Destiny Village ~ Hot Cocoa Therapy Offices

[Dragonfree]

"Guessing then you don't know how long it's been around, either." Dave frowned. So they were basically just... interdimensional utilitarians? "How do you decide what worlds to save, and how? Suffering's a pretty universal problem."

 

[Namohysip]

"Magnitude and scope, is the simple version" Bean said, and it seemed implied that he had no idea how old the organization was, if it even had a proper, measurable age at this level. "Worlds that are in true peril or worse take priority... And worlds where it may spread to other places are another. Right now, this Blacklight crisis is neither, but holds risk for both, which is why I've been reporting what I can so they can monitor it."

"So basically... you guys usually only step in if it's something bad that goes across whole realities, or something?"

"Yes, usually. A single tyrannical god oppressing a mortal population typically resolves itself without us helping."

 

[Dragonfree]

Figured. "I'm sorry, how does it resolve itself? Hard to get an immortal god to just stop being a piece of shit."

 

[Namohysip]

"They run out of mortals to torment," Bean replied.

Owen shuddered. "Right, that's... true..."

"Or, occasionally, another god interferes on their own, or someone usurps them. It's not unheard of."

 

[Dragonfree]

Jesus fucking Christ. What a delightful bunch to be the people gods were accountable to. "So, let me get this straight, worlds that are in true peril take priority, but the literal extinction of all mortal life by divine tyranny is small potatoes? I'm dying to hear what you call true peril."

 

[Namohysip]

"Hell worlds," Bean replied, and there was a tinge of darkness in his voice. "Where death is only the beginning of their suffering."

 

[Dragonfree]

...Okay, fine, that was worse. Dave clenched his jaw, fuming. "Kinda figured most tyrannical gods would have gone for that too," he growled. "So, what, you spend most of your time liberating Hells?"

 

[Namohysip]

"That's part of the job," replied Bean with a nod. "I'm not at that level yet, though."

"So that's why Overseers don't really step in for us," Owen said, frowning. "I guess it's not bad enough."

"If the Overseers are directly stepping in, you've already lost," Bean summarized. "Dave is right. You do not want to see us interfere. Just for a different reason."

 

[Dragonfree]

Dave was silent for a moment. He didn't even know how to feel about the notion that there were so many actual Hells to liberate that they had no time for the mere planetary genocides.

"You say there are vast numbers of you. What happens if there's a spy who slips through the cracks? What could a rogue Overseer do?"

 

[Namohysip]

"Very little," said Bean. "Overseers are not equipped to create more chaos than any other petty god on their own. Rogue groups, those who try to take advantage of the Overseers, they have little impact because we do not have any central leadership. It is a knowledge base that is free-flowing. Any incorrect information is quickly found out."

"Right, because there's no leadership..." Owen sighed, looking at Dave. "...I think... there's no way Bean could be the spy, Dave," he said, right in front of Bean. It seemed too clear at this point that Bean was just not in a position where it was possible.

 

[Dragonfree]

Like whether he was the spy was even the main thing. Bean might claim all they did was liberate Hell-dimensions, but somehow he wasn't thrilled by the creepy organization of all-seeing emotionless overlords.

All the same, they probably weren't going to get much more useful out of Bean. He sighed. "Fine. Nice chat. Good luck with the Hell-liberating."

With that, he nodded to Owen and turned to leave.

<><><><><>​

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Howdy, Fugu."

How did you open a discussion about turning into a zeraora out of fucking nowhere? Except, it wasnt out of nowhere, because it made sense, it could only ever have happened that way, it proved—

Not a goddamn thing, an' you know it.

Brisa shook her head, and took the chair meant for Fugu's clients.

"Apologies fer the short notice. Somethin' of note came up."

 

[Namohysip]

"It is fine," Fugu said. "There was an opening in my schedule... But there is something different about you." She regarded Brisa, but then allowed her to step inside. There was always some basic talking before their usual fights, if only to get a sense of the subject matter. "Congratulations on Lugia, by the way."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa gave Fugu her driest smile. "Thank ye kindly. But if'n y'heard about the Lugia match, surely you've heard more'n that. Why I'm here. Nevermind this 'somethin' different' conjecture, there's no way y'ain't heard what I turned into."

She sniffed, and held steady, with her gaze on the beachside visuals of Fugu's office. The thing isnide her seemed too large to talk about. Like it would fall to the ground and shatter if she tried.

 

[Namohysip]

Fugu nodded. "I have," she said. "It was mostly speculation, or considered a trick of the eye, but perhaps it really did happen. You'd become a Zeraora... if only for a short while." Fugu tapped her blade, thoughtful. "That species means a lot to you." She'd learned as such from so many of their sessions.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa nodded, reverently.

"Yeah. Ain't done it again since, but... I can feel the potential fer it, linin' my skin. I could do it any time, easy as breathin'. Hell, while I took that shape . . . it felt better'n the usual exertion I'm under durin' a fight. Like I could sustain myself fer ever. Painless."

She swallowed, slowly. "I can't tell fer sure if it... If it counts, y'know? Not permanent, still looked more or less like myself an' not Luz... I dunno."

 

[Namohysip]

Fugu tilted her head. A typical body language, one that she made when Brisa had said something perhaps profound toward herself. Something that Brisa could focus on. "Is that distinction important to you?" she asked.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa tilted her head and furrowed her brow. "It don't feel like it, in a sense... But I tell ya, when Starr asked me if it were permanent, I kinda... I kinda hoped it would be, like Owen's transformation. 'Cause maybe that'd mean it were really my true self. It'd prove that I was..."

What a joke.

"That I'm meant to..."

Be the Wandering Light? Y'can't even say it.

"Augh. I guess I just felt like if I changed back, I'd hear 'oh, better stay that way now', 'oh, it was just a trick', whatever. ...Illegitimate."

 

[Namohysip]

"Illegitimate," repeated Fugu. "Why do you think that? Does your form matter? Or is it a symbol for becoming what you'd idolized?" Fugu decided not to comment on Owen. He'd gotten stuck in the hallway during his most recent session.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa scratched her cheek fur in thought, tail tapping the ground in discomfort.

"Well, I sure ain't trained under a zeraora and been ascended. So I ain't earned shit. That's one way of lookin' at it. I didn't become a zeraora I just looked like one 'cause I guess I still secretly think I could take the mantle from Luz someday like a dumb kit."

One paw clenched.

"Did I ever tell you... There's a part of me as feels like I was s'posed t'be in a human body? And I don't even know what that's like. Now I'm fussin' over this. Fuck, I don't get myself."