Prysmcat

  Being awake seemed like a good start, although it felt like I spent a lot of time tely waking up in odd pces and having to do a rapid assessment of the situation.

  Gss Shallows Quincunx. Right.

  I sat up and checked myself over. Midnight-blue skin, lean sleek body, pale hair that was trailing on the floor while I was sitting. Of course I was wearing only a wrapped sarong-type garment of fine mesh not unlike my world’s fishnet, in a diagonal soft-edged pastel rainbow, fastened by a brooch of gold set with five small white pearls. My bag was there and appeared intact, white and gold and rainbow-fringed.

  I wouldn’t be able to bring up my dispy and see if I had gained new abilities or anything fun like that until I was out of the Quincunx. Besides, Serru was waiting for me, and while I trusted her good sense and survival instincts and she should be close enough to other people to be safe, I still wanted to get back to her.

  Three done, one more of the regur sites to go and then the central one.

  I got up, and took a st look around. Pretty as it was, I was finished here.

  I retraced my path out. The lighting remained bad, but it didn’t matter. I knew where I was, how deep underground and what direction I was going in and where Serru was from there. I could feel the proximity of the walls even if I closed my eyes, just from the currents of air against my skin, although of course that sense worked much better in water. I didn’t need to be able to see.

  I reached the surface under moonlight.

  Serru was... that way.

  I’d reached this point via a maze of isnds and bridges and causeways, I remembered that.

  Why had I done that, instead of the much simpler option of swimming?

  In confusion, I dismissed the question. More importantly, swimming would get me back to Serru more quickly. I could check that everything in my bag was in the waterproof section, just in case.

  On the other hand, it was a gorgeous night. Swimming would be fast, but why rush? I was still somewhat disoriented, which seemed to be normal after my Quincunx adventures. A rexed stroll would give me more time to get my bearings. So to speak. I couldn’t get physically lost, which would be very easy for someone to do if they didn’t have a real sense of direction.

  The route seemed to involve fewer twists and turns and small isnds and narrow bridges than I vaguely remembered on the way there. I didn’t see a house or garden or even a rge enough parcel of solid nd to hold it, but I might be taking a more direct route, since for some reason I’d needed to ask for directions on the way in.

  The moonlight on the water was beautiful, creating highlights on the small rippling waves that edged towards one pearly tint or another close to their reflections and averaged out at silver-lic-blue farther away. Three different kinds of nightbirds, including one with a haunting cry that reminded me of a common loon even if it wasn’t really the same, called intermittently, adding counterpoint to the peaceful sounds of water on stone and wind in trees. I wanted to get back to Serru, but I was right here, right now, surrounded by awe-inspiring tranquil beauty, and no moment ever repeated.

  There were the square pilrs, and that was the three-way intersection, which meant I needed to go right, and I would need to turn right again at the crossroads, and then there was a final bridge. My skin felt dry; I had no idea how long I’d been unconscious, but quite possibly a day or two. Getting thoroughly wet, at least briefly, was probably a sensible idea, and I might as well do it now. My bag was resting on my hip with only a single strap, not close to my body to reduce drag, but I wasn’t going to be racing and it would be fine for a short swim. I stepped into the water, sighing in pleasure at the way it wrapped around me and supported me, cooled me and soothed my skin. I didn’t go all the way under, vaguely uncomfortable with the idea for no reason I could pce, but it nonetheless felt wonderful and was still faster than taking the bridge.

  There was a faint glow from the firepit but that was all. Near it, one person sat on one of the log stools. Her rosy hair hung in wet tendrils as she combed it, so she must have just been in for a swim of her own; she was wearing her sky-blue and white dress instead of her more practical clothes, and I saw a kettle next to the fire, with one mug beside it. She’d paused, though, looking in my direction as I waded up the slope of fine round gravel towards her.

  “Nathan?” she said questioningly.

  “Of course I’m... no, wait... I mean, yes, I am, but...” I stopped, trying to realign all the mental pieces.

  Right. That was why so much didn’t make sense. What I was right now, no matter how natural it felt, wasn’t what I’d always been. Wasn’t, in fact, what I’d ever been before.

  “Are you all right?” She set down her comb and got up to close the distance between us, since I wasn’t doing it anymore.

  “I think so. This bit is confusing. It doesn’t seem to get easier.”

  She closed a hand around one of mine. This close, it was clear that I was something like a hand’s width taller than her. “I’m right here. You’re you. Human or centaur or felid or aquian, you are still the same person under everything.”

  Aquian. Well, that fit, and was actually sort of appropriate, all things considered.

  I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, then another. “Okay. I knew this was almost certainly going to happen. It’s sure to happen once more at the fourth site. I can handle this.”

  “Of course you can. You adjusted to the others and, at times, you choose them even when you have no practical need. I imagine you’ll come to appreciate aspects of this form, as well. But, as with the others, it may take a little time. Do you have new abilities as well?”

  “Good question.” I used my free hand to gesture my dispy into sight.

  It came up as a pleasant blue-green, deeper than aquamarine but not as dark as teal.

  “Well, this is an interesting set of abilities,” I said, spinning the dial slowly. “Identify Pnt. Identify Mineral. Find Nearest. And multiple ways to charge water so that it does things: make pnts grow fast, make them develop to the next stage, make water into a version of Recovery or Cleanse that won’t st long. Something called Sterilize Water it says is for alchemy.”

  “So,” Serru said, “your centaur form is a generalist healer. Your felid form is an alchemist who can make items useful to a healer. And your aquian form has abilities specialized for providing the materials an alchemist needs in order to make those items.”

  “They integrate rather nicely, don’t they? I wonder what’s left that the st one can add. Is there anything gatherable left in the area I can try to Identify?”

  She smiled. “Nothing I can reach, of course. But it would make no sense for such a skill to work only on something still growing. Let’s see what I have that you can test that on.”

  I followed her back towards the firepit and her things. “I guess my reward bag figured out how to be aquian too? It looks different again.” I swung it around so I could take a better look.

  “Not a surprise, aquians have specific needs, of course. Everyday bags are double-sided, with a section that keeps the contents dry and a section that is of use while underwater, and they often have complex adaptable straps so they can be kept close to the body.”

  “Right. I’ll try to figure it out ter, then.”

  She dropped to one knee and searched inside her own brown-and-green satchel, producing a handful of something that looked rather stringy and, in the moonlight, very dark. “This will do. What can you tell me about it?”

  I brought my dispy back up, spun the dial to Identify Pnt, which was quite an inexpensive skill, and reached out with my other hand to touch it while I fttened the first in the centre of the dial.

  “Whoa. Okay.” Text appeared on my dispy. “It’s called red seacress. It’s native to the Gss Shallows and typically grows under water a meter to three meters deep. It’s uncommon in the wild, but there’s a more common farmed version called crimson seacress that isn’t considered to taste quite as good. Usually it’s used fresh in sads to add a bit of a tangy bite. Recommended buyer: restaurant.”

  Serru nodded and slipped it back into her bag. “Accurate as far as it goes. It grows on rocky ground, not sandy or silty. It prefers the ndward side of isnds. Causeways that run parallel to the mainnd are ideal pces to find it, especially under blue willow trees. Where it does gain a foothold, it spreads rapidly into a rge patch difficult for other water pnts to out-compete, but it can be over-harvested by people, wildlife, or some combination, and eliminated that way. I took no more than a quarter of what was avaible, so it should recover quickly.”

  “I would not have done that and would probably have gathered everything in sight on the assumption that it would regrow. Clearly, it’s an ability that might have some uses, but it absolutely does not compare to a lifetime of actual skill and experience.”

  “And where would you gain that, hm? You make excellent use of what you have and you listen to others. Come have some tea, and I’ll tell you what I know about aquians that you need.”

  “Love to.”

  We both settled by the fire, and Serru filled a second mug and handed it to me before picking up her own. How she could be so calm, just accepting that I was still me despite yet another physical change, baffled me, but I was grateful for it. It went a long way towards helping to integrate my regur self and the new dream-memories that made everything feel natural and normal.

  Maybe it was repetition, maybe not, but I wasn’t feeling all that stressed about that. These phases when everything was new were unique and impossible to repeat, and there was no reason I could think of right now to rush it instead of just observing my own reactions and how the process worked.

  “I don’t expect any issues with diet,” she mused. “Aquians eat more or less what humans do, perhaps with less of an inclination towards cooked foods other than fish—so, fresh vegetables and fruit, alone or as sads, rather than grain products. Aquians do not thrive away from water for extended periods, but many live or work on nd in the Gss Shallows and along rivers and kes everywhere, since they breathe air and water equally well. Excessive heat can be a problem. There are several varieties of lotion avaible to help prevent dry skin.”

  “All useful to know. I’m pretty sure my felid form adores all the heat possible so I can probably just switch if that becomes an issue.”

  “What might be more difficult to accept is that aquians generally consider themselves inherently fluid, due to two biological quirks. Aquians do not always have legs. Infant aquians change from legs to a scaled tail with wide flukes instinctively the instant they are immersed in water. Adult aquians learn to repress the instinct and allow it selectively. It would not have been efficient for Anid to change back and forth simply to help dock the boat each time, but to travel between isnds underwater, it increases speed beyond anything even the best human swimmer could keep up with.”

  “Huh. That’s interesting.” I took a sip of tea while I looked back through the dream-memories in my head. “I... maybe I know how. I’ll have to get in the water to try. It can’t be any stranger than having four legs. What’s the other quirk?”

  “Aquians are neither male nor female but have the potential for both. Outside of a sexual situation, it’s simply irrelevant. Within a sexual situation, within a short time an aquian will change to match the preferred sex of their partner.” She chuckled. “I’m told that with a partner who has no preference, or multiple partners with varied preferences, factors can become so complex it’s essentially random which way the coin falls.”

  “That... um. That might take some getting used to. Although I don’t pn on being in any sexual situations with anyone, so possibly not all that relevant, really.” Now I was really curious just what was under my clothes. And what would happen in bed with someone.

  “As I said, aquians consider it a manifestation of essential fluidity. I doubt either will be insurmountable for you, despite being different.”

  “They might have been a problem without the warning. Knowing about it, I’m sure I can manage. Anything else come to mind?”

  “Aquians tend towards clothing that is made of mesh or fine net, or alternatively lightweight woven fabrics, things that are soft and dry quickly. They’re often wrapped and tied or pinned, or constructed in specific ways that won’t cause seams to chafe and abrade skin. Wearing nothing or only accessories above the waist is quite common, especially in the Gss Shallows.”

  “Terenei’s going to have fun with that.”

  She ughed. “I haven’t the slightest doubt. I can’t think of anything else presently. I’ll let you know if anything does come to mind.”

  “Right. Well. Since I can’t tell you what I do remember since I st saw you... anything happen here?”