Chapter 294: First Impressions

Jadis’ life had grown to involve far too many lies. Considering how infrequently she’d lied in her previous life on Earth, she felt like she was doing far, far too much of it on Oros. Not that she didn’t have good reason to hide some truths. She was a reincarnated soul sent to the world as a trickster god’s personal avatar to cause disruption to the status quo. Some things she felt she had to keep secret, for her own safety if nothing else. All that said, she was trying not to lie to the people who mattered to her anymore. Her lovers deserved nothing but the truth from her lips on all things, especially since Aila, Eir, Kerr, and Thea had all committed themselves to her in such serious and genuine fashion. Which was why it pained her core to not immediately tell them about Alex.

She’d stayed up most of the night thinking about how she was going to tell them. She was intensely nervous about their reactions, especially since she had made a promise to Aila that if Alex ever tried to possess anyone, she’d kill the demon herself. Jadis didn’t think what Alex had done to Eike counted as possession per se. It was more like recycling, if she were being generous. Certainly, what the demon had done was defensive in nature, not a malicious hostile act. However, Aila might not see it that way, and if she didn’t then the argument was going to be a long one.

She didn’t even want to think about how Eir would react.

Before Jadis knew it, the morning had come and she’d gotten very little rest, nor had she actually taken the necessary step and told any of her companions about Alex. By then, the camp was up and the necessary privacy was lost. Jadis was forced to bite her tongue and wait.

Doing her best to act natural and not call any attention to the demon hiding in the wagon, Jadis spent the day in much the same way as she had the day before. Training with Noll.

Since the wagon was being pulled by her four goats, Jadis could devote her time to being more than just a beast of burden. Since Noll was travelling openly with their expedition, he used the time to continue her instruction. He couldn’t teach her much about weapon forms and martial stances while they were on the move but he could educate her about other things. Primarily, he taught her how to move through a forest without leaving a lot of tracks.

Forcing her to leave her armor in the wagon so that she wouldn’t clatter and clank like a whole regiment of soldiers, Noll led Jadis’ three selves through the trees, teaching her about various stealth and tracking techniques, some basic and some more advanced. Kerr followed with them, of course, since the subject was very much her area of expertise, though she didn’t hesitate to ask the older therion her own questions when he brought up skills and techniques that she wasn’t familiar with.

Strangely, Tegwyn also joined them, though not so much to learn as to impart his own lessons. He didn’t teach her anything about sneaking or tracking, but instead told her information about the various trees, plants, animals, and magic beasts that were native to the Great Southern Forest. The Dryad’s info paired well with Noll’s lessons, giving her guidance and advice on how to apply Noll’s lessons to the specific environment of the forest.

Despite all the great information she was being given by two excellent teachers, Jadis’ mind had trouble focusing on the lessons. Her thoughts couldn’t help but drift towards the wagon and the secret hiding within. She felt like she was dragging around a literal Pandora’s Box, one that could have massive repercussions on not just her little group, but the world at large once it was opened. As confident as she had once been, now that she was in the moment, she couldn’t help but feel some serious nerves about what was to come.

Apparently, she didn’t do as good a job at hiding her inner turmoil as she hoped as sometime in the afternoon Kerr sidled up next to Dys with a questioning look.

“Hey, big stuff, you okay? You’ve been acting like you forgot your dick in your other pants all day.”

The two were alone, Jadis’ selves having spread out by several hundred yards. Jay was with Noll and Syd was with Tegwyn, both far outside of hearing range.

“I have no idea how that would work from a biological perspective,” Dys murmured with a slight quirk to her lips.

“Bio your logic whatever,” Kerr waved a hand dismissively. “Seriously, what’s up? You’re starting to make me nervous with how preoccupied you’ve been.”

“I’ve been that obvious?” Dys asked with a frown.

Kerr nodded, then thought better of it and tilted her head in a wobbly gesture.

“Maybe not that obvious to others, but I know you. If Blue or the Voyeur or the Scarlet Slut were here, they’d notice, too. Maybe not Noll, but we can tell.”

Jadis grimaced. She didn’t want to lie to Kerr. She could just say everything was fine or push it off as a “we’ll talk about it later” situation, but she really was growing to hate all the secrets that were twisting their way into her life. Besides, she trusted Kerr, just like she trusted all of her lovers. She had to tell her some of the truth at least. It didn’t feel right not to.

“I found Alex,” Dys whispered, skipping all preamble and jumping directly into the deep end.

Kerr stared at her blankly for a moment before her eyes widened and her jaw dropped open.

“C’est quoi ce bordel?”

“What?”

“What the fuck Jadis, why didn’t you say anything? Where is the freaky little ball of slime?”

“Alex isn’t slimy,” Dys murmured, thinking about the feel of the demon’s hands and tentacles against her skin. “Alex is in the wagon, in a crate.”

“Seriously?” Kerr asked, her brow raised high. “How’d that happen? Don’t tell me it’s been in hiding in there the whole time?”

Dys frowned slightly, something about Kerr’s question triggering a reaction in Jadis. She had been referring to the demon as an “it” ever since Alex had been hatched and had continued to do so even up to last night. But now, hearing it spoken out loud by Kerr, she found the term bothered her. Alex had been a genderless blob of a tentacle demon, but that couldn’t be said anymore. Alex had come back from its absence with a decidedly human appearance. A very much feminine one, at that. The word “it” wasn’t going to work for Jadis anymore as it felt far too dehumanizing.

“Yeah, she was,” Dys answered after only a moment’s hesitation. “Alex snuck out last night and approached me. I didn’t want anyone to freak so I didn’t wake anyone, but clearly, we need to talk. I’ve been trying to think of how to get our group away from the rest of the expedition with Alex so we can discuss.”

“You are leaving a lot of things unsaid in that explanation,” Kerr narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Dys. “But I’m only going to ask about one for the moment. Why are you calling Alex a “she” now?”

Jadis wasn’t surprised that Kerr had caught onto the shift in language. As much as Kerr liked to present herself as relaxed and unbothered, even something of a fool at times, she wasn’t stupid. She had a keen mind and a quick wit that quickly picked up on subtleties. It was part of why she was such a good tracker.

“Because Alex came back different,” Dys elaborated without going too deep into the details. “She’s… evolved. Grown. She can speak now. Sort of. She’s not all that good at it yet, but we had a brief conversation. Which is why we need to talk. All of us. Including her.”

Kerr sat back on her haunches, eyes wide and unfocused as one hand covered her mouth in consternated thought. She was silent for a long minute, a few aborted attempts at words welling up from her throat but ultimately failing to form into anything coherent. Eventually, waved a boneless hand in Dys’ direction.

“Are you sure it isn’t just imitation? A trick? Like with possession?”

“Yes,” Dys said with conviction.

“Merde…” Kerr cursed, her expression shifting through a few emotions before settling on something like amusement. “What the fuck are you dragging me into, honey? This shit is way outside of my realm.”

“Wish I could tell you. I’m kind of figuring all this shit out as I go.”

Kerr let out a bark of laugher.

“Yeah, I know. I don’t mind that part, it’s what makes every day with you exciting. Still. This shit with Alex…” Kerr huffed out a sigh. Then, slapping her knees, she got to her feet and gave Dys a good poke in the stomach. “Alright. Here’s what we do. While I’m normally all for the sneaky clandestine option, this is a case where we need to just be upfront. At camp tonight we just tell Willa and Noll and the rest that we need to have a private meeting involving the future of the merc company. No outsiders invited.”

“I thought of that. We can’t do it near camp,” Dys frowned, tilting her head to one side. “Noll or Gunnar will overhear shit with that killer hearing of theirs. And if we walk away from the camp, I’m not sure how to get Alex out of the wagon without being obvious that we’re carrying shit with us.”

“So we be obvious we’re carrying shit with us,” Kerr rolled her eyes. “Bring a bunch of different crates from the wagon, act like its normal. You don’t have to explain why to Willa or anyone else. Just do it and they probably won’t even give it more than a passing thought. Seriously, big stuff, you’re supposed to be the bold one around here. I’d ask you if your balls dropped off or something, but we both know you don’t have any hanging down there.”

Dys smirked at Kerr’s barbed words, not insulted by them in the slightest. Sass was just one of the perks that came with having a girlfriend like Kerr.

Quickly taking hold of Kerr’s shoulders, she lifted the therion into the air so that her head was level with her own before she could react. Dys then soundly kissed the surprised archer, invading her mouth with an insistent tongue before pulling back abruptly.

“Thanks for the reminder, fuzz butt,” Dys grinned at Kerr before renewing their kiss.

Later, long after the kiss had ended and the expedition had found a suitable clearing to make camp for the night, Jadis found herself split between two perspectives. On one side, her Dys self was by the campfire, helping with some chores while Sorcha shadowed her. Noll and Willa both occasionally sent curious looks in her direction, but neither had made any objections to the idea of a private meeting. Just to be safe, though, Dys was keeping an eye on the rest of the camp to make sure no one was sneaking after Fortune’s Favored to spy on their impromptu gathering.

The other perspective was centered in a clearing a few hundred yards away from the camp. Jay and Syd had carried multiple crates from the wagon with them, all of them filled with various crafting supplies except for one in particular. All of her companions were with her, including Sabina and Bridget. There were various levels of curiosity on the women’s faces, and while Sabina seemed to have taken the excuse that they were discussing private business matters that involved their materials inventory, the rest of them clearly suspected more was going on.

“Okay. Now that we’re out of earshot from everyone who might want to listen, what’s this all about?” Aila asked before Jadis could begin.

“Yeah, this feels like something important is about to happen,” Bridget added, her brow creased in a frown.

“Are we not talking about crafting projects?” Sabina asked plaintively, a look of hurt disappointment on her face.

Thea patted the smith’s shoulder consolingly.

“No, we’re not out here to talk about crafting,” Jay said, waving one hand at the crates she’d placed at her feet. “Some major developments were revealed to me last night and I want to discuss it with all of you. I’m not really sure how to broach the subject though…”

“So I’m just going to tear the bandage off so we can have an honest talk between the eight of us. Alex, can you come out please?”

There were some startled looks from the gathered women, a few like Thea and Bridget even twisting their heads about to look around the dark woods surrounding them. Aila, however, focused entirely on Jay and Syd.

“You found Alex?” she asked, her stolid expression betraying the barest hint of confusion. “When did—Valtar’s Halls!”

Aila’s question was interrupted as the large crate by Syd’s feet opened on its own and Alex’s demonic form rose up from inside. It probably didn’t help the first impression that Alex’s human aspects were facing towards Jadis and away from the others, and thus most of what they saw were monstrous arms and huge tentacles. Then again, when Alex’s form twisted around to reveal the naked body that had definitely once belonged to the now dead Eike, there were even more shocked outcries of alarm.

“Alex, say hello to the rest of the team,” Jay said slowly, pointing towards the group of stunned women. “Alex. Hello. Hello.”

Alex stared unblinking at Jay, then turned to face the others with an utterly blank expression. Abruptly, the demon’s smaller hair tentacles, her human arms, and her monstrous arms all began waving in what Jadis interpreted as the familiar wiggling wave gesture that the demon had done frequently whenever it was greeting her or others from inside of its glass bottle. As a tiny squid of a demonling, the gesture had been cute. As a full-grown monster demon, it looked more like some kind of threatening display to ward off predators. Or a seizure.

“Hello…” Alex repeated in a fairly good imitation of Jay’s spoken word.

The mix of reactions were fairly dramatic. Some Jadis had expected, others she had feared, and a few she had hoped for. What she hadn’t anticipated were Alex’s next words, spoken with the same strange intonation as her greeting.

“Alex… Fuck… Now?”

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