This was absurd!! That was clearly Rogork's voice in her mind, but how?! Rogork had been practically mentally disabled during her time as a Hero, babbling and singing like a drunken fool all the time, and hadn't made a peep since she'd turned into a sword -- so how and why was the System back now?! What the heck was going on here?!
[Hmmm~] the System hummed cheerfully, tapping its chin.
Not only did Rogork come back, but it seemed as if it was in control of the Captain's body! How was this possible?!
[I wonder if I should tell you~] it continued in a teasing, sing-song voice.
You absolutely should!! Alesha shouted at it mentally. She was angry, confused, and scared. She hated this almost-total blackness. She hated it!! She hated it!!
LET ME OUT OF HERE!!! She screamed in terror.
[Check your ongoing Quests,] the System hinted.
That's impossible!! Nothing has worked since I got here! Alesha protested, barely able to think through the fog of her fear.
[It'll work now,] the System assured her. [I'm back, aren't I?]
Reluctantly, Alesha tried to summon her ongoing Quests. She didn't think she had any -- but when it came up, dread filled her. She had completely forgotten... damn it all.
*****
[Quest: I'm a Werewolf, You're a Werewolf!
Goal: Start a pack!
Quest Conditions: Bite and turn 3 individuals into Lycanthropes in the next 30 days. (1/3 individuals turned) --CONDITION FAILED--
Reward: +500 XP, +5 Chaos Energy
Penalty: Transform into a Lycanthrope for an hour at a time of the System's choosing -- and during the transformation, the System will be in control of your body! --PENALTY IN PROGRESS--
Failure Condition(s): Fail to turn 3 individuals by the deadline]
*****
Knowing it would be futile to argue the Quest's failure, since Rogork clearly wouldn't care that circumstances beyond her control were the reason for it, Alesha swallowed her fear and resigned herself to letting the penalty duration pass as a spectator.
Well, Rogork, I guess you finally get to try out what it's like to have a body. What do you plan to do now?
Less than an hour ago, she had chosen to keep possessing the Captain's body despite how much she'd always hated the idea of having her own body stolen by Rogork. She found it incredibly ironic that karma came for her so quickly this time. Perhaps ironic wasn't the right word… but who cared? The word was colloquially used this way, and Alesha didn't quite feel like trying to remember what it actually meant in order to verify whether she was using it correctly.
She just felt as if the inevitable had caught up with her.
If something could go wrong, it would. That's what life since the attack on Faxton had taught her.
She spectated as the System stood and chatted with the Mind, but she couldn't hear what either of them were saying. Was the System able to exclude her from hearing its voice now? It would have been rather boring, if it weren't for the terror that threatened to overwhelm her every second she was trapped in this near-total blackness. She wished she could close her eyes, take deep breaths, and re-center herself in order to cope with this unbearable anxiety. Or would it be called PTSD, since the whole reason it was this bad was due to memories of her time spent being tortured?
I just want this to end, Alesha thought miserably.
After a short time, the System waved and left, following one of the octopus-headed monsters through the empty blackness that was all Alesha could perceive of the monsters' lair. Had the Mind called it a Colony? Whatever it was called, she couldn't see, so it may have well been outer space.
Idly, Alesha wondered if she could survive in space now. Since her current form was that of a metal sword, without any lungs to burst or blood to freeze in the vast, barely warmer than 0 Kelvin expanse between worlds, it was highly probable. That was far from a comforting thought, however. Since the only sense with which she could perceive her surroundings was Life Detection, she wouldn't even be able to admire the countless clusters of stars, galaxies, nebulae and the like that made the night sky beautiful; whether trapped in a cramped, pitch-black room or the vastness of space, as long as no life was in her range of detection, it would all seem the same to her.
That thought scared Alesha more than she wanted to admit.
----
Orochi stood with his taloned feet curving around a mounted twig in a gold-plated bird cage -- the only way he was currently allowed to view Zorhellian's Storytelling Games was if he visited in his Goshawk form, due to the incident that had occurred months ago. The cage swayed gently as Zorhellian carried him along. "Come oooon, Uncle Zoro," he complained in a squawky voice. "Can't you just let me transform already? It's been ages since then, and I didn't even burn anything!! It was just a bit of smoke! I've been real good since then!"
"No," the uptight Zorhellian replied, "Your frivolous billowing of smoke caused me a great deal of financial loss that day. I had to pay reparations to so many visiting guests for water damage. And as I recall, I told you not to call me by that ridiculous nickname. Behave yourself. Count yourself lucky that I'm allowing you to visit at all anymore."
Orochi ruffled his feathers and grumbled to himself about how boring and stupid the Chaos Demon was. "Is he even a Chaos Demon? He doesn't even like Chaos!! He's no fun at all!"
Zorhellian flicked the birdcage with a white-gloved hand, then mounted the cage on a hook in the room when they arrived. He unclasped the lock on its door with a practiced motion. "As always, dear 'nephew,' as long as you don't make trouble, this room is yours to view the Storytelling Games with. You'll find the PAD on the table."
The twin tails of Zorhellian's bright red ringleader's coat swayed as the Chaos Demon spun on his scaly toes, claws lightly rustling the luxurious carpet. Looking over his shoulder back at the hawk in its cage, the action causing the golden tassels on his right shoulder to rustle, he clicked his tongue and grimaced. A row of tightly fitted sharp teeth glinted as he did so. "Fine. I suppose it has been long enough. Orochi, you may transform, but only into your humanoid form. Do not, under any circumstances, return to your dragon form on these premises again. Understood?"
Orochi perked up, bobbing his head excitedly, then launching himself out of the cage and returning to his humanoid form immediately. He had four golden eyes, extra-long ears that vaguely resembled a doberman's except for their red inner color and white outside, a pair of two-fingered wings with red skin between them and opposable clawed thumbs, four arms (the bottom pair of which were significantly smaller than the top), and a thin tail. His skin was mostly a dark charcoal color, but his front was a lighter gray rimmed with white, and his face had a white-colored mask-like marking around his eyes. Silver-white hair not quite long enough to reach his chin fell in a gentle wave to the right side of his face, while the left was cut close to his head. He wore only a faded blue pair of jeans with golden dots woven into the fabric near the pockets, with a loose gold chain belt; no shirt or shoes.
Though the shapeshifting dragon's humanoid appearance had the physique of a fit, early-20's human male, his actual age was only 17, with his mental age being… arguably even less than that.
Zorhellian shook his head in displeasure at the young man's undignified appearance and walked out of the room without another word.