Lucky Rabbit

“No,” Pandy whispered, then shook her head. “You said the champion or the object could be ‘captured’. What does that mean? I hug Thaniel all the time, so-”

Keros grimaced. “A hug isn’t enough, Pandora,” he said gently. “And if you did manage to capture the stone, all that would happen is that you’d become our foe’s champion instead.” He frowned. “Usually, the god can speak to or even act through their champion, at least under preset circumstances. It’s actually surprising that Thaniel isn’t more…”

“Villainous?” Pandy asked, thinking of ‘Killian the Villian’, and how different he was from the Lian she knew. Her Lian – if she had the temerity to think of him that way – could be stiff and distant, but he wasn’t cruel. Even if Thaniel had died, she couldn’t believe that Lian would kill more than, say, three or four people out of vengeance. Certainly not dozens of random folks who had little to nothing to do with his brother’s death.

The god nodded. “I suspect Ismara’s presence is preventing our enemy from exerting his full influence, which is why he’s had to resort to working through people who are probably his worshippers instead. He won’t be able to speak to them as clearly, and certainly not control them directly.”

Waving a hand, he returned to her original question. “But the important thing is that the person who kills or destroys either the champion or the object must be the opposing champion. That means we’d have to find Ismara’s divine item in order to end this without her. If her object remains, while his is destroyed, she wins automatically. He can certainly still challenge this in court, since she’s ‘missing’, but given the speed at which the legal system usually moves, that would give us decades, maybe even centuries, to figure out how to free her. Though I suspect destroying the stone she’s in will be enough.”

Pandy was still working this through. “But in Gacha Love, no one actually kills Thaniel. His death is a tragic accident. Does that mean everyone who handles the stone before it gets to Killian is briefly the champion?”

Shrugging, Keros said, “That’s why gods usually prefer the direct champion method. It’s much harder to lose a person than an object. This isn’t even the first time I’ve heard of something like this happening. Usually this kind of contest is selected by gods who either don’t feel they could win a direct confrontation, or ones who truly view the whole thing as a game, and find true entertainment in simply seeing how it plays out.”

“I don’t get the feeling Ismara is the second type,” Pandy said. “Everyone says she was really involved and cared about her people. She even spoke directly to…” Her voice trailed off as her eyes widened. “The royal family! Ismara spoke to the kings and queens of West Altheric, right up until she was trapped in the stone two years ago.”

Nodding, Keros said, “Which means they almost certainly have her stone, and one of them is Ismara’s champion.”

“But the person who kills Killian changes depending on how you play the game, and even how you fight the battle,” Pandy said. “They don’t pass some chunk of rock around before striking the final blow.”

“No, but Killian isn’t really the final boss, is he?” Keros asked, gaze intent. “After he falls-”

“Asc- Asparagus takes his place,” Pandy said, eyes widening. “But Killian is wearing the stone. That’s the whole deal, isn’t it? Killing the champion is supposed to end the game.”

The god shook his head. “I said this was a fairly standard way for gods to decide who becomes the World God, not that every detail is always the same. I suspect both sides have selected an elemental of their own type to defend their object in the end. Which in this case…”

“Is Asparagus. Me.” Pandy whispered, horrified. “But I won’t do it. Whoever the opposing champion is, I just won’t fight them, so it’ll be fine.”

“Except that the stone is still in Thaniel’s chest,” Keros reminded her.

Oh. Yes. There was that. “So first we heal Thaniel properly.” She already had some ideas about that, though she wasn’t certain how long it would take to bring them to fruition. Less than eight months, hopefully. “Then we find Ismara’s stone, which should be easy enough, because the royal family has to have it. Finally, we bring the two stones together, and have Ismara’s champion use a nutcracker on Zhery-wery’s rock. Done!”

“Zhery-wery?” Keros looked momentarily bemused, then his eyes narrowed. “Who came up with that?”

Pandy chomped down her lip. “Me. Totally me. You know how bad I am at coming up with code names.” She hurried on. “But how do we know who Ismara’s champion is? Just whoever’s holding the stone?”

Keros gave her a Look. “You know who it has to be. Who always, always uses a pure Light spell that calls directly upon Ismara’s power in order to destroy Asparagus?”

“Clara,” Pandy admitted with a sigh, already having had a bad feeling she knew where this was going. “Who’s probably the actual, original Asparagus.”

“Exactly so,” Keros agreed. “And who is always given a particular necklace by the Queen as thanks for discovering who the murderer was.”

It was true. No matter which love interest she chose, Clara was always involved in figuring out Killian was behind the murder spree and ended up confronting him. Upon defeat, in the tradition of all the most annoying villains, he ran away rather than accepting his fate. As a reward, Queen Regent Louisa gave Clara a medal which went into her ‘key items’ inventory and permanently increased the power of all Light spells by 10%.

“But why would the Queen give a random girl what has to be one of the most important relics of the royal house?” Pandy asked. “Sure, Clara just helped stop a murderous sociopath, but so does her love interest.”

“Who also gets a reward,” Keros said, but gave a noncommittal shrug. “It could be that Louisa, as someone who only married into the family, doesn’t know how important it is. It could also be a very deliberate choice, giving the most powerful Light elementalist since Nora an object that Nora herself treasured, and which increased her power. I think most wise rulers would be willing to sacrifice a bauble that’s useless to them in order to strengthen an already powerful Light mage, especially one who has shown she’s willing to put herself in danger in order to protect the people of your country.”

Pandy closed her eyes, rubbing her temples with familiar-yet-strange fingers. “So first we need to get the stone out of Thaniel. Then we have to get Ismara’s stone to Clara, even though we’re not certain where her loyalties lie. Then we get Clara to use Divine Retribution on the stone, but not me, because I’m definitely not going to defend Zhery-we- Um, Zhery. Then Ismara will wake up, tell the big Z we were here with her permission all along, and by the way, Zhery is a cheater, and everything will be fine!”

Keros nodded, though there was a shadow in his eyes that Pandy didn’t like. “That’s about the shape of it.”

The room trembled around them as the shadowy shape of the carriage – which Pandy had almost dismissed – came to a sudden halt. Augustus’s arms fell, and even though he was little more than a ghostly image of himself, Pandy saw him start to slump forward. Without even an apology for the god who was still watching her with that disconcerting sympathy, Pandy thought, and barely managed to catch the chancellor before he tumbled to the floor of the carriage.

Shifting Faces successful.

01:02:17 remaining today

One use remaining before level 10.

I suggest picking out someone to twin with before tomorrow.

Yes, Pandy was already well aware that she had less than a day to make her final choice. Though honestly, there was only one choice she could make, and she was very nearly at peace with it. Carefully, she laid Augustus’s unconscious body on the padded bench, then lifted his legs and propped them up on the wall. One good thing about the kind of life Pandy had led; people passing out around her didn’t even faze her any more, though it was slightly disconcerting when it was Augustus.

“Is he all right?” Thaniel whispered, staring wide-eyed at his chancellor, who was pale but otherwise unharmed, something which Pandy had checked with a quick Minor Heal.

The door of the carriage flew open, and Sir Bailey peered in, her gaze scanning her cousin’s supine form before lingering on each of the other occupants. “Everyone all right?” she asked. “That was a rough landing. He’s usually better at timing it.”

The small group exchanged glances before Pandy said, “Landing?”

Sir Bailey shrugged. “Best word I’ve got for it. Anyway, if you’re all fine, we should keep moving. You better hold onto him so he won’t roll off, eh?” She dropped a tiny wink in Pandy’s direction – something which nonetheless made her face instantly burst into flame – then shut the door as suddenly as she’d opened it. The carriage creaked slightly as she swung back up into the driver’s seat, and they were off once more, with the carriage wheels now rattling easily over cobblestones.

Thaniel pushed the curtains aside and looked out the window. “We’re almost back at Falconet,” he said, somewhat incredulous. It had taken them an hour just to get out of Knightmere, though a good part of that was spent in traffic. It was easily another hour over increasingly rough roads before they were forced to leave the carriage behind, but somehow they’d crossed that distance in no more than ten or twenty minutes – Pandy wasn’t entirely certain how long she’d been talking to Keros, or if time moved differently in the ‘sandbox’.

Abbington and Brook crowded up beside Thaniel, and Geraldine started to do the same, then paused, looking at Miss Cupcakes, who was curled up in her lap. The kitten’s ears twitched, and Geraldine looked uncertain, then scooted on her seat until she was next to the other window. Pushing aside the curtain, she waited as the feline gave a languid stretch, then deigned to look out the window at the passing city. The girl definitely didn’t look as excited about her dungeon clear award as she had been.

Speaking of which, Pandy briefly debated claiming her own reward now, but eventually decided it was better to wait. She could put the gold in her virtual wallet, but she’d have to carry the rest until she could clear out her Inventory. She’d brought her silver knife, as well as some rope and a few other things she’d thought might come in handy if the tower wasn’t quite as easy as she expected it to be.

The children were occupying one seat, and Augustus’s unconscious body was sprawled across the other, his legs still awkwardly propped against the wall, so Pandy gingerly shifted them, then sat down, letting his legs lay across her lap. She couldn’t remember if it mattered how high above the heart the legs were supposed to be, but at least Augustus looked a bit more comfortable. Sir Bailey certainly hadn’t seemed worried about him, so presumably this was normal for whatever he’d done.

The last seven or eight minutes of the drive were spent listening to excited chatter as Abbington gushed – in barely understandable but clearly happy words – about everything he was seeing outside. It seemed that he’d been able to make objects out fairly well within ten or fifteen feet, though tiny details like Geraldine’s freckles hadn’t been easily discernable, but he depended on his hearing and Brook to guide him when things got difficult. Pandy could have smacked herself at this last. That was why he always touched the capybara when he was uncertain or upset. It wasn’t just for emotional support, but because she was his service elemental.

In spite of their very full day, it was just dinnertime when they reached Falconet, as Sir Bailey informed them when she opened the door again. The children boiled out of the carriage, only Thaniel even glancing back at the two adults. Pandy waved him on with a smile, though internally she was trying to figure out how she could carry Augustus up to his bed without anyone seeing her.

The conundrum was solved when he opened one eye as soon as the children were gone and said in a conversational tone, “I was hoping you’d lay my head in your lap, not my feet. Is there something I should know about your preference for lower limbs, Rabbit?”

Pandy eeped and shoved his legs off her lap, something which resulted in him nearly toppling from his precarious perch. He didn’t catch himself with his usual grace, and she quickly realized that while he might be feeling well enough to tease her, he wasn’t entirely recovered yet. She reached out to help him, and he grasped her hand and leaned on her a little more heavily than she expected as he came to his feet.

Shaking his head, Augustus sighed. “I’m sorry. I should have warned you, but usually I can manage it better and cut the spell off before I pass out. Zephra is going to be quite irate with me when she returns.”

Pandy wrapped an arm around his waist and edged through the carriage door, grateful that it was designed to allow the passage of ladies in wide dresses. She even remembered the little step Sir Bailey had lowered for them, and managed not to drop both of them flat on their faces.

“Zephra is all right?” Pandy asked. “You’re all right?”

He gave her a gentle smile, all soft gray eyes and tousled curls, and Pandy felt whatever passed for her heart melt in her chest. “Zephra and I will be fine. We just need a few days’ rest.” The eyes went hard, and he glanced over at Sir Bailey, who didn’t even have the courtesy to pretend she wasn’t listening to them. “Report.”

The knight straightened, even her driver’s livery unable to camouflage her military posture. “Nothing, sir. Our elementalist sensed a few Tenebron and some Duskin around, but the Duskin may simply have spawned there. No Apparitions. We did a sweep, checking for Bound, but they’d have to have gotten there much more quickly than we believed they could. In any case, no sign.”

She tilted her head toward the carriage, which looked surprisingly intact, given that it had spent a good part of the day banging over roots and bouncing across rutted trails. “No sign of anyone inside the city, either, though that may be thanks to your efforts. Even our allies had a hard time following.”

A slightly grim smile ticked at the corner of Augustus’s mouth as he pulled away from Pandy. Did she only imagine the reluctance with which he moved? “That’s why I worked best alone. All right. It sounds like we were successful, then. I look forward to hearing from our other agents.”

Sir Bailey nodded, sinking back into the relaxed posture of a simple driver, and offered a half bow before returning to the carriage. She climbed into her seat and clucked at the horses, who moved off with visible exhaustion, probably heading for the side of the building, where a path led to the stables.

Augustus reached into his pocket and pulled out a comb, quickly fixing his hair. With a frown, he muttered, “I should get it cut. It’s quite unmanageable.”

“I like it,” Pandy blurted, turning red again as his brows went up. “It makes you look less intimidating and… and…” You look like an otome hero, she did not say.

One side of his mouth ticked up, and he tucked the comb away, pulling his glasses out as he did so. Settling them on his nose, he watched Pandy’s reaction. “But you like the glasses,” he said, certain. Her cheeks blazed, and his half smile turned into a satisfied grin. Extending his elbow for Pandy to grasp, he said, “Shall we go to dinner?”

She accepted the elbow, purely because it would look strange if she didn’t, and mumbled, “I only have forty minutes left.”

“Well, we’ll just have to eat in my apartment, then. I’ll tell the kitchen we’re too tired to come down. I’m certain Ms. Davenport will be thrilled to have another thing to chastise me for,” he told her, leading her back through the doors of Falconet, where the warmth and bustle of the school surrounded them in a comforting and familiar swell of sound.