This feels like a land of demons. The village we are travelling through has only 160 inhabitants according to Wikipedia. Their houses have turned to exposed rock, mainly basalt, and the people,who are out on the streets, look like Lidija. We see one man of Maria’s species.
Many plants have also changed. The leaves are larger and darker. Flowers have a distinct purple hue. We also have been seeing evidence of volcanic activity in the form of a few fumaroles.
Lidija is driving slowly.
People even waved at us to stop, but ran as Zora and I emerged from the car. So we are passing through, carefully looking out for the freshly and hastily dug potholes to be found on the roads. It seems like the major groups were looking for buried treasure.
P: Could you search the net for what they have been digging here? It may be important.
L: Sure. But with which equipment? Where has your car gone?
P: I am wearing it. It can turn into armour.
L: Transformers.
P: Yep.
--
The camping ground has been turned into chaos. It looks fairly full. Have people reacted to travel being allowed again by going to a place near the sea? Or have such places been used for evacuations and the these people have yet to return?
Lidija asks as we pay for entrance and the former turns out to be the case. That will also limit communications to those of them who speak English. Nobody of us speaks Hungarian.
--
This camping ground has gained a hot spring! I have insisted on parking so that we can watch our cars while soaking in the warm lake it feeds. For now we have the whole lake for our own use. Although there is a young man with a bottle on the other side who keeps climbing up a tree to try out his wings. It seems they cannot really fly, but gliding is possible.
M: Why did you give away my car?
Z: Because it was that or our lives.
M: What?
Z: We have to be more realistic.
M: That is easy for you to say.
P: We would have fought and died. I for sure. Zora maybe. You personally are not even a threat to them. No, this new world is not easy for us.
M: But …
P: No „but“. Peace is over. Equality is over. Law is over. In this new world might is right.
M: Zoro?
Z: I am sorry, but he is right.
The lights in her eyes go dim and she turns her head. We have broken something in her. Something beautiful. Something harmful.
Zora is giving me a look. Her aura just reads expectation. As if I were apt at reading looks. I choose silence. That seems the right choice. The children are cuddling up on us.
N: Hey, you are turning blue! (At least I think so. That is about as far as my command of the local language goes.)
Indeed, the pieces of my carapace in the warm water show broad blue patterns.
N: You are pretty like a flower. Like a flower made from wax. Except that you don’t melt in hot water.
P: Thank you. Do you like it?
N: No. You are still too hard in too many places. Not cuddly.
Lidija chuckles at that. Zora is using the withering look. It works.
We remain in awkward silence.
--
Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
A devil walks up to the pond. His beard is purple and white. Does that mean middle age?
D#1: Excuse me. Are you the new people?
Z: Yes.
D#1: You turned differently.
Z: Yes. We think it is because we were here only for a short time. We woke up on the road to this place.
D#1: Thank you. What will you do now?
Z: We wait. We think the police will come.
D#1: Why police? We have done nothing wrong.
Z: We need new papers. We still have our passports, but we don’t match them anymore.
D#1: Oh. But what should we do?
Z: Wait.
P: Check whether we still have water.
D#1: Thank you.
We wait for him to get out of earshot.
M: I want power. Let me get that cube and then you enable me to use it.
I nod. She exits the pool.
Z: Just to clarify. Why did you give her that cube and not the other?
P: It is called an essence. It is a copy of one you already have. You cannot have the same essence multiple times.
Z: OK, I see. Can you do my next ritual right after that?
P: Yes, but we will need preparation. The third ritual is messy.
Z: Messy?
P: You lose control over all bodily functions and orifices for some time. All of them.
I wouldn’t need an aura sense to recognise horror ad revulsion.
P: It is a good thing we have a lot of hot water at our disposal.
P: We have two awakening stones both of us can take: water and lightning
P: Which do you want?
Z: Lightning. By the way, which essence did you get for me?
P: Fire
--
There is a tennis court with a few concrete foundations around it. It seems like somebody wanted to build a few utility buildings before the monster apocalypse struck. They are ideal flat ground for a ritual circle. We have started with Maria.
M: This is it?
A faintly shimmering blue bubble appears around her for a few seconds.
I show her my probe.
P: This will allow me to record your abilities.
M: It feels protective. But go ahead.
Thanks to my new fancy vehicle I can even print out character sheets. She has gained [Mana Shield]
Now my time has come.
L: You are hesitating?
P: This is my last slot. I will never again do this for myself.
Gun: [Tools of the Magister] Special Ability Iron 2 (11%) [Joy of Sustained Fire] Blood Special Attack Iron 1 (27%) [This is my Gun] Myriad Special Attack/Conjuration
Iron 1 (84%)
[Chemical Warfare] Defiance Special Attack/Conjuration
Iron 0 (54%)
[Hyperkinetic Cannon] Gun Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (11%) Vast: [Giant Form of the Ancestors] Special Ability Iron 1 (24%) [Immortality] Tree Special Ability Iron 1 (85%) [Nebelwerfer 42] Focus Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (30%) [Arsenal of the Mad Scientist] Magotech Special Ability Iron 1 (9%) [Eldritch Eyes] Water Special Ability & Attack Iron 0 (0%) Dimension: [Teleport] Special Ability Iron 1 (51%) [Dance by my Will] Dance Aura Ability Iron 2 (71%) [Eternal Moment] Reach Special Ability Iron 1 (2%) [Path in Time] Hunt Perception Ability Iron 2 (8%) [Wrath of the Magister] Corruption Special Attack/Spell Iron 1 (29%) Battlefield: [Equip the Army] Special Ability Iron 2 (56%) [Robotic Servant of War] Magotech Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (4%) [Pipes of War] Unity Special Ability Iron 0 (88%) [Cornucopia] Feast Special Ability Iron 0 (22%) [Feast of Decontamination] Light Special Ability Iron 0 (21%)