Tanya gawked in unreal fascination at the thing that had manifested in front of her.

Thanks to Zuken, she’d been convinced that this Joey was some kind of grotesque, bloodthirsty monster that could wipe out their world in the blink of an eye and got its kicks from murdering innocent babies. It was fitting, in her mind, that Joey survived the trial of time by deceiving airheads like Elena and posing as their familiar while continuing its mass-slaughtering.

She expected to see something horrifying.

The creature staring at her was anything but that.

One glance, and Tanya knew for a fact that Zuken’s impression was wrong. This thing couldn’t go on a rampage and kill thousands.

You needed legs for that.

Not to mention, something— anything —to use as a potential weapon to take down your enemies. The cute, cuddly, plump, bluish-green oyster-looking baby with large, bright eyes and wriggling tentacles simply did not look the type. It had two pairs of wings on its back—too short to be anything other than vestigial —and had the seriousness of a newborn puppy.

“This… is Joey?”

“Isn’t he the cutest?” Elena squealed, proceeding to cuddle the life out of her familiar. The creature let out a gurgle, one that Tanya felt was a prayer to save it from the brunette’s murderous clutches. Even more strange, however, was the fact that she actually agreed with Elena’s sentiment.

In a strange way, it was kind of cute.

She glanced towards Zuken, who seemed very intent on not looking at Joey.

Or in his general direction.

“Alright, seriously, what’s the matter with you?”

“Did you look into its eyes?” the Banksi spat, visibly uncomfortable with the situation.

Tanya frowned. What was so special about its eyes?

“I did, but what’s wrong with—”

“What’s wrong?” Zuken shot an incredulous look towards her, only to look away as he realized Joey had fallen into his line of sight as well. “It— doesn’t it— doesn’t it horrify you?” he finished in a broken, unsure voice. “Doesn’t it make you see things?”

Tanya glanced back at the creature. Right into its eyes, for good measure.

…

“He’s just fucking with you,” Elena sighed.

“I’m NOT!” Zuken retorted.

Tanya just stared at the back of Zuken’s head, completely bewildered. In all the time she had known him, the Banksi had shown her several facets of his character. He could be mean as fuck in one moment, sweet as candy the very next, and then immediately cold as ice and evil as hell. The man was practically a kaleidoscope of emotion, but still retained perfect control over his countenance— he acted a certain way because he wanted to.

When something scared the shit out of him, Zuken was not above glibly insulting it, even at the expense of making it angry. And this was something made more apparent throughout their anomaly mission, since something scary was lurking in every shadowy corner. But as long as she’d known him, whether in a casual conversation or the midst of battle, Zuken Banksi had never lost his composure.

Except when it came to Joey.

Even the slightest mention of the monster baby’s name managed to set him off. It was anathema, as far as he was concerned. Not too long ago, when they were struggling against the phaser hounds, he’d been lobbing random witty comments along with his attacks.

Now?

He was snarling.

Tanya met Joey’s gaze once more.

Still nothing.

Even if the creature had some sort of psychic ability that weirded the crap out of Zuken, it apparently had no effect on herself. Or Elena, for that matter. Sure, Elena was a changeling and elves, by their nature, had a very powerful immunity against mental intrusions and compulsions. She herself was just—

Tanya’s heart began beating faster.

Oh.

When she thought about it from that perspective, it all clicked. Elena was a changeling. Zuken was a pure bremetan— Asukan, to be exact. And she was—

Stop thinking about it. Stop. Thinking. About. It.

Faster.

Stop… Thinking… About…

Faster.

Her fingernails dug into her palms, drawing droplets of blood. An icy fear began to spread across her chest, and everything around her slowly turned into—

“TANYA!” Zuken’s words cracked like a whip, and she finally realized that she was, in fact, shaking. She looked down at his hand, which had a death grip around her arm, his dark eyes betraying the growing tension he was feeling.

Tanya couldn’t help herself.

She flinched.

Had he— had they found out? Had she lost control again?

“Did you… Did you feel it?”

“Feel what?” Surprisingly, it was Elena who had raised the question. The brunette was looking at her familiar oddly, and she seemed surprisingly conflicted for someone who was so confident in Joey’s innocence.

Zuken didn’t respond to her question, his gaze still fixed on Tanya’s countenance.

“Zuken…” Now that she’d been shaken out of it, everything would get back to normal. All she needed was a few minutes of peace and quiet. But in the present situation…

“Feel what, Zuken?” she repeated Elena’s statement.

“The— the—” Zuken had a pained look on his face. “Like you’d just lost everything you consider important? Like living in constant despair? Like seeing all your worst nightmares come to life?”

Tanya swallowed. Was that what this creature did to him? Did it have some sort of ability to manipulate bremetan minds and make them regurgitate all their nightmares?

She steadied her breath. “No.”

“…No?”

Tanya bit her lip. A part of her was screaming that she should’ve just said yes and put this whole episode behind her. But admitting weakness, especially when it wasn’t actually there, wasn’t something she was about to do.

“No,” she repeated. This time, her voice was firmer.

“What do you mean no?” His stare was confrontational. “You looked so terrified all of a sudden. You were trembling!”

“I—” Tanya tried to think of a suitable excuse. “I arrived at a very dangerous conclusion.”

“About that thing?”

“No.”

“You were staring at that thing!” Zuken snapped. “You met its gaze several times, and then you looked like a single poke could knock you over! Your face was practically hysterical, and you’re saying it was—”

“That’s right. It was something else,” Tanya replied, a touch of coldness in her now-normal tone. “And I’ll say it again. I arrived at a very dangerous conclusion, but I was just… overanalyzing things.” She glanced at Joey once more, and this time made a point to crouch right in front of it. “See? Nothing’s wrong.”

“Then what could possibly make you start shaking just by thinking about it?” Elena probed.

“Nothing pertaining to you,” Tanya snapped. “What sort of creature is this anyway?”

“I’m… not sure,” Elena admitted. “I asked around, but nobody could tell me anything.” Her face scrunched up. “One of the crazy elders I met mentioned the word yith—”

“Yith?”

“Yith,” Elena half-asked, half-stated, as if tasting the word. “Or maybe it was Tith? Pith?” She sheepishly grinned. “I kinda forgot what it was called.”

Tanya shook her head in fond exasperation, before quickly stopping herself. As much as she liked to pretend otherwise, the changeling was starting to grow on her. In some respects that was an even scarier thought than before.

“So, what does it do?”

The yith blinked its bulbous blue eyes owlishly.

“He’s adept at sensing,” Elena explained, “far more than I am. And— and I think he has some skill at enthralling.”

“You think?”

“It’s easy to forget,” she defended, flushing with embarrassment. “I haven’t really tried that angle for his development over the last couple of years.”

Tanya blinked.

Anomalies were a dangerous business.

No reasonable adventurer ever attempted to wade through such dangerous territory without the full-fledged support of a team. A group of weapons-users to take care of the brawn, a healer in case of injuries, and a supporting caster to help with offensive fire and some defense.

It was a standard adventurer team’s formation.

And until very recently, Olfric thought the same. But now, he’d spurn that notion in a heartbeat. Degenerate beasts or not, there was nothing better than having a group of yokai aiding you through an anomaly. Especially when said group was under orders by a genuinely scary woman, who was incidentally a yokai herself, not to mention the leader of their hidden organization.

And that meant while on his mission, Olfric Bergott was their situational leader, and thus expected everyone to obey his every command.

“Will this even work?” a female Cyffnarian soldier’s body possessed by one of the yokai— she was a Kasha, an ethereal, fire-breathing, scratching, biting, lava-sprouting feline if he recalled correctly —asked. At first glance, any neutral observer would probably think he was surrounded by Cyffnarian troops. With the exception of those hounds, of course, but Olfric had already sent them scouting into the anomaly, looking for potential adventurers to kill.

As for whatever remained, he and his new team would take care of it.

“Yes, it’ll work,” Olfric retorted. It was one thing to not be used to strategic warfare, and another thing entirely to question the plans crafted by an Asukan noble. Really, just what did these degenerates think he was there for? Eye candy?

“Okay. Listen up folks,” he announced. “That crazy, black-haired woman ordered you all to come with me and help on this mission. And you will. I have a vested interest in seeing this mission succeed, as per the arrangement between the woman and myself.”

“What arrangement?” another possessed soldier— one with glowing, purple eyes that creeped him out more than he was willing to acknowledge —questioned. “We didn’t hear anything about an arrangement.”

“That only goes to show you the hierarchy we have among ourselves. First the woman, then myself, then you acolytes. Now, as I was saying,” he continued on in full stride, “if this mission doesn’t succeed, I’ll be in trouble with your leader. And so will you. So long as you are all helpful to my mission and get me in and out in one piece, I will support you all. But the second I think you’re a liability or counterproductive…”

He swept a gaze over them, taking in the sight of his cohort of possessed Cyffnarian soldiers and pausing his gaze on Kasha’s flat stare. “Are we in agreement?”

“Tempting,” the fire-breathing monstrosity answered through the soldier’s mouth. “But what’s stopping me from tearing your heart out right now and feasting on it?”

“I suppose you could go ahead and do that,” Olfric bluffed, mustering up every bit of confidence he could. “And while you’re at it, make sure to think of a nice apology for your leader who is definitely not going to like what happened to her sole hope.”

He saw something flicker in the soldier’s eyes and pressed his point. “Let’s get one thing straight. I’m the only one who knows the adventurers inside— their weaknesses, strengths, and strategies. I’m the only one who can help you gain Asukan machinery for your dilapidated shacks. I’m the only one who can fight the genius loci.” His grin widened with every new statement. “Which means I get to live on, and it’s on you lot to ensure that it happens. If I die, you get to feed on me while wallowing at your own failure.”

“You have no shame, do you?” the Kasha asked after a long, frustrated pause.

“Shame,” Olfric smirked, “is for those who fail to live up to their ideals.” He cocked his head lightly to the side. “I’m an Asukan. Victory is all that matters to me. Killing the genius loci would mean getting your leader what she wants, which is victory. Gaining those seals in exchange for Asukan machinery is victory. You keep working towards that, and I’ll look out for you. As far as I can see, I’m standing for what I’ve always believed in.”

The Kasha remained silent.

Olfric inhaled. “If it doesn’t evolve you, then it doesn’t involve you.”

The sound of sudden, violent screeching attracted his attention.

“Well fellas,” Olfric clapped his hands, “it’s time for you to do what you came for. Two of you stay, the rest go and take care of whatever new monster has popped up in this anomaly.”

“And what will you do?” the Kasha pressed.

“I’ll do what I always do. Make the best decision. Now go on,” he gestured dismissively. “Go shed some blood.”