After a fun night of trying out the vibrating bed Riley had fallen asleep next to Telvin. When she awoke the next morning, she found that she was being held by Telvin. Smiling she carefully moved his hands and stood up from the bed and stretched. Her inner core was pleasantly sore and had her feeling happy as she made her way to the bathroom. Undressing she started the shower she heard the bathroom door open and looking back saw Telvin come in.

He said "How about you let me wash you?"

"With the way you are looking at me, I think you want to do more than just wash." Riley looked at Telvin as he undressed and joined her. When he was finished, he stepped into the shower with her and grabbed the soap nearby and began to lather up her body.

As he ran his hands down her body, she could feel him teasing her and she said "We need to get going babe. We got up late, the others are waiting for us."

Telvin chuckled and grasped her and said "Let them wait for us."

She leaned down and kissed him and said "Later, I've got to focus now."

"Alright, but you own me some sexy shower times." Telvin winked at her.

She laughed and continued to wash her body. When she was done, she stepped out of the shower and Telvin finished soon after. Riley handed him a towel and watched him dry off his toned body. While not the most robust man she had seen, his fit body fit his form nicely and she found her thoughts turned to mush if she looked at it too long.

Shaking herself free from looking at him, she got dressed into her armor and left the bathroom and room to the common room. Riley found Jack was sitting with Veronica, and they were both eating a bowl of something that looked like it had milk added to it.

Jack gestured to a nearby food cart and said "I ordered breakfast for all of us. They offer several meals. I choose a cereal called Licks. It's supposed to grant you enough energy for the day." 

Riley nodded and went to the table with Telvin and made herself a bowl of the cereal. Taking a look at it, she could see bits of some kind of fruit, and small colorful bits mixed with small brown pieces that looked like circles. Sitting at the table, she took a bit of it and found it did taste pretty good.

While she was enjoying her breakfast Jack looked at her and said "Last night I got word that the Queen will be attempting to contact you for some kind of offer."

"Why would she be interested in me?" Riley asked confused.

"I don't know. I would try and take a look at her, but the palace is under heavy interference. I tried to track her servants, but she has them hidden all over the place, so I can't even begin to guess what reason she has for contacting you. But based on her history it could be very risky. If so I can get you easily out of the city if you wish. If I do that however, she will likely put a bounty on you, so you would have to either flee the kingdom or hide until I take care of the Queen."

Veronica asked "My Lord, Are you looking to remove the Queen?"

"Yes." Jack nodded and then continued "The Queen is pushing for this Kingdom to join the Empire. I don't want that to happen, especially now that it appears that the Emperor is being backed by the Archmages. If I want my Users to be safe, it may be necessary to completely remove her from power. But I would rather just find a way to neutralize her power, I don't want to just go around killing people I don't like."

Veronica nodded and said "Understood My Lord. I will seek a way to disrupt her power."

While Riley was thinking on what she wanted to do, Telvin said "If Riley has to leave the City, I will go with her. If the Queen wants to harm her, I won't stand idly by."

"I will have to see what her offer is. If it's really bad, I will leave. If it's workable, I might be able to get closer to the Queen and find a way to weaken her power." Riley said after some thought. "Since the Queen is pushing for the Kingdom to join the Empire, Falean may know more about her. Where is she?"

"She was still in bed when I left." Veronica said. "I will go and see if she is up."

Veronica stood up from the table and walked over to her room and opened the door and stuck her head in. She pulled her head out and walked back looking confused.

"What is it Veronica?" Jack asked.

"My Lord, Princess Falean's hair was black colored right?"

"Yes according to my recollection, that is correct." Jack nodded.

As Jack finished speaking the door to the second bedroom opened up and Falean walked into the common room. What caught Riley's eye first was the vibrant blue color that Falean's hair had changed into. Her long hair had been made into a bun, and she was now wearing a set of black rimmed glasses on her face.

After noting her hair, Riley saw that Falean was also wearing a whole new set of clothes. She was wearing a tight white buttoned up shirt that was tucked into a black skirt that went to just above her knees. Falean was also wearing some sort of black almost see through hose on her legs and was standing in a pair of black high heels. Each of her steps clicked on the wooden floor as she walked to the food cart and made herself a bowl of food.

Jack coughed and said "You seemed to have changed your appearance greatly Princess Falean."

"It was the result of several experiments JP conducted last night.

"JP?" asked Veronica.

"It stands for Jack Powers, it's what his inner soul wishes to be called to help distinguish him from the Jack you know. He has found several unique ways of changing a person's body through some tuning of the soul. Unfortunately, there are some drawbacks and can't be implemented with all your Users yet."

Veronica looked down and Falean's garb and said "Where did you get those clothes?"

"By offering JP my clothes he was able to modify them in the system store and give them back to me. He called this style as a Secretary Outfit. They have been modified to allow me to use my power better and have several functions. Speaking of using my power, I will need to stop by the market to pick up some tools and instruments. They will allow me to construct some of the devices I need."

"When I tied you up, you didn't have any coins." Jack said. "I'm not keen on lending you coins. If you need them, you will have to earn them by getting a job or completing a quest."

"My coins were actually being carried by Snort. However, I have a great deal saved up in the banking system. Just take me to a bank, and I can withdraw what I need easily."

Jack frowned and said "Alright we can stop by a bank."

Riley looked at Falean and said "I'm not sure how useful those clothes will be in a fight."

Falean said "This is just the basic form. It has several other forms they can change to, one of which being a combat form. As might be expected it's still in the beta stage and needs some testing to ensure it works as intended. JP has been working pretty hard."

Veronica looked a bit annoyed and said "It seems like you and this JP are getting really close." 

"We happen to share similar worldviews and goals."

Jack said "If he does anything inappropriate I apologize."

"I assure you. He has been a perfect gentleman." Falean said.

Riley finished her bowl and went to the food cart and placed it on the spot for dirty dishes. A maid would come by and retrieve the food cart later on. When the other's had finished they walked down out of the inn they hailed a carriage for a ride to the bank.

The bank was one of the sturdiest buildings Riley had seen yet in the capital. Each wall felt like it was at least several feet thick and when they stopped outside the bank, Falean looked at them and said "This won't take long. Please wait for me here." She entered the bank and left them.

While they were waiting for Falean, Riley started to chat about Telvin about the weather when someone touched her shoulder. Surprised she turned around and actually found herself having to look up at an absolutely enormous man. His arms were almost as thick as her entire body. He looked down and grunted saying "I have an invitation for you. My Mistress would like to speak with you tomorrow."

Handing her a piece of paper, he said "Come alone. She wishes to offer you a great opportunity." With that last sentence he walked away. Each of his steps away was unnaturally quiet given the behemoths size. Opening the piece of paper, she found it provided several directions to a place in the city.

A message popped up and Riley saw that it was from Jack. It said "That was likely the Queen's Messenger, before you go there I will scope it out to make sure it looks safe."

After Riley had closed the message, Falean came walking out. She had an irritable look on her face and said "I have secured the funds I needed."

"What's the matter?" Riley asked.

"It appears my Father has taken steps to cut off my funds. It is fortunate I have several backup accounts or I would have no coin to my name."

Jack nodded and said "We should head to the Auction house now." Just as he said that, Jack froze and looked around.

"Are you okay My Lord?" Veronica asked.

"Did you hear that?" Jack said.

"What?" Telvin asked.

"I thought I heard a bird's cry. I must be mistaken." Jack muttered, and they got into the carriage and headed towards the Auction house. Several minutes later they were in front of a building where the notes from Irene Niadas had said they could get Emotionaca Jewels.

It was a tall narrow building that they entered. A man with a disgusting pencil moustache greeted them as they entered. He eyed them up and down and said "Have you come to place something on auction, or to sell?"

Telvin shook his head and pulled out the Promissory Note for the jewels and handed it to the man and said "Actually I have come to pick these up."

The Man took a long look over the note and nodded. "Please follow me to a private room." Leading them to a small room with a table and chairs, he said "Wait here. I will retrieve your order."

Riley sat down on one of the chairs and waited. It took several minutes before the man returned with an unexpectedly large box made out of an odd green wood, he placed it on the table. "When you are finished, please show yourselves out." The man left them.

"Strange wood." Telvin said, running his hand on the box.

Veronica said "It's Everwood. You can only find it in the heart of the Elven empire."

Unlocking the box, Telvin pulled out a pair of green colored Jewels that were way too small for the box. They had been nestled in the middle of the box by some inset. "These are the Emotionaca Jewels?"

Riley took the chance to examine and a blue screen popped up informing her more about them.

 

 

"Those sure are Emotionaca jewels. They should definitely help with your anger issues." Falean said to Telvin. "My Father in the past made me utilize a pair of them once. They are incredibly effective in overriding your emotions. A little too effective. If you use them too long, it can create a backlash of the opposite emotion when you get off them. It also can hinder appropriate emotions at times."

"Much appreciated for the advice Falean." Telvin said, putting the Jewels away. 

Veronica said "If you don't want the box, can I have it?"

"Sure." Telvin shrugged and Veronica took the box.

They were exiting the room when a door to a room opened and a woman stepped out and stopped when she saw Telvin. She looked surprised and said "Excuse me, would you happen to be Eric Evercrals son?"

Riley looked over the woman and saw she was an older looking lady. She was wearing a very expensive looking dress. Telvin said "Yes, Who are you?"

"I am Camilla Rasterdon, one of the owners of this Auction House. You look just like him you know. I had heard he had some children, but I wasn't expecting to meet one here. I actually grew up on the estate next to your fathers. We were fast friends. I even went on several of his expeditions. To be honest, I thought we were on track to marriage, but we started to drift apart." She said, looking a bit thoughtful.

"As it is, I would not have met the love of my life Terrance had I gotten with Eric." Camilla said.

"You travelled with my father on some of his expeditions?"

"Just a few of the early ones, mostly to locations near his estate."

"Do you happen to recall if he ever discovered a temple to a goddess called Tellus Mater?"

Camilla shook her head and said "Not that I can recall. Though now that I think about it, we did visit a crumbling tower of a nature mage. I think Eric mentioned he had noted some reference to some temple. That was the last time I went with him as I moved to the capital soon after and met Terrance."

"Do you recall the name of this mage?" 

"It's been years, I think it started with an h. Harold maybe?" Camilla said. "I'm sorry I can't remember. I will have to take a look at my diary. How about this, I am hosting a party two days from now. That will give me time to look and see if I can't find any more information." Camilla handed Telvin a card. "Please come, it's been a joy to reminisce about the past I had with your father."

Riley said "Thank you Lady Rasterdon."

"It was no problem, please have a great day and thank you for visiting the Auction house."

As they left the auction house, Jack said "Veronica I want you to go with Telvin and Riley and head to the apothecarys in the mage quarters, I want you to track down that source of Errais oil if possible."

"My Lord as you command. But I must ask why you are sending me with them. They are quite capable of doing such a task on their own."

"Veronica, I ask that you protect them. Those assassins may try once more in the daylight. Keep your wits about you. I don't know how they are likely going to attack. They seem to like surprise attacks, but with your shield skill you should be able to quickly shield Telvin.

"I will do as you say My Lord. I will protect them as if they were you. What will you be doing My Lord?"

Jack glanced toward Falean and said "I will be escorting Princess Falean around the market."

"Very well My Lord."

While Riley was listening to this conversation a blue box popped up in front of her.

 

 

Jack said "Take care." With that he took Falean and moved off.

The three of them began walking to the mages quarter. Riley was walking along when she noticed that there was a stand set up near an alleyway that felt incredibly sketchy to her. A sign in front of the stall was crooked and said 'Kimmy's potions and miscellaneous for sale."

Behind the stall was a woman wearing a pair of low cut shorts that practically had her ass hanging out, and an extremely skimpy shirt. She was also wearing a hat and had a piece of straw in her mouth. While Riley was looking over the stall, a blue screen popped up.

 

 

Going up to the stall, Riley glanced around and saw basic potions if they were crap. Telvin walked up and said "Kinda crap selection you have here."

The woman presumably Kimmy said "Take it or leave it, ain't no skin off my back."

"I happened to hear you are selling some special potions." Veronica said.

"Who told you that?" Kimmy said.

"A man in Taras." Veronica said.

Kimmy narrowed her eyes and said "I see. Let me show you what I..." She was responding then all of a sudden took off running.

Riley took after her. As Kimmy ran, she pulled out a box and began to dump pills into her mouth. When Riley was getting close to her, she was startled to see tentacles burst out from beneath the woman's skin. Backing up Riley could only watch in abject horror as tentacles tore Kimmy apart from within and soon the tentacles began to part and an eye that did not belong in this world began to emerge on a stalk.

Telvin ran up beside her and yelled "Fuck that thing" A green glow emerged from Telvin and blasted into the thing and it struggled and then collapsed. Something seemed to collapse and it began wilting as they watched. Riley asked "What did you do?"

"I cut off its connection to the worlds energy for ten minutes. I think it needed the energy to punch through into this place." 

Going up to the remains, Riley poked it with her axe and it turned into dust revealing what remained of Kimmy. "Do you think it can come back after ten minutes?"

Telvin shook his head. "No, I think it needed a host, with Kimmy dead it can't get a lock now. Hopefully."

"What was that thing anyway?" Riley asked.

"I examined it, and it said it was some sort of void entity." Veronica said and picked up a pill from the ground "These are called Mindbenders."

"Let's go back to the stand and find out if we can get any clues."