The rest of that day, and most of the following, I dedicated to actually returning to peak form. Thankfully, by the next morning the Corporeal Malaise had passed and I spent several hours getting reacclimated with the new limits of my body. It was the single largest boost that I could recall as it stacked the progress from Q6 to Q7, which was already hefty, to the assimilation of my Geocardium. While it didn't feel like I'd taken off some weighted training bands, it was close to the full body version of that.
Of course, the evening brought an ass-chewing of enormous proportions as Daniela and Jolene got the explanation from Samuel regarding what I'd been spending the days after Eurus doing instead of recovering. Jolene, in particular, seemed ready to bite my head off after her warning when she'd hosed me down after I'd filled Slurry Ichor. It was... warranted. It said something of the people that cared about you that despite the monumental pieces of information regarding the advancement through the Quotients they still would have rather you take care of yourself.
Thankfully, no one could stay mad forever. Even if the two ladies spent the evening sending glares my way, I couldn't help but smile back. Some pain, in exchange for being better able to protect them was a trade I would take any time. Since everyone was still tense, I'd elected to postpone our discussions until the day before the conference. Once lunch had passed, and everyone was present as I'd requested, we hashed together the plan for the upcoming conference.
"So, everyone has an idea of what we are going to do?" I said, glancing around the table.
"Yes, Ron," Jolene said, sighing. "We've gone over this three different ways."
"Indulge me. I want the plan to be broad enough for you all to paint your way but direct enough that we don't end up wandering from our goal," I replied, crossing my arms and staring at the full table before me. Devon and Daniela, the Tendril Siblings, Billy and Joe Kelly, April and Sam, Jolene, and Anthony and Blobby lurking in the background.
The merwoman sighed, but repeated her portion anyway. "You and I will go to the conference, bringing Tucker and Amaya with us. Whatever other issues happen during the introduction, we are going to link Hec to their original body."
I glanced to the rest of the table, motioning a 'go on' in Danny's direction. She huffed, but leaned forward anyhow. "I'll be taking the kids to link up the Wards in the Breaker territory."
"Hey!" Devon complained, squinting at his girlfriend. "I'm no child."
"Didn't you say you were going to link up with the Outpost? Anthony could use a hand to keep him from wandering off on his way back," Daniela said, raising an eyebrow.
"I mean, later I was. I am going to make sure to take you through the least traveled paths I found first. Plus, you are going to need someone to muffle big boy's stomps if you don't want every elf and half the Earth Attuned in the city to find him," Devon said, hooking a thumb in Joe's direction.
"I've been working on my muffling, Devon," Billy said, confidence oozing out with his voice. A smile rose to my face. That the elf linked up with the draconian had been a blessing. The two got along great, and the only slightly older Billy was taking to his mentor position with Joe with gusto. "They'll be covered."
"Fine. You keep them hidden, squirt, or I am going to be the last whisper you hear," Devon grumbled, crossing his arms in indignation until Daniela pulled him into a side hug. The lanky elf returned the gesture automatically, the tension easing out of his shoulders almost instantly.
"And we will be taking care of the Clansmen and Spring Hopper Wards. I don't fancy that they'll like us interfering, but I think other than Billy we are the ones most likely to end any altercation... non-lethally let's say," Sam said, gesturing to him and April.
"How'd you get the old fart to lend you to us?" Daniela asked, pointing at April with her chin.
"The Family is at your disposal," April said evenly. "However, he recognizes the advantage of known elements working together. Sam has proven excellent in every capacity. It only makes sense that I join him on his endeavor to bring about justice for a silent member of our community."
There wasn't an ounce of hesitation in April's words, which of course left Samuel growing redder and redder with each word. I was almost 100% certain she was just talking about his martial and strategic prowess, but it could easily be interpreted otherwise. After he'd thrown me under the bus the previous evening, just to vacate the premises with April herself immediately after, I wasn't feeling particularly charitable in snuffing the flames as Daniela roared with laughter. April looked confused, which only fed the brunette's joy at his reaction. Everyone else was snickering, except for Billy and Joe; even the Fire Ant and slime were doing their best imitations of chuckling just to be included in the humans' conversation.
"Alright, alright," I said, waving my hands to try to dispel the embarrassment hanging thick in the air. With a heavy sigh, I schooled my expression back to neutral. It was all too easy, the more burdens and obstacles I encountered, but it wasn't to be depressing. I knew the group had the message. "The Zebelos and the Nash will be coming early in the morning. Danny, I would like you and your team to be gone by then. No sense wasting the cover of darkness. The opposite for you, Sam. Wait until the Conference has started before you get going. I imagine things will take a turn soon."
"You can say that again, rock brain," Daniela huffed, leaning back. "Just don't float all the way to the conference or the mess will get made before you even get a chance to throw a wrench into the works."
"That would leave us behind," Jolene said, gesturing to Tucker and Amaya. "Ron would never."
Her emerald eyes drilled into mine as a deadly smile graced her lips, perfectly highlighting her features in pearlescent scales. Talk about the definition of femme fatale. It's no wonder the sailors jumped ship when a siren took to the water. I coughed to excuse my pause before focusing back on the present instead of Jolene's scarlet lips. "Of course. We are in it together. Plus, I think you two will cause more of a splash than even a floating giant will."
The siblings didn't look at all reassured by that, but they opted to nod at least. They were still the most reserved of the group, but they'd taken to the study of healing and crops with gusto after their time in the Nash records. Jolene had encouraged them, allowing them to further explore the subject even if their Attunements weren't exactly conducive to growth. It wasn't an impossibility to apply them, which was yet another of the marvels of magic yet to be explored, but their focus had been mostly on distracting from the part they were set to play in Ocala's fate.
With the plan in place, we all set down for the evening. It was both concerning and reassuring how much awareness my Q7 body gave me of everything. With Slurry Ichor now fully integrated into my Harmonic Sinews, the definition of every room, person and creature was at the fore of my mind. Too much, in some cases, but I occupied myself by diving into my soul to spend time with Fievil and Amelia. It didn't do anything for my magical prowess, or for the strength of my Totems since I was still funneling my regeneration into them both, but it was a balm on my worries to watch the two mostly innocent creatures live their lives.
That something so potent and capable of violence had a gentle side that could experience joy resonated more deeply with me than I cared to admit.
-- + --
The night passed in a blink. Daniela had made a light breakfast of grits with honey glazed granola before her group had disappeared into the wind. The fact that even my improved vibrosense could barely pick up Devon and Billy's combined obfuscation quelled some of the fears in my heart. When a veritable stampede approached the Embassy, our group was already ready.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
With a gesture that took even less power than the last time Ponzio and Teion had been at the Embassy, I peeled the front of the building open. Not only was my control and power better than ever, the majority of the building was my mana-formed stone. The responsiveness of the earth was particularly noteworthy, but it wasn't anything new. It was for the entourage waiting outside as they skid to a halt when a building yawned open like the maw of a beast seeking prey.
Instead, four people and a slime stepped forward.
"Morning, folks," I said, nodding. "Great day to go argue with people, isn't it?"
"Uh, Ronan, are you alright?" Ponzio asked, looking at Jolene and the two Tendrils behind me as if to confirm my mental state.
"Never better. Sorry, I'm not trying to come across as rude, but I don't want to arrive at this meeting with my expectations too high. There's only so much your grandparents can do to keep this thing in order."
The two young scions looked mighty uncertain at my words, but there wasn't much more I could say to reassure them. There was no out to an escalation of conflict, even if it didn't happen during the conference-- which was doubtful. Opting for the option that didn't bring too many things into question, the two scions and the Cloth Muscles and Mage Circle they'd brought formed up to escort us to the east. We waved to Sam and April as I resealed the Embassy, catching a wink of light from Hec at the last minute. Whatever that meant. At the bare minimum, I knew at least Ocala's Entity would be much closer to whole than it had been in many years.
While the trip was tense, it was uneventful. The handfuls of people that were out and about early in the morning seemed to come to the realization of the escort quickly when those at the lead asked them to please move out of the way. I spotted more than a few Tendrils and youngsters scurry off with the news; the rumor mill was likely already chunking.
We arrived at the north side of McMoney before we turned down one of the larger streets in the city. It wasn't no FL-40, but it was very well maintained. The dividing line was so strong where we walked that I could easily tell the Nash Family controlled the south and the Clansmen controlled the north. The architectural choices were in clear clash, even if neither looked out of place with their direct neighbors. The sharp, stone lines of a place housing a large portion of the city's Earth Attuned compared to the ranch-style, tree-house forms of the Life focused Nash. With my vibrosense I could feel the dozens of people watching our approach from the various windows in the numerous structures.
Before long, a long, thin pond appeared to our south, outlined by an old railroad track that was more rust than track. Thanks to the clear path the water provided, our destination came fully into view: Tuscawilla Park. From what Jolene had gathered in her information dive, it hadn't been anything truly noteworthy before the Fall. An arts center, some sports fields and some nice walks around its namesake Lake Tuscawilla. The Fall, of course, had brought the massive payload that was a Category 4 Metier Crystal smack dab right in the old playground and changed the course of the city's future.
Over the years, and especially after the two splinterings of the large crystal, the park had been turned into more of a united defense quarter than anything as mundane as a public park. Mana-formed walls towered a solid twenty feet high, cutting off the view of most things within the park. What was visible were the old arts-center-turned-conference-hall, the old children's learning center turned barracks and a number of smoking lines likely from those stationed at the park rustling up their own breakfasts.
A quartet of guards were stationed at the base of the wall, flanking an honest to goodness portcullis gate made from repurposed vehicular roll cages if I had to guess. Each of the guards was part of one of the major factions; Zebelos, Nash, Clansman, and Breaker. Two of them looked at our group with favorable dispositions, one looked ready to throw down while the last... was an Air Partial that didn't seem able to meet our eyes at all. To no one’s surprise, it was the Clansmen's representative that stepped forward.
"Are you authorized to be here?" the giant said, crossing his arms over a steel shaped armor.
"Are they all this obtuse?" I asked, glancing to the side at Ponzio. "Does he get many crowds of easily recognized people coming to a place where clearly people are gathering?"
Ponzio was shaking his head, pulling out a goddarned scroll from his satchel before reading from it in a pompous voice. "Announcing Ronan Terrigan and Jolene Fuller, representatives from the Allied Towns Council, and their two charges. They are sponsored by both the Zebelos house and the Nash house as members in good standing and with weight to contribute for the betterment of our city."
When he was done, he rolled up the scroll and Teion repeated the same rigmarole except with the 'Nash house' called out before the Zebelos. The two then handed the scrolls to their representative guards, who verified the signatures of the Faction leaders, before passing it to the Clansmen and Breaker guards to be verified. The giant seemed to be looking for any reason to exclude them from the conversation, but it was as airtight of a summons as it was brief. The Partial only gave the documents a brief glance before nodding and stepping back.
The giant ground his teeth, but performed his duties admirably. That was, repeat the announcement to an orc and giant on the other side of the gate to begin cranking it open. The gatehouse let out a horrifying amount of squeals as the mechanisms hidden in the rock, clearly visible to vibrosense despite the mana-formed stone's interference, engaged to lift the portcullis. When it was halfway up, the guards bowed slightly and parted the way for our party to enter. I didn't make a comment about the Cloth Muscles and Mage Circle members being allowed in without getting identified. The most likely thing was that this whole verification procedure was all smoke and mirror tradition and someone elsewhere had already vetted our group.
When we entered into the park proper, the sheer militarism of it struck in full. The Ock Outpost was still more loose town than military outpost even with all the fortification changes that had been made to assist in defending it. The Tuscawilla Park had all the makings of a stereotypical military camp. Canvas tents, marching Fallen soldiers of various Attunements with older Trait-changed humans shouting directions at them and more than one cluster in loose clothes doing laps around the inside of the wall. Two watch towers I'd missed hidden in the shadows of the upgraded old-world buildings were lit up with magic of some kind that seemed to pulse through the supports and into the ground.
Despite the hundreds of people and dozens of different activities happening that I could parse thanks to my Perception, the thing that captured most of my attention was Hec's original body. The Entity was laid out horizontally unlike almost all the other Metier Crystals we'd encountered. I wasn't sure if it was a factor of how they'd landed or an adjustment after being unwillingly splintered, but the Entity was a ten foot wall of magical radiance. Its Blessing of Magic curled off the ground like a rainbow mist off a perfect hunk of ice on a hot day. The various Faction members didn't even seem fascinated by the phenomenon, much like the Wildwoodians. Even something marvelous can become mundane if you see it enough times I suppose.
Despite their blasé attitude towards the arcane marvel happening right beside them, I could tell they weren't blasé about us. Discordant waves of anxiety and curiosity radiated from practically every person in the park with such intensity I had to mute Harmonic Sinews as much as I could. After hitting Q7 it was much easier, but the sheer ocean of ripples and perceived emotions from those around us didn't make it simple.
Ponzio took the lead, heading right for the old arts center. It was clear to tell it had received some modifications since its original construction. The main chance was likely due to part of Hec's body being wedged about halfway into the building's ground floor. The rest made it a strange testament to art deco styles and the weird skill with paints and inks the Ocalans had. Blue and purple accents marked the long vertical insets and arched windows with actual glass in them. Two massive, polished, iron-wrought doors portrayed the sun's rays as blocky lines shining from a golden semi circle. Positioned between the two doors and stretching easily fifty feet into the air was a clock tower with 'Reilly Arts Center' embossed vertically on its surface with yet more shiny metal.
"Did this place always look like this?" Jolene asked, turning to Teion who stood closest.
"It used to be much smaller from what my grandma tells me," the satyr provided. He pointed to the blocky edges around the clocktower and some of the main building's trim. "Each conference they add more and more details. Those crenellations weren't there the last time I was here."
"Did they man this fort while the hurricane passed?" I asked. I was doing my best to keep the frown off my face. It was a considerable force, even if most were Q3, to have holed up in one place. Thankfully, I didn't need to vacate every ounce of confidence in the Ocalan leadership.
"No. They kept a skeleton crew like everywhere. Well, more than everywhere since each of the major Factions contributed, but the whole city disperses to reduce the impact of hurricanes," Ponzio explained.
Our group spent a few more seconds admiring the defensive might of the Ocalan. Considering I couldn't see any other entourages, and how much the Ocalan liked their entourages, it was likely we were some of the first to arrive. With a glance over my shoulder at the closing portcullis, I let out a sigh before setting my shoulders. "Let's get this party started then."