perizou
patreon
MAZE - Chapter 1024 - Nana Mittens
🕑 Added 2025-03-06 17:25:11 +0000 UTCHera continued the tea time with Nana Mittens for about half an hour. But, eventually, the cat guide groaned and started waving her wooden spoon in the air again. The spoon itself only appeared when she was berating the system for its interruption, vanishing completely when she turned back to Hera and her court.
"Fine. I'll do what I have to do, just shut up and let me work. But if you keep on pestering me, I swear I'm going to figure out a way to hit you over the back of the head," Nana huffed.
Hera held back a chuckle while seeing Nana Mittens interact with the system once more before the guide turned to the Empress again.
"I am terribly sorry about this. But I need to cut our small party short. Someone is being very annoying today even though I didn't break any rules. All I did was stay here for a bit longer than usual."
"Don't worry. It's completely fine. Thank you for the lovely time," for Hera, talking to Nana Mittens was a lot like talking to her own grandmother. And the more they interacted, the harder was to distinguish between the two. She was just so kind and caring. With a little bit of her no nonsense reactions when it came to dealing with annoying things that gave her an even more endearing quality. Just like Triss.
"Okay then." Nana Mittens pulled the small egg timer from a pocket in her dress. "You have 5 minutes. Do you know what you want to ask me?"
Focusing on the reason why she called the guide, Hera said, "You see, we are running the dungeon here because we are looking for a specific item. All that in order to explore Deakoshara, which is a room not that far away. There is this strange poison rain that seems to be natural from the area but at the same time it is created by something else. We're not entirely sure what, and that's what we are trying to figure out. But we reached the point where I found a lake that was extremely poisonous. Even someone like me, who doesn't really have to worry about poison, couldn't handle. Heck, Lurize here wasn't able to stay in the water for long before the poison started to hurt him."
"But he is a venom spirit, isn't he?" Nana turned to Lurize, who nodded in response. "Oh dear. And I assume you came here looking for the poison resistance drops that you can find in the dungeon?"
Hera nodded, "That's right, and we know that in order to get those drops, we need to fight the Jarnak. We also know that if we leave it alone for most of the dungeon and only fight it by the end, our chance of getting the drop increases. I assumed it was going to take like a month to get a couple sets of those items. Then we could just have people coming here and running the dungeon in order to train and level up while we started on the exploration. But we've been here for 3 weeks and there's nothing. No sign of the drops that we need. I'm starting to worry. Maybe we are doing something wrong or are the drops really this hard to come by?"
Nana listened intently, sipping coffee from a small tea cup that never seemed to run out, "Your friend Shane has talked to me about that and I can confirm what I told her. You're not doing anything wrong."
"Yeah. She told me that. But she only asked if we were on the right track. Not if there was a way to improve the odds of getting those items," Hera explained.
Nana Mittens paused and thought for a moment, "Is that your first question?"
Hera looked at the timer, which had yet to start, and took a deep breath, "Yes. Is there a way to increase the odds of getting the items that we want?"
Nana Mittens shook her head, "No. You can't increase the odds more than you've been doing it, Leaving the Jarnak alive for most of the dungeon is the best you can do," but before giving Hera a chance to speak, the guide continued, "But that is the answer only if you frame the question that way."
Since she was a guide, Nana Mittens couldn't say what she knew. But she could give smaller hints, like some guides did. And for Hera, that was all that she needed. She had interacted enough with other guides to know the kind of direction she was being given.
"Is there a way for us to find better poison resistance items in the dungeon?" the Empress asked.
Nana Mittens nodded with a smile. "There is. There is one other set that is both much harder and much easier to acquire." She seemed to be enjoying every word of what she was saying.
"Can you tell us how to get it?"
Nana Mittens paused and picked up the egg timer that she had placed in front of them. There was a good 4 minutes and a half still on the clock, but she stopped it with her hands. Holding the two halves of the egg in place so the timer wouldn't continue.
"Yes, I can tell you. No, it's not something I can tell you directly. The best I can do to give you a cryptic life lesson, that together with some of what Pandora knows and a dash of creative thinking, might be able to get you to the items. Or I can tell you the first step. No cryptic message or anything of the sort. Just what you should do next and then you take it from there. But either one of those options will take the rest of the time you have available."
Hera thought for a moment, considering her choices and as much as she would like the first step, she was a sucker for riddles. Especially considering that one of her future title blades might have something to do with that.
"I think I prefer the cryptic message, if that's ok with you."
"Of course it is," Nana Mittens said with a warm smile. "Now. Come here and sit," she patted a pillow by her side, "And let me tell you something I've learned over the course of my life. How much this will help is up to you."
Hera smiled and sat beside the grandmotherly cat who took the Empress's hand on their own, the tiny little paw covering the massive scales and clawed fingers of the Ophidianite.
"In your life, things will go wrong, and you will have to give up some plans. That is a fundamental truth of the universe. One of the few certainties we have. Unexpected things will happen," Nana looked down at her cup, while still holding Hera's hand.
"How you deal with those situations is a skill invaluable to learn. When a plan falls through, you can continue doing what you are doing or just move on and start something new. And the most important aspect of that is learning how to deal with regret. Because, unfortunately, you will regret things in life."
Nana turned to face Hera, staring deep into the Empress' eyes, "Maybe you regret actions that you took or actions that you didn't take. Maybe you regret meeting someone, or not being closer to another person. The really important thing is to know what to do with that regret. When to accept it and move on, leaving whatever caused that feeling behind. And when to fix that regret, going after of whatever you lost."
The guide's paw gently rubbed the back of Hera's hand, like a grandmother trying to comfort their grandchildren, "Just because something happened, and you had to stop a plan or something that was really exciting to you, that doesn't mean you need to give up completely. You may try to go after those goals again. Or start your plans from scratch. No matter what you decide to do. I want you to always remember as long as your heart is in it. Nothing can stop you."
"You want to go to the moon? Go to the Moon. You've already gone to a place that wasn't that far from it. If you want to, just tell everybody to go away so you can travel the MAZE and explore. You can do that too. Just remember, it's about knowing the things that really matter to you. The things that really make your heart skip a beat and going after that. Everything else is never as important as what really drives us."
Hera was caught off guard by the guide yet again. When she heard Nana Mittens saying it was going to be a cryptic message, she expected something completely different, not a life lesson. The type that a grandmother would be giving to their grandchildren. But, in a way, that was very on brand with Nana Mittens.
The Ophidianite took a moment, trying to take in everything that was said. She was thinking about the things that she did. And more importantly, if there was something that she was leaving behind. After a moment, she realized that maybe she wasn't the one who gave up. Maybe the part about having given up on plans was related to whatever way they had to acquire the items.
"I'm afraid I have to go. The system can be a bit annoying about some things, but very resolute about others." Nana Mittens smiled.
"That's ok," Hera nodded, "and thank you. I don't think I have any plans that I gave up, but I will keep your advice in mind. Even if the goal wasn't just to help me."
Nana Mittens patted Hera's hand before getting up, "I am happy for you. Now, I really need to get going. I don't want to cause you any trouble because I stayed for longer than someone would like," her eyes shifted to the side when mentioning who wouldn't like if she stayed.
Hera was about to get up but she instead said, "Can I ask you a strange favor?"
Nana Mittens gave them a confused look. "Well, of course, Hera. But I cannot say I will do your favor unless I know what it is."
"Sure… Can I carry you to the pot?"
Nana Mittens stared at the Empress, not sure how to respond to that.
"I'm sorry," Hera gave an awkward shrug, "It was kind of an excuse to hug you," she replied honestly, like a child who was just caught doing something bad by her grandmother.
Over the years, only one other person, an explorer way back when this island was inhabited by the Scale Hearts, ever carried or hugged Nana Mittens. They were a very kind soul and the first person who ever called to the guide. Yet there was something in Hera's eye. A sort of innocence. Like a child asking to meet Santa. Even if this was something Nana never really thought about. She couldn't bring herself to say no to this child. It felt wrong and it will be like telling a kid they couldn't get a hug from their grandparents.
Nana smiled, "Of course Hera. And in the future, you never have to ask. You can get as many hugs as you want."
Hera open a smile from ear to you and quickly took Nana Mittens into a massive hug, holding her close to her chest and almost spinning around the room. Nana I couldn't see the Ophidianite's face but she could feel the warm tears falling on her shoulder.
"I really happy I met you, Nana Mittens," Hera said, her voice cracking completely, but instead of a scolding, she got a soft paw gently patting her head.
"I'm sorry, deary. I have to go. The system is being annoying and I promise the next time you see each other, you can hug me as much as you want."
Hera nodded and walked over to the pot, not wanting to let Nana go, but eventually she gently placed the cat on the staircase that was inside the metal frame.
"Sorry about that," Hera said, her voice nasal due a stuffy nose caused by her tears. Anyone who wasn't here who believed that she had been crying for a few hours already.
"There's nothing to apologize. It was lovely to meet you," Nana Mittens said.
"You too. And I would love to see you again later."
The guide understood that last phrase wasn't directly just at her. There was something in the Empress eyes. A sense of longing that, unfortunately, nothing would ever remove. But for a brief moment, Nana Mittens could make that go away and to the guide, helping a child like this was worth almost anything.
"Of course," Nana smiled and started walking down. It took just a moment for her to vanish together with the pot. Hera never let her eyes wonder, even forcing herself not to blink. Afraid that this would be the last time she ever saw Nana Mittens. But she knew that wasn't the case.
The Empress stayed in the room for another 20 minutes, which was how long it took for her to recompose herself after the interaction with Nana. She had no idea she missed her grandmother so much and she felt a bit bad that Eridan, her father, who wouldn't ever be able to know about the guide. But those were the rules, and those were the things that she had to do in order to continue using that skill.
When she was finally ready to leave, she just walked out and called Pandora and Shane. She needed to see if they could figure out what Nana Mittens's not so cryptic message was all about. After all, the guide had just revealed a massive piece of information. They were looking for a specific set of items when, instead, there was something even better waiting for them around the corner. If they were able to figure out what that was, exploring Deakoshara could be much easier than any of them were expecting.
Comments
aToTeT
‘going after of whatever you lost’…. If that of is a diction element, I can see it in terms of being tied to ‘_the_ going after of whatever you lost’ But it’s plenty likely to be an extraneous ‘of’.
DrDankness
I swear this makes me suspect that the system is using Silver Lining as an excuse to manipulate Hera to do things it likes. Deliberately screwing drop rates so she can get something she needs more or find rare things others dont know about
