We don’t even make it to the bottom of the pit before running into trouble. Trouble in the shape of a giant armadillo with club hands. His massive form came from a side tunnel to block off our path. Iron gray scales shimmer in the dim light casted by the townheart, complete with patches of red rust. His deep ruby eyes flicker between the two of us.

“What the… Why are you two up here at night? Don’t you know you’re not safe on the sides?” His voice is gruff as he scolds us.

I highly doubt anything that could be a threat to us lives anywhere nearby.

Betton steps in front of me, shockingly taking the lead. “We’ve just arrived here, and we’re desperate to get inside.” He makes his voice sound pitifully exhausted.

His ploy seems to work, as the creature’s red eyes soften. “Tsk… Well, I can’t be mad for ya wanting to get out of those damned grasslands.” He pauses, looking between the two of us again.

Suddenly, he turns around. “Follow me.” Without even checking to see if we’re following, the tequila or whatever starts moving through the slightly sloped half tunnel. Betton and I follow the man after a few seconds of surprised standing.

The armadillo looking person leads us down the pathways, occasionally dipping into an adjacent tunnel instead of just heading straight down. He seems to know where he’s going, as he doesn’t even hesitate when deciding what way to go. After what feels like twenty minutes we find the path leveling out into the pit floor.

The iron colored being turns back to face us. “Well, here ya are.” He motions over his shoulder with a bulbous limb, directing us towards the large crystal behind him. “There’s the human village, ya should be able to get what you need there.” With that said, he walks between us and heads back up the way we just came.

After his departure, Betton and I look at each other. “I guess we go get a room then?” Betton asks.

I nod. “Will our money be good here? We could be in another country.”

The tween gives me a funny look. “Gold is gold, doesn’t really matter what shape it is.” Right… metal coins. Forgot.

With that out of the way, we quickly reach the outskirts of the village. As we pass by the outermost building, a horrible sensation washes over me. A somewhat familiar humidness settles onto my skin. I squirm in discomfort.

“Damn magic barrier…” I grumble.

Ignoring my complaints, Betton continues his determined march towards the tallest building. The thing is a two story construction made from suspiciously similar wooden planks. The backside of the building leans directly against the giant crystal. A small sign with a cartoon bed and mug hangs over the door.

Each step closer to the inn we take, the harsher the discomfort that presses down on me gets. By the time we make it to the front door, I feel close to suffocating. Which is a bit funny, since I don’t seem to need to breathe.

Betton either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care about my distress, and heads inside. I follow, my mind a bit murky at this point. The inside is like every other inn I’ve seen, fictional or not. Round squat tables spread out haphazardly with a bar in the very front. Several hostesses walk around the room, giving food and plates to the many customers. Behind the bar is a single, older, woman, who’s wearing an eyepatch. She focuses on us the moment we walk in.

I let Betton take the lead, the disturbing glow from the one wall of the establishment digging into my mind. He walks up to the bar, where the one-eyed woman walks over to meet us.

“What the hell you youngin’s doing in here?” she asks with a deep voice.

Betton gives a customer service smile. “We just got into town, and need a place to stay. Do you have any free rooms?”

The barkeep glances between the two of us dubiously. “You two, alone, just got into town? At night? How’d the hell you survive the grasslands?” She obviously doesn’t believe him, and is going to pepper us with questions before giving us a room.

Anger flares in my chest. I’m so fucking wiped, and this fucking glow is burning away and sanity I have left. I glare up at the woman before realizing what I should do.

I raise my left hand, like I’m trying to ask a question in class. The woman gives me an odd look, but not for long. My hand explodes into pink flesh, twisting around itself furiously. In a flash my hand is replaced with a long, scythe-like blade. I slam it into the bartop, embedding it in several inches. The woman’s remaining eye goes wide, but she doesn’t move otherwise.

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

In the sudden silence, I groan out my words. “Does that answer your questions?” I sound like I’m drunk, or close to passing out. The latter of which may be true.

The barkeep nods slowly, so I withdraw my mantis arm back into my hand. Betton lets out an irritated sigh.

“I apologize for my sister, she’s very cranky after our travels.” He gives a meek grin.

“...Right,” the barkeep mutters.

“So how much for a room?” Betton asks.

“One silver,” she says, a bit more confidently.

Betton reaches into his clothes, and pulls out two silver coins. He puts the against the counter. “An extra for the bartop.”

The woman smiles awkwardly before reaching under the surface and retrieving a key. She hands it to Betton, keeping herself as far from me as possible. He immediately hands the small bronze object to me.

“Go sleep, I need to eat something,” he says quietly.

I nod, my head ringing in pain at my actions. I snatch the object before practically sprinting up the stairs. Without giving it much attention, I try the key into each door until one opens. Thankfully our given room has no walls touching the townheart, giving me slight relief from the unbearable light.

Pushing myself against the wall farthest from the cursed crystal, I fall into a fitful sleep.

────────────

When I wake up, I find out the unfortunate information that I hadn’t actually slept at all. At least, that’s what my horrifically aching body is telling me. The effects of the stupid crystal are still extremely potent, but it seems I can resist it a bit better than last night.

I try to stand up, just to find that I reverted into a pile of pink goo with eyes in the night. I sigh internally as I begin to piece myself back together.

While my body knits itself into a more presentable shape, I take a glance around the room. Betton has clearly been here, since there’s the clothes he was wearing yesterday on a bench by the bed. Did he buy new clothes? I guess he had to, unless he’s running around nude right now…

I’m kind of always running around nude, aren’t I?

Whatever, that’s not important. What is important is that I’m hungry. …I hope I can eat people food.

When my body is done changing into a young girl, I grab some of the coins from Betton’s pants pocket. Must be change from when he got the new ones? Whatever, it should be enough for breakfast.

I walk downstairs, avoiding looking at the wall that’s just the exposed face of the townheart. It helps a little, but the ever-present light still saps my strength. I walk over to the bar, where a man is now working.

“Food,” I grunt. I smack the six copper onto the wooden countertop, not restraining my strength effectively. The entire bar shakes from the impact, rattling quite a few drinks. The bartender’s head snaps into my direction, his beady eyes filled with irritation.

He waddles over, his overweight frame taking up almost the entire space behind the counter. After a quick glance of the coinage I’m offering, he grunts and scoops it up. Money in hand, he disappears through a door set into the wall next to the shelves of booze.

I sit down on one of the plush stools, feeling the glares of the other patrons as I wait for my food. I look each of them over, recognizing a few of them vaguely from the previous, very hazy, night. I give them all a smile, and suddenly they all look away.

…Did I use my sharp teeth? Oops, what a blunder.

As if sensing me making trouble, the man returns from the adjacent room. In his hands lie the objects of my desire. A plate of bacon adjacent, eggs adjacent, a bowl of mashed something, and a cup of dark fluid. I feel myself grinning, belatedly changing my teeth into something appropriate for a human.

If the barkeep noticed my momentary fangs, he doesn’t show it. He quickly places the food in front of me before returning to his spot. I know it’s his spot because the wood of the counter has little indents where he puts his elbows from wear. Habitual person, I guess.

My whole body grumbles in hunger, my entire frame wriggling as it does. Thankfully no one was looking, because I’m sure that looked strange. Not that I’d care. I grab the plate, and quickly slide the contents into my mouth. I might’ve had to widen it to catch the entire plateful at once, but who can blame me, I’m really hungry.

With way too much food stuffed into my cheeks at once, I turn the inside of my mouth into a blender of fangs. A few seconds of puree setting and I’m able to swallow it all in one go. Maybe I don’t get to taste it as much this way, but I don’t really care. People taste way better.

I move onto the bowl of mash, quickly gobbling it down in a similar fashion as the plate. With that out of the way, I move onto the drink. It has an odd smell, not unlike coffee, but not really the same either. I drain the cup in one go, feeling the warm bitter liquid wash through me.

As soon as I finish swallowing, I realize something’s off. A weird buzzing starts in the center of my body, quickly spreading out from there. It’s very slight, but still noticeable. It’s not long before all of me is buzzing away excitedly. I’m worried for a moment, before I realize something.

The pressure from the townheart is gone. I turn and stare right into the glowing back wall of the inn. Sure enough, while not comfortable at all, the light from the crystal isn’t nearly as malicious as before. I turn excitedly back to the bar.

“Ey! Barkeep! What was that drink?” I ask demandingly.

The bald man looks back at me, annoyed. “Mog,” he grunts. My question answered, he goes back to chatting with his customers.

Mog… I need more of this magical elixir. But to do that, I need money. And for money… I need Betton. I hop down from the barstool, and quickly run out of the bar. As soon as the sun hits my skin, and I put some distance from the center of town, the effects of the barrier diminish to nothing. What potent stuff, this Mog.

I really need to find Betton.