Chapter Thirty-Nine

Seven Rs. Apparently, Marci was a pirate if you chose to infer that as representative of their class. How useful could a source of information be that hallucinates the wrong answers a lot of the time? The undead creation gave great compliments and assured Harmony she was right whenever obvious misformation was corrected, but it didn’t remember its past, class, profession, or even its name, which it mangled as M’arci Inter.  

Harmony hauled the failed project to her newly rented  “workshop.” The doorless, windowless room she’d rented from Bantz in the slums was only accessible through Hyacinth’s teleportation, a perfect space for her more sensitive future projects. Furnacing it had been a consideration, but if she could figure out what went wrong and how long those cores would last, then some value might be had.

After sleep, Harmony spent the next day poking around Verus’s 301 lab, mostly observing and asking questions. “Why did that explode? Can I hand you that face mask?  Heal? How did you get that reaction?” She did try to lend a hand. [Cold Touch] helped put out fires.  [Dust] worked well on some of the more smoke-filled fumes.  [Mend] and [Renew Spirit] were in high demand. And as long as she wasn’t asking for them to do anything for her, the few students who were there were grateful.

She was able to catalog the resources she had available, both free and those that could be purchased through the school. Verus had dropped off notes of his communications with Maester Gregor regarding his attempt to make Tasha into what she wanted. She learned the differences between what she had done with a well-practiced recipe and what these students were attempting. “Eight days, or is it seven now?”  she murmured as she used [Dust] to sweep up more shattered glassware. A new recipe for a half-step potion that didn't share a dungeon environment was mixing volatile unknowns, hoping you’d get a lovely drink in the end. And because everyone had different methods of combining things, no one kept records of what didn’t work. An impossible task if she stuck to what others were doing, of mixing and hope. Rather than stay and feel more defeated by other people's failures, Harmony took off.

She wasn’t an alchemist, and only because the transformation process touched on souls and death was she able to make that guaranteed potion, a final step of a well-known process. Here, half the time mixing materials on a spiritual level exploded in the lab before she got to her necromantic strengths. Too bad she couldn’t skip straight into understanding what would work in the human soul and the process of monsterification. That term still snuck into her head, almost unbidden.  There were always beings whose power you wouldn’t risk borrowing, alien strings of unfathomable energy still itched her memories where her metaphysical fingers yanked them out. And with a few too many teeth, Muthu the mimic waited for a chance to share a drink, for giving it an opportunity to be free.

Monsters were only half the equation, and even though she was terrible at math, she knew a person’s soul was the other half. She’d mucked about in the living, the dying, the dead. That was another reason why she’d perfected the half-step iron body potion by digging through bodies, living, dying, and dead who had the condition. It was a place where answers could be found. Much better than throwing things into a beaker and shaking them up while hoping they don’t explode in your face.

Harmony knocked on Alex and Tasha’s shared place. “Go away!” Yelled Alex’s slurring voice. “I told you that I’m not going to your meeting!”

No. This wouldn’t do. In combat, he was acceptable because he was the giant golden bear, with their relationship tied to being on the dungeon delving team, the man’s performance was mostly bearable. Drinking a little too much at meals could be solved with magic, but lunch was well past, and the evening meal was hours away. Turning the doorknob and pushing hard, it was a good thing the door wasn’t locked, or Harmony would have forced it open through the lock or hinges.

The place stank worse than the last time of stale alcohol as empty cans rolled about, one crunched under Harmony’s foot as she marched in. She’d come here wanting to get the feel of Tasha’s soul, but Alex was also on her list as a resource for this body-type project, for where did man end and monster begin? His bear-human memory issue was on her to-dos. Fear training couldn’t have helped that little problem. Or the man’s drinking“Harm!” He yelped, dropping the half-empty beer in his hand.

Now she didn’t have any way to purge poisons, remove mental fogginess, or fix Alex’s condition in any traditional manner. What she had was [Cold Touch] and the ability to spiritually dunk his soul and mind into a barrel of soaking cold water, using a bit of inventive synergies like[Renew Spirit], [Recall], and a flicker of [Shadowed Graves]. The classic sobering-up move for poor drunkards.

Alex instinctively tried to defend himself, but his human skills were out of practice, and a half-usage of [Final Silence] knocked him away as she lifted him up to a standing position and cold-shocked some sense into the boy.  

“This is too embarrassing. At some point, your private business becomes my problem to deal with if it runs the risk of reflecting on our registered dungeon diving team.” Harmony let authority bleed into her words to get the point across.  She continued to speak while Alex was still trying to find his voice. “I came here looking for Tasha to talk about her body type, but I’m not unsympathetic to your problems. I think your condition might help me figure out some ideas I have about making a potion for Tasha, and I may be able to help you if you’re willing to accept.”

That had Alex flinch in her hand. He’d remembered her help, even if that part of him was the bear. She hadn’t been gentle in her training, but he’d wanted results.

It wasn’t fight, flight, or freeze, but defeat; his body shook with. “I know you’ve been patient with my issues. It’s silly because I’m ranked in the top three hundred with two bonds to fill, yet I still feel a failure. The drink numbs it.”

Harmony let him go, and he slumped back down.

“What did your academic advisor tell you?” Harmony asked.

Alex laughed. “I’ve seen him three times. He has fifty students, and doesn’t have time to worry about someone so highly ranked. After I quicken, I should adjust more to my body type and gain skills that will help. If not, soul surgery is possible. I’m on the waiting list for a school consultation, but that’s over a year away. Maybe find a bond to bridge the divide? Do you really think you can have me get more than flashes of being the bear?”

Breaking rules with external use of [Recall] would be key here. There would be a need to understand the monster side and the human side of the soul and how they were merged. That would be helpful for deciding what to do with Tasha as well. Maybe a little bit of soul surgery here, too.  “I think I can. If you’re willing to take the risk.”

Permission was more than she got from Marci. Not that a drunk and desperate child was exactly the beacon of solid consent, but you worked with the resources you had. “Do you really have to cut off a chunk of my side?” Alex asked.

It was more than just flesh. She wanted a chunk of his soul and container, too. Triggering soul-level fears to detect mimics had provided lots of interesting tidbits of information that might be useful here, now that she had more knowledge to pull from. Not that she thought her implosion was a result of her body type, she was sure of special circumstances there. “I’ll also need a sample from your bear form to compare it with.”

“I ought to say no and walk away from this now.” Alex groaned now that he was sober and shirtless as Harmony waited with her sickle in hand. Five long, slow breaths and a mental struggle later, while she projected calm, benevolent patience with [Poise and Bearing], he spoke again. “Do it.”

Alex’s deep fears were delightfully uncomplicated in that he was afraid of turning into a bear and never coming back. The way his soul defensively pulled back from the bear part of his soul helped Harmony see the interactions between the warring sides of the boy.

The furry lump of bear flesh’s fears were more complicated. She’d been a little worried that she would be the focus of the transformed creature's deepest fears after training, but no, it was a mix of abandonment, getting stuck in a tight place, and even a shadowy creature that steals its food. Even without a mouth, it let out a tiny squeaking roar.

“What kind of skill is that?” Alex asked, horrified and fascinated. He’d probably never gotten to see a piece of himself post-transformation, but sealing off and keeping this alive allowed him to do that as she evaluated and tested it.

“A combination I’m using to diagnose traits of your soul. I wouldn’t use it on a person.” Even now, the soul and flesh reached for skills that were not there. No one would sit still long enough for her to inflict their worst fears on them.

“It makes me uncomfortable,” Alex admitted.

Showing off these skills revealed a lot she’d been hesitant to show at school so far.  Did he sense the necromancy? If this made him feel discomfort, what would happen when she got to the real work of what she needed to do to him? She’d have to treat him like one of Curie’s patients. What was the difference between a curse and a blessing? The effects of a skill or body type you didn’t want, and how did you change it? Curie's books on the topic were heavily philosophical, as who was to say a curse couldn’t be a blessing? They were there to excercise a flexible mind, as sometimes that is what decides if a skill worked on a target to heal or harm.

“I’m going to have to do more invasive things to you if you want me to help you. You mentioned having bonds available. Now, I’ve worked with others with bonds and oaths to alter outcomes slightly. If you want, I can try to nudge an outcome there or try it my way without it.”  She asked, neutral and confident.

“Nothing I have on me. I can’t fail out of combat 101. I’d have to retake it next quarter, and after that until I pass. Do what you need to do.”

Hyacinth poked her through [Familiar Bond]. Gweep.

“Fine.” The response was for both Alex and her familiar. It was the kind of thing she’d asked him to tell her to remind her about before she got carried away.

Five minutes later, Adric arrived, and after a brief, heated discussion, he left again. Supplies were taking some time… The door opened, allowing Tasha, Tun-knee, and Xera in behind Adric, who had a bag of medical supplies.

“While, I have assisted Lady White, I feel like it would be good to have the support of your team as you go through this, Alex.” Adric said.

“Are you really going to have Harmony perform surgery on you? You barely know the girl.” Tasha demanded.

“You’re letting her make you a half-step potion, Tash.”

“Under Versus’s supervision, and not in our shared living room. Mom also secured an eighty-percent flight-body type if needed.”

“Well, I don’t have a backup,” Alex answered bitterly.

“I’m excited to use my support skills to assist in the process. All my observations and assessments of Lady White have given me great confidence that she can work well even under pressure.” Tun-Kness added.

“See, Tony thinks it’s a good idea,” Alex answered.

The beast kin had watched as she operated in The Ascendant Games. He knew some of  what she could do.

“I’ll support my linked healer’s decisions the way she’d support mine with full enthusiasm and support,” Xera answered.

Oh, that little… [Poise and Bearing] controlled Harmony’s twitch. Xera was getting ahead of Harmony, confronting her about the blooming relationship with the quartus Kevin. Someone had taught that girl politics. It’s not like she even needed to be here. But the message was clear.

“Fine, if you’re going to attempt this madness, I might as well hold your hand.” Tasha turned her attention to Harmony. “But if you fail, don’t think I’m going to help you with your potions class.”

She’d be this protective if this were Ambrosia, so she couldn’t blame the woman. But what was Alex going to do? Fail is presentation, and drink even more? Life and death choices weren’t just made in a dungeon when jaws were closing in. They were made when you chose which hand to accept help from and when.

Adric leaned in and whispered. “They were supposed to talk either one of you out of this.”

Harmony shot him a look that said, I know and we’ll talk about this later. They both knew she didn’t know what she was doing when she chose to muck about in people's souls. That was why they were at school. This wasn’t a desperate attempt to save Maxwell and Rosaline, or any of the other situations she’d been thrust into and forced to act. This must seem like hubris to Adric, and his attempting to stop this would be shielding her feelings if something went wrong.

But she wasn’t blind to the direction Alex was heading down. A path where he was doomed to make a bad decision, and soon, with the way he was torturing himself. A familiar feeling of being trapped without the opportunities you want. There often wasn’t a way to stop someone once they committed, but you could become it, be the bad choice they made.  

“Lay down and be still. This might hurt… a lot.” She told him.