by a barrage of Thaumic energies at this late stage.
Some few minutes later both were shaking their heads. Sarah looked like she was getting a headache. "Something's up that I can't account for. Not sure what. Thing is, it's not interfering with the main function. It's a side effect, like your blade edge."
"You seem to do that a lot, Sarah." Amber's tone was, understandably, a bit irritated.
"Look, it's only on my experimental stuff!" She pleaded right back. "It's not like the mana batteries or shield charms are turning themselves into grenades!"
"Alright, both of you, that's enough. And not only because I'm wearing one of those batteries. We have a lot to do today, and the bus gets to our stop in thirty minutes, so you can discuss the finer points later. Armor up and badge up."
It took remarkably little time for us to get down there. Some was certainly saved when Lucy came out and threw both of them their change of clothes... and when neither saw the need for modesty while changing on the spot. Paige's raised eyebrow directed both to utilize laundry baskets instead of just leaving their dirty clothes where they landed, which was a lot to unpack.
The Saturday morning Hospital bus was quiet when leaving the area. The Guild Hall route was more crowded, though. Saturdays were very popular for going Below. The morning would be most crowded as everyone got to their places and tasks. The bus was no exception. A decade ago, and an onlooker would have been forgiven for thinking we were all headed to a convention or Faire. Today, though, everyone on board was surreptitiously checking out everyone else.
That bus full of Delvers and other assorted Guild Hall folks represented a lot of power. Perhaps not the greatest concentration of it in the state, but anyone interfering with the bus route would swiftly find their day, week, month, or millennia ruined. Other cars tended to stay out of the way of buses on this particular route. Couldn't blame them. I generally didn't like being on this bus either, at least when it was crowded. Things could get rowdy until we got to the Hall. The drivers got hazard pay.
This time around, though, there weren't anything more than a few rounds of smack talk. My team did not get involved, at the shake of my head. We did not need to risk the others dogpiling us. The bus let us off at the gate, and the contents scattered. Some went straight to the stop for the Dungeon Gate. Others went to eat, or schedule, or stock up. The eight of us had other goals, and mine would be at the Officer's Hall first. Not the gathering I was here for, no. Something a bit more personal.
