5.13 - Helena

"You know, we haven't been putting this thing to good enough use," Delta said. "Sure, we've been busy, but body swapping? There's some fun we could have."

"Let's focus on the mission," Zoey said—though she didn't disagree. "What do you plan on saying to them?"

"No clue. Just gonna bullshit my way through."

"Right."

"And get ready to run if things go poorly," Delta added with amusement. "I give us fifty-fifty odds. We're going in a little blind."

Zoey shook her head in exasperation. It wasn't like she had a better plan, though. They knew far too little about, well, anything related to this cult. Maybe formally joining with the organization would have been a safer path, but that would have taken too much time—and who knew what initiation would have included?

And Delta at least seemed to know what she was doing, in the sense she was comfortable 'bullshitting'. She strode forward with perfect confidence, Zoey accompanying her at her shoulder, and she looked every part the image of Jacquelyn. She even seemed to have adopted her posture and mannerisms. Had Delta been studying the woman in preparation for that?

"Small boob girls have all the luck, don't they?" Delta said suddenly. "These are so much more manageable. I kinda forgot about it since I was last inside Rosalie."

"Inside her? Don't phrase it like that."

Having rejoined the main hall where the soirée was taking place, Delta beelined for one of the black-masked individuals who were full members of the Church. They had picked the person out beforehand; he seemed relatively important by the way he held himself, and they hadn't already pestered him in an attempt to get into contact with the mysterious wayfarer. He shouldn't have a reason to suspect them. Some tactical eavesdropping had also gotten them a name.

His eyes latched to Delta and Zoey—or to his perspective, Jacquelyn and Zoey—well before they arrived. Delta's serious face and quick stride had drawn his attention.

"Issac," Delta said. "We have a situation."

"We do?" He didn't sound perturbed at the announcement, though he did tense slightly. "Who is this?"

"Zara. She's brought me some troubling news."

"Of what sort?"

"The kind best discussed with the higher ups." Delta hesitated, then said, "She's a first advancement wayfarer. She's run into something similar as that artifact of ours."

Surprise registered on Issac's face. "She has?"

"Doesn't want to share the exact details. Not except with anyone but …" Delta hesitated, as if she'd almost accidentally revealed the mysterious wayfarer's name. She falsely corrected herself, preserving the stranger's identity—though Delta obviously didn't know it. "You know. Our friend who found the original."

Issac considered the two of them.

"Someone should relay the message to her," Delta said. "See if she's interested in meeting."

Zoey wouldn't say Issac looked suspicious, but he did seem dubious. He couldn't know that Delta had stolen Jacquelyn's body, but rather, he probably suspected that Zoey was simply lying. Delta's tone of voice, though, implied that whatever Zoey had told her had been convincing, which lent Zoey credibility.

She didn't know where Jacquelyn stood in this Church, but she had enough influence—or the story wasn't suspicious enough—that Issac only studied them for another few moments before nodding.

"Follow me."

Nervous, Zoey did so. She hadn't even gotten a word in. Delta was doing all the heavy lifting in this encounter, and Zoey was more along for the ride than anything.

There was the option of actually fetching the broken artifact from Fe, which would obviously give them an audience with the Church—but that would have taken more time, and Delta and Zoey had been doubtful how much of a run-around they would be given. By stealing Jacquelyn's body, they were fast-tracking the whole situation, though with much higher risk. With luck, they'd be able to speak directly to the mysterious wayfarer and have a frank conversation. Whether they'd be able to get anything out of her was up in the air, but it seemed like their best bet.

Issac led them to a small meeting room deeper into the building's interior. She wasn't sure whether this structure was rented for the event alone or the Church's property. Issac, at least, seemed familiar with the place, which indicated the latter.

"Take a seat," he told Zoey. "We'll relay what you had to say."

Zoey paused. She shared a glance with Delta, who seemed utterly unconcerned with the development—that she would have to accompany Issac to go talk with 'the higher ups'.

Zoey could hardly imagine a reason to insist that she stayed with Delta, or Delta with her while Issac handled it alone, so she nodded and settled into a chair. Issac and Delta exited, closing the door behind them, and Zoey was left alone with her thoughts.

Minutes ticked by, and she realized how poorly this could go. They had a significant safety blanket in the form of being third-advancement wayfarers, and were many times stronger than a typical person, but Delta had acknowledged that there might be stronger fighters than them in this organization. And if they did, then Delta had probably just gone to see them—while wearing the body of one of their recruits.

Delta seemed to be generally good at 'bullshitting', but would it take her that far?

Was Zoey going to have to mount a desperate rescue attempt?

What a disaster. She was supposed to be practicing spellcraft with Maddy right about now. Instead, she was seated, alone, in the bowels of a cultist's potential headquarters, waiting for her teammate to infiltrate their leadership and convince a mysterious wayfarer—who had apparently survived through a corrupted shard—to come and talk with her. There were so many ways for this to go wrong it was nearly comical.

Ten minutes later, the door opened, and two people walked in. Delta—in Jacquelyn's body—and a new woman. Issac didn't join them; Delta trailed in second and closed the door behind them.

Delta shared a quick look with Zoey, who had risen from her chair, and her lips quirked in self-satisfaction. She gave a short, nearly smug nod, to let her know that everything had gone well. Or at least non-disastrously. Zoey was as impressed as she was relieved.

The newcomer was a tall woman, though a few inches shorter than Zoey herself. She had short, wavy blonde hair. Her brown eyes were calm and collected, and she surveyed the room as soon as she entered, noting the occupant—Zoey—and checking for anything suspicious, a habit nearly all wayfarers shared. When every delve meant possible deadly traps around any corner, it became ingrained instinct to check out one's surroundings, even in the safety of the city. Delta did it too. Even Zoey was starting to.

Based on that, Zoey suspected Delta had somehow managed to convince the mysterious wayfarer to come talk to Zoey. Whether that had been simple or difficult, she didn't know. The Church hadn't seemed eager to let Delta and Zoey simply meet the woman without any kind of vouch—and without a reason why—but maybe now that Jacquelyn had been the one to request the meeting, joined with the claim that Zoey had found something similar to their own artifact, they were apparently more than willing.

It was fortunate that the wayfarer had come alone. Getting to talk to her without having to deal with other members of the Church simplified things.

Unfortunately, Delta's role in the masquerade had ended. When it came to the discovery herself, and working out any potential information, it was Zoey's time to shine.

"Uh," Zoey said. "Hi there."

"Zara?" the woman asked.

The fake name she'd given. Delta's had been 'Dalia'.

"Yeah."

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Helena. What happened to that friend of yours?"

Zoey glanced Delta's way, but fortunately, that wasn't suspicious—Jacquelyn had been the woman to bring Zoey in.

But they'd been paying attention. They knew Zoey had come with Delta. Had Helena heard about how the two of them had been trying to get her attention earlier?

"She left," Zoey said. "I stayed."

"Why?"

"I wanted to talk about this with someone. She didn't think it was smart."

"So you confronted us alone?"

"Confronted?"

Helena smiled. "That's a hostile way to put it, I apologize. But if you have information on what you say you do—well, it's a sensitive topic, isn't it? Coming alone might not have been smart. Of course, I'm implying nothing. You're safe here. The Church would never see you harmed. Just, wayfarers tend to be more careful than that."

"Maybe the wayfarers you know." Zoey shrugged. "Besides, I'm not worried. I just wanted someone to talk to."

Helena pulled out a chair and sat. Zoey, who had stood when they entered, did the same. Delta stayed by the wall, behind Helena. Helena didn't ask her to join them. This was a conversation between her and Zoey; Jacquelyn was a background character in Helena's mind.

"Let's get to it, then," Helena said. "Jacquelyn says you've been to one of the corrupted shards. She said you were convincing, but only wanted to speak to me. So I'm here."

"You're the one who found it, then?" Zoey asked. "Just to verify."

Helena raised an eyebrow, but humored her. "Yes."

"And what was the shard like?" She wanted some sort of confirmation beyond Helena's word.

"What was yours like?" Helena countered, probably wanting the same.

Zoey considered how to answer. It was fair she'd have to prove herself first. "Unstable. But I don't think it was as bad as yours. The item we found was only damaged, not … whatever yours was."

Helena considered her. "I suppose that makes sense. A first advancement would never have made it out, had it been like mine."

"And what was yours like?"

Helena scrutinized her for a moment, debating whether she wanted to answer. She didn't seem overly reluctant to broach this topic, and if anything, seemed interested in Zoey and her story, but Zoey got the impression this wasn't something she simply chatted about to anyone.

"Imbalanced," Helena settled on. "Certain parts of the shard were easier than they should've been. Other parts harder. Some aspects of the shard didn't work correctly. The portals were especially unreliable. I feared I wouldn't be able to leave."

"Ours wasn't nearly as bad," Zoey said honestly. "The shard mostly worked. There were just strange behaviors."

"Like the item you found? And was it just one?"

"Just the one," Zoey confirmed. "We could've found more, but seeing how it was—broken, lacking a better word, we stopped interacting with the shard. We didn't think it safe. We rushed for the boss and exited as soon as we could." It was more or less the truth, if obscuring relevant details.

"And the item itself?"

"A sword," Zoey said. "We can sort of make out what the description is, but it was distorted. It wasn't like yours, where it's total nonsense."

"Where is it? And what was the description? Does it behave oddly?"

"I'd rather not say."

"Why not?"

Zoey shrugged.

"Don't trust me?" Helena asked. She sounded amused, not offended. "You came looking to talk to me, not the other way around, I'll remind you."

"But I still don't know you," Zoey said. "I just wanted to talk with someone about it all. It's been kind of freaking me out."

"That's reasonable," Helena said. "If the breaking-down of our world doesn't unnerve you, what would?"

"Do you know what it is? How it's happening?"

"The corruption?"

"Yeah."

"It's our sins made manifest," Helena replied coolly—for the second time jolting Zoey with the transition from reasonable-sounding talk into cultish talk. "We've made that clear, haven't we?"

The response took some of the wind out of Zoey's sails. It shouldn't be surprising that a member of this Church would believe in her own doctrine, but Zoey had been hoping for some new insight with this meeting. Maybe she and Delta had found someone who had been to a corrupted shard, but whether the Church knew anything about the shard-eaters themselves? That had been far from a guarantee, and so far, this conversation wasn't promising that they'd dig up more. They might have come here for no reason.

"And is that what you really think?" Zoey asked. "That's all you have?"

"All I have?"

"No other theories? Or specifics how it's happening?"

"It almost sounds like you have one."

"No," Zoey said. "Not really."

"A skeptic. I understand. But what else would explain it? For that matter, how could we possibly know how it's happening? It's a working of the gods. Something far beyond us."

"I suppose that makes sense," Zoey said, disappointed. "I just thought you'd seen something more, maybe. That this wasn't all."

Helena considered Zoey. Her eyes narrowed the slightest amount.

She leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms. 

"Noticed something else," Helena quoted. "Maybe I have. But have you? In your travels?"

Zoey blinked. The shift in conversation was promising, though for some reason didn't seem to be related to the topic at hand. Zoey asked for clarification. "How so?"

"Not a corrupted shard. Or, in the way we've both seen. A different type of corruption."

"A different type?"

"One that acts aberrantly? I thought that was what you were implying."

"I've seen … some odd stuff, yes. From other shards." Zoey was mostly fishing for information—though she wasn't lying that she'd seen some bizarre stuff during her short time in this world.

Helena considered whether to answer. "Non standard shards." She shifted in place. The woman had been mostly stoic thus far, so the sudden change in demeanor was immediately noticeable. "Not broken, perhaps, but unlike any other. One that behaves strangely. That's what you're talking about?"

Zoey paused. An idea popped into her head, seeing Helena's shift in demeanor—almost as if she'd grown suddenly embarrassed. Combined with the talk of 'strange shards', Zoey's mind went one place in particular.

"Behaves strangely," Zoey said slowly. "As in … inappropriately?" It was the easiest word to use that hinted at what she suspected, but didn't outright give her away.

Helena's eyes widened, and Zoey's did in return—because she knew she'd gotten it right.

Helena hadn't just been to a corrupted shard, but she'd been to one of Zoey's shards? 

A perverted one?