Chapter Three

  Noelle wandered through Avalon, the two legs milling about her. Except I'm two legs now, she thought. She looked down at her two legs, lifting one up, before sniffing. She could feel Ambrose in the back of her mind, her heart's companion was in the midst of something violent. She could tell because he always entered into a state of controlled calm as if panic and anger were suddenly leashed tightly.

  Her tail swished behind her, and she curled it around her waist, as had become her habit. She made her way to Darren's Hall, her lips curled into a frown. She was used to being a cloak, an item with no other function but to serve. She wanted to serve, and that was the problem.

  Ambrose tried hard lately to treat her fairly, to involve her in his endeavors. Yet she knew she was useless. She worked her mouth, like chewing a bit of tough meat. She was two legs, but she was different, not the same.

  She found herself in Andrea's office. The leader of Avalon looked like prey. Noelle picked out her weaknesses with ease. Bags under the eyes indicating exhaustion, worry lines meant her thoughts delved on other things rather than survival.

  Her movements were slightly sluggish as she stared at the computer screen. Even with all of that, her tired eyes matched her smile as she looked at Noelle.

  "Noelle. It's been an age. I had heard you were less...cloak like now, but this is quite the change. Is there something I can do for you?"

  Noelle plopped down into the couch, her ears twitching. She wrinkled her nose at the powerful smell of cleaning chemicals that was still soaked into the wood of her desk and the carpet. She couldn't blame Andrea for that, her senses were simply better.

  Despite this, she pawed at her nose before speaking. She needed advice, advice she couldn't really get from Ambrose. Her heart's companion simply wasn't good at this kind of thing. Like pulling a thorn from her paw, she let it all out.

  "I don't know who I am, anymore," Noelle gestured toward herself with a flick of her wrist, ears wriggling, "I am two-legs, and yet I am something else, too. I can't help Ambrose, even in this form I am too weak."

  She crossed her arms, burrowing as deep as she could into the couch, tail covering her eyes. She heard Andrea let out a thoughtful sound as her chair squeaked from her leaning back in it.

  "You must know that Ambrose values you, no matter what. You're closer to him than anyone else, and that's a fact. But that's not really the problem, is it?"

  Noelle lowered her tail slightly, eyes peeking over it to stare at Andrea who looked at her in turn with a knowing light in her eyes.

  "The problem is not with Ambrose. Sure, I am willing to bet the big oaf doesn't treat you with the respect you're looking for, but this is about how you feel about your contributions, isn't it?"

  Noelle stared down at her lap. Andrea had captured the prey perfectly on this one.

  "Honestly, I'm amazed you lasted as long as you did before this crisis of self."

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  "What do you mean?" Noelle's eyebrows came together, her ears squiggling.

  "I'm not a psychologist or anything, but I'm willing to bet you might be going through the mythic item version of puberty. Point is, you're going through changes, and that's okay. It's natural. You've been with Ambrose for so long, you don't know how to be your own person. I know what that's like."

  "You do?"

  Andrea smiled, then giggled, shaking her head.

  "Oh yeah. Trust me on that one. For me it was a lot of partying and a series of bad decisions. Sadly, there is no one answer to this, but I do have a suggestion on where to start, if you like."

  Noelle sat up, nodding rapidly.

  "Yes please."

  Andrea collected her thoughts for a moment.

  "You should start with what you want. When you have that in mind, think about how you might accomplish it. Then go after it with everything you have. When the System integrated Earth, and I was taken captive here on this very island, I didn't think I was going to live."

  Andrea's eyes grew distant as she spoke.

  "Ambrose changed that, and I was exposed to a harsh reality. It took a while before I decided what I really wanted."

  "Which was?" Noelle asked eagerly.

  "Stability. Safety. A way to apply my talents. I've put everything into Avalon, into building this community, to make it a place people want to be. I want Avalon to be a pillar of new society post System. So I'm putting my all into it. What do you want, Noelle?"

  Noelle cocked her head, tail rolling across the couch as she thought.

  "I want to know who I am," she said slowly.

  Andrea whistled.

  "That one's a doozy. How do you think you should start?"

  Noelle allowed her tail to drift to her mouth, where she bit it lightly, thinking.

  She wasn't sure how to start. That was kind of the point of her coming here. But maybe she should start where all things start, the beginning.

  "I guess, maybe, I should start with how I was made?"

  Andrea blinked.

  "Doozy after doozy, eh? I guess for you that's a simpler question. You are a mythic item, so someone had to make you, right? Any leads on that?"

  In fact, Noelle had none. She didn't know how mythic items were made. She knew she was tied to Ambrose in an intimate way. When he grew, so too, did she. As far as she could tell, all mythic items had that in common. When she was a cloak, and Ambrose was at E-Grade, she had always had a tiny sense of what was going on, feelings about things.

  But she had trouble expressing those feelings beyond the feelings themselves.

  Now, she had language, and she wasn't even sure exactly how that ability had been granted to her. One day, once Ambrose had grown enough, she had simply been capable of it.

  Still, she did have a starting point.

  Research. Into mythic items, how they were made and who was capable of making them. Maybe if she looked into that, she would get an idea of where to look. She would need information from someone who knew about these things.

  She wasn't worried about resources. Ambrose had transferred a significant amount of SC to her character sheet before she'd left.

  She informed Andrea of her plans.

  "Sounds like a plan! I'm glad I could help."

  Noelle paused at the door, looking at the human woman.

  "Are you okay? You look very tired."

  "Mm. That would be because I am. It looks like the people of Avalon want an election. They feel as if they should get to decide who leads them, and this man, Cassius, is spurring that on."

  Noelle didn't think this was complicated.

  "This Cassius comes for your territory, yes?"

  Andrea giggled.

  "That's a way to put it. In a sense, I guess he is."

  Noelle shrugged.

  "So kill him."

  Andrea's mouth fell open, eyes widening.

  "Oh no, I can't do that."

  Noelle didn't see the problem.

  "I don't see why not. This is your territory. He's infringing upon it. You have every right to defend it."

  Andrea's skin paled.

  "Let's just say that's not how humans do it."

  Another way in which Noelle wasn't a two leg. If this is how they were, she wasn't sure she even wanted to be one of them.

  "You two-legs are weird. Anyway, thanks Andrea."

  Andrea nodded, turning back to the computer.

  Noelle left in search of herself.