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The Next Day.

Despite a fitful night, the two managed to get at least some sleep, most due to the emotional exhaustion of the whole experience, plus the physical exhaustion of nearly ten hours on the convention floor catching up to them.

When the alarm went off, the pair groggily woke up, and without any other ideas on what to do by 'going home', agreed to head back down to the convention and see who or what they might find.

One (overly-expensive) ordered-in breakfast later, and they awkwardly set out, half sneaking, half trying to 'act natural', which is to say 'act like they're in a fursuit', but stepping off the elevator into the hotel lobby, no one said anything. No one screamed or pointed, instead they got all the same curious stares and random 'subtle' photographs from onlookers too uncertain to come up and ask.

That brief bit of exposure gave them enough confidence to head to the convention. No panic, no strange looks, it really felt the same as yesterday, despite the two being acutely aware of how very different their bodies are now. They might have posed together a little less, that lingering awkwardness of the thoughts between them the night before.

Still, posing for photos and hugs was all part of the plan, even if it felt a little too easy to slip into character... but a few hours of it, talking with some other fursuiters very carefully, leaning in and complimenting their costumes while they hugged, making some subtle hints, so far has yielded nothing.

Cindi, or rather her creator, is at this point getting a bit antsy. Not in a way that is apparently visible to anyone but Akari, but regardless.

Thankfully, they had quickly figured out that they could at least use their much superior hearing to their advantage: they could whisper to each other without needing to be in direct hugging contact, like they needed with the actual suits. This indirectly also helped with the spotting... or would have, if there was anything to spot.

"So", Jacinto starts with a whisper as they leave the art hall for the second time. "Nothing. You didn't see or hear anything either, right?"

Akari shakes her head, ears dropping down, "No... I don't think so. I- I don't really know what we're looking for, but everyone's suit seemed... um... normal?" A good decade or more of suiting construction and cosplaying at least has given the pair an eye for detail in such things, "But maybe we seem normal to everyone else too. It's so weird just walking around like this..."

Cindi sighs, then nods towards one of the less-used hallways. "Let's get a bit away from the crowds. We gotta... decide what to do." She doesn't seem terribly enthused about their current prospects, even as some part wants to just enjoy that in some twisted way this is a dream come true.

Akari nods, turning to wave cheerfully to some passing folks as she follows Cindi, "At least all the folks are still smiling, that's pretty fun."

She swallows, trying to pull back how deep she is in character, "Err... I mean... it is kinda fun, but... yeah, we need a plan."

Cindi nods, giving Akari a small smile once their backs are to the crowds. "That's the oddity about this, isn't it. This is both so very not ideal, but damn I also enjoy, on some level... being Cindi. Maybe the positivity is infectious."

Akari shrinks down a little almost as if embarrassed, "Y-yeah... I mean, we suited cause it made us feel good. And now it feels all that plus just this extra joy of being Akari, and feeling what she would feel. It's... yeah, infectious is a good word."

Cindi gives a small harrumph, which really just turns out looking awfully cute. "Reality stinks."

She then blinks: "I mean, er... of course we will find a way back. We will."

Akari gives Cindi a hug, humming, "They're both true. If it could just always be us like this, and not having to worry about anything else..." She trails off, uncertain she wants to finish that sentence.

"B-but we have to figure this out."

Cindi hugs back, the motion at least feeling good. "...d-don't dare say that. We can't... even if it's... feel good, how would we even... continue living...?" She swallows, then shakes her head, glancing around them just to be sure no one is near, easy enough with her really wide vision.

"S-somehow. We'll get to the bottom of this."

Akari releases the hug reluctantly, "S-sorry... you're right of course. We just have to keep looking? But where else can we look?"

Cindi sighs as she leads Akari to sit down at a nearby bench, corner away from most passersby. "I don't know. I'm... I don't want to say it, b-but..." She looks at Akari with obvious wetness in her eyes: "...l-losing hope."

Akari bristles at seeing her friend start to cry, leaning against the canine to give her support, "Cindi, we'll be okay! I... I won't let anything happen to you. I promise."

Cindi shudders and leans onto her friend, swallowing and closing her eyes. "W-what do we do...?" She sniffles, not really in the mindset to care if anyone notices or not. What does it even matter if they have nowhere to go?

Akari pulls Cindi into a full hug. "There's still plenty of time, and plenty of convention! The um... there's the cosplay contest tonight... maybe we'll have better luck there?"

Cindi leans into the hug, crying, the hope slowly going down the drain for the spaniel-moth. "I don't k-know..." There is a tiny, tiny part at the back of her mind that she shouldn't be getting this emotional, that she should be rational, but that part is currently very outvoted.

Akari fully falls into character, the only important thing is making Cindi feel better. "I completely promise. If you don't know, that's okay. I don't know either. But we're together, and we will make something work!"

Cindi hugs, fluffy and softly, and it would be very cute if it wasn't for the very visible despair in her sobbing. Trying to stay strong only works for so long.

A feminine voice clears her throat nearby. "Excuse me, ladies." The voice is soft, apologetic, not at all the kind of enthusiasm asking for photos would be.

Akari freezes upon hearing the voice, keeping her arms around Cindi as she turns towards the voice, not quite recognizing the tone or intent yet, she instinctively just speaks up, "S-sorry no photos right now please..."

Rowena: "My apologies. I am not here for photos."

Cindi looks up, her eyes wet but voice a bit tinged with anger: "Can't you see that-" She stops mid-sentence as she stares, said anger gone in an instant.

In front of the pair is a suit-wearer just like them. Exactly like them, besides being a brown, billed platypus in form. It's obvious to them that she can see them, actually see the doe-dragon and the spaniel-moth. A living breathing being like them, with an apologetic but hopeful expression far beyond of what a suit would be able to be.

Akari blinks, almost unable to believe her eyes. She releases her hug on Cindi, though moves one hand down to hold Cindi's paw.

"Y-you're... you're like us?! S-so it is happening to other people?"

The platypus nods, wringing her clawed, webbed paws together. "In a word, yes. We... we attempted to find you yesterday, but you vanished before we could. That was on us, and I am sorry."

Cindi just stares in bafflement, her eyes wide.

Akari blinks in awe and more than a little confusion, "W-we...? Us?"

The platypus nods, her big bill somehow looking so unreal yet also very, very real as she speaks. "Yes. I can not say much in here, but... you are not alone. Well, not now, anyway." She looks around, satisfied that no one in the immediate vicinity is listening, then continues. "My name is Rowena and again I have to apologize, I meant to find you last night. You must be..." She looks between the two, wincing: "...afraid for your lives and confused beyond belief. I know I was when it first happened."]

Cindi nods dumbly at the statement, then belated wipes her eyes with a paw: "Y-you can h-help?"

Akari nods, "L-long night... very confused... v-very afraid... Is..." She glances around, "Somewhere better to talk? I... I think we need to hear everything."

Rowena nods with a smile (how does she even do that with a beak?): "I figured you would. I have a room here in the convention centre, if you ladies will follow me. I will do my best to explain everything, but for the immediate relief, no this is not permanent."

Cindi stares and swallows and gets up, looking at Rowena with renewed vigor: "You mean...?" She swallows again, almost unable to believe it.

Akari squeaks, grinning at her best friend, "There's a way back! Oh thank goodness!" She gets up off the bench with Cindi, not letting go of her paw.

Cindi squeezes Akari's paw, the giddiness getting to her as she smiles at Rowena. "Just... anything. Please."

Rowena smiles at the pair, before nodding towards the center of the convention: "We will have to walk through the crowds, but don't worry, we look like regular suits to all of them. I'll explain later, but in a nutshell it's almost impossible for someone who doesn't Know, to spot us."

Akari nods, still holding Cindi's hand as they follow behind Rowena, equal parts relieved and nervous about the Platypus suiter's revelations. She falls silent again once they're back out 'on the floor', but her heart is beating rapidly, her ears swiveling at full alert, as if she's worried this might be a trap, and yet it's also their only hope.

Rowena walks with a confidence clearly born from 'she has done this before, and a lot', and that in turn gives Cindi confidence. She gives Akari a smile full of hope blooming from the desperation not moments ago.

The platypus leads them to the elevators and shows a keycard to it, allowing them to get upstairs to above the convention centre. Once the elevator doors close, she does also let out a small sigh of relief. "I am glad I found you."

Akari lets out a nervous giggle, "W-we didn't know we were being looked for..." She swallows, always feeling a bit nervous around new people, even if she is fast to make friends. "You... you knew this would happen to us?"

Rowena sighs softly. "We knew it would happen to someone coming to Anthrocon this year, but we had no information on what kind of costumes... or creatures... to be on the lookout for." She winces. "You two kept it very hidden."

Cindi blinks as she thinks on this: "Wait, you can keep tabs on such things?"

Akari frowns, "W-we're really proud of these suits... Wanted to make a big splash and surprise them..." She can't imagine how this has managed to backfire in such a fashion, honestly this kind of thing should have been impossible. Her ears drop a bit, "S-sorry."

Rowena nods at Cindi: "In a nutshell, yes. Although it's less magical than you're probably thinking." Turning to Akari as the elevator dings for the 8th floor, she smiles: "Wanting to make a big splash, but ended up getting way more than you thought you would, things becoming just a bit too real?" Her tone of voice makes it obvious she's been through the same scare, and probably witnessed several such cases.

Cindi just looks at Rowena with slight confusion but for the moment keeps any objections quiet.

Akari sighs, "Kept things too secret... and then, all of this, yeah."

She looks down the hallway as the elevator door opens, not exactly sure what to expect, but somehow just an ordinary hotel hallway wasn't it.

Rowena nods: "Yeah... I sort of did the same back in 2015. Seems that's a prime candidate for pickings in this... but I'm getting ahead of myself. Sorry."

Cindi sighs: "We did keep it a secret for it to be a big splash." She chuckles wryly: "Suppose we achieved that."

Rowena gives Cindi a sorry smile, but walks forward towards her room.

Akari tilts her head to look at Cindi before they enter the hotel room. It's their only chance to get this undone, and Rowena seems to know everything, yet it still makes her hesitate at the threshold. She lowers her voice to check on Cindi, "Y-you okay?"

Cindi pauses, but then nods with a small smile as she whispers. "As okay as I can be, given the circumstances. Let's find out where this leads."

Rowena opens the room ahead of the pair, humming to herself, either oblivious to their discussion or opting to not react to it.

"I'd say 'welcome to my humble abode', but really the room's not that bad. Or humble. That's what I get for overspending work bonuses to have a room in the same building when this is all they had left." The platypus walks into a rather spacious hotel room that definitely qualifies for 'fancy' in all kinds of ways.

Akari waits for Cindi to start to step forward before she enters the hotel room as well, glancing around the really nice suite. "Wow... well, if you've got the money... this is pretty nice."

Rowena: "Well, more like my work gives me a budget to use on - ahem - work-related hotel bookings. Which this totally is. Just, er, don't spread that around." Rowena clears her throat and motions towards a couple of lounge chairs, cushions and all, not that anyone in the room currently needs extra cushions exactly.

Cindi walks in, musing at the way fancy hotel room. "Dang. So you got this... to find us, here? And I guess, to have a fancy room for the 'con as a side effect...?" Something about the thought makes her let out a small giggle in amusement despite the storm of emotions and thoughts inside.

Akari smiles hearing Cindi laugh, "Well, we might do the same if we could afford it. Not that our room is bad or anything, but being in the convention center is pretty nice..."

She swallows, "B-but... you didn't really get this all because of us... right?"

Rowena shrugs as she steps into the mini-kitchen of the room: "Well, I've also been coming to Anthrocon since '02. But last few years, yeah, mostly skipping programs to find new people to the Collective. Or Conclave. Or whatever they want to call us now." She clears her throat. "Ahem. The group I am part of, and now you are as well, Real Furs Collective, or RFC for short. Except no one in charge can ever decide what the 'C' stands for. Please, get comfortable, we have a lot to talk about."

Cindi blinks at the acronym explanation, but then just shrugs and sits down on a fancy cushioned chair. It's not like she has any better clues than to listen to Rowena explain this, right now.

Akari feels her jaw drop, following Cindi's lead to take a seat. "A... whole conclave of people like us? L-like this?"

Rowena nods as she picks up three plastic bottles of Coke from the fridge and brings them to the table next to the chairs. "Yep. Last count was somewhere in the few thousand... Creators, or Critters or Creatures, or again whatever the C stands for."

Cindi blinks: "...how? How have we not noticed, how has anyone not noticed if t-that's the case?"

Akari's jaw drops further, echoing Cindi's sentiment, "A few... I'm sorry.. thousand?"

Rowena opens her bottle pretty deftly with her webbed hands that much like Cindi's and Akari's, look way too nimble for a fursuit. "There's a few factors in play why so many of us have not been noticed. Some mundane, some magical."

Akari glances down at her hooved hands, then reaches out for one of the coke bottles. She stares at the cap and moves to open it, only to stop short, "M-magic? Magic is real?" She blinks, "Th-that sounded crazier in my head, but... I guess the three of us sitting here like this makes it an obvious reveal..."

Cindi blinks, though uncertain if it's because of what Rowena just said, or because of what Akari said. "...I guess we gotta believe that much, yeah."

Rowena takes a sip of her drink. "Gah, so parched from keeping watch all day." She puts the bottle back down. "And yeah, it's pretty real. Just in kind of stupid, mundane and convoluted ways."

Akari glances at Cindi, "Ways like... turning people into their fursuits? H-how...?"

Cindi glances at Akari: "That sounds... impossible, yet here we are..."

Rowena shrugs: "We're almost certain some deity, whether you believe in such or not, is involved. But infuriatingly, they never leave any tangible signs of themselves, not even to the ones making the charms, so the best we have is a pile of guesses and someone really powerful with a twisted sense of what counts as 'wish fulfillment'."

Akari glances down at herself, "Wish fulfillment...? This... okay, this is a lot."

Rowena nods: "Far as we have been able to tell, the magic latches onto someone already neck deep into making a fursuit, then helps make it a reality. In a wildly inconvenient way, even if the end result is usually desired after the panic wears off."

Cindi blushes. "...okay, yeah, that sounds about right."

Akari sighs, "We can... certainly tick off all those boxes. We were deep into making these suits, and... well, I don't know if the panic has worn off quite yet..."

Rowena nods as she sits down, frowning as she adjusts her tail in the chair: "I have a tail on-and-off for a decade and still kink it at times when I sit down. Some example I am." The platypus clears her throat. "Sorry. Suppose it would ease your panic if I started from the other end of this conundrum, getting back to human."

Cindi perks up at that and nods. Twice. Thrice.

Akari does as well, "Y-yes please! W-we've been uh 'suited' for over 24 hours now... w-we were starting to lose our minds that this was just the rest of our lives now..."

Cindi nods and swallows again. "P-please."

Rowena nods and picks up a pendant from her neck, a brown-green jewel with an almost swirling form inside it, motioning at it. "Basically, it involves a ritual of calming oneself. And the charm in your 'costume', such as it is, becomes one of these, allowing a transfer of the magic, sort of. I do not really pretend to understand the technical details, but I know it works."

She gets up and takes a deep breath, spreading her arms. "Okay, watch what I do and say, and you get the idea."

Akari sets the unopened coke bottle back on the table and leans in, ears pivoting forward to listen carefully.

Cindi does likewise, burning hope and curiosity almost freezing her in place.

Rowena nods at the pair, then steps to have a bit of room. "This doesn't hurt, but it can be pretty disorienting. And the first time it takes a bit longer."

She then takes a deep breath, puts her arms up as though in a prayer and closes her eyes.

"One's true form, fulfilled.

One's fake form, needed.

Become what you need to be,

To eventually return to what you are."

There is a small glimpse of glitter around Rowena's form, and with a sigh she relaxes, her hands dropping to her sides. After a second, she moves her hands up to her neck, and with a deft motion, takes off the now-again-costume's headpiece, revealing a dark-skinned, curly-haired lady underneath with a wet afro and a tired smirk. "It sounds terribly pretentious and takes the wind out of you, but... that's basically it."

Akari gasps at the reveal. "That... that's not so bad at all. B-but... charm? We need a charm? What charm?"

Cindi looks at Rowena in slight shock, then at Akari: "Er, uh. Yeah. What charm?"

Rowena frowns, sitting back down, the costume's head in her lap. She's obviously a bit exhausted from the ordeal. "One of our crafters probably supplied you with one. That's how we satisfy the need to spread the gift around, give it to people who most likely would see this as a boon, like myself."

Akari blinks, thinking back... "We crafted almost everything ourselves... well... except a few parts we commissioned... and..." She lights up, reaching up to her antler, "The flower! I told Audie about our characters and she sent us those flowers with our order!"

Cindi blinks and looks at the innocent-looking plastic Hyacinth wrapped around her right wrist. "Oh. Oh." She looks up at Rowena: "Can I say 'fuck'? Because I am going to say fuck."

Rowena just gives an amused smile and a shrug.

Cindi:"Fuck."

Akari blushes at the swear, her own headcanon for the doe keeping her from using such language deep in character, "Cindi!"

She fidgets with the flower on her antler a moment, ensuring it's still tied on tight. "So... this sorta... caused this? Or something picked us and Audie just sent these because... she knew? Or... W-well guess it doesn't fully matter. We have a way back! Oh, thank goodness."

Cindi has the decency to blush at being called out.

Rowena nods: "That's the gist of it. Audie got them to you because she was pretty sure you would, and your own passion did the rest. The charm doesn't work unless the wearer, and most of the time, crafter, truly believes in the fursuit being a form they'd on some level, want to be."

The woman in the platypus bodysuit smirks: "I sure as heck relish every chance to be 'my true form', as the spell-poem puts it."

Akari lowers her hoof, examining it once again, "True... form? That... I mean, this..." Her face goes through a wide series of emotions as she considers the implications of that. "N-no... that can't..."

Rowena shakes her head: "Don't overthink it. If you think this is not it, you are free to never wear the suit again. I promise you, nothing stopping you."

Cindi hesitates at that, swallowing. "I... I will d-decide that later, I think."

Akari nods, "Y-yeah... this is a Lot to take in, Rowena... an awful lot."

Rowena nods: "I do not blame you." She hums: "Tell you what, if you want to get back to your room to think about it, I can give you the written instructions to the ritual, and links and login details to a few private places only accessible by RFC's, and get out of your hair. Although happy to answer questions as well while we are up here."

Cindi pauses at that, thinking. She would rather not do any reversal of this in front of a relative stranger, for every reason possible. But at the back of her mind, another question bubbles up and she tilts her head as she looks at Rowena: "...why? Why is any of this happening?"

Akari somehow finds the idea that they have links and login details the weirdest part of this all so far, considering everything that's come before. Still, she tilts her head at Cindi, then back to Rowena with an uncertain expression, curious to hear the answer.

Rowena hums, lifting a webbed costume paw to her chin: "How to put it best? We do not really know, though we have some ideas. Some force up there has an interest in making more... followers, kind of, except the only 'following' they seem to desire is just people being furry. For our part it means being given a bunch of 'boons' or 'gifts' or 'charms', and we just try to spread them around with as little harm caused as possible. It's definitely not ideal, but it does seem to be the world we live in, and for a lot of us the old adage of not looking a gift horse into the mouth holds pretty true. This is a pretty nice thing once you get past the oddities of it, after all."

Cindi stares, but can't bring herself to actually deny any of that, not really. Magic is obviously involved, there's no way around that, and she can't exactly deny she's been enjoying a lot of the smaller things about this even as the big picture threatened her sanity...

Akari lets some of that sink in, then raises her voice nervously, "W-why... why do we keep acting like our characters when we're like this? I keep thinking of myself as Akari... I keep acting like Akari. It doesn't even feel like an act anymore... I have to really pull back to be myself, and it feels like... I'm fighting the suit."

Rowena blinks, then ahh's. "Oh yeah, that part." She takes a moment, then puts the headpiece back on, and in a moment the not-costume's eyes blink again. "Mmrf. Feeling better like this. Anyway."

She flexes her arms and paws as she thinks, clearly happy to be as she is again. "The charm, again as far as we have been able to tell, acts on your own desires. When you put it on, you become it... but it also becomes you. Everything you think the character you're portraying is, kind of melds into it. For example, while the name is 'Rowena' either way, I did always consider the platypus more outgoing than I actually am, more resilient physically. That... kind of became a thing. I can stay out on the con floor all day and not really get tired until it's this late."

Cindi blinks, then looks up at her antennae. "...so that's why I can feel the air flow around me with these. And why I keep up the bubbly until I physically can't anymore."

Akari nods, "Or... why I feel so shy... and why I- err, that's... wow. And why I glow! Oh gosh! That's honestly pretty amazing."

Rowena pauses: "...you glow? Can I uh... see?"

Akari blushes, but that's hardly the kind of glow Rowena wants to see, "It's not a lot but... my scales. I'm part gem-dragon, and, well, I think I can just..." She closes her eyes and focuses, and slowly her scales begin to let off a faint purple light.

Rowena stares. "Oh... wow. That is genuinely pretty neat. I do not think I have seen that kind of power before." The platypus attempts to collect herself. "But, uh... yeah. That is the gist of it. Whatever your 'headcanon' for the fursuit's character, it sort of becomes a reality, in all kinds of subtle and less subtle ways."

She turns to Cindi, curious: "Tell me, do you think your character, or you right now, is able to fly with those small moth wings?"

Cindi blinks, glancing at her wings: "Er, uh. Huh. N-no... probably not. Although..." She gives the wings a small buzz, but they certainly lack the ability to lift, much less move the heavy fluffy fur anywhere. "Aww. Would have been nice, but no, I never I imagined Cindi could do that either."

Akari watches Cindi try to fly, reaching out to hold her hand afterwards, "Me either. I'm part dragon but I'm mostly deer. No wings. But it makes me really wonder... what else I can do."

Cindi holds Akari's hand, smiling at her friend before turning to look at Rowena. "I guess we will find out in time." She considers for a second before continuing. "It's... so much to think about. But... thank you, Rowena. We were so desperate..."

Akari nods, "We... we'd just about lost hope, really. It's all still so weird to consider but, at least we have a way out now."

Rowena smiles at the both of them. "The pleasure is all mine, ladies. It's a strange situation, but the least I can do is to provide a friendly face and a lot of explanations to go with it."

Cindi chuckles softly: "I can understand that."

The platypus stretches, then remembers mid-stretch: "Oh, yeah. The paperwork." She moves to dig up from a bag next to her chair, mumbling to herself about 'one day learning to sort these better', before coming up with a few sheets containing the spell-poem, some tips for relaxation to do it, and few website links, including a private Discord server of all things.

Akari takes the paperwork, glancing through them. "You... have a Discord server? Huh. I guess that's not too weird... I guess I was expecting some kind of magical signaling or something? But then you mentioned links and logins and..." She shrugs.

Rowena laughs a bit: "If you figure out magical signaling, please tell the rest of us. So far, best we have gotten for communication is that most of us have better hearing than a normal human." Her smile softens. "I do recommend checking those addresses out. It's not good to be alone in this level of strangeness."

Cindi looks at the paper, taking it in and trying to committ the spell-poem to memory already. "This is so... magical, and yet also so mundane. Mind boggles."

Akari nods in agreement, "Yeah... no kidding. Well... guess we can head back to the hotel and check everything out? Thank you, Rowena... I guess we'll be in touch?"

Rowena gets up, smiling. "Don't be strangers. I'll be around the con for the rest of the weekend, just enjoying myself now that I found you. Come say hi at some point, and message me the instant if something goes wrong or you can't get the spell to work."

Cindi gets up as well, being quite excited about this new development in a multitude of ways. "I promise, I will be first on your tail if this doesn't work, somehow."

Akari giggles at Cindi, standing up to give Rowena a hug. "I... I'm a little shy... but fast to make friends. And you're a friend. Thanks again."

Rowena happily and quite strongly hugs back: "It's always good to have more friends. Welcome to this strange club." She then turns to Cindi, expecting another hug. Cindi does hesitate for a second, but then hugs just as well.

Hugs out of the way, Rowena thinks of something. "Oh. You mentioned Audie. You probably have her official business contact, but in this case it might be better to go via our channels so she knows what's up." She glances around, then picks up a pen from a nearby table, quickly scribbling what looks like an online handle to Akari's paper. "There. That's her sign on all the private sites, you should have no problem asking her for any details you need. Although she may also be here in the con, I haven't checked."

Akari takes the card, flipping it over to examine, then adding it to her paperwork. "Well have to track her down. I don't think we saw her in the merchant hall, but maybe artist alley? Worth a look at least."

Rowena nods. "I'd tell you what kind of creature to look for, but as a crafter she has a few, and probably isn't in costume in the hall anyway. A bit too risky." She blinks, snapping her fingers. "Oh! Another thing. We call the thing that prevents non-furs from seeing the true us and just having them see a costume, 'The Bubble'. Cause when you're out of costume and see, for example, me down there, you won't see any of the details that make us stand out. Like if you were seeing me from outside of a soap bubble, in some ways."

Cindi blinks, but then just shrugs: "Useful, if also yet another weirdness to this all."

Akari considers it, nodding, "The bubble... yeah, there's a lot to learn I guess... if we continue on with all of this..."

Cindi nods: "Yeah. It's... yeah." She frowns. "Sorry, Rowena. Just trying to keep my head from exploding right now."

Rowena smiles warmly. "I understand. Take care, and don't hesitate to find me if you need to."

Akari heads out of the apartment with Cindi, closing the door behind them. The silent hallway still seems so strange to her, as she looks at her friend, still holding her hand. "...what now? Back... to the hotel?"

Cindi shrugs, thinking: "Well, now that we know this isn't permanent, we could go back to the con floor for a bit, but if we are honest, we don't want to. We want to see if and how the spell works, even though we just literally saw it."

Akari hesitates, then nods, "Yeah, we should get out of this. We can figure out where to go from there."

Cindi smiles, squeezing Akari's hand. "Guess this worked out in the end, after all."

Akari squeezes back, nodding, "I promised you."

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