Reality is having a hard time asserting itself. It's been a jumble of images and instincts, emotions and sensations … a phenomenal disorientation that surely must be a side-effect of being wrenched out of one body and into another. Blurry vision comes slowly into focus, as Scarlet's mind tries to cooperate with her new body, and to establish just how far those eyes should be apart, and what color is which, and a myriad of other things not under conscious control, but taken for granted in the way that a brain communicates with the body. Likely, this would be impossible, save for the intervention of magic … but even with it, it's no small feat.

At last, the hazy image appears of the scene laid out in front of Scarlet. She's up in a balcony. She's having trouble telling what parts of her body are which. What's a leg? What's an arm? Is that an ear? Oh yes – She's only supposed to have two of those now. And the two she has seem a lot bigger than they were before. Oh yes … that's normal. Isn't it?

The dazed girl, or perhaps woman now, strains to understand her surroundings. Attempting to look around, she tries to move unfamiliar eyes to search this hazy scene. She cannot help but wonder, just who she is now. She has changed so much beyond even the physical. Could she be the same person she was when she first left Aelfhem?

She's at an elevation, in some sort of observation deck. She can see some bats there. Eeee. Babelites, that's it. They're talking in Babelite. Yes, her ears are slowly making some sense of the sounds…

"… his just reward for his crimes against you and your people, Mage Scarlet." It's the voice of that black mage fellow again. Too bad Scarlet never caught his name.

Hearing a familiar voice, Scarlet attempts to lift a hand towards the fuzzy image and address it. Relieved to know someone she knows both to have saved her life and given her courtesy beyond that of even her own school, she relaxes slightly her panic caused by this unfamiliar body.

The hand doesn't seem to respond. An Eeee next to the black bat mage – not seeing Scarlet's attempt – nods her head in agreement. She's wearing mage robes as well. She's facing the window, so Scarlet can't see her face, and her head is covered by a hood. There's a third mage as well – a male Eeee. Again, he is facing away, so any attempt at identifying him further is frustrated by Scarlet's point of view, since everyone is watching the spectacle outside the balcony, rather than turning to face the Water Mage.

Below, the circular stone seal in the center of the larger hive chamber splits open like an iris, the separate tooth-shaped pieces rotating and sliding outward, letting a round platform rise. On it is a bound Eeee – the pirate that Scarlet condemned to be fed to the horrib. He is screaming and struggling, but his bindings hold him there, quite helpless. In his desperation, he manages to make a violent lurch to the side, and Scarlet's sensitive ears can pick out the sound of one of his wings breaking under the attempt … but he accomplishes nothing more than to land on the hard stone floor beside the platform, no safer than before.

Even with dimmed perception, Scarlet can identify the scene. The sentencing, still as fresh in her mind as a memory can be, considering what has happened, she knows what will soon transpire. I sentence you to the traditional punishment. Yes, she recalls quite clearly. Her reasons, however, do not seem as clear now. She does not remember what they were. Was it revenge? Hate? Anger? Or was she trying to impress the Eeee by following their customs? Perhaps it was all of these, but she still cannot believe this is happening. She attempts to lower her head and close her eyes, wishing she could do so much for her ears.

Scarlet's eyes close, replacing the view with merciful darkness … but these new ears of hers seem to be more sensitive than before. A loud buzzing drones through the chamber, caused by a ferocious-looking creature she can identify by sound – a horrib, a creature like some giant unnatural combination of wasp and spider.

"Sunala!" cries the pirate. "Sunala, Queen of Darkness, if none of the gods will hear my cry, please may you take my soul and give me quick death! I beg of you, slay me quickly! SUNALA-AA-AA!" His pleas dissolve into terrified screams and sobbing, as the horrib descends upon him. His screams are partially muffled, as crunching noises emanate from underneath the horrib, as its tail jabs the bound form, and its many legs work busily on its prey.

She attempts to wince. That sound, so horrible, a reminder of what she has done. If only she could ignore, if only it did not bother her. Could she change things now? If she did, what would the Eeee think of her judgment and her wisdom? Must one be so cold when dealing with enemies? The irony of all of this, of her cold words, sting what remains of her heart. She never imagined when she took up the Sphere of Water that her heart would frost over, too.

The sounds quiet down. Whatever was happening down there … it must be over now. According to what Scarlet has learned of the horrib, the victim is most probably bound up in webbing, the horrib's egg planted inside him. He should still be quite alive, quite conscious … but paralyzed. And so he shall remain, while the egg incubates, hatches into a larva, and then slowly feeds upon him until it bursts forth into a newborn horrib and at last ending his tortured existence.

Scarlet attempts to reconcile with herself, to try and calm her mind and defend her mind from these thoughts. She first tries the argument of justice. Her family and home, her dragon, all hurt by this man and the others like him. Is this not what he deserves? No, this does not help her. Perhaps logic will. After all, it was his choice to attack her people and her friend. He deserves this, and he should know this punishment awaits. Indeed this does help her some, but not much. Failing her attempt to justify feeling nothing, in hopes this would cease to bother her, Scarlet attempts to groan.

The groan sounds more growl-like. Scarlet doesn't seem to have control over her vocal cords just yet, it would seem. There is some shuffling of moving forms on the balcony, but it seems that no one is saying anything at this particular instant.

Though the sound may not have been what she had intended, she is for the moment distracted by the joy of knowing she can still vocalize. Soon though, the gnawing thought of what is occurring returns to her and she attempts to try to distract herself by trying to move her new body. First, she tries to look down along her face to where she presumes her nose would be.

Her muzzle is a lot longer than that of an Aelfin. Yes, there's no doubt about it. She is in a different body. Colors come into focus. Yes, Scarlet can see color. That's good. The black bat is wearing robes of white. That would make him a Spirit Mage. The second bat … his hood is obscuring his features, and where he's standing, it's hard to tell just what he looks like, really … but his robes are of many colors. That would either make him a Chaos Mage, or a Life Mage.

The female bat in the middle is wearing robes of sea green. That would make her another Water Mage.

A smile is tried in hopes someone will see she is pleased to be surrounded by the living. Not only this, but a smile does some to help one's mood. While she attempts this sign of happiness, she tries to determine just what color she happens to be at the moment.

It's hard to focus, exactly, but Scarlet appears to be of a light fur color. Or, at least, her muzzle is.

"Truly I am grateful to you, good Sir Mage, for all you have done for me," the Water Mage Eeee says to the Spirit Mage beside her. "These pirates have been very bad, and they murdered my son-in-law, and almost killed my daughter. And, by making my daughter angry, they killed me as well. But now I can live again. And I can see justice done so that these evil pirates will not hurt my people again. Please thank the High Prince for me, though I would so much like to thank him myself," she tells the Spirit Mage.

Those words, yes, those words of the other Water Mage bring a fear to Scarlet's heart. Why is this Mage speaking her words? Could it be her imagination, her dulled senses at work against her? She considers, and despite wanting to believe that is all just a hoax of a worn mind, she knows something is wrong here. Knowing now is the time to act and to get answers, Scarlet tries to stand.

Scarlet's body rises a bit, but something feels wrong. She must have been lying forward on her stomach. Her ears brush against something solid … and then her skull does, likewise.

The Spirit Mage nods, sparing a glance back at the cage – yes, it's a cage – that Scarlet is looking out from, between large bars. It also now strikes her that everyone looks far larger than Eeee should normally be. "Yes, it is a great pleasure to be able to serve Aelfhem in this way, and to make use of this magic for a good cause."

Scarlet's hopes fall in her chest as she gazes out through the bars. She watches the green-robed woman for a moment, and cannot help but wonder if that is Scarlet. And then, who would she be? Did she just dream being a Water Mage, and now she has awakened to some horrible life? With an attempted shake of her head, she dismisses these thoughts. Even if she is not Scarlet, she does not care. She must escape this cage and speak with the black robed Eeee before this other Water Mage is impossible to stop. Thus Scarlet attempts to discern her surroundings better as she searches for a way to escape.

The Water Mage at last turns around, away from the visage of the dying pirate. She smiles at Scarlet. It's a beautiful smile, almost perfect. She has deep blue eyes, and silvery-white fur, and spiky russet hair visible underneath her hood. "So, what is to be done with our little friend here, good Sir Mage?"

The pretty Eeee pokes one of her slender fingers into the cage, brushing the fur of one of Scarlet's paws – for, indeed, Scarlet has paws, not hands or feet.

Scarlet does not smile back. Instead, she backs away from this strange reflection of herself and looks down at her paws. Her paws. Eeee do not have paws. Pieces come together and form a scattered image. She has paws. She is short, perhaps shorter than she was before, and her voice came out as a growl. Could she be a dog, or some other remotely canid pet of Sinai? And why – why is this happening to her? She tries to find out, she tries to talk.

The Spirit Mage says, "Ah. This fuff'nar was an integral part of the ritual. You see, when your essence was moved to the body of that disreputable consort of Dagon, there was a chance that a part of the old essence – a 'ghost', if you will – would remain in it. So, there were actually two transfers made. The first was to move the pirate's essence into this fuff'nar. And then, yours could be moved into the vacated space."

As Scarlet tries to speak, it comes out, "Dead?"

The Water Mage yanks her finger out of the cage, and puts her hand to her mouth, in an "oh!" gesture. "But what about the fuff'nar's … essence? Wouldn't it leave a ghost as well?"

"Well," chuckles the Spirit Mage. "We're not terribly concerned about that. The pirate and the fuff'nar's spirits can merge together, for all we really care. And, if you think about it, it's a far preferable fate to being … " He looks toward the chamber. "… fed to a horrib, don't you think?"

The Water Mage shudders visibly. "Yes, Sir Mage. I agree. So, actually, we're being quite kind to her, all things considered, aren't we?"

By the Star and several other deities, Scarlet is a fuff'nar! Leaving the irony of having once made someone else a fuff'nar, she tries to gather her now very scared mind and come up with a plan. At least while planning, she does not have to worry about being a fuff'nar, severed from her magic, and not even considered sentient. The fuff'nar now tries to push on the railings away from the others. Perhaps they'll give.

No, the cage seems to be built to be quite sturdy enough to stand up against something as simple as a startled fuff'nar trying to force her way out.

Some tooth marks on the cage, as well as several gouges, hint that this trick has been tried before, and to no avail…

"Yes, Mage Scarlet," says the Spirit Mage. "And she'll be well taken care of, I assure you."

Drat, considers the new fuff'nar Scarlet. If she cannot escape, then she will be unable to communicate. Magic. Perhaps she is not severed from her magic. Even though she cannot talk, she can try the more simple repeated hand motions of a cantrip. Perhaps this will work. She lays down once again and begins trying the hand motions of a simple cantrip.

However, as everyone knows, cantrips can't be done with hand motions – let alone with paw motions. Being stuck in a fuff'nar's body must be clouding Scarlet's mind. This is why everyone assumes that Savanites, for instance, can't cast spells.

The cage begins to shake. Someone's lifting it! Scarlet's body … no … the fuff'nar's body is being shaken about. Scarlet is in a cage, and it's being moved … a drape is thrown over it … everything's dark again…

Useless. It was a very dubious plan anyway, and she only hoped it might work. Now in the darkness, Scarlet decides to just remain laying down. She will need her strength if she is to escape at some future time. However, she cannot help but wonder, what did the Spirit Mage mean by "very well taken care of"? She did not like the tone of that. She also must wonder, where is she going?

"Take good care of our little pirate fuff'nar," the Spirit Mage can be heard to say. "It's still very important to us. It may prove to be … useful." Then his laughter can be heard, as Scarlet's cage is led away to who knows where…