Cstrid can tell that Beist is trying to contain his worry, and she does what she can to help him back to his feet. “A’ course! Come on, we can talk plants later!” she says, zipping back to the house full speed.^[1] “Oi! Beist says hurry it up! We’re burnin’ time sittin’ around here!” she shouts into the open door.

“We are hurryin’!” one of the other Astrids shouts. “Maybe if ya weren’t bein’ so– What is Beist…?” Her voice changes tone when she looks past Cstrid at the beastman outside apparently ripping his whole frickin’ arm off.

Cstrid, standing in the doorway, whips around to witness the act firsthand and can only be described as horrified. “What the heck are ya doin’?!” she shouts, rushing over to him only to find that he’s already healing the wound and regrowing an arm, which makes the twitching, bloody arm on the ground something extremely awkward to think about dealing with right now. The replicant finds herself glad that the main Astrid didn’t see it up close, or at least she thinks she didn’t.

“Uhhhh…. I think we should hurry up on that new body, Astrid!” Bstrid says loudly.

Astrid huffs in annoyance from her workstation where she was previously very focused. “I’m workin’ on it! Golemancy runes take time ta etch properly, ya know! We only just got started on alla this!” If they need to work more quickly, she needs more hands. Two more Astrids appear on either side of her and rush to start building parts for the quetzalcoatl’s new body. They can keep it simple for now, the important part is the body and runes that’ll help it move. Making things a little more complicated and beautiful can happen after Beist is out of danger.

The group of Astrids work diligently for the next while, only speaking when they need something and otherwise staying focused. With flashes of magic, the buzz of the forge, and clinks and clangs from their various tinkering and metal shaping, the golem body for Pretzels starts to take shape with the bits from all of Beist’s other various pets incorporated and included in some way. Knowing the quezalcoatl’s personality, the design includes a golden metal alloy that has more strength than the softer metal but still keeps the same kind of luster. The runes carved into the various pieces are tiny and precise, and with the speed Astrid is working, she sure hopes that they’re nearly perfect. If they’re not, they’ll need to be fixed.

Finally, the bulk of the creation is done with some tweaks needed, but the tweaks can come later. The group of Astrids rush outside with the different bits and bobs of the body collected and laid out in the right assembly so Beist can at least start the process. They can clean the blood up later.

Beist looked down at the Astrid running up to him with surprise and fear.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean for you to see that. I thought you'd gone inside. You- You're not the real Astrid, are you?" Beist stammered. He really hoped he didn't just accidentally traumatize the young girl who was doing her best to help him. He wasn't even sure how these magical copies of hers worked. One of them seeing him tear his own arm off wouldn't affect her, would it?

"I'm sorry I had to do that. It was the only way I could buy some more time." He sighed apologetically. "Also, it really hurt! I'd rather not do that again." He added as he rubbed the newly regrown arm. It looked perfectly fine. There was no sign at all that it had been reduced to a ragged stump moments ago except for the slight tenderness where it had been ripped. That would fade soon enough too.

Beist could hear the shouting to hurry things up echoing out from the door down to the workshop and his ears drooped.

"Please, I really didn't mean to rush you. Take as much time as you nee-urrgh" He started to try and console the flurry of Astrids, but dropped to one knee with a groan as he felt the pain again, one arm clutching his walking stick for support and another grasping the front of his chest.

"Well that didn't buy much time, did it?" Beist heard the voice of Pretzels chide inside his mind.

"It bought plenty. This pain isn't nearly as bad as it had been in the greenhouse." Beist replied through a smile of grit teeth as he got back to his feet. Maybe it was true that his act of self mutilation hadn't reduced the amount of energy inside by as much as he might have hoped, but it certainly had bought some and that was enough for him. He could keep himself from reaching the breaking point for a little longer and give Astrid the time she needed to finish the golem.

Between the terrible pain of losing a limb and having to be rude to someone he practically considered a grandchild, he'd rather tear his own arm off a few more times if it meant he didn't need to rush Astrid in this task he'd asked of her.

Of course, that didn't stop him from breathing a sigh of relief when she came out to the backyard with the parts to assemble a golden metal winged snake in tow before there was a second arm lying in the grass.

"It looks amazing!" Beist praised Astrid's work as he looked it over and started to assemble it. "The transfer will be simple, but the new body should be fully assembled first."

"It could have been bigger."

Beist held his tongue in anticipation of the noisy spirit no longer being in his head, offering complaints and criticism soon.

With all of the pieces fit into place, the body was fully assembled and looked stunning. It was no wonder it had to be carried out the back door in pieces. There was no way it would have been able to fit out the back door all together. Beist was impressed by just how large she'd managed to make it and was touched when he noticed the inclusion of the bits and pieces collected from his other animal companions into the design. Even Pretzels stopped complaining when he saw it all together. The body was covered in pale gold scales and the wings were made of brilliant golden feathers. A few black scales dotted the sides of the body, glinting like obsidian and standing out among the sea of gold. Some large brown feathers and small purple feathers were scattered throughout the wings and mane of feathers around the head. Even the fairly dull brown in comparison to all the gold looked marvelous as it formed a pleasantly contrasting pattern within the wings and mane. The purple feathers among the gold added a regal air that Pretzels approved of.

"Alright Pretzels. It's time." Beist said as he placed a hand on the still head of the mechanical serpent in front of him. He felt the energy welling up inside him threatening to consume him suddenly diminish quickly. As it drained from his body, it flowed into the golden serpent and light could be seen shining out from the tiny gaps between the golden scales. The eyes flashed and a shimmer spread across the wings, giving them a lustrous sheen. The brown griffin feathers and black obsidian scales suddenly became vividly colored, appearing red, green, blue, any color one could think of, changing depending on the angle one was viewing them from.

The gold serpent stood itself up and stretched its wings.

"Yes, this will do nicely." Pretzels spoke aloud for the first time in so long. Beist finally heard his voice through his ears instead of directly in his head, and Astrid heard his voice for the first time.

Despite Beist’s protests to take their time, the gaggle of Astrids do not. Luckily, they’re all in sync with their work, which makes the process go fairly smoothly, including carrying and laying out the various pieces that will lock themselves together with magical bonds once the spirit of Pretzels is inside of it to power everything. Normally, they’d like to explain all of their handiwork, but there is no time for that as they all shuffle backwards and watch the bright flash of magical light. In no time at all, the serpentine golem body rises with its own life energy, and the tense anticipation releases in a collective sigh that quickly turns into a round of celebratory hugs.

“Wow, Pretzels, ya made it look even nicer!” one of the Astrids shouts.

Then the group of Astrids turns to Beist and all of them suddenly rush the beastman for a mass of group hugs. “We did it, grampa Beist! Are ya alright? How are ya feelin’? Thin’s are gonna be okay now, right??”

Beist sat down in the grass, all of the stress and fear he'd been holding in just as much as the power of the celestial spirit finally flowing out along with it. He placed a hand on his heart and took a deep breath before shouting.

"AHHHH! I REALLY THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO DIE THERE! THAT REALLY SCARED ME!"

With his quick outburst over, he heaved a huge sigh and hunched over, trembling slightly with a hand still on his chest. With the urgency of the situation being what it was, he'd had no time to just freak out like he'd been doing internally the whole time.

"Hmph. Of course I made it look even nicer. I make anything look good." Pretzels responded haughtily, folding his wings in as if he was placing his hands on his hips and curving his body as if he was puffing out his chest indignantly. "But it did already look pretty good, I guess, so... Good work..." He added in a mumble, looking away.

When he felt four impacts around him, he looked up to see Astrid and her clones all around him, jumping onto him to give him a group hug. His trembling stopped and he smiled with a small chuckle, reaching down four hands to the heads of four of the Astrids. He couldn't tell which one was the real one, but he hoped she was one of the four he whose hair he was ruffling now.

"No, you did it. Thank you, Astrid. You really saved me. I don't know how to repay you for this." He thanked her happily. "I'm feeling just fine now. I'll be just fi-" He started to say, but his voice hitched in his throat.

"Did you just call me grampa?" He asked, tears welling in his eyes.

Beist’s outburst catches the whole group by surprise, but once things go silent, the Astrids can’t help bubbling into fits of laughter. They can relax now, so it’s okay to laugh! Especially once Pretzels starts flaunting his new body like a regular model.

“We should get Pretzels ta show off our next fancy armor suit,” Cstrid says with a snicker.

With the entire gaggle of half-dwarves hugging Beist with the iron grip strength of at least that many bulls, they all look up at Beist. “We, I, me, you, it don’t matter! It’s done an’ yer alright!!”

Suddenly, Beist’s words cut off, and a collection of awkward and surprised expressions wash over the Astrids. “Uh…” All of the Astrids start throwing accusatory looks at one another, whispering “Who did it? Was it you? Ya shouldn’t a’ done that!” back and forth at each other. Sure, they think of Beist as a grandpa figure, but they haven’t explicitly said that before or asked if they could refer to him in such terms. Doing so out of the blue probably upset him!

In a series of magical poofs, all of the Astrids disappear except for one, who looks awkward and sheepish. “Uh… Aye… Sorry…” she says, struggling to meet his eyes. “Is that… alright? I won’t do it again if it ain’t, I promise.” Not everyone takes so kindly to being given those terms of endearment. (Specifically, Astrid is reminded of Tatalia having a particularly adverse reaction.)

"Wear armor? And cover this? I don't think so." Pretzels scoffed as he slithered around, showing off and admiring his new body. He used the glass window of the greenhouse as a mirror, using it to examine his face. He opened his mouth to see the inside was entirely filled with light except for two silvery metallic fangs and seemed satisfied.

Beist was taken aback by Astrid's sheepishness. He couldn't remember ever seeing her not the confident, outgoing, sometimes a bit reckless young girl he always saw her as. Had his response startled her? She'd even lost her focus on keeping her duplicates up!

"No, no- Ah, I mean, yes- I mean, it's alright!" Beist stammered consolingly.

He reached a hand down to the one remaining Astrid, the real Astrid, and held it out for her to step onto to lift her into a hug.

"I didn't mind you calling me grandpa at all. In fact, it made me quite happy. I never thought you, or anyone, would want a grandpa like me. Some beastly old man that had to run to you for help because of a foolish mistake."

_{"Who are you calling a foolish mistake?"}

"I'd already thought of you as a granddaughter. I just never expected you to feel so similarly. You can call me grandpa as much as you'd like." Beist sniffled, some tears still streaking down his face and into his beard.

A wave of relief washes over Astrid and relaxes her shoulders, and she looks up at Beist with a sheepish smile. There’s an embarrassed pink tinge to her cheeks, but it clears quickly as she jumps up to give him a good hug, accidentally knocking her horns against his. “Ack,” she sputters before breaking into a soft laugh.

“I dunno why anyone wouldn’t want a grandpa like ya,” she says genuinely. “Yer like exactly the kinda person I think of when I think about grandparents.” While Bellighul is her officially adopted grandpa, along with Kamille being her official grandma, neither of them exactly look the part of have the general aura of a typical grandparent. Beist on the other hand very much does.

A deep warmth wells up in Astrid’s chest when he says he’s thought of her like a granddaughter, and Astrid hugs him even tighter, burying her face against the fabric of his shoulder that isn’t currently soaked in blood. Sometimes it is still so strange to her to feel wanted. Astrid can’t even muster up the teasing energy to ask why he didn’t say that before because when she tries to speak, her voice gets caught in her throat.

After a few minutes, she finally says, “I’m glad ya came today. I’m glad I got ta help ya. An’ um…” Astrid pulls her face away and beams up at Beist with teary eyes. “I’m glad yer me grandpa.”

"Oof!"

Beist rubbed his horn that Astrid had rammed into and started chuckling. He was reminded for a second of his overexcited woolful back home, Leon. "Well, I guess we do have a little bit of a family resemblance, now don't we?" He joked, tapping the horn with a finger.

He hugged Astrid back, squeezing her gently into his shoulder and just silently enjoyed the feeling of being accepted. There was someone who actually looked up to him, who saw him as the ideal grandparent, even. He didn't know he'd feel such warmth just from being called grandpa. Something so normal. Not a beast or a monster, but a regular old grandpa.

"I'm glad I can still be here to be your grandpa." He choked out, remembering just how close he'd come to dying just before feeling this warmth.

"Egh, feelings." Pretzels scoffed as he slithered off, not wanting to be caught up in all the love and hugging. Ew.

After hugging for just a little longer, Beist slowly released Astrid and lowered her back to the ground. He wiped his puffy eyes and pulled out a couple of handkerchief to blow his sniffling nose with one and offer the other to Astrid. In Astrid's hands, the handkerchief looked more like a small tablecloth. When Beist had pulled himself together, he looked to Astrid with a sudden realization.

"Oh! One of your magic copies said you were working on a new potion. I'd be happy to take a look and see if I can help with it. It's the least I can do after all your help today. What was it called, Space Jam?"

“I think we always did somehow,” Astrid says jokingly, though it has some morbid undertones considering they’re both well aware of how awful people can be to those who don’t look like them. But in other ways too like their love for their pets, their desire to be friendly and well-liked, and their commonality in practicing alchemy.

“Hey, no need ta be so dark!” she says, pushing on him. “I’d never let some silly thin’ like that take ya down.” Watching Pretzels slither away, she’s met with the giant tablecloth-sized handkerchief and can’t help giggling at how large it is. She wipes her eyes on it, barely leaving a noticeable mark.

“Oh, aye, Space Jam is it ‘cause it’s got a jammy consistency an’ looks like space!” Rather than get out of Beist’s very large arms, Astrid manifests the potion bottle and her recipe in her hands with two little puffs of sparkling magic.^[1] “If it works right, it lets ya steal someone’s abilities an’ use ‘em fer yerself!”

---

1. Summon Possession

Beist took the bottle and recipe in to hands while holding Astrid in his other two arms where she seemed perfectly content to stay, to Beist's amusement.

"A potion that lets you steal and use someone else's abilities? That's quite the complex recipe to achieve something like that. Where did you get the idea for such a potion?" Beist asked Astrid with genuine curiosity, and the air of a proud grandparent whose grandchild was showing them something they'd made. He was impressed by the ingenuity it must have taken to develop such a potion.

"Let's see here..." He mumbled as he started by looking at the potion itself, holding it close to his eyes to peer into the bottle at the contents within. With a slight shake of the bottle, he could see the consistency was incredibly thick, not like most potions. The liquid, if that was even the right word, hardly moved. It more jiggled than swished, like the jelly-like consistency Astrid had mentioned. Next, he gingerly pulled the cork out of the bottle with two fingers and held it tohis nose to give it a sniff.

"Ooh, is that the smell of starberries? I almost forgot this was a potion. It looks and smells like like it would go great on some biscuits." Beist joked as he recorked the bottle and started looking over the recipe, but with the thought of biscuits and jelly, his body was sorely reminded that in all the time he'd been here focusing on not dying while Astrid had been working feverishly on the new body for Pretzels, neither of them had stopped to eat lunch.

Beist looked embarrassed as his stomach rumbled loudly, Astrid in his arms feeling as if she was sitting in a massage chair for a few seconds before it stopped.

"How about I make something to eat before we continue talking about Space Jam?" Beist suggested with a sheepish chuckle.

“Aye,” Astrid says with a bright smile, watching Beist inspect it. “It was pretty hard ta figure out, ‘specially in potion form, but I think I’ve got it workin’ at least somewhat. Honestly, I just thought it’d be real funny ta be fightin’ someone who’s real good with their sword or somethin’, then ya just touch ‘em an’ take that ability fer yerself.” Admittedly, part of the idea came from the weird bursts of magic she sometimes gets that stops people from being able to use some of their more complex skills, and making this was during some attempt to understand how that magic works. It isn’t her favorite thing to do to people, but it has been incredibly useful in situations that were dire.

Astrid almost wiggles like an excited puppy in Beist’s grip while she watches him. “Yeah! I like the smell an’ flavor of ‘em, an’ it helped me come up with the name. I’m sure ya could put it on biscuits an’ it’d taste pretty good… Actually, I kinda wanna try it n–” The minor earthquake Astrid experiences from Beist’s belly grumbling causes her to break down laughing. “When was the last time ya ate somethin’?! Can’t face death on an empty stomach!!”

"Oh, facing death on an empty stomach, now who's the one being dark?" Beist remarked as he moved the potion bottle and recipe to the same hand and held his now empty palm out toward a patch of empty grass. "In all the rush to get here, I may have forgotten to pack a lunch... _{Or eat breakfast..."}

Beist channeled his usual magic from his hand into the soil. He used this spell so often now, he could almost do it subconsciously. From the soil, small buds popped up and rapidly grew into a variety of plants. Vines laden with vegetables and melons, bushes of berries, miniature trees with branches that bowed down from the weight of all the fruits. Some strawberry plants crept across the ground and tomato plants grew up into the air before falling over from the weight of the produce and then just growing up again from there.

"Do you like salad? That would be fast to make. We could have some while waiting for a nice stew to cook. May I borrow your kitchen?" Beist went on cheerily, thinking of the meal he could prepare from the ingredients he'd conjured up.

“I mean… Every time I go adventurin’, there’s a potential fer bad stuff ta happen, so ya help keep bad stuff from happenin’ by makin’ sure ya eat!” she says earnestly. “When I first started out, I spent all me money on food ‘cause I never knew when I’d get ta eat again. Or if. That part I didn’t think much about, but still! I can’t believe ya ain’t ate today! Yer a big guy! Ya probably eat like… at least as much as me an’ Blue!”

While the scolding is good-natured, Astrid pats Beist’s arm with a fake disappointed expression. Eating is like one of the most important things to her. She couldn’t imagine just simply forgetting to eat! And then, before them both in the yard, a dense spread of fruits and vegetables grows up in front of them. It kind of reminds her of how Cypress creates flowers wherever she walks. Except this is all edible! Whoa!!

“Grampa Beist, I like all food,” she says. “Sure ya can borrow the kitchen, though…” Astrid looks up at him and then way down to the ground at his feet. “I can’t rightly say that ya’ll fit.”

Hearing Astrid speak of her past, of not knowing when the next time she might eat again, or even if she would eat again, he couldn't help but look at her with sadness and concern for just a moment. He knew that he shouldn't pity her though. She was doing very well for herself now. She had family, a home, and was even a noble. He doubted she would be happy with him worrying about her when there was no reason to anymore. Still, he felt guilty that he hadn't met her sooner, when he could have been much more help to her. There was no changing the past, and things had turned out just fine for them both.

"If I couldn't use my magic to make food, I'm sure I'd be spending a fortune on feeding myself and all of my animal companions every day." Beist sighed as he put one hand on his stomach and squeezed Astrid slightly in his other arm as he stood up.

He chuckled at the suggestion that her and this Blue friend of hers could even eat half as much as him. Just looking at their sizes, his stomach was bigger than her whole body! How much could Astrid possibly eat? He had no idea just how much of an appetite the small girl really had, nor the insatiable appetite of her friend.

"Ha, we'll see about that. After skipping breakfast and lunch, I'm hungry enough to eat all of this food by myself!" Beist joked, motioning to the entire market worth of produce he'd made.

He looked at the door leading into the workshop and down at himself. Astrid was right. From his experience earlier, he doubted he could fit in the kitchen just sitting still, let alone maneuvering around to try and cook.

"Right... Well, with my condition much more stable, it should be safe to use this now." Beist thought out loud as he pulled a recognizable potion from his bag. Astrid could easily make out the ever-changing liquid as his transmutation tonic. He put Astrid down and handed her the space jam and its recipe to hold before uncorking the tonic and swallowing the contents in one gulp.

It took just a moment for the potion to take effect and Beist starting quickly shrinking. His grey fur receded to just a thick beard and hair and his bluish green skin changed into a more normal, slightly pale skin tone. His beast-like nose and fanged mouth changed into a human nose and mouth, though his nose was still quite large with a wide, bulbous bridge.

The scales on his arms smoothed into skin, and the fur receded until it was just a thick coating of hair on his arms. His long tail shortened somewhat, but refused to disappear entirely, along with the horns on his head and the second pair of arms at his sides.

When the transformation was complete, Beist appeared as a normal old human, discounting the horns, tail, and extra arms as well as that, even though he was far smaller than before, he still stood over seven feet tall with a wide, muscular, slightly pudgy build that could be seen though his clothing that had shrunk along with him. Even with his features changed by the potion, his face was still easily recognizable as his green, droopy eyes, bushy eyebrows, and warm smile were exactly the same.

"I should fit just fine now, right?" Beist asked, holding his arms out to show his transformation. "Hm, actually, this is the first time I've used my tonic to transform into a human. It worked better than expected!" He noted as he checked himself over. He thought he'd stood look much more beastly than he did. "Still have the tail and arms, of course. Stubborn things... Consistent with all of the other times I've used the tonic though, so not surprising." He continued, curling his tail in front of him. The new coloration it had gained in the greenhouse was also unchanged. "And we still have our family resemblance." Beist chuckled as he felt the horns on his head.

He was usually pretty annoyed when they were still there after using his tonic, but this time he felt sort of glad they had remained.

"Well, let's get cooking! Would you mind helping pick all this and move it to the kitchen?"

“Oh yeah, Da learned a special spell that’ll make a whole feast a’ food when he don’t have time ta cook fer me an’ Blue,” Astrid says while looking at all of the food around them. “So I imagine it’s real handy ta have fer all yer critters!” Once he puts her down, Astrid steps back and watches as the giant that is Beist become just a very tall human-ish man. “Look at ya!” she says, giggling before throwing her arms around him for a proper hug.

Stepping back, Astrid says, “Gosh, Beist, I gotta say, that potion a’ yers if real useful,” while rolling up her Space Jam information. “I’m glad I got the recipe from ya. I’ve used it lots!” Though she leaves out the fact that she has used it to break into prison and free a prisoner because that would probably make him worry.

“Sure ya can use the kitchen! We'll tackle this together!" Then Astrid manifests her group of Bstrid through Estrid^[1] to start collecting all the foods. Some of them grab baskets or buckets from inside to hold it all while others pick the foods. After some time, eventually the group has all picked everything and brought it inside to the kitchen, which luckily is attached to the main common room with lofted ceilings. There’s plenty of space for Beist to navigate, and Astrid helps pull out utensils and pots and pans for him to use. All of the Astrids are happy to help prep food however they can, though they all pile around the sink to scrub their hands of the grease and dirt of crafting that still lingers on the original Astrid’s until she too washes her hands.

---

1. Replicant