Bright sunlight streamed through the windows, assaulting Talli's sleepy eyes. She rolled over, grumbling. She was not ready to get up. Her door opened, and she heard familiar, soft footsteps walking up. "It's time to get up, sweetie." Talli murmured sleepily. "...mnngh... just a few more minutes, mom... so tired..." Lysa laughed sweetly. "Alright, alright, I'll let you sleep in a bit. Yesterday was very stressful for you, after all. I'll go make up a wakefulness tonic while you get a few more minutes of sleep. Does that sound good?" Talli sleepily grumbled in agreement, and her mother quietly left the room. 

Talli quite enjoyed the extra few minutes of sleep she was granted, letting her mind drift and float in dreams. She wasn't exactly sure why she was so sleepy this morning. Yesterday was busy, sure, but she'd had busier days. Sure there was 'the incident', but that wouldn't make her this tired, right? Maybe she was coming down with something. She'd ask her mother to brew her up something when she came back in. That was a pretty big benefit of being adopted by the town apothecary: Minor sicknesses like cold and fevers were barely an inconvenience.

Her door opened again, and a soft hand was placed on her shoulder. "Time to wake up, sweetie. Drink this slowly, it's hot." Talli sluggishly sat up and took the steaming mug from her mother, sipping it slowly. She felt the effect immediately, a warm, fuzzy feeling pulsing throughout her body, washing away all her sleepiness and fatigue. She didn't even feel sick anymore. Her mother gently kissed her forehead and helped her up from the bed. "I hope today goes well for you, sweetie!" Talli smiled. "Me too, mom. Thanks!" She gave her mother a big hug, then got dressed for her job at the tavern. For some reason, she felt like today would go a lot better...

The day started out pretty slow. She served meals, handled transactions, and kept everything clean. Luckily for her, 'he' seemed to have gotten the message to stay away. As usual, she chatted with some regulars and heard snatches of the latest gossip, mostly about the alleged beast that lived in the forest having 'struck again'. There was no such beast, of course, it was just what everyone jumped to whenever there was any disappearance or mysterious death that couldn't be immediately explained. Half the supposed 'kills' were clearly from completely different sources! ...Though, to be fair, most villagers didn't help their mother perform the autopsies so they wouldn't exactly know the specifics. And so the legends persisted, and spread surprisingly far. And so that's why she wasn't massively surprised to see an adventuring party sauntering in.

The adventurers looked unremarkably remarkable. A grizzled dwarf with scars and a massive axe, a rugged human carrying a bow and arrows, and a willowy elven woman with glowing yellow eyes. They drew the attention of the patrons, but Talli had seen their type before. They all wanted to hunt the 'legendary beast', and usually they'd linger around the town for a few days, maybe helping with some minor problems or fetching some herbs for her mother, before getting bored and moving on. She mostly ignored them for now, focusing on her own job while they chatted up the tavern for 'leads'. She did notice them showing a piece of paper around, so maybe they were here on a bounty? That'd be new. 

The adventurers walked up to Talli, and she gave them a beaming smile. "Welcome to the Prancing Rabbit! I can tell you must be-" The dwarf gruffly interrupted her. "We're here about the Beast of Trallow Forest." She held back a sigh, and politely explained. "Ah, yes, the Beast. Those are just rumors, I'm sorry to say. It's just wolves and a few-" The human shoved the paper before her. "This look like it was done by a wolf to you?" She looked at it, and her stomach lurched. It was a very detailed drawing, likely created by magic, of a man lying dead on the forest floor. His body was pale and shriveled, and his head was completely backwards. But that wasn't what made her feel sick. She recognized him. The man from yesterday. The elf looked suspiciously at her. "You recognize the victim?" Talli curtly nodded, and the elf raised an eyebrow. "A friend of yours?" Talli shook her head, trying to keep herself steady. "No. Not at all." The human looked down at her. "You seem very distressed. Why?" His tone wasn't sympathetic, but almost agressive. Talli felt very uncomfortable. "I... I don't want to talk about it, okay?" She tried to back away, but the dwarf stepped behind her. "You aren't hiding something, are you?" Talli shook her head, panicking. "No! I'm not! I-" She felt a hand touch her shoulder, and the elf turned her around. "We shall see about that." She chanted something in elvish and held up a shimmering prism. Talli tried to object... But couldn't. She was too busy staring into the prism...

Talli found herself falling deep into the prism, unable to look away from the shimmering light and the seemingly infinite facets within. Every subtle movement sent light bouncing and splitting across a thousand and more sharp, glittering lines, and her mind could hardly handle it. She was floating in a crystalline voice, walls all around her reflecting light, telling her to give in, showing her versions of herself that had already given in. Shards of crystal light separated her into a thousand thin pieces, her thoughts and memories laid bare before her. A voice echoed deafeningly around her, bouncing off of every infinite facet into her mind. "You shall tell us what you know..." Talli repeated in a discordant monotone, "I shall tell you what I know..." The voice seemed satisfied. "Good. Now... Tell us what you know of that man..." Talli could see her memories flying before her as panes of crystal, in perfect clarity. She didn't want to relive them. But she must.

"His name was Huk Grajas. He said he was a traveler from another city, but he did not say which one. I served him in the tavern yesterday. He was incredibly rude, and I did not like serving him. He became angry at me when I brought him his order, and he started yelling at me. When my boss kicked him out, he got even angrier." Talli did not want to elaborate on this. But the prism commanded her to. "He lunged at me with a knife. I was scared, and tried to kick him. I knocked the knife out of his hands, and he fell. The others grabbed him before he could attack again, and they dragged him out. He yelled that he'd come back to get revenge." And luckily, he never followed up on that promise... "And he did." Wait... What?! As Talli's body floated in this obedient trance, she saw memories begin to fly before her that she never recalled... And in her hypnotized state, she told them everything...

"I heard someone breaking a window in my house that night. I grabbed a knife to defend myself as he broke into my room. He knocked it out of my hand and grabbed me." Talli could only stare in horror as the memories played out before her, just as much a spectator to this as the elf was. "Before he could do anything more, I heard my mother yell from the doorway. I saw her body shift into something monstrous and unholy. She grabbed him and restrained him before snapping his neck. I watched in terror." Just like she was now. Why didn't she remember this?! "When he was dead, the monster that was my mother floated over to me. I tried to run, but a tentacle grabbed me. Her grip was gentle. Her many eyes glowed and she waved a hand before my eyes, and..." The memories grew hazy, the panes of crystal filled with a soft pink fog. Even under this spell, what happened after that was a mystery. The elf's voice returned. "Thank you. I will bring you out of my spell now." The sound of shattering crystal filled Talli's head, and she was pulled back to reality. 

The elf began talking to her comrades as Talli stared into space, horrified. Was... was that real...? No, it had to have been an illusion! Some kind of sick trick by the elf! She... That never happened! Her mother... Her mother was an elf, not... THAT! She felt sick. She couldn't stay here. She ran out of the tavern, past the adventurers, past the worried looks of the regulars, past a mug she knocked onto the floor... She needed to rest, she needed to be safe, she needed ANYTHING to be okay! And she was just in front of her house, having started running there without thinking, before she realized that her mother was still there. Or... Maybe whatever had replaced her mother... She couldn't even think of them as her mother anymore... She leaned against the ancient lotus tree in their yard, trying and failing to calm herself down. She heard footsteps leaving the house. "Talli? What is it? What's wrong?" She looked up to see her mothe- Lysa, and recoiled back. "ST-STAY AWAY! M-MONSTER!" They stared at her in dismayed shock, and reached out a hand. "I... Please, just let me explain, Talli! I-" "You'll do nothin', beast." 

The adventurers strolled up, eyeing Lysa hungrily, weapons at the ready. "We're gonna eat like kings once we get all the bounties for you." Lysa stared at them, her eyes wide. "W-What? I... I'm not the beast! The beast doesn't exist! It never did!" The elven sorceress laughed. "Your 'daughter' here told us differently once we removed your spell, beast!" Lysa clapped a hand over her mouth and looked at Talli, horrified. "Oh... No... I'm so sorry Talli... I only wanted to protect you..." Talli stared back, a violent mix of conflicting emotions roiling within her. She'd been lied to her whole life! Brought up by a murderous monster that probably killed far more than just that man! But, she hadn't attacked Talli... In fact, she might have saved Talli from that man... But... Maybe she was just fattening her up... Talli had no idea... So she just stared silently back. 

The adventurers moved closer, the dwarf's shadow covering Talli. "So, ya gonna give up, or give us a nice fight?" He cracked his knuckles. "I'm hoping for the second option, myself." Lysa took a deep, trembling breath. "Look, I do not want to fight you. I am not the beast. I never have been. The beast is not and has never been real, and bringing back my head will not satisfy all those bounties. So, I please ask you, leave us- leave me alone..." She looked over at Talli, who averted her gaze. The human grinned cruelly. "And what if we don't? What will you do then, beast?" Lysa calmly stepped forward. "I am not threatening you. I am asking you to please leave. Killing me will not solve anything. You have already caused enough damage to me by... By making my d- Talli fear me. I mean no harm to any of you, and I promise that." The human looked at her, holding his weapon tight. "You aren't going to fight?" Lysa shook her head. "No, I am not going to fight. If you truly desire a reward, I can pay y-" Talli suddenly felt a leather-gloved hand roughly close around her neck, hoisting her into the air. Lysa yelled "TALLI!" as she struggled to breathe. The dwarf leered at Lysa as the human held Talli tight. "Not even if your 'daughter' is gonna die?" Talli's vision began to blur, and she instinctively looked at Lysa with teary eyes.  Lysa stared at the adventurers with savage fury in her eyes. "Fine. I will fight then." And as Talli's vision began to fade, Lysa began to rapidly grow.

Her face elongated, becoming fanged and monstrous with six glowing eyes. A large spiked crest the color of her hair ran down her head and back. Her arms grew large and muscular, and her clawed hands crackled with inhuman power. She rose above the ground, and her legs split into several waving tentacles. Before the adventurers even reacted, she extended a hand and sent a glowing bolt of energy towards the human's head. His grip instantly loosened and he clutched his head as Talli fell painfully to the ground. She looked up to see the dwarf charging towards Lysa, swinging his axe wildly. Lysa easily parried his every swing with a tentacle before slamming him to the ground. She raised a hand and sent pulses of energy towards his head, and he quickly stopped moving. The elf launched a volley of magical darts from her prism, but Lysa was unbuffeted, extending her hand towards her and emitting a blast of biting cold air, freezing her solid. Before the elf could free herself, a barrage of magic rings impacted her, and she fell limp. From where she was laying, Talli could see her eyes, half closed and full of rings. The human shot arrow after arrow, to no effect. Lysa raised her hand and snapped, and a shimmering aura appeared around the human. His movements grew sluggish and weak, and within seconds all his energy was depleted and he collapsed, fast asleep. Lysa quickly flew over to where Talli was laying, extended a tentacle... and gently wiped away her tears as she stared up into her monstrous visage. Within a minute, the fight was completely over...

Lysa leaned down, her six eyes gazing kindly at Talli. She spoke, her voice powerful and monstrous, yet still undoubtedly her own. "I am sorry for all of this, Talli. I... I should have told you what I was..." She laughed softly. "You'd think in all my eons, with all the children I've adopted, I would have figured out how to handle this... But I never know exactly what to do..." Talli stared, in part terrified, but in part... lovingly. As she stared up at Lysa... Her mother, monstrous though she was... She could see the love in her eyes... And what she would do to protect her... And suddenly, all of the stress, and fear, and emotions caught up to her, and she began sobbing into her mother's tentacle. Lysa gently picked her up. "Shhhh, it's alright... I've got you... Let's go inside now..." Talli, still sobbing but feeling much better, snuggled up to Lysa's tentacle. 

Lysa gently laid Talli on her bed and caressed her with a tentacle. "Shhhh... Just relax... I'm sure you have a lot of questions, but jist relax for now..." Talli nodded, her eyes still teary but no longer crying now. "What... What are you...?" Lysa smiled and chuckled softly. "It's... A long story. Perhaps I'll tell it to you when you're feeling better." She leaned down. "Suffice to say... I'm a powerful, ancient being from another world. And I'm also your mother... If you'll let me be." Talli smiled weakly. "I... I will..." Lysa softly hugged her, and Talli leaned into her embrace. Her skin was still warm and soft, and Talli felt like a young girl again...

The mother and daughter hugged for quite some time, enjoying this moment of calm and connection after such a stressful time. As Talli leaned against her mother's massive arm, she quietly asked, "...What exactly happened last night...? After you... dealt with that man...?" Her mother looked down at her. "I thought you remembered?" Talli felt a bit embarrassed. "Well... Only some of it... I remembered up until... You waved a hand before my eyes..." Lysa nodded understandingly. "Ah, that would make sense... I put you in a relaxed trance to erase the memories... I suppose the memories you formed while under my spell were harder to recall..." Talli's eyes were getting harder to keep open. "Trance...?" Lysa nodded again. "Yes. I used my magic to put you into a comfortable, suggestible state where I could help you forget all about what happened last night... And to help you fall asleep easier... Would you like me to put you into one now? I promise I won't make you forget a thing you don't want to." Talli thought a bit. She certainly hadn't liked being under a spell back at the tavern. But... Somehow, deep down, she remembered what her mother's magic felt like. And it seemed wonderful. So she nodded sleepily, and Lysa smiled. "Alright. Just relax..." Her eyes began to glow brighter, and she waved her hand slowly before Talli's eyes. Instantly, Talli felt her body flooded with soft, relaxing warmth. Her thoughts all melted away, and she relaxed into her bed, her eyes fluttering closed. Her mother began to sing a soothing lullaby, and Talli sank deep into the comforting bliss of her mother's love...