perizou
patreon
Chapter 576 - Searching the floatilla
🕑 Added 2022-12-21 13:00:04 +0000 UTC"For starters. Please answer yes or no unless I ask you to elaborate on a question," Hera made sure not to phrase it as a question. She didn't want to start the timer prematurely. For now, it was still marking two and a half minutes. Every single interaction with the guides was like that. Only when the first question was asked that the clock would start ticking.
"Got it. It's a nice way to do things," Lodi smiled.
"To start, then, is there a way to get to the flying city from the raft? Aside from flying towards it."
"Yes."
"Bonnie got a spyglass in the previous room that detects dungeons and doorways. Would it be able to detect that passage or whatever it is?"
Lodi had to think for a moment on that one, "Sorry. I had to check what the spyglass is. No, it wouldn't work for that."
Hera nodded, "Is the flying city safe?"
Lodi crossed her arms and looked up for a moment, "Sort of."
"Ok, let me change that question. Are there monsters in there? Be it during the day or the night."
"Oh, that. No, there aren't."
"Then why is it dangerous?" Hera frowned.
"There are no railings. You can fall if you are too close to the edge."
"Oh… Ok. Can you tell me how we can get to the city in the sky from the raft?" Hera took a shot in the dark.
Lodi shook her head, "You don't have enough time. That one is worth at least three minutes."
"That feels cheap," Hera squinted.
"Sorry, I didn't think you would ask that. My fault."
"That's ok. There was a Naga that came here a long time ago, correct?"
"Yes," Lodi gave a sad smile as she nodded.
"Did they leave? This room, I mean."
"They did."
"Was it through one of the three doorways you mentioned?"
"It was, through the one underwater. But not the one with the giant monster. Not that they couldn't. The creature was nowhere near as strong as it is now. But they didn't even find that doorway.
"So they left through the one underwater that we will probably take?"
"I don't know your plans, but that is a likely possibility," Lodi nodded.
"Ok…" Hera still had questions about the doorway and all that, but she knew that all those questions would take too much time. There was only a minute in the clock, and she knew that anything related to that would cost more than she had. However, there was one thing that usually made the guides speak more than they should. Whenever she asked about the room itself, they became very talkative, "Could you tell me what happened with this place? Why did everyone die?"
Lodi looked back at the clock and stopped it, "I think the best answer I could give you will cost all the time you have left. Is that ok?"
Hera thought for a moment, "Sure. Knowing that will be more helpful than anything else I could find out with that one minute."
Lodi chuckled, making her hair bounce, "You are not wrong there. The thing is, I can't actually tell you. But I can say that there are two dungeons that will show you what happened. First, the one in the sky city. You have the spyglass, well, your friend has, so use it when you get there. The dungeon is called 'Day of Progress.' Then, one that is underwater in a… place. You can also get there through something in the flotilla. Oh, I guess you are calling this a raft. It's here, where you are, but not in the same place as the… as the whatever that takes you to the sky city. The dungeon that you are looking for is called 'Green Water.' When you do both and connect the dots, you will understand what happened. If you do them in that order, first the one in the sky and then the one underwater, it might be easier. Oh, triggering the hard mode or finding the story of the dungeons can help too."
Hera nodded, but she was struggling not to laugh. Lodi noticed that reaction and frowned, "Why is this funny?"
"No, it's not that. It's just that I had one minute left, and I'm pretty sure you nailed the timing."
With a smile, Lodi puffed her chest, "Of course. I take pride in my work, and when I have to spend some time for the answer, I'll do my best to fill that time with as much information as I can."
"Oh? That is very nice of you. I don't remember any other guide that did that."
"Wait… really? I thought that was the deal for everyone…. I need to talk to some people."
Hera smiled, "Well, don't let me hold you. Unfortunately, we are done here."
"Yeah, it was really nice to meet you. Oh, and is it ok if I text you sometime?"
"Of course! And if Peaches is ok with you, I'll try to put on a good word. Not to mention you should be seeing Shane soon."
Lodi opened a big smile, "Thanks! And please, send her my way. Even if I was more excited about meeting you. The guides talk better about you than about her. Oh, don't tell her that, please."
"Really?"
"Yeah, usually people say she is a bit too… Intense and less understanding."
"I do agree with the intense part, but I can't say much about the understanding. She was always ok with me."
"Either way, I'll be on my best behavior. I really missed talking with people. Oh, and…" Lodi rushed towards Hera and gave her a big hug, "Thank you for coming here."
"Thank you for answering my questions. Even if I kind of forced you."
"You didn't. And I hope I can talk to you soon," with that, Lodi made a circle with her hand, creating a very glittery portal surrounded by bows and pink flowers, "After a job well done, Magical Girl Lodi leaves in search of another pure soul in need of her help. But don't forget, your heart is the biggest weapon against the shadows!"
Hera couldn't even say a word before Lodi jumped into the portal and disappeared, leaving only a tiny puff of pink glitter behind. After waiting a few moments, the Empress deactivated the safety cube and left. She called her court out as soon as she exited this cabin and walked back to the group. It took about thirty minutes to explain everything, including all the time wasted with questions to which Hera didn't have the answer. Still, eventually, everyone agreed to head out and look for a way to go to the flying city. The simple idea of being able to sleep without having to worry about seeing their friends getting brutally killed every night was more than enough to make them rally. Even Bonnie was against staying behind. She would use a copy of Helena's shadow grabbers to move her leg so her injury wouldn't worsen. Daskka was still using some healing mist at every chance she got, but now it wasn't doing much.
As the group was gathering some supplies, Shane got closer to Hera, "Hey. How long will it take for your safety cube to be recharged?"
"I think it will take a couple of days, but this is the first time I'm recharging after I got the title. Why? Do you already want to use it?"
"Yeah… I have some ideas for the questions. I could just go to a cabin and have you using the soundproof bubble, but I'm not sure if I want to risk it," Shane sighed.
"Well… Let's try to find a better place to stay. We will also be able to check that Naga temple. And there is a dungeon up there, so we could check that out too."
Shane nodded. That's fair. By the way. Don't you think you should ask Yarnball where is that… whatever thing that will get us there?"
"Yeah, I was just about to do that. I know we are still going to take a little while to head out, so I should have enough mana when we leave," Hera pulled her relic from her waist and thought for a moment before pumping a full million mana and asking, "Where, in this raft, is located what will get us to the flying city in this room?"
The answer came right away, but it was a little unexpected.
'Look at your map.'
Hera tilted her head and opened the explorer's map. She only had a part of the raft revealed and a few markers pointing out the greenhouse, the maintenance cabin, and the dungeon. But now, beyond the dungeon, and a lot to the right, there was a circular area. Touching that spot showed a label 'What is needed to get to the flying city is somewhere in this area.'
"Oh? That's new. And kind of good, at least," Hera smiled.
"Did you find something?" Shane asked.
"Yeah, hang on," Hera pulled her tablet and showed the map, "It says it is somewhere here."
"That is… good, but somewhere in this area? Really? That circle could go from here to the dungeon."
Hera looked over and realized that Shane wasn't wrong. The circle was massive, but it was still better than searching the entire raft, "I probably would need more mana to get a better location."
"Yeah, I guess."
Minutes passed, and everyone was ready to go. They had enough food and water for a day and a night, and Adriel was carrying a large amount of the monster-repellent stones, just in case they had to sleep somewhere else.
'Guys, tell me if any of you sees anything that seems off. We don't know what we are looking for, and I really don't want to sleep down here again."
'Got it!' Hera's court replied, with Edge already flying around to the limit of Hera's range.
'Nimbus, how do you feel about a quest right now? You could take a couple of them and look around from the sky.'
'If you want, I'll do that, Empress. However, I do not like that idea. We are going to an area where the cabins are more densely packed. It's hard to tell if there will be any hidden danger somewhere.'
Daskka stretched and put her face in front of Hera's, 'I agree with him, mum. After last night I think we should stay together. If those weird slimes show up again, Nimbus won't be there to guide everyone.'
Hera looked down at Daskka with a shocked expression, 'Ok, if the two of you are agreeing with something, I won't object to that. It's probably a sign of the end of the world, and I shouldn't go against it.'
'I would never put you in harm's way, Empress, even if the world is ending. I will protect you.'
'Unless you see some bird seed lying around.'
'You are the glutton here! You ate Hera's fish last night!'
'She was done eating! And you are the one who always eats the last piece of cake in the fridge.'
'Guys! If you are going to start a screaming match, don't do it when talking in my head. You are going to give me a migraine,' Hera rubbed her temple.
'Sorry,' both of them said at the same time but continued staring daggers at each other.
"Problems in paradise?" Helena noticed Hera's expression as they were heading deeper into the raft.
"I'm surrounded by children," Hera looked at Nimbus and Daskka, "And yes. I'm talking about both of you."
Helena chuckled, "For someone who always hated the idea of having kids, you are really leaning into the role of a mother," the mage saw Hera's expression darken with the mention of 'mother,'" Sorry, Sweetie. I didn't mean it like that."
"I know. Don't worry about it. It's just… I'm a bit worried about my dad."
"Why?"
"I don't know. I'm worried that he might freak out and go after her again. I want him to be happy, and I hope he finds someone in the future, but I really wish he wouldn't go back to Stella. I don't want to lose him again," Hera explained, but she felt horrible doing so, "I know I'm being selfish."
"You really aren't. I know just a fraction of what that woman made you go through, and I don't see anything wrong with your wish. People like that are toxic to everyone around them. I'm sure your dad also got hit with some of her abuse."
"Thanks? I guess," Hera looked at Helena with a confused expression. Not that she didn't understand what the mage was trying to say, but it just didn't feel like a good idea to say that her dad was suffering before.
Helena sighed, "You know what I mean. He probably can see that she wasn't good for him, and I don't think you have to worry about that. Also, why do I get the feeling that you are more worried about your dad while you are gone than about us being lost?"
"Because I am. I told… someone that already. Between the eight of us, we have three legacies, two veteran explorers, and one title. I'm positive we can handle basically anything this room throws at us," Hera smiled.
'Mum… I thought we didn't raise flags,' Daskka sighed as they started to see the multiple story cabins that formed the center of the raft.
