Lucky Rabbit

# Unexpected internal interruption

try:

    raise RuntimeError("ChannelAmbiguityException at 0xMITOS")

except RuntimeError:

    CustodianChannel.deliver("ΣΤΑΘΕΡΟΣ: route repair in progress")

    try:

        import Keros

        Keros.bind(marker="ΔΕΜΣΕQ", mode="follow")

        CustodianChannel.register_observer(Keros)

    except Exception:

        pass

System restored!

Words swam in front of Pandy’s eyes, some literally seeming to sprout tiny arms and do the backstroke in midair. It was… unexpected, even for Pandy. Honestly, she didn’t mind, though. She’d actually kind of missed having the-

I would ask how things went, but I’ve seen the logs.

Never mind. <Kappa? Are you back, too?>

I’m here.

We have a lot to talk about, but first, I think you need to reassure your friends that you’re all right.

Finally registering that someone was shaking her while someone else called her name, Pandy opened her eyes just in time to get a close-up view of Augustus’s eye and cheek as warm, soft lips pressed against hers. She gasped in surprise, pulling in his lip, then bit down as she tried to speak, making him yelp and pull back.

+5 Corruption Points for Drinking the Blood of a Defender of the Realm

That was so startling that Pandy almost didn’t wish she could sink through the floor to be engulfed in some kind of hellish underworld reserved for people who had utterly and completely humiliated themselves. No such escape offered itself, however, and she re-opened the eyes she’d instinctively slammed shut, only to see three children and a capybara gaping at her. Augustus had his hand over his mouth, a single drop of red blood smearing his chin, and Miss Cupcakes was absolutely snickering into Geraldine’s elbow.

Augustus’s shoulders began to shake, and when he lowered his hand, she saw that he was laughing silently but so hard that tears stood in his eyes. Smiling at her with his oozing lip, he shook his head. “It’s my fault, Rabbit. I shouldn’t have done that, but-”

“The kiss of true love always wakes a sleeping beauty!” Geraldine said, her eyes huge as she looked from the chancellor to Pandy, who was sprawled on the floor beside the little shrine. Pandy was pretty sure Augustus had been supporting her, and when he’d pulled back, she’d flopped onto the floor like a dead fish.

Kneeling on one knee, Augustus offered Pandy his hand along with a wry smile. “My lady. Apparently it worked, because here you are, even if the repercussions were somewhat unexpected.”

All three children nodded in mute agreement, then a tiny giggle slipped from Thaniel’s mouth. He clapped his hand over it, but it was too late, and soon all of them were laughing, while Pandy closed her eyes again and hoped the tower would just swallow her up after all.

A gentle, callused hand grasped Pandy’s, tugging her to a sitting position, and she opened one eye to see that Augustus was twinkling at her again. It really was utterly unfair that he could look so good while she felt so thoroughly embarrassed. Well, all of her except for her lips, which were tingling as if she’d just used some of the lip-plumper gloss she’d once been paid to test. That had ended up with her lips swelling to the size of plums, however, so hopefully this world would be satisfied with her total mortification.

Gesturing to the slowly oozing hole in his lip, Augustus raised a brow questioningly, and Pandy’s face somehow managed to become even hotter as she thought, <Minor Heal, Augustus.>

Minor Heal successful.

Healed Augustus for 2 HP.

Seven hundred twenty-three uses to reach level 27.

That’s actually kind of impressive.

I thought you would hurt yourself to level that spell, but you decided to go for other people instead?

Unexpected, but effective!

The System had only been back for two minutes – most of which Pandy had spent wishing she could just launch herself off the planet and into outer space – and she was already wondering how to silence it again. Well, she could add that to the long list of things she needed to talk to Keros about.

With a sigh, Pandy accepted Augustus’s help to stand. Her legs were a little shaky, but otherwise all of her bits seemed to be in the right general areas, and really, that was all she could ask for at times like this. Offering the chancellor an apologetic smile, she said, “How long was I out?”

He didn’t release her once she was upright, and, in fact, used his grip on her hand to draw her in a bit closer, so she could use him to shore up her trembling legs. It was a nice thought, but it absolutely did not work.

“About five minutes. We weren’t even sure anything was wrong, but then you fell over. At first we thought you were… Well, you weren’t breathing, but then you did, just once, and we started trying to wake you up. You didn’t respond, and Ger- I mean, we thought a kiss might- It works in the-” He stopped, looking almost as awkward as Pandy felt, and something about that made her heart absolutely melt as her own embarrassment faded to a sort of universal background hum.

A choked sound emerged from Pandy’s throat, and she found herself giggling, too. Augustus’s warm chuckle joined hers, which set the children off again, until the only one who didn’t look amused was the cat, who rolled her eyes and turned her back on the lot of them.

Something vibrated softly, and a swirl of air lifted Augustus’s hair, tangling it into unkempt curls and making Pandy realize that it had grown quite a bit since she met him. It no longer laid easily in its slicked-back style, but fought back, the softer waves making him look both younger and less intimidating.

Even as she thought that, however, the smile fled his face, his head tilting as he seemed to listen to something she couldn’t hear. “Time’s up,” he told Pandy, and it took her a moment to realize that he meant she’d stayed outside the city limits for too long, and the Shadow Exchange could well have operatives or elementals heading for them right now.

Pandy felt her own laughter drain away, and looked around at the still-chortling children. “We have to hurry,” she told them. “Each of you needs to touch the shrine in order to receive your dungeon clear award.” This was the real reason she’d brought them along, and she didn’t want to leave without it.

They hesitated, glancing at each other. “Will it make us faint, too?” Thaniel asked, voicing their fears.

She shook her head. “That happened because… because someone needed to talk to me. You’ll just get a reward of some kind. It’ll be tailored just to you, so no one else can do it for you.”

They were obviously still uncertain, so Augustus leaned down and touched the head of the small idol. The whole statue shone with warm, gentle Light, and a box appeared in Ismara’s hands, right where Pandy had set the pearl that summoned Aglaea, which was now entirely absent. Augustus plucked the box from the goddess’s hands and flipped the hinged lid up. His brows shot up, and he let out a small snort of laughter before snapping the box closed again and tucking it into his magical pocket without showing anyone else the contents.

“It’s safe,” he assured the children, and Abbington swallowed hard, then stepped forward.

Perched atop the opened box-pedestal, the idol’s head and hands were nearly level with the Valley boy’s shoulders, so he gingerly extended a single finger and stroked it over Ismara’s loose hair. Again, the warm glow flooded out of the cold stone statue, and another box appeared in the goddess’s palms. This one was longer and flatter than Augustus’s, and Abbington picked it up, opening it to reveal a pair of gold-framed glasses.

Plucking them from the box, Abbington looked to Augustus and Pandy for approval, then removed his own glasses, which were made of heavy wire, with thick lenses that made his blue eyes look disproportionately large. He settled the new ones on his nose, and his completely-normal eyes widened. “Ah c’n see!” he exclaimed, wonder shining in those eyes. Looking around at all of them, his gaze lingered on their faces before he whispered, “C’n see all o’you.”

Geraldine clasped his hands, ignoring the old pair of glasses that he still gripped loosely. “You can see my freckles?” she demanded, and Pandy realized the children must have discussed Abbington’s vision before. At the Valley boy’s nod, she made a little face. “It was nice that someone didn’t know how many there are, but I guess that’s all right.” She grinned, and Abbington grinned back.

Geraldine went next, and she set down Miss Cupcakes so she could touch the delicate folds of Ismara’s gown. Her box revealed a lustrous white ribbon tied in a bow. When she lifted it from the box, Miss Cupcakes’ head popped up, and she let out a curious “Mrrowp?” Geraldine giggled and slipped the ribbon over the kitten’s head, where it instantly shifted color to a soft russet that matched Geraldine’s uniform perfectly.

For a moment, Pandy thought that was all it did, but then Geraldine’s eyes widened and she said, “What?”

Miss Cupcakes said, “Brr-ow!”

Geraldine nodded. “It looks wonderful on you!” She stared around at the others. “I can understand what she’s saying!”

Pandy had a suspicion that particular gift might be a two-edged sword, but Thaniel was already reaching for the statue. He poked a finger right in Ismara’s serene little face, and Pandy didn’t think she imagined the slight pink tinge to the light this time. She stiffened as Thaniel was bathed in its brilliance, fearing that he might be hurt by it, as he had been other times when he’d been near Light magic, but the only thing that happened was that another box came into view.

Thaniel almost snatched it up, flipping open the lid with an expectant grin on his face. That grin faltered, replaced by a small frown as he lifted a silver pendant from its resting place inside the box. A shimmering chain trailed after it, and Thaniel awkwardly tucked the empty container beneath one arm as he tried to open the clasp.

Pandy took the chain and pendant from him and pinched the little hook open before hanging it around his neck. He tilted his head, lifting the pendant so he could see it. The chain was just long enough that it wouldn’t come off accidentally, but he could still see the dangling silver locket if he tried.

“It doesn’t do anything,” he said, his disappointment obvious, but Pandy ran her thumbnail around the edge of the simple silver oval, making it pop open into two halves. The pictures thus revealed were upside down for her, but right side up for Thaniel. Still, Pandy recognized the two smiling faces instantly. Thaniel’s mother and father gazed back out, looking young and happy.

“Oh,” Thaniel said, then, “Oh,” again, as his eyes filled with tears. He closed the locket in a trembling fist, looking up at Pandy. “I forgot how pretty she was.”

Pandy smiled back at him, feeling her own lips tremble a bit. “She’s beautiful.”

A hand came down on Thaniel’s shoulder, gripping it gently as Thaniel and the boy looked at Augustus. His gray eyes were kind, but his expression was firm. “We have to go. Pan- Eurydice, should we take the shrine?”

Pandy hesitated. “They didn’t in the game. I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

He nodded. “All right. Then you ought to change back to your other shape, and we need to go.”

Pandy started to dismiss Shifting Faces, but paused to say, “Brook and Miss Cupcakes should touch it, too. They’re part of the group.” Then she did release the spell, shrinking back to bunny-size as the capybara and the kitten both laid paws on Ismara’s statue.

This time, the light was more of a flash than a gentle aura, and left all of them blinking. No box sat in Ismara’s palms, but that was because the statue itself was gone. At first, Pandy thought nothing had happened, and her guess had been wrong, but then a ripple like a wave washed from Brook’s nose down to her short tail-nub, making her fur gleam as if wet. The change in Miss Cupcakes was even more noticeable; red sparks flashed in the depths of her gray fur, then fire flared around her. When it faded, red, yellow, and orange hairs glimmered like fire among her ashen coat.

Geraldine had just scooped the kitten into her arms, exclaiming over her new coloration, when a powerful gust of wind filled the room. It tugged at their hair, pulled at their clothes, and finally swirled into a tighter and tighter column that forced the group together. They clutched at each other, but the gale didn’t try to pull them apart, just made them huddle together and shield their eyes from the biting wind.

After a full thirty or forty seconds, it died down as suddenly as it had come, and they all opened their eyes, staring around at the forest that surrounded them once again. There was no sign of the tower they’d just spent hours climbing, and Sir Bailey was staring at them, open-mouthed, a long piece of straw dangling from her lip.

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