Beginner's Luck: 31

Fluke must have blacked out for a moment, because when he opened his eyes, it was a sultry man's voice brought him back to reality.

"Mmmm... This one is pathetic, isn't he? I don't think he will last long. "

Fluke blinked a few times more realizing his mask must've been blown off by the lightning strike. Crossing his eyes to focus on the source of the voice, Fluke saw thousands of red eyes staring back at him. Sitting on the tip of his nose was a dragonfly, his shiny exoskeleton was black, and his tiny legs tickled the boy's nose. Just before Fluke sneezed, the dragonfly took to flight and hovered a foot away from the boy.

His ears had a slight ring, his body ached, and the smell of burnt hair invaded his nose. He pulled himself up to a seated position and looked at the woman to his right, who was now rolling in the wet sand. She stretched and arched her back, giggling like a mad schoolgirl, and annoyingly, kicked small amounts of sand onto Fluke. A shout from the Librarian broke the dazed moment of confusion.

"FLUKE! FLUKE! Are you alright?!" The Librarian was hurrying towards them but slowed when he finally realized Fluke wasn't alone.

"... Is that... Another goddess?" The Librarian asked with confusion and a twinge of hope. The woman stopped what she was doing and let out a satisfied sigh before hopping to her feet.

"Ahhh... Yes! It is I! Jinx the Mistress of Misfortune! My sister's champion here, accidentally summoned me into the rift." She blew out a tiny raspberry at the boy still on the ground. "Suerta always was so possessive, and honestly it was rude of her to leave me behind." She crossed her arms and pouted. The two humans didn't move or react, unsure what to do or say.

Jinx opened one eye while still holding her chin high and slowly revealed a wolfish grin. She offered a hand to Fluke, as if to help him up. Out of habit Fluke reached to grab it, but the Librarian shouted a warning.

"Don't touch her! It's a trick." Fluke pulled his hand back at the last moment. Jinx covered her smile with the same hand and began to giggle again, before stamping her foot and throwing both her hands down in a mock tantrum.

"Oooo you spoiled the surprise old man! He was so close!" She stuck her tongue out at the older man and took several steps away from the duo. The black dragonfly went and landed on the top of her head, which drew their attention upwards slightly. It was then that Fluke noticed a countdown timer that was floating just above the woman. When he tried to focus on it, he remembered his mask was gone. Scrambling in a moment of panic, he cast his vision around and saw the mask sticking out of some sand not far away and went to retrieve it.

11:55:39

"What are those numbers? What do they mean?" Fluke asked it with a hoarse voice. Jinx suddenly jumped like she was just caught doing something naughty. With her back to them she slowly turned with a cat-like gleam in her eyes, and a less sinister smile on her face. Fluke put his mask back on as she began to speak.

"You "champion" have had it far too "easy" these last couple days. Everything going "right", mastering "skills", growing in "power", completing "quests", getting "taller"! All so unrealistic and BORING!" She used her fingers to mime air quotations for far too many words for it to make sense. Her intensity was hard to follow, and her energetic emphasis was borderline manic at times, giving off the vibes she was spoiled royalty.

"Sooooo as a way to get to know each other, I thought you would appreciate an icebreaker of sorts." She smirked and playfully rolled her eyes around. "Flip that coin you have twice for me. Call the sequence now before you flip." She shuffled her feet in the sand and quickly closed the gap between them, kicking more sand onto the young man in the process. Fluke took a step back as she leaned in and invaded his space. Using his masks interface, he summoned the talisman into his hand.

"Heads then tails." Fluke flipped the coin and it landed tails, then heads. Jinx covered her mouth with both hands, and her face turned red as she fought a fit of laughter. Fluke's mask displayed a notification: -25% It was the dragonfly that spoke first this time.

"Oooo bad luck." The sultry man's voice coming from the insect was disturbing yet playfully condescending. Jinx couldn't hold back and squealed before calming herself and saying, "The first call was to see if you got the bonus rewards, the second toss was to determine how long you'd have to prepare!" The countdown over her head suddenly dropped to:

1:59:45

"Bad news! You lost 10 hours of prep time...The good news is that now you won't have to fight them in the dark!... Aren't I just the best?" She twirled on a single foot as Fluke and the Librarian both just stood there in confusion. A notification appeared in Fluke's mask:

New Event: Mass Migration- Sudden changes to the environment have caused chaos in the migratory patterns of the local sea life. The plentiful food source they depended on is gone. They are hungry.

Incoming Wave: 1:59:05

Fluke read the notification aloud to the Librarian, who only shook his head before saying, "This hasn't happened here before. So, we're both blind on this one..." Fluke activated his Insight and looked for any additional clues, and thankfully there was a symbol that gave him some direction. Jinx giggled again and then said, "I think you're going to like it! Oh! Also, my little familiar here is going to be your constant companion. His name is Asap!... See I'm not that bad, am I?" She wiggled in the sand and looked at both of them expecting praise, but none came.

Asap the dragonfly took flight from the goddesses head and landed on Fluke's shoulder.

"Don't worry about feeding me or anything like that. I'll find my own food and shelter. Also, my main job is going to be hunting down any Lingotes that you may have missed. But that's only if you survive long enough." He sounded pretentious and annoyed. Fluke motioned for the Librarian to follow him.

"Let's check on Q. Then go to where the Event symbol is. I am pretty sure that's where it'll start." When they reached Q, the golem stuttered to life. The magical lights on his head and chest blinked a few times as he rose to his full height.

"You okay Q? Are you damaged?" Fluke walked around the golem inspecting him.

"One moment please. Anomaly detected, attempting to repair." The colors of the magical lights shifted from a blue to an orange for a moment.

"Anomaly, unresolved. Non-fatal error has occurred. Operational parameters acceptable." Q returned to a normal shade of blue and tilted his head at Fluke, before asking.

"How can I be of service?"

Fluke squinted at the golem, worried about what the anomaly could be. But before he could ask any questions, he was interrupted.

"What's the symbol look like?" The Librarian asked as he came up beside them.

"It's orange, has a bunch of legs, and two claws. Q, do you have any pest control parameters?"