[???] stop requested (fetchpatrick/fetcherance/others)

[shibrogane]

Melany wavered, her gray eyes dipping down for just a moment before she looked back up, mouth firm. "Try me," she said. "If it doesn't work. Then I'll think about it."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Hart's mouth thinned for a second, but then she nodded. What's the worst that could happen - Silk would be mad? Hart held out her skeletal hand. "Very well, come along." It had been short enough that there was still a glimmer of over-saturation about the, uh, nugget closet. Hart decided she really didn't want to know what that was.

"Ladies first." Get in the closet, Melany.

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

Being in Horace's room felt like an invasion. Melany didn't go there. Melany didn't even want to go there. Melany was writing her apology note in her head even as she stepped through to the otherworld.

Far from being mad, Silk's brown eyes got huge and round and she honestly kinda looked like she was going to cry. "Oh, look at you," she said, all kinds of maternal. "My sweet girl."

Melany blinked like an owl, and patted Silk on the back, and then turned to Fetchlian. "He's sick," she said, squinting at him.

"Wait, what," said Lady.

cibarium

The Semblance of Unity

 

[cibarium]

"What?" Fetchlian repeated.

Julian gave a curious look but stayed quiet. This was... the "vessel" girl. Melany.

shibrogane

the semblance of unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Well, if Silk wasn't mad (far from it), then Hart couldn't be too mad. Although Melany was cute, the Lady was more inspiring in many ways. "How do we fix him?" Hart hadn't expected Melany to just.... know by looking at him.

cibarium

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

The problem, of course, was that Melany was short. She squinted up at Fetchlian, and pointed to the ground: a silent command. For the moment, it was easy to see how she could become the Spinel Lady.

When he knelt, she circled around behind him and felt carefully at the bruise. Dust motes, shaken free from the sunlight around them, gathered about her hand as she laid it over the discolored skin at the base of Fetchlian's skull. She pushed, hooked her fingers around something, and pulled--

cibarium

ur on the reveal my frando

The Semblance of Unity

 

[cibarium]

"That's a ******** Yeerk!" Julian interjected, visibly shaken. "What the hell?"

There was an unpleasant ripping sound, a muffled and barely audible squeak, and a translucent sea slug-looking thing squirmed between Melany's fingers. It had an array of tendrils that still clung to the base of the fetch's skull. They snapped and withered and sagged unpleasantly as Melany continued to pull it away.

"A veilworm," croaked the fetch as he collapsed to the floor, his glamour fading. "I contracted a veilworm. What an insult. Lady forgive me."

the semblance of unity

shibrogane

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Hart watched, fascinated, as Melany extracted the veilworm. Then her eyes shifted to the fetch. "Cook?" Then her eyes drifted back to Melany.

"Forgive my doubt, my Lady." Her voice was hushed and shamed. Of course the Lady was Melany and Melany was the Lady. She'd seen evidence of this before, even if she was not old enough to have been there from the beginning. The Lady was imposing, beautiful, but Melany was the seed of that.

"What is a vielworm?"

shibrogane

cibarium

 

[shibrogane]

"Gross," Melany squealed, which rather broke the Cool Factor of the moment. She dropped the veilworm and then crushed it beneath one house-slippered foot. "Oh my god, what WAS that, I am never, ever doing that again, gross!"

Silk said, "Oh, Melany," and her tone was wistful. She seemed perfectly content to continue staring at Melany with her heart in her eyes, but instead she shook herself and resumed her official demeanor. "They're the minions of a creature called Ixodi," she said. "It believes that it can use the blood of visitors to acquire greater magical power. It's total nonsense, of course, but veilworms are a fairly constant problem whenever Ixodi manages to escape its confines." She wrinkled her nose, and then turned her attention to Lady. "And you ought to have known to check when this fetch began to act out that way. Who knows how many visitors have been infected by Cook?"

She looked to Hart. "Has anyone gone missing in your world of late? We must act to contain this; in the absence of the majority of the Noble Court, it is our responsibility..." She looked to Julian and Lady, a scowl on her face. "But most particularly, yours. This could have been nipped in the bud weeks ago!"

cibarium

The Semblance of Unity

 

[cibarium]

"Many pardons for the interruption," said Cook, mournful and dry as he tried to look up at the group above him. "But if someone could assist me to a sitting position, I'd be grateful."

He was having some trouble moving. Whether it was for physical or magical reasons, it was hard to say.

It was as good a reason as any to escape Silk's withering gaze for a moment. Julian hated the withering gazes. With the care afforded him by his limited medical training he took Cook by the shoulders and pulled him up so he could rest his back against Julian's legs. The fetch gave a dusty grunt as a show of thanks.

"A magic public health crisis," the tithe summarized, similarly dry. Great. If Ixodi was a vector for such a thing, why didn't they just kill it? The question was left unasked. Instead: "What will it take to contain it?"

Act first, grovel later.

the semblance of unity

shibrogane

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Lady Melany, may I suggest acquiring new shoes before you go back..." Hart trailed off delicately, looking at the smear beneath Melan'ys house slipper. Gross. Then she snapped her attention back to Silk. It was a little harrowing that Melany had no acknowledged her apology, but that seemed like the Lady she had become, too. It was fine.

"I have noticed... Ashton Carver and Zac Bantock missing, specifically. They were close to Lord Rabbit's tithe." Well, Ashton wasn't, but Hart wasn't about to tell Silk she'd been kind of dating a human. "I know both have been reported to the Ashdown Police Department, although I don't know if any progress was made." She tapped her lips thoughtfully, hair poofs bouncing a bit. "They could be among the infected, but I cannot say for certain."

Hart glanced over at Melany. "Lady Melany, should we other infected, may they be brought to you for treatment?"

shibrogane

cibarium

 

[shibrogane]

Melany looked kind of terrified, still, and was grinding the veilworm into the ground. Silk reached over to put a hand on her arm, and smiled, and Melany calmed a little bit, inching over to stand beneath Silk's arm. "We must root out all of its thralls," said Silk darkly. "Fetches are quite susceptible, so I cannot do it myself. Humans are a little hardier, but not much. This will have to be done swiftly."

Lady said, "Well, yeah, but how?"

There was a long, quiet moment, and then Melany said, "I mean... it's like Beel said in the email, isn't it? It's the nobles' responsibility to protect the otherworld from itself." She looked down at Cook for a long moment. "And usually the tithe and their fetch fight it out, but Cook isn't in any state to fight anyone at all." She chewed on her lower lip, tapped her index finger against her chin.

"So, as a punishment for the patron who didn't look after her fetch, and a trial for the tithe whose fetch is out of commission because of the patron's failure..." She looked at Julian. There was no sign of the telltale growth of the Spinel Lady, no eldritch rearrangement of the shapes of her face. It was just Melany. (Silk looked about ready to cry.) "You'll be responsible for dealing with Ixodi. You'll free the thralls and anyone else caught by the monster. I'll go with you to remove the veilworms, but I can't fight, so you'll have to find people to help you and to protect me."

She looked at Silk, then. "Is that alright?"

Silk nodded, approvingly.

"Then that's how it'll be," said Melany.

The Semblance of Unity

cibarium

 

[cibarium]

The dried flesh stretch across Cook's face had a look of something like dread when Melany observed he wasn't in fighting shape, because it was true. And it had been a lost opportunity. He suppressed a dismayed groan, instead muttering, "And I was so looking forward to killing him." Shaking his head slowly, he continued, "I remember some faces. There should be four in all. Veilworms don't care for stress, physical or otherwise... it's because Ixodi prefers its thralls docile."

Cook also looked ready to cry. The show of mercy was unbearably moving. Maybe he could yet be repaired, but he wouldn't dare ask.

Julian decided to ignore the part about how he totally would have gotten his a** kicked, instead turning to face Melany. The lack of eldritch terror in her features helped him relax some -- among other things, this Melany probably didn't remember his squeaky marker.

"I was about to start a surgical internship before coming here," he said. "So I can expedite the... deworming. Or magic up some better tools, at least, so you're not using your bare hands."

the semblacnce of unity

shibrogcane

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Hart frowned. "Does this mean the tithe will join the ranks of the court simply by default?" And that was ******** ridiculous. Sucked to be Cook, though. She swallowed her sigh.

"If you find you need any assistance after removing the veilworms, Noble Lady, Lady Melany-" she dipped her head to each of them. "Please call on me." Hart remembered enough of her previous life and, well, her current one, to potentially be of use. But she wasn't going to force her way in like some do-gooder.

"Lady Melany, when we are finished, may I escort you back?" And also hang out in Horace's house until her face rearranged properly, ugh. Though she's make do if needed. Hart always did.

cibarium

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"No," said Melany. "Defeating Ixodi isn't guaranteed, from what it sounds like. He has to prove he can defend the otherworld or die." She crossed her arms over her chest. "Unless you have a better idea?"

She looked up to Silk. "He'll be okay, won't he? Cook?" Silk nodded.

"We'll take care of him, sweetling," she said, "Never fear. However..." She looked at Hart. "Hart. You'll go with her as a final line of defense, in case this does go wrong." Silk nodded to herself. "Whenever you're prepared to begin, tithe... Though I suggest you don't delay."

cibarium

The Semblance of Unity