[center] [img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/200312/a462cb6bcec81efafdc9472899d623f8.png[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/5ZqyPyV.png[/img] [Sub].:⋮Quick Gabo Bop⋮:.[/Sub] [/center] There were goblins in the sewers. Of course, there were always goblins in the sewers, but hey, when there were goblins in the sewers, who did you call? A couple of magical girls who couldn’t fight in the big leagues, obviously. Rain came down heavily, turning snow into slush as two magical girls stood before a manhole. Penrose had been struck by a wet spell recently, and the amount of rain that had fallen in the last couple of days turned any travel by foot through the city into an unpleasant slog. Down in the sewers, it was probably even worse; already, the two could hear the loud rushing of water through sewer canals. But a job was a job, and there were gobs to be got, so they’d obv have to set off. [color=9b83de]‘Fufufu…’[/color] Ronin chuckled, where she stood in front of said manhole, her arms crossed as she prepared herself mentally. She grinned. [color=9b83de]‘Obviously, when you’re new in town, you got to aim for the lowest of the low, and work your way upwards! And nobody is lower than the sewer-goblins! I bet you think by hiding in the disgusting darkness below the city you’re safe, hm? Well, you thought WRONG!’[/color] Ronin told, as she held something above her head. [color=9b83de]‘Behold! The grand weakness of your plan and that which guides the bringer of your doom! The FLASHLIGHT!’[/color] she called dramatically, as she clicked a button and the decently strong but supremely common flashlight lit up. [color=9b83de]‘… Alright, let’s go!’[/color] Ronin called excitedly as she just up and leapt down the open manhole, one hand on her sheathed sword and the other holding the flashlight to brighten the way on her way down. She was also ready to create a barrier to block herself from dropping straight down into sewer-water. Believe it or not, but not even Ronin wanted to land in that. Penny for her part was just amused by the smaller girl's actions and followed her down into the sewers at a much more sedate pace by using the ladder. Her Transformation Blade currently slung over her shoulder in the form of an advanced rifle of some description and her phone was set within her breastplate it’s flashlight feature turned on so that she wouldn’t be blinded by the dark herself. She had signed up for this job for a few reasons. One her house was connected to the sewers so it was in her best interest to help keep them clear, and two she had gotten the same message her other half had gotten and wanted to know who this Ronin was. So far it was proving to be a good decision. Underground, the chill and dampness was even more oppressive than it had been outside. The ceiling dripped constantly, while the canals were definitely overflowing. Each step was accompanied by a loud splash, and as Deni and Penny’s respective flashlights swept the area, the width of their beams were clearly visualized by all the water coming from every direction. The sewer system that they were in looked to be old, porous and cracked concrete walls reinforcing the tunnels, while strips of reflective tape served as a guide to where the walls and the catwalks were, even in dim light conditions. It wasn’t hard to navigate the straight tunnels, but the discomfort remained. Rushing water formed a constant white noise that dulled their hearing, while the sloshing of water-logged shoes made stealth difficult too. An umbrella may have been nice, but a full-body raincoat would have been better...neither of which the magical girls were privy to. The goblins within the sewers, however, appeared to have been populous enough that even without any particular way of tracking them, the girls could chance upon them, in just five minutes, in fact! As they neared another intersection, they heard the strange, pitched squealing of those dirty greenskins, communicating in their own rudimentary language. Five distinct voices sounded about in rapid-fire speech, but who knows if there were more? No one spoke Goblin, after all. [color=9b83de]‘… Maaan, not what most would imagine about the adventures as a Magical Girl, huh, hah,’[/color] Ronin said with a chuckle, as her drenched feet were forced to walk through the water in order to conserve magic. [color=9b83de]‘So, Penny, you who’ve been here longer, do you know how it looks down here? Roughly how many goblins we’ll be dealing with? Anything like that?’[/color] she then asked, looking to the other Magical Girl. Realizing something, she started putting Reinforcement spells on her flashlight. [color=9b83de]‘Just to make sure no goblin breaks it, that’d be bad. I could do the same to yours?’[/color] the samurai-girl offered, before she looked forward again. [color=9b83de]‘Should I be quiet? Or perhaps it’s to our advantage that the goblins hear us because they’ll come attack us, or will they flee?’[/color] Suffice to say, it wouldn’t be a very quiet trip with Ronin here. Then they heard the goblins already, and Ronin smirked. [color=9b83de]‘I’m thinking kill all but one and have the last guide us to the nest as it flees in panic? … Because there’s no such thing as redeemable goblins, right?’[/color] Ronin asked, before quickly starting to dash ahead at the voices if allowed to. “It’s hard to say, goblins always seem to sprout up no matter how thoroughly we clean the area out” Penny would reply with her weapon held at the ready. She was doing her best not to think about the slime and muck they were trudging through. She was glad her outfit came with tall boots otherwise this whole affair would be that much more nasty, that said she was still planning on taking a shower or three once she got out of here. [color=C76689][b]“But I’ll not say no to protecting my light source”[/b][/color] She would agree to the protective spells on her phone. She could fix it if it broke but keeping it from doing that would definitely be a good option. Ronin happily leaned over and placed a hand on the phone to Reinforce it before returning her hand to the sword as Penny continued talking. [color=C76689][b]“Sound doesn’t matter too much from my experience, the gabo’s tend to assume that they have the advantage so long as they outnumber their enemies.”[/b][/color] By the time Penny would explain that they would have found themselves at the first pack of goblins. In lieu of answering Ronin’s inquiry about the qualities of a goblin. Penny simply leveled her towards the pack and let off an opening statement with a harsh crackle of static. As her rifle fired out a streak of brilliant blue as her laser round sought to end one of the goblins before her mini ally could make it to the front lines. Because, after all, the only good full blooded goblin was the one that never left its hole. Well, not like these goblins have left their holes yet. As Ronin and Penny’s flashlights lit up the pack, they could see that the creatures were small, hunched-over little freaks, their skin taut against their bones and their dilated eyes milky in the brightness of the light. A pack of six goblins turned, but as Penny’s laser bolt seared through the fetid air, that number was already reduced by one. They gurgled, half surprised, their rotted fangs bared for just a moment. But for goblins, even midgets like Ronin were terrifying; no magical girls were as small as a toddler, after all. As the samurai charged them, they turned and fled, scrambling on all fours to get away. [color=9b83de]‘Heeeey, come back! I’m not done with you!’[/color] Ronin called so happily, but also kept her wits about as she ran, guiding her flashlight around and preparing to put up a barrier at any point. But so far, it was just to follow the goblins back to the horde! Besides, with Penny here, they surely couldn’t be in trouble! Penny took off in a run herself, making sure that she didn’t lose sight of Ronin, she would take another shot or two at the fleeing pack as she ran as well. Losing sight of the monsters wasn’t as bad an outcome after all, Sound magic could be used to find them again if needed, but losing track of an ally is never a good idea regardless of what one was hunting. Still, she conjured up a short steel club as she ran in case these goblins were leading them into an ambush. The chase continued, the magical girls’ vigilance so far not pulling up any surprise ambush from the goblins. One minute passed. Five minutes. Ten minutes! And the first goblin flagged, his pace dropping as his emaciated stature could no longer sustain such a tense run. Tripping over his feet, he fell face-first into a dirty puddle with a cry of pain. His companions turned back for just a moment, before the biggest of them roared and they continued to run away, leaving him to his terrible fate. Ronin skipped and landed right on the goblin’s back, just pressing him down into the water for a bit, and stopping there. [color=9b83de]‘Think they’re misleading us? Trying to exhaust our batteries and stamina? Making us lose our way back out? If so, think we can use this guy for something productive?’[/color] Ronin asked her running companion, also while keeping track if the goblin was about to attack her. Too bad Ronja wasn’t here right now… Penny would have hurled her club at the lead goblin when he slowed to roar at the other goblins. Whether or not it landed a blow she would come to stop next to Ronin as her rifle flowed into itself returning to its original bladed nature. [color=C76689][b]“Don’t know, I figured that they are just running because they are scared at this point”[/b][/color] She would say as she watched the rest of the pack flee further into the distance. [color=C76689][b]“I could use some sound to try and locate where their lair is hidden away at, but that’s about it. Don’t know about that one, nothing I can do to pull any use out of him”[/b][/color] She would explain with a shrug as she rolled the handle of her weapon in between her fingers. Unfortunately, the big goblin wasn’t actually slowing down to roar at his buddies. Fortunately, Penny’s aim was true anyways; as he ran away, her club caved in the back of his skull and killed him instantly, which served to only encourage the goblins to run further away. Ronin’s own goblin was busy flailing futilely too, practically choking and drowning in the shallow puddle that his nose was broken into. Red plumes blossomed underwater as the two magical girls casually discussed tactics while the goblin they waterboarded continued to squirm and twitch and spasm. [color=9b83de]‘Hm, yeah, yeah! Let’s try that! These three individual goblins aren’t going to matter if we find the nest!’[/color] Ronin said, specifically about trying to use sound to locate the nest, and then noted that the goblin she was standing on was getting drowned. That wasn’t a very nice way to go, so she’s going to jump off him for a second. Penny called back her thrown club upon receiving the go ahead for her Sound idea. Once she got a hold of it a small application of magic would shift it into a large spiked pole, which she then proceeded to ram into the ground, through the one goblin they had ‘captured’. She would take a moment to center herself before striking the pole with the flat of her blade. The result was a surprisingly potent wave of sound echoing out albeit at a, very, very low frequency. Low frequency vibrations were much sturdier at long distances, and not very common, it would give Penny a decent snapshot map of things within a hopefully wide area. And since she also had the response frequency of a goblin, due to the fact that she had rammed the pole she was using as a focal point for this bit of magic though one, she should be able to tell what was and what wasn’t a goblin as well. The goblin let out a wet gurgle as the pole impaled it, finally putting the miserable creature out of its misery. Penny’s attempts to scan further down the sewer, however, was disrupted by the sheer amount of white noise all around them. The rushing off flooded canals, the splashing of water seeping between the cracks. No longer a machine, the human girl wasn’t able to make any sense out of the low frequency wave that she sent out; her mind, reliant as it was on sight, lacked the mental faculties for interpreting the rebound of her sonic waves, while her magic, untrained as it was, could only give her a vague sense of the immediate area, which could already be visually observed. Certainly, there were no invisible goblins anywhere near. In the distance, they could both hear the erratic splashing of the retreating goblins, but that was all. [color=C76689][b]“‘Tch that’s annoying”[/b][/color] Penny would grumble as she tore out the spiked pole from the ground [color=C76689][b]“To much ambient sound, can’t get a clear image”[/b][/color] She would explain, even as she knew that it wasn’t entirely a true statement. [color=C76689][b]“Nothing to it but just hunting them down the old fashion way I suppose”[/b][/color] She would continue as she sheathed her blade and leveled off her makeshift spear in the direction of the remaining goblins they were aware of. [color=C76689][b]“Race ya!”[/b][/color] She would call out moments before she went sprinting off at them, no longer caring about stumbling into an ambush. As at this point that would just make this hunt all the easier. Besides she now had two melee weapons, rather than a melee and a ranged weapon, and she was much more confident in her CQC then her marksmanship. [color=9b83de]‘Hey, wait!’[/color] Ronin told after, not having been prepared for (nor really having the means for) a sudden race with Penny. Still, she wouldn’t just hand over a victory! She shot a small amount of Reinforcement magic into herself before she took off after Penny, hand on her sword just in case she’d actually reach any living goblins at any point. The chase continued through the frantic darkness. One goblin sprained their foot and was promptly skewered. Another one collapsed, exhausted, and was cut into half. The third, and the last one, took a wrong turn, ending up at a dead end. Whipping around at the sight of the magical girls, it tried to jump up to reach the ventilation grate, but couldn’t. The creature let out a cry of desperation and despair, before curling up against a corner, beady eyes closed and hands up in a final plea for mercy. It received none. Penny simply brought down the none spiked end on top of it’s skull with earth shattering force, crumpling the wretched goblin into a pile of gore. “Well that’s the last of this pack” She would say as she stood from her finishing blow. [color=C76689][b]“We could go hunting for more of them, but I’m kinda wanting to take a shower”[/b][/color] Her conjured weapons would splinter and sublimate away as she turned to regard her small friend [color=C76689][b]“So what says you to us getting out of here?”[/b][/color] She would ask taking a look at the ventilation grate. They might be able to use it to get out of here, if not it wouldn’t be too hard to find a Manhole cover with Metal magic. [color=9b83de]‘Aw, but I haven’t gotten to do anything!’[/color] Ronin momentarily play-complained, but when she looked down further into the sewage… Yeah, she wasn’t [i]all that[/i] confident she could find a way out on her own, and the last thing she wanted was drag Penny on a quest she didn’t want to go on. Was a bit much of an unnecessary risk. [color=9b83de]‘Aw, okay,’[/color] Ronin sighed a bit, but the outside world [i]was[/i] a much more pleasant environment. Maybe she should try to go for a bounty that wasn’t actively avoiding her next… [color=C76689][b]“We can definitely come back later, just not a lot of time at the moment”[/b][/color] With no intent on diving deeper into the sewers and satisfied with slaying five, the two magical girls left, climbing out of the darkness and back onto the soaked streets of Penrose. And in the unlit shadows that they left, slithering out of the torrential waters, [i]something[/i] claimed the flesh they had left behind. [hr] [center][url=https://i.imgur.com/N53ToUw.png][img]https://i.imgur.com/5TcL6Af.png[/img][/url] [h2]Kimble[/h2] [h1]&[/h1] [h2]Lamashtu[/h2] [/center] [color=c1eb9b]‘Kimble,’[/color] Lea said her name from behind her once again, next time she could find her alone. [color=c1eb9b]‘Are you ready to go see your mother?’[/color] This time Kimble was wandering in a closed furniture store; she hopped from tables and chairs to beds and chandeliers, sometimes breaking stuff, though it did not seem intentional for her. She turned and smiled upon seeing Lea. “Hi, Frida!” She greeted the insect-attuned monster girl, and then nodded, flapping her fake ears. “I knew it, that’s why you came to see me.” She took in a deep breath. “Okay...I’m ready.” [color=c1eb9b]‘Good. Then let us depart,’[/color] Lea told, and with a start, the surrounding area was split from the world of Penrose. The area separated from Earth and arrived in the Overcity, placed upon the black-white checkered floor. Lea, unconcerned with the phenomenon, turned around. [color=c1eb9b]‘Follow me.’[/color] With Kimble following behind, Lea took off at considerable speed towards the decided coordinates. After the previous meeting with her, Lea had taken the time to find Lamashtu. She was not hard to find, the mother of monsters proudly welcomes any of her “children”, for as a monster girl Lea was apparently her child. A very infuriating woman, who would give and take help but also never consider anyone to owe the other, because they were family and that’s what families do. Utterly inconvenient for Lea, who wanted all the deities and lesser forces to owe her… Still, it helped with planning this meeting. She’d started with asking if having this meeting was alright, and also asked if Lamashtu was aware of what had happened to Kimble. Having received her answers, they’d then decided to meet at neutral grounds… There was a forest in the midst of the Overcity. It was a magical forest where both Lea and Lamashtu would hopefully find themselves decently comfortable. At the center of said forest was a clearing with a gazebo, a suitably neutral space where one could sit inside the gazebo and talk, assuming one is the right size for it. Lea had suggested this place as the meeting grounds… And long before they would arrive they would be able to tell that Lamashtu was waiting for them. Because her presence filled the forest, it was a welcoming feeling, one that curled around them in a whisper of a loving embrace. For it was no mere avatar that Lamashtu had conjured for the meeting; it was The Mother herself, not an all too uncommon occurrence for her when it came to meeting her children out in the Overcity. Still when they did make it to the clearing Lamashtu was sitting within the Gazebo cooing over a monstrously large spider, one that came up to her knee were she to be standing. She herself was much taller than any mortal would be but her size was still constrained as she stood just shy of eight feet tall. Their arrival was not unnoticed for long and when it was a warm smile spread across her features [color=AE312D]“Lea my dear how good to see you again. And Kimble, my adorable sweet Kimble, I’ve missed you.”[/color] She would call out as they approached [color=AE312D]“I’m delighted to hear that you wanted to come see me. Come sit it has been too long.”[/color] Lea landed in the clearing ahead of Kimble, and when Lamashtu greeted them, she raised a single hand in return. After that… she simply stepped aside, her eyes looking back to Kimble. She was the real subject for this meeting, after all. Kimble looked nervous, with shifty eyes and drooping artificial tails, as she slowly approached the gazebo, keeping her hands curled like an agitated cat. Her mouth opened in awe upon seeing her former Patron. “Mama…?” She whispered to herself. She looked back down at the seat, then at Lamashtu, and slowly sat down, keeping her eyes on the Deity. “Mama Lamashtu...Is it really you?” [color=AE312D]“Ooh, kitten, of course it’s me”[/color] she would say softly before glancing down at the spider and giving it a small shooing motion causing it to crawl away, though not far. Lamashtu’s body would crack and contort as the ancient deity forced her body to shrink and compact so that she was no longer towering of her most recently lost child. [color=AE312D]“You made me so proud in your first fight, you used the winds as an extension of your claws and simply tore that meddlesome girl apart.”[/color] She would offer up as she looked over Kimble with fondness [color=AE312D]“I brought you the largest fish I could for dinner that night”[/color] [color=AE312D]“But my little wind storm, look what they’ve done to you”[/color] She would say softly reaching out to touch the artificial ears, sadness evident in her features. [color=AE312D]“And your tails as well. I’m sorry that you had to go through that awful process”[/color] Sorrow laced her voice at the loss of her child's most defining characteristics, but that was alright. Kimble had come back to her on her own. They could get past this, she hadn’t lost her little windstorm just yet. Kimble kept her head lowered, her eyes shaded by her hair. “So, you do remember me, nya...” She mumbled, and she gripped her knees. “But...If you do, then...Why...” She grit her teeth, as tears fell down her cheeks. She then looked up, her expression having turned to raging grief. “Why did you abandon me, nya!? Why didn’t you come and save me? I was trapped for so long, waiting for you, but you never came!” Winds started picking up outside the gazebo, turning into an ominous breeze. Lea had sat down at her own seat, and was a little startled by the winds. Still, she kept her attention on the conversation, a bit tense. Lamashtu blinked a few times in apparent confusion at the sudden outburst, unconcerned with the growing winds [color=AE312D]“Abandon you?”[/color] She would ask incredulously [color=AE312D]“I never abandoned you. Justine and her sister were never a threat to you or anyone else”[/color] She would go one to say [color=AE312D]“They desired too much for their ritual to ever succeed, the panic that would have engulfed them had they not been marched on Beacon would have caused their grip on everyone to fail, then you and your siblings would have outnumbered them and would have simply torn them apart.”[/color] She spoke earnestly as if she truly believed what she had said. [color=AE312D]“There was no need to discipline Justine myself, though perhaps I should have done something. She was after all a bit rough with some of you”[/color] [color=AE312D]“Not like Beacon”[/color] She would spit out the name with a surprising amount of venom, her countenance twisting into a hateful visage [color=AE312D]“Who has continued to inflict such horrors upon you. They took you tails from you, your adorable ears, your fury” [/color]She took a moment to set aside her wrath once becoming a seemingly kind woman [color=AE312D]“But we can easily fix that now that you’ve gotten away from them and I have you to thank for that Lea”[/color] She would say with honest relief. [color=AE312D]“Is that Horror still treating you well dear?”[/color] She would ask the fey like Monster girl [color=AE312D]“He still seemed like a pushy old man, so my offer to break you away from him still stands.”[/color] [color=c1eb9b]‘… He treats those who are useful to him well. As such, I have no complaints,’[/color] Lea told, revising that perhaps letting Kimble overhear this could have negative consequences. No matter. She was… hopefully too focused on Lamashtu. "Don't you badmouth Beacon!" Kimble stood up, pointing a finger. "Unlike you and your excuses, Mistress helped me when I was alone, nya! She saved me, gave me a new purpose, taught me how to love again. What Beacon took from me...Was nothing but a curse!" She paused for a moment, breathing heavily, as Lamashtu addressed Lea. Kimble's eyes widened, and she turned to look at the monster girl. "You...You work for a Horror? I thought...You...Nh!" She lifted her hairband, holding it up in the air. "This...This is all that you wanted!" She audibly hissed. "You wanted a cute cat to turn into a hunter of humankind! You never cared about how we felt, just how many you could litter and scatter into the world!" Now the winds have developed into a whirlwind, causing the gazebo at the center of it to slightly creak. "NO! No more! You're no Mama to me!" She threw the headband with all her strength on the floor, causing the band to snap in half. "My new family...Is with Mistress, and Beacon!" Lamashtu didn’t move in reaction to Kimble’s outburst, her eyes didn’t narrow, her smile didn’t waiver, her posture didn’t tense up. Yet it was impossible to miss the shift in her mood. For the calm welcoming feel of her aura very suddenly turned violent and caustic, becoming a miasma of choking anger. [color=AE312D]“Is that [i]any[/i] way to talk to your Mother?”[/color] The Goddess would ask in a menacing hiss. [color=AE312D]“And listen to yourself, Beacon has done nothing but poison your mind against me and the rest of your family. Scouring away your best features, domesticating you, they don’t care about you”[/color] Her voice never raised but it still felt like it drowned out any other sound in the forest as her eyes bored into Kimble. [color=AE312D]“But I am a forgiving mother, so I will give you a chance to… Rethink your callous words and cast aside this petty allegiance to Beacon. So that you can come back home”[/color] Her pretty words made it seem like it was an offer, a second chance, but the amount of menace laced into her words and the utter hate that glimmered in her eyes told a much different story. This was a demand, an order, and one that would not be tolerated to be disobeyed. Kimble closed her eyes. “I’m done listening to you, Lamashtu.” When they opened, they glowed with green magic. “Next time we meet, I’ll banishy you from this world!” And then, she launched herself backwards, turning the whirlwind into a raging hurricane that ripped the gazebo off it’s foundations, likely tipping it right over. By the time the dust had settled and the winds had calmed down, Kimble was gone. [color=c1eb9b]‘…’[/color] Lea had, decently calmly, simply levitated herself and created a sphere of her own wind around herself that shielded herself from Kimble’s temper tantrum, placing herself by the side where she wouldn’t have to do anything additionally. She was sitting in mid-air, lightly rocking her crossed right leg, had her arms crossed lightly enough that one of her hands could be raised so that she could inspect her own nails with the most disinterested eyes on this side of the Overcity. That went about as badly as it could have. When the hurricane had subsided Lamashtu was still exactly where it was she had been before Kimble’s spell tore the gazebo apart. The look on her face was anything but pleasant however, it was a baleful rictus of hate locked glaring off in the direction that Kimble had fled. [color=AE312D]“Fine then”[/color] She would say venom and hate dripping off her words [color=AE312D]“If that is how you want it to be then that is how it shall be”[/color] Slowly she stood power billowing off of her as she did so. A gesture with one of her hands and the corpse of the spider that she had been petting would float back to her. The poor creature had the unfortunate luck to be with in the hurricane when it roared into existence. With hardly any effort Lamashtu flooded the corpse with magic, causing it to sputter and spasm as she forced it into unlife. It would begin to grow larger stopping once it was standing six feet high at the eyes. After a minute it would stop spasming the gleam of intelligence once again visible within its many eyes and he stood in front of the Mother of Monsters slowly waiting, a fell energy could be seen coursing within it through the still present tears in it’s exoskeleton as it stretched and got acquainted with life. [color=AE312D]“Seek out Kimble and her new found ‘Mistress’”[/color] The ancient deity would command her new child [color=AE312D]“Devour the Mistress first.”[/color] The now gargantuan, undead, tarantula would let out a screeching roar in acknowledgement as a swarm of even more spiders seemed to bleed into existence from the forest and crawl into the mostly empty husk before it skittered away at unnatural speeds. Turning away from the newly crafted nightmare Lamshtu refocused on Lea [color=AE312D]“Would you be willing to find someone for me? It seems that I need to move my plans forwards faster than I was originally planning on and have no way to contact my agent without drawing attention to myself.”[/color] She would explain calmly, even though the hate bleeding from her eyes never waivered. [color=c1eb9b]‘I can do that,’[/color] Lea said, as if unconcerned with the display of power that had been shown before her. [color=c1eb9b]‘What message should I deliver?’[/color] [color=AE312D]“The Metal one is beyond us for the moment, as vengeance must come first.”[/color] Lamashtu would say as she pulled out what looked to be an egg, save for the fact that it was blood red [color=AE312D]“Spread my gifts and lash out at the Light. Once that is said give her this as well, she will understand.”[/color] She would go on to say offering up the blood egg for Lea to take. [color=AE312D]“You are looking for a dark magical girl who’s been working on making it into the family, her name is Vivian, she will likely be found near Cindy’s territory.”[/color] Lea listened, before reaching forward and taking the egg with both hands, accepting the blood red egg with a curious look. Eventually, Lea nodded. [color=c1eb9b]‘Very well. Consider it done,’[/color] she said. Normally, she’d have requested to be owed something in return, but Lea knew that wasn’t how Lamashtu operated. [color=c1eb9b]‘I wish you luck with your vengeance,’[/color] sounded brief and appropriate enough. For the moment, Lea had something else on her mind. She had to find Kimble, and fast. Perhaps it would be possible to prevent the complete collapse of their relationship. … But perhaps not see Kimble WHILE carrying the egg. Did Kimble even have the means to return to Penrose on her own? … Eh. [color=AE312D]“Thank you my dear”[/color] Lamashtu would say kindly the image of a kindly mother reappearing for a moment before her rage returned [color=AE312D]“I must be off but it was good to see again, even if the circumstances weren’t as pleasant as I had hoped.”[/color] Turning away a portal of hellfire would spring up in front of the goddess one in which she would walk through without any hesitation. It would vanish shortly after she walked through it, leaving Lea alone within the windswept clearing. [color=c1eb9b]‘It was Kimble’s request to meet you, and I obliged, so I should apologize for the meeting turning out like this. Until next time,’[/color] Lea nodded to Lamashtu’s words, keeping a careful hold on the egg so it didn’t slip through her hands [sub][sub]which can happen, incorporeal[/sub][/sub], waiting for the goddess to vanish before taking off at considerable speed, hoping to catch up with Kimble. She spread out her minions in an attempt to cover as large an area as possible… However, after a long search it’d turn out that Kimble had vanished out of her range, and with such Lea returned to Penrose. It was time to find Vivian, then.