The Innkeeper

"Welcome to the Midnight Inn," Lex said to the weathered fairies behind him as they teleported to the Midnight manor. Considering the fact that almost every place in this realm had the same level of purity to its spirit energy and air quality, the first impression wasn't overwhelming. But that is not what the fairies cared about anyway.

They were immediately impacted by the warm, welcoming environment and the countless smiling faces. The presence of so many humans made them uncomfortable, but they sensed no hostility, and no one seemed to pay special attention to them, which actually put them at ease.

Lex had planned to give them all a tour, but he was surprised to find that Vera had been pacing right in front of the manor impatiently. The moment he appeared, a massive grin appeared on her face and the oracle approached him at full speed.

"I have something for you!" she said with greater enthusiasm and excitement than Lex had ever seen her express. "Hurry and get free, I've already been waiting for you for hours!"

How many hours had she been waiting? If Lex were a betting man, he'd guess around the exact amount of time since he awoke his physique completely.

He nodded, fully aware that the oracle had helped him too many times for him to ignore her. Although divination was not supposed to necessarily be completely accurate, she had been a very reliable partner for him any time she offered her services.

"My friends, welcome to the Midnight Inn. I would have liked to take you on a tour personally, but duty beckons. I will leave you with one of our other staff members, and make sure your lodgings are taken care of. Feel free to explore after that. If you feel like you're beginning to like the Inn and want to stay here permanently, let me know and I'll put in a good word for you and try to get you hired. If you want to move on, then you can do that as well."

"Please, do not be delayed on our behalf, great savior!" one of the fairies said, before proceeding into a deep bow. Lex nodded, then found a worker at the manor and explained the situation, before making his way back to Vera who was so excited it seemed like she had won the lottery.

"What's gotten into you?" Lex couldn't help but ask.

"You have no idea! Oh Lex, if I didn't already have a husband picked out for me in the future, I'd kiss you! You're like my lucky star! I don't know what you did, but the trajectory of my entire life changed a few hours ago! Come, follow me, quickly!"

Without explaining, the girl broke into a sprint, barely keeping her laughter contained. She had a golf cart parked nearby, and jumped into the driver's seat.

"You know I can just teleport us where we need to go, right?" Lex asked as he sat beside her. "I know, I know, but the timing of these things matter. Don't worry about it. Let me fill you in on the details, I'm sure you're curious about what's happening."

"Gee, I wonder what would make you think that."

Vera just chuckled at his sarcasm, too exhilarated to care.

"I'm going to do something for you, and guess what? I'm not even going to charge you for it! Instead, every time you benefit from what I'm about to do, you just pay me according to how much you think it has helped you. You can completely decide the price on your own, I trust you completely."

Vera was actually jumping in her seat as she talked about payment. Clearly it wasn't trust that was fueling her, but the exact knowledge of what she should expect.

"Every time? You're saying I'm going to benefit from this one thing multiple times?"

"Oh yeah," she said. "I'll let you in on a little secret. My prophecies change, and they're not always accurate, so I can't say for certain how many times you will use it. For example, a few hours ago, something happened which changed the trajectory of my entire life! Do you know what that means? It means every prophecy I've ever had about my own life was overridden by whatever triggered this change.

"This is actually quite common. After all, at my level, I cannot get in touch with the greater secrets of the universe. That means, I am completely incapable of predicting the effects of anything above a certain level. So technically, another change could happen which proves my current visions false. But in my experience, such changes are not common. This is definitely going to help you, and you're definitely going to pay me really well!"

Lex did not know if she was ordinarily a rash driver, but at the moment Vera drove the cart as if she was completely unaware that brakes even existed, or that she could actually remove her foot from the pedal.

"So are you going to tell me what you're about to do?" he could not help but ask, feeling intrigued. He was guessing the change she was talking about was him touching the resin, and its side effects. It only made sense that she could not anticipate him encountering it before. In fact, it would be worrying if she could.

"Just wait for it," she said, and kept driving.

They found themselves moving away from the settlements, and in a while, arriving at one of the many lone small houses Lex had placed around the Inn. This place was completely secluded, and Lex could not see a single other person anywhere, but that didn't stop Vera.

She parked the golf cart and quickly rushed up to the door, before calming down and knocking politely.

The change she underwent was drastic, and intriguing. She suddenly looked like an extremely composed, elegant young lady and completely unlike the excited teenager she was acting like just a minute prior.

The door was opened by a being Lex only knew about, but hadn't seen. It was tall, at about eight feet (2.4 meters) with a body that was partially see-through. There were only bits and pieces of what looked like bones that covered certain areas, though he wasn't sure if they were a part of its body, or they were something similar to clothes.

It had four tentacles instead of legs, and floated in the air. Both its arms looked like a humans, but had strange grooves that made it seem like it could close its fingers to form, not a fist, but another tentacle. Its face, or at least the part where its eyes were, had no distinguishing features and looked completely flat.

The thing did not speak, and neither did Vera. She simply bowed, out of respect, and walked in once it moved out of the way. Lex mimicked her, before following.

He searched his memories about the guests in his Inn, and quickly recalled who had seen. The floating tentacle creature was called Lend, and it had a companion it was staying with. Or, based on the fact that Lend was opening the door, maybe it was the companion.

Inside the home, in the living room, sat a being of another race as well. This one was vaguely humanoid, though its body was extremely thin, and dark blue in color. It had no nose, and instead a majority of its face was occupied by a single, massive eyes.

"Master Haraash, I apologize for arriving without any warning," Vera said, and bowed even more deeply.

"It is fine, child. Since I requested the staff not to share my location with anyone, you were able to find me on your own. Since that is that case, you have earned this audience. Please, take a seat."

"Master Haraash, I come this time not for myself, but for my friend. He requires guidance on an extremely sensitive topic. Naturally, he will pay you for your help."

Lex felt the urge to raise an eyebrow, but resisted. Vera had not failed him yet, so he continued to trust her.

Haraash turned to look at him, and then raised its monobrow in curiosity.

"Your destiny is hidden from me. How curious."

"I try to keep it like that," Lex said politely. "I am not a fan of others looking into my future."

"Master Haraash, that is exactly what my friend is here to learn. If you could guide him on the best ways to hide from karma, destiny, divination and any form of prying, then he will reward you appropriately. I will leave the room, so that I do not add onto the price."

Master Haraash nodded, as if permitting it. Vera bowed once more, and then walked out of the room, leaving them there.

Lex was impressed. He had been looking for ways to hide his physique, and the way dropped into his lap. He should probably start thinking of how he would pay Vera in that case.