Becoming monsters is the creation of AiLovesToGrow, setting used with permission

 

This idea comes from Amethyst Dragonfly. 

 

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Chapter 10: The Other Side

 

Eight hours ago.

 

“Justin, why is it that every time something alarming comes down, you start ignoring what I have to say?” Abbey was no stranger to being hooked up to medical monitors. It seemed like every person who had ever held her Coin had put her in the hospital at least once. This time was just a bit different, though. The Wish that led to them coming here was only indirectly related to it.

 

She’d be the first to admit she was taking her nerves out on Justin as they bantered back and forth. She was… call it 99% certain that she wasn’t pregnant before coming here. Justin’s reactions really were too much, but this kind of thing really did need confirmation. The doctor who came in with their results confirmed her certainty… and her uncertainty. It was a serious bind. Unfortunately, not one either of them had time to resolve even if they had the means to do so.

 

A nurse bustled them out, the payment taken care of by a combination of Abbey’s insurance and the value of the rare Racial data the Hospital got to gather. They walked past a room full of computers and crystals, the Marid was rather relieved that she would not have to be strapped into that particular device. A rather tall Wolverine Beastfolk in a doctor’s uniform walked by, obviously teaching the small pack of students with them.

 

Moments later, in front of the Hospital, Abbey kissed Justin goodbye and got on the bus to get to work. The appointment went long, and getting there in time was going to take some luck. The ride was… well, a bit boring, to be honest. She’d gotten a bit used to riding the Guild Hall route, seeing the incredible variety and scope of humanity there, listening to calm discussion of what the people on this route would consider existential horrors, the loud arguments about what others think of as trivialities.

 

The city rolled by, a stop in the art district let on a teenager in a gray hoodie. Probably headed to school. The Bank wasn’t too much further, though she was not technically ready Abbey managed to clock in on time. By the time her till was up and running, Brittany was already buried deep in customers as lunch rush began. The pretty blonde barely had time to give the blue woman the side-eye as she handled easier transactions on autopilot.

 

The blue lady got to work. An Indian and a Korean woman, looking like college students, withdrawing Coinage for the first time. They required some help with the process and currency conversion, but were simple enough. The nine-foot tall man made of stone was less so, he weighed enough that when he leaned on the counter the facade cracked. The expression on his face was hard to read, but he seemed apologetic about the one crater he left and readily agreed to pay the standard portion of the damage for non-malicious acts.

 

Wait, one crater? His hands were spaced apart.

 

Sure enough. His left hand had sunk fairly deeply into the counter. His right, though, positioned directly in front of Abbey’s station, had barely cracked the surface.

 

That’s odd, I could have sworn he was leaning on both. Is there a difference in the construction between the spots? Wait a sec, there is a difference. Justin’s reinforcement during the bank robbery. If it’s still good…

 

“Abbey! Need you as a witness in the back room. Customer wants a non-Human.” Her boss had no mercy on the forward crew. Then again, if the customer was important enough to be able to make that kind of demand, it made sense. That kind of casual Racism would not fly most of the time. Especially since her boss, along with the majority of the employees here, was Human. Till locked, she got to the legal office. The so-called back room. 

 

Behind the desk was Percy Jones, their staff lawyer. A bland looking man. Or, at least, as bland as one can look with verdant green skin and tusks. They clashed oddly with his glasses. Sitting in front of the desk was… um. A pile of pink vines. Slimy ones. Point of fact, it was hard to tell if it was sitting or standing. It turned, making a gurgling noise that almost sounded like the word “finally.”

 

She was saved from answering by the lawyer’s smooth tenor. “Thank you for coming back so quickly, Abbey. Mr. Ferris was quite insistent that, due to the nature of this Living Will, all signatures should come from those who had the unique experience of changing. It is within his right to do so. You do not need to review the document, you are here to witness its signing and to sign stating that you did so.” The pile of tentacles apparently named Mr. Ferris shook in a way that looked vaguely nod-like. She stood to the side as they briefly went over lists of names and vague divisions of wealth. As they did, she noticed something. The font on the paperwork was different from normal. It reminded her of something, but for the life of her Abbey couldn’t think of what. The lawyer signed one line after a bit, looked up at Abbey, and the corner of his tusked mouth quirked up. He’d noticed her puzzlement, and while the pile of tentacles laboriously scrawled a signature of his own was clearly waiting for her to figure things out.

 

It was while she was signing on the witness line that it struck her. Standing, she mentally called her Status screen. It was obvious from there. Instead of standard fonts, it matched the text of the mental screens that everyone had acquired five years ago. After the attorney made a copy of the document for the customer to keep, he uttered a gurgling, sibilant “thanks” and slithered out of the room.

 

“You have questions, Ms. Williams?” He didn’t even give her the opportunity to go back to the till.

 

“I do, sir. What’s going on with the text? Thought there was a rule about standard fonts.”

 

“There is. Status has been added to it, pending debates at the Supreme Court whether its use on legal documentation constitutes a religious violation. Delvers and those of esoteric Races are rather insistent that they find it to be sacred, and find documents written in it to hold much more gravitas.”

 

“That sounds… intense. I get it, though. Love it. The Status was life-changing for us. I know that my life would not nearly be on the same course without it.”

 

“Of course. All of this came as rather a shock to the font’s creator, of course. An author. All that woman wanted to do was be realistic about writing about the Changed world. Now. As for you, Abbey.” The green-skinned man peered at her over his glasses. “I hear that a lot has been happening in your own life.”

 

“Uh…” Abbey was not expecting this particular turn of conversation. “You could say that.”

 

“If you will permit an old man his curiosity, or a friend his concern, you know that you can talk to me, right? Everyone in this building is a client of mine, I am bound not to reveal your secrets. However, when I am asked to sign off on scientific information releases that include a pregnancy test, the subject being yourself, at a time when you seem rather cheerfully taken by that new boyfriend of yours… well, as I said, curiosity.”

 

“I didn’t realize you’d noticed. I mean, besides the information release.”

 

“Please, Abbey. Even were it not my business to know that you were the only person here who skipped mandatory counseling after the robbery, we noticed. You have a Spy, a lawyer, two cybersecurity people, and at least three former athletes who are waiting on your word to gather everything there is to know about this random barista who swept you off your feet, and should he ever hurt you, I suspect nobody short of Marshal Shapiro would be able to defend him.”

 

“Uh, Marshal Shapiro might have tried to recruit me the other day.”

 

“Ah. In that case, he’d best keep you happy, eh? When do you leave our team?”

 

“I did not accept the offer yet.”

 

“Abbey, please.” It seemed there was an echo in the little room. “We can talk more later about your job prospects, but whatever he’s offering has to be better than being a teller. Unless that barista of yours makes significantly better tips than I think he does, you have your own career to think of. Speaking of, I have occupied enough of your time, and Brittany is likely thinking my name with violence for leaving her alone during this rush.” That was that, the conversation was done, Abbey rushed to obey. There was indeed an enormous backlog waiting. With Brittany helping a gentleman with knives for arms, Abbey jumped in to help out the ones who had fingers to help her. 

 

After standing so still for that long, the sudden and rapid motions along with the change of posture had her legs and back absolutely screaming at her. No matter what her shapeshifting let her do, in the end she was still essentially the same kind of person under it as any Human coming through the line. By the time her line cooled off, too, her stomach was growling at her. Breakfast was a distant memory, and a lot had happened since then. Once the lines died down again, a couple of donuts of dubious origin in the break room helped the hunger. Just not the queasiness. A combination of nerves from that morning and the donuts simply did not make for a settled gut. 

 

Neither, for that matter, did the changing feel of the Wish magics. The seaside mansion… I really need to come up with a name for it… was still draining her mana. So, too, was it growing. She could feel that not only was something new open, it was in use. Hopefully by Justin. Maybe by that Dragon? No way to know from here. Except, perhaps, by calling him, now that she had a sec. Her phone was out already when it sounded off with a sharp ping. A message came through, the number not saved but the text quite clear. 

 

“We need both of you to come back for more tests, immediately if able.”

 

There was only one place that could possibly be sending THAT text. It, too, was not designed to combat the queasiness. Running shoes do not often pair with business suits, but that’s what Abbey had to work with on zero time and shoestring mana as she rushed through a rapid station handoff. As she dashed out the door, one glance over her shoulder showed her something.

 

The lawyer was right. Brittany wasn’t the only one looking at her with a smile on her face. A technician at a computer. The reedy guy at the regular currency line. Even a couple of the customers, like the ice-blue Wolf woman, nodded at her as she left. It was reassuring. Certainly, it helped keep her calm through the gut-twisting anxiety on the bus back to the hospital. Mostly, anyway.

 

Justin wasn’t there yet when she arrived, and got to the waiting room. The wait for the boyfriend was thankfully not too long. Still panting and sweating from his own mad dash to get there, Justin flopped into the chair beside her to give her a hug and settle in. He hadn’t been there long when they were called back for more blood draws, along with a scan from a crystal wand that generated a printout the Wolverine doctor from earlier considered closely. 

 

After that came more pointed questions to Abbey about how she was doing, what she was feeling, and how life was going. The doctor got another toothy grin as she did so.

 

“Good news! Your body is just a bit depleted and drained from the Wish work. A few days of resting and eating well should set you back to normal.”

 

Anticlimactic? Certainly. A relief? Definitely. Abbey knew she was not ready for the realities of having children in this world, even with the home that Justin had Wished for. The doctor was still talking, but all they were saying was the usual. Keep stress down, keep healthy foods up. Oh, and come back in an hour and a half to review the last few labs. Fun. 

 

The two took their walk, getting some fresh air while it was warm enough. It was good for the stress… until Abbey noticed something. Justin paid for their food with dungeon currency. A Silver coin. Neither of them routinely carried that.

 

She cornered him on the footbridge. Nowhere to go, no hope of a save. He stammered a bit. “Uh… I may or may not have accidentally become apprenticed to a German Enchanter. Not quite sure yet, myself, but it’s why I’m low on MP at the moment.”

 

Of all the things… well, I said I’d just believe him when he said stuff this wild. Going to have to stick with it. Might not be bad, other than the timing. Of course.

 

She had barely started to scold him for the kind of wild lark that required when she noticed something. The road they were over had way less traffic on it than it should, and in the distance there was a serious commotion. A couple of women seemed to be setting up at the railing, anticipating… something. “Justin… what’s going on out there?”

 

“You two! Get clear, there’s a monster inbound!” One of the two women at the railing, a petite woman with a longbow and a fairly strong Mexican accent, yelled at them. As she did, some of the distant commotion resolved itself. A column of kaleidoscopic colors. A winged figure flung high into the air. Flashes of flame in the road. 

 

That whole relaxation and low-stress thing? Gone. Abbey and Justin both took off running back the way they came, toward the hospital that they both prayed they wouldn’t need. Only Abbey could suddenly become nine feet tall, though. Justin found himself scooped up and slung over his girlfriend’s shoulder like a sack of grain. 

 

Comfortable? Definitely not. Faster? Oh yes. He resolved to himself to ignore the discomfort, harden up his abs, and let himself be carried. Just this once. Okay, maybe more than that, it was kind of fun once you got past what they were running from. Down the steps to the side of the foot bridge, up the sidewalk, and as the sounds of explosions and snaps of ice began to go off behind them Abbey turned down a side street. A sparrow flew above them, heading towards the sounds of combat.

 

Odd. I thought that wild animals run away from noise.

 

From her shoulder, Abbey heard Justin’s voice. “I think we’re clear of… whatever that was.”

 

She turned around to give the situation a listen. Though moments before there had been noise and light, now there was nothing but a single thump. Perhaps the winged person had taken back off? A woman half-screamed in pain, then nothing. “Sounds like it stopped, but someone’s in trouble.” She set him down on shaky feet. “I have to go see if they need any help.”

 

“Abbey stop! Whoever those people are, they know what they’re doing. We aren’t medics or fighters to be rushing in blind. We can’t help them, and if anything goes wrong we could absolutely be hurt.  I can’t lose you now, love. Please.” Justin didn’t look happy to be saying those words. To be fair, Abbey wasn’t exactly happy to be hearing them. A group rushed past the intersection, a large, winged woman carrying a large, winged gray man (who looked awfully familiar, come to think of it) while several other women cleared the way.

 

“I think that was them. Hope they’re alright, but we’d better get back to the hospital. I don’t want to be here when police and investigators show up.” 

 

“You may wish to reconsider that statement,” came a shockingly deep voice from behind them. Abbey whirled to face what turned out to be a middle-aged Human in police uniform. His hair was stark white, wildly out of contrast to his tanned and mildly lined skin. His badge read “Richards,” and he had Lieutenant bars on his collar. “You are material witnesses to a major monster event. I need you two to come down to the Office of Public Protection station for some questions.”

 

Justin had had about enough. “Officer, I have answered OPP questions before. You can ask them right here. Neither of us are Delvers, you need a warrant to prevent us from getting back to the hospital for our appointment in… twenty minutes.” At Abbey’s shocked look, he shrugged. “What? Last month it was an unusually-sized rodent in the BuckStar dumpster.”

 

The officer grinned a bit wryly. “You know, getting told to pound sand twice in twelve hours, successfully mind you, is not something I’m used to seeing.”

 

“I didn’t say to pound sand, sir. Take it from a Shaper, that can result in something useful.”

 

Lieutenant Richards chuckled as he pulled out a notebook. “Hope you don’t mind, I’m going to use that in the future. Probably today.” Abbey noticed as he turned the pages to get to a blank one, there were a remarkable amount of notes there dated for the last day and a half. His incisive questions about what they’d seen, though, made her entirely believe that could be the result of a normal day. Despite Justin’s apparent hostility, he answered the questions easily enough… at least, until the last one. “Alright you two. All that’s left is to get your Race, Class, and Level.”

 

Abbey opened her mouth to answer. Justin was having none of it. “Not until you tell us yours, because I’m not dumb enough to think there’s nothing of note.”

 

“You don’t need it.”

 

“Then you don’t need ours. We told you what we saw. The Boys in Blue know how to find us if you get a warrant.”

 

Abbey had to agree. If the man couldn’t tell what she was, there was no need to assist. Not too many three-meter blue women around. Of course, it wasn’t like she wore this much altitude on a normal day, either. Once they got walking, though… “Justin, I’m pretty sure you didn’t need to be that hostile. No telling when our next interaction with them will be.” She made sure to shrink back down to a more standard size once the officer was out of sight. No sense making Justin jog to keep up when they were supposed to be resting.

 

“That’s the point, Abs.” The nickname was still a bit new-feeling. “Maybe if my coworker didn’t get held overnight for using Class abilities in public without a license defending himself from that rat, I’d be more charitable.”

 

“So, what, you just want to minimize the time you spend talking to them?”

 

“Yep.”

 

“Might want to watch your tongue, then. You told him you were a Shaper while you were mouthing off, and I’m pretty sure he wrote it down.”

 

His silence for the next five minutes told her all she needed to know. He hadn’t given it any thought. If that officer was fishing for information that he hadn’t been directly asking for, he probably got it. Thankfully, the two of them actually knew what they were getting into at the hospital. A nurse explained to them that the doctor would not be needed specifically for this one, nor would the nutritionist. All they needed to do was eat when they felt hungry and keep their meters over 50%. 

 

“Health, Stamina, and Mana. I know how tempting it is for you two to go wild on your resources, but please don’t. You don’t know if your present condition will spike its usage. We won’t prescribe you potions since this can be dealt with by resting.”

 

“Ma’am,” Justin was much more respectful now, for some reason, “we both work fairly active jobs. Heck, I’m not allowed to sit during my shift except in rare circumstances. Can we get a doctor’s note or something? I mean, I’m headed to work right after this, and right now both my Stamina and Mana are under half.”

 

“Really? You need a doctor’s note for that?”

 

Abbey was the one to nod. “Yes, ma’am. I usually work the Coin counter at the Bank, and keeping myself at a size where I fit in the same rooms Justin does takes a trickle of power with it.” The nurse left, grumbling a bit about using a doctor’s time over something this trivial when she could have handled it. Abbey again turned to Justin. “I guess my main question is if you’re going to listen to doctor’s orders, or whether I’m going to have to ask an Enchanter to make that note hover in front of your face to keep you from apprenticing yourself to another Delver when you are supposed to be painting.”

 

“Hey! Quiverbow isn’t a Delver!”

 

“You were the one willing to charge at a dragon, alone, with a sword made of glass.”

 

“You know what? That’s fair. Speaking of, when I get my mana back I need to see if I can make one of those properly. Like… take my time with it.” At Abbey’s immediate Look, he hastened to add, “for the portfolio, love! I’ve always been bad at the engineering and architectural bits of my degree, so that part of my final was going to be rough. This should let me sidestep it if I get it right, and I can take my time to refine it.”

 

“So, let me get it straight. You’re going to be putting your spare time and mana into a project to make a functional sword out of glass and refine it until it can be considered a usable weapon, then decorate it into a work of art?” The way she said it sounded half-admiring, half extremely skeptical.

 

“Pretty much. If possible, I’m going to ask someone on Crafter’s Row to put a basic enhancement on it and show it is done properly to that point.” Justin had his own pocket notebook out and was sketching a curved blade, taking notes to the side. “It should be a display piece, but given that the assignment demands that it be functional I have to make sure it can hold an edge.” And if that can be Quiverbow, it’ll prove to her that I know at least some of what I’m doing.

 

“You promise you aren’t looking to use it to go hunt, I don’t know, skeletal tigers in the streets?”

 

“I can promise that I have no intention of using it in a fight unless the fight comes to me while I’m wearing it. Good enough?”

 

“I’ll take it.” As they left the hospital, Abbey and Justin held hands. Though the evening still had a long way to go, at least they had each other.