Strange Tides

[Andromeda]

Unfortunately, running away from everyone didn’t really take her very far. As to be expected, the door to the back was locked. It went out into the main base of the traders. She knew the layout roughly to get around. But it wouldn’t budge for her and it didn’t seemed to be locked. ‘Damn, I can’t get out through here…’ Staring towards the way she came, she knew that she would be recaptured again soon. ‘Maybe if it’s just a couple of them I can manage with my self-defense classes.’ She had refrained from doing anything violent before for the sake of the others and being simply outnumbered.

Chaos out in front and the distraction might be enough for her to escape. But she was completely naked. She didn’t know how far she could get attracting so much attention.

Then she heard a voice that she actually understood. ‘Someone else escaped?’ No, they were calling to her inviting her to be sold off. ‘They already adapted that fast to be being bought? Are we really that weak willed?’ Hesitation and doubt filled her heart. She was running out of options.

Capture was inevitable. Was this her only chance?

[Heartless Angel]

The strange horned woman approached him in spite of his threat. She didn't seem like a fighter, but still, if he didn't make good on his threat, the mob wouldn't believe it either, and he really would have to try and fight them all off.

"You wouldn't burn little old me, would you?~" The strange woman asked in what he could only assume was intended to be a seductive voice. She pushed further towards him. He was going to have to decide soon whether or not to try to make good on his threat. "Especially not when I can help you.. discover things you didn't know about yourself.", she continued... but there was something else. His Magiscopic eye fixed itself on her. She was trying to use some form of magic on him... That's when he noticed it. She had tried to touch his mind. He grabbed on to the faint trace of the magic to establish a connection with the woman. Things began to make sense. She spoke the captive's tongue when she had given an order to the slave she had already purchased. If she spoke their language, she clearly knew of these people, maybe she was even a friend. As bad as this situation had gotten, he thought it worthwhile to take one final risk.

He used his neuromancy, the one magic the Val yet couldn't see to establish mental communication with the woman. "I'm trying to save the captive. I'm reaching out to you now because I have a feeling that you are, too. I have to make good on my threat, or these men will have my head. If I'm right about you, and you care about these people... I'm begging you, play along.", he said.

His hand began to glow as he aimed it at the horned woman. "I won't say it again!", he yelled, as he fired what appeared to be a ball of fire directly at her. He had used his neuromancy to disguise a simple force wave intended to knock the woman down as a destruction spell to incinerate her. As far as any of the onlookers would be able to tell after he had altered what they could see, her body had been badly burnt. He was unsure if he could keep this bluff going much longer, but for the woman's sake, as much as his own, he had to try to last as long as he could.

[Victoria]

Rina looked as if she'd caught up to Katlyn, the door to the exit being locked. "Is something wrong, Katlyn?" she asked. She only knew the woman's name from overhearing it before, not having been properly introduced in the last few days. Not like they had the chance to be. "Don't answer that.. there's plenty wrong right now. But you just have to trust me. I'm not sure she has another set of clothes for you, but.. she's breaking bank to save us." she tried to explain to the panicked Katlyn.

Meanwhile, back at the stage in the underground auction, Shia got a response from the man she tried to seduce. "If you really want to save her, stop while you're ahead. You'll only get yourself branded as Althnor's Most Wanted. You won't be able to do anything in the town any longer, even through legitimate channels. I know how the black market works. Why do you think I was breaking my bank to buy her off?" she responded to him. But then he did it.

The force of his spell knocked her off the stage whether she wanted to be or not, landing on her bottom. She coughed up a storm and made pained cries from the supposed burns on her body. She could only glare back at him with bemusement, clearly labeling him as a fool.

[Heartless Angel]

Good... Maybe he wasn't out of tricks yet after all. Now he had an uneasy partner. She didn't seem fond of his methods, and it wasn't until now that he had realized she was trying to help through legal channels.

"You're right, of course... And now I've made you an accomplice... If they realize you're working with me.", he replied. He looked for the Val, who still hadn't made a move, and as far as he could tell, still hadn't figured out that she had been the victim of neuromancy. "You may not have noticed, but even the Val is blind to my particular variety of illusion magic. She couldn't see through my rock trick until she physically touched it. And she didn't stop me from sneaking onto the stage with an afterimage decoy. I'm going to create another for you. You'll be free to go after the captive and your slave... or to flee and save yourself, while they're all focused on me. I'm not sure how I'm going to get out of this yet, myself, but that's not important now. Right now, my only concern is preventing further unnecessary harm to others", he responded.

Within a few seconds, he had arranged the promised illusion. "It's ready! You're hidden!", he confirmed that his illusion had been crafted.

He would need to come up with something to break this stalemate with the crowd once the captive was safe, but for now, he needed to stall for time.

"Why don't we all calm down?", he asked to the crowd. "It's true, I did lie about the thirty million, my people don't even use your money. But it is no secret that my people have magic and technology that yours do not. I'm sure we can come to some... reasonable agreement to resolve this dispute without further violence.", he said.

[Andromeda]

The woman to the voice Katlyn heard had found her. There wasn’t really much in the options of hiding. The back stage area lacked much of anything other than the random piles of sacks or crates that likely carried sold off goods. “I’m sorry,” she said to the woman. Standing up to face the woman, who was mostly just a stranger thrown together in a crazy circumstance, directly as she had to confront matters. “I thought I could save us from this. I thought I had managed to gain some sort of trust or respect from that bastard of a thing that calls himself a man. But I just failed everyone. We’re all helpless out here and I can’t do anything to stop it.”

Katlyn hung her head. She tried to act like the leader and they all had looked towards her for answers when she was just as lost as them. Everything she did was just impromptu and made up as she went all. It was all her fault. “I’m sorry.”

Unfortunately, delaying as she did, the boss’ men discovered the two quickly following behind Rina. It was going to be the time for choices. There was no going back anymore.

[Victoria]

Rina shook her head. "It's okay, really." she said. "I was just lucky and got, well, bought by someone nice. She's apparently a hair stylist that needed an assistant." she said with a shrug. "Apparently she noticed I was a hair stylist too just by looking at me. Funny, no?" she said to try and lighten up the mood and distract Katlyn from her negative thoughts.

"It's crazy back there. That guy who grabbed onto you earlier tried to save you, I think." she said from her short time paying attention to the goings on before she was asked to chase Katlyn down. "And as I went behind the curtain to catch up to you, he started threatening the auction goers. Not sure how well that's going though.." she said just as two enforcers showed up behind her.

Shia rolled her eyes at his response to her, explaining that the Val had been blind to what he'd been doing. Apparently he didn't know the Val as well as she did, even just from observing her actions in this short time they shared the same room. She could already tell the Val, if she was paying attention, could already tell how this guy's illusion magic worked. So she did the smart thing and stayed still until the illusion wore off. She wasn't about to go into a Val's bad side, at least not yet. Besides, Rina would be back soon with her colleague. At least that's what she hoped.

[Heartless Angel]

She wasn't moving. Did she have her own plan to save the captives? His opinion of surface dwellers hadn't improved at all from his recent time with them, it was hard to find an optimistic interpretation for anything happening at this point. "No, damnit, she's not going to work with me... I should have known better than to trust one of the Savages", he thought. He terminated their mental link on his end almost immediately when he'd let the illusion fade.

"Damnation... That Val is only going to grow more suspicious the longer it seems that I stand here doing nothing. She's probably already trying to figure out how I initially slipped the rock trick past her... It's only a matter of time before she realizes that I used my spell on her, and once she dispels it, I'm finished... I'll have no recourse but to fight.", he thought. He expected to feel fear, or anger in this situation. It was the most danger he had ever been in, and these people's ways disgusted him in ways he had never imagined, yet at that time the only thing he really felt was pure exhilaration. The situation was dire, but that made for an interesting puzzle to solve, each new twist and stroke of bad luck adding another layer of intricacy to the problem.

He clenched his teeth. The Val set a time limit on his solution, as he would lose the ability to rely on illusions once she had figured out the nature of his neuromancy. His mental link with the savage had likely eliminated the possibility of lying his way out of the situation, as he had already confirmed his intention to save the captive. The sheer numbers of the crowd and his lack of specialized combat magic ruled out fighting. He couldn't talk his way out, sneak his way out, or fight his way out... And even if he could, none of those would rescue the captive. What was left? There had to be something else, a variable he hadn't considered.

"A bargain...", he thought. He had finally reached an answer. These men were traders, businessmen. If there was one language they would be certain to understand, it was the language of commerce. Even if they called his bluff, he still had something of value to trade. One exotic slave for another. The Val would certainly be interested in the fields of magic his people had invented over the last several decades, and she was the likely winner of this auction since his own illusory money clearly wasn't going to work anymore. She was also unlikely to hold any grudge over what he had already done here. If anything she probably found him rather amusing at this point.

"Shit... I don't like it, but if I can't come up with something better soon... It's the only card I've got left to play.", he thought.

[Andromeda]

Alur had been watching the entire time. Since the Zeroth had been so kind as to give live demonstrations of his power. It gave her all she needed to examine his rhythm and flow. She absorbed the knowledge rapidly and analyzed it.

While events played out around her, she advanced in understanding until she finally lifted her hand up. A massive plume of fire filled the entire chamber sending out panicked screams. However, it immediately faded away and no one was anymore worse for wear. “I see how it works. Fascinating differences. Though it’s an unusual control, so it was far less controlled than I’m normally able to manage. That was a fruitful test. But it’s quite interesting crafting a remarkable illusion that is nearly real.”

The sudden display brought everything to a halt and turned attention to the Val. Walking over to the Zeroth with the same unnatural grace, Alur walked around them concluding her examination. “You don’t have any real offensive magic do you? Everything you’re doing is through this rather interesting brand magic you wield.”

The boss heard what the Val and the men around him all got back their resolve, no longer threatened by the Zeroth. “Making a fool of me, will ya!”

Glancing over her shoulder, Alur noticed the traders regrouping. “Seems that they have matters to settle with you. I’d rather much like to converse with you after this about your magic.” Alur walked smoothly out of range of the approaching men all wanting a piece of the Zeroth.

She stood next to the next curiosity that struck her fancy, the half dressed woman outbidding her. “I’m willing to give you the woman, if you grant me full access to examine both the woman and yourself. You have a very interesting magic I’ve very much like to learn more about. Would that work for you?”

[Heartless Angel]

The Val had finally made a move. As he'd expected, she had no trouble discerning the secret of his art given the time to process it. They truly were amazingly gifted people. His own people were more than proficient when it came to learning and understanding magic, yet to the Val it was as intrinsic to them as breathing was to him. She had even exceeded his expectations of the time it would take for her to piece it together and for his illusions to be blown away.

In a plume of flame his remaining illusions were blown from the minds of those he had afflicted. He let out a sigh, acknowledging defeat.

She spoke regarding his illusory prowess, he felt a certain sense of satisfaction that he'd managed to pique the interest of a Val.

He smirked. "There are certain limitations to illusions made from manipulated light and air vibrations, but a manipulated mind offers far more room for improvisation.", he said.

She further analyzed him, and correctly discerned that he wasn't a destroyer at all.

"You really are something. Yes, I've only studied the most rudimentary of destruction magic. This was all made possible by a relatively new field in Zerothi study. We call it neuromancy. When one uses magic in an attempt to change the world, the world pushes back. Minds, we have found, are often dissatisfied with the world, and as such are less resistant to change", he explained.

This revelation, also as expected, removed any fear from the men he had threatened into temporary submission.

He smirked. He had expected the Val to further complicate the problem, but in fact, she had simplified it greatly. If she had intended to speak with him later on, clearly she had no pressing desire to see his head parted from his body, which also meant that she didn't plan to interfere.

He looked into the eyes of the auctioneer with a confident grin. "Look, friend. The only reason you even knew I was here and didn't go home today with a pile of imaginary bills is because the Val happened to point out my deception. If she doesn't intend to interfere at this point, making a further fool of you would be only too easy.", he boasted.

He held up a single finger glowing with a pale light. "Hand crafted sensory data fed directly into multiple nervous systems of varied and radically different species, simultaneously and seamlessly integrated into each individual's true perceptions, that's a tricky thing to pull off. Memory modification is less so.", he said and the pale light pulsed, washing over the crowd. As long as the Val permitted it, they would remember only a relatively normal auction with a robed drunken Curoth being thrown out for disorderly conduct.

He resumed the disguise and made his way towards the Val. "I would be more than happy to discuss my neuromancy with you. It wouldn't at all surprise me if you already had some ideas for further advancements to it.", he said, satisfied with the outcome, though at some level, disappointed that he hadn't come up with the solution to the more difficult puzzle.

[Victoria]

Just as well that Shia decided to stay put, because as she predicted, the Val seamlessly figured out how the Zerathi's illusions worked. Whatever conversation she had with the Zerathi had all the tension in the air stop for a moment until it was all redirected back at the Zerathi again. If he would have just listened to her to begin with, this all wouldn't have even happened the way it did. However, the Val lady walked up next to her with an interesting proposition.

She stood up, dusting off her posterior that she landed on rather hard from the force blast out of nowhere. Apparently the Val also detected her own magic that she was more curious about. "Oh, is that all? But of course! I don't mind being examined.." she said with a wry smile. "I do have another magic I can do that I have yet to show, but I'm not sure if you'd like it very much if I did it to you." she explained as she adjusted her dress, lifting it up to cover up her breasts that had been exposed this entire time since she attempted to seduce the boss.

Meanwhile, Rina grabbed Katlyn's hand and put a hand on her shoulder. "It'll be okay. Just trust me. We'll rescue everyone else with time. We just need to actually plan things out instead of winging it." she said to reassure the woman who looked like she needed it. But then she heard the guards behind her approaching. She didn't want to make this a bigger mess than it already was, and she was sure Shia would win the auction anyway, so she stepped out of their way as not to interfere and started to head back the way she came.

[Andromeda]

Alur watched the Zeroth walk out of the auction hall after giving his parting words, the Val being the only one that his spell had no affect on. For Alur’s case everything that they wanted came to them. So they had no issues over the resolution. More research subjects always pleased Alur.

The men drew Katlyn back to the stage as everything happened, putting things to course. A bit of awkwardness momentarily jarred the transition back to normalcy. But the Val stepped forth to the stage. “I’m stepping down from the bidding.”

Graceful as always, they walked back through the aisle towards Shia. “I believe you know my residence, I look forward to seeing you tomorrow, six hours after sunrise. Do be prompt, I’m in meetings during later hours of the day. I’m very interested in seeing this other magic you claim to have.”

Pleased at the vast wealth the man suddenly came into, the boss looked around the room. “Any last calls?” The room remained in silence. Many looked disappointed to not have a piece of the survivors, while others eagerly looked forward to what secrets they could pull out of them. “Sold to the fine gentleman and his lovely woman for nineteen million mal and some extras.”

Katlyn didn’t really understand what was happening anymore, but appeared things were over. They escorted her off the stage towards the strange woman from before. ‘Can this woman really be trusted?’

[Heartless Angel]

He walked through the town, hoping to find a place where he could drink, and mull over the day's events. The town didn't seem to be lacking in such recreational facilities, and he soon found a place which seemed to be populated mostly by those appearing to have a good deal of wealth. He walked into the building with slight grin. "Well, I suppose the day hasn't been a complete loss. I've at least managed to leave with some interesting new knowledge regarding the Val and surface dweller economics", he mumbled. "Currency has been a particularly worthwhile lesson," he thought, as he produced more of his conjured counterfeits. After briefly gazing over the menu, he found a drink named after Anameleth's ascending river. It seemed that many surface dwellers still associated his people with wealth, excess, and luxury. He ordered the drink and found a table.

"Hmm. Interesting. This tastes absolutely nothing like the waters of the Stardust Stream. Not bad though.", he remarked, as he quickly consumed the strong blue alcoholic beverage.

He reflected on the many things he had learned in just a few short days of his journey to the surface world. As interesting as the Val was, he found the surface dwellers' system of trade even more unusual. "I was certain that the surface dwellers were fond of gold, yet it seems to have enraged most of them when I tried to show them that I could produce as much of it as they could possibly want... Why would they value something on the basis of others' lack of access to it?", he asked himself. His people had never even had to consider the concept of scarcity back in Anameleth, so this was a completely foreign concept to him. "I mean, do they just take pleasure in the knowledge that others don't have what they do? That doesn't make any sense at all...", he mumbled. "Though that might explain why they have the bizarre hobby of capturing each other and depriving them of things as basic as clothing... I'm beginning to see why my ancestors raised Anameleth into the sky. The surface world just doesn't make any sense...", he trailed off.

He began thinking about the other slaves that had already been sold off before his arrival. "How would I go about rescuing them? Assuming they weren't purchased by other Val, extracting them shouldn't pose much of an issue, but how would I even find them?", he asked himself. Looking down at the bite, still fresh on his arm, he had a thought. "I wonder... If they have sufficient genetic similarity, could I locate them via biomancy?", he asked himself. He also found it quite odd that the bite showed no sign of infection. Even among his people, whose hygiene was almost certainly far beyond the surface dwellers', there was enough bacteria on a person's teeth to almost always cause a bite to become infected. "Perhaps their biochemistry is particularly inhospitable to bacteria. That could explain why they appear so youthful even when they're allegedly more than three decades old.", he slurred. The beverage had begun to take effect. "My, these surface spirits are much stronger than the ones back home!", he commented.

[Victoria]

It didn't take long for everything to go back to normal, and the Val even rescinded from the bid war like she said she did which left Shia as the winner of the race. She clapped happily to herself, listening intently on the Val's instructions. With a nod, she waved the Val lady off as she was announced the winner. Despite her earlier seduction being interrupted it seemed the boss still remembered the part about her offering vouchers for her services as an insurance policy to make sure she won.

Shia smiled as she shuffled out another thicker wad of bills from her purse, presenting the five million she had on her. The mil she presented the boss earlier still sat on the stage floor along with her vouchers. Shia's client/boytoy brought over the rest of the cash he had on him. Explaining that the remaining two million were from his private retirement stash in the bank, the woman was soon handed over to Shia. She could only smile at the woman, Rina wiping some tense sweat from her brow.

"Things will be fine." Rina said to Katlyn. That was when Shia was handed the papers describing the woman's talents. She raised a brow at the description. She gazed into Katlyn's eyes and peered a little into her mind. "Let's head home, we have no reason to stay here anymore. It's about time you girls see some sunlight." she said, sending the message straight into Katlyn's mind as if to translate what she said for her.

As they were out of shot from the bandits, Shia removed the collar on Katlyn and pulled the cloak she used earlier out from her purse and slipped it around her, to at least give her some form of modesty despite being nude this whole time. "And let's get you some nice clothes for a change." she said to Katlyn. "What type of clothes do you like to wear? Something like mine?" she shows herself off.

"It says here you share my profession..." she adds, "But I'm not so sure about that." she said as she looked the woman over once more.

[Andromeda]

Listening to the strange woman, Katlyn came off a bit surprised that the nanomachines already had translated her language. It still failed to fully translate for the others yet. ‘I can understand her… But this doesn’t work both ways. Though the other woman with her that she bought seems to be able to talk with her. Perhaps, she’s able to understand us?’

Katlyn welcome something to cover her up. Even as loose as it was, it was better than nothing for now. Then she heard the woman ask her about her job. “I’ve heard you’re a hair dresser, though by your current appearance I’m guessing that’s a lie. If what I think you’re implying is correct, no. The bastard didn’t really grasp what I do, but seeing the state of society and culture here, I’m not surprised that such a luxury profession as mine would actually exist.”

She could see that she wasn’t making herself very clear to the woman. “What it says on your documents is an oversimplification of the truth. I’m a private masseuse and physical therapist if you’re looking for my job title. What it means is that I know the human body well enough that through my hands and tools, I’m able to relieve a person of their stress, soreness, stiffness and generally make their body feel like it should. The barbarian, I figured wouldn’t understand such an explanation, so I simply said I’m a stress reliever. I have a less than clean and pure past when I was starting out and so he just took that as me being a prostitute.”

Glancing around at the narrow alleys they walked through to get out of the shadier part of Althnor, she could see a raised part of the city in the distant with multi-colored lights floating about for some purpose. Katlyn looked back to the woman. “If you’re asking me to be one, you own me now. So I guess I don’t really have much of a choice in the matter. I can at least promise I’m very good at what I do.”

[Victoria]

"Oh, but I am a hair dresser. Do you not remember the makeover I gave you earlier?" she pointed at her masterpiece with a wry grin. The woman explained her actual profession. "Oohh..." she said with a giggle as she headed toward her home that resided within the red-light district. "I'm quite familiar with masseuses. We have them back at my homeland." she revealed a bit of trivia of her past. "So I take it your shady past meant you did happy ending massages?" she gave the woman a wink.

When Katlyn gave her a dejected response about her motive, she clicked her tongue and shook her head. "I don't think your husband would appreciate that." she said, grabbing Katlyn's hand very tenderly and stroking her ring finger. "I noticed the indent of a wedding ring when I did up your hair." she said with a smile. "I guess that means those neanderthals took your ring." she said, shaking her head with a sigh.

"Besides, I'm not one to force people to do anything." she said as she stared at Katlyn's eyes again, taking a peek at the girl's daydreaming. "Oh you poor thing.. I am so sorry that happened to you.." she said out of reflex. Then she caught herself and cleared her throat. "Sorry. I'm a bit nosy by nature and took a peek of those memories haunting you." she explained and brushed her finger against her cheek with a sheepish smile.

"I also don't own you, really. I don't even own Rina here. I bought her because I didn't want good talent to be wasted and I needed help running my salon." she said as she stopped at her two story house. Her client lived nearby, so had no issue heading back home for a bit of a break. "Though.. I wonder." she pondered aloud to herself. "It'll be a while before we can track down the rest of your people, so in the mean time, would you care to work your masseuse trade at my salon? I bet it'll be a hit." she asked.

[Andromeda]

“To put it simply, yes.” Katlyn answered to the woman’s question about her shady past. “I was young and lacked clients. I did whatever I needed at the time. But I keep a strictly professional and no sex policy now.”

When her hand was pointed out, she quickly became defensive about it. They had taken everything from her. All she had was her memories. She wasn’t sure if she would ever see her wedding band ever again. It wasn’t fancy, but it had value likely even in this land for the materials.

However, the woman immediately stepped on a landmine bringing up what happened. Katlyn froze up and felt chills down her spine. Just mentioning it was enough to make her relive it all again. She heard nothing else that the woman said to her. Her whole body shook with fear unable to escape. Their voices echoed in her mind. ‘Franklin! Franklin…’

[Heartless Angel]

Perhaps there was some wisdom to the notion of people having limited wealth. At least Celtorix began to think so a few hours and several creatively named drinks later. A person could easily succumb to temptation in this city with no limits on their spending. If he hadn't been magically enhancing the function of his liver, he would likely have required medical assistance by the time he had finished sampling the exotic liquors on offer in this bar.

Even with his magic reducing his intoxication, his speech was slurred, and his movements awkward. He began to think of the Val, and how quickly she had seen through his neuromancy. He was certain his spell would work on her ability to see magic, and at first it seemed that it had. She truly seemed to have been decieved until she touched the stone. Perhaps they had more than just one additional sense that Celtorix had neglected to disrupt. He was very much looking forward to his discussion with the Val. It then occurred to him that he had no idea how to find her again. In his haste to leave the auction before further disaster had a chance to unfold, he had forgotten to tell the Val where to look for him.

"Hmm... Those people at the auction seemed genuinely terrified by her presence, and mine for that matter. Perhaps the people of this city simply fear mages. Surely they wouldn't know where to seek the woman out.", he thought, as he consumed yet another colorful drink. "Hmm. That one tasted just like fireberries.", he said.

He recalled the Val speaking to the horned woman at the auction. She indicated that she may have known where to look for the Val. If he wanted to locate the Val, it seemed his best bet was to locate her. He hadn't gotten her name, but he had never seen her kind before. Surely someone would know where to find someone who stood out like her.

He left the Tavern, and took to the streets to seek information on the horned woman. After asking around for a while, someone had given him a name to go on, Shia.

He approached a couple he saw together on the street. The woman had nicely designed hair, similar to what the woman had done for the slave. "Excuse me, could either of you tell me where I might find a woman called Shia?" he inquired,still noticeably slurring his speech.

The man looked nervous when he asked the question, his female companion shot him a cold stare, and the man quickly denied any knowledge of her.

"Interesting... They seem to know her, yet are reluctant to tell me where she is... ", he mumbled, as he moved on to another person. He had noticed a pattern of men with women in tow exhibiting similar reactions. He decided it best to eliminate couples from his search.

He saw a well off looking man by himself, and decided to try his luck. The horned woman was clearly no pauper given her participation in the auction. "Excuse me, sir. Could you perhaps tell me where I might find Shia?", he asked.

The man looked him over briefly before responding, "There's no way you could afford her time". He then walked off with an entertained look upon his face.

"Interesting... So one must pay even for a conversation with this woman?", he asked himself. This world was very strange. Among his people, even the lowliest members of society regularly engaged in discussion with the upper echelons of the conclave.

He found another well off looking man, and thought he'd try his luck again.

"Pardon my interruption, but I was wondering if you might help me find Shia", he said.

"You mean the prostitute?", the man scoffed, he seemed offended.

Prostitute? He wasn't familiar with that word. Perhaps it was a title, and the man had taken offense to him failing to address Shia with the respect this society clearly had for her. He wouldn't make that mistake again. Given people's responses, the fact that people seemed hesitant to speak of her, concerned that she would have no time for a pauper, and their desire to address her with the proper respect, he concluded that a prostitute must be some form of political office.

He found yet another man by himself, and again tried to find information on this woman, but this time he made sure to show the proper respect.

"Excuse me, my good man. I'm looking for a prostitute.", he announced.

The man shook his head and answered with a look of disgust plain on his face. "Well, you won't find her in this part of town. Ask the ladies in the western edge of town, you might have better luck.", he told him.

At last, a solid lead to go on. He made his way towards the western edge. Women were a lot more plentiful in this area. Perhaps their society was matriarchal, and the women in the higher ranks of society preferred to stay isolated from the barbaric men of the surface world. He could hardly blame them.

He approached a well dressed woman and cleared his throat. "Excuse me ma'am, I am seeking a prostitute.", he said. The woman turned to him and briefly made eye contact. He was sure she was about to give him an answer, but instead slapped him in the face. Had he not shown proper respect?

After a few more similar encounters, he finally had a stroke of good luck. He decided that maybe he he would try his luck with someone who seemed a bit less classy, maybe they would be less sensitive to his improper etiquette. It paid off.

"Excuse me, ma'am. I'm trying to locate a prostitute.", he said, bracing himself for another slap to the face. Instead, the woman smiled and locked eyes with him. "Well, you've come to the right place. But it's going to cost you. Fifty thousand Mal, and not a single coin less.", she said.

He had never encountered people with such an obsession with material gain, but he supposed this was something he would just have to get used to if he were to spend time on the surface. He nodded in agreement, and again conjured his illusory money to cover the expense. The strange woman pocketed the money, and took him by the arm, licking her lips.

Finally, things were beginning to go his way for the first time since he'd arrived. The young woman escorted him into a house, one he could only assume belonged to Shia. The woman turned to him and looked at him expectantly. She then began removing her clothing. He remembered that Shia herself wore very little at the auction, and went out of her way to expose more of her body. Perhaps this was some custom among these people. He thought it best to play along, lest he offend someone again.

[Victoria]

As soon as Shia spoke about the incident that happened to Katlyn, the woman went into shock. It took her a moment to even notice because she'd been focused on other things but by the time she noticed she cursed herself. "She went into shock. Let's get her inside and lay her down." she said, having something up her sleeve.

"Isn't there some kind of mental therapist she can go see?" Rina piped in as she followed Shia into her home, guiding Katlyn inside whilst being guided by Shia to a nearby sofa.

"Yes, but my way's quicker. At least I hope." she said as she moved the pillows around to make room for Katlyn. Once Rina set the woman down on the sofa and laid her down, Shia looked over the woman's eyes. A quick glance revealed that the woman was no longer home. She had some appointments set up today, but hopefully this wouldn't take long.

"You may see me disappear for a bit. I'm gonna be going into Katlyn's nightmare and see if I can save her from it. Don't ask how, it's just something my race of people can do. Think of it like magic, I guess." she said. She was sure Rina knew what magic was, at least the basics.

She closed her eyes and placed her hand upon Katlyn's forehead. Her body began to glow and turn translucent as her essence flew into the window of the woman's mind. Upon entering, a shiver ran up her spine. The place had no light, only dark. There were voices all over the place. She focused to hone in on Katlyn's presence. She decided to follow the voices and stumbled onto the terror that makes the woman freeze.

She strode right on in and placed her hand on her shoulder, giving her lucidity and consciousness. "Hey. You're going to be okay." she said. "This is just a bad nightmare from a recent memory. It's not happening anymore." She punched one of the thugs in the face and he dissipated into mist.

"This is your dream world and you're the Queen. Always remember that." she said. "As far as real life goes, I won't let something like this happen to you again. You can trust me on that." she said.

[Andromeda]

Hearing and feeling it, reliving the moments again and again as though it was the first time. Struggling to feel like you’re still human when everything is screaming at you that you’re nothing. The crawling horror of knowing it’s all so wrong and yet there’s no regret or remorse from them. Nothing was wrong. No one was stopping it.

It was all cold and dark, an unending void meant only to haunt and bind until every bone, fiber and essence was snapped, cracked and crushed into nothingness. A bottomless solitude of never being alone, yet still isolated. Clawing against sheer cliffs with countless hands grabbing and pulling you down.

Katlyn experienced it all. She had pushed it out, barely keeping herself together. A fragile house of cards easily and effortlessly collapsed with even a breeze. She collapsed back into what she thought she escaped. It never left her.

“Franklin…” She struggled to focus on him as her only remaining anchor. The one piece she could hold and trust.

And then for some reason, she hear a voice that was not her own. It wasn’t in her head. It wasn’t the men that she kept hearing. Unfortunately, it wasn’t even Franklin, as she hoped it might. A strange voice that shouldn’t be in her head, that became more familiar.

Knocking parts of the nightmare, Katlyn gained some of her mental fortitude back enough to realize who it was. The woman from before, the one that bought her. “You again…something about this doesn’t feel right.”

“This is your dream world and you’re the Queen. Always remember that.”

‘Huh? Dream world?’ She didn’t really understand any of it. The woman wasn’t making any sense to her. All she understood was that she felt better than before.

“As far as real life goes, I won’t let something like this happen to you again. You can trust me on that.”

“It’s not that easy. Doesn’t matter if it won’t happen again, it already did. You can’t just wave a hand and move past it. I’m doing everything I can just to keep my sanity together at times. I can’t escape it as much as I try. It’s always here.” Feeding on her certainty dark mists drew back in surrounding her. The voices came back with renewed vigor dragging her away from the woman even as Katlyn trying to dig her hands into anything to hold back.

Nightmare held on to her firmly carrying her deeper into the pits of despair.

[Victoria]

Katlyn didn't seem to understand the situation she was in, let alone where she was. She didn't want to actually manipulate the woman's dream, but she had to do something to get her point across. "Yes, it did happen, and I am truly sorry. But you have to be strong and move past this, otherwise it will continue to consume you and you will be nothing but a former shell of yourself. You aren't alone anymore." she said as she placed her hand on the woman's shoulder.

However, soon after Katlyn was set in her ways and convinced that she couldn't escape the nightmare, that was when it returned much stronger than before. She grabbed onto Katlyn's hand before she was fully enveloped. The darkness surrounding the two of them. She peered into Katlyn's eyes and decided to be frank with her.

"Listen. All of this is just a bad nightmare. This darkness is consuming you because you are convincing yourself it will never go away." she never blinked. Never wavered in her conviction. "I am inside the part of your mind that controls your dreams. If I wanted to I could wave a hand and make all of this go away." she explained.

"But none of that will matter as long as you yourself continue to fall prey to your traumatic memory. You can escape it. You just have to believe in yourself!" she exclaimed as she pressed her forehead on Katlyn's own with a bit of affection. Sure, she didn't know who Katlyn really was, but Katlyn did and she was sure Katlyn was stronger than this. "Remember who you are, Katlyn. Just try."

[Andromeda]

As Katlyn was pulled away by the darkness the woman grabbed out to stop her. It surprised her and gave her a tiny bit of hope that someone wanted to save her. But the all-encompassing void held a powerful grip on her. Every touch and pain, every motion and act, every voice and breath cover her in a sickening slime that wouldn’t wipe away. It was disgusting. She was disgusting.

“You just have to believe in yourself!” the woman shouted as she touched her forehead. “Remember who you are, Katlyn. Just try.”

Suddenly flashes of happier times came to her. Images of her family together playing and laughing. Franklin at her side when she had Abby. The good moments that she could never forget and would always hold onto. So many things flooded her thoughts to remind her of her life. Of her home, where she belonged and where it was safe.

The place she had to return.

Tendrils around them started to thin and scatter into particles. Waves of white light washed over everything driving back the darkness. A bright horizon stretched out before them.

Light shined, but with light shadow still exists.

Katlyn rested to her feet without the strange world. “I’ll try.”

[Heartless Angel]

He left the woman's home a few hours later, again in his true form. He hadn't learned anything about Shia, but he had learned that a prostitute was, in fact, not the title of a political official.

"Hey, wait!", the woman called from her door as he walked away. He turned to meet her eyes. She pointed at him, an attempt to remind him that he had forgotten to disguise himself again. He quickly rectified the error, and again appeared as the robed figure he was upon his arrival.

"Thank you, I had nearly forgotten.", he said with a smile.

The woman seemed somewhat disappointed to see him go. "You'll come back someday, won't you?", she asked, "I'd love to hear more about your home, I'd always dreamed of seeing it someday", she continued.

He wasn't sure if she was being friendly, or just trying to create a repeat customer, but she did seem legitimately curious about his people. It seemed that many people on the surface were. Even the Val had temporarily lost interest in an entirely new species when he had revealed himself. It was unusual to him, who had grown up seeing almost nothing but other Zeroth to see a society so intrigued by them.

"Perhaps someday I shall take you to see my home", he lied. He rather doubted he would ever return to this city once his business here was concluded. Though interesting enough to merit study, the ways of the surface people still made him uncomfortable. This had been the first time he'd mated with someone devoid of any emotional investment. It struck him as hollow and meaningless, yet apparently it was something common enough on the surface that many had turned it into a profession. It was also the first time he had been with a lesser race. He was still somewhat awe stricken by the flexibility of the Curoth female. He thought it worth looking into whether that was a common trait of the species, or if this woman was simply an exceptional individual.

What he had learned was more than worth the trip, yet he still hadn't learned anything about the location of Shia.

Perhaps he had been going about this the wrong way. In addition to her unique physiological traits, she also wielded a sort of magic he had never encountered. It had certain similarities to neuromancy, yet was clearly something distinctly different. He had been able to establish a mental connection with the woman before when he felt her magic. Now that he knew to look for it, maybe he could do it again.

He attempted to adjust his eye to fixate on magic that mimicked brainwaves, as his own neuromancy did. It was a rather broad approach, but it seemed the best way to start.

[Victoria]

Her pep talk seemed to do the trick, at least part of it from what she could tell. Soon enough the darkness surrounding them had dissipated and turned into a white light. With all of the pressure of the past gone at least for now, Shia thought that most of the heavy work was done. She hoped she was of some help to make Katlyn realize that the mind is a powerful thing.

She slipped back out into the real world and left Katlyn to her own devices. "She should be better now." was the first thing she said upon manifesting from a silhouette of light. Given that Katlyn was still nude behind that cloak, she thought she would head into her closet and pull out something more appropriate for when Katlyn would wake back up.

Once she did, a sundress was laying on top of her for her to wear. "Say.. until we find out where everyone went and have enough clout to save them, why not put your masseuse talents to use at my salon? I bet it'd be a hit." she proposed to Katlyn. "Would be better than doing nothing."

[Andromeda]

Groaning a little, Katlyn returned to consciousness in new surroundings. It took her back a little as she coiled up into the couch trying to figure out what happened. There was clearly a gap in her memory. Then she heard someone walking around.

The strange woman with the horns appeared in her vision along with the woman that survived the crash with her. Both seemed to be waiting on her and before long her vision disappeared once more. Though this time it was clothing, something she had been desperately wanting ever since they dragged her out of the cell this morning for the auction. They stripped all of them of their clothing, likely selling that as well on the side.

Katlyn leaned forward to look at what had been tossed her way. A dress, a charming soft pink and blue sundress with strings down the lower back to tie it in. Dropping the cloak on the couch, she didn’t care much about modesty at this point, both of them had seen her naked and they were women. Nothing that was going to embarrass her.

While she slipped into the dress the woman started making a proposal for her. “Does such a place have that much demand for my skills?” She figured what she already had seen what she offered wasn’t even something people considered. They had more worries, like living, getting money and surviving until the next day, that getting a massage would be the least of people’s worries.

Used to having the clothing sew itself together, Katlyn had trouble coordinating behind her to tie in the back. The dress felt a little big on her, but it would do. As Rina noticed her fumbling and aided her in finishing up, she felt that breeze pass through her dress. “I assume panties and bras exist in the world?”

[Victoria]

Shia giggled. "There is no outright demand, but I have seen signs of tension that my craft can't relieve." she said. The auction itself started in the real early morning and ended when the sun was high up in the sky. It probably would have ended sooner if things hadn't gotten out of hand. Once things had settled down, she finally realized the time. "Rina, can you be a dear and open up my salon for me? It's about time I open shop." she said as she grabbed the key from between her boobs and tossed it to her. "My shop is next door on the left," she said, pointing to her left. "I'm sure you can handle the fort while we go buy our friend some essentials." she said with a smile.

In the mean time, she unzipped her dress and let it fall to the floor, having no sense of modesty. "Oh, we do have undergarments. I could lend you mine, but.." she said as she looked Katlyn over and looked down at her own rack. "You don't seem to be my size. So we'll have to go shopping for you. But I think you can wear a pair of my panties with no hassle." she said as she walked to her room holding her dress on her arm, dropping it in her hamper. She grabbed a pair of panties from her drawer and set them aside on her bed.

She dug around for a matching set and slipped them on before she went into her closet and pulled out her buttoned blouse and pair of slacks. "Let's go get you some undergarments. Here's a pair of my panties for now. Might be a bit more risque than you're used to, but it's what I like to wear." she said as she headed for the door.

[Heartless Angel]

"Hmm... I was certain I felt something this direction, but the eye lost its target. If that was her, she finished whatever she was doing.", he mumbled. His eye had lead him in search of a form of mental magic he hadn't encountered before. It wasn't exactly like what Shia had tried to use against him at the auction, but there were some similarities.

He looked in all directions, but the city all looked the same to him. For all he knew, he could have been going in circles. "Navigating this maze is more difficult than I would have guessed. Everything around here looks identical. This place is nothing like Anameleth...", he mumbled.

He was running out of ideas. How difficult could it possibly be to track down a woman with horns upon her head? She didn't exactly blend in to the crowd back at the auction.

As he walked past an alley, he heard a muffled scream. He turned to see another young woman being held by a shady character with a knife at her throat and a hand over her mouth. "These people truly are barbarians...", he said to himself, as he made his way into the alley.

"C'mon, don't be like that. This doesn't have to hurt", the ruffian said, as he tried to slip the woman's top off.

The more he saw, the more this place sickened him. "Hey, let her go.", he said, in the gravelly voice he had crafted to match his appearance.

The Savage looked at him with the same disgusting smirk he'd had when he threatened the woman. "Oh, why should I? You gonna make me?", he asked.

Celtorix nodded.

The man laughed and released his hold on the young woman. "This should be fun.", he said, as he pointed the knife at Celtorix.

The woman quickly ran from the alley without even a word of thanks.

Celtorix shook his head. Was this truly such a common thing in this world that even the victim had nothing to say about it? In the moment, his mind had been distracted by these thoughts, the man lunged. Celtorix quickly met his gaze, and his eyes briefly glowed blue.

Screams of terror could be heard echoing out from the alley.

Celtorix walked back out into the open, only briefly glancing back at the man, now collapsed in a heap, his eyes wide open as if he were in shock. "You're lucky I'm a neuromancer, and not a destroyer.", he mumbled, again taking to the streets in search of Shia. The sooner he could leave this place, the better.

He again looked around trying to get his bearings. "Damn... I don't remember which way I came from.", he said.

[Andromeda]

“If you think it’s a pliable skill, I’m willing to work for my keep. Though I’m only familiar with human anatomy, so I’m not going to know the muscle structure and pressure points. Some of those I saw looked human-ish, but I doubt it’s exact. I’ll need practice unless you got anatomy books lying around for all of the different species you serve.”

She followed the woman as far as the woman giving her some privacy. And agreed mentally, that there was no way a bra from the woman would suit her. The cup sizes were too far apart. But she still produced something to wear.

“Might be a bit more risqué than you’re used to, but it’s what I like to wear.”

Katlyn put it on without much hesitation willing to take anything, but it wasn’t really that bad as she was expecting from the way the woman had dressed. “Just because I’m married doesn’t mean I don’t spice things up in the bedroom once and while.” She followed her out the door and to the streets once more. Feeling a little guilty about leaving the other woman behind, she looked over at what the horned woman’s shop. ‘Hope she’ll be alright on her own. This is still a foreign and new world to all of us. We aren’t used to seeing people that aren’t human or even people with more aggressive tendencies.’

[Victoria]

"I always thought that if they were Eowanoid, that everyone was the same. But you're the expert. I might know someone who has anatomy books." she replied. That someone was someone that usually maintained the library. Shia didn't help but giggle at her retort. "Touche, madam. ..That reminds me. I don't think I know your name. Mine's Zhang Shia. Just call me Shia if you like." she said as she escorted her to the nearby clothing shop.

"When we get there, I'll have you get measured for your size so that way we can get you something real comfortable. Also because I'm not sure we have the same clothing sizes that you do." she explained as they arrived at the shop. Katlyn could see right away if she inspected the clothes that there had been a small, medium, and large size when it came to clothes. But women's undergarments were a whole other beast entirely.

Shia spent a moment trying to convince the seamstress to take some measurements before she bought anything and so she did with a little reluctance. The woman had a very attractive upper body, but the lower body left something to be desired, or at least would fright the Eoweas back in her homeland. The seamstress was a drider, and while she was beautiful her personality left a little to be desired. Maybe she was just having a bad day.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to eat you. Just let me get some measurements real quick." she said as she wielded a measuring tape. If Katlyn didn't freak out, then she would have the woman slip off her dress for a moment to get some accurate measurements of her bust.

[Andromeda]

“The general structure is probably the same, but what the muscles connect to and natural thickness will have different factors and everyone has different appendages that I don’t know how they function with the rest of the body. Everything in the body is connected in more ways than most realize. Something in your toe can give you pains in your back. Knowing the right points on the body you can cause a lot of pain or relief and I wouldn’t want to be making such a mistake on a client. Until I understand each species body better I’d limit what services I’d offer just to be safe. Those closer to human with fewer differences probably would be almost identical, so I could probably give them more options.”

Amongst their chatting, the woman finally gave her name, which she had been lacking. “…That reminds me. I don’t think I know your name. Mine’s Zhang Shia. Just call me Shia if you like.” She had this unnerving feeling like the woman already knew her name and knew more about her than she should, somehow.

Katlyn nodded trying figure out if she could place the name, but nothing really came to her. “Zhang Shia…” she repeated to hear it herself. “I’m Katlyn Mills. Katlyn is fine. Speaking of…I never had the chance yet to thank you for helping both of us out in that situation. I’m not sure what sort of thing I’d be in if someone else won the bid.” Which made her think about those that were not so fortunate. ‘I have to figure out a way to rescue everyone…somehow…’

She had to keep a close pace with the horned woman so not to get lost in the city. It was tightly packed together and thick with people even where they were. At least, it wasn’t too long before they reached a small shop that the woman seemed to know the shop owner well from the way their chatted. Katlyn poked her head around seeing the offerings, which were smaller than what she was used to, but still better than her expectations. It just seemed more natural that they would have a poor selection. Her immediate reaction was to start looking for cup sizes, but found there was no such familiar measurement system. They had some unique system that at least felt like it might have been standardized, but she felt like it was more randomly selected rather than accurate. Though they looked handcrafted and not machine made, so inaccuracies seemed to be common.

The shopkeeper hadn’t been fully visible to Katlyn with stock and shelving disguising the lower half of the woman. But there was an odd foreboding that she had in her stomach. The height felt off as well as the way she moved and the vibrations that when through the floor boards. Katlyn soon realized why everything felt a little off in the store as well.

She gazed up first needing to look up more than expected to the woman, only to see there was far more below. “A spider?” she muttered as she staggered a step back. A bit of sweat started to build up on her back. Trying to keep her natural instincts in check as a little difficult. ‘It’s just another species. She’s not dangerous, but she’s a spider!’

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to eat you. Just let me get some measurements real quick,” the spider woman said, but Katlyn didn’t understand anything that she said.

Katlyn rapidly shot her arm out several times trying to grab on to Shia only grabbing air. Several failures went out like she was pawing the air until the horned woman realized that she was reaching for her. The hand finally grabbed onto Shia’s wrist and pulled her close. “W-what did she say?”

[Victoria]

It had only just dawned on Shia that Katlyn could only understand her naturally because her native tongue might have had similarities to hers. The shopkeeper Natsuki on the other hand, spoke an entirely different language that Katlyn didn't pick up on. "Oh, right. She said she's not going to eat you and just wants to take your measurements so she can craft clothing for you." she explained with a bright smile.