Abandon Planet!

Later....

Sigin (Dragon Mage native to current parallel world)

After we'd pulled ourselves together from the after effects of battle, Inquirer had some things to share with us. Things that her sensors (damaged though they were) had detected from space...

....

This is still almost all too new. All almost too much to take in, blast it!

"Well, given everything else . . . I don't see a reason for staying," the centauress named Ravenmane mutters, tail swishing about. "The only possible friends and family I have would be in this . . . alien lands of yours, Fertal. Only possible place to find out and cure the alterations to my memories . . . to ME."

Yes, I can well see just how she'd feel that way. Even agree with her reasoning. With the terrible loss of her friend, Azu Brighteyes (may her spirit be held close in Taimat's heart), she has little left here on this world for staying. In this . . . world she and these Champions are going to, there she'll have others who (if I understand correctly) will be both family and friends. It's a D'Honire thing, I'm given to understand. Given to understand (through silent messages of the mind with the others) that they're so BIG on this is, despite how insane it sound, THIS young filly IS a D'Honaire. A Frederigo D'Honaire in truth is his. . . now her (I guess) given birth name, not Ravenmane. They have worries about IF they can actually salvage the reality from the . . . illusion for wont of a better term.

And before you ask, the Crystallic, while powerful, wasn't the tool for this job. It was an amplifier amongst other things, but the proper use for matters LIKE this were lost to the mages here and now. Maybe if we had an Atlantian mage, we'd be good to go. Not now, though.

The Champions, in mindspeak, said the chances were fifty/fifty, IF they were quick enough. IF they got her back in time to Terra Prime to fully stocked mage laboratories (though they whispered that some dragon friends of theirs would be the best ones for this task).

A dragon admitting another than themselves being best for a task of magery. Now isn't THAT something.

Still learning the ways of modesty myself.... Comes from interaction with humans, I guess. Never before even considering such things.....

.....

Okay, I'm going off on tangents. Pardon.

Bottom line, if what Inquirer says is true from her "sensor scans", it'll HAVE to be this Terra Prime place. My world is awash in . . . fox Manimals. All who will be for at least quiet a while (until when/if their Matrixes crystalize, nulling out the infectious neo-lycanthropy in the process).

See, whatever else it means, it means that unless a miracle happens (some kind of overlooked, abandoned mage lab shows up), Terra Prime is it. Other possible places I and Synizn know of (if they haven't been reworked by that damnable Minestus into yet another temple of worship or whatever).... Every place will have infectious fox Manimals about. Nearly got transformed myself by just a breeze coming off that village back there, damnit!

I cannot get near one again. Jarlath might not be able to . . . stop it next time.

I was hatched a dragon and wish to REMAIN one, thanks! Stories that poor Synizn tells about his ordeals as a were-bear (which only involved traditional lycantrhopy).....

No thanks.

.....

But a bitter pill to swallow is this. The world is awash in fox Manimals but NO other signs of any other species besides this little group.

....

I . . . am not going to ask Jaralth to try something radical with either myself or Synizn. One transgender transformation here and now (i.e. Ravenmane) is enough for my taste, thanks. Besides, too small of "gene pool" by FAR!!

It saddens me to think of leaving, but....I'd already become stranger to it. I'd been stuck in the Blighted Forest, unaware of the time passing outside. Too many changes.... This Terra Prime place sounds . . . fascinating and I . . . want to see these brothers of mine (one who's a demifox of all things)! Still, I'm torn."

ON another hand....

But . . . it gravels me!!

"So . . . we abandon planet," I whisper. "Leaving every last transformed still howling for our blood, believing that Minestus was their god, even though we DID kill him..... Leaves a bad taste in my mouth, the changes wrought on this world. I cannot believe that you're just suggesting we give up, not even make some kind of attempt. . . to put it SOMEHOW to right."

"I didn't," Inquirer says softly. "I'm just being . . . realistic. It's spread too far. It's too contagious for anyone but those like me or the Champions. Once that transformation take place, the magic users tell that it's actually beyond their abilities to fix, even with that super magic stone called the Crystallic!"

"But perhaps we can DO one thing," Jarlath says slowly, sitting up from where he'd been laying and recovering. "The forms are set in stone now, but I have a brother who's a fox Manimal. Have a LOT of friends who are Manimals, but are NOT mindless slaves of the Minestus who'd done that to them. If we can examine one of the...."

In the end, to get a subject for examination, required a quick flyover by Inquirer and grabbing a likely subject via a tractor beam. Scares the bejeebers out of the poor fox, let me tell you. With the examination sight well away from the pickup point (i.e. the abduction sight), the Champions (with the other non-Champions WELL away, out of range) examine the spells upon the struggling (and snarling) fox Manimal.

Conclusions are mixed.

Yes, the neo-lycanthropy was still present (but it was getting to a point where it wouldn't be. It would crystalize within the new Matrix and become part and parcel of the metaphysical thing). Remember, lycanthorpy like that found on Terra Prime like worlds are actually Matrix shards which have a way of . . . contaminating normal Matrixes, twisting the victim into different shapes.

Well enough. They'd already figured on that. The fact that this curse was spreadable by the actaully rather pleasant smell the fox Manimals gave off (carried a LONG way by breeze), was jarring but....well, they'd already seen it almost succeed on both the native Sigin and Synizn, blast it!

The GOOD news, here, though is the magical amnesia and compulsions that Moreau had placed upon the fox Manimal. The exact means of just HOW it was so wide spread (apparently) was unknown, but it needed to be renewed from time to time. AND that, if not renewed (by Dragon magical spell by the look of it), then the amnesia and other stuff would fade....

In a bout a year or three....

In the meantime . . . don't expect these guys to make good neighbors.

Yeah, time to abandon planet. Which, after a bit of crowding into Inquirer's ship and landing at the spot where the Rules and Agents would pickup, that's what they did. Stealth by now was tossed to the wind, so such measures were. . . okay. Cannot rile up the natives any more than they'd already been, all considered, right?

....

Inquirer 2, ship and all (with her team mates now in normal sleep instead of magical sleep) found herself in the proximity of a space station called Babylon 5. Her chain of command was contacted. DAmage to her CPU was repaired, thank Creator.

But if she'd not put her foot down and HARD, then some of her team mates (still asleep) might have been in a bad way. That's why she'd been rather cranked when those Phantoms had taken LONGER than they should have....

But that's that for her, story wise. Could tell you of a humorous encounter she'd had with some Nebari women who'd mistaken her for her sister, but..... Not right now.

The Champions are back on Terra Prime, having already passed over the Crystallic to the Rules and Agents (so they could do with it what they needed to do, whatever those Celestrial "things" were).

Now, for the next Quest. The others are now recovered (somewhat) and actually the line of new Champions needing Chaperoning had shrunk. Seems that the Doctor had came and left whilst Jarlath's group had been away....

Having placed the displaced non-Champions in good hands for now, things were looking somewhat up (I guess).

After a LOT of thought, a decision of who next to take is made.

It's nice to see Exotica and her hubby (Synizn 2) together. Nice couple they make, fox tails and all.....

1. As for their quarry.... Well, first let's just say that when they get a start on things they surprise a young woman and her uncle, coming in out of thin air like that.....

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