Reggie awoke slowly. It was honestly a struggle to, the amber light had all but flashbanged him and he was still recovering from that. He tossed and turned, mumbling to himself over the pounding headache he had. What had even caused that? What... Was it? He was in a fight, with... With... WITH- "RATTLESCALE YOU BASTARD I'LL RIP YOUR GUTS OUT!" He yelled, shooting up in the bed and flailing around.

And Mr. Kobbsley was on the end table, dodging his wild swings, until Reggie slowed down and stopped. "... So at least part of the story I heard from Rattlescale must be true..." Kobbsley said, looking at Reggie. He looked at the kid, at the Originator, at the bruises... "... Reggie, you and Claire should not be here." He said, finally. Firmly.

"I- What- I need to see Rattlescale. Now. Or- That- Whoever's in charge around here?" Reggies head was pounding still, and his wrist felt... Hot, with the Originator on it. On... It wasn't on his wrist. It was on the nightstand, by Kobbsley. "... Kobbsley. Give me back the Originator."

"Mr. Rolander, this is the only way I know how to-"

"Too bad." He swiped at Kobbsley, trying to snatch the originator. The little Imp dodged, and hopped off the table with it. Either he was too fast or Reggie was too slow, but he couldn't get it.

"Rolander! Calm down. I'm going to-"

"SHUT UP!" He jumped off the bed, scattering the sheets across the floor- Covering Kobbsley with them. The Originator glowed under the covers, illuminating Kobbsleys position as Reggie kept trying to snatch him.

"REGINALD, THIS IS NOT HELPING YOUR CASE!" He shouted, finally getting out from under the covers. Reggie grabbed a book, and just. Swung.

"THAT'S" Swing, "NOT" Whoosh, "MY" Whiff, "NAME!" THWACK! Kobbsley was sent flying into the wall. There was a harsh thud, and he stopped trying to run. Just sitting there, trying to gather his wits.

Reggie grabbed the Originator, and turned the dial. Tengu, no- Flight is useful, but he doesn't know where Claire is. Draconis- Too big. He'd tear this place apart if he had to, if they were trying to keep her here, use her as *bait*- But- He couldn't jump to that. Imp was too small, too easily caught. He looked out the window. Nighttime? Well...

It would be risky. He might not be able to actually take this back- He hadn't really tested it, before- Never has. But... A Yurei could find her. Just walk through the walls. Ghosts can get anywhere, and this place probably wasn't warded. He nodded, resolved. And with a flash of amber...

His body felt like it was dying. Technically speaking, he was. That was kind of the point here. Veins of mycelium oozing through him, melting into his flesh as it turns more and more transparent and, gelatinous. The wave of undead hunger struck him like a gong, and he resolved to, also, sneak into the kitchens after getting Claire to safety. Eventually, he looked in the mirror. His, everything still hurt from the transformation- It was a *new* one, but... It worked. He was a Yurei, a ghost. He left through the wall, searching through the building.

It was... A ramshackle hospital. His clothes were light enough to be invisible alongside him, as he slowly wandered through the halls- His own room... Had guards outside of it. Cungadero- They'd look and see he's gone. Honestly it's too late for that, he'd beated the heck out of Kobbsley. That little rat had tried to take the originator. Probably in on the scheme with Rattlescale, he should sneak back in there and just- No, no. That was just- Something else talking. Not him. Not him.

He stalked the halls, pocketing what food he found lying around to eat up- Staying invisible, intangible like this, it was draining- Left him hungrier and hungrier. He couldn't do this forever, not unless he found a shulker box full of food- And as much as the people here were with Rattlescale, they didn't deserve an entire food box going missing.

He did take the candles though. Even wax was filling in this form.

The walls were just, prismarine- Roughly cut, barely sealed, you could probably get prismarine poisoning just by bleeding near them. For once, that ocean monument in the lake seemed just a bit, threatening. Hm. He just continued on, until-

"Ay, gin na!" A tengu called out, looking right at the invisible yurei.

"I- Uh- What?" Reggie replied, looking around a bit sheepish.

"Ni hai hao ma?" the tengu continues, staring at the empty space. "Hui bong le. Na yi- ah- con-cus-sion." The smile stills. "Someone attacks you."

(It wasn't a question. Even past the stilted grammar, Reggie can figure out that much.)

Reggie nodded. "I'm... okay enough, I- I don't want to be here, I just want to find my friend and go. Is that okay?"

The tengu's stillness holds, just long enough to be uncomfortable, and relaxes. "Okay le." The cane in the tengu's knobbled hands swings toward where Reggie's feet should have been on the ground. "Okay le. Is she okay?"

Reggie shrugged. "I, I dunno- I haven't found her. I won't cause a ruckus, just- Recent disaster and all." He said, hoping that'd explain it.

Reggie shrugged. "I- I dunno. I haven't found her. I won't cause a ruckus, just- recent disaster and all," he offered, hoping that'd explain it.

The cane snaps upward on the tengu's hand, tip pointed right between Reggie's unseen eyes as it shakes in the tengu's aged grip. "Zhe yang?"

"Just- I don't feel safe," Reggie bites out. "Personal reasons, but- someone took something very important to me a bit ago, and I've kinda... lost my trust in this particular place."

The tengu lets out a sharp hum. "Hao le." Its cane falls, edge clattering at an angle against the ground. "Make sure your friend wants t' leave also, before y' drag her off. Hm?"

"...How did you know my friend is a girl?"

The tengu laughed, the sound rowdy and recited- the lips of a frozen smile curling too wide on a smooth plate of sharp black tooth... beak... things. "Na shi ni de cuo! I only say what you did first."

Reggie laughed, nervously, and just ran through the wall because **holy cungadero** that was- That sure, sure was a god! He'd been called out by a god and acted like an idiot in front of them! Wow! New low, Reggie.

Hopefully there wouldn't be any more gods, he really didn't want to be held up- He went down, and down, until he reached the lobby, and he saw-

"COME ON MAN! Lemme see Reggie!" The school janitor was blocking Claires entrance into the clinic, sighing.

"Claire! Reggie doesn't want visitors- Kid's concussed either way!"

"AUGH!" Claire hissed, running outside. She was going to just smash a window, and sneak in when- Reggie just stepped THROUGH her, in front of her. "REGGIE?! How did you get here? Treesly said you weren't accepting visitors?"

"That's- Gods, that's a lie, Kobbsley tried to take the Originator."

"What?!"

"I- I know! The one person in this whole town we can trust and- Augh! Little jerk is working for Rattlescale. HAS to be." He was pacing now, no longer intangible. He was getting stressed, looking around nervously. "I- Should we run? If Kobbsley's in his pocket then who knows who else is. The whole town could be his goons."

Claire nodded. "I- Yeah, that's- Gods, this is bad, this is so so SO bad. We're- We're twelve! How are we supposed to deal with this?!" She was pacing alongside him, following him like a lost duckling.

"I dunno! But we can't stay HERE, we'll get murderd in our sleep and Rattlescale will take over the world! There's- Remember cracker town?" He asked, rifling through his inventory. Eventually, he pulled out a travel guide. "Good food, good motels, worlds biggest TNT bomb... We can just, stay there! Get a plan of action, figure out what to do. We can be SAFE." He was almost frantic as he spoke. Finally just being SAFE, after the last few days- He'd kill for that.

And Claire... "That sounds... Amazing." Claire was honestly no different.

Reggie nodded, and smacked the originator. Mycelium melted and retracted, as his flesh hardened and toughened- Feathers sprouting on his head as his shoulders clicked and sprouted new arms- Now wings. His body grew, scalier and stronger. A draconis was perfect for a long distance flight like this. "Climb on. We can go now, I've got food in my inventory. It's- A days flight, tops!"

Claire nodded. "Alright." She climbed onto Reggies back, and they took off into the night.


Kobbsley was in a very tiny hospital bed. He'd broken... Quite a few bones! He hadn't said from what, just, a rowdy patient. He couldn't say the truth, that would get a manhunt sent after Reggie, and- Well. He was 12, and had a holy artifact that was clearly altering his mind. It was time to take more drastic measures to save him.

"Rattlescale? Please inform Fadir Ravenslove that there's a new case for it to help with, if it has the time."

Surely it would swiftly be handled. For now, Kobbsley was just tired. He'd taken a beating.