All 22.1 - Begin the Trial of Teamwork

As Gemini finished their spell, everyone felt weak and their vision blurred. As they came to, everyone began to notice things that were subtly off: their locations, their heights, their voices. Gemini wished them luck and said that they would be watching, before vanishing. 
Cohen quickly noticed that he had somehow lost feet off of his height. Looking down, he found that he was no longer a human; he was mimigan. More specifically, he recognized the bandolier he was now wearing. Somehow, he looked exactly like Cheko. He frowned as he looked up and saw himself standing a short distance away. This was a little more teamwork than he was comfortable with. "Of course I'm the rabbit. Why wouldn't I be the rabbit?" he muttered grouchily, an unfamiliar tone and cadence in Cheko's usually sweet, accented voice.
Clover noticed her unfamilar position first, followed by seeing herself standing elsewhere. She pursed her lips into a thin line and made a frustrated groan, the sound coming out much deeper than her normal voice. Looking at herself, she recognized the clothes of the anti-social doctor and sighed. This is just a test, she thought, A test. Pass the test, and everything will go back to normal. She looked at Ryuji, expression stricken and tugging at his bangs, and watched as she, or her body, walked up to her with an awkward grimace. 
"So, um...I'm Pierce..." she told herself. "...This is awkward."
"Yes," she replied in Cohen's voice, trying to remain professional and calm despite the oddity. 
"I...promise not to do anything weird, with your body?" Pierce offered, wincing a bit.
"Thank you. Could I have my sword?" she asked, gesturing at Pierce's side. 
"Oh! Yes, sure," he fumbled with the belt and passed it, sword and all, over. Thanking him and drawing the blade, she began to take some test swings. The doctor's body was weak, that was certain, but, interestingly, more limber despite his advanced age. She could also feel something strange, a compulsion, something like a spell that was over her, altering her mind in some way, but she couldn't quite place how.
Meanwhile, Pierce's voice yelled over, "Hey, Mr. W! How do you do spells?" Pierce's body, obviously no longer his own, looked about excitedly, waiting for a response from the body's usual owner. Sighing, Pierce, now appearing as Clover, walked over to where it was undoubtedly Cress asking about magic.
----
Still reeling slightly from the sensation of Gemini's spell, Lucca rubbed at his face muttering, "Uuugh, balls...fainty-spells are the wors-" He cut himself off at the sound of his own voice, much deeper than usual, and certainly not his own, but nevertheless supremely familiar. A baffled frown passed across his face, and he closed his eyes with a look of concentration. When he failed to be greeted by the familiar sensations of shifting his frown deepened, and he opened his eyes once more. He first looked down at himself, then around at the others, then threw his hands up, "Oh for fuck's sakes! Seriously!? Fuck!"
He turned and saw himself standing nearby, where he was moments ago, next to Victor. His expression was rapt, and he seemed to be paying little attention to the others. Grabbing his former shoulders, Lucca demanded, "Who are you?!", his voice angry and insistant. It broke the fixated look on whomever was behind Lucca's face. "Hey!! Who the hell are you?!?" he demanded once more, giving the person a hard shake.
"I...heh...I can breathe..." he replied, his face trepidatious and almost gleeful. "I didn't think...I ever would..." Lucca cut off Ryuji with a series of vehement and violent curses. Virgil, who was also standing nearby but seemingly forgotten for the moment, looked shocked.
"Watch your language!" A sharp yell came from nearby in Cress' voice, earning a groan and exasperated apology from Victor's. The elf glared over at Lucca and Ryuji, then walked over towards them.
"What's...wrong?" Virgil asked who was until very recently his father, but Lucca was paying him little mind, absorbed as he was with fuming.
Cress, now Victor, approached his son and gestured him over, kneeling to match his height. "The fey Gemini cast a spell to prove our teamwork." Victor's gaze drifted about dryly. "So they made us all switch bodies. I suppose to see if we can all still work together without being our proper selves."
"...Huh?" Virgil replied in confusion. 
"Well, let's see," Victor stood up and lifted the child up, setting him on his shoulders. "I look like Cress now, like when Lucca shifts."
"...Well...you don't sound like Cress." He made a snorted laughter sound, "You sound like Dad, and I don't think that Cress could sound like you, even if he tried." He giggled once more, "Like, you aren't even doing Cress' accent."
"Heh. I suppose not. So, Cress..." he turned to point to where Pierce was animatedly gesturing. "Looks like Mr. Webber. Mr. Webber looks like Clover, and Clover, looks like the doctor, alright?"
Virgil considered this deeply, "...Yeah, the doctor wouldn't be using Clover's sword."
"Now, the doctor...I think...is Cheko, because honestly only the doctor grumbles that much."
"Yeah."
"Over here, well, Lucca is apparently me, and I think Ryuji is Lucca, so I guess Cheko is Ryuji."
"...I'm not gonna remember all this," Virgil said with some resignation.
"That's alright," Victor frowned sarcastically. "I probably won't either. Language!" he snapped towards Lucca again.
----
Meanwhile, Ryuji, who seemed to realize just whose living body he was inhabiting, asked, "How do you do...the thing? The shifting thing?"
"Screw you, I ain't telling you. You don't need to know." Lucca snarled in response. He quickly changed tack however, when Ryuji muttered something about how magic worked and took on a focused look.
"Okay! Okay fine, jerkwad! I'll explain it! But listen to me," Eyes narrowing venomously, Lucca leaned in towards Ryuji, his face uncomfortably close as he hissed. "Do not, ever, ever fucking dispel it, you hear me? EVER."
Ryuji looked a strange combination of emotions, as though he was taken aback by the terribly angry half-elf man who was grabbing him, but still unable to recover from his wonderment and excitement. "No...no, I won't, why would I? I just...I can look like myself. I can...be alive."
"I dunno, because you're not used to being able to shift? Just don't do it, okay?" Lucca's expression darkened further at Ryuji's last comment, taking on an uncomfortable, almost offended cast.
Opening his mouth to say more, he was suddenly interrupted by a sharp pain in his leg. "Scrambled eggs!!" he yelled, having switched his profanities to breakfast foods for Virgil's sake. He looked to see that Cohen, in his borrowed mimigan body, had kicked him and was now grinning broadly.
"The heck was that for?"
"Nothing!" he said chipperly. "And I don't feel bad about it in the slightest!" he added as he spun on his heel and walked away.
Lucca blinked at this, considered the statement momentarily, then nodded agreeably, "Good on you then!"
Turning back to Ryuji, he pursed his lips, glowering as he launched into a brief but thorough instruction on how his shifting worked. As he spoke, his demeanour calmed significantly, and by the time he finished with an admoniton to "not do shitty things with my body, while you're in there, please and thanks," it had downgraded from furious indignation to a sort of irritable resignation at their plight.
Ryuji listened, though it was uncertain if his focus was actually on Lucca or on other things entirely. When Lucca came to his further threats against wrongdoing, his expression took on a mildly hurt cast, though he resisted saying anything reproachful. Instead he replied with all seriousness, taking a solumn posture, "I promise I won't do anything invasive or harmful, outside of an emergency. If there's a battle or something, I won't refuse to fight in order to protect your body, but I won't intend any injuries, and I won't betray your privacy. I will shift to look like myself, and unless it's necessary for some reason, I won't shift further, or dispel it. I'm rubbish at magic, but I know enough to not dismiss something, if it doesn't run out on its own."
Lucca nodded with equal solemnity, and thanked him sincerely.
As Ryuji focused and began to shift, Lucca reached out and started removing his belongings from his person, plucking the mirror from his one belt, taking the other two entirely, as well as his headband.
----
Clover noticed that Ryuji, or rather, Cheko, hadn't moved since the trial had started, but just continued playing with her bangs. She walked up to her and asked gently, "Cheko?" Her gaze shot up, and there was a fear and uncertainty in her eyes. "Are you ok?" She flinched back a bit, and Clover replied, "It's me, Clover, alright? Are you ok?" she reiterated.
"I...I don't know..." her voice trembled, and Ryuji's tone now held her particular accent. "Everything...everything just feels sorta wrong. I don't..." she tugged at her hair some more. "I don't like this. I don't like being what Mr. Komatsu...Ryuji...is. It's...he's a predator. Plain and simple. Not a right one either. Everything feels so wrong..."
"It will be ok," she said, her reassuring tone odd coming from Cohen's mouth. "This is a test, remember, a test from the spirits to prove our teamwork. So everything will be fine. We'll get to the next echo and overcome it, because we're a team, and they'll change us right back. It's just for a little bit. You can handle it, and we all have your back. We'll all get through it together, alright?" Cheko watched her vulnerably, then nodded. 
----
"...I understand that this is probably very exciting for you," Victor said dryly, "but you should probably consider making yourself scarce." He did not look at the one he was talking to, but Virgil watched the fey with mild interest. Harlequin's mask was a picture of elation, and he clapped his hands incessantly. "Lucca is liable to snap you in half." Harlequin made a waving, 'nonsense' gesture, but regardless, melted back into his dormant state, appearing not on Lucca's body, but rather on the hip of the body his mind was inhabiting. 
----
"How long is it going to take us to get where we're going?" Cohen eventually yelled over the various personal exchanges.
"I don't know, how long is it going to take you to magic us there, Mr. Webber?" Lucca yelled cruely.
Frowning, Pierce began making arcane motions, muttering a spell. He blinked when nothing happened, then tried again. After a few attempts, he admitted quietly, "I can't. Nothing's working."
"So make Cress do it!" Lucca insisted. "He's got your body, teach him how." Shrugging, he tried to train Cress in the motions for a cantrip. Soon, it became obvious that he couldn't cast either. The others tried, but it seemed magic was out of everyone's grasp, regardless of body or mind. However, Clover managed to show Pierce how to successfully channel fire into a punch: it seemed natural abilities were not lost. A quick use of a wand proved that items were still of use to those who knew how they worked, but still everyone grumbled to some degree or another: without full use of their magic, this would be a long, arduous trek. 
Eventually, everyone agreed that they needed to move forward. They wouldn't be able to summon any more horses once the ones they had now vanished, and their destination was a terribly far walk away. This would be a long, awkward and inconvenient test of their teamwork.
As they began to start travelling, those who hadn't already went to whomever had their bodies and traded possessions. Clover walked over to Ryuji, still enraptured with the development, and gave him a nudge. He looked at her with some confusion, as she gestured to where Cheko stood, withdrawn and fearful. She made a pointed expression, urging him to go over to her; Ryuji looked a bit crestfallen seeing her, nodded and walked away. As he did so, Cohen approached Clover, looking critical, then said, "I need...my headband, my belt, my jewelry, because gods know only jewelry can hold protection enchantments, my gun and basically everything in my coat pockets. The rest you can borrow." Taking the pistol from Clover, he rotated it about in his small, paw-like hands. "Well, this is unwieldy. Serves me right for not getting it enchanted when I was thinking about it. ...And Webber doesn't even have his magic, so it's not like he can fix it either. Oh well. Can't make proper explosives right now anyways. Speaking of, if you don't want to carry around the alchemy kit, it's also rather cumbersome, shove it into his bag," he said, gesturing towards Lucca. "Gods know he lugged it around for seven years, he can do it again. Oh, though first, give it here..." he grabbed at the large kit as Clover took off the various odds and ends that the doctor had requested. Opening it and pulling out a small bottle filled with handmade pills, he passed it to her. "I assume that my physical problems are yours for the moment, so you'll want to take two of these when you wake up, and then every six hours or so. Unless you want to deal with the withdrawl effects," he added with a shrug.
"What do they do?" she asked, eying the pills suspiciously.
"They're psychostimulants. They..." he rotated his paw, looking for a simple word, "keep me focused. Once upon a time, there was an actual medical reason, but I've had the dosage far too high for years now, and since I can't really quit them seeing as I need the benefit, I've never bothered reducing it. Quitting is...unpleasant."
"...Two when waking up, two every six hours?"
"Yes. You'll be able to tell anyways. You'll start feeling twitchy when you need more," he said.
She nodded, and satisfied, Cohen walked away.
----
It was a strange sight, seeing Ryuji approaching himself, though the version that was actually a shifted changeling didn't look precisely right to an observant onlooker. He walked up to Cheko, who was still standing silently and sadly, and said, "Hey." When she looked up and down again without replying, he continued, "...I know. I know it's..." he sighed, "It's awful. I'm sorry." There was a pause, before he added with a hint of embarassment, "I'm really sorry, but, I don't know who I'm speaking to. I wasn't really paying attention."
"Oh...it's me, hun. Cheko."
"Oh, ok...I'm...I'm really sorry, I know how bad it feels, especially at first," Ryuji said, having a hard time finding words. "I'll do everything I can, ok? I mean, it's...you get used to it, kind of, and it's not..." he stopped short, as though realizing something. He finished quietly, his voice strained, "It's not forever." 
"I know, hun, I'm..." she shuddered. "Nothin' feels right."
"It's...that took me a little bit to figure out, but it's..." Ryuji tried to explain, and again, his emotions were plainly jumbled: he was trying to remain calm and comforting, but the shame he always showed when talking about his unlife leaked through, tainted further with the obvious elation he had at no longer being saddled with his body. "Well, you never really realize how much you move, when you're...alive. Not just moving, but, you're twitching, blinking, breathing, your heart and lungs and everything are always moving, and when you're...me, they don't. If you don't think about it, you won't inhale, or close your eyes, or get tired. You could, heh, you could do a handstand forever and never need to move. And, I know it's too warm. That's the other part, I guess. I can tell that it's not actually that hot out, but it feels like I'm melting. Just...wear as much clothing as you can, it keeps most of the heat out. I know it sounds kind of weird, but it works. That's why I'm wearing winter clothes in Elul."
"Wouldn't you know it, but I've never liked the feelin' of clothes. All bunchy and hot against my fur, and now I'm you and it ain't any better," she said with a bit of a sad grin. Her face fell again as she said, her voice barely above a whisper, "Everyone smells like...I could eat 'em. This what bein' a predator's like? Just wanting to eat and kill and eat some more?" She shook her head, "This ain't...this ain't good, and it ain't me. I'm no killer, and I'm not gonna be one."
"No, no of course not," Ryuji assured her. "You don't need to kill. I can help, the others will too. It won't come to that."
Cheko shook her head vehemently, "I can't. I can't I can't I can't. It's horrible. I can't do it." She hugged herself tightly and bit her lip.
"Careful!" Ryuji's hand shot up and touched her face, shocking her a bit. "Sorry," he looked embarassed, "but, you'll cut yourself, and it...it'll be hard to heal. Try not to get hurt, ok?" Cheko nodded, looking sad. "It'll be ok. It's not...it's not that bad," he said, his tone suggesting a poorly-concealed lie.
"I'm no predator. No killer, no meat-eatin' animal. I can't do it. Makes me sick thinkin' of it. We just...just gotta get to the next echo, right? If we can just make it there, get this done, then we're two steps closer to saving the world, and I'll be right proper again, and I don't have too... Just gotta get there," Cheko psyched herself while Ryuji looked on, concern tinting his expression. He knew the feeling, too well, and worried about the outcome if Cheko remained stubborn. Cheko's head dropped. She took a deep breath and looked up again. "We gotta go," she said, and turned to walk away.
"Wait!" Ryuji called, stopping her, "Could I, have my sword, please? I can take my bag too. You can keep wearing the rest of my things for now, but, when we camp, you can change out of my armour at least. It might be a bit more comfortable without it, at any rate." 
"Yeah, maybe you're right..." she said, passing the things over. "I'm...I'm awful sorry, I'm not..."
"Don't even worry about it. Don't worry about anything. We'll get you back in your body, and you won't have to deal with any of it anymore," he said with a smile, causing Cheko to respond with one in turn.
"Thanks, hun," she said.
"It will be ok. You'll be back to normal soon." With that, Ryuji turned away, and his face immediately became one of dread. Normalcy wasn't something he was looking forward to.
----
Meanwhile, Cress walked over to where Victor was standing, Virgil still perched on his shoulders. "Lookin' good, Mr. E!" he chirped, a grin on his face. Victor returned the smile with reservation and some sarcasm as Cress continued towards Lucca, who was busy tying on his belts; for his part, Pierce had already collected his things from him while he was trying to give him a crash-course in casting. "You lucked out, gettin' Mr. E. I got Mr. W, and without his magic, he's pretty useless."
"Hey!" Pierce called in offense.
"I'm sorry man, but seriously, work out once in a while!" he called back. "Go running! Do sit ups. Yoga, something. Geeze." He held out his arms, turning back towards Lucca. "Friggen Virgil could take me on right now. Guy is soft."
Lucca looked over at him, chuckling slightly, "Yeah, I guess I did...but like, what the hell? Just our luck we both get bodies from the friggen geezer crew, eh? Stupid fey prolly did it on purpose for a laugh."
Cress shrugged, "Coulda been worse, I guess. Can't say I wanna be the doctor. Or Cheko; no offense to her, but I like being able to reach the top shelf. Man, does this mean I'm the Dragon King now?" he asked, perking up.
"No!" Pierce called over again, still eavesdropping. "You're not a summoner. That's the whole point."
"Stop butting in, Mr. W!" Cress yelled.
"I suppose this marks the point where questionable fashion choices begin to be made," Victor added, walking over to join them and looking pointedly at Lucca's belts and accessories, earning a stuck out tongue from the man in response. Virgil had climbed down and was standing nearby, watching everyone. Victor held one hand out towards Lucca as he dug in his pocket with the other, "Could I have my sword and things, if I may?"
"Yeah yeah, I'm gettin' to it, I'm gettin' to it." He waved his hand away dismissively, more concerned at the moment with wrestling with the collar of his shirt. After a few moments he gave up with an angry huff, temporarily thwarted, and turned his attention to the desired articles.
Retrieving a set of brass knuckles from his pocket, Victor passed them over to Cress. "Here, I'll give you your equipment. Do you want your armour now?"
Cress shrugged as he took the weapons, "Dude, I'm pretty sure no amount of anything is gonna make up for how friggen weak Mr. W's body is, so whatever. Don't need to strip down now or nothin', you can wear it for now. I'll take my ammy, shoulder guard and belt though; at least maybe I can still dodge." Victor nodded and began to pass over Cress' belongings.
When he finished, Lucca began handing him his things, starting with his sword and belt. "You want all of it right now?"
"The protective things, if it's not too much bother, though if I'm still wearing this armour, I don't need my bracers. My amulet, my rings and my cloak will suffice," he replied, fastening his belt. "Oh, and I suppose I'll take my bag back as well."
Almost as soon as he finished handing back the rest of his things, Lucca began to tug at the collar again, stimied by its buttons. Victor frowned, "Alright, stop, before you tear something." He shoed away Lucca's hands and began unfastening the collar and the cloak, "I'd like my clothes returned in one piece, if possible."
Tipping his chin up slightly to allow him better access, Lucca snorted, "I'll see what I can do, I promise I'll try not to mess them up any worse than you would. It'd be a right shame if I wrecked your dorky geezer clothes." he added with a cheeky grin.
"It would, seeing as how I couldn't get more," he replied with his dry sarcasm. "I'd have to wear gnoll clothes instead. Not that I'd mind, considering how hot it is out here, but then everyone else will be uncomfortable, won't they? Let's not inflict that upon everyone else, hmm?" Leaving the collar undone, he took the cloak from Lucca's shoulders and put it on himself. It clashed horrifically with his current outfit, and he looked down at himself with a frown. "Questionable isn't even going to begin to describe the fashion around here." He glanced between himself and Lucca, comparing. "...We actually aren't too different in size, actually. I can probably get away with wearing my own clothes still."
Cress made a mock face of displeasure, "Man, don't dress me up all stuffy, Mr. E, that's not cool."
"I assume you're going to dress Mr. Webber down; I'm free to dress you up."
Cress giggled at that, "Yeah, you're right. Man, too bad pictures take like, an hour. We could get some pretty ridiculous photos." 
"That is true at that," Victor agreed.
"Hey!" Lucca protested, "If you take your stupid clothes back, what the heck am I gonna wear? There is no way my clothes are gonna fit your giant body! They'll be skin tight and all kinds of lame." He turned to Cress, "Dude, I'm gonna need to borrow some of yours, or something." 
Cress shrugged, "Yeah, sure."
"You can still use my clothes," Victor interjected. "I, like most people, own more than three outfits. It's not like I'm wearing every article at once." He sighed, "But I'm not going to stop you from wearing Cress' if you'd rather. Also, I think 'giant' is a bit extreme. I'm about average for a half-elf." 
"Cressy's got better clothes than you; his shirts don't have lame collars and whatnot." He snorted, adding, "Who cares about average half-elves? You're like, what? A foot taller than me and probably twice as heavy, that's pretty giant, dude."
Victor gave him a patronizing, sarcastic look and said with a grin, "I'm afraid that you're just tiny. Try not to hit my head on too many ledges; I know you're inexperienced with the height." 
"Shut up, ya old donut!" Lucca shot back with a half-mock scowl
----
"Can I have everyone's attention!" Clover shouted as everyone began to mount their horses to leave. "This trial is going to be awkward for everyone, some more than others. I want to ask that everyone refrain from personal relations until the trial is over, out of respect for each other. This is a trial of teamwork, after all, and teamwork is based on respect." 
There were a few mutters and eyerolls, but no one disagreed.
----
"What's a fey soul?" Virgil asked as they rode, peering up at his father who now looked like Lucca's best friend. 
"Hmm?"
"The two weird twins. The one called me a fey, and the other said that she was dumb and I was a fey soul, not a fey. What's that?"
Victor gave a reserved chuckle, a small smile playing at his lips. "Everyone has a soul. Some people have special souls that give them magic powers. No one really knows how or why. Mr. Webber has one, he's a split -soul: he shares his soul with Sienna, and he has magic because of it. Usually, they're called summoners. Fey souls, that's another word for a bard." 
"So...I'm a bard?" Virgil asked with a growing excitement.
"That's what Gemini thinks, at any rate. It's not surprising, really."
"I can do magic and cool stuff like Lucca and Clover and the doctor and Mr. Webber?!"
"Well, no, not like any of them. Technically like Mrs. Komatsu." He frowned a bit, though his demeanour was still happy, "Though I suppose nothing is stopping you from being an alchemist."
"She can cast spells and stuff! How do I do it?! Can I do it now?!"
"No, not until you're a bit older, I imagine."
"It's like Clover said!!"
"Well, I don't think you'll change colours but..."
"Lucca Lucca Lucca!! I'm gonna do magic!!" Virgil shouted over towards the other horse.
"Right on, dude! That's awesome!" Lucca called back with a grin and gave the boy a thumbs up, the guesture looking rather incongruous coming from Victor's body. Virgil laughed at the disparate combination of his father's looks and Lucca's actions before launching into an animated monologue of all the things he could do when he could cast magic. Victor listened patiently, still smiling at his son's enthusiasm. Still a bit timid about riding, Lucca gradually guided his horse over next to theirs, occasionally adding a suggestion or a question to egg the boy on, seemingly equally delighted with the prospect.
Category:Advent of the All