"Ape?"

  "Zoo?"

  "Resplendent Feather, you cursed a mortal? And a noisy one?"

  "This is what has been causing the dissonance in the celestial harmonies? This... this speckled pedant?"

  The thoughts crashed over Su like a wave, a chorus of disbelief and a disturbing amount of metaphysical hand-wringing. The council of cosmic peacocks was in an uproar, their magnificent trains rustling with agitation, their collective gaze burning into her.

  Resplendent Feather looked like he'd just swallowed a hornet. His own magnificent plumage seemed to dull slightly under the weight of the council's disapproval. He took a step forward, his mental voice sharp with defensive fury.

  "She was an insufferable blight upon my sanctity! Her words were... were graffiti upon the soul! I merely gave her a form that matched her inner cacophony!"

  Su saw her opening and drove a verbal truck through it.

  "Oh, I'm sorry, did my 'cacophony' hurt your delicate sensibilities?" she projected, pouring every ounce of sarcasm she possessed into the thought. "You turned me into a MALE peacock because I hurt your feelings? That's not a curse, that's a temper tantrum with feathers! You're like a CEO who smites people for using the wrong fork!"

  The stormy-plumed elder, who Su mentally dubbed Thunder-Rump, silenced the chatter with a sharp psychic pulse. His lightning-crackle eyes narrowed at Resplendent Feather.

  "You acted with Petty Vengeance, not Cosmic Balance. You have brought a flawed, chaotic element into our midst." He then turned his gaze to Su. "And you, Curse-Bearer. You have shown cunning, but you are an anchor of mundanity in our realm. You do not belong here."

  "Believe me, I don't want to be here!" Su shot back. "I want to be back in my own body, in my own world, where the biggest problem is my wifi cutting out, not negotiating with a council of sparkly pigeons with a boss complex! So how about you undo your little 'oopsie' and we all go our separate ways?"

  A new voice spoke, "A curse, once woven into the soul, cannot be simply 'undone'. It is a part of you now. The path is not backward, but forward. To Apotheosis."

  There it was again. That word. The one the Keeper had used. The system's original, glitched objective.

  "No," Su stated, her psychic voice flat and final. "I am not becoming one of you. I don't want your apotheosis. I don't want your cosmic drama. I want a refund. A reversal. A fix. There's always a loophole."

  She looked from Thunder-Rump, to the Emissary, to the fuming Resplendent Feather.

  "You," she said, pointing a wing at her cursor. "You did this. The responsibility is yours. The Keeper said the curse was a 'seed'. Fine. If you can't un-plant it, then you're responsible for the goddamn harvest. You fix this. You find a way to give me my body back, or so help me, I will make your eternal existence a living hell. I will follow you through the cosmos filing complaints about your flight patterns and project the sound of dial-up internet into your dreams. I will become the universe's most persistent, pedantic nuisance, and I will do it all in your name."

  The threat was so bizarre that it left another stunned silence in its wake. Even the council looked taken aback. This was not how these things were done.

  Resplendent Feather stared at her, his rage momentarily replaced by a look of dawning comprehension. He had not just cursed a human but THIS.

  Thunder-Rump let out a psychic sigh that felt like a distant roll of thunder. "The Curse-Bearer speaks a crude truth. The responsibility lies with the one who cast the thread, Resplendent Feather. The bond is yours. You will take her and be her guide. You will seek the 'Inversion Lore' in the Library of Fenadul. It is the only path that may lead to her... 'refund'."

  Resplendent Feather looked utterly aghast. "Guide her? To the sacred library? Elder Storm-Plume, you cannot be—"

  "IT IS DECIDED!" The elder's voice boomed through the cavern, leaving no room for argument. "This is your penance. Until the matter is resolved, the Curse-Bearer is your charge. Her chaos is your burden."

  He turned his gaze back to Su. "The Library of Fenadul is not a place one simply walks into. It is a trial of memory and truth. To find the Inversion Lore, you must first find yourself within its halls. The door will not open for one who is lost."

  A new quest seared itself into Su's vision, the text glowing with ominous light.

  MAIN QUEST UPDATED: THE SEED OF SORROW

  OBJECTIVE: ENTER THE LIBRARY OF FENADUL. FIND THE ‘INVERSION LORE’.

  SUB-OBJECTIVE: ENDURE YOUR GUIDE. (GOOD LUCK WITH THAT.)

  REWARD: A POTENTIAL PATH HOME.

  WARNING: THE LIBRARY REVEALS WHAT YOU HIDE, EVEN FROM YOURSELF.

  Su looked at Resplendent Feather. Resplendent Feather looked at her, his expression one of loathing.

  "Well," Su clucked, the sound echoing in the quiet cavern. "This is going to be fun."

  SYSTEM UPDATE: THE UNLIKELIEST (AND MOST HOSTILE) DUO

  SU AND THE PEACOCK SHE HATES MOST IN THE UNIVERSE ARE NOW FORCED TO GO ON A ROAD TRIP TO A LIBRARY THAT READS YOUR SOUL.

  NEXT STOP: THERAPY, WITH BOOKS.

  The journey to the Library of Fenadul was mutual irritation. Resplendent Feather stalked ahead, his magnificent tail held stiffly, every feather radiating offended dignity. Su trailed behind, her dull plumage a stark contrast. Sir Coos-a-Lot fluttered between them, completely oblivious to the tension.

  Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

  Are we there yet? Su projected after an hour of walking through a forest.

  Resplendent Feather’s mental voice was like ice. "Do not speak to me, Ape. Your internal monologue is a cacophony I am forced to endure. Do not add to it."

  Fine. But your tail feathers are crooked. Just thought you should know.

  His entire train shuddered. He stopped dead, craning his neck in a futile attempt to inspect his own plumage. "They are NOT."

  Suit yourself. Looks like a toddler dressed you.

  He let out a sound that was half-hiss, half-psychic scream and resumed marching.

  The system chimed in.

  COMPANION BOND FORMED: ‘Mutual Loathing’

  EFFECT: PARTY MEMBERS CANNOT BENEFIT FROM EACH OTHER’S AURAS. CONSTANT, LOW-LEVEL PSYCHIC IRRITATION IS ACTIVE.

  Great, Su thought. A party debuff. Just what we needed.

  Their path led them to the edge of a chasm spanned by a narrow bridge of woven light. Resplendent Feather preened. "The Bridge of Introspection. It will not hold one burdened with self-deceit. A simple matter for a Sky-Dancer of my purity."

  He stepped confidently onto the bridge.

  Su watched, an idea blooming. She focused her Mimicry and projected the feeling of a loose thread on a favorite sweater directly at the base of his most prized tail feather.

  Resplendent Feather faltered. His concentration broke. The bridge flickered violently. With a squawk of terror, he plummeted into the silver mists below.

  Oops, Su projected down into the chasm. My bad. Must have been some self-deceit you forgot about.

  Sir Coos-a-Lot simply strutted across the bridge as if it were solid ground. Su, embracing her flaws with defiant swagger, crossed without issue.

  On the other side, a soaked, bedraggled and livid Resplendent Feather pulled himself from the mist. He looked like a drowned rat that had fallen into a glitter factory.

  "You..." he seethed.

  Me, Su agreed. You should see a preener. You look... damp.

  Before he could retort, the ground trembled. The trees ahead shifted, groaning as they formed a wall of tangled thorns—the Hedge of Procrastination. An wooden face formed in the bark.

  "Go around," it rumbled, thick with sleepiness. "Or don't. I'm not your manager."

  Resplendent Feather drew himself up. "I am Resplendent Feather of the Sky-Dancer Clan! You will let us pass!"

  The hedge grew new, sharp thorns. "Your credentials are noted and filed under 'Not My Problem'."

  Su stepped forward, activating her Bureaucratic Bluster.

  "Ahem. We are here to conduct a scheduled inspection. Per Ordinance 6-C, subsection 'Cosmic Right of Way', you are required to provide unimpeded access. Failure to comply will result in a formal citation and a mandatory hearing before the Council of Complaints."

  The Ancient One’s wooden eyes blinked. "A... hearing?"

  "Indeed. Forms in triplicate, sworn testimonies from migrating geese. It could take centuries. Or, you could just open up now and avoid the paperwork."

  The Hedge shuddered. The concept of centuries of bureaucratic red tape was its kryptonite. With a groan of reluctance, the branches untwined, forming a neat, arched pathway.

  "Thank you for your cooperation," Su said, strutting through.

  Resplendent Feather could only stare, his fury eclipsed by bewildered astonishment.

  They emerged into a clearing and there it was. The Library of Fenadul.

  It was not a building of stone, but a single, colossal tree, so vast its canopy was lost in the clouds. Its bark was smooth and pale and its branches held thousands of glowing, pulsing fruits—each one a book containing a memory, a truth, a story. The air hummed with silent knowledge. The entrance was a large, dark knothole that seemed to stare back at them knowingly.

  LOCATION DISCOVERED: THE LIBRARY OF FENADUL

  WARNING: THE LIBRARY DOES NOT JUDGE. IT ONLY REVEALS. PREPARE FOR INTROSPECTION.

  Resplendent Feather gestured with a dripping wing. "There. The door. Now, let us see if your pedantry can open a lock that requires self-awareness."

  Su ignored him. She could feel it already—a pulling sensation at the core of her being. The library was reading her, tasting her history. She approached the knothole. There was just darkness.

  "Well?" Resplendent Feather sneered. "Where is your form for this?"

  Su closed her eyes. She thought of the "key" being within her. She thought of all she had been through. She didn't try to hide it. She pushed it all forward—the anger, the frustration, bloody-minded refusal to break. The memory of the hammer, not as a trauma, but as a reason to keep going. The image of Lana's confused face, a small victory. The taste of a stolen grub. The glorious chaos of a spilled grog barrel.

  She didn't ask for entry. She announced herself.

  I am Su Ian Hoo. I am Lord Crestfall. I am a pain in the ass and I want to go home. Let me in.

  The knothole dilated. A pathway of glowing moss appeared, leading down into the roots of the great tree.

  She had passed the first test.

  Resplendent Feather stared, his sneer wiped clean, replaced by something unreadable. Annoyance, yes, but also a flicker of... respect? He quickly masked it.

  "Do not get lost in there, Ape. The stories have been known to consume the unwary."

  Don't worry, Su said, stepping into the glowing passage. I'm great at skipping to the last chapter.

  The moment she crossed the threshold, the world shifted. The passage wasn't a corridor; it was a tunnel of living narrative. Whispers of a thousand lives brushed against her feathers. She saw glimpses—a knight's final stand, a baker's first loaf, a child's secret laugh.

  THE LIBRARY OF FENADUL: SHELVES OF SELF

  OBJECTIVE: FIND THE ‘INVERSION LORE’

  DIRECTION: FOLLOW THE PULL OF YOUR GREATEST REGRET.

  Her greatest regret? It wasn't a job she'd lost or a harsh word she'd said. It was a memory: the orphanage playground. A smaller Su, shoving another child into the mud for a stolen toy. The moment she learned that being the sharpest, meanest voice in the room was the only way to survive.

  A glowing fruit on a low-hanging branch pulsed, beckoning her. She reached out a wing, and the moment she touched it, the library dissolved.

  She was back there. Seven years old. The smell of wet asphalt and cheap laundry soap. The other girl, named Mia, was crying in the mud. Little Su stood over her, fists clenched, heart hammering with a vile mix of victory and shame.

  And Mia looked up, her tears clearing and spoke with the voice of the library itself, calm and without judgment.

  "Why did you do it, Su? Was the toy worth this?"

  Little Su, her own past self, sneered. "She was weak. She deserved it."

  The library-Mia nodded. "And did it make you strong? Or just... alone?"

  The question hung in the air. Young Su had no answer. She just felt the hard shell she was building around herself, brick by bitter brick.

  Adult Su, watching from within her own childhood body, felt the old shame like a slap on her cheek. The origin story of her "cacophony." It wasn't just survival but a choice to become a weapon.

  THE EVENT: THE FIRST BRICK IN THE WALL

  THE LIBRARY HAS PRESENTED A CORE TRAUMA. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT IS THE ONLY WAY FORWARD. DENIAL WILL RESULT IN EXPULSION.

  She could feel the library's patience but also its firmness.

  She made her past self speak, forcing the words out.

  "...No. It didn't make me strong. It just made it easier to do it again."

  The moment the admission was made, the memory shattered like glass. She was back in the glowing tunnel, panting. The fruit she had touched was now a dull, grey husk.

  A new path opened ahead, leading deeper into the heart of the library. The pull was stronger now, guiding her toward the section on Transference and Curses.

  Oh yes, I’ll join the Discord server of my fave author, meet awesome people, and become super famous, right? Well, that was the idea ’til everything went sideways, and now my life is upside down and inside out.

  Who can I trust? What is real? Is anyone on Discord actually a person? Or is it all just some whack game designed to drive me mad? I’ve got one friend who I sorta count on, but dare I confide in him my deepest, darkest fear: what if no one on Discord is actually real?

  How far down the rabbit hole did I go in my quest for fame and fortune? There’s only one way to find out, so you know what to do. Yeah, click Read Here.

  What to Expect:

  

  
• Female lead.


  
• Sapphic characters.


  
• An innocent, lovable gal with quick wit who gets in over her head on Discord.


  
• Comedy turned psychological thriller without violence or physical peril.


  
• Character driven. Found family. Slice-of-life moments.


  
• This stand-alone book is a spin-off from my series.