Nissa can fly in, but she waits until others are able to reach the portal before entering. It may even be wise to sit on a shoulder to ensure she won’t be separated (fourth dimensionally).
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Nissa is squeamish about the surgery. But it seems to have been a success. She answers to Z’s call.
Nissa admits, “I mighta got caught up in trying to fix things for the beastmen. That mirror…” She flies toward it. “We came here for a purpose. Can the sword or chalice tell us how to access the portal?”
Nissa eyes the sword, which has been thrumming a lot. “Or maybe your sword has the answers.” She doesn’t ask why they’ve been ignoring their sword all this time. “I don’t think we can stay in this world long. So if your sword wants you to go in the House of Pain, I suggest you do it now—and that we all stay together in case I need to wander us outta here.” She points to the unconscious Moreau. “—including him.. Maybe”
Nissa turns to Unity. “Moreau dies in the story, but… didn’t you want to talk to him?” She whips out her wand. “If so, I suggest we take the conversation elsewhere.”
Nissa calls out to the Sayer. “Why would you say their law?”
“He’s my father. I can’t and won’t talk him down.” She flutters above her flame and looks the nearest in the eye, hoping that the implication is enough to talk him down.
Nissa makes a circle of fire to keep the beastmen away from Theo and the sobbing wimp!
She reminds the beastman, “My father and I defeated the men. You did nothing. I don’t appreciate you or anyone joining a fight when the enemy has already been defeated. It dishonors our effort—which was saving your lives.” She glances at the Montgomery in his pathetic state. “Forget this weakling. Speak to Unity. I think you’ll find we make better allies than enemies. But by ‘allies,’ I do not mean ‘subordinates.’”
Nissa is relieved that there’s at least no chance of gunplay… so it seems. “Umm… Henri? Can you make sure the Doctor doesn’t die of fourth degree burns on his jaw?” She flies closer to the animals. “I get it,” she says. “I get you.” She stops at Unity’s side. “We both do. Unity perhaps more than I do, but lately… I’ve had my share of harsh reminders that I’m different. I’m a person, but I can never really be human enough. And I don’t even know if that’s what other people think of me…” She recalls how weird things have been with LC, ever since her death. Her inability to make it better. Her amazing talent at making it worse. “…or what I expect and assume from others. “I like being unique and hate feeling different. It’s a paradox, for me.” She turns to Unity. “So I can’t imagine how it is for a trinity such as yourself. But, take it from a body-proud model. You’re beautiful.” She turns to the beastmen. “All of you are.” Gesturing toward Theo, she adds. “What my dad just stopped is what is ugly. Men with guns. Men using their laws not to keep you safe, but to control you. “They are defeated. There is no need for bloodshed. Let us talk, but without chanting their rules. Please… speak freely.”
☀️ Nissa glares at Moreau. “That was not a surrender.” She glances down at the gun. “That was you shooting your best weapon. Your mouth.” —which is exactly where Nissa aims her tiny flaming fist.
☀️ Nissa hears Henri’s warning.
She attempts to create a literal firewall in front of the house—but not to the point the flames touch the house. Even if she gets there before he gets out, he could go around the flames. “Moreau… don’t force our hands. This isn’t our first time rushing toward a gunman.”
Nissa backs up her dad without interfering!
She flies a circle around the bad guy so he can’t flee from Theo without getting roasted! “Get him, dad!”
Nissa is pretty sure the puma won’t immediately die from her distraction now. So she asks the doctor “Why?”
She’s being sincere, as someone who herself had been changed and liked it… and as someone who saw the cost of Unity. —Charles Wilde! “Does the puma want this change? And if she’s to become more human… at what cost?” She glances at the Sword of Truth. And her next word is as much for Unity as it is the Doctor. “In matters of life and death, the Truth must never be ignored.”
Nissa says, “Let’s go to her then. Whatever you’re doing, I’m sure she would rather survive the procedure than not.” Nissa has every intention of going with the doctor. She expects the whole party will.
Nissa’s flames go out. “Save her,” she says flatly, half skeptical, half relieved she didn’t strike the man if he’s telling the truth. Is he..?
☀️
Nissa doesn’t hesitate—
She blazes a trail just behind Dr. Moreau, cutting off any hope of retreating to the House of Pain. “Torturing a beastwoman… how many are inside the House of Pain besides her?” Nissa is right behind the doctor, hovering above the scorched earth. She wants to save the beastwoman, but she’s not exactly opposed to ensuring the doctor will never hurt her a person and/or animal again. (…until the story resets, she knows.)
[Unity] shift form to their hexapodal form and pick up the pace... Nissa flies alongside Unity. “I think it’s better this way… you shouldn’t feel the need to disguise yourself. Not here. Not anywhere.” ☀️ Nissa’s temperature starts to rise…
As Unity and Henri speak of the secret to altering events, the scream seems to be the very answer they were looking for. “Stopping a beastman from being tortured would alter events.” She moves forward, quickly, but mindful not to get too far ahead of the team.
Nissa can’t help but notice that more than none are escaping. She flutters by her dad’s side to see how he handles the situation…
“…some love uncleanness.” “Some?” Nissa is definitely better off being ignored. Mom wants honest, not stupid. “So, those are the laws. Wants are bad, punishment is sharp and sure, none escape.” Etcetera. “So, now that the info session is over, is there a tour? And any special rules for—” —for those of us with wings? Dummy! Ask him that, and he’ll be like, 🎵 walk around with your feet on the ground
Then a depressing flightless birdman’ll chime in, 🎵 I did bad a thing and flew; my wing
“—hey! That law and punishment song is great! I already found my answer by saying the words in my head. No questions. The law is clear, and having us say it helps me understand perfectly.” Unity can be the one to bring up the dead rabbit, if they wanna.
When the beastmen sing ‘are we not men?’, Nissa answers honesty: “I’m not.”
Nissa finally gets that every guest has to say it. “Ahhhhhh…… well, as I woman, I actually prefer ‘not to go on all fours. “‘It’s the law,’ and it’s undignified.”
Nissa crosses her arms. “I can’t help but notice that ‘law’ doesn’t apply to women.”
Nissa is in the hut, listening to everyone saying man-this and man-that and five-man… She asks, “Am I the only woman? …again?” Note to self: make a compelling case to warp L.C. to the all-woman world.
Nissa’s answer to Unity’s question: “Control? Moreau isn’t forbidding a luxury, but a necessity. Is my understanding correct? I mean… you couldn’t survive on a vegan diet, could you?” _ When the others show up, Nissa is at her current maximum size: 3 inches. She can’t hide, and doesn’t see a reason to. “What? We’re three beastmen and a firefly girl. We’re as normal as you are, on this island.”
“Just so we’re clear, Dr. Moreau didn’t make me like this.” Smiling warmly at Theo’s words, she says, “He’s my dad!” She flutters over to him. “I’m fine… a bit outta my element though. The local boys here flee at the sight of me. Unity thinks we should find their leader.”
Nissa lets Unity do the talking for now. She tries to understand what she can, based on her understanding of fiction…
“That works for me!” Nissa will try to be stealthy, remaining firefly-sized so if she’s spotted, she’ll be mistaken for a bug—at a glance. Men who are part beast will likely know something’s off. Especially if there aren’t any real fireflies on the island.
“In that case, I should read up a bit more on Monroe himself so I’ll have a better idea of what to say to him. The goal being not to make him angry…”
Nissa replies to Unity, “This is your opportunity to get answers. So I’m happy to approach this in whatever way you think is best.”
Nissa says to Unity, “What if we were to expedite the revolt?” She considers, “If every beast-man is guilty of eating meat, they can’t punish each other. Hopefully, hypocrisy is a crime. “Speaking of which… I did promise my goddess no more bluffing. I gotta be honest, and I will, no matter how much this is kinda like a form of trickery.” She hovers in place for a moment. “Also, the only thing I can do with meat is cook it. So… if you’re not up for this—especially since there isn’t a supermarket—we can try another way.” Aware the Unity might possibly like the plan itself, yet may also strongly dislike hunting for meat (except to feed themself), she asks, “Any chance at least one set of your nostrils could pick up the scent of a fresh kill? What I’m proposing will work a lot faster if we catch someone in the act of eating meat.” —or punishing another beast-man. No matter how many times Nissa’s hare-brained* schemes tend to work, Nissa does try to consider the likely ways they could go awry.
“Okay…” Nissa finds a quiet spot in the cave and looks into the story.
Nissa agrees. “Okay, I’ll be the eye in the sky for Unity.” She zips upward, shrinking outta sight! (Literally or just from the distance? Who can tell?)
Nissa is a little slow to notice what her dad’s already taking care of. “Ooh, kitties..?”
Nissa looks out toward the direction of the apparent ship. “Oooh… a wooden vessel! It’s like half a mile away.” She points to it, though it might be hard to see it if you aren’t flying more than ten feet in the air.
Nissa flies up from the boat. Her body flares up! ☀️
“Why are you assuming they’re a she? And come to think of it, why am I assuming all of the animal parts are male?” She catches herself, and says to the men, “You don’t have to answer that. Unity is… unique.” And now she catches that. “I mean, I’m unique too, but Unity’s even more unique. You’ll see—when we find the island, there’ll be a lot of Unity-like… uh… fellas……… no. Wait. When I put it that way, it takes away from the uniqueness.” Realizing she’s blurting spoilers, which is probably extra-rude when addressing characters is the story, Nissa drops the topic and turns to her friends. “Yeah, wait, where is Unity? Didn’t they say they’re fishing? Assuming there’s fish.”
Nissa has no idea what the msn was hiding behind his back, and she doesn’t really notice anything else suspicious—aside from the fact there are two in the boat, not three. She simply emanates warmth as promised and says, “Thank you for permitting us to board. Rest assured, at least one of us will always be awake. No harm will come to you, provided you make no attempt to harm us. “Is there anything unclear about what I just said?” Rhetorical, perhaps. But Nissa waits patiently for an answer.
☀️
She blazes a trail of fire in the air—
“If you let my friends on, you have my word: they will not eat your food and I will provide warmth.” She smiles oh so pleasantly. …then adds, “Another promise: if you don’t let my friends on the boat, I will burn it.”
Having Unity’s approval, Nissa says, “I read the book, so here’s hoping we end up somewhere between the table of contents and page nine!” She waves her wand—
—and accidentally bumps it against a propaganda poster or something.
Nissa glances over at Unity. She draws her wand seemingly from thin air. “So… we’re doing this, right?”
Nissa does notice the hovering. (And because she “I’m sure what you have prepared is delicious. Please don’t think me rude for not eating it.” She sits on the edge of a wine glass, well aware this emphasizes her tininess and near-weightlessness (and she thinks it looks cute… that or she’s nostalgic about a past photoshoot that had her posing on wine glasses, heeled shoes, cupcakes and other objects built to a 10:1 scale). Pointing to a vegetable bigger than her body, she asks, “Where would I put it, right?”
Nissa says, “I can’t starve. Food doesn’t do anything for me, or water, or air.” She grins at Dr. Moore. “I was in space…” She stops herself from telling the story. Her eyes flicker to the food. Then she tries not to look at it without looking like she’s not looking. “Well, the hard entry may be the best way in, but of course… that shouldn’t be my call, since it’s not as much of a risk for me.”
“Oh, yes, I was gonna ask but forgot. Why do you say that? I don’t eat, but still… why?”
Nissa does have one question. “Wait… how exactly do I reach Dr. Moreau through the bookworld? Do I need a specific book, or any copy plus the wand, or…?”
Nissa is actually interested in Moore’s explanation. There’s something else that interests her. “Dr. Moore…” She knows he’s not a doctor. But she also is fairly certain that his god-mode is going to his head. (And being made a demigoddess herself, Nissa’s being very careful about stuff like not capitalizing her third-person pronouns.) “…I met two of my alts, and they’re nothing like me. One’s a submissive sex-kitten who’s…” Nissa tries not to make a face. “…interested in men. “And the other is this six-foot mountain of braless bronze muscle on a planet of women, which is… well, I want to go back there, honestly. But there’s been a lot of comics about me. So is it possible my alts are from the works of fiction about me?” She makes a face again. “And if that’s true, that means there’s a version of me who does all her heroing naked, riding atop a flying bomb?”
”I’ll have them promoted to Inner Party and then given a retirement with benefits,” says Moore loud enough for the freed prisoners to hear. ”Maybe Nissa can reassure them that I mean it. They seem a little scared of me, understandably.” Nissa reassures the people, ”You’re gonna be fine.” She says it only because she believes it.
And because she says it, she sells it.
Nissa has power over the tortured man. So she does the best thing she can for him. “Don’t think about her.” She floats over the red carpet. Turning to Ogilvy, she asks, “Were you expecting yellow bricks?” (Nissa can’t help herself either.)
Nissa looks at the man, her eyes suddenly very beautiful and welcoming.
Nissa is trying to charm the man so he won’t be afraid to answer her truthfully. “What did Brigid look like? Please describe her.” If he does so, Nissa will ask him to describe Helen. (She believes they are two different women.)
A barely recognizable London starts to be visible in the distance. It's bleak and dark except for the four gleaming white buildings that rise above it. “Your world is honestly hard to top… especially since I got to hang with Artemis.” Nissa freezes up a moment, as it dawns on her why she never told L.C. about that. Her aura dims as her guilty conscience gets the better of her. She faces Ogilvy. “Your obituary is proof you can’t believe everything you read in the newspaper.” Her tone is too grim for her words to come off as humorous intent. “Too many people die when they shouldn’t. It’s nice to see things work the other way around, so… live well.” Now Nissa feels guilty for (momentarily) thinking H.G. Wells is an asshoIe for killing this guy off.
Nissa only wants everyone in the limo to be calm. She has to remind herself she is in a book when the windows go dark. It’s really for the best she doesn’t see, because she *would* act. “Nissa van Donk,” she says to the apparently-Alt-Ogilvy. “Pleasure to meet ya. Outta curiosity, where do you think you belong?”
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