Becoming monsters is the creation of AiLovesToGrow, setting used with permission.

  This idea comes from Amethyst Dragonfly.

  And before you ask, yes I’m making fun of myself for the nguage mistake. Thank you to the two readers who pointed it out to me, consider this my correction.

  —

  Chapter 20: Listening Ear

  The sun rose again over the Guild Hall, and with it rose the daily bustle of the business there. At least, the somewhat slower version that happened on Sundays. The first bus pulled up and let out its load of people. A gray, winged man shook the hand of a tan one with scales. Most of the shops set out those things that they’d sell specifically to the other locals, those Delvers who lived here or nearby. A bunch of children from a nearby school were here on a trip, visiting pces around the Hall to get stamps on a card and learn a bit about the people here. From a hidden nook in the middle of Camp, Abbey and Justin emerged into the slightly-cloudy day.

  Abbey looked around. “Okay, it’s been a long week, but I think we can get our stuff done for today pretty quickly. Meet back up for lunch at the food tent if we haven’t linked up by then?”

  Justin didn’t look forward to being apart from his girlfriend, but nodded. “Sounds good. Quiverbow doesn’t believe in wasting time, so whether my side goes good or bad it’ll be quick.” The two bumped fists and got moving. As Justin started going more quickly, a certain tinkling sound in his backpack reminded him of the consequences of his prior actions. He hadn’t gotten much done in the st few days for his big project. No, when he wasn’t out trying to keep up with work and css, he was on the beach where he had made his previous mistake. At least one child was likely to run around there, plus possibly others in the area, so he had set out to gather up all of the shards of broken gss he’d left scattered around. It turned out to be quite a number of them, too.

  Inside of his backpack was a small canvas bag. Inside of this bag were every one of the shards he could find. One by one, some at the cost of more blood, he’d hunted through the sand to make sure the only person who would suffer for his mistake was himself. His fingers held another collection of bandages, but thankfully none of these were life threatening. Even in his own head, he’d done his penance. He kept walking, and Crafter’s Row seemed to welcome him like an old friend. The stalls and shops here were doing a bustling business today among the Delvers as people got themselves ready for a new week at work. Work which meant risking their lives while relying on this equipment. Quiverbow’s pce was manned by an apprentice, but he recognized Justin and just gestured towards the door to the staff area. Inside, the team was hard at work preparing orders and frequent sales.

  Quiverbow herself saw him walk in immediately and strode over, leaving the crafter she had been helping to finish his task. “I see you came back. Good, you don’t scare so easily. Let’s not waste time. Show me your progress.” She spped her gloved hand on the table, a look of eager anticipation on her face.

  It somehow lost none of the eagerness when Justin dumped out a pile of gss shards. “I, um, got a little too eager on my first attempt. Forgot the whole ‘mit Gefuhn’ thing, I guess.”

  Quiverbow barked a ugh. “You can’t even remember the word correctly, so that would expin it. It is ‘mit Gefühl’ that you need to remember. What you said meant nothing. Thankfully. Now, as for your project.” She barked another identical ugh. “Anyone working on this row who cims that they have not had a working explode on their workbench is a liar. Including the Weaver.”

  To say Justin was nonplussed would be an understatement. “Uh. That makes sense, I guess. What do you recommend, ma’am?”

  “What do I recommend? I recommend you tell me your pns, you do not work here yet for me to be directing your time.” Her grin had gotten even more feral.

  Oh. Great, it’s another test. Fine. Let’s see what she thinks of this. “Okay, then. You can see how bad the gss quality is right now. That’s what led to the explosion, I think. What I think I’m going to do is repair it instead of starting over. Purify the gss, add more to prepare the edges, add coloring, then use something I learned from pottery css. Japanese kintsugi. Gold repair. You said you needed Gold Coin material inserted as a core? That’s how I’m feeling it.”

  “Making a German sword with Japanese techniques? Best not use Italian dyes or people will get the wrong idea. This will of course take more material than the traditional way.” Quiverbow cast her experienced eye over the mess of gss shards. “At least three, perhaps four Gold Coins. Depends on how you do it. Either way, you have a lot of work ahead of you. It will not be cheap, but there is good news on that front. Apprentice or not, you have the right to use the service tent a few stalls down to do what you do. Sharpen knives, take dents out of armor. Etch patterns in them if that is what you want. Just remember to charge this time.”

  “Thank you, ma’am. I think I will be doing that.”

  “Good. Consider it practice, and get going. I have other things to do.” She turned, barked something out in German, and strode over to another one of her apprentices. Justin, suddenly left to his own devices, took the hint. He gathered his things and got gone.

  As he stepped out into the sunlight, he paused to get his bearings. There was a loud boom from across the row. A raspy-sounding voice yelled out "I told you not to blend the wool and linen!" Justin chuckled. Apparently, this was his life, now. The tent was easy to find, and as soon as he had a sign out for what he did customers rapidly appeared. Justin got to work.

  Not too terribly far away, Abbey was having some experiences of her own. Bright as you please, she had strode over to the Main Hall, intending to march right up and ask when she could start the job. Instead, she found her way barred. “Sorry, ma’am. The Marshal is in a meeting with someone and he had the door closed and locked. Nobody touches that door until it opens unless something’s attacking the Camp.”

  “That makes sense.” Abbey was screaming with frustration inside her head. It took her a lot of effort to build up the courage to take this step. To have it obstructed so casually but absolutely was maddening.

  The man talking to her winced. “Ma’am, I know you’re frustrated, but could you keep it down in your head? I’m not trying to listen to your thoughts, but you’re kind of shouting. I do like to see the enthusiasm, though.”

  “Sorry about that.” Abbey looked a bit sheepish. Then stepped out of the way of a little Sheepfolk girl who was going to a table with some kid’s maps. The genie looked back at the man who’d stopped her. “Is there anything I can do? I want to take the job Marshal Shapiro was offering.”

  “Yeah, though you probably won’t like it.”

  “Try me.”

  “Paperwork.”

  Besides her own actual application to fill out (a step she had somehow managed to miss entirely up to now), the staff had her doing all kinds of extras. Filling out the endless number of forms to apply for her Delver card, regardless of if she ever intended to step foot in the Dungeon. Insurance information and additions. Registering herself at the Archivists, thankfully in a more secure kind of pce than the open ledger. Didn’t need people hunting her for her Coin. Of course, the staff at the HQ had their own way of making sure she was up for the task. They talked to reporters, government bureaucrats, and Guild Officers. They handled the things that required narrow and specialized knowledge of the way Camp worked. For everything else? They pointed at the new blue girl in her business suit. Then kept asking for the papers.

  She supposed it made sense. It’s what she saw the others here doing all the time, after all. Whatever she was doing, she would need to be able to jump to helping visitors and right back to her task, instantly and without hesitation or significant transition time. It was a more intense kind of thing than what she’d faced at the bank, even if she was somewhat less likely to have to hit the arm when any intruder would have had to go through a rge number of the most dangerous people in the state to get to her.

  Either that or they were hazing her. That would also make sense.

  The door to the Marshal’s Hall opened, and a couple of people came out wearing Guild badges and carrying equipment. Followed by a Guild pet, something that looked like a dog covered in quills in brown and gray who seemed to be snickering at its owner. She didn’t have long to ponder this when a hush fell over the chatter of the administrative team. Marshal Shapiro stepped out of his Hall. “That was certainly productive. I didn’t hear any explosions while I was talking to Guild Leader Kithkin, so I assume at least the majority of my Camp is still standing. Any major developments before I go get some lunch?”

  One of the other administrators, a tall and willowy Human woman with long brown hair and a remarkably ugly scar over her left eye nodded in Abbey’s direction. “We have a new applicant for our administration team, sir, and she says you recommended her personally.”

  The Marshal gnced in Abbey’s direction. “That I did. Abbey, wasn’t it? Almost didn’t recognize you given the ck of neck strain this time?”

  “Yes, sir. That was a Status issue which has been resolved.”

  He smiled, a very warm kind of thing she would not have expected from the most dangerous single person within at least a hundred and fifty miles. “Gd to hear. And the bank?”

  “I still have that job. Can’t afford to leave it until I have a solid offer elsewhere.”

  “Reasonable, though I personally think you need a bit more faith in yourself. Even if not here, I’m sure you could figure something out.” He looked at the woman. “Theresa, make sure she has the study guide and training manual before she leaves. No sense wasting more time than we have to.”

  “Yes sir. And… you may want to hurry. In about thirty minutes four people will arrive at the Hall, and there is a 20% chance of significant conflict stemming from them. I can’t tell why.” She shook her head, then turned to stare at Abbey. “It looks like you have something to do with this, and at least one other person. Handsome blond man I don’t recognize.”

  Abbey’s eyes widened. She didn’t want to be a deer in the headlights, especially with a Deer Beastfolk in the next desk over, but couldn’t help it. “That sounds like Justin, my boyfriend, but I can’t imagine what four people would want that could start trouble with us!”

  Marshal Shapiro nodded. “Alright then. I will make sure my lunch is quick, but it seems like a good test. Abbey?”

  She gulped. “Yes, sir?”

  “You will make sure this situation is resolved without open fighting in the hall. Call it the practical part of the application process. If your paperwork is done, you are free to go handle these issues and there is not a need for you to return afterwards, one way or the other. Succeed, and you may begin working here after you leave your other job. I believe two weeks would make that the 15th?”

  “If she submits her notice to a bank on a Sunday, sir.”

  “The 16th, then. Abbey, you are dismissed.”

  The blue woman hastily wrote two st sentences on the final sheet, gathered the papers to hand over to the staffers, and got moving. Very, very quickly.

  The first step was to text her boyfriend. “Where are you?”

  He replied quickly. “Open tent on Crafter Row. Sorry, lost track of time!”

  “Not important, I need you to grab food as fast as you possibly can and get to the bus stop.”

  “You got it, moving.”

  Over at the tent, Justin scrambled to pull his stuff together and get going. There were two people waiting in line for him to sharpen bdes, who he had to beg off with “sorry, girlfriend emergency.” They understood, and with smiles got him past. His pocket was clinking happily with the results of the hour or so he’d been working. Overall, not too bad of a drain on his mana, though he was gd he wouldn’t be able to do this every day given that he wasn’t refilling at full speed yet. His backpack was still clinking unhappily at him, a reminder that the Coins in his pocket were meant to be spent on specific materials and not just fries with salt and apple cider vinegar. Two cups of them, one for him and one for her, which he took with him to run to the bus stop. In all, about fifteen or twenty minutes passed between the first text Abbey had sent and his arrival.

  She was sitting at the bench there, nervously looking down the road, obviously wound up in every line of her body. “Where were you?”

  “Getting food, like you said. Just some fries, here’s your cup.” Justin handed over the serving of fried deliciousness, which she accepted.

  Abbey took a bite, then her shoulders seemed to drop ever so slightly. “Something big is about to happen here, Justin, and I don’t know what. Next bus is supposed to have four people on it who could start trouble.”

  “Is there a reason you asked me to come here instead of getting back to the house and out of the way?” Justin grabbed a couple of his own fries to nibble on. He knew she had to have a good reason.

  “The woman who warned the Marshal said we were involved, so my job application now depends on us resolving it without a major incident.”

  “That expins it. Any hints on what you might need to do about it, or who it might be? If it comes to a fight, we might not be the best candidates. The two of us put together might rate a ‘that’s cute’ from most of the locals.” Now Justin was looking down the road, wondering when the bus would arrive.

  “That’s the thing, she also saw someone who matches your description. It probably means that it has to do with the two of us together. What four people do we know who could make that kind of problem?”

  “Abs, I barely know four people total these days who would care enough to make a problem. Think Todd’s crew are up to shenanigans?” He took another bite from his fries, but his stomach was suddenly not accepting quite as much input as before.

  “They’d be arriving by the door, not the bus. Okay, looks like we don’t have long to wait.” Abbey nodded down the road, where the Guild Hall bus had just become visible. It was rge, it was bumpy, and it was packed full. Lunch crowd on Sunday was usually decent, once the Delvers and tourists who went to churches elsewhere got done and came back. The bus pulled up, the door opened, and almost before it was done a couple hopped off.

  The woman was a tall, matronly-looking Human woman. She had gray hair pulled back in a severe bun, and her long dress showed rge arms. She had some strength there, and was obviously not to be trifled with. Behind her was a much stranger man. Big eyes, big ears, big feet, big nose, and perhaps three and a half feet tall. A Goblin, his skin the bright green of undisturbed pond scum. He looked around for a second and a half before spotting a certain blue woman in a business suit. “Abigail! You’re here!” He took a couple of running bounds and practically tackled Abbey.

  Justin reflexively leaned forward to do something about this, but paused when he heard the words out of his girlfriend’s mouth. “Daddy! What are you doing at the Guild hall?”

  “Wait, ‘Daddy?’” Justin was slightly incredulous. The two looked exactly nothing alike, but given the Change that wasn’t exactly a shock. He looked at the woman, whose severe look had transmuted into a broad and warm smile. SHE looked much more like his girlfriend. At least, once you discounted the skin tone.

  Abbey eventually let the Goblin go. “Oh, where are my manners? Mom, Dad, this is Justin Majors. My boyfriend. Justin, meet Daniel and Euphegina Williams. My parents.”

  As more people began to stream off the bus, The Goblin turned to regard the young blond man. By the time he did, Justin had taken two steps forward and offered his hand. “It is good to finally meet you, sir!”

  The Goblin reached out one strong, green hand and took the proffered handshake. “Good grip young man. You keeping my little girl happy?” His voice was gruff, and definitely held more than a little bit of Texas in it. The hand was powerful and calloused, one used to working directly.

  “Definitely doing my best, sir. I like to think I’m succeeding.”

  Abbey smiled at the exchange, already hugging her mother in the interim. “You are, love.”

  The woman holding his girlfriend looked over at the men. “First time I’ve heard her call someone that, so you must be doing something right.” They let go, and the four of them scooted a bit more to the side to get out of the crowd’s way.

  Mr. Williams spoke up over the noise. “We didn’t expect to find you here. Just figured there might be a few things me and the boys were looking for down South that y’all might have up here, so we swung by to check it out before coming to find you. Guess you did mention he was workin’ here.”

  “I’m applying for it, anyway. I need to save up for some materials so that I can finish the project.” Something was ticking the back of Justin’s brain. He looked back at the bus, trying to suss it out.

  “Justin? What’s wrong?” Abbey noticed his sudden shift in demeanor.

  “The woman who sent you here… she said four people would be getting off the bus, and there could be trouble. I don’t think your parents are the type, but even if they were, that only makes two.”

  “Oh, no, you’re right. We probably missed them as they were headed into Camp! Mom, Dad, I’m really sorry, but I am also working right now.”

  The Goblin grinned with a mouth full of crooked, yellowed teeth. “Not like we told you we were here, yet. You go ahead and do what you’re doing, we’ll-”

  “JUSTIN!” roared a voice from the door of the bus. Even if it had not been familiar, the man would have been recognizable. Not too many Aelves with buzz cuts and clipped ears running around, and he was dressed like he’d rather be in uniform. Tan boots, cargo pants, and a tan shirt. He did not run forward, though his wife (a dour blonde with a wrinkled face and a frown carved there by years of stress) stepped off the bus next to him.

  “Dad? What are you doing here?” Justin’s hackles were up, as much as a Human could. It was obvious to Abbey that he was ready for a fight.

  “That is none of your business, boy, aren’t you supposed to be in school?”

  “It’s Sunday. Nobody’s going to be there to teach me. Aren’t you supposed to be in Colorado?” Justin’s snark levels were off the charts. If it could be weaponized, he’d be one of the most dangerous Delvers at Camp.

  “I’m here to talk to the Marshal.” His ability to aggressively not acknowledge Justin’s snark was just as powerful. “Either take me to him or get out of my way.”

  Abbey stepped forward. “I can take you to him, though it is his lunch so you will need to wait a few moments once there.”

  “I don’t take orders from a-”

  “You finish that sentence and we’re about to have a problem.” Daniel Williams was fast off the mark, direct, and only a fool would ever miss that he could be an incredibly dangerous man.

  “Who are you to address me like that?” He wasn’t a stupid man. Just arrogant. Justin’s father looked down, literally and figuratively, at Abbey’s.

  “Her dad. Now if I put two and two and two together, and I’m pretty sure I did, you got business that don’t involve me an’ mine. Go on where you’re going, and leave the parenting to someone who likes being one.”

  As lines meant to avoid fights go, that wasn’t the best choice out there. Almost like that wasn’t his goal. Mr. Majors’s face went red with rage, his wife looking at him in concern, and he grated out “We have better things to do than stay here. Justin, let’s go.”

  “No, sir.” Justin’s voice was clear and final.

  His father’s head turned slowly towards him. “What did you just say?”

  “I said no. I’m here with Abbey today. You didn’t even tell me you were coming to the state today. You didn’t ask me how I’m recovering, since the st time we spoke I was in a hospital bed and had to ask for help dialing. From her. You told me to either take you where you were going or get out of the way. So you know, I think you can follow the signs. I’m going to stay with her. That’s out of the way.”

  There was a sound coming from around them. The crowd had not fully dispersed, and perhaps a dozen others from the bus stood in a loose circle around the six in the center, curious where this was going. Their muttered approval told Justin he had made the right call. More importantly, though, it told his father that his humiliation was quite public. There would be no avoiding this one.

  “How DARE you disobey me, Justin? In public! In front of these people!” Mr. Majors was in full fury now, the red suffusing his features. His graceful face twisted into a mask of rage.

  “How do I dare? I dare because I have a life and people I care about, Dad! I’m finally taking my own steps forward, WITH HER. You don’t understand that, and I don’t think you ever will. Why do I even BOTHER ranting like this? I wish…” Justin’s eyes flew open, his hands cpped across his mouth, he started sweating profusely on the spot.

  His parents didn’t know what it meant. Abbey and her parents did. The blue woman immediately grew to over two meters, pointed to Justin’s parents, and yelled “Get them to the Marshal, we have a Status emergency. Do not follow!” The crowd of observers sprang to action on her direct command, not questioning the source in the immediate urgency of the words. She ran to the open door of the bus, thankfully empty other than the driver for now. “Sir! I need some privacy and this is the best pce I can get it in time.”

  The man, a rocky Earth Elemental with something carved into his forehead, shrugged. “You got it, ma’am, next route is in fifteen minutes.”

  “Thank you.” She stepped to the side to let him off. “Mom, Dad, I need a huge favor. NOBODY steps onto this bus until we step off, PLEASE.”

  Her mom stood taller. “Do what you need to, Abbey. We’ll keep you safe.”

  “Thank you. Justin, come on!” She practically pushed him onto the bus and halfway back. There was no way to know what could result, almost no matter what came out of his mouth. Justin couldn’t speak, but the words were trying to force themselves out of his mouth. He was fighting with every ounce of his being to get his mind in order, to say what he really meant. She sat him down and pulled a cloth out of her pocket to wipe his face. “Love, I know you can’t ask me this time. I know you want to, but can’t. Just speak it, love. I trust you.”

  Justin closed his eyes. He nodded, and took a few deep breaths through the nose to steady himself. His face was grateful and terrified in equal measure. His eyes opened, and he finally seemed certain. “I wish to be as good a husband for you as you have been a girlfriend for me.”