Poisonous Fox

Of course, these were mere excuses, which I castigated myself for as Ay stared me down.

Did she even recognize me, I wondered. Given her smirk, the uniform I still wore, and my distinctive lilac fur and cyan eyes, it was very likely that she would make the connection.

She was definitely smirking.

I did not like this.

***

“Well, well,” Ay said, a smirk plain upon her voice as she dropped down beside me, exhibiting enough nonchalance to bely a frightening amount of confidence.

I backed away from her, tensed and ready to spring. I was watching her closely. My mouth partially ajar, allowing me to taste the alleyway’s disgusting air so long as I could gain a hint as to Ay’s intentions.

Ay began circling in a wide, slow, and luxurious manner, tapping her bovine chin as she considered me, looking at me, weighing me, and likely recognizing me.

Many thoughts ran through my head, most of them negative. Most of the ramifications that I considered would be detrimental. Afterall, this was not a civilization built upon equality. And while me being non-human might gain some sympathy, it might also not. In fact, it might have the opposite effect and further strain any sympathy that might have been there. Afterall, she was a non-human who was forced to live as a non-human every day of her life, and likely suffered for it. I was a non-human that could blend in near perfectly and seamlessly.

But even if she never held my Guise against me, she was still a liability. If she spread the word that Jackie the student and girl living at Ma’Ritz was a beast, then there might be an ambush, potential slavery, or all manner of extortions that just seemed too horrible to fully imagine.

“Well?” Ay said, turning more fully towards me and leaning herself against a dirty brick wall. “Cat got your tongue?”

A pun, I thought, that was what Ay chose to go with? It astounded me, left me off balance, and caused vulnerabilities to form that should have remained hidden. Of course, the second my wariness began to slip, an internal alarm cried out and pulled my attention back to her. The damage was mitigated, but not nonexistent.

“I am not a cat,” I said, slightly huffing, before clicking my mouth shut. The words had slipped my lips before I thought them through, normalizing her behavior and her supposition, which would limit my options.

“Yeah…” Ay said. She frowned and tilted her head one way, then the other. “I see that. What are you, anyways?”

I crossed my arms and stared at her, remaining silent instead of revealing anything further. I still had yet to decide on a course of action, but my options were dropping off quickly, and soon I would be left with naught at all, except passively following the course of events to their conclusion.

What I desired was for her to distance this identity with my Guise altogether. However, I doubted that this was a possibility. Otherwise, why had she appeared here and now? It could have been curiosity, I supposed, but I thought she might have recognized the costume, or perhaps some other indicator that her alterations had granted her. Thus, I refrained from doing anything so foolish as outright declaring that I lacked knowledge on Ay’s identity. For I feared what such a person would do to pursue their own humor.

Instead of denying, I delayed.

“Did you arrive here merely to stare?” I asked in as neutral of a tone as I could manage. “Have you been informed prior that this is rude to do?”

She chuffed, something close to a scoff but conveying amusement instead. An odd expression for her to choose to make.

“Ya know, that must have slipped the instructor’s mind.”

“Hm,” I said, angling away from her, towards the direction that the Peacekeepers had traveled, further into the lesser residential neighborhoods of Blossom Hill. “Be sure to raise this criticism with them, then. I would stay to perhaps provide some additional instruction, but I must be off.”

“Yeah?” she asked. “Where’s it you’re headed? Cause it almost seems like you’re rushing off towards something nef-far-rius,” she finished, almost sounding as though she were sounding out the most complicated word I had heard from her yet.

“Oh, nothing of the sort, I assure you. I merely have an appointment to keep.”

“Huh,” she said, beginning to walk in my direction. She was working her jaw back and forth.

I froze once more, halting in my own tracks. All of my attention was focused upon Ay as she approached. My false-arm coiled and tightened its grip upon my ribs in preparation.

But then Ay kept moving on, passing me, until she poked her head from the alleyway, making a show of looking both ways.

“Sure you wanna go this way?” she asked. “Seems a bit risky. Y’know. Considering…”

There were a substantial number of reasons that she would state that, but I could only confirm one of those reasons without implicating my identity as Jackie, although from her familiarity, I sensed doing so was a lost cause. But, even so, I felt it best to pursue the possibility of ambiguity.

“My obligations would take me in that direction,” I answered, shifting the satchel of ill-gotten gangs to find a more comfortable position.

“Uh-huh,” Ay said, giving a speculative and dubious glance. “Seems foolish, but who’m I to judge. Still though, seems like it’d be a good chance to maybe cover up, y’know?”

I allowed my tongue to pass from my lips, but I worried that I would give the impression of a dog lolling its tongue, so I quickly stopped.

“Yeah, just something to think about–” she started, before I heard it.

In the distance, there was a bellow and the sound of clashing. Several men and women shouted, with most of the content garbeled by the distance, but the sense they carried was that of military precission. Ay heard as well, cockign her head and smiling, ruefully.

“-but, seems like my fun’s getting cut short. So run along no, yeah? Just be sure to hide away that adorable –” she finished, disappearing in a flash of white smoke. A pop sounded from directly before me, followed by displaced air carrying fragrance of strawberries and sweat-caked fur. “-boopable little snoot!” Ay reappeared directly before me, leaned in with a lurid grin, tapped a finger against my muzzle, and then disappeared with an abortive cackle.

I failed to react in time, though after she disappeared my symbiote lashed through the air in which she had just vacated. I waited a pause, then turned about and head the opposite direction, layering an Illusion to conceal me from any prying eyes. When I felt certain I had escaped Ay altogether, I scurried up a wall to a low rooftop, from which I bounded along, roof to roof, until I found myself several blocks away.

Once absolutely certain I was alone, I found a hidden nook between a chimney and a balustrade, and I once more began applying my Guise.

I took a circuitous route back towards Laverna’s Cup.

It was a point of Belobog’s arrogance that she had chosen her base of operations to reconvene after a high risk sortie. Were she to consider the possibility of being followed and trailed, she might have chosen one or more intermediary locations.

Regardless, I arrived from the rooftops, jumping down and lightly landing on my feet, barely raising the dust on the ground with my passing.

After donning my Guise, I had slipped into a neutral outfit with soft leather boots. While the echoes of Peacekeepers rousing the city echoed in the distance, I had no further encounters. The Peacekeepers, Knights, and Vigilants all remained distant problems, leaving me to stew upon my primary concern, which was Belobog and her crew.

I had significant concerns that now would be when they betrayed me, stabbing me in the back, either figuratively or literally, and robbing me of my gains. They could even attempt to keep the gains while selling me off to the Baron to satisfy some vindictive and petty noble largesse.

A part of me wondered if it would not be best to simply disappear now. I had the Grimoire in my posession. I could simply leave.

But then I would lose out on Belobog’s investigative resources, and my own efforts had returned naught regarding Alchemist Charson and the quest I had received from Emboru.

The parasitic false-arm twitched at the thought of simply leaving. It disagreed with the wiser course of cowardice. Likely, it considered itself equal to any adversity we might encounter. If that were the case, then it undoubtedly suffered from a diminutive imagination, as there were plenty of counters available, namely fire, and other such accelerants.

My concerns were the reason that I dallied as I approached the bar.

My concerns were the excuse I might have given for loitering to the side of the entryway, straining my senses for any signs of betrayal or awaiting ambush.

I could just barely make out voices within, none seeming hushed, especially not the twins. Ay was her regular boisterous self, chuckling and slapping the bartop.

“-good fight,” Bee grunted. “Pity to end so quick.”

“If it went much longer, Velvetcall woulda caught up. For the best we made a strategic exit–” Belobog explained.

“Mean we ran with our tails tucked, huh?” Ay countered with her usual irreverence.

I was growing increasingly confident that no immediate betrayal was waiting in the wings, but now I wondered what advantage they might let slip. I continued to listen for several minutes, although largely their chatting remained inane recountings of their embellished deeds. That was, until, Ay raised a concerning observation.

“Bored,” Ay stated.

“Drink,” Bee grunted, as though telling his sister to silence herself with that sole word.

“Yeah. But still. Bored… I’m bored!” she shouted. “What’s takin the new girl so long? Think she got busted?”

Bee snorted.

“Ha, yeah. Be fun if she did. Especially with how confident she acted.”

“I would be surprised if she were picked up,” Belobog said. “And it’s not like we gave her a timeline for when to show up. Can’t really say she’s late. ‘Sides, what’s the rush?”

“Cuz I want loot,” Ay whined. “Ugh. How’d she even make a mess of it? Wasn’t she supposed to be in and out? It’s like she kicked the Baron in the nuts and laid his wife. Is he married?”

“Eh… technically, yes?” Belobog said.

“He is?!”

“Yeah, but it’s one of those political contracts with more paper than relations… I don’t think she even lives in Southbridge.”

“Huh. Well, whatev. But, like, the new girl. Think she’s bailed?”

“...that would be incredibly foolish of her to do so,” Belobog said.

“That wasn’t a no.”

“No. It wasn’t a no.”

“I know she’s holding out on us,” Ay said, almost conspiratorially. “So, when I was on my way back, I had an interesting little meetup, and I couldn’t–”

“-gonna hafta stop you there,” Belobog cut in. “Pretty sure she just showed up.”

“What. Really?”

“Yup.”

“Just now?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Seems… convenient.”

“What’re you saying?”

“Just sayin, it’s awfully coincide-ntal…”

Meanwhile, as soon as I heard her start to mention a suspicious encounter, I had started towards the door. When I heard Belobog mention my presence, I hastened my pace even further. Seconds later, I entered the bar, finding Ay, Bee, and Belobog sitting at the bar, with Joe standing behind it seemingly amused. Notably, Joe was wearing a more refined outfit, resembling what some of the partygoers had worn at the party I had just arrived from.

“Speak of the devil,” Joe said with a twinkle in his eyes.

Belobog winced and uttered under her breath, “and she doth appear.”

Ay gave her some side-eye but ignored her otherwise.

“Some mightily suspicious timing, there,” Ay said with a smirk.

I shrugged, sliding up to sit at the edge of the bar. I settled the satchel of loot down on the bartop, which Joe nodded at.

“That the goods?” Joe asked.

“The loot?” Ay added before I could confirm. “Bout time. What took you even?” she asked.

I wanted to bemoan the unprofessionalism and risky behavior exhibited, but I refrained from making my exasperation known. However, a gentle chiding by demonstrating an ideal would not be remiss. Thus, I explained my prolonged absence, neatly sidestepping my penchant for eavesdropping.

“I verified that I had no tails,” I said. “Could the same security measures be claimed by the rest of you?”

“Ha. As if we’d need ‘em,” Ay jested.

She was failing to take my advice to heart. Ultimately, this would be a detriment to the crew. I hoped Belobog had plans to account for this deficiency, and that she would not solely rely upon her psychic talents. Afterall, inexplicable powers could be circumvented.

Meanwhile, Joe pulled an elaborate green bottle from somewhere below the bar. Other than a few engravings, the bottle was bereft of labeling. However, the quality of the glass alone demonstrated wealth.

“Bout time we get the good stuff,” Ay said. Her eyes were drawn to the bottle. But when Joe placed only pulled a single tumbler on the bar-mat, she narrowed her eyes. “That’s gonna be for me.”

Joe scoffed in a friendly way. “As if,” he said. “Haven’t you had enough?” It was subtle, but he had molded his mannerisms in a way that was somewhat similar to Ay’s own behavior. I noticed, I thought that Belobog noticed, but Ay most likely had failed to identify the subtle manipulation.

“Nah,” Ay said. “Never enough. Y’know?”

“I know,” Joe said, winking at her and pulling out another tumbler.

Belobog cleared her throat. “If we’re breaking that out, I wouldn’t mind some as well, yeah?”

Joe rolled his eyes and went to grab another tumbler. Before he finished grabbing it though, he glanced up at Bee. “What about you, big guy?”

Bee’s nostrils flared.

“No,” Bee said, after a slight pause. He tipped his tankard towards himself to check its contents. “Take a refill, though.”

“Got it,” Joe said.

In the end, he poured four doubles over neat. Joe, Belobog, Ay, and myself, we all received one.

“Cheers?” Ay offered, lifting her drink up.

Joe clinked his glass to hers. Belobog rolled her eyes and did the same. Not wishing to create superfluous enmity, I also joined in.

“Cheers,” Joe said.

“To a job well done,” I added, hoping that I had avoided overstepping while still providing a memorable joining to their social graces.

“To chaos and ruin!” Belobog said, adding a touch of the dramatic.

My eyebrows may have raised slightly, but I smoothed them down quickly. I could not be certain how serious Belobog’s statement had been. Especially so considering none of the others seemed to make anything of it, except for amusement. Ay snorted a laugh before throwing her tumbler back, downing the contents all in one gulp. Which, admittedly, was less impressive for a Meohr than it would have been for a human, but still notable.

I brought my own drink to my lips and allowed myself time to examine its complexities. It was sweet, but not sickeningly so, and I could tell the flavor would be nuanced across the entire palate. I allowed myself to breathe in its scents, before it ever touched my tongue. The liquor carried a hint of true licorice, with perhaps an undertone of vanilla and concerningly the faintest whiff of almonds. Were I not somewhat immune to Alchemics, I would not have taken the risk. Afterall, there were plenty of methods to slip poison, and the fact that the others imbibed from the same pouring offered no protection from an experienced assassin.

However, I was immune to all but the most severe doses of alchemical solutions, and as this included poisons and venoms, I felt confident in my ability to survive any potential foul-play, at least from this vehicle. As I wished to further enjoin myself to the team, I felt somewhat compelled to also share in this drink. I decided that I would do so. But before I did, I accounted for the fact that my persona was still somewhat suspicious of them, as acting naive would gain me no favors. I also accounted for the fact that these potential betrayers were unaware of my Talents, such as my alchemical immunity, and I wished to keep it this way.

Thus, I intentionally delayed imbibing until after I had visibly confirmed all the others had already drunk from their tumblers.

Only then, did I imbibe.

Truly, I could taste the quality of the liquor. It tingled at the back of my throat and continued its warm slide down my esophagus and into my stomach.

“Good, right?” Ay asked with amusement.

I nodded slowly. “Indeed. I might wish to partake again in the future.”

“It costs an arm and two legs for a reason,” Joe said as he stopped the bottle and re-hid it below the bar. As he stood up, he grabbed a felt hat and an ornamental cane, before heading towards the exit from behind the bar. “But if you’d excuse me from the revelries, I need to depart for a somewhat neutral to unpleasant meeting.”

“This time of night?” Bee asked, eyeing the man with suspicion.

I also felt suspicion and my immediate desire was to tail the man to confirm that he was not about to betray me. Especially after a rather suspicious toast.

“Ah, let him go,” Ay said, waving him off. “Just some boring shit. Prolly giving the client some deets.”

Belobog sputtered, “How–what? No, how, how’d you know that?” she asked Ay.

Joe gave an amused smile, wave, and finally a wink, all before placing his high-society hat upon his head and departing through the front entrance.

Once more, I quelled my instinct to follow. I would not be able to depart immediately without rousing suspicions from those that remained, which would flow back towards Joe, near negating any advantage spying upon this meeting might have gained. Additionally, I had matters to settle with the team in regards to me collecting my prize… and perhaps in confirming my Guise would remain confidential. Although, other than bloodshed, I was drawing a blank in how to achieve the latter.

“Pffft,” Ay said, waving Belobog off. “Like it isn’t obvious. You shirkin’ on the paperwork, and our man Joe pickin’ up the slack. Plus, you saw his getup. No way he ain’t. Y’know?”

Belobog huffed but gave a half-hearted shrug. “I guess you got me there.”

“Not used to others havin’ a brain, huh?” Ay taunted.

“It surprises me, too,” Bee added in a serious fashion.

Ay mimed a blade to the heart and lolled her long tongue as she hung her head.

“Bleurgh,” Ay added.

I eyed her suspiciously, glad that I had Bee sitting between her and I. Her dramatics and play-acting were difficult to model, and I kept finding her behavior to be startling. Having a buffer between us was most-welcome. Although, Bee did stink slightly of gore and wet dog. Unfortunately, proper hygiene was not guaranteed in Southbridge.

“But seriously,” Ay said, quickly dropping her act, likely growing bored. “Gotta talk about the new girl. She’s been holdin’ out.”

My shoulders tensed slightly, more on my left side than my right. My body was growing more asymmetrical by the day, thanks to the symbiote’s internal growth.

“Not this again,” Belobog complained, saving me from interjecting in a suspicious fashion.

“Nah, I’m serious,” Ay said, although she sounded more amused than anything else. “How in the godslickin’ name did she raise that sorta alarm and get away? Shit went sideways. Ya had them all but frothin’ in the mouth. Wild.”

“Messed up,” Bee muttered into his drink.

“Hm?” Ay asked him to repeat himself.

“I said, she messed up. She said she could sneak in and out. She didn’t. Messed up,” he clarified, somewhat more heated than I would have otherwise anticipated.

“Well, I wouldn’t know ‘bout that,” Ay said. “Got the job done, yeah? And I’m sure she grabbed some goodies for us. All good.”

I suddenly found myself to regret my decision to sit so near Bee, especially as I realized that there may have been some resentment hidden beneath his dullard exterior. Given his thirst for violence, given his apparent abilities, I decided that my situation was far too precarious to continue.

I pushed my now empty tumbler away and went to stand. My satchel still sat unmolested upon the bartop, and as this contained my prize, I went to grab it, so that I could remove my prize and relocate, preferably far away from these people. But when I went to do so, Bee brought a meaty palm forward and rested it upon the satchel.

I tilted my head in question. If violence were to occur, then it would need to be sudden and unexpected to favor me. However, given the fact I was outnumbered and on their prepared ground, I doubted that a violent resolution would favor myself. But before I could truly make plans and respond to this rather jarring event, Ay stood herself, all while smirking.

Belobog meanwhile rolled her eyes and mouthed a single word towards me after catching a glance from myself.

“Wait,” Belobog said silently.

I doubted the twins detected this advice, as their attention was on me and the satchel, and there had been no volume to carry the advice to their ears. I determined that this was Belobog’s recommendation to myself. And while I was loath to trust anything from her, advice included, as I had already determined that sudden violence would likely leave me worse-off, I decided to follow her recommendation.

Thus, I waited.

As this occurred, Ay grabbed a fresh tankard and went to stand on my other side, leaning into me and throwing an arm about my shoulders.

“Can’t be leaving already,” Ay said in a playful tone. “First you, then Joe. Ruins a lady’s confidence.”

A hot snort from her nostrils shifted my hair and bothered me. Her height left me feeling diminutive; her bulk as well. With her one one side, and her brother on the other, I suddenly felt quite hemmed in and somewhat claustrophobic. However, I would be remiss if I allowed this irreverent and burlesque creature to influence me in any manner other than irritation, as what she was doing now was likely part of some jape.

Thus, without adding any additional ammunition to her arsenal, I pushed away from her and slipped out from under her arm, getting up and turning away.

“Unfortunately,” I said in as indifferent a tone as I could. “I must be off–” I turned to face Bee and pointed at the satchel “-if I could only retrieve my due for this job, then I will retire for the evening and allow you the remainder for your merriment.”

Bee’s eyes narrowed as I spoke, but his arm remained unmoved. In fact, the opposite may have occurred, as he seemed to increase the pressure his arm was exerting upon the satchel, as though I would have stolen it out from under him; which, from his perspective, may have been a reasonable concern.

Ay, meanwhile, mouthed several words under her breath, seemingly actually confused. She eventually shook it off, but by then, her brother was already voicing his complaints.

“Something ain’t right,” Bee said.

I tilted my head and considered him. In my periphery, I watched Belobog and Ay and kept an ear out for Joe, in case this was where the betrayal occurred. From what I could determine, Bee was currently acting upon his own motivations. The other two did not appear united, although they avoided outright contradicting their teammate.

That meant it was left to me to navigate this mess.

“I beg your pardon,” I said as neatly as I could, “But I am uncertain as to–”

“-You messed up,” Bee cut in, not allowing me to finish.

This bodes poorly, I thought. An outright argument would only cost me, either in societal currency or something more physical; it would have been best to avoid one altogether.

“I…” I trailed off, unsure of the best recourse. Immediately, I wanted to protest and refute his claim. I wanted to point out that the job was finished, largely thanks to my own efforts. I wanted him to cease his contrarian nonsense. However, plainly stating any of these things would fail to make me any friends. But, I was still able to offer a weak attempt to shift the topic. “I am wondering if we should wait for Joe to return to have this discussion,” I said.

“Nah. I don’t think so. He’s not part o’this. Y’see,” Bee said, “We had to bail you out. Stickin’ our own necks out.”

This was debatable. They performed their function, just as I performed mine. If this was a problem, then the twins should have noted so during the planning phase, not after job completion. In fact, I would go so far as to say that Bee’s current behavior was detestable.

But as I said this, Ay rejoined the conversation with a welcome reprieve.

“Pfft,” Ay said, blowing a raspberry. “Bee, you know you an’ I had fun. Why you brinin’ this up now?”

Yes, indeed, I thought. Why now? Except to renegotiate the payout. Of course, I remained as tactful as I could be and I resisted the urge to state this fact.

Bee continued rolling forward under his own considerable stubbornness.

“Not the point,” Bee grunted.

At this point, I was considering solutions beyond the artful use of words.

It was at this point, that the final inhabitant of the room, Belobog, made her presence known and re-entered the foray.

“Then what is?” Belobog asked. “The point, I mean.”

The fact that she was asking such a question seemed odd. As a psychic, she would have already known his motivations and what he was thinking. Asking the question must have been for her benefit, I was just unsure as to how that was so.

“Why’s she gettin’ all the loot?” Bee said. “She messed up. So why? Where’s our cut?”

And there it was.

It took considerable willpower to refrain from sneering or tossing his tankard upon his face. But fortunately, I had practiced some in the art of rhetoric. In the case of an accusation or argument, the best course of action would always be to disprove the opponent’s statement. Failing that, to negate it. And failing that, to deflect. In this case, the first and best option would suffice.

“You keep saying that I have somehow ‘messed up,’” I interjected, “But that statement is factually incorrect. Afterall, I succeeded by all metrics; the job was a success by the criteria established beforehand.”

“Sure,” Bee scoffed in disdain. “Then why’d the alarm trigger?”

I glanced slyly at Belobog to see if she cared to chime in; afterall, the failure was in the provided intelligence, which had been derived by Belobog. Therefore, the weight of failure rested with her. And certainly enough, she almost seemed to have grimaced, although I may have just been imagining the expression change as well.

“That can be explained by the fact that the safe was trapped,” I said.

While I could have thrown Belobog under the bus, so to speak, doing so would only alienate Belobog, which would in turn alienate me, leaving only the twins united. This would be a weaker position overall, especially as the twins were currently my detractors.

“I was still able to break through Baron Ore’s safe, but the code we were given was incorrect; this resulted in the alarm, through no fault of our own. I still managed to secure–”

“So you’re saying it’s somebody else’s fault? Course it can’t be yours, miss do-no-wrong, missus arrogant. Can’t have been you messin’ up. Had to be us. You sayin the code was bad? Expect us to believe that?”

Bee’s voice was gaining more heat than I would have expected, and I thought that he may have been conflating a past experience with this one. However, as he contested the accuracy of the code and of my report, I once more glanced Belobog’s way. She and I met eyes, and I let her see my expectation. Either she or I, but one of us would be explaining the faulty code.

She of course opted to control the manner in which this was shared, alleviating some of the pressure on me.

Belobog cut in with an exasperated groan.

“Just makin’ me throw this out there, huh Bee?” Belobog said.

Bee cut off mid-rant, canting his head towards Belobog, confusion writ upon his features.

Ay snickered.

“But nah, the new girl is probably right.”

“Explain,” Bee grunted.

Belobog offered another sigh, but then provided the explanation as well.

“While it’s rare, it’s been known to happen… sometimes a person has a fake code memorized to counter people like me.”

“They knew we were comin?” Bee asked.

“Nah, don’t think so,” Belobog said. “Otherwise we wouldn’t have gotten in so easily. More likely, it was a precaution against Guesswork.”

“But Guesswork is a Vigilant?” Ay offered.

“Exactly,” Belobog said, although this left Ay confused as well, which prompted Belobog to elaborate. “The Vigilants aren’t under the Baron, and Princess Marissa might be planning on stealing his city out from under him. He isn’t gonna trust them.”

“I–” Ay cut herself off and shook her head, a vain attempt to clear herself from cluttered thoughts. “That doesn’t…” Ay trailed off. “But if the guy doesn’t know his own code to get into his own safe, then how’s he gonna use it? It’s bogus!”

Belobog shrugged. “I could think of a few ways easily enough. Like, he could have a dedicated servant just for that.”

Bee snorted and cut back in. “All this doesn’t matter,” he said. “The job went poorly. Doesn’t make sense for the new girl to take everything.” He jabbed at the satchel for emphasis.

It seemed, at least to me, that Bee suffered from conflation far too easily. It was a trait found in persons that struggled with logic chains, although that was hardly a solid rule. Regardless, unless he was using this conflation of my prize as ‘everything’ to gain a rhetorical advantage, then he was… actually, I paused my train of thought. Rather than assume he was foolish enough to make an honest mistake, how did I know that this was not a deliberate ploy to rob me of my prize?

It was as these suspicions hit that Belobog negated his conflation on my behalf.

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Belobog said somewhat hesitantly. “She’s not getting everything, yeah?”

I decided that Belobog had offered the best chance to refute Bee, and I also added to her claim.

“There were Chargers and Documents,” I said. “Thus, after my promised cut is extracted, there will still be plentiful loot remaining for your cuts as well.”

He scoffed in derision.

“Like the dregs would weigh up against the Grimoire,” he said. “Think I’m dumb enough to not know that? That I’m just some animal? I have eyes. A brain. That Grimoire is worth a thousand times all the rest of it at least!”

At some point he had stood up so that he towered over us, adamant and possibly angry as well.

Wisely, I backed off slightly, easing up my physical claim upon the satchel, both to gain space should Bee react directly and foolishly, and in the hopes of de-escalation. Unfortunately, this caused me to back up against Ay, who had at some point closed in once more. I looked up and saw her peering down at me, clearly amused.

“How you doin?” she asked in what I thought was her version of a provocative voice.

I grimaced and looked away, causing her to chuckle.

However, while I reacted reasonably, perhaps less so, my symbiote did as well. For my false-arm twitched and suddenly there was an urgent craving; a specific craving; I had not realized that my symbiote had played a hand in that craving before now, but I should have, for it made some sense. But I found myself distracted, my thoughts turning towards Cook’s ice-chest where she kept the special meats and the special jerky I had hidden away in my room.

My mouth began watering.

It was at that point that Belobog coughed, loudly enough to regain the room’s attention, from whence she spoke.

“Nobody here said that you were dumb,” Belobog cut in. “We all appreciate what you bring to the team. Right?”

I gave a slight nod, while Ay only laughed louder.

Bee was unaffected by Belobog’s assertion.

“It was implied,” he said.

“Nu-huh,” Ay cut in. “That’s all you, little bro.”

“Really?” he turned towards her. “I’m doing this for you. You wanted loot.”

“Uh, yeah… but what would I even use a Grimoire for?”

“Anything,” Bee said. “Everything. You know this. I know it.”

Ay blew a raspberry and waved him off.

“Nope. Not how it works. I’m not wasting a full slot on a single dumb spell. ‘Sides, it would take me two slots, since I’d need something for Spirit too. So nu-huh. Screw that. New girl can keep it. It’s clear she’ll use it. Least we get somethin’ for the team outta it.”

This was not the first time that I had heard alterations such as Marks described as improvements sliding into slots. Afterall, there were only so many places that Marks could go, and once they had been installed, they were rather permanent. In the case of Spells, if Ay lacked a Greater Mark that could grow to account for it, then it was likely that the Grimoire would install itself as a single Mark that accounted solely for that Spell. And rightly so, she also intuited that Spells required fuel, which in this case was Spirit; that pool would also require a Mark to increase beyond the minimal amount that a person would have by default.

It was one of the reasons that my own Illusions were so limited; my Spirit seemed incapable of growing since I had lost my left arm.

However, these thoughts were merely a distraction. Especially as Bee had yet to concede his point.

“If you don’t want it, that’s fine,” he said to his sister. “Just means we trade it. Get enough for all us to get the best. More fair this way than having some new girl walk away with everything.”

To be fair, he did have a point. The rewards would lean heavily towards my end of the scales.

But even if he had a point, I had had enough. I had been promised the Grimoire. The only reason I had performed such a risky job was to gain the Grimoire. I could make use of it, I would be making use of it. Even if I had to steal it again, I would be walking out with that Grimoire.

I was still cataloging my arguments, and should those fail, alternatives up to and including significant violence, when Belobog interrupted me by putting her hand on my elbow.

My real elbow, on my right arm. She seemed to be shying away from my left, smartly enough. Its tendrils were still coiling themselves in preparation for immediate action.

However, as Belobog had approached me so directly, I diverted my attention towards her.

She nodded off to the side and once more cut in, speaking to the twins. “You all mind if I have a chat with our newest member for a bit? Just girl-to-girl, figure–”

“-Hey!” Ay protested, at the same time as Bee.

“-So you can find another way to trick us?” Bee asked, his ire up, but sounding less upset than he had previously.

“Nah,” Belobog denied, otherwise ignoring Ay’s mock protest. “I’m not that devious,”

Ay snorted in laughter, spewing ale from either an ill or intentionally timed drink.

“Uh, have you met you?” Ay asked Belobog.

“Ha,” Belobog said dryly. “But I did promise Jackie the Grimoire to get her to do the job, and she did sneak into a fortified manor full of Vigilants, Knights, and Peacekeepers. If we’re gonna yank the rug out from under her, I figure I should at least see what’s up with her first, yeah? Maybe find a workable arrangement for everyone? Instead of ganging up on the new girl, yeah?”

At this point, the day had been long, the night longer, and my mood had undeniably plummeted, along with what scant patience I had. When Belobog mentioned ‘pulling the rug’ out from under me, a small part of me hoped that they would try. Because should they try, I would find my footing, and they would then find the retaliation most dire. And ruthless.

Belobog clicked her tongue at me.

“Just humor me, alright?” She said. “I think we can figure something out to make everyone happy.”

“Ugh. Fine. Make it quick,” Bee said, waving us off.

I noted that Bee had kept his meaty hand firmly set upon the satchel the entire time, even when I followed Belobog into the side room, the same where Joe had once acted as a fence.

As we stepped in, I began to issue my complaints.

“Wha–” I had started to ask, ire plain on my voice, but Belobog interrupted.

“-Yeah,” Belobog said. “Let’s not waste time with suspicions or accusations. You’re still getting the Grimoire, don’t worry.”

“Then what’s this about?” I asked, crossing my arms and frowning.

“So, just gonna throw this out there, but… Do you want everyone here to hate you?” she asked.

My frown only deepened as her question somewhat caught me off-guard. What did she even mean? I wondered.

“No, I take that back,” she answered her own question before I could. “Do you want a four hundred pound gladiator in particular to hold a grudge against you?”

She must have been referring to Bee. Personally, I expected he weighed more than that. Before I negated whatever threat she was attempting to use to extort me, she held up her hand to once more prevent me from speaking.

“I know, I know, right?” she said. “You think you’d only have to worry if he got his hands on you,” she said, wobbling slightly to the left and right. “And… to be fair, you’re quite a bit faster than he is. But!” she quickly appended. “But, that presumes you’d see him coming. And even if you did–”

I would notice him coming. I had a Talent to avoid being taken by surprise. At least I thought I did. It was not as though these Marks came with a manual.

“-even if you did,” she continued. “You think he’s never had to deal with speedy opponents in the arena? The man was undefeated in the Kwin Underground for five years. Five years! Even if you could dodge that, it’s a needless risk to take…”

I sighed. But when I was sure she had finished, and that I would finally be able to speak uninterrupted, I finally said, “Do you have a solution, then?”

I assumed that she did, otherwise, why make such a lengthy diatribe.

“Course,” she said glibly. “It comes down to your commitment to the team.”

I furrowed my brows. Not in confusion, but I was unsure of why any such thing would matter.

She groaned. “Y’know, not all of us are as misanthropic, yeah?”

I was not a misanthrope. She was misusing that term, I was all but certain.

“Look,” she said. “The crew’s like a family, alright? For someone who had a horrible childhood, it means a lot to put the crew first.”

Again, I was unsure of what point she was attempting to make.

Her groan came once more, this time more pronounced.

“You’re killing me,” she complained. “You’re literally actually fucking killing me.”

I was unimpressed by the vulgarity and chose to refrain from responding.

“Look, if you’re committed to joining the crew, then you’re committed to being part of the family. If you got our backs, then we got yours. This is how Bee thinks. Ay too, but to a lesser extent. So, I’m thinking you prove your commitment, then you get the Grimoire without argument. You following?”

This was foolish. Dumb, even. I shook my head.

“Alright, this isn’t working. Why don’t you tell me why you don’t think this’ll work?”

Why would I need to do so, given her talents?

“Pretend like I’m not Psychic, alright?” she added.

This led me to a tangent as I considered her and her talents. Likely, there were limits too how often she could use her power. And while I had yet to define the limits, if I could even trust any limits I identified, as she could easily fake lesser limits than she truly had, causing me to underestimate–

“Jackie,” Belobog said, reminding me of our current dilemma.

She asked for me to explain, and so, I started to do so.

“The first problem: I am already a member of the crew. The second problem: you promised me that Grimoire. If you had not, then I would have found alternatives to your extortion otherwise. The third problem, if we ignore the first two issues, then how could I ensure that he trusted my permanent membership in this crew? What sort of idiocy would be required to trust a thief? Thus–”

“Yeah, I get ya. What I’m saying is dumb since the foundation isn’t there. Right?” She paused, looking at me. “Right,” she continued. “Well, ignoring a bunch of what you left unsaid, the easiest way to get that ‘trust’ is to provide collateral. In fact, why don’t we think of trust that way. As collateral.”

I was unsure if I wanted to provide this organization additional leverage–

“Look,” Belobog said. “Jackie,” she said again, this time with exasperation. “Just… you know it… I know it… Ay knows it… And I’m pretty sure you know Ay knows it too. Well, you know how she is with secrets, right? Pretty shit at it. So pretty soon, everyone in Laverna’s is gonna know it.”

A cold sweat prickled beneath my skin.

“And what is… it?” I asked, although I did not want to. But I had to. Ignoring a problem would not remove it, only worsen the fallout.

“Yeah. You’re not human, Jackie. Just pretending to be one.”

No… I groaned.

“Yep,” she said, emphasizing the trailing syllable in a way that left me desirous of carnage.

“Your act is pretty good, but–” she tapped the side of her head, “Psychic, remember?”

“You said to pretend you were not,” I said sullenly. “Psychic, that is.”

It then occurred to me that she might have planned this discourse more than I had originally given credit for, if she had planted that statement just so I could later call her on it and reduce my internal strain.

“No comment,” she said with a smile, .likely reading my thoughts. “But yeah, seriously, if you think that girl’s gonna keep your secret…”

“It is true, Ay does not give the impression of propriety.”

“So it’s gonna come out. It’s a matter of you controlling the release of this,” Belobog added.

I squashed my feelings for the manner, crushed and compacted them. They were irrelevant. Only facts mattered.

“Release this information that I am not a human in an advantageous manner,” I said.

“Yeah, basically that.” Belobog nodded.

“To clarify,” I said. “If I do this, then the Grimoire is mine?”

“Eh. If you do this, then the twins will open up just a bit more, specifically Bee. And since they’re the only ones arguing against it, yeah, I think it’s a sure thing.”

She shrugged, lacking confidence in her own solution.

Unfortunately, no matter how hard I squeezed my emotions, they did not completely fade. Afterall, one could not go over a month living a false life under a false identity without having difficulties releasing it.

Seeming to sense the difficulty, Beleobg continued. “And since showing is better than telling, and since it takes a few to drop your… shapeshifted form?” She paused to read my reaction. “No, disguise?” She seemed to light up slightly. “A Guise? Sweet. That’s pretty solid, y’know? Where’d you even–know what? Doesn’t matter. So your Guise, go ahead and start while I honey ya up with the fact that I found a lead…”

I nodded slowly, somewhat numbly.

Everything that she had said had made sense. Taking a step back, it would be a good thing objectively speaking. Having my Guise for my civilian life and my natural form for the crew would both reduce the chance of my identity failing and would increase my abilities while on the job. It was just… hard. What would people think? Marianne… Kate–

I shuddered at that, as I already knew what she would think, and it left me nauseous.

I would not allow emotions to control me.

I began dropping the Guise.

“Oh! While you do that,” Belobog said, snapping her fingers. “I think I’ve found where the White Kaiva you’re after is hiding out. It seems she’s got a bit of heat from some of the gangs… and get this–those cats you saw in the sewers? They’re from all the way south in the Kaiva Empire. Legitimate agents of a foreign power. Crazy, right?”

The changes were reverting, and my mouth was undergoing reconstruction, otherwise I would have asked her what her point was in a waspish fashion. Afterall, she could have told me this at any point beforehand, instead of saving this until now. Not that this context or lead was unwelcome.

“Yeah… so, if I’m reading things right, then that Kaiva is like a princess, or something along those lines? I’m not really sure how their royalty works down there, but she’s the daughter of someone important. Now why she’s up here? Not sure, but it seems she had a falling out with daddy dearest and she left home without permission.

“Long story short, they want her back,” she finished.

Cook’s former employer was nobility of some sort? That would be difficult to believe, but it would not be the strangest thing I had encountered. However, this would require independent verification. Perhaps Cook would know more. No, she would know more. Perhaps she would be so kind as to inform me.

But even then, her former employer was the least of my worries. Emboru’s sibling was my actual priority here in Southbridge. My false-arm writhed during my transformation, twisting and contorting as my internal shape modified itself. I imagined that some of its motions were conveying its agreement, that is, that finding Emboru’s sibling was priority zero.

“Yeah, I know, I know–” Belobog waved her hands, “-but none of my sources have heard anything about that Alchemist. Which isn’t so bad as it sounds. It’s good news, if ya think about it. Since that means we know where he isn’t, and where that leaves is somewhere deep in undertown…”

Undertown? I wanted to ask, but I knew better than to attempt speaking with a half-formed muzzle.

“Ha. You’ve never been? Wouldn’t recommend it. It’s the old and current mines running down the side of the chasm. Entire ecosystems down there. Nasty place.”

Soon after, my Guise finished dropping, leaving me once more in my bestial form. It seemed the transition occurred much more quickly than before, likely due to my growth earlier in the night.

It was then that Belobog strode towards the door and glanced at me over her shoulder. She winked and asked, “Ready?”

I snarled instead of grimacing as I intended, but I did manage to purposefully give a terse nod.

She smirked, then threw open the door and strode out.

I hesitated a moment, suffering a sudden bout of nerves, but I managed to place one leg in front of the other, my claws poking through the bottom of my boots and clicking against the floor; with each step, my own momentum carried me forward a little faster and a little easier, despite the nerves.

“Whelp, folks! No need to worry. We got it all figured out!” Belobog said loudly and with much cheer. She made room for me to pass, and it was as I did so that Bee cut off from his own scathing retort.

“See about–” Bee had started, but he trailed off when I passed through the door’s threshold.

Ay set her mug down and cat-called my way.

Bee’s reaction was more genuine.

“Who–what… Same clothes as… a Kaiva?” he seemed to be asking himself. “No…”

“Yeah,” Belobog said with a shrug. “And while I’m not sure exactly what Jackie is, one thing’s for sure, whatever she is definitely isn’t human.”

Bee furrowed his brows while Ay chuckled and elbowed her brother. “Ah, lay off it. That’s the new girl alright.”

“You knew?” He asked.

Ay ignored his question, and instead smiled and nodded at me and gave what was likely another cat-call.

“Lookin good, babe!” Ay said.

The fact that I had dropped my Guise proved Ay’s irreverence. I did not appreciate her sarcasm in this matter. I was a beast.

Belobog gave me some side-eye, but kept going with her explanation, after pausing for the twin’s to express themselves.

“So,” Belobog said. “We had a talk. Figured Jackie would open up a bit in good faith, and we’d honor our end of the deal. The start of her joining our own little crew. Yeah? Welcome Jackie to Laverna’s?”

It was a slow thing, but eventually Bee nodded slightly.

Ay watched her brother, pointed at him and laughed.

“Ah, just like that?” she asked. “Where’d all your bluster go?”

Bee must have decided that he was done with it. He removed his weight from the satchel, abandoning it altogether. Instead, he sat down heavily, his reinforced stool groaning beneath him. He took a long draught from his tankard. Some of his ale ran down the sides of his mouth. When he set it down, he sighed heavily, but he otherwise kept his peace.

“Guess if he won’t say it, then I will,” Ay said, turning her attention towards me. “Welcome to the team! Did Belobog already show you where I’m bunking?” She wiggled her eyebrows, which I had not even known that Meohr could do.

It was that night, I ingested the Grimoire and unlocked my third and final Spell.