Chapter Two hundred three – Shortly Before the Fur Flew

Pandy stepped into the office, only vaguely aware that Sir Bailey was speaking quietly to someone who wasn’t there.

The Knights could obviously communicate across long distances, so they were probably calling for backup or this world’s equivalent of a prison bus. It didn’t matter. What did matter was the figure sitting behind the desk on the other side of the room.

In Gacha Love, once Clara or her companion defeated the ghost of General Avington, that was it. She entered the office and found the contract lying on the table, the General’s signature scrawled across the bottom of it. There was some conversation if she wasn’t alone, and from then on, Clara owned a house.

The version of General Avington that Pandy saw now was even older than the one who had guarded the door. His body looked like it had shrunk, while his whiskers grew some equivalent amount, making him look a bit like an out-of-control topiary. His little round glasses sagged on his nose, which was almost the only thing that remained the same size as before, and when he looked up, he released a sigh that caused him to deflate even further.

“Finally,” he said, his voice sounding like that of any other old man, albeit one who hadn’t gotten enough sleep in a very long time. “Come closer, young woman, and let me see you.”

Pandy obeyed, though cautiously. This General didn’t look like he could pick up that axe, much less attack her with it, but he also didn’t look like he’d been dead for at least a century, so appearances could be deceiving. “My name is-” She stopped, gritting her teeth. Something told her she didn’t want to use a false name here. Lowering her voice, she said, “Pandora.”

The old eyes crinkled, and he let out a startled chuckle. “A good name. Believe it or not, my granddaughter’s name was Pandora.” His eyes went to a faded painting on the wall to his left. In it stood the version of the General Pandy had just fought in the hallway, along with a rather stern-faced woman with eyes of such a bright green that even decades later, they bored into Pandy. On a couch in front of them sat a young man, an unreasonably pretty blonde woman of about the same age, and a little boy next to a yellow-haired sprite of a girl with her grandmother’s eyes.

Caught, Pandy stared at the image. Had that painting been in Gacha Love? She didn’t remember it, but the scene had focused on Clara and the contract and the desk, not the background knick-knacks. Now that she looked, she saw versions of the same faces over and over in paintings around the room. It looked like the young man was the General’s only child, and had inherited the estate when the General died. In fact, generations of Avingtons stared at Pandy from around the room, but those green eyes and the lady’s steely stare became less and less common, yielding to pretty, laughing people in elaborate garb.

“I’m… not sure if I believe that or not, sir,” Pandy found herself saying. Pandora was such an unusual name. Was something in Keros’s magic working to make the ghost more willing to accept Pandy as a member of his ‘family’? It seemed likely, and Pandy actually felt a bit guilty as she stopped in front of the desk and looked down at the emerald-green blotter. On it rested the contract she would have sworn was tucked into her Inventory, but when she tried to make it appear, it didn’t. Definitely magic at play.

The ghost stared at her, then threw his head back and laughed – a shockingly large laugh for someone so shrunken. “I see. Well, that’s not the response I expected. Still, I suppose it doesn’t matter. Here,” he laid a hand over the contract, and Pandy was just able to see through his grayish flesh to the dark lettering on the page. She could also see that, unlike the one in Gacha Love, this one wasn’t signed.

“Would you forgive an old man his impertinence and listen to my story, Pandora?” he asked, making no move to reach for the bedraggled feather pen standing so near to hand.

Pandy sighed internally, but managed to nod. If he was an NPC longing to tell her his lore, she would have clicked through it and read it in her dialogue-log later, but he wasn’t just an NPC any more, was he?

Pandy, there’s something wrong.

She sighed again. Of course there was. Something was wrong, and the contract wasn’t signed yet.

I sensed Ismara.

The old ghost was speaking, but Pandy wasn’t paying attention. Not even a little. <What? Where? When?>

Just a little while ago.

It was strong.

But that’s not why I interrupted.

Pandy stared at the letters. What did he mean, that wasn’t why he’d interrupted? That was literally his job. They needed to go to wherever Ismara was, right away!

Asparagus is there, too.

Asparagus? What? Why was Keros bringing up a leggy green veg- Oh. Pandy had called Ascyra Asparagus because they weren’t supposed to say the Demon Queen’s name. Yep, this was Pandy’s fault.

“...on his deathbed, Giles knew neither of his sons was fit for the job, so he gave the elemental an order – test each heir until it found one that…”

But I think Ismara helped Asparagus.

Which can’t happen.

They’re inherently antagonistic in every way possible.

Unless Ismara is… is trapped, and being forced to aid her own enemies.

That would explain why we can’t find her.

<Where?> Pandy thought impatiently. They could figure out the who and why later. Right now, they needed to find Ismara and get her to testify that she allowed Pandy to reincarnate here, so Keros wouldn’t go to God-jail, Pandy wouldn’t be chucked back into the Cycle, and Thaniel wouldn’t be killed in order to correct the timeline.

Close.

You can probably fly there in less than half an hour.

“But there were no more Dark mages to speak to it, and it grew weak, and lapsed into a kind of torpor, automatically fulfilling the task given to it, year upon year-”

Pandy stared at General Avington’s ghost, who was still droning on. “I’m really, really super sorry, and this is really rude, but I need to go, and if that means I can’t keep the house, I understand, even though it makes me really sad, and I’m sure you’re a really nice ghost, but I have to find a god in order to save another god, and I’m pretty sure god trumps ghost, so I’ve got to leave.”

“Ms. Haupe,” said Sir Bailey’s tinny voice. Pandy hadn’t even realized the knight could do fear, but they were doing it now, and the sound of it sent a chill down Pandy’s back. “Something has gone wrong. I’m to take you back to Falconet immediately.”

Pandy backed up, feeling her rear end hit the edge of the desk as she did so. “Nope. Sorry, Sir Bailey, I have something else to do. Just like I was telling the General here-”

The knight’s helmet turned, then tilted. “Who? Ma’am, you’re alone in this room.”

Pandy turned back to General Avington, who was sitting back, fingers laced over his belly, looking oddly younger and also a bit self-satisfied around the whiskers. “As I was trying to explain, Pandora,” he said, but Pandy shook her head.

“You’re an elemental. A Dark elemental,” she said accusingly. “And you’re definitely not an Umblink or a Duskin or an Apparition. Are you a-?” She couldn’t quite bring herself to say the ‘D’ word, the one that defined her, too. Not in front of one of the Knights of the Royal Eagle, whose job it probably was to kill D-elementals and the mages unfortunate or foolish enough to come into contact with them.

The General smiled, and the space between his lips wasn’t occupied by teeth, even unusually sharp ones, but rather the kind of darkness found at the bottom of a well on an overcast night with no moon after a particularly large elephant fell down it. It was very, very dark.

“I was just explaining that,” he said, and he didn’t sound like a very old man any more. He sounded a bit like the ghost of the general she’d fought in the hall, but only in the odd echo behind his words, which was good, because she didn’t have time to listen to three-second vowels any more.

Ignoring the elemental in the room – the other one – Pandy turned back to Sir Bailey. “Take me to Augustus.” She didn’t even care that the knight twitched just a little when she used the chancellor’s first name. She would probably care later, but right at that moment she didn’t.

“I’m sorry, ma’am, the… chancellor was quite clear. I’m to follow any order you give unless there’s an encounter with the enemy. At that point, we’re to return to Falconet and await further orders.” The knight’s voice was crisp and firm, leaving no room for discussion. That was all right. Pandy didn’t have time to discuss it either.

Back to the Dark elemental behind the desk, who now looked disturbingly like the statue of General Avington in Golden Park. Couldn’t it pick a shape already? “Do I own this house, or not?” she demanded, pointing to the contract that was once again exposed on the top of the desk.

The elemental stood, extending a hand. “There’s only one thing left to do.”

Without thinking, Pandy put her own hand into his, and felt a sharp pain in her palm. Blood dripped between their clasped hands, falling onto the contract. Rather than staining the sheet, however, the crimson fluid swirled into strong, certain lines, forming the signature of General Preston Avington. Pandy yanked her hand away, casting a quick Minor Heal to restore the nineteen points of LF the other elemental had somehow stolen through the brief touch, and the tiny wound on the heel of her hand closed.

She laid a hand on the contract, sending it into her Inventory. She would figure out what to do with the resident Dark elemental later. <Kappa, get ready to guide me,> she said, taking two steps toward the window, away from the knight who looked like they would follow orders even if it meant tying Pandy up right next to M. Piers. She could leap out of the window and use Wings of Glory to fly-

A spike of cold stabbed into her chest, expanding like claws. It pulled, and Pandy thought her body might just flip inside out, allowing her to finally figure out what, exactly, she was using for internal organs.

Instead, her vision narrowed to a tunnel, and at the end of that tunnel was darkness. It was just normal darkness, though, not Darkness or that emptiness she’d experienced a few times when her soul was no longer attached to the body she occupied. She could even hear what sounded like deep voices muttering, and the slap of waves against wood.

Heartsplit Charm activated.

Prepare for transportation in 2… 1...

What? What happened to three? But Pandy was already thinking, <Cancel Shifting Faces,> as she found out exactly what it felt like to be sucked through a straw approximately one tenth the diameter of her body. Unpleasant. Yes.

She landed on top of Thaniel. She knew immediately that that was where she was, because it was such a familiar sensation. What wasn’t familiar was his complete stillness, and she panicked until she finally felt his chest rise and fall. The breaths were fast and shallow, but steady, as was the beat of his heart once she stopped and focused enough to feel it.

The space they were in was small, and she was very, very glad she’d decided to return to her rabbit shape, though she did wonder at what point being not-a-human began to feel safer and more familiar than being human. They weren’t alone, either, and when Eleanor whispered, “Isidor?” in a very confused voice, Pandy had a sudden, very bad feeling she knew at least part of what was going on.

Reluctantly, she moved away from Thaniel, using her soft, furry paws to find the girl. She was pressed up against the far side of the room – container? – they were trapped in, and she was shivering, her skin cold. Pandy realized the girl’s hands were bound behind her back and chewed through the rope. Once the princess brought her ice-cold hands back around, Pandy wiggled her head beneath them, and Eleanor began to stroke her soft fur as the shivering slowed noticeably.

“Bunny,” Eleanor whispered. “How did you get here? I asked Miss Cupcakes to call Isidor with my charm, but-” She raised one hand to her chest, but Pandy stood on her hind legs and pushed her hand away. Isidor’s eight-year-old form might fit in here, but it would be tight, and if he was in his real form for some reason, one or more of them might actually be injured when they all attempted to occupy the same space at the same time. Wasn’t there a law against things like that?

A soft but insistent mrow interrupted them, and another furry creature bumped against Pandy. As it passed, she smelled blood, and suddenly realized there was something she could do. Someone was obviously injured, and Thaniel wouldn’t be unconscious if something wasn’t wrong. She was such an idiot!

<Minor Heal Thaniel, Eleanor, and Miss Cupcakes as much as needed,> Pandy thought, and a scroll of System messages responded.

Healed Thaniel for 16 HP.

Healed Eleanor for 9 HP.

Healed Miss Cupcakes for 19 HP.

Pandora?

What’s happening?

<Your guess is as good as mine,> she thought back at Keros as she returned to Thaniel, only to find that while his breaths were deeper now, he wasn’t waking up. <Minor Heal Thaniel again.>

Thaniel is already at maximum health.

We need to go.

The link to Ismara and Asparagus is fading fast.

Whatever they did, it’s over.

Pandy ground her teeth together, but she had more important things to worry about right now. Making sure Thaniel and Eleanor – and Miss Cupcakes – were safe had to be her top priority. Time for a jailbreak.