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Chapter 608 - The Guide Plan
🕑 Added 2023-02-15 13:00:06 +0000 UTCIt took about 30 minutes to discuss the plan with Peaches, Johnny, and Capri. About halfway through their conversation, Peaches added that Shane was also in the loop. Hera never asked her friend if she could talk to the guides in her private room since that could also trigger one of her strikes for the skill, and asking about it wasn't allowed either. The guides couldn't say anything about other people who were still alive and well, but this situation was clearly something that allowed them to bend some of the rules.
"Ok, kid. I think this is a solid plan to tell them how you found this out. Then you can ask the guide to pass any extra information to Shane or the other way around," Peaches said, "Do you have any other questions about this? We can still talk through the group chat, but a face-to-face might be an issue since you are always with your friends."
"I do. Just a few. First, all the guides that I will meet between here and that room will know about this deal?" Hera asked.
Johnny nodded, "They will. The last time the curse got out of control, we had a meeting with everyone since it was the type of thing that could decimate the entire MAZE. We also already talked with them about this, and they agreed to help. When you talk with them, they will give you directions to the right room and even explain if there are some weird requirements to get there."
"Will I still be able to ask things about the room?"
"If you are the second to call them, you will. If you are the first, I believe it will depend on the amount of information they will have to give you for you guys to reach the next room," Capri was the one who answered this time. The sheep guide was making a point to speak with less flourish than he used to avoid any misunderstanding.
"So, if they just say 'go down this tunnel and take the first left,' I will have time for more questions?" Hera turned to Capri, getting a nod in response, "Ok, last question. Is this the only way? To get rid of the curse, I mean. If that room doesn't work, do we have a plan b, or is that the sacrifice ourselves option? Because I'll be honest. I don't think I can sell that to them. I mean, none of us wants to die, much less succumb to the curse and just become that blob thing. I don't even know if I would be willing to do that. Especially since the curse is still out there."
"We do, kid. If this doesn't work, there is another place that might have some options, but that is about 95 rooms away. It will take you all a few months to get there. Plan C would be another 600 rooms of distance, and it might be even better to go through Earth to get there, but that opens a whole new can of worms with Alex's current situation. What would be the current best bet would be a room in a very deep layer, but I don't think you guys could level up enough to get there in time," Peaches sighed, "I'm really sorry for springing all of this on you, kid. But, honestly, we are scared. This curse is not a joke, and the last time it happened, we had to interfere. If this were to happen now, a lot of things would change, and we might not even be able to talk with any of you anymore."
"That's ok. And at least we still have options. Also, isn't there a legacy that might be able to fix this? Maybe if this or plan B doesn't work, we could look into that," Hera suggested.
"I mean… it's a possibility, but it will be hard to find the right kind of legacy for that. Also, they would be at risk of failing and getting cursed in exchange. That's what happened last time," Johnny's eyes had some hints of guilt.
"Ok then. I think I'm ready to talk to everyone," Hera got up.
"Be careful, kid. Even if we are asking you a lot, we still can't stop you from getting a strike. It sucks, I know," Peaches gave a saddened smile to the Empress before the guides left her private room.
Before heading out, Hera quickly called her court and told them what was going to happen, also adding the order not to mention the guides to anyone, including Shane. After that, she headed out to meet the rest of the party. Everyone was already there, and they were all talking about the current room.
"Hera. Can we talk really quickly? I have something I want to run by you," Shane spoke up in a somewhat loud voice. Making sure that everyone would hear her calling the explorer to the side, "Do you guys mind waiting here for a moment? We need to talk about that thing we can't talk about."
The party nodded. They understood that the two explorers had some sort of secret skill to get information, and this might be a good moment to use it. Hera and Shane quickly walked away from the group. When they found a place that seemed safe and secluded, the Empress triggered the soundproof bubble.
"So you can talk with the guides in your private room too?" Shane smiled.
"Yeah, I'm glad I have someone to talk to about that. I never mentioned it because…"
"Because you were worried about getting a strike. Don't worry. I was doing the same."
Hera smiled, "I'm glad. Now for the bad news."
"Yeah… So I was thinking that I should call the guide now and then tell them about the way to get rid of the curse. Then you call them and get some information about the room, but come out saying more about what we found out. Like the directions and how to get to the next room."
"Let me be the one who 'discovers' about the place that might help us get rid of the curse. I think Alex will feel less… attacked if I'm the one who brought this up," Hera suggested.
"Do you really think she would be offended by something like that? I mean, even after she looked in the mirror?"
"I don't know, but I also don't know for sure if the curse will do something to make her more defensive or not. We know that it messed with her perception of what could be considered information," Hera added.
"Yeah.. that's a good point. Do you want to call them now? I'll move back and say that you are calling the guide to get some information."
Hera nodded, "Yeah, oh, and take this," she passed the safety cube to Shane," I'll have my court stopping anyone from getting closer. When you call them, you can use this to hide."
"Are you sure you don't need this now? You can't make a stone bunker here, can you?"
Hera shook her head, "No, but Daskka can make some mist to keep me hidden, and she can tell when someone goes inside it. Not to mention we can use the Memory Filter spell to make people who look away forget about the mist. It's a nasty thing but it still takes way too much mana to use in any other situation," the Empress called the Herald and the entire court. Shane just nodded while the snake turned into her giant silver form. She followed that up by making a large cloud of black mist to hide Hera. The blades spread out, Nimbus and Lurize beyond the mist as bodyguards, while the rest was a mix of being closer to the Empress and staying hidden in the mist. Shane took that as her cue to leave and went back to the group.
With everyone ready, Hera activated the skill, "I call upon the Guide of the Belly of the Beast. As an explorer, I have proven that my motives are pure."
From the red wall, something started to move. At first, Hera thought it would be something like what Laika or Kelpi did, but to her surprise, the guide appeared as if they were coming out of a bush. It was a small brown rabbit with floppy ears and a cute pink nose. They had a pair of adorable black beady eyes that made the guide look like a plushie. But that's where the similarities with a real creature stopped. Coming from the top of their head, they had a pair of white moose antlers and a pair of bird-like wings coming from their back. The guide gave small rabbit steps until they were in front of Hera, then they turned to face her and spoke in a happy and soft voice.
"Your motives being pure is an understatement."
Hera chuckled, "Well, It's not like I'm doing this out of the kindness of my heart. I mean, it does affect me."
"Sure, but you are trying to help us out and following along with our plans. It still counts."
Hera nodded, "I guess,, before you tell me what you need, can I just ask your name? I'm Hera, Hera Kingsley."
"Of course, I am Lenomet, but my friends call me Leno. That includes you."
"Already?"
"Yeah. I mean, not only are you the first to come here in a very long time. You are also going through all these hoops to try to get rid of the curse. I already consider you a friend of the guides, and that includes me, so you are my friend!"
"I appreciate it," Hera nodded, "So, how are we doing this?"
"For starters, Capri told me how he showed you the path to Boothudurn on your map. I'll do the same. You guys have to go to this doorway," Leno opened a map showing only the small area that Hera already had, and a line appeared from her current location to the doorway, "The thing is, getting there will either take you four, or twenty-eight hours."
"Why is that?" Hera tilted her head.
"Bad timing. There is a colony of monsters who migrate every two months here, and you got here on the day they do that. If you want, you can try to bulldoze your way past them, but there are thousands of them. And they are very protective of their colony. But aside from that, they are pretty chill unless you are in the nest, then you are screwed," Leno continued.
"Oh.. ok. If we wanted to go today, would we need to run?"
"Yep. You have about two hours to get there, and it will be hard to find any other monsters around. They all get scared of the colony."
"What are the monsters? Like bugs?"
"Sort of… it's hard to explain, but imagine a mix of a scorpion with a tree and a cheetah."
"That sounds horrifying," Hera's eyes were wide, staring at Leno. She couldn't help but think that this room might be a place that would only have mixed creatures, and the guide was the perfect poster being for it.
"Well, I'm used to them. To me, they are cute, but I understand your point. Anyway, unfortunately, because of what I'm doing, you won't have time to ask questions, but I can give you a single one if it's not too big."
"I have one. Is there a place here where we could get some food that can last long? Or a place that can give us a lot of salt so we can make some rations? Since we are going on a long trip, I wanted to stock up, and I know some rooms might not have food or water," Hera asked.
"Yes, there is a place," Leno replied and stopped talking. After a moment of silence, Hera let out a long sigh, realizing that she had made a mistake, but Leno started laughing, "Oh, c'mon, that was too easy. Don't worry. I won't monkey paw you like that. There is a dungeon down this road that can drop what you are looking for. I can't say exactly what, but you will see. Also, I think it will help you guys feel better about this room."
Hera chuckled, "Thanks. Before I forget, can you also tell Shane everything you told me? We might need that to match our stories."
Leno nodded, "Yep, Peaches talked with me about it, but you still have to ask me to do that. It's part of the rules."
"Those are weird rules."
"Tell me about it, but still. We have to follow them."
Hera nodded, "Yeah. But thanks for all the help."
"Anytime, and can I message you?"
"Of course."
Leno said his goodbyes and jumped on the wall, vanishing as if he was walking through the woods. Hera just called Daskka over and walked back to the group. She had a plan on how to explain what she found out, and she could only hope that everyone would accept her suggestion.
Comments
Perizou
To be fair, the guides can't do that. They can make the suggestion and take the key to the room away after someone asks them to. But they can't force someone to sacrifice themselves like that. Not to say that there wouldn't be ways to go around that, but it would never be a definitive thing.
Gail Burke
I'm so glad they aren't going to just be kicked into a room to die.
