I don't own digimon.

Chapter 65

Caught by surprise

Of all the times Yvonne had walked through the alleyways, there was a different feeling to this trip. Could be the result of this area being in the middle of the rebuilding process, she was also having to deal with Marulyn's robes. I would imagine it smells like cherries.

"Nearly overpowering." Yvonne remarked and shifted her khakkhara slightly. Compared to her armor, the staff didn't quite stay anchored that well. More the material than the garment working against you. The robes here at the astral academy are enchanted so a student's wand, focus or staff can either hang at their side or on their back. Whichever is more comfortable for the student during their studies.

"What about the teachers?" Munbimon added, Yvonne weaving her way through a crowd of freaked-out orcs and their families. To answer your question, we have to carry our tools the regular 'old-fashioned' way. I asked one of the older faculty members why that was. He claimed it had something to do with setting an example for the students. Even though they can just let their stuff float without any thought. I don't think he actually knew why it was. Maybe it's a weird holdover from a previous headmaster or headmistress. Maybe once I get a reprieve, I can check it out and see. "Fair enough."

Exiting the crowd, we find ourselves nearing the edge of Aldia's former alleyways. While we have a couple of homes, most of them are in the process of being built or need major repairs in order to be habitable once more. Which made the one house even further our all the stranger. A small two-room building at best, what looks to be a small garden has been set up. Looked to need a good round of wedding and replanting to save it. Just beyond that is a little shed with a cow of all things. I'm no expert when it comes to livestock, but that's definitely not enough space to really sustain such a beast. Unless you're doing something with magic to circumvent that restriction.

"Long way from the farms too." Yvonne remarked, carefully picking up the pace as the home got closer into view. Yeah. Aren't the farms past the graveyard?

The knight nodded, Munbimon's attention returning to the cow. I'm guessing this is the first time you've seen one before? Or are there something similar

"Maybe." Munbimon answered, placing a paw to her forehead. Pain surged through her body, the world spinning and twisting about until what had been the outskirts of a town gave way to a large flat field. Cows walked about the area, chomping down on grass and letting out their one word cries. As they do. As for our ghost monkey digimon, she was sitting comfortably on a fence post. Field upon field stretched out for miles, little in the way of anything that could be considered a 'landmark'. Unless you counted the large monster doing battle with a large armored dragon of sorts. They couldn't go that much larger. Especially when a humanoid got in the middle of the pair. Whether or not they were actually successful in their attempts to quell both beasts weren't something that Munbimon knew the answer too. Nor did really care enough to find out. Probably be over well before she had a chance to get there in the first place.

Instead, she made her own fun. Whether that was watching the clouds above to see which one got to a certain point first or messing with the cows. The latter was her favorite. While the ghost monkey digimon was certain they were at least aware of her, it was likely they could actually see her. Which made it really easy to jump from one cow to another and freak them out. But that had grown boring. That, and the bovines didn't need to be any more freaked than they already were.

"When are we going to get back to racing?" she announced, her partner giving a shrug in return. A man (I think), he's currently in the middle of driving a large red 'car'. Said car has a weird-looking cart with a bunch tornado-shaped pieces of metal attached. Not completely sure what exactly that does or how it's used. Outside of harvesting some kind of plant.

Beyond all of that, the finer details of this individual elude me. While he looks to be quite old, I can't say for certain. His clothes look to be blobs of color without any real form, the only real thing sticking out being a speck of silver underneath the torso blob. What could that possibly be? Why couldn't she remember what they had looked like in the first place? Why? Why? Why?

"The racing season is over for the year. Right now, our focus needs to be on getting the crops harvested before the winter frost devastates them all." her partner answered, getting a sigh from Munbimon. Of course he had some kind of excuse for why they needed to be out in a field rather than shredding rubber on the open road. Whether that be the crops needing to be planted, the roads being wet or one of a couple dozen other 'reasons', sometimes it felt as if her life was moving about in slow-motion with little in the way of speeding on up. For the few moments that didn't feel like that, she was on the edge of her seat and ready for whatever life was going to throw her way. "There's more to life than just racing. Sometimes, you need a new perspective to truly appreciate how good things are."

The words echo about her head. The field began to melt away, reality and this strange enigma of a house ready to take back their place. Try as she might to hold onto all of it, she found it slipping it away. What point was it to show her this? Some use had to be in there. For now, there's not much use in dwelling over it.

"Munbimon?" Yvonne called out, her partner's eyes opening back up. Gliding in front of her partner, Munbimon made sure to pull her hand back down. No real need to give Yvonne the wrong idea. Especially while in the middle of a murder investigation.

"I remembered something." the ghost monkey digimon answered and took a deep breath. "I was in a field, looking over some cows. My former partner was there."

Yvonne took a deep breath. While this is a complete surprise on all our parts, there has to be something there to tell us more about that world before everything went to shit with the whole freezing of time and everything. Outside that cows were a thing that existed back before things went to shit.

"There was also a battle going on. I think Cure Heath was off dealing with it." Munbimon continued and got a look from her partner. I'm guessing you're referring to the girl and not the two giant monsters? "Yeah. Sometimes, she would stop by and pick up some groceries."

After saying that, Munbimon looked down to the ground. Where had she pulled that name from her mind? From where she had seen that fight, there was no way to actually identify the woman taking on those two monsters. How had she made the connection? Try as the ghost monkey might, the answer eluded her at every occasion. Taking a deep breath, she glided back over to Yvonne's shoulder and sat down. At least we know that more of those 'Cure' people exist. Does raise an interesting question - are they all bound to the same patron or is it many patrons spread about that world?

Yvonne's gaze shot up to the sky. Fair enough. Everything about warlocks is a complete and utter mess not at all helped by the variety of beings willing to make deals with mortals. The best way to think of them is as a cross between a cleric and a wizard but also never sharing any part of those two fields.

"I'm guessing that is due to their patrons?" Yvonne answered and I nod. You can't really see it, but I very much did that. Some deities are able to be both fiends and gods - weird as that probably sounds. Similar combinations can be seen with archfey and celestial beings among other speculated patron beings. "Got it."

It would be a heck of a lot easier to summarize if there wasn't overlap between all the parrin types. But I digress.

Taking the time to make sure that Munbimon was comfortable, Yvonne headed off once more. Thankfully, we didn't have too much further on our journey to go. Probably means that there's going to be some kind of catch or the person in question won't be there. Let's hope that is not the case. Especially with that rickety old door. You could probably breathe on it and it would probably fall over.

"Jilla, are you there?" Yvonne announced and tapped the door. Silence, then a couple pieces of wood falling down. Not good. I would've assumed she heard that. Probably not a good idea to push our luck on this.

"I'm over here, miss." a voice announced, Yvonne swiveling around to meet this person. The old succubus from earlier standing there, quite confused by what exactly was going on. You did hear us talking about Shiv's murder in the furniture store, right? "Why yes I did. Care to tell me why you're so keen on digging into old wounds?"

Yvonne took a deep breath. Where do we even begin with this mess? Well, outside of the beginning. I'll leave it up to you.

"My mom came back to town intent on killing Maddie von Strauss for a crime she did not commit. My friends and I are trying to prove her innocence. Do you know anything about it that could lead us to the culprit?"

Jilla let out a sigh. Let me guess. There's somehow one more wrinkle in this story that we haven't heard before. Or something along those lines.

"I'm the one who stabbed Shiv." Jilla answered and tapped her hands to her side, almost as if she's trying to reach for something. A weapon, perhaps?

"And you just left him there?" Yvonne remarked, hands already reaching for her khakkhara. Like I said, one more wrinkle to this mess. Though, stab doesn't necessarily mean 'kill' in this situation. Which would make Jilla complicit in this crime. If that's the truth. We could be led down a wild goose chase. "That still doesn't explain why y-"

Jilla shook her head, taking this as the perfect moment to motion for the knight to follow her inside.

"He wanted out of his relationship with my sister." the elderly succubus continued, ripping the door off with a single hold. Uh… I'm guessing you're hopefully going to replace that in the future and not leave it hanging out there... Or not. Maybe you should get that fixed? Or better yet, maybe build a new house. "Don't really see a need for that."

Inside, we find ourselves in a sparse, single-room place. Of what little furniture there was, I could only see a bed and a table. Both of which appear to be on the brink of falling apart into a million pieces. Do be careful.

"Will do." Yvonne whispered and knelt down, Munbimon taking this as her opportunity to switch shoulders. Even with the change of height, there still looked to be a chance of grazing any part of this building and knocking it to the ground. "Was Shiv's relationship to Jezza rocky to begin with or was this spurred on by someone else?"

Jilla looked away, gaze now on the floor - a couple blankets. All of which are mismatched and full of holes.

"I'm not really sure myself." she answered and found herself getting to a look from Yvonne. "I think it was meeting an incubus or the incubus appearing before him that may have done it.

Okay. That doesn't really bring us any closer to a suspect. Weird question. Do the succubi/incubi have the ability to shapeshift?

Jilla's gaze shot up to the ceiling. I'll take that as a yes then.

"Kinda." the elderly succubus continued and walked over to the bed. Sitting down, she reached under the bed and pulled out a knife. An orcish weapon, this one was covered in a dried green substance. That's definitely orc blood. "It's less of a full-on transformation and more convincing ourselves and then others that we are what we claim to be. Such a process is usually referred to as 'acclimatization'."

Yvonne's gaze shifted up to the ceiling. Think you've figured out what exactly is going on with this strange and bizarre case?

"Shiv is an incubus now and framed Maddie for the sake of getting them killed." Yvonne muttered and let out a sigh. I don't think this is a situation we can solve peacefully. Especially once Jezza finds out that her husband ran o-

Fuck. I know who Shiv actually is. Dave figured it out after they found a knife with what we thought to be the blood of an incubus or succubus. We had thought it to be a red herring. It was Alan's, which Gorvor may have grabbed in the hopes of defending himself… from Alan. Which means there's a chance that something sexual happened.

"Your magical voice friend is right on the money." Jilla continued, getting faced with a glare from Yvonne. I'm fairly certain you know the next question that's coming your way. "Why yes, Yvette did have sex with the leader of the succubi tribe. The desert one. The cave ones are a bit on the kooky side."

She doesn't know. This is your chance to book it out of here without finding out something less than pleasant that you didn't want or need to know.

"Uh… Yvette is my mom." Yvonne explained, Jilla doing a double take. Yeah. You might want to divulge all you know before this situation. Especially if we find out later that we're dealing with multiple siblings that her mom failed to mention.

"None that I've heard down the grapevine." Jilla remarked and pointed the knife towards our knight. "Though, that will soon be no children."

Yvonne rolled her eyes. Of course this person was trying to kill her and Munbimon. Which meant they had ties to her mother. Can't make things easy for us - one bit. Standing herself back up, a gray outline formed around her body. Remember when I said to not wreck the house?

"Yeah?" she remarked and raised her khakkhara up. Feel free to break this place apart. There isn't much in the way of collateral damage if we do accidentally let out the cow. Maybe we can give it to Rantha. He'll probably come up with a use for it. "Understood. Infuse! Spirit!"

Flipping the staff around, the rings jingle about and Jilla gets held in place. Simple and elegant. Anything more flashy would just result in our opponent getting a chance to attack. Don't need that. No, we need to get out of here, warn Marulyn and rendezvous with Maddie and co.

"Where are they?"

Heading for the sewers. Though if things go to shit, might be best to make a beeline for the manor and hold down the fort. I don't think your mother will really look there. Especially since she doesn't know what we do.

A nod, followed by Munbimon blowing a kiss for good measure. Not really an effective move on a succubus. She probably thought you were actually flirting with her.

"Oops." Munbimon muttered and let her gaze return out in front of her. What had once been an empty area was now swarming with archers and other orc warriors. Fuck. Guess Yvette really wants some burned earth after all of this. Something is going to have to give. I'm not sure what exactly that will have to be, but there can't be much more in this one day people can take.

"I demand you stand down." Yvonne announced, the arrows heading their way. Doing her best to dodge, she rang her khakkhara about. While the weapon had some effect on our projectiles, it wasn't enough to make a dent. Especially as a couple pierced through the fabric of Marulyn's cloak and came frighteningly close to coming in contact with our orc's skin.

"Need some help?"

An icy mote shot down from the sky, Melody of all people falling from the sky. Lumosmon is right behind, making sure that their partner doesn't suffer a splattery death. A worthwhile endeavor.

"Yes, actually." Yvonne remarked, waiting a couple seconds for our mystic to get her bearings and then pointing to the large group of orcs ready to kill you four. Even though they probably rather be working on their homes and making sure that nothing else bad happens here. "To make a long story short, my mom showed up and is currently intent on killing Maddie (Madame) and may have set us up."

She got a look for that statement. It sounds kind of silly when you say it out aloud. Even though the events of today have been anything but silly. Quite serious, to be exact. Wait. Where's Rantha? I thought he would be with you.

"He's off filing a report." Melody remarked and got another icy mote ready. "We did have lunch together. I offered to make it a date, but he declined."

Considering everything that's happened, he's probably a touch overwhelmed from adarnamon and the fallout of that mess. Though, what's this report on?

"Our time in Malibu and his resignation." Melody continued and shot out her mote, making contact with an archer and knocking his bow out. "The plan is for me to take over."

Good to know. Wait. Do you think you can handle that? When Rantha was at it, they were having him destroy buildings. While he wasn't that successful, I can only assume that their expectations are now higher with Rantha and Carinamon exiting stage left.

"I'm aware of that. I'll just have to put on a good show for Ms Kirjaw and everyone else." Melody continued as her sickle came out. Mask fitted back on, the wu jen's attention turned to her targets. "I have the woman. If you want her for yourselves, you need to let us through."

For a brief moment, the arrows stop and those not armed with ranged weapons focused on the Wu Jen. Didn't last too long, sadly. Guess you'll need a different plan of attack.

"Could you lend a paw to me, Munbimon?" the Wu Jen announced and watched her 'girlfriend' jump away from Yvonne and over to her.

Wu Jen initiates a trade with Munbimon

Do you accept?

No/Yes

Munbimon looked to her options. While she no longer had the spirit element on her, what would happen when she clicked yes? Would it just give spirit? Or would it give dust instead. Only one real way to find out. Carefully, the ghost monkey digimon gave the 'yes' a tap.

Trade initiated. Terms: Temporary.

A brown outline formed around the Wu Jen's body. Had a different feeling to the other infusion trades she had done so far. Loving, for lack of a better word. Maybe it has something to do with the flashback that Munbimon had earlier. Something to think about going forward.

"Infuse!" the Wu Jen shouted, her gaze on a nearby group of archers. Eyes sliding shut, she began to concentrate. "Dust!"

Instead of the usual icy mote, we instead have ourselves a large ball of dirt. Firing it off, the ball moves a lot slower than the usual icy mote. On the plus side, it packs a heck of a punch.

"Cheap shot!" an archer announced as he tried to rub the dirt out of his eyes. Which just made his friend's eyes all dusty. You might want to stop while you're still ahead. "If you truly want the heir to the Clan Mother, you'll have to go through us!"

The Wu Jen rolled her eyes and took a step forward. Not sure if this is a conflict of interest or just confusion on these people's part. You have a fight on your hands. Think you can take them all?

A nod, followed by more concentrating. Instead of a small ball of earth, the ground instead began to shake about. Spikes of earth erupted from the ground, launching a good chunk of our opponents into the air. Those that hadn't had the pleasure of trying to make sure that they weren't crushed and that their friends actually made it safely down.

"Let's go now, Clan Mother." the Wu Jen cooed, lowering her sickle slightly. Just enough to let Yvonne go. But not enough that the knight ould slip on through and get away. Yvonne complied, the pair charging towards the main part of the alleyways. Not much farther. Though, we might want to drop the act once there. Don't want to freak Marulyn out and have her send who knows what our way.

"Good to know." the Wu Jen remarked and pulled her mask away. After, her attention turned to Yvonne once more. For the moment, she's catching her breath and trying to make sense of this shit show that just went down. Don't really blame you for feeling like that. In between your mother, the possibility of siblings and your own people blindsiding you, I can only imagine you wa-

"I'm going to rip leadership away from her." Yvonne announced, Marulyn's workshop coming into view. Do you think you'll be alright? "Hopefully."

I'll take your word. Just make sure Marulyn is alright and head for Maddie's mansion. Got it?

Two nods. Good enough for here.

Notes:

And we're back. Kind of good to take a break after all that time.

.

Next time: We get back together. Not without some pain.