[Deception] You roll a 3 (required 9). Failure.

In response to Novelty's accusatory tone, you blurt out an incriminatingly drawn-out and wavering 'no'. The squinting intensifies.

Feeling increasingly doubtful, you decide to confer with your party. You lean in close and, over a whisper, ask if they think this could be related to the strange creature you met earlier.

Moonflower: "Ooh, you mean Eleven?"

Novelty: "Eleven. As in Subject Eleven?"

Your eyes slowly drift back to the glass cell nearby. Sure enough, at the bottom, you find a label that reads "Subject 11". You swallow nervously at the implications, and attempt to take a closer look.

Just as you apprehended, inside the green, glowing fog, you are able to discern an all-too-familiar face. Eleven's wide open eyes stare into nothingness, as though unconscious. Dozens of tubes link the cell to unknown contraptions attached to the creature's body.

And perhaps most importantly, you notice that much like yourself, it seems to have been magically altered into a stallion.

Novelty: "What did you do."

In your defence, you stammer that you never meant for anything to happen. You tell Novelty that her equinculus was the first creature you met on this island, and that you mistook it for a local.

Novelty: "Nice try, but as you can plainly see, this creature is in no condition to go anywhere, let alone talk to anyone."

Apple Basket: "Uh, b-but it's true! Or at least, it looked jus' like him."

Moonflower: "Yuh uh! Minus the boy parts. Heehee..."

Novelty gives you a stern look, no doubt silently questioning your sanity. Nevertheless, she dubiously reaches for her notebook and pen.

Novelty: "Alright... supposing you're telling the truth: what happened, exactly? And don't leave out any details."

You nod, and do your best to recount your arrival to Midgard as thoroughly as possible, while Moonflower chimes in every now and then with juicy bits you might have missed. The unicorn doesn't seem to be phased by anything being said, perhaps too focused on writing down every single word.

Once you are done, Novelty takes a moment to revise her notes. Twice.

Novelty: "... That would explain these changes, but it raises so many questions..."

Back to her mildly annoyed self, the unicorn begins to take some more notes before pausing to glance over at your party one last time.

Novelty: "We're done here. And look, if you're still looking for that Yggdrasil tree of yours, you'd have better luck searching in Elysia. More specifically, under the city of Elysia. And you didn't hear this from me, are we clear?"