You are Charlotte Fawkins, Herald and heroine. With the power of your positive spirit, you have overcome deceit, defeat, and divine possession, and now you are going to save the world. First, though, you need to relocate to Earl's place, lest Lucky track you down and arrest you.

Rallying Earl and Gil is easy. Rallying a sleepy, cranky Claudia is harder: on your first attempt, she flips over and shoves her face into the settee, and you have to get Gil to coax her out. Why does she listen to Gil and not you? "She knows me," Gil mumbles, and it might help that he didn't violently absorb her. Even though he might've, if he were God and not you. It's harder than it sounds.

Earl pats you on the shoulder and says he'll wake up Branwen, who emerges, hair frizzled, and grunts when you say you have to go. "Suit yerself."

Gil clears his throat. "Er, i-it was really nice of you to let us stay here, and, uh—"

"Yeah, yeah. Jes' doing the sound thing to do. Won't tell them Courters shit, given I can help it. Fawkins."

"Huh?" She's looking straight at you.

"Don't git killed out there."

"Oh! I won't! Don't worry!" Not before you're God, anyhow. It just wouldn't work. "...Um, thanks, too. I meant to say that before he did. Thanks."

"Mm-hm. Git moving." She jerks her head toward the door. "Seeya around, Toothless."

"Hey, thanks! Seeya, Morris!"

Earl herds you, Claudia, and Gil out into the early morning darkness. Feeling sluggish, you exit last. It would be easy to blame on the odd hour, your lack of sleep, but as Earl counsels the three of you on nighttime safety measures (eyes forward! stay together! mind on the destination!), the feeling doesn't lift. When you get moving, it gets worse. Something about you is slow. Something about you is heavy.

«Your mass has increased.»

What? No it hasn't. (You prod surreptitiously around your waist.) Yeah! You're not any bigger. Did you bite your lip in your sleep? Maybe you're half-paralyzed? Could Richard please purge your blood of any—

«I said nothing about size. Your physical size is the same.»

'For now,' he'll say ominously. You're onto him.

«Yes. For now.»
«But right now, you take up the same amount of space you always have. It's just that there's... more of you in it. You are experiencing difficulty moving that increased mass, which is only natural. You are now more strongly rooted to the ground.»

Where the Wyrm is.

«Yes.»
«I take it that last night was a success.»

Yes. Something like that. Could he...?

«Anything for you, Charlie.»

>[-2 ID: 13/15]

You shiver as Richard's whatever-it-is crackles up your spine— does he use special equipment for this too? It really isn't magyck? He sits at his snake desk and pushes a snake button and some machine is able to...

«More or less.»
«Does that disappoint you?»

(1/3?)