Cognitive Dissonance

Shane was confused at first when Violet gave him a pouch of gold coins and asked him to go to the Cindersap Forest to check the traveling merchant's wares on her behalf. The farmer gave him a list of items she wanted to buy, if available, and warned him not to be shocked by the replacement vendor's appearance. "He's a mouse," Violet stated with a squeal. "An adorable little mouse."

The chicken rancher was not one for cutesy nicknames, so calling a guy "an adorable mouse" was pushing things in Shane's opinion. But whatever, it was not his business. Once Emily met him at the house, he explained the situation and apologized for the detour.

"Oh, it's not a problem at all!" the brown-eyed woman assured Shane. "I heard someone I know is running the shop this weekend." Emily beamed. "He's a sweet, little soul. I wanted to drop by and give him a gift today, anyway."

That detail caught Shane's interest, but the potential new mayor did his best not to take after Pelican Town's current bureaucrat and reserved his jealousy for now. He decided to at least wait until after he saw Emily and this mystery guy interact before deciding whether or not he hated the guy.

Emily had this habit of holding his hand when they walked together. It felt weird at first, but now whenever Shane walked with her, he instinctively held out the hand nearest her. In a way, Emily had already trained him well, Shane thought with a chuckle.

Shane had never visited the traveling merchant's cart, but Jas liked to talk about the pig the woman kept as a pet. Alex told him that the nomadic trader was a relative of Violet's somehow and that "her looks were killer - but like, in a scary way." The former Jojo Mart employee wondered what scared Alex into talking respectfully about her. Not that he would find out today.

When they finally reached the brightly painted cart, there was a little mouse on the ledge wearing a green hat. At first, Shane assumed this was a trained pet of the actual stand-in, but Emily lowered her head level with the rodent and grinned. "Hello, Hat Mouse!" she greeted the mammal. "I brought you a gift!" Emily announced, unwrapping a wedge of pungent cheese and placing it on the counter.

The mouse's beady eyes lit up and clapped its paws together. "Me love cheese!" it squeaked in a high-pitched, but easily discernible voice.

Shane's jaw dropped open ever so slightly as he bent down to inspect the little grey mammal. "It can talk?!" he exclaimed, startling the fuzzy rodent so much that it leapt into Emily's arms, and burrowed into her shift.

"Oh, it's alright little Hat Mouse," Emily assured her small friend in a soothing voice. She swept two fingers over her shirt where the soft fur of his head lay underneath to pacify the animal. "Shane won't hurt you, he's just impressed by what a special mouse you are!" the seamstress insisted.

Shane blinked as a tiny pink nose peaked out from Emily's shirt collar. "No eat me?" the rodent requested, hoping for a guarantee for his safety.

I can't believe I'm talking to a mouse… "Uh… No, I won't eat you, little guy," Shane answered the temporary shopkeep. His dark eyes glanced up to Emily's face. "You… know this talking mouse?"

"Of course!" The sapphire-haired woman giggled. "Who do you think taught him to sew all those cute little hats, Shane?"

A second curve ball shattered the windows of Shane's worldview. "You what?" He stuck his pinky in his ear to make sure there were no obstructions to his hearing.

Emily offered the miniscule merchant her hand and gently placed him back onto the cart ledge before the rodent waves his paws toward a collection of hats and ribbons. "I taught this bright little mouse how to make hats!"

Shane blinked, his stare oscillating between the petite creature and his girlfriend. "So… you're telling me that you're friends with this mouse?"

The fashionista nodded with admiration. "He was quick to pick up on it," Emily praised Talla's replacement. "The best student I've ever had!"

Hiding his snout behind a paw, the Hat Mouse waved at Emily bashfully with the other. "Pretty lady teach good!"

This mouse has better social skills than I do, Shane thought grimly. But how the hell was this fluffy cheese-snatcher even talking? Were there more of them? Did the rest of the villagers know about this rodent selling goods in the middle of the woods? This was not normal. Oh, fuck… I actually died that night on the cliffs and everything since then has been my dying brain hallucinating.

Shane reached out behind him and slowly lowered himself to the ground to process all this new information. "I need a minute," he told Emily, who turned to the dark-haired man with a concerned frown.

As Shane held his head between his knees, he heard the salutations of another local. "Oh, hello everyone!" Caroline's voice called out to the trio. The green-haired woman smiled cordially at the stand-in shopkeep, like this was a completely ordinary occurrence. "I didn't expect you to have so many customers this early, dear. I'll get out of your fur quickly so you can get back to business with these two."

Emily shook her head, "Take your time, Caroline. There's no hurry!" She sat beside Shane in the grass and leaned his head to rest on her shoulder. The barmaid continued to chat with Caroline and the tiny merchant, but Shane's ebony eyes glazed over as he tuned them out. Everything felt so surreal right now. Had someone slipped him something without his knowledge? It could not have been alcohol, Shane decided. He would have tasted it in his drink. What the actual fuck is going on here? he screamed internally, gripping handfuls of his hair.

Shane felt Emily's fingertips gently brush against his tightly-closed fists and slowly they loosened. After a few moments, he realized that the red-clad woman was speaking to him. "Shane, do you have the shopping list that Violet gave you?"

The man plunged his hands into his pocket and forfeit a crumpled list to Emily. "I'm the kind of guy that only believes what he can see and touch," he glanced up at the rodent accepting coins from Caroline and squeaking a polite good-bye as the grocer's wife headed back toward town. "And I see a mouse running a business and everyone else but me is acting like this is just another Sunday morning errand…" he muttered to himself.

"Oh!" Emily exclaimed, yanking Shane from his downward spiral into insanity. "Hat Mouse has something on Violet's list!"

"...Which one?"

The caravan had long since lost the soldiers that chased them. It was not much of a chase, only for about an hour before their would-be assailants turned back the way they came. But their guide was more cautious now and after resting during the heat of the day yesterday, decided to keep moving once the sun was low enough in the sky the evening prior. Night came and went uneventfully and a new day had dawned. The leader of their caravan still had not stopped, however.

While the sun was not yet at its full height in the sky, Harvey could see the heat rising from the sand beneath the camel's feet. The caravan lost sight of the soldiers hours ago, but their escort insisted they continue on a bit further for safety. Before they traveled on the outskirts, well out of range of the war zones, but close enough to the edges in case of emergency. Now, their group was forced deeper into the desert than they wished. They were less likely to encounter human threats, but the sun and lack of water were a different sort of gamble with which to contend.

Talla was suffering from the detour the most. The desert was not a place for most life forms, let alone a sea syren. Harvey noticed that despite the heat, the demi-goddess did not sweat. He supposed it would not make much sense for an aquatic creature to do so, but that meant an increased level of danger for Talla in this environment. She mostly dropped her human guise, with the exception of her human legs so that she could still stay atop her camel. Though Harvey was not sure if the transformation was from lack of magical ability or physical weakness at the moment.

Even with the enormous water skins she carried with her, Talla had drunk most of the liquid. Her gills flared wide as she gasped for air, leaning on the camel's neck for support. The doctor could only imagine how painful it was for the demigoddess.

Though the mustached man was trained in human medicine, Harvey believed from her behavior that Talla was suffering from heat exhaustion. If they did not act immediately, it would turn into heat stroke. He scanned the line of the caravan for their guide and urged his camel alongside the figure.

"Excuse me," Harvey called, trying to get the cloaked local's attention. "I know this is a difficult task in a desert," the doctor prefaced his request, "but Talla needs to cool down immediately or the situation will turn into a medical emergency."

The stranger turned their head to regard the syren's condition. "Very well," they conceded. A cotton-covered arms gestured toward a large rise in the sand. "There. Rock formation that way. We rest in shade."

Harvey grinned and exhaled in relief. "Thank you, thank you, so much…" he hesitated, still unsure of how to properly address the local. The leader of the caravan did not catch on, however. "What may I call you?" Harvey solicited directly.

"Ah!" the veiled figure replied with a raspy tone. "Call me 'Thorn.'"

Trying to make his gratitude known, the bespectacled man once again thanked Thorn, this time addressing them by their name.

His camel objected to going toward the back of the line to rejoin Talla, but Harvey insisted with the reins and the beast gave in once it realized they were not abandoning the caravan. Once the doctor was alongside Talla, he offered her a drink of water. "Drink it slowly," he instructed, trying to keep the nozzle steady.

In her misery, Talla did not seem to hear Harvey, but she saw the offered water in front of her and drank it slowly. The brunet reached out to pull her wrist closer to read her pulse and at first the demigoddess pulled away, but after her eyes blinked at him Talla finally recognized Harvey. She relaxed and limply allowed him to take her arm. The medic applied light pressure to her rubbery skin, but because of its thickness, it was nearly impossible to detect the pulse like on a normal human. Still, he stayed close to Talla, offering her sips of lukewarm liquid from his waterskin every few minutes until they reached their resting place. The members of the caravan set up camp and helped Harvey carry Talla to rest under the canopy of canvas, shielding her from the sun.

"Usual clients not from sea," Thorn said flatly. "Not used to weak bodies."

Talla took offense at this, even in her current state. "You insolent…" she gasped, "insect!"

Thorn shouted something in their native tongue and let out a hiss that chilled Harvey to the bone, but he retained his composure for the sake of his patient. "Thorn, do you know any source of water nearby?" It was a long-shot but they needed to get Talla cool and a few damp cloths would be an enormous help. "I worry about Talla's condition if we don't get her rehydrated as soon as possible and it's only going to get worse as the day goes on in this heat." He did not want Talla's exhaustion to develop into a more dangerous heat stroke - or whatever its equivalent for an oceanic creature.

The guide turned to look at him, pondering the request. "If doctor needs water, doctor shall receive," they vowed. Thorn's whole body began to convulse in a violent and unnatural way and Harvey jumped backward in alarm when something brushed against his leg. It was black and claw-like. The physician's eyes widened in horror as an enormous scorpion shimmied from underneath Thorn's clothing. Whipping the garments off its appendages, Harvey noticed the eyes painted on the wicked tip of the scorpion's tail were the same eyes he glimpsed behind the veil.

"Y-you're a -" Harvey stammered, but Thorn did not wait for the doctor's commentary. Instead, using its pincers and front four legs, the arachnid burrowed into the sand and disappeared from view. For a while, the medic watched the hole, waiting for Thorn to return but after a few minutes of no activity, Harvey decided his attention would be put to better use attending to Talla.

With the hope that Thorn knew what they were doing to find water, Harvey dumped the remainder of his onto several strips of cloth and placed them over Talla's neck and head. He described his intentions to her, "I'm going to loosen your clothing to cool you down," he said, fumbling with the knots she made to secure the garments. Once the fabric was free, Harvey rolled up the syren's sleeves and pant legs to drape wet rags over her elbows and knees and elevated her feet with a pile of her decorative outer garments.

As time passed, Talla slowly returned to her senses. "It seems you are indeed worth your weight in gold, Catfish," the teal-haired syren chuckled weakly. She reached a webbed hand out to him, but she stopped mid-air before she could touch him and pulled her arm back to her side.

"Try not to move too much," Harvey instructed in a gentle tone. "Your body is going through shock right now."

A quiet air lingered between them for a while as Harvey busied himself with setting up his supplies to rest a bit himself. Eventually, the demigoddess broke the silence. "It would seem I owe you a favor, Doctor."

Harvey declined the offer and continued setting up the supplies he might need should things get worse before Thorn returned. "I just did what any doctor would have done," he assured her unobtrusively. "It's nothing worth rewarding."

The demigoddess' eyes narrowed at him. "Do you dare to refuse the favor of a divine being?" she scoffed, the offense in her tone palpable. Her voice was hardly audible, but this was the second time someone had disrespected Talla in some manner this morning and she was having none of it.

The doctor considered this for a moment. "Fine," he uttered amiably. "Since you insist on granting me a favor for performing my normal duties, I'll ask you a question." His olive-black eyes fixed upon her sea-blue ones as he sat on his own bedroll to keep off the sand. "Why in the world is a demi-goddess of the sea risking her life to save a few weeks' travel by crossing a desert?"

Talla's eyes flickered toward the hole in the ground where Thorn had vanished, as if deciding if she should speak if the scorpion might be within earshot. "My sister…" the syren answered.

"Neri?" Harvey immediately realized his mistake in using her nickname and not her official title.

"I mean... Aryla?"

She corrected Harvey. "No, the youngest of our trio, Emela," Talla clarified with a sigh. "She was… foolish. A lesser being knows her name and can reveal her to the world at any given moment, should he choose to do so." Talla's serrated teeth clacked together as she bit down in frustration. "But if we find a way to end this senseless war, that blue bastard will make a binding vow in which he will forget the name and be unable to recall it ever again."

"Would it be so bad to be revealed to the world?"

Talla's glare was as sharp as her teeth. "I saw your reaction to me when I revealed my true form, Doctor. And even after that it took several days for you to muster the courage to face me again." The syren chuckled to herself. "And you were one of the braver ones." Talla took a moment to recover and sip a drink of water.

"Most people flee or lash out violently to attempt to kill us when we show ourselves for what we really are." The golden-skinned creature continued. "My sister is the elected leader of a small country," she explained. "Imagine Emela is out in public in her human disguise and this being calls out her name. When she is revealed as what most humans consider a monster, she will also be exposed as the murderer of her political opponents."

Before Harvey could probe, Talla clarified. "She has barbs on her body that are like what your people call 'lionfish' and she has defended herself against who would do her harm." She coughed, her throat still drying out, despite the water she had been given. "Mainly generals organizing coups and pompous politicians who do not believe a woman has a right to rule." Her head bobbled to and fro, "If her true face were revealed, all of her efforts for the last three centuries would be completely undone."

Harvey's mind, meanwhile, was reeling. At first, he was ashamed to admit that he balked at Talla's actual appearance, but he really had no argument against the accusation because it was essentially true. Then came the fact that a syren was the highest authority in some unknown country and had poisoned her enemies. Had Emela done so to get elected or was it legitimate? Why would a syren want to run a country? What were the "efforts" to which Talla was referring?

"You're doing this as an older sister protecting her younger sibling," Harvey stated. It was all he was able to say without risking his chance to inquire more about her personal life later. If he overstepped his bounds now, the demigoddess might not be so willing to talk in the future. While the ethics of the rest of her explanation were highly questionable and the doctor himself was an only child, Harvey could understand the sentiment behind the demigoddess' actions.

Talla bowed her head in confirmation, too tired to speak more on the subject. The damp rags helped cool her core temperature, but they were drying up even in the shade of their tent. So while the immediate danger had been addressed, as the hot sun rose in the sky, their diminishing supply of drinking water would pose further risks. Harvey hoped that Thorn would pull through soon or Talla would not be the only being whose life hung in the balance.

Maru had just finished helping her father in his home laboratory and packed her things to head back to the clinic for the week when her mother called her into the kitchen. "Maru, would you come here, please?"

The scientist made some quick calculations in her head and determined she would not have much time to delay before she needed to open the clinic for the day. Heading toward the kitchen, she was about to inform Robin that she was in a bit of a rush before the redhead grabbed her by the shoulders and sat her down at the table in front of a large breakfast plate.

"Eat!" Maru's mother ordered. "You didn't eat dinner with us last night and I haven't seen you so much as snack on anything this morning." Robin frowned disapprovingly. "You're just like your father before a big deadline, forgetting that the human body requires basic care and maintenance!"

Maru's large brown eyes blinked at the food in front of her and her mouth salivated like one of Pavlov's dogs in response to the aroma of fresh bacon, hash browns, and pancakes. "Okay," the young health professional relented. "But I'll have to eat quickly."

Robin sat down beside her daughter. "Sweetheart, I'm proud of you for taking on these new responsibilities and I respect your decision to live in town most of the week," the carpenter disclosed, the apprehension obvious in her tone. "But you have to promise me that you'll take care of yourself, okay?"

With a mouthful of food, Maru bought herself a bit of time to think how to best counter her mother's distress. "I admit that my original schedule did not factor in fatigue and disruptions from other people," the nurse confessed to Robin. "But now that I've had a whole week at the clinic and have a better feel for what I'm doing, I think I've made the adjustments necessary."

The carpenter's dark eyes narrowed suspiciously, and opened her mouth to counter her daughter's vague assurances, but a noise from the hallway disrupted her.

"We're heading out with Sam and Abigail!" Sebastian bellowed from his bedroom door before shutting it and heading toward the front door.

Maru took the opportunity to shove a few more large bites of food into her mouth and excuse herself as well. "I'm going to be late, but thanks for breakfast, Mom!" She donned her white over shirt and bolted for the door before Robin could object.

Scowling, Robin noticed that her daughter only ate about half the meal she prepared. Robin sighed heavily, her hands on her hips. "That girl!" If only Maru had someone like Sebastian had Violet to check-in on his well-being. The ginger did not want to come off as a helicopter parent in her childrens' lives, but Robin did worry. Maru's best friend Penny was often busy teaching Jas and Vincent.

Her ink-black eyes lit up for a moment. Perhaps she had another option after all.

When the four adventurers stepped out of the elevator onto the frozen forty-fifth level of the mines, Abigail had already unsheathed her sword and let out a battle cry. "Bring it on, monsters!" she taunted, her breath visible in the cold air.

Save for a swarm frost jellies and dust sprites that were swiftly defeated, their first level of the day did not prove to be much of a challenge between Sam and Abigail focusing on exterminating any threats while Violet mined for materials for her farming equipment and Sebastian experimented with some new spells. As he suspected, his ability to freeze things when touched did not provide much offensive capability on these cold-weather creatures. But at one point he launched his sword at a slime from half-way across the cavern and made a direct hit. It was only good for one strike and was therefore impractical for melee battle, Sebastian decided it could help an ally in a pinch.

The rookie sorcerer felt a surge each time he used a spell, even the icy abilities that were ineffective in this terrain. It felt better than a rush of nicotine while smoking - and it was not accompanied with a cough or any physical side effects. At least, none that Sebastian noticed so far. Even when he took a break from practicing, he always stood close to Violet. The magician could not count on being lucky like that time with the stone golems and Sebastian desperately wanted to keep her safe, especially while she was unarmed.

"Do you need some help with the pickaxe?" Sebastian offered. He did not normally volunteer himself for manual labor, but Violet vowed she would not leave each level until she had collected all possible resources. More often than not, it led to Abigail, Sam, and Sebastian rotating who used the spare pickaxe to help Violet finish breaking all the rocks on the floor before they proceeded down the ladder to the floor below.

"You know, V," Sam addressed the farmer. "If we had a set of tools for everyone, I bet we would get through these levels a lot faster." The blond could tell Abigail was getting impatient with the whole process. Clearly, the amethyst-haired woman had a lot of pent-up frustrations she needed to vent and the excruciatingly slow pace only agitated the party warrior.

"Sorry for holding you all up," Violet apologized. "You all can go ahead without me if you want. I just need to collect as much ore as possible so I can mass-produce kegs for a special order," the agrarian told her friends. Sebastian smirked to himself, knowing exactly why his girlfriend needed so many kegs. He wondered if Krobus would be drunk the next time he saw the shadow.

Abigail appeared to begin to head toward the ladder down toward the next floor, when Sam shook his head. "Nah, we couldn't leave you behind, V. We're your safety escort, after all." He leaned against the icy wall of the cavern. "Besides, I'm thinking it would be great to have a spare hoe closer to town," Sam explained. "We could keep it at my house or Abigail's and that way we don't have to run all the way out to the farm every time we find something interesting for the museum."

Violet sighed out of exasperation. "Well, it's not like anyone in town sells spare tools," the shortest member of their party complained. "I only have this extra pickaxe because I borrowed it from Shane."

"So you mean to tell me that Clint won't make you extra tools?" Sebastian questioned incredulously. "That seems counterproductive to keeping his business going."

The floral-haired shrugged, "He said he's under contract to sell his tools to the Agricultural Association, but he's happy to upgrade any tools I already own."

"That's stupid!" Abigail reacted impatiently. "There's gotta be some way we can get around it."

Violet nodded in agreement. "I'm not disagreeing with you, I just don't see how we're going to fix things right now."

Abigail appeared ponderous for a moment as she rested the flat side of her blade on her shoulder. "Well, the tools you got for Shane came with the house, right?" Violet confirmed, so the amethyst-haired woman continued. "Why not just get another guest house?" the taller woman suggested.

Sebastian glanced at Violet, and the two exchanged a silent exchange.

They might be doing this just to get another Love Shack, you know, Sebastian's expression communicated wordlessly.

When Violet did not answer right away, Sam padded the idea with additional support. "The one you already had built for your brother is occupied, so if the only way to get new tools is to get another house, that's still a killer deal."

Yeah, I know. But they're right, Violet shrugged at Sebastian. As Shane pointed out in the debate earlier that week, there were no good-paying jobs or available land to build new houses in town. A lot of young adults in town were stuck in a similar situation. Too broke to buy a place in town, but that also meant moving to the city was out of the question, too.

Guest cabins were only one hundred gold and the she still had plenty of usable land. Besides, if Zach - or either of her parents - ever came to visit her, Violet thought it was best to create some distance so she could keep some iota of privacy. Bex would probably insist on staying in the main farmhouse, but Violet did not mind that.

"Okay, I'll let Robin know when we get out of here today," Violet committed to the plan, but added her own caveat. "Assuming we get back to Sebastian's house before she closes shop." The woman resumed mining the last of the rocks on the level before the four of them climbed down the ladder deeper into the mines.

Luck was not on their side that day, but between the four of them, they slogged through five total levels, guaranteeing them a new starting point the next time they all ventured into the mines. Violet appreciated her friends helping her gather all the materials for the new farm equipment. The group collected enough iron ore to smelt into several bars, which Violet would combine with her wood, oak resin, and copper to craft a few kegs. It would not be nearly enough, however. Violet could tell from the number of mutant hops and blueberries she had in storage that it would take ages to get through all the ingredients and brew wine and ale for Krobus.

Perhaps if the others were not available throughout the week, she could come back by herself to finish the job during the day before they had band practice in the evenings. Hell, she could even practice singing the lyrics of their songs while working. The walls of the caves would probably provide a nice echo, too.

It was getting close to four and Violet excused herself to go catch Robin before the carpentry shop closed. "Is it cool if we try to go a little further without you?" Sam asked, addressing the other couple. He assumed Sebastian would accompany his girlfriend out of the mines, but he directed his next comment to Violet. "If you let me borrow a pickaxe, I'll definitely mine any obvious ores or minerals I see."

Violet beamed appreciatively. "Thanks, Sam. By all means!" The cultivator enthusiastically surrendered her pickaxe to the blond. "Be safe, you two!" the pastel-haired woman called back over her shoulder before climbing the ladder toward the surface. Sebastian glanced at the remaining couple and took the hint when Sam winked at him.

"See you tomorrow for practice," Sebastian mumbled, dismissing himself from their presence before following Violet up toward the surface. He tried his best not to look up at Violet's backside too often, only when completely necessary to judge distances.

Once they reached the main cavern, Violet turned around to help him over the ledge. "Thanks so much for helping me today," the farmer expressed to her boyfriend with a smile. "It means a lot."

Sebastian shrugged. "Well, I did make you promise not to go into the mines by yourself on unlucky days," he muttered in reply. Now that they were in a safe zone, the sorcerer felt an odd sensation that had not been present on the lower floors of the mines. Maybe it was all the magic he used today?

Violet tilted her head to better see his face and furrowed her eyebrows. "Are you okay?" she inquired, gently touching his shoulder. "Something seems… different."

The hoodie-clad man noticed strange movement in the flickering torchlight. Like something was lurking, watching him on the edge of his peripheral vision. It made the hairs on his neck and arms stand on end. "Let's get out of here…" he requested, taking Violet's hand and leading her out of the mines.