Tyler Kimball - Lessgently
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Pallesia - Chapter 177: Biding of time.
🕑 Added 2024-10-16 15:00:15 +0000 UTCThe stalemate in the blood soaked courtyard wasn’t going to fade anytime soon, but ‘Mimi’ didn’t appear overtly hostile towards any of Lee’s compatriots. Neia watched as Mimi… absorbed the corpses—armor and all to clean the scene of the masacre.
Nobody spoke loudly. The household attendants of the Lord’s manor whimpered and tried their best not to break down into unconsolable messes, and she wasn’t going to blame them for their demeanor. The monster itself wore her mother’s skin, and that hit harder than the masacre itself.
From the corner of her eye, which was locked onto the meandering form of Mimi, Neia watched as Em scuttled toward the monster with confidence. The clattering of her metallic limbs made her approach known ahead of time. Mimi didn’t even turn around to acknowledge her presence.
With a voice as solid as her armor, Em began her questions. Questions that everyone had but were too afraid or cautious to voice. “You said you were here to find Lee. Who sent you?”
To give the Arachne credit, she wasn’t afraid in the slightest of the monster before her. Neia wasn’t so crass as to question whether her own origin helped in that matter, but it was in the back of her mind.
“I am here to aid in the recovery of Lee Barnes. A quest from the gods themselves. I have fulfilled a similar quest in the past, and am well suited to the task at hand. Tell me sister, what do you know about the circumstances of his disappearance? Any leads?” Mimi replied, not sounding malicious, but having the fire of conviction burning within.
Em was quiet for a few seconds, creating a tense atmosphere to gather as Mimi continued to absorb corpses and items like. “What gods have given you your quest, and for the record, I am not your sister. I am Emthraxiatus Mertalicus Sepheroxus, former watcher of the tower of Breye and stalwart defender of the realm—Brood Mother of the Metallic Vanguard. You may refer to me as Em, for short. I care not if you are powerful. If you seek to harm my best friend, I will struggle until my final breath to bring you down.”
“Hmm.” Mimi stopped in her collection, then stood and turned to inspect Em in an air of nonchalance. “You may not be my sister by blood, but by origin. I have spoken with Lee Barnes in the past, and he still lives. My last godly quest was to find him where he was lost and to make sure he was adapting well to his life. Shane, the God of Travel, is my patron god. I admire your steadfast nature, but there comes a time where you must acknowledge that your attempts at heroism become foolish. I could swat you down like a bug. You are of no threat to me, but you may be a threat to his enemies. For Lee, let us be allies in these trying times.”
Mimi stuck out a hand to shake, and after a staring contest, Em reached forward and clasped Mimi’s hand with her gauntlet. “I am an Arachne, what are you? A skinchanger? I have read about those, but never seen one.”
With a grotesque rippling of flesh, the form of Nilthallia shifted and twisted. Her leather clothes and blue billowing robes shifted into a long flowing white robe with silver filigree, and the feminine features and long ears morphed into that of a human man. Within a second, Mimi’s form had swapped from that of her mother, to that of Lee.
“An apt description. You could call me a skin changer.” the voice of Lee spoke, sending a shiver down Neia’s spine.
“...” Em stared at Mimi’s new form with narrowed eyes. Her legs spasming and slamming the cobblestone she stood on with the force of a falling boulder. “Do not use his skin. It makes me uncomfortable.”
With a shrug, Mimi’s form shifted once again. This time, she appeared as another Dark Elf, one she didn’t recognise. A male that appeared to be of similar age to Ruven, with short white hair done with a small top-knot, a hairstyle not seen in her kind. Somehow, she was equipped with a long wooden spear with an ornate silver tip, and wore a standard set of leather armor, not darkened like her own. “I have different names depending on what form I take. This one is named Jud. But, you can call me Mimi to not cause confusion. Now, tell me what to expect. Who is Dendros?”
“A Dragon. A green one.” Em bluntly stated.
Mimi wrinkled her nose in displeasure, an action not fitting for her male visage. “That… is a problem. I will tell you what I know. Lee is alive, as Death has not collected his soul, but he cannot be seen or connected too by the gods themselves. Something foul is afoot.”
Neia took a step forward, a memory coming to the forefront of her mind. “You… you were there in the monster siege.”
Mimi nodded, not bothering to turn towards her. “Yes. I fought on the front lines with Lee and kept him safe. Then, I entered your city to meet with my god and finish my quest. Your father seemed to sniff out my plan and actions and confronted me. It was a battle he wasn’t confident in winning, and I wasn’t there to harm your people. So, we went our own ways.”
Her father was over level four hundred! If he wasn’t comfortable facing Mimi, what might her level be? What monster stood before them?
“She speaks the truth.” Ruven said by her side, his fear apparent. He was out of his depth.
“You have a wonderful ability.” Mimi said to Ruven, a warm smile upon his/her face. It sent a shiver down her spine.
“Now. To complete my quest, we do not need to fell this dragon. My goal is to extract Lee Barnes to safety. If it comes to battle, then so it shall be, but that is best to be avoided. Let us plan.”
—----------------------------------------------------------
He’d tried everything there was to try to escape, and he’s finally realized the limitations placed upon him by either the cell itself or the chains that bind him to the walls of his new prison. After several hours of trial and error, Lee has discovered that all of his magic and skills have been either stripped from him or locked away. For magic, it is not the lack of activation that causes his spells to fail, it is the absence of mana within his body.
His skills do not work, and the system itself won’t open upon his command. Effectively, it doesn’t exist for him. The first discovery was that Medical Attention didn’t work when he tried to check himself over. Healer’s Beacon also didn’t do anything upon willing it to activate.
For all intents and purposes, it was like he was back on Earth. No skills, no magic… but he had his abilities. Healer’s Touch worked, proven by his wrists healing after he’d broken them in his thrashing attempts to free himself. Hidden Cache worked as well, allowing him to store the bit of ‘food’ he had been served to save himself from the pervasive stench of the rotting that was soon to come.
It hasn’t been a long time since he’s been trapped. Maybe a few hours since he woke, but none of the other captives dared raise their voice or speak to him. He couldn’t see them, but he was sure that they could see him. Through the rufflings of clinking chains, he could hear their faint murmurs of ‘rainbows’ through their whimpering.
His eyes still glowed as they did before, when they were blue and blessed. So, to their perspective, the twin orbs of glowing rainbows stood stark in contrast to the near pitch darkness they all found themselves in.
Speaking out into the darkness once more, he hoped that someone, anyone, would respond. “How long until someone comes back to check on us?”
Once again, nobody responded. He wasn’t sure if some of them couldn’t speak at all, but he knew at least one of them could. They just… wouldn’t respond.
He needed to know how often people came to check on them, their guard rotation, as it were. There was a way to free himself from the chains, and if they were the cause of being locked out of the system, then he could make an escape attempt… but it would be tortuous and time consuming. He had blades in his Hidden Cache… he would need to pull off a Saw movie reenactment and cut off his hands and have his Healer’s Touch grow them back. He’d never lost a limb, but he would rather not have hands than be at the mercy of his captors if they didn’t grow back.
Deep down, he knew that he wouldn’t be able to keep his voice down when it began, and if he was caught in the act… he tried not to think of that.
He had faith that Em would find him help, but she didn’t know where he was. For all he knew, help wouldn’t come in time. It was up to him to free himself, and those with him. There was strength in numbers, and he hoped that those trapped with him would fight alongside him to free themselves. If they were too scared to rebel… maybe mercy was a better option for them.
Days without food was doable, and the water that dripped from the stalactites up above would sustain him for a few days. For now, he’d bide his time and get an estimate on his captors rotations.
Then, he’d make his escape.
Comments
Wintermelody
Thanks for the Chapter
