Act 2: Upheaval I - The Werewolf

Mihai raises an eyebrow - "Snicker was an Endless that approached us around the same time as we met your family." - he gets slightly apprehensive - "They... didn't tell you how we met?"

"Snicker, where?" Steve is roused from his half sleep. he blinks and looks around momentarily confused before saying, "What are we talking about?"

"Sorry, I'm not trying to be a distraction. Please, continue. I'll try to focus."

Konrad:

Now that Mihai is fully healed, the magical energy emanating from Fluffle's hands diminishes until it disappears. The fairy then lowers his arms and flies over to the monk's side.

"Are you sure you don't need any healing?" he asks.

"I'm sure," she says with a grateful smile. "See?"

She gestures at her stomach, which is devoid of any injuries or scars. Fluffle nods and flies towards Steve and lands on his shoulder. Nadzieja refocuses her attention on Mihai and answers his question.

"They didn't tell me what was the Endless' name." She stands up and faces the adventurers. "‘Snicker’. What a smug name."

"Pulled it from my mind. Was the first thing that occurred to me when i met it, and it just ran with it." - he admits.

"So, now that i gave you that boring tale, can you tell us how you got into this mess?"

She stares down at the werewolf for a long moment before she answers.

"The Avatar came to me and explained that an Endless was responsible for the murders. He said he wasn't allowed to intervene directly, but that he could offer me the means to defeat it."

"You didn't have to make some kind of deal did you?"

Somebody pinch me! Konrad casually admires said tone, then looks back up.

"No, nothing like that. I'm not sure what else ‘he’ could gain from this except the Endless' death."

"Well, that's Van Willis. He's got a resume a mile long in trading companies and the like - CEO of this, advisory board of that... both public and private sector. Came to see us when we made Blue Sound and were looking for someone to run it. I was dumbstruck at the time, that someone so high-profile would even look our way. Now i know why."

Disconcerted, Nadzieja rubs her finger against her chin to ponder the implications of this revelation. Fluffle listens attentively, curious to see where this is going.

"Van Willis? Really?" she asks rhetorically. She then begins to pace back and forth between Mihai and Konrad with a thoughtful expression. "I'd heard he was a stabilizing element in the Free government, but knowing that he's an Avatar..."

She shakes her head.

"Are you sure you don't know anything else about them?"

There's a hint of concern in her voice.

"........" - Mihai stares at her for a second, before speaking up - "This is a pretty outrageous thing say about someone, especially since for all i know, the guy is a straight arrow through and through. But..." - he trails off for a moment before continuing - "Remember what i said about Magical Brainwashing? Avatars have that power."

"...You're saying they can mind-control people?"

"They can mind-control an entire room. To a Fairy, your mind will seem like it's clouded, and you'll be under a compulsion to think whatever it wants you to. And you won't even know you're in it, just like you can't tell when you're dreaming." - he goes grim for a moment - "Or having a nightmare."

She sighs and ponders Mihai's words carefully.

"Well, I hope they're not allowed to do that either," she muses, dejected.

"It's the worst thing Nadzieja. You remember everything you were forced to say and do after you wake up. I felt so gross afterword. The things I almost did..." Steve looks down in shame.

"An Avatar did this to you?" she asks with cold eyes.

"In it's own words, for fun." - he says grimly - "After i sent it's teeth flying, anyway."

"One of them did this to us yes. But that was just one of them. For all we know they aren't all like that. Van did help after all. Shouldn't actions count for something?"

Mihai shrugs - "Even Endless have helped us out at times. I've learned to take what i can get."

"My friends have the right of it. It's not a very pleasant memory, though a short one. Seeing him bewitch my friends and their loved ones with just a tune... I wanted to melt him where he stood. We snapped out of it, though, with Breeze's help. What happened to that Avatar after, we can't say. Except that we haven't seen, or heard, from him since." A grin accompanies the grim implication in his tone.

Szef Zerva massages her temples with one hand and says, "I have so many questions... but they're gonna have to wait." She looks at the monster's corpse. "We should go back to Odwaz."