-=Ǝ Once more, from the Top E=- Aurelio would speak up at Alicia’s trailed off question about Penny. He’d fish out his phone and pull up the short conversation he had with her before sliding the phone over to Alicia so she could read it.
“Haven’t had a chance to ask back about that favor due to the trial, but it seems that she went off to deal with the undead that popped up.” Which was a good thing, as that meant Penny still was on the good guy’s side. Right?
Because much like Alicia the pristine magician had pushed a few thing to the back of his mind as he focused on the Trial and its outcomes, and the last time he had seen Penny was definitely one of those things. It had been an emotionally charged viewing, as some many things seemed to be as of late, but the thing that really had him worried was the
Love he could feel emanating from it, and the fact that it was only coming from one of them.
Before he could speak up again to try and start brain storming ideas Serenity spoke up, and Aurelio found himself agreeing with her assessment of the situation. Penny, due to providence or happenstance was smack in the middle of this, and if anyone could get the answers that they needed it was her. The chilling thought that came to him was that the inverse was also true. If Penny was to be swayed away from Beacon, their enemies would have everything they needed to strike out at them.
Before that thought could do more than simply worry him, the once horror clicked to her next slide and Aurelio had to stop himself from face palming, as even before the screaming happened he knew what was about to happen. Not that he could blame Serenity he supposed, switching over to a human’s way of thinking after who knows how long as part of an unknowable eldritch thing couldn’t be easy.
“I’ll headout with her” Aurelio offered once the sentencing was given out
“To watch her back and act as a sounding board, reflection is good and all but in her defense she’s not had a lot of time to get into a normal mindset, let alone Beacon’s.” Besides hadn’t he just earlier said that he wasn’t going to forget her? No way was he letting her go off solo so soon after that.
“That leaves dealing with Penny up to you Alicia.” He would add
“But honestly when it comes to dealing with Penny it was always going to be you I think. I mean she likes us sure” he would say gesturing around before gesturing at the Paladin
“But that pales in comparison to how she feels about you” He didn’t like to bring up how other people felt without their permission, especially when they weren’t there, but it was true.
>>Meet the Parent<<After their spot of fun, Viva had set forth on setting up the meeting. Seeing as there weren't many better spots to perform such then in the apartment itself, she simply set up in the living room area. It was how she had come to be sitting at the coffee table working with a mortar and pestle grinding down some of the ingredients, a mix of wood shavings and herbs, needed for the minor ritual.
On the table sat the rest of the supplies needed for the endeavor, a pair of red candles, a box of matches, a medium copper bowl, a gleaming razor, and a strange metal disk. Most of the tools were ordinary, but the disk held an ominous feel to it. It was seemingly made out of a dark bronze and was decorated with three vertical eyes that always seemed to be watching the observer.
Once Viva was done with her grinding, having made a chalky powder out of the ingredients, she would carefully pour them into the copper bowl before placing the disk on top.
“Right, we can now start whenever you want Chloe” She would call out as she reached into her Hammerspace and pulled out a small caduceus trinket that she would affix to her choker. Part of the ritual required a fair bit of blood, and she didn’t want to risk what her magic would do to it, thus the reason she pulled out her healing artifact, as she had a feeling that the small dominator would want this started as soon as possible.
“Well get on with it.” Chloe said, pulling on her dress. She had elected to take her sweet time with getting her clothes back on after their tryst. The other dark magical girl wasn't quite sure what to expect. This mother was likely a horror of some sort, or something quite close to it, so when Viva went about setting up a ritual, she let the other girl do it.
“I am eagerly waiting to see what this mother of yours is about.” She sat herself back on the couch, looking at Viva with mild interest.
Viva let her gaze linger on Chloe for just a moment longer, as she enjoyed the view, before turning back to the matter at hand. With a nod to herself she would pick up the matches and light the candles before placing the still lit match into the bowl, standing it up in the powdered mixture.
From there she would splay her hand open on the disk, careful to keep the eyes uncovered, and pick up the razor.
“Once for the Mother alway watching her brood” She would intone as she made a deep cut in the back of her hand letting the blood flow forth onto the disk.
“Two for the children still hidden in their wombs” once again another cut on the back of her hand just as deep as the first one. The blood flowing from the cuts was drawn to the eyes seeping into them as a deep smoke started to pour out from the bowl.
“Third for myself, so that my prayer can be heard.” A final cut and at this point one could see the blood being drawn from Viva’s hand by a mystical force and the bowl was glowing red from the heat of the fire it held contained.
“I offer this tribute to you Caretaker of the Scorned, in accordance with our pact. I seek your presence on the whims of another, the Mistress of the Departed and Seeker of the Damned”“Let my blood act as your tether, so that you may come here to speak. From your home I call you thusly Lady Lamashtu!” It would be prudent to mention that for all academic purposes that the ritual that Viva was performing was a minor one, something that any armature practitioner of the arcane arts would be able to perform, as it was little more than a fancy way to ping outside forces. Thus the only reason that Viva was able to get such a potent response was due to the twin factors of that Mother was waiting for such a call, and the disk that was given acted as lens to focus and direct the ping.
Because of that, once Viva had finished her Calling even more smoke nearly exploded from the bowl even as Viva fought to keep her hand in place even as the disk also started to glow both from the heat and the offered blood. The smoke very quickly began to coalesce into a shape however and in very little time a hooded and cloaked figure would materialize on the other side of the table from Viva.
“Vivian dear. How good to hear from you again” Spoke the figure at the far end of the table. The voice was feminine but also older. It held a velvety quality to it even as it seemed to linger in the air.
“Hey Mum” Viva would reply happily, though somewhat weakly. Her hand was still laying on the glowing disk, still bleeding and possibly burning if the smell was any indication.
“Haven't met Penny yet” Viva would go on, not caring about the abused state of her hand
“But I found Chloe. She really wanted to meet you” She would gesture at the girl in question with her free hand, before reaching with that same hand to grab her healing artifact to begin repairing the damage that had been done.
“Yet not before you had a chance to fool around I see” Lamashtu would say, humor evident in her voice, before she turned to face the smaller girl, pulling back her hood as she did so to reveal a surprisingly human looking face. Her skin tone was a vibrant red close to that of freshly spilled blood, and her long hair was the color of bleached bone, her ears were slightly elongated and pointed and her eyes were the color of molten bronze. She regarded Chloe with a fond smile the tips of what were likely fangs just barely peeking out
“Ah, my sweet Chloe! What a pleasure to finally meet you!” Lamashtu would say with fond adoration as she moved to sit across from the spirit mage.
“Well now,” Chloe replied with a grin.
“When Vivia mentioned a 'Mother' I didn't know quite to expect. I have to say, I'm pleasantly surprised.” The dark magical girl smirked.
“For an older looking woman, I wouldn't mind a date.” Chloe giggled. Despite her friendly seeming demeanor, there was a definite edge to her voice. For as human as she looked, until proven otherwise she wasn't going to be able to trust her.
“You and Vivia certainly know how to get on my good side.” She hummed, leaning back in her seat.
“And yet here I am, not knowing anything about you and you seeming to know everything about me. I guess I’m flattered, fufu.” Chloe's lips parted in a small grin.
“Ooo you are a feisty one.” Lamashtu would say with a chuckle at Chloe's offer of a date
“Sadly it’s not everything my dear, though I do try and keep up to date on all of my children” She would go on to say as a clawed hand slipped out of the cloak to undo the clasp on it rather then taking it off however the cloak simply sublimated back into smoke, proving that this was only a projection not the actual Patron themselves.
“I am Lamashtu, The Mother of Monsters.” She would introduce herself with a slight nod of the head as the smoke diapated around her revealing that for all of her pretense of humanity she very obviously wasn’t. While obviously female, she would stand taller than any human, and most of her was covered in a pale white chitinous looking material that seemed to pulsate, while the odd strand of muscle or vein would slither out from the cracks in it from time to time before retracting as the bone like material would shift and regrow to cover the cracks, only to form new ones as it went.
She had an extra set of arms, seemingly growing out of the same joint as her more dominant pair, that were slightly misshapen. Either missing digits or with clawed fingers that were incorrectly perportined. Her legs ended with feet that seemed more akin to bird’s rudimentarily fused together to resemble something more human, with a wicked talon on the front and a spike of bone acting as the heel.
Yet it was easy to see that this form was only a fleeting thing, as it would slowly continue to grow and warp in on itself as they spoke, keeping only the vague assurances of Lamashtu being female.
“I am a Goddess by right of conquest, and maintain that status by virtue of my strength, and all who bathe in corruption are my family” She would go on to explain giving a wide smile, one much larger than her dainty face would lead one to expect displaying rows of razor sharp fangs.
“That includes you my dear. But I suspect more that you want to talk about our wayward one, Penny, no?”“Hmm...Penny, yes.” Chloe replied lazily, taking in Lamashtu's form. A goddess, was she then? Her eyes were drawn to every part of her, it seemed. Some monstrous body she had in every sense of the word. Not that she minded at all.
“My precious, little, Penny.” Her eyes eventually drifted back towards Lamashtu's, not breaking away from her gaze for even a second. Family, them? How absurd. She cared not for such trivial connections. Even when she wasn't a dark magical girl, she hadn't been very kind to hers.
“My precious little Penny that I love so dearly, fufu, she's always such a popular one it seems.” Chloe leaned back, breathing in as she closed her eyes.
“First it La'at, then Beacon, and now...you. I know my Penny very well. So very, very well...I could spend so very long talking about my Penny.” Chloe's expression turned to a small smirk.
“But no, right now? I want to talk to you. About you. Why do you want my Penny? You want to take her from me, and well...” She chuckled darkly.
“I get...cranky when people try to take what I love. And when they try to hurt them? Well...” A smile split the girls face.
“...you might be a 'goddess', but I have to wonder how pretty your soul would be.”“Radiant enough to leave you blind and breathless” Lamashtu would lean forward as she replied her smile never wavering, if anything it seemed to grow.
“But surely you must have known that others would take note of what you saw in Penny? She is precious, that is true, and a rare sort that one doesn’t see very often. Her soul is beautiful. Fractured, mutable, yet hardy and resilient. Stubbornly defined by whoever it is that she has given her heart too.” She gave a happy sigh at that description as if enamored with the romantics of it.
“I simply wish to protect her from those that try and abuse her, but she would never stand back and allow others to give her the shelter she wishes to give others. Under my care however, I would be able to give her everything she needs to assist her fellow siblings.”“As for taking her from you, why would I want to do that?” She would ask tilting her head slightly
“I nearly lost her once, due to that thrice cursed creation of Beacon’s, but your love is bringing her back into the fold.'' Despite never raising her voice her tone of voice made it clear that she hated the White Coin with every fiber of her being.
“I’m grateful you got to Penny before that dreadful Beacon wretch could dig her claws in any deeper. She took my sweet Kimble away from me, and she nearly did the same to poor Penny.” Lamashtu’s eyes had become baleful slits of burning rage as she got caught up in the most recent loss of one of her children.
Chloe was silent a few moments as Lamashtu finished speaking. Could she trust her? There was the slight chance Penny might end up loving this woman more than she. It was fine if she was part of beacon, she was quickly solving that issue. Penny would eventually choose between them, and she was almost certain Penny would choose her. But this...goddess? She was certain Lamashtu wouldn't hurt Penny, but now she was concerned entirely with something else.
“...I don't know about this Kimble person.” Chloe finally replied with a small sigh.
“But you have my condolences.” It was easy enough to give false lip service, even if she wasn't certain how much this Lamashtu would trust her. Was she really so easy to trust someone like her? Hmm, likely not. She was smiling, but there was a definite danger to her voice. A face she had worn enough times herself.
“Very well,” She finally conceded after a bit more thinking.
“I leave you alone, there's a chance you'll take Penny from me under my nose. So fine, I'll agree to help you meet...but that's all. You'll have to convince Penny yourself.”Keep your friends close, and enemies closer and all that. If they became a threat, at least like this she could keep an eye on them. Penny was hers.
“If nothing else, we can hate beacon together, fufu.”“Oh she was a wonderful little ball of wind and fury” Lamashtu would say as she returned from her reverie.
“And that is all I would ask of you my darling daughter.” She would say her smile returning to more normal proportions, her anger seemingly forgotten.
“Convincing her of my good intentions can’t be too difficult now that she’s starting to get away from Beacon and their toxic presence.”“Now I should probably head home, and let Vivian finish healing up” She would say as she stood up
“Do keep me in mind if you and Penny ever decide on having kids won’t you? I’d be more than willing to give my blessing for one of you to become a mother.” With those parting words said, her form would fall apart into smoke once more.
A gasp of relief could be heard coming from Viva, who had kept quite the entire conversation, once Lamashtu finally dissipated, as she was finally able to remove her hand from the bronze disk. She was in relatively fine condition, her artifact having continually replenished her dwindling keep her blood levels, while also keeping her hand from more serious burns.
“So...what did you think of Mother?” Viva would ask as she worked a mix of her own magic and her healing artifact to mend the self-inflicted injuries on the back of her hand, choosing to leave three soft scars as a memento.
For once in her life, Chloe was flustered entirely by Lamashtu.
“K-kids? Pfft, me, a parent, ahaha, that would never...” Still, the idea had a certain...enticing element to it. Not that she ever actually considered the idea before since it wasn't exactly possible with Penny, but...
“Ehe...heh...ahem...” Chloe barely registered Viva's question, but as soon as she realized she needed to reply she held a hand over her mouth and coughed.
“Right, aha, sorry...I was...thinking about something.” Right, Lamashtu...she couldn't trust her. No, not with Penny. Not with anything, but she couldn't let a potential enemy away so easily.
“I wasn't joking when I said I'd take her on a date.” She replied, hopping up from her seat and stretching.
“I don't think I could ever call her mother without a little...motivation.” Chloe gave Vivia her usual impish smile.
“But maybe my little Penny could have an easier time of it.”Viva allowed herself a soft smile at Chloe’s reaction to Lamashtu’s parting words. Letting the other girl simply work though the thoughts that surely were running through her head, Viva stored away the majority of the supplies back into her hammerspace but took the bowl off to the attached kitchen to rinse it out.
“I doubt she took it as a joke” Viva would reply as she vanished the bowl back into storage as well.
“Mum is always willing to get to know her children if she can, and doesn’t mind taking them as lovers on occasion.” She would say sitting back down at her spot at the table and pulling out her partially drunk blood bag from earlier and took a draw from it, savoring the coppery tang.
“When do you think we’d be able to meet up with Penny?” She would ask after a moment, hoping that she wasn’t sounding too impatient.
“Is that so?~” Chloe replied. Well, that would certainly be an interesting little romp. A thought for later.
“Tsk, so eager to meet Penny, and here I thought you had a fun time earlier. You certainly sounded like it, fufu.” Chloe teased.
“Ah, I don't know. My little Penny ran off saying something about bringing danger to the shelter if she stayed, hmph.” She replied with a mildly irritated sounding huff.
“I understand, but she should take better care of herself, but I suppose that's one of the reasons I like her, heh. So difficult to...love. She'll probably be back here soon enough. She's carrying a little present from me, so she's not in any danger. I could ask her to drop by with a text.” Chloe lazily motioned to a few video games, a TV, and some other stuff that was shoved off to one corner of the room.
“An old roommate left them when she left. Wanna do something other than me while we wait?”Viva would duck her head sheepishly, seems she was being a touch impatient.
“Oh, I very much enjoyed my time earlier” She would say unrepentantly.
“It’s more I’ve heard so much about her that I’m kinda curious to meet her.” Turning towards the ignored entertainment center off in the corner Viva would nod.
“I’d be fine with a move for a bit.” After all it wouldn’t be the best first impression if they were caught in the middle of some more fun.
“Movie, huh? I got some horror flicks around here somewhere.” She said, quickly sending Penny a text to stop back by when she got a second.
“Hey love, come home when you get a chance, someone wants to meet you.”
“Any preference?”“Anything with body horror” Viva would say sliding over to the couch.
.:⋮Good Intentions⋮:.Penny paused in her research to glance back at Valerie at the odd comment about liking her enemies well done and grimaced as the realization of what it must look like from the outside smacked upside the head, and if anyone was to have the right to judge Penny on what she was doing it was Valerie.
“Yes I’m Beacon, Spark carrying member in fact.” Penny would start, running a hand down her face as she once again turned over her planned course of action in her mind. “Not like the Ascendency however, not met any of them personally, been out of Penrose for a while due to weird mess with a Patron gone a little crazy. But their records speak for themselves.” With a resigned sigh Penny returned to dismantling and eating Sirkkeli.
There wasn’t much Penny could do other than finish what she started, especially with the reminder that Penrose wasn’t fully home territory at the moment. If she knew she could trust the Ascendency more, or if she had heard back from any of her friends at Beacon it might have been different. But for the moment she was operating solo, and she couldn’t in good conscious let the corrupted remains fall into the wrong hands; which left her with only one option for disposal.
“I’m all for trying to help out getting this mess sorted.” Penny would go on to say
“I was on route to one of the lich fights when I got side tracked.” Her voice would continue to sound out even if her mouth was otherwise full, being output via her newfound magic
“Glad to hear that those got taken care. That does mean that I need to finish up here before moving on though” At this point Penny had moved on from puzzling out how the other girl was put together and was simply consuming as much as she could.
“Thing is I’m not doing this because I’m hungry, or even because I really want to” Which was true, even the prospect of the upgrades wouldn’t have been enough for Penny to fully cannibalize the corpse if she had other options, especially as most of them she wouldn’t be able to make full use of them.
“But I can’t say that I want a few hundred pounds of corrupted scrap laying around for someone else to stumble across, especially with how volatile Penrose has become recently, so I’m taking care of it.” She just hoped that the Shine Spark would be able to handle the influx of corruption without too much trouble.
Meanwhile, as she ate, her left eye was glowing much the same as Valerie’s eyes were. Penny was looking into different things however. She was pouring though the Beacon network now that she was less occupied with fighting off weaklings or her replacement. What she found had her cursing internally, as not only could they track her via the spark, they currently had a lock on her signal. This revelation had her speeding up her disposal operation.
Thankfully, from what she could gather, there wasn’t anyone inbound. That didn’t mean that couldn’t change in a heartbeat however, It also mean that she couldn’t risk going back to the warehouse; it would bring the Ascendency down right on top of everyone there.
‘I need to let Chloe know’ Penny thought she was tempted to just send a text, but she missed Chloe, it was only a couple hours ago that she had confessed to her mischievous friend and she wanted to spend some time with her.
‘Being responsible sucks’Almost in response to her thoughts a message from Chloe would pop up on her HUD, bringing out a soft smile.
“Where were you off too when you stopped to help me out?” Penny would ask. That way she could tell if she had time to pop over to the apartment to see Chloe and whoever it was that wanted to meet with her.
“And do you think reinforcements would be helpful?” 
Mistress Dizzy
Majoraa
Light the Dark
Izurich
LG
twave