Personification Life, the Universe, & Everything [IC]

[Monfrox]

Feast

Lidev looked over the wine.

"Huh. I thought the only thing that came out of California was silicon..."

"That's an expression, girly." Mon corrected her from across the kitchen.

"Right. And...Corellian? Not sure I'm familiar with that but hopefully it's not too exotic. But I think these will do wonderfully. I picked up some sparkling juice for those who want to drink but without the alcohol content too."

Lidev looked down at MB a bit curiously.

"Popsicles before dinner? Hmm...I suppose, not."

She gently took on and gave it a taste.

[Giovenith]

Frozen Rain

Oh, right. Willow had been so caught up in the urgency of the situation that he'd forgotten that Ford was not as in the loop as they were.

"Well, I assume we're best assuming we just have tonight," he admitted. "We can't run around in the daytime, so if we waited for tomorrow night we'd just be wasting time. And the longer the enemy has Brit, the worse her chances get. We shouldn't dawdle if we can help it."

Willow paused to organize his thoughts for the next questions.

"Okay. So me, Sterling, and Brit were back at the Building, trying to comfort her because she seemed depressed. Then this book just flew off the shelf, opened up, and sucked us in here. I'm serious, it was that random, I don't know why. Me and Sterling found ourselves in a truck without Brit, but we were still ponies at the time, but the humans around us didn't seem to notice. We were dropped off and walked up to a battle, helped the people there, and they brought us back to their base. They said they were the Americans, that Brit was their leader or something, and that she had been captured and weren't going to try to rescue her. They talked as if they had known her for a long time, and that she had known us for a long time... and that's when we just suddenly turned into these." He waved his hands, demonstrating. "They didn't say much specific about her. The one we talked most to was a medic named Heartling.

"She told us that we should try to rescue her ourselves since we're not under Brit's superior's command - apparently we belong to a guy named Patty Cakes or something."

He turned to Sterling, thinking him better qualified to explain the next part.

[Holy Lykos]

Frozen Rain

Sterling nodded along in affirmation with Willows words, not seeing any issues. So much so, he at first didnt even notice Willow had stopped speaking. He waited a few more moments, before he actually realized the pegasus was waiting for his contribution.

"Oh! Well that was most of it that I can remember. I think the name was Patteron. We did go to Brit's place, found clues leading to Villeroux, tried to see how long it might have been. There were some... odd medals though, I remember that.

"But we kept on the move. We were pointed towards the line, found our way here in the cold, which was the first time we started hearing that omnipresent music, and ran into you by chance.

"Its been a long day, so far."

[Giovenith]

Frozen Rain

Willow nodded along. "Her place was especially weird. Those medals, they were all self-deprecating, like 'allowing innocents to suffer' and all that. I don't know who would go through all the trouble of crafting something like that, or why. We also saw like, this ghostly apparition of her there, going through old motions like a movie scene. It's what lead us to these maps of where everything is, encampment wise."

[The World Capitalist Confederation]

Feast
"The balance of the universe? Hmmm..Well perhaps I, well, have something in myself. I've covered lots of things, from the depths of the natural world to political and scientific change in society. But why me? I can write, sure, and I can investigate, but why didn't they get one of those police detectives to do that instead? I must have some power within me that allows me to be here...or I'm just being delusional again, who knows?" Dax replied, his mind spinning within his skull, but not in a vertigo-like way, but more in an insane way.

[Northwest Slobovia]

Frozen Rain

Willow nodded along. "Her place was especially weird. Those medals, they were all self-deprecating, like 'allowing innocents to suffer' and all that. I don't know who would go through all the trouble of crafting something like that, or why. We also saw like, this ghostly apparition of her there, going through old motions like a movie scene. It's what lead us to these maps of where everything is, encampment wise."

Ford rested his head in his hand for a while after the Equestrians described what they saw. Eventually, he shook his head. "The US doesn't make medals like that. It awards medals for valor or national service, but... nothing like those. Somebody... or something... is warping them."

He lapsed back into silence for a few seconds, then started muttering. "Patterson? Pattison? Patt-- Patton! George Patton! An American general. He commands a large part of the US forces in this area. But... I'm not sure if that means anything. He's physically far away."

"But you are right: we should act at night. We have the advant-- In Sandy's world, in this era, there's no technology that lets people see in the dark, and the magic to do it is mostly lost." Half his mouth curled into a smile. "But Sandy and I know one of the spells for that. Also one to hear faint sounds. I've been using them since I got here, along with one to ward off the cold." He Looked at Willow and Sterling. "You're managing without magic? In this cold??" His brow furrowed; the Equestrians must be made of stern stuff.


Feast

"Right. And...Corellian? Not sure I'm familiar with that but hopefully it's not too exotic. But I think these will do wonderfully. I picked up some sparkling juice for those who want to drink but without the alcohol content too."

Sandy nodded enthusiastically. "Good idea! The Corellian stuff isn't too much different from Earth's wines. It's... it has some different flavor notes, but it's very good."

He caught the former popsicle stick turning into a decoration, and his face lit with a smile full of childlike wonder. "A lovely use of technology. And... you want something to drink, too, MB?"

[Tiltjuice]

The MB in question reacted this time in a very MBish way when confronted with the prospect of something to gnaw on.

DRINKTALKFOOD? DRINKTALKFOOD!...TALKDRINKFOOD?

Ears spun wildly in every direction imaginable and colors blurred into each other. It was like watching the world's most awful attempt at a rabbit attempting to tie-dye himself.

What good? Choice? MB never have this wine before.

This was an interesting thought, as the character's creator hadn't quite worked out what effect alcohol would have on an occasionally manic teleporting zany rabbit, as a result.

[Giovenith]

Frozen Rain

Willow narrowed his eyes. Warping medals to self-deprecate definitely seemed like something the cave shadows would do. "This is, really confusing," he said. "If this is an illusion inspired by Brit, it seems to be working both in her favor and against her. I'm not inclined to err on the optimistic side. It could all be a trap of some kind, designed to hurt her and us."

Ford mentioning the cold earned an eyebrow raise.

"Well, sure it's cold," he said, shrugging. "But we couldn't just stay at camp shivering. You stay busy, you stay warm. It's way worse than when I was a pegasus though, I'll tell you that, I don't know how you tolerate it. But still, you do what you gotta. Listen guys, what we really need most of all right now is a plan — we can't just blindly wander around the dark hoping no one catches us until daylight. We need a way to find Brit, to break her out, and to fight back if someone sees us without alarming the rest of the camp." Willow looked between the two. "Even if Sterling doesn't have his magic right now, you've both still got a lot of magical knowledge between you. Isn't there anything we can use? Tracking, lock spells, self-defense?"

Feast

Giovenith laughed, but not unkindly. "That's certainly possible! I guess we'll find out soon enough. We're never quite sure why we were brought here, but we all find a way to make ourselves useful, in one way or another."

Suddenly, she got an idea.

"Could you please follow me?" she asked, standing up. "I'll show you something, to put it in better perspective."

[Holy Lykos]

Frozen Rain

"Any magic I know is incompatible with Sandy's, sadly. We'd thought of trying to pool the knowledge in the past, never got around to it." He shrugged. "For the cold it probably helps me that I'm a bit larger even as a human so I'm a bit insulated, moreso than you and Willow at least." He shivered a bit, still. "Would appreciate any help at keeping the cold out, all the same."

Sterling thought for a bit. "Perhaps tracking might be the way to go. If she was here, maybe there's some sort of trail of hers we could follow. Something magic, or some sign of her presence, anything. I've been feeling like there's something up and guiding us since we got here, anyway, so perhaps whatever this is is trying to help us find Brit in time for... something. Do we still have that key to her room?

"And Ford? What do you have that could help with us tracking her down?"

[Giovenith]

Frozen Rain

"Yeah, it's right here..." Willow dug around one of his many pockets for the heart-shaped key that had lead them into the room, and was reminded of another detail. "Oh, right. When we were looking for this, it appeared underneath the patch on my sleeve." He held it up, demonstrating. "It glowed, like it wanted to be found. That's what I meant about things working both for and against us."

[Northwest Slobovia]

Holiday Feast

Ears spun wildly in every direction imaginable and colors blurred into each other. It was like watching the world's most awful attempt at a rabbit attempting to tie-dye himself. What good? Choice? MB never have this wine before.

Sandy set an empty wine glass down in front of MB. “Golden Telanaxis wine is our go-to drink, and has been since we were introduced to it at Chaos at few years ago. It's a bit hard to describe, since we've never had any other flower wines before, but it does have floral and spicy notes to it.” He made a set of intricate hand motions over the glass, and chanted rapidly in Arabic. The glass instantly filled with a pale golden liquid, and a trace aroma of orange blossom began to waft from it.


Frozen Rain

Mumbling “Pardon me”, Ford plucked the key from Willow's fingers, and pressed it to his ear. He twice nodded slowly, then examined the key closely, alternately staring at it and apparently tracing arcs from it with his eyes that only he could See. He held it up between his face and Willow's: “Sandy has Seen spells that bear their caster's magical signatures, and once, a bicycle that was obviously the work of a particular artificer, but never anything so clearly bound to somebody lacking the Art as this.

“If we can get this close enough to Brit, I should be able to follow the strands of ousia that trail from it to her.” After a further few seconds starting at the key, he handed the it back to Willow. “Sorry for grabbing it... It's... not like anything from my—Sandy's earth.”

“So, you were saying, uhhhh...” He closed his eyes, trying to remember the conversation. “Right: to get that close, we may have two choices. Candida said she thought she knows where Brit went. If she's right, we can just follow her.

She also said that Brit left something – Brit was being very forgetful and left something behind. She nearly left her helmet; that would have been perfect for me, because I can use magic to play bloodhound. If she left something else that has her scent on it, I might be able to track her. We'll need to check around here for it.”

Something audibly clicked in Ford's mind, and he cocked his head at Willow, puzzled. “Why do you think the Nazis captured Brit? Candida said Brit sent the rest of her, um, patrol back to... back home. Do you know something she doesn't?”

Without giving Willow a moment to respond, he blurted, “Oh! Keeping warm! My spell, the Critique of the Chill, should work on you two just fine. So should the others I'm using to sharpen my senses. But... I'm not sure how long I can keep up three sets of spells. Sandy's managed two for hours-- well, two sets of two of the three spells. But nine? I don't know how long...” He ended with an elaborate shrug.

[Giovenith]

Frozen Rain

"The, Not-Sees?" Willow winced, confused. Is that what humans called blind people? Didn't sound very sensitive. "I assume the enemy captured her because she's their enemy wandering around on their turf. I don't know why she came here, or why she sent her patrol back." But Willow didn't quite believe that Ford expected him to know those things specifically. "Look, guys, if you really want to know, some time back me and Brit want on a very stressful adventure that involved a lot of mind tricks and emotional manipulation. Do I think it might have something to do with this? Probably, yes. Is there anything I can do about it, or do I know how Brit specifically is handling it? No.

"As for the chill, we've made it this far, we can keep going without magic for warmth. At least for now. Right now, we should just do what you said: Ask Candida to escort us, and use your magic to track Brit. We'll figure out the rest once we find her."

[The World Capitalist Confederation]

Feast

"Alright then..I shall follow you...I have my suspicions, but...well...fine." Dax replied, still nervous. He stood up, taking his drink with him, still mildly confused. He then wiped some dust off his clothes and followed her to whatever was going to happen next.

[Monfrox]

Frozen Rain

The basement, though quiet, had suddenly become lively with the three friends on a quest. A mission. Words were exchanged. Vital information. A plan soon formulated between them, and as all that happened there was something else. Another apparition had appeared farther in. The light of a lantern flicked on. The basement looked...very similar to the room Willow and Sterling had been in before leaving Bastogne. Right down to the phonograph. The specter was, once again, Brit. She sat in her OD uniform with an overcoat draped over the back of it. She was writing in a small book for the whole time the trio had been talking, and still going even now. A page turned and she noticeably hesitated before scribbling something and then checking her watch.

"Oh shit."

The ghost grabbed up the overcoat and threw it on before running off. The book still lay open on the desk where it was set. The pages read:

December 23rd,
I've decided to send the rest of the squad back to the line. It may be against their judgement, but I don't want to have to worry about anyone dying out here. I know why they sent me, now. It's clear as day. Clear as the faces I still see. The women and children...their faces haunt me. I see them every time I close my eyes. I can't get rid of them. That's why they sent me out on this suicide mission. To atone for what I've done. But I'm the only one guilty in this party, so I will spare the innocent and send them home. Maybe they expected me to do just that, but whatever. The fort's not far from here. One person should be able to sneak in. Right into the ventilation shafts like I planned after yesterday's solo recon I did in slight preparation. The people here are nice enough to keep me fed and a roof over my head so I'm thankful for that. Maybe when this is all over, and I return from this excursion, I'll have been forgiven. I hope so. I'm not sure how much more I can take. It was my fault but...I didn't want them to die. They won't leave me be in any case, but I'm not angry at them. I know why they follow me, but I can't help them. At least, I don't think I can. God, this whole thing is getting too complicated, but I gotta focus. Get in. Plant the charges. Set up the detonator. Take the train out. It's just that simple. Well, in theory it is. I'm sure I'll be back tonight, though. I'm not gonna let this get me. Not when I've come this far. It's something I have to face on my own. It's for my own good.

As the page was read, after it's words had sunk in, a small gust of wind that had come from the door opening cause the pages to flip. There, on the other side, scrawled harshly with the pen, were just a few words:

I EXIST AND I FIND IT NAUSEATING

The phonograph behind them turned on by itself. The needle swung over and touched down on the record as it spun, and music played.

[Holy Lykos]

Frozen Rain

Sterling was apparently the first to pick up on the presence of the flickering lantern. He blinked, head darting about to check the rest of the room. "Was it always..." He murmured, only half-listening to the latter half of Ford's words, completely losing attention when he noticed the apparition. "Wait, Brit?"

He drifted over, watching her scribble on some paper before realizing something and running away. Sterling doubted following her would be any help, so he strode over to the desk and read through the book. A journal? Yes, most likely. He thumbed through it a bit, though the two main sections he found were concerning enough...

"Guilt... hatred of self, not good, not good." He mumbled. He turned to look over at the others. "I think Brits in worse shape than we thought. But I think we have a guide pointing us to where she went." Sterling walked back to the two, holding the book out so either could take it or read it. "She's going to a fort to disable a train of some kind. Something she thinks she has to do alone, even if it kills her. Or wanting it to kill her."

[Monfrox]

Feast

Lidev looked at the Corellian wine. Well, nothing ventured nothing gained, as they said.

"Oh, I can do that- ohohohohoh!"

Lidev took a step back from everyone and then reached to her left side with her right hand.

"Wait...I'm not wearing my...damn. But!"

She reached behind her and pulled out a rather ornate dagger. She made sure not to point the bottle at anyone and uncover it fully, before sabering the cork and top off. She stepped over and poured the wine into the empty glass.

"It took me forever to learn how to do that."

[Northwest Slobovia]

Feast

"It took me forever to learn how to do that."

Sandy tracked the knifework and glanced at the distance between them; habit, even though he was unarmed.

He raised a corner of his mouth at the claim to fame, if that's what it was. He was reminded of the old tale of the Crusades, with each man being impressed by the other's sword, but prefering his own. I think that between the two, I'll keep the ability to conjure wine from thin air.

“Perhaps we should serve the wine and then move on to serving dinner.”

Frozen Rain
The spectre worried Ford: even in a dream world, ghosts were not to be trifled with. Perhaps moreso in a dream world.

He was more surprised by the persistence of the book Sterling carried. That was not something ghosts could do where Sandy was from, not that Sandy had much experience with them.

"I think Brits in worse shape than we thought. But I think we have a guide pointing us to where she went." Sterling walked back to the two, holding the book out so either could take it or read it. "She's going to a fort to disable a train of some kind. Something she thinks she has to do alone, even if it kills her. Or wanting it to kill her."

That brought a concerned look to Ford's face, and he leaned over to read the book in Sterling's hands. “'Women and children... atone for what I've done'? Do either of you know if Brit was a soldier? Or, uh, a police officer? That sounds like a confession to an atrocity.

“But the rest... I'm not sure how attacking a German base, and possibly dying in the attempt, will atone for anything. Piling new bodies on old ones never makes anything right. That's... that's not well-ordered thinking.”

[Giovenith]

Frozen Rain

"No," said Willow. "She didn't, and she couldn't have. Brit is just a normal girl, she isn't capable of hurting a lot of people, even by accident. If anything, it's symbolic."

That was what he was convinced of, but ultimately it was irrelevant. Symbolic or not, the effects were literal enough to them at the moment. There probably was a 'real' train somewhere, probably was a 'real' bomb, and definitely real pain. And those things weren't going to wait around for the trio to crack the code before they did their damage.

"We'll figure it out on the way," he said, gently lifting the needle from the vinyl and heading forcefully back to the upstairs. "It's important, but we need to move, we've spent enough time down here."

Feast

Giovenith lead Dax out of the dining area and across the lobby past a set of glass sliding doors. They were greeted with humidity and the smell of chlorine, and a long blue pool stretched before them. From the stacked chairs and relative stillness of the water, it was clear not many people came here.

"Excuse me." The young woman apologized as she slowly and gently took hold of the journalists' sleeve, trying not to spook him considering how on edge he already was, and then suddenly pulled him into the water with her.

They weren't wet. They weren't even underneath any liquid. Surrounding Dax and Giovenith was just a dry, neverending expanse of blackness, with no sign of the pool room or anything else in sight.

"We went through the reflection on the surface of the water," Giovenith explained, quickly walking off ahead. "I can use reflections to show people certain things. Don't be scared, come on." She was heading off towards a light in the distance.

[Tiltjuice]

Holiday Feast

Ears spun wildly in every direction imaginable and colors blurred into each other. It was like watching the world's most awful attempt at a rabbit attempting to tie-dye himself. What good? Choice? MB never have this wine before.

Sandy set an empty wine glass down in front of MB. “Golden Telanaxis wine is our go-to drink, and has been since we were introduced to it at Chaos at few years ago. It's a bit hard to describe, since we've never had any other flower wines before, but it does have floral and spicy notes to it.” He made a set of intricate hand motions over the glass, and chanted rapidly in Arabic. The glass instantly filled with a pale golden liquid, and a trace aroma of orange blossom began to waft from it.

The quirky rabbit's nostrils flared quirkily and both ears shot straight up, equally impressed with the sword show and the wine scent. The blade did look particularly tasty, was it a light snack to go with the wine?

He took a sip, clasping the delicate glass carefully with both forepaws, and sat back. A strange look crossed his face, if that were possible to tell what a strange look might resemble for a rabbit, anyway. Warmth bloomed in MB's stomach and from there radiated out. The glass trembled slightly; not one to let anything remotely digestible go to waste, MB downed the rest of it in a few quick gulps.

Moooooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeee...? he signed, before his ears folded flat atop his head in a strikingly good approximation of a beret. The fur above his muzzle turned solid black in the blink of an eye, while the rest of his head and his forepaws went from tan/beige to extreme-blood-loss white. Black stripes appeared all down his front/top half, with his rump going solid black as well.

He stood back on his hind paws, swaying back and forth and in a circle and back and forth....The glass, set down unsteadily, tipped over and rolled away across the floor. He patted the air once, twice, left, right. The left hindpaw came off the ground, and MB held for the briefest second before tumbling over backward. A full circle later, the rabbit was sitting again.

The forepaws came up. One on top of an invisible something, the other below. He made gnawing motions with that tiny, but just about all-devouring mouth. That went on for only a few seconds, before MB bent over, creeping up on the runaway wine glass - then picked it up with an ear and held it in front of his eye like some weird cross of a telescope and a monocle. Or tried to; the stem danced all over the place in midair, and it was impossible to tell if that was deliberate or not, as if MB was trying to fix on one of many Sandys and Lidevs. Or not.

[Monfrox]

Frozen Rain

Candida took a few small steps down to the basement and looked around the corner.

"Have you eaten? Are you all set? The sun wise be on the rise in a few hours if you want to stay in the dark as we go, and it's much easier to avoid being seen at this time of night."

Feast

Lidev held the bottle up and huffed with a smirk.

"No, I think we're cutting you off after that. You need to take some time to sober up."

[Northwest Slobovia]

Frozen Rain

"No," said Willow. "She didn't, and she couldn't have. Brit is just a normal girl, she isn't capable of hurting a lot of people, even by accident. If anything, it's symbolic."

"Accident?" Ford gazed upward, trying to remember something. "Accident... Like Kale's friendly fire accident with the grass and the tree man, perhaps, or..." He frowned. "Or Brit's own reaction to it. Sandy wasn't pleased with her for that, but some of his old memories don't come clear to me. I... I remember what he saw, and if Brit is worried about casualties, there were more than enough to go around. Sandy and Anais did what they could for them, but Ogoti did all the heavy li-- he was providing the ousia for their spells." He shook his head sadly and vigorously. "But that was nowhere near enough."

Candida took a few small steps down to the basement and looked around the corner.

"Have you eaten? Are you all set? The sun wise be on the rise in a few hours if you want to stay in the dark as we go, and it's much easier to avoid being seen at this time of night."

Right, food! "We'll be there in a second," Ford called to her. As she retreated up the stairs, Ford considered the canned oatmeal Candida had given him, checked his bulging pockets, and decided that canned peaches were probably less awful. He looked up at the Ex-questrians. "I've got a few other cans of food in my pockets, along with some Hershey bars. Do you guys have a taste for human food? Because I'm starved, and I'm afraid I'm going to have to wolf this down if I'm going to make it to Brit."

"Aaand last call for magic: warmth, better vision and hearing. I might have a couple more tricks up my sleeves, but I'm not sure how all my spells will work here.


Holiday Feast, Now with Drunken Rabbit

Well, this was awkward! Giovenith had left with the new Resident I could say hello, MB is drunk, and I'm left talking to an evasive woman! Amanda turned to the nameless Froxian. "Are there appetizers to go with the drinks? Perhaps we could start with something light while we wait for others to show up."

[Holy Lykos]

Frozen Rain

Sterling glanced up at the calling voice of Candida. "Just about, we'll be up in a moment!" He responded, trying to put a chipper spin to his voice to accompany Sandy's words.

"Well, oatmeal would be fine. We still are vegetarian by sensibility, even if biologically not." Sterling started, "I do think this mental punishment of Brit's could be linked to something she's radically misinterpreted from real life being made manifest and out of scope here in... wherever this is. The mind can be very tricky. Doesn't matter if she did actually hurt someone or not, if she thinks she did even through negligence it could get severe on trauma."

He sighed, chewing his lip for a moment. "Lets just eat fast and get going. I don't like any of this, and its getting worse every thing we learn."

[Giovenith]

Frozen Rain

Being as gone as frequently as he was, Willow wasn't privy to all the details of every incident that happened to the Residents. The mention of plants struck a vague memory, but he knew that at the time, he had been busy tending to the village children and the injured in the library. But like he and Sterling had said, the details weren't important. For now, anyway.

"Last thing, then we've got to eat and hurry. Ford, is there anything you can give us in case we run into enemies?" asked Willow. "I think we can handle just about anything else, but if we run into a Not-See or a shadow, me and Sterling are pretty much dead."

[The World Capitalist Confederation]

Feast

Dax sternly gruffled, thinking about how much he'd want a cold beer about now, almost saying it out loud. His thoughts whisked like busy cars on the world's greatest motorway, cars whirring faster than could be seen...With his philosophy being that of the almost existentialist, certainly nihilistic, variety, rather than viewing the reflections as spiritual, like his young self would 10, maybe 20, years from now. He saw it as staring into the soul of a man....

In fact, Dax also remembered one thing he heard from a man named Friedrich Nietzsche: "When you stare into the abyss, it stares back into you.". It resonated with him, and this whole reflection thing reminded it of him too. Did it represent a man's fibre? Their soul? Their mind? The secrets of the universe? What is this reflection....? He was ready to see into himself, to open the human soul...

[Northwest Slobovia]

Frozen Rain

"Last thing, then we've got to eat and hurry. Ford, is there anything you can give us in case we run into enemies?" asked Willow. "I think we can handle just about anything else, but if we run into a Not-See or a shadow, me and Sterling are pretty much dead."

"The first line of defense is evasion. I can out-see and out-hear humans at night; if we spot them first, we can avoid them. But... the Germans are doubtless asleep or standing guard in... uh, their foxholes, so I wouldn't worry about them.

Ford drew a deep breath. "I'm not sure what to do about the shadows. If they make noise, we can dodge them too. If not... Candida said shoot them. I know a spell that can improve your aim, your strength, even your endurance. But it needs... it requires contact with Olympus to work, so it may not work here. But I know a substantial healing spell."

He rubbed his temple, thinking. Finally coming to a decision, he nodded. "In the worst case, we take to the air. Wherever we are, it's not a real timestream, so I don't mind if ... the locals, whatever they are ... see the ersatz paper Pegasus I can turn into. I should be able to carry the two of you and Candida a short distance to get away from enemies.

"Sorry, magic of any sort -- much less for fighting -- is all but lost where Sandy's from. We don't have our choice of spells."