(Quest Suggestions) SongsTress Quest Episode 34: This is War (Patreon)

(Members of Star Tier or above can suggest actions for next week's episode, and they'll be voted on on Wednesday!)

The Story So Far...

Let's be smart about this. You need advice. A proper war council! You pull you three main minions up on stage, and confront your maid. "Okay, you were a Serenity. How do I get past this?" You point to the accursed light on the screens above.

Your maid, the former Serenity Painter, looks embarrassed."I, ah. Sorry, Miztrezz, but I do not know?" She blushes, her voice thick with accent.

"Oh come on!" You groan. "This was your job!"

She's looking more sheepish than ever. "I thought my job waz to clean...?"

Fashion Fairy pats her on the back sympathetically. "You did kind of scrub her brain, Miztrezz."

Tch. Excuses! "Well can I unscrub it for a bit?"

Fairy shakes her head. "I'm afraid it iz more complicated zan zat!"

Suddenly, she's wearing a lab coat and glasses, and is now hovering in front of a whiteboard.

"Ze problem is simple," she explains, tapping a pointer stick against a sketch on the whiteboard labelled 'Serenity'. The stick figure is surrounded by a strange bubble. "As you know, Serenities walk among us, pretending, at most times, to be ordinary women and men like anyone else."

Uh. Okay, right, yeah, you'd heard something like that.

"But how iz zis possible, ven zey are in ze news all ze freakin' time?" She pulls out a picture and sticks it to the board. It shows the Serenity Arts in all of their glory - Painter, Dancer, Style, Scribe, and Melody, waving to the camera. "Zese girls, zey are fairly recognisable, no?"

No? Wait, no, yes. Yeah, you'd probably know these girls if you saw them in the street. All pretty distinctive!

"Zomething must be hiding zere identities, zen. A disguise field, if you vill." She taps the stick again - this time against the bubble around her Serenity stick figure. "Zomehow, zis magical effect keeps ze Serenity and her human identity completely zeperate in peoplez brainz. Even zemselves!" she snaps her fingers and points to your maid. "Once you have transformed zem."

You frown, trying to parse what she's saying. "You mean, because of this 'disguise field' thing, she can't remember she was a Serenity?"

"Zomething like zat," Fairy shrugs. "I am not ze scientist, I juzt dress like vun on TV. But it fits! Ozerwise Desires vould be going after Serenities at home all ze time after capturing one, no?"

Hm. So you're not going to be able to get answers out of your maid (or your fangirl) because this 'disguise field' locks off all of their Serenity memories now that you've transformed them. Hmm...

An odd question pops into your head, and you can't help but voice it. "So, would that still happen if I turned one into a minion before they transformed into a Serenity?"

"Hmm." Fairy ponders, tapping her pointer stick against her cheek. "Tricky, but if you did zo... Mm. Ze resulting minion vould probably be quite vell informed, but much lezz powerful zan ze minion you vould get from transforming a Serenity directly. Zey vould probably be quite confused about how zey know vat zey know, but their minds vould not be quite as scrubbed as your maid here."

"Well, could they help me find a way past that barrier?"

"Actually, I did have an idea about zat!" She turns to the whiteboard and begins squiggling again. "Ve know zat ze Seal prevents Desires and zere minionz from passing through ze corridors, but it iz pozzible zat ze covereage iz not complete!"

"Meaning?"

"Meaning zat zere could be a hole in ze bubble somewhere!" She moves back to reveal she's drawn another bubble, this one with gaps around the edges. "After all, you have already defeated three of ze Arts-"

"Two."

She stops. "Zorry?"

"I've defeated two of the Arts." You nod to maid and fangirl. "Scribe got away somehow - probably in that bubble somewhere."

"Oh, yez, how zilly of me." She giggles, rubbing the back of her head, before getting back to business. "But yez, even if all tw- three mizzing Artistz are vithin ze bubble, zat iz ztill a veakened Seal! Especially since zey already used a good chunk of zere power on ze greater Seal outside."

Hm. The great Serenity Seal can be beaten? That's news to you, but it's very welcome news, if true. "Okay, so that means...?"

Fairy points to her drawing again. "Zere could be holes in ze barrier somevehere vhere you could slip through."

"Wait, really?" You rush over to the board. "Where?!"

She shrugs. "Zat I do not know. It may be a false hope, if zere are three of zem. But perhaps from above, or from below?"

Oh. "So you're not sure they exist."

She shakes her head sadly. "It iz just an assumption. Othervise, your only option would be..."

Hm? What's this about another option? You didn't think you have any a few seconds ago, now you have two? "Would be...?"

"Vell, Miztress, ze barrier iz zere to keep out Desires and zere minions." She returns to sketching quickly. "You could try ze sneaky thing vere you send in normal humans zat you have not corrupted..." She reveals her new drawing - a set of arrows representing you and your minions bouncing off the bubble, but one from a normal human going straight through it. "Perhapz with zome of your vunderful muzic playing in zere headz, and have zem drive out ze cowards within?"

Is she suggesting you uncorrupt some minions and send them in to sabotage the place? That... That's heresy! A Desire would never!

… Though that does mean they'd never expect it. Hmmm, what to do...

(Your interrogation has revealed two strategies you can try! Pursue them, or perhaps come up with something new of your own - the choice is yours! Comment below with suggestions of what you'd like to see happen next, and I'll put it to the Vote on Wednesday! Bear in mind that Patreon Votes have a 140 character limit, so try to keep your suggestions below that.)