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Consistent ain’t a thing pixies should be, right? And yet, the little bug shot straight for Shindzha’s cleavage, just like always.
When she was havin’ memory problems, Tiana spent time partially mixin’ her thoughts with our ‘little sister’. It taught us some about how a pixie thinks, or at least how this pixie that used to be an Elder thinks. Her reason for bein’ so consistent about this matter wasn’t hard to understand. Bosoms are comfy and available, and they make her happy. That’s all there is to it.
I suppose we shouldn’t expect anythin’ deeper from Kiki. Her thoughts are always pure and simple, except when they’re too rapid and complicated t’ keep up with.
After Shindzha stared down at Kiki with exasperation as the pixie snuggled into place, she looked back up at Lady Serera.
“Kiki’s going to disguise me?”
“She’ll stay in stealth and stick close to you,” Serera confirmed with a nod. “She’s extremely good at illusion. Better than any fairy present.”
After studyin’ our Servant for a few moments, Serera reached out to brush a few locks of her hair back. “Your Mistress is working to alter your appearance. Does it include reducing the demonic portion of your physique?”
Shindzha shook her head. “I don’t know.”
“Reducing the horns is a good call,” she judged. “Kiki will have an easier time disguising them. But your skin still has that odd color…”
Catchin’ herself and shakin’ her head, Serera insisted, “It’s not something to feel bad about, of course. It’s a fine color. But it’s too unusual for human eyes.”
Shindzha nodded.
“Your hair though… As the odd coloration fades from it, it appears to be turning blond. I suppose that would be your proper color without demonic influence.”
“That was my mother’s hair color,” our Servant agreed.
That made sense. Her human side was a clone of her mother, after all.
“Well, Kiki? Can you make her look human?”
“Yup yup! Easy easy!” Kiki declared, then leaned forward and made a dramatic gesture, castin’ her arms wide, as if flingin’ out the burst of Light energy that flowed forth and covered the hellspawn girl.
“Done!” Kiki declared, crossing her arms across her tiny chest with pride.
“Hohoho,” Serera chuckled, surveying the results over, then nodding approval. “Well done, my friend. I would like her to stay like that for… Well, for the foreseeable future, anyhow. How long can you keep it up?”
“Mmmm… Kiki do it!”
I sort of understood she was sayin’ she could keep it up indefinitely, but I don’t think these two understood that. Serera’s eyebrows peaked, then she shrugged.
“If you do think you won’t be able to continue, warn Shindzha so she can get away from strangers,” she instructed the little creature.
“Yup yup!”
Lady Serera conjured mana and held up her hand with her fingers splayed, formin’ a [Water Mirror] perhaps twenty inches across for Shindzha to view.
The hellspawn jolted and her eyes grew. The impact of her surprise hit me like a body blow. She stared at the blond woman with fair skin and emerald green eyes starin’ back at her, then tears began flowin’.
“Mama?”
Serera’s free hand flew to her mouth, then her expression softened. Kiki gazed with big eyes up from below, lookin’ confused.
“Demon girl cry?”
Leavin’ the [Water Mirror] hangin’ in the air, Serera moved around to hug Shindzha from behind. Kiki also relocated, movin’ up to her shoulder so she could pat the hellspawn girl’s neck while watchin’ her with worried eyes.
“Sorry to spring that on you,” the fairy knight whispered. “Are you okay?”
Shindzha blinked her tears away and nodded rapidly. “Yes. I’m sorry. I didn’t expect that.”
“If that’s the appearance of your mother, she was quite lovely,” Serera said while gazing into the mirror with Shindzha. “But it’s not a trick, child. That’s your appearance, without horns and with human coloration. I didn’t realize the result would be so…”
She stopped herself, then shook her head and asked, “Will you be alright, looking like this?”
Shindzha bit her lower lip, then nodded firmly. “Yes, My Lady.”
The fairy knight nodded and patted Shindzha’s back. “Very well, then. Let’s be on our way.”
<You’re really all right?> I asked as she followed Serera, now headed toward town. All this time, I was thinkin’ of Shindzha as a full adult, maybe twenty or so of this world’s years, or in her mid-twenties on my old world or Robert’s. With all the demonic ‘make-up’ removed, she was clearly younger, perhaps Rod’s age. Maybe even Tiana’s. Still a child, really.
I felt all her emotions upon the sudden return of her dead mother’s face. In her dangerous circumstances, Shindzha buried her emotions as a child rather than workin’ through her grief. Deep inside her, her mother’s death was still a fresh wound.
Her silence grew long enough to feel awkward, so I just continued, <When you’re ready to talk about it, I’ll be listenin’>
<My apologies, Mistress. That was a real shock. I don’t dislike it, but I wasn’t prepared.>
<If we can return you to bein’ human, that’s exactly what you’ll look like,> I noted. <Is it okay with you?>
<Of course! I…> her thoughts grew jumbled as they hit a wall. Then she resolved herself and said, <If I could look like Mama, I would be very happy, Mistress.>
<Good,> I declared. <Then we have every reason to keep workin’ at it.>
After walkin’ in silence for a spell, Serera noted, “I’ll go into stealth, but I’ll be nearby. Kiki, you should stealth as well. Shindzha, you’re a lone adventurer, coming into town from the hills.”
“Yes, My Lady,” Shindzha agreed. “Although, what would a human be doing in dangerous territory like that? The territory of the Green Tower is one of the most dangerous parts of the Highlands.”
“So the demons are familiar with it? The Pendorians don’t seem to have realized what a hazardous place their town was neighboring.”
“It’s quite well known among demons, Fair Knight. The Arbolian Mountains have a long and dark history for demonkind.”
“Hm. Makes sense, I suppose,” Serera nodded. “It’s quite dark for mortals as well. Very well. You lost your way and wandered into a very bad place. You barely escaped with your life, after taking the shortest way out, which was here.”
Fortunately, Shindzha’s gear was pretty worn after months of knockin’ around in the woods, so it would be a reasonable story. She pursed her lips for a moment, then agreed.
That ended up bein’ the last words they spoke. Serera disappeared, and I don’t know if she coulda hid from Tiana, but with Shindzha’s senses, which I still wasn’t much use makin’ sense outa, even with help from Fan Li, I got no idea where she went.
Shindzha continued toward the town. We saw no obvious sentries at the north-facin’ gate, but the fixed gaze of a man in the nearby watchtower followed her all the way in.
Just like the fairies reported, it was still mostly a ghost town. Most doors were shut, and few creatures stirred in the streets. A little marketplace not far past the gates consisted mostly of shops with their shutters closed tight.
But there’s a big difference between most and all. Life echoed gently here and there. One shop’s shutter was raised, cables suspendin’ it to act as a roof for the customers. As we passed, a matronly shopper haggled quietly with the shopkeeper over vegetables. Both shot Shindzha distrustful glances as they did their business.
Further on, we heard the chuff of wood shop machinery, the clop of hooves from some hidden side road, the sound of a work boss callin’ orders up to his crew, workin’ on the roof of a house under repair. From within the house came the rhythmic tack-tack-tack of a hammer.
The sound was spread too thin for a town this size. It was a fair breeze, what I would call a good wind for sailin’, but it was light enough that the usual background noise of an active place should drown it out. Instead, we could hear the quiet rush of light gusts through the nearby eaves. It made me think about how I had no contact in this form with the Wind spirits surely passin’ through.
Still, the sound of life spoke over the wind enough to show that this place was, even at a very reduced level, alive.
<Hold for a moment, Child,> Serera instructed, and Shindzha halted.
<Are you carrying any money of this realm?>
Shindzha replied under her breath, “No, ma’am.”
Of course, she wasn’t. When would she ever have acquired any? She began as an invader whom Tiana shot down over Narses and took prisoner, then became an expedition member transported directly t’ the Kasarene Highlands, and went straight from there t’ here.
<Be still while I do this,> Serera advised, and Shindzha obeyed.
Her belt wallet opened, and, judgin’ from the sound, a good number of coins poured into it.
<Hold out your hand.>
After Shindzha did as instructed, an electrum coin appeared in her hand, the Pendorian version of the Orestanian sovereign. Shindzha glanced around, wary of onlookers, but of course, Serera stopped her at a place where there were none.
<That’s a sovereign, for large purposes,> Serera lectured. <I put one more in your purse. Put it away, then hold out your hand again.>
She did, and silver appeared next. <A shilling. You could buy a meal at a cheap place with this. Sixteen of these make a sovereign. I gave you a half-sovereign’s worth of these.>
After she put it away, a copper coin appeared. <This is a penny. Sixteen of these make a shilling.>
And one more, also copper but lighter. <And this is a farthing. Four of these make a penny. I gave you about a shilling’s worth of pennies and farthings.>
Shindzha nodded and wordlessly put them away as well.
<Go back to that shop and buy a piece of fruit or such, then ask where you can buy a meal. Closely observe the shopkeeper and anyone else cwhile you do. I want to know what you can sense from them.>
“My Lady, what could I sense that you could not?”
<I don’t know, but you possess the senses of a demon. You might discover things that a fairy could not.>
The Servant nodded and retraced her steps back to the shop, where the shopkeeper watched her with a not quite hostile eye.
“I’m out of supplies, Sir,” she told him politely. “Can you sell me a piece of fruit or something that I can eat out of hand?”
After glowerin’ at her, he brought out a basket full of peaches.
“A penny each,” he grudged.
I had the same momentary conflict that Tiana always had with the word ‘penny’, a coin with a very small value for Robert but worth more like half a dollar for Orestanians. She nodded and fished one of the copper coins out, layin’ it on the counter.
He pursed his lips and shrugged. “Pick one you like.”
After she had made her choice and took it, he nodded and picked up the coin.
“Can you point me to a place where I could buy a cooked meal, Sir?”
He heaved a sigh as he put the basket back on a shelf and twisted his mouth. Instead of an answer, he asked, “What are you even doing in a place like this, Miss?”
I felt a moment of confusion from Shindzha, which was probably her wonderin’ the same thing I was, exactly what he meant by ‘a place like this’.
“I was hunting in the hills and lost my way,” she told him simply. “I wound up somewhere quite dangerous, and could only head straight south to get back to civilization. This is the first town I came to.”
He gave a grunt, then shrugged again and pointed to a place down the way a short distance, on the other side.
“The building with the green door. Gan should open her dining room shortly. You can buy a meal there. Tell her Bernot recommended her place.”
She smiled and nodded. “Thank you sir!”
With a humph, he turned more interested in wipin’ his sales counter than in carryin’ on any more conversation.
As we crossed the street, I noted, <You should be more assertive. You talk way too timid for an adventurer.>
She mighta responded to me, but she never got a chance. All of a sudden, a whirlwind full o’ powerful mana surrounded us.
