Dulcinea de Montréal Goes To Clavia (and Marefore Too)!

[Aeromage]

Dulcinea sets about healing up Willoughby. Greater Treat-Debuff, alas, does not work on status effects. Greater Vivify fixes Willoughby up some and keeps her stable, although the kitten's definitely not recovering to full health- a hit like that has lasting consequences.
Still, she's still upright and alive, and that's about as best as could be expected in the aftermath of that.

Emergency ship-repair is then undertaken! Greater Vivify sadly turns out less effective than hoped due to the boat's lack of, well, being alive. Her plethora of other skills, however, see to fixing the vessel up into a more-seaworthy state in reasonably short order, even if it means Ryuu has to exercise his bailing muscles for longer.

The compass is still waggling fairly insistently around the area. It may just be because of the increased radiation from a faceful of nuclear explosion, or there might be something else down there.

[The Nottest of Daves]

Dulcinea decides to investigate!

First, she casts Greater Vivify on herself and Ryuutarou. Then, she trades out

Parallel Mageblast: Exorcismal Glyph Holo-Blast- (Spell, Technomancy, Light, 35,000 MP, 3,500,000 Gold) +3,500 Magical Attack, +3,500 Ranged Attack, May deal no Damage, 50% may inflict Awestruck: Sealed, Caster removes any effects with target as a source that mark individuals as Haunted that come from sources below Level 40, Cures Hexed: Haunted, Caster removes all effects from sources below Level 40 that cause target to be treated as a transformation by non-allied entities or that cause target to be marked as Haunted

Wail of the Banshee- (Spell, Bardic Music, Darkness & Sonic, 31,500 MP, 7,960,000 Gold) +8,300 Magical Attack, 30% inflicts Confusion: Depression, 38% inflicts Paralysis, 890 MIN Damage, 890 SPI Damage, 890 CON Damage, 50% inflicts Instant Death on targets below Level 20, If caster is above Level 40 this spell inflicts Instant Death on targets below Level 20 and has a 50% chance of inflicting Instant Death on targets below Level 40, may inflict 1 hit against 5 and deal 1/2 damage, may inflict 1 hit against 30 and deal 1/3 damage

War Mage's Flame Aura- (Spell, Other: War Magic, Fire, 6,000 MP, 6,000,000 Gold) Caster gains a buff that stacks 3 times and deals 60,000 Flat Fire element Damage to any individual who conducts an offensive action that targets its possessor, with said Damage being doubled (to a max of 200,000 additional Damage) against Units

for

Parallel Mageblast: Gaze of the Star Oculus- (Spell, Technomancy, Astral, 65,000 MP, 6,500,000 Gold) +6,500 Magical Attack, +6,500 Ranged Attack, Target's stats are scanned

Parallel Mageblast: Mystic Disruption- (Spell, Technomancy, Magic & Technology & Chaos, 150,000 MP, 15,000,000 Gold) +15,000 Magical Attack, +15,000 Ranged Attack, 200% inflicts any one minor negative status effect, 100% inflicts any one moderate negative status effect, 1 hit against 50, Caster must be Level 20 or greater

Parallel Mageblast: Mana-Pattern Detonation- (Spell, Technomancy, Energy, 300,000 MP, 30,000,000 Gold) +30,000 Magical Attack, +30,000 Ranged Attack, 200% inflicts Fatigued: Stun, 5% inflicts Cursed: Depatterned, Target loses all buffs and debuffs from sources below Level 60 and, if target is below Level 60, as a debuff that stacks 5 times, target loses a random Constant Effect or Passive Ability, Caster must be Level 20 or greater

Then, she hops overboard with her summons and goes for a swim with the compass to point her way!

[Aeromage]

Scientist overboard! Dulcinea leaps into the briny deeps with her summon-squad to determine the cause of this particular piece of the foul-fish fiasco.
The water is fairly murky, and darker than it should be. Weirdly so, in fact, although Dulcinea's current Photo-RESPLENDENCE is helping offset that. It feels like the light is being eaten away at, somehow, but she also doesn't think that whatever is causing it is coming from whatever might be below.

Some highly-dignified swimming which is most definitely not sinking later, the Nightmare Scientist begins to make out an eerie green glow from the seafloor below. The compass is pointing very insistently towards whatever it is, and the levels of Atomic mana are climbing enough to cause the ocean to get uncomfortably warm the closer she gets. Fortunately, she's radiation-proof (and has her Armband), so she isn't hit with Poison: Irradiated. Her cohorts aren't quite so lucky.
Getting too much closer might end up tacking on a round of Overload: Thermonuclear Meltdown or similar, though.

Dulcinea squints. The object in question looks like a large chunk of glassy slag, with what might be the vague pattern of brickwork distributed around the glassed/melted surface. Whatever it is, it's radioactive enough that it's starting to make her vision fuzz a little. Although that could just be the effects it's having on the surrounding environment.

[The Nottest of Daves]

She starts off with Detective's Investigation to see if this is just a radioactive rock, or some kind of disguised creature!

Detective's Investigation- (Active Ability, Diviner) Possessor may spend an action to scan target's stats

If it is a creature or the scan fails to work in some way, she will bring forth additional summons then hit it with Gaze of the Star Oculus. If it is a regular item, Dulcinea will instead send her summons back to protect the boat and recover from Poison: Irradiated while she constructs a means to contain (or at least impede) the transmission of radiation.

[Aeromage]

Dulcinea scans the eerily-glowing chunk of radioactive slag!

Radioactive Relic of Marefore Recrudescent- (Accessory, Quest Item, Atomic & Time & Fate, 10,000,000 Gold) 100% Inflicts Poison: Irradiated on all entities in the same battlespace as wielder at the start of each round, 10% Inflicts Overload: Thermonuclear Meltdown on all entities in the same battlespace as wielder at the start of each round, any Zones of Atomic that were removed by a Time-element action, entity or effect on a prior round of battle are restored with all attached buffs, debuffs and effects at the time of removal at the start of each round.

That's rather ominous. It also has some implications, Dong. but Dulcinea has more important things to worry about right now, and dismisses those thoughts.
Dulcinea's Engine of Wishes sadly rusted to inoperability (at least for the rest of this excursion) during that inconvenient temporal holiday she took. She's still got four wishes left in that Miracle Engine-heart of hers, however. Alternatively, she has the Citadel of the Fisherman nebulously anchored in her soul, and she's proven able to stuff things in there before. Whether she wants to do that, on the other hand, is up to her.

[The Nottest of Daves]

It's definitely (probably not) safe to randomly stuff this inside of a building inside of her soul!

As a wise man once said, "GET IN MAH BELLEH!"

[Aeromage]

A watery portal to the Citadel within Dulcinea's soul is opened, in order to facilitate the assuredly sensible option of stuffing an incredibly radioactive chunk of nuclear-blasted masonry into it!
At the same time she opens the portal to stuff the Relic in, the beyond-overwhelming presence of the Golemstone Throne blasts out like an explosion in and of itself. It's still contained- Dulcinea thinks, anyway- and should remain so for the duration of her trip, but even with that taken into consideration the sheer presence of the thing is so far beyond imagining that it'd likely be very unwise to stay in its presence or stare too hard at it for long. Or any amount of time, really.

The Nightmare Scientist manages to wrestle the only-somewhat-improvised Citadel-portal closed before anything else happens or the Throne's presence ends up spawning something. She feels rather assured that some radioactive chunk of rock stands no chance whatsoever in causing any problems compared to that.

The outrush of water normalises itself with a faint, distorted bell-like sound before abruptly cutting off. The Nearby Baseball drifts along the speeding underwater currents around her.

A quick look at the compass shows it's back to pointing this way and that, tracking Atomic signatures from elsewhere in the waters. Looks like this particular part of the local ocean is clear of the main Atomic-problem.

[The Nottest of Daves]

"Excellent!" Dulcinea attempts to burble to herself, before remembering she is underwater and, while she speaks the Tongue of Waves, bubbling noises aren't exactly triumphant exclamations.

She decides to swim back to the boat and sail back into town, so that she may exhibit her mutant fish and explain the problems related to radioactivity and the blasted elementals and chunks of city residing under the nearby portion of ocean.

[Aeromage]

Triumphant and burbling, the Nightmare Scientist rises from the depths like Venus, only arguably wiser, more creative, and more dignified! ...in Dulcinea's estimation, at least. More clothed, at any rate.

Re-embarking upon her wondrous vessel with only a modicum of flopping and flailing, she sets sail back to Marefore with her bounty of fish and strange radioactive city-chunk-accessory in tow! Yes, this is truly the best course of action.

Docking is no problem, because Dulcinea's vessel dissolves back into the surf and spray it was spun from the moment its passengers disembark. How wondrously handy!
She has options regarding her exhibition of fish and/or city chunk. She could simply seek out nearby fishermen and try to get them to listen, or perhaps take a more official tack by going through the town hall or similar channels. Or perhaps even make a big exposition in her new bazaar-square, near the epicentre of this whole Atomic mess! My, yes. That would be dramatic, wouldn't it?

[The Nottest of Daves]

"Ryuutarou!"

"Yes, Dulcinea?"

"Go take a couple of these fish over to Ms. Fein at the Flying Catfish, tell her about what we've found, and ask what she thinks the best way to share this information would be. I will go down to City Hall and attempt to find the senior-most figure of city governance that is available to talk to and inform them of the situation as well."

"I suppose that makes sense. Come on, Willoughby, Helen's got some great fish that'll perk you right up!"

"Myaa!"

[Aeromage]

Dulcinea does that thing you're always supposed to do, and splits the party (even more than it currently is)!

She trots off to the Town Hall, the Nearby Baseball in tow. Or rather, happening to be wherever she looks during her journey. That merchant's stall. Rolling down that hill. On that doorstep. In that window. Atop that pile of fruit. On the receptionist's desk.

The reception area of the Town Hall looks... a little less cluttered than previously. The previously-stamped-into-the-floor documents and teetering piles of paperwork appear to have vanished, replaced with a neat stack of folders on the desk.
There still seems to be a slight issue with zero-gravity fleff in the room, however, with one box lazily spinning in midair next to a ceiling light.

The grey-haired receptionist remains just as unimpressed with the Nightmare Scientist and the suddenly-appearing ominous baseball on her desk as she usually it. Perhaps it's just her natural expression.
Dulcinea gets as far as opening her mouth when the receptionist quiets her with a lifted finger.
"If you're here," she states in hoarse tones, "then I take it you either wish to speak with Violet, or to speak with somebody further up the chain of seniority. In which case, you will need to speak to Violet, as she is able to get in touch with the various members of the council who have all taken to extending their 'business trips' for a variety of increasingly-tenuous reasons."
She points a finger to the side.
"Office two. Violet should be--"

The indicated door swings open with a clatter of heels, folders, and Violet, who indeed is.
"Collation's finished in the records room, but I'm finding all sorts of discrepancies in the strangest places, even in places where there shouldn't be! Places, I mean. I don't think half those cabinets were there when I went in last time--"
The clerk blinks at Dulcinea, fumbles her folders and manages to grab them in an admirable display of dexterity.
"M-ms. de Montréal! You're moving! Around! Did you manage to escape the-- no, wait, of course you did, you're here. Are you alright?!"


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, Ryuu and Willoughby make their way up the main street to the Flying Catfish Restaurant, which seems to be open for business. There aren't many people currently dining inside- perhaps due to the general fish-issues being had in the area. The couple of patrons Ryuu can see appear to be enjoying their food, however, or in one case staring in amazement at the beautifully-arranged platter of sashimi in front of them.

"M-mr. Ryuutarou?" The mousey waitress/assistant cook/general gofer of the establishment stares as the dragon enters the restaurant, kitten-hat and all. "I-if you're after Missus Fein, she's in the kitchen. She just got a delivery from Beaky..."

[The Nottest of Daves]

"I am indeed quite well! And I succeeded in preventing Prier's Paradise from becoming a second dungeon! However, that's not what I'm here for right now. Rather, I am here in regards to the fish in the closest waters to Marefore, and how they very much should not be eaten before the area is cleared of dangerous debris. Would you happen to have someone I should talk to about that?"

----

"I am, actually. I wanted to talk to her about something my friend and I have learned about the fish close to the shore, and the best way to get that knowledge out to the fishermen so they know what to watch out for."

Willoughby stares at the sashimi and drools a little on Ryuutarou's head.

[Aeromage]

"Dangerous debris?" Violet blinks, and gestures. Shining documents begin to pop into being in the air around them, one beginning to start filling out with notes as they speak.
"Well, ordinarily, issues that affect fishing in Marefore would go through the Councillor of Maritime Affairs, but Mr. Salio was one of the victims of the... incident. We haven't managed to elect a replacement yet due to a whole host of issues, not least most of the rest of the town's council being out of town, or overseas, or in one case stuck in prison because of some sort of issue involving plants and the border up in House Fiora's land, and... uh..."
She glances at the now-extremely-unimpressed receptionist.
"...maybe forget that bit. House Unda would be a possibility due to their purview being the sea in general, but that'd cause a political issue between them and House Clavis, so that's not a good idea... let me check something. Organisation Chart."

Violet cracks open a folder and pages begin to rapidly riffle within before stopping abruptly. Glowing lines and boxes filled with text spill out from the page into the air. The dark-haired clerk winces as several of the boxes abruptly shatter and lines snap as the construct fully forms.

"...it looks like the most-relevant person in this case would be the Dockmaster, Vincent Carillum. Which... it isn't exactly his job, but it looks like... wow."

Violet winces again. "I can't believe I didn't use this spell before. Marefore's civic chain of command is in absolute shambles. How did nobody notice this before? I mean, there's been all the... everything... and..." she shakes her head, pulling a face as if warding off an impending headache. Ding. "...we've got more important things to think about. What was I talking about? Right. Mr. Carillum. It looks like he used to be the Deputy Dockmaster until recently, but he might be the best option for somebody in charge who's actually... well... here. I could get you in touch with him pretty quickly, especially if you give me the details first."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"U-um, well, Missus Fein does know a lot of the local fishermen... or most of them know of her, at least. Especially if she ends up getting upset with them, so they all tend to listen to her..." Sharon's expression takes a turn for the nervous and flicks towards the long-handled dustpan and broom in the corner. "Y-you should probably go in, but maybe not with the cat. Missus Fein doesn't like animals in the kitchen. I mean, I know Beaky's probably part cat, but she said it's impolite to talk about how Aptim's bodies are if they're hiding it, and he's a person so it's different, and he always washes his hands before he touches the fish, but I've never seen his hands so I don't know if they're paws or not, and it'd be rude to ask, so..."
Coming to the mortifying realisation that she's rambling, Sharon promptly hides behind her tray and simultaneously attempts to gesture to the kitchen door while attempting to sidle away in the other direction without moving said tray away. The result is a rather awkward circle-shuffle.

Ms. Fein is very obviously in fine form today, if the loud-but-muffled exclamations from the kitchen are anything to go by.

[The Nottest of Daves]

Dulcinea begins pulling out the various fish she acquired on her initial expedition, going over their appearance and the horrible negative effects that eating them would cause, up to and including death for the insufficiently-levelled.

"I also found a Celerium-α elemental near to a highly-radioactive chunk of masonry that I removed for safer storage, but bringing that out would expose City Hall to the negative effects of its radioactivity, so that would be extremely unwise, in my estimation."

---

Willoughby hops off of Ryuutarou's head and goes looking for the closest comfy spot to rest in.

Ryuutarou heads into the kitchen, doing his best to take up the least amount of room necessary for him to be out of the dining area with the door closed. Once inside, he will wait for Helen to be done with whatever she's yelling about before he starts talking about the radioactive fishery.

[Aeromage]

Dulcinea expounds upon the piscine problems caused by fishy fish! Violet looks a little ill as Dulcinea methodically moves from 'slightly off-colour' to 'flaking scales' to 'tumour extravaganza' on the sealife-scale. The graphic descriptions of what happens after ingesting radioactively-poisoned seafood don't exactly help, there.

"...and these sunken chunks of masonry are what's causing all of this to happen?" Violet gestures at one of her glowing documents, which continues to fill itself with notes and split itself off after filling with diagrams of the offending fish, the offshoot slipping into one of her folders. "Well, I'm fairly confident that nobody around here is really equipped to deal with this 'Atomic' element, given how new it is to the world... I'm fairly sure most of the local Spiritual Defense Force is classifying it as 'malign poisonous energy', although Spirit Magic and Binder Magic seem to be working well to contain and counteract its effects, last I heard. I don't think we've got any vessels or crews that'd be able to deal with dredging them up from the seafloor without a contingent of the Spiritual Defense Force aboard, and they'd need specialist equipment to both get to them, get them out of the ocean, and contain them, as opposed to... well."

The clerk gestures vaguely in Dulcinea's direction.

"Frankly, given you seemed to be able to not only find, remove and contain the item in question, I think it'd probably be a more sensible idea if we could swing it so you get hired as a contractor to, well... do that. More. I mean, to do more of that. Not to do more in general. I'm getting side-tracked."

Violet begins to scribble on a form. "I could probably put in a word here and there to make that happen, if you wanted, and make sure you got reimbursed for it... probably by seeing if I could swing you into a minor cut of future profits from the fishing industry, which, if what you're telling me is right- which I'm sure it is!- should bounce back once the problems are taken care of and the fishermen know what fish to avoid."
She lowers her voice, giving the receptionist a furtive glance.
"I, uh, picked up a few spells that let me put a word in up the chain in organisations and skip a lot of the red tape. It's a little... less than completely proper, but we had to do it sometimes in Evergarden when we needed things in an emergency, and in this case it's for the good of the town, and given how badly our chain of command is mangled- I *still* can't believe nobody noticed..." Ding. She shakes her head again. "...right. More important things to worry about. I can still get in touch with the Dockmaster to ensure it's all above-board, but really? I think you are the best person for the job, here, Ms. de Montréal."

The clerk waves the fish-picture-filled document by way of literal illustration. "If you'd like to meet up with him and go over the details to be shared, I can still arrange that, unless you'd like me to send the Minutes (Annotated and Diagrammed) of this impromptu meeting to him instead, which should be a decent-ish substitute."

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"--almost like they thought I wouldn't be able to TELL the scales were literally ROTTING off the things when they brought them in, and don't even get me STARTED on the ones that think they can HIDE them under other fish, and even THOSE strike me as being OFF half the time!"

Helen Fein is, indeed, in fine form, brandishing a knife with one hand whilst deftly arranging thinly-sliced, glistening pieces of fish on a plate with a stunning julienned vegetable garnish. The tengu-mask-wearing, oilskin-coat-clad Beaky is wisely remaining at a safe distance, carefully stacking boxes of fish into the kitchen's cool room, tail flicking under the long hems of the coat nervously. It seems he still has yet to acquire shoes or trousers, his white-moss-fur-covered feline legs and feet still on display underneath.

He doesn't seem too thrilled to see Ryuutarou from his body language, but then he struck the dragon-chef as rather skittish the first time. Not to mention his apparent distrust of people from Nexus.

Undaunted, Ryuu uses a pause in Helen's rant about bad fish to segue into an explanation about the hows, whys, wherefores, and what-to-look-fors regarding radioactive sealife!
Helen initially looks unimpressed ("Well, OBVIOUSLY there's something wrong with it, LOOK at those LUMPS!"), but as Ryuu brings out the more-subtly-afflicted examples and points out otherwise-easy-to-miss symptoms that might otherwise seem natural (mild scarring inside the gills, eyes glazed in a certain way, common wilting patterns on the fins) she moves to 'grudgingly attentive'. Beaky looks like he's paying attention, too, although trying not to give that fact away.

"Hmph," the cook grumps, setting her knife down. "Well, I suppose you and this Ducky person are worth SOMETHING after all. Beaky here knew about the problem with the gills, but the rest is PASSABLE information. So I suppose I'll see about passing it on to the crab-brained IDIOTS slinging their rods around and hooking any old POISON they think they can pass off as EDIBLE. Never would have thought that utter TRIPE those spirit-botherers were BLATHERING about regarding 'poison energy' or WHATEVER it was would be RELEVANT. I'd ask Beaky to pass it on, but those HALF-WITTED ROD-WAVERS see an Aptim and immediately think they know BETTER than them. SPEAKING of which."

Helen turns to the presently-present Aptim in question and waggles a stalk of something green from him to Ryuu and back. "You'd best get to passing on all of that to YOUR crowd. LAST thing we want is for all of you getting SICK and DYING all over the place."

[The Nottest of Daves]

"Feel free to send him the minutes regardless, but I think it would be wise to meet him, at least for long enough that we can recognize each other's faces should we pass in the street later. However, should he be delayed for too long, I think I might make another expedition to try to track down another concentration of radioactivity first."

---

Ryuutarou salutes the mistress of fishes, glad to have helped resolve this problem! He also offers Beaky a pleasant nod, before departing the kitchen once more, resuming his role as the throne of The-Queen-of-All-She-Surveys, and heading over toward City Hall to see if he finds Dulcinea on his way.

[Aeromage]

Violet nods. "Right. Um, let's see... I'll just... Interdepartmental Mail!"
The copy of the minutes folds itself into a shining envelope and whisks itself away and sideways through reality.
"...I think that's one of the most useful spells I learned during my time in Evergarden. Um, I mean, for everyday use. Take Inventory has probably managed to prevent a lot of damage from being done by various... things... left in some of the now-empty properties around Marefore, and Grow Lesser Evergarden Metal Defense Sunflower definitely saved me during that one incident with the clothes shop. And as for getting him to meet up with you..."

She rifles through a small folder that seems to contain far more pages than it reasonably should, each holding what looks very much like one of those communications talismans.

"...ah, here we are. I'll just see if I can get in touch... with..." she frowns as the talisman lights up, then sputters out. "...that's odd. That usually happens if the other talisman's damaged. It's probably not because I managed to magically copy our version, they've worked before... maybe the Dockmaster's office has been having problems like everywhere else? Tell you what, I'll send him another Interdepartmental Mail explaining the situation with your description and what you're planning to do, so he can meet up with you at the docks, or wherever it is your boat is?"

Dong. Dulcinea feels like going on a glorious expedition to retrieve and gather more of these tragically mysterious chunks of radioactive town is a splendid idea, and far more important that getting weighed down with bureaucracy. There is potential SCIENCE to do, after all! Not to mention the cleaning up of local waters, which is certainly, definitely, probably, maybe something that falls within her remit as the Lord Fisherman.


----------------------------------------------------------------

Ryuu bids his farewells and leaves politely!
Things are made a little awkward due to Beaky leaving at the same time, and heading in the same direction. The fastest way to the Marefore Town Hall is, after all, by following the main road down to the seafront and along, which also happens to be the fastest way to head to the slums, given how twisty the other streets that head there via the Marefore Bazaar are.

Willoughby, meanwhile, is having a fine time lounging atop her draconic servant. The weird big bipedal cat-thing walking alongside them and trying not to acknowledge the fact is also very interesting, despite his insistence on wearing clothes and a hat. Not even letting his ears out! What a peculiar fellow.

[The Nottest of Daves]

"Then off to the Docks I shall return! Hopefully we can meet before I sail out again, but it mayhaps have to wait until I return!"

She quickly reaches the docks, and meets back up with the procession of Dragon, Cat, and Sort-of-Cat.

---

Willoughby is disgruntled by how she is being ignored by two-leg-cat. Being ignored is not how things that are Cute or things that are Dangerous should be treated!

Thus, she leaps from her current seat of repose onto two-leg-cat's shoulder, and begins to buffet his face with her own while meowing loudly.

[Aeromage]

"Good luck! I'll be here supporting you! I mean, I'll be here anyway, in general. Also supporting you. Metaphorically speaking. I don't think I've got any magic that'll beat what you have to hand when it comes to assistance."

Dulcinea leaves Violet to it as she starts leafing through her folders again, muttering about discrepancies in the Town Hall's paperwork, and heads off out to the docks! Of which there are some almost immediately outside, as the Town Hall is located on the seafront promenade.
Dulcinea compensates by walking slowly and dramatically.

----------------------------------------------------------------

WIlloughby will not stand for a fellow cat (of sorts) to ignore her and cover up, thus attempting to evade her Divine Judgement of where he falls on the scale of Cute-to-Dangerous!

She leaps onto his shoulder and begins batting at his masked face, resulting in a surprised exclamation and an attempt to dislodge the sudden faceful of kitten. Really, such disrespect! She should really--

Oh.

Oh, no.

Willoughby is an Exalted Wishkin, a deific version of a Wishkin.
Wishkin are born from wishes, hopes and dreams, and can therefore sense the wishes, hopes and dreams of others (or at least those near in power to them or below).
Beaky is a nexus of dreams and wishes.
Horribly mangled, tangled, jangled dreams and wishes.
They aren't his own dreams, either.
Somebody has dreamed at him.
Somebody has dreamed at him all wrong.

Right now, his most fervent wish is to get this kitten off his face.
Below that, his most burning desire is to utterly destroy somebody named 'Remalius'.
Beneath that, his dearest hope is for him to not be an Aptim anymore.

[The Nottest of Daves]

Willoughby abruptly stops bashing at his face and lets out a keening wail. This is horrible! This is terrible! How could Remalius do this to someone!

Dulcinea, Ryuutarou, and Beaky all stare at her.

"You can talk?" Ryuutarou asks. "I thought you communicated through meowing and interpretive dance..."

Dulcinea facepalms vigorously at the mention of Remalius. "That brainless over-ambitious spell diagram, always causing more trouble than he ever manages to fix..."