@HorridThe Cave-InnAfter theyโd gotten themselves settled in, washed, and put in some proper clothes, Team Thunderstorm found themselves sitting on comfortable wooden beds within one of the innโs rooms. It was far from time to sleep, but it felt incredibly nice to be sitting on a proper bed.
โSo,โ Chumi said. It was obvious, what he was going to ask.
โWhat happened?โ
โYou saw me run back to the waterfall pool, so Iโll omit the part before that. Sorry about abandoning you there, by the way,โ she said. Chumi nodded.
โItโs fine. You looked scared out of your mind, anyway. Besides, if you had escaped with me, weโd both be cursed and probably neither of us would be here now,โ he said. Good. Sheโd been feeling kinda guilty about that.
โOkay, well, anyway, after I escaped into the pool, I sank deeper and deeper until it was so dark I fell asleep without noticing,โ Piper continued, โWhen I woke up, I was in some sort of stone pipe, beneath the ground. When I tried to escape, something weird happened, my magic went haywire, and the pope exploded. I got shot into the forest on a giant geyser as a result,โ
โThen what?โ Chumi asked.
โI woke up in the cave I had you go to bed in. Theresa and the lizard rescued me from the water or something, so we get introduced and everything,โ Piper said, โAfter that, I went outside and used a roll-call orb, and you know what happened from there,โ she finished.
She laid back onto the bed. All in all, while the exploration certainly hadnโt gone as planned so far, they were still in reasonably good shape. Sure, one of the members was now subject to an ancient curse of some variety which would โpreventโ Chumi from spilling the beans on what was within the Blanklands, which, as ancient curses usually go, probably meant fiery death, but they still had one half the team able to report findings back. There was that going for them. They also still had most of their supplies, a good deal more raw orbs than theyโd left with, and some key information about how the place worked. Speaking of keys...
โHey, Chumi,โ she said, sitting back up and putting her hand in her hat, removing the keys that Julian had given her earlier, โCould you take a look at these?โ
Chumi accepted the keys, looking them over, turning them, tapping them with a silly looking little device that hadnโt been there moments ago. After a minute or so, he spoke.
โItโs a key,โ He said. Piper glared at him. โItโs a magical key of some sort. Itโs got a... really
weird enchantment on it, which uses a bunch of eldritch variables that arenโt present anywhere else on the runes. Itโs like someone deliberately put half an enchantment on this. So far as I can tell, though, itโll react to something that gives it all these variables, then tell that something to do something. With more nonsense variables. Beyond that, I canโt tell,โ
โSo itโs... A key. To a magical door,โ Piper said, flatly.
โLooks like it. A door or something else entirely. Hell, it could be a key to a magical doomsday device, and I wouldnโt be able to tell,โ Chumi said.
โIโll make sure to ask Julian what exactly it does if I get the chance,โ Piper said. Hopefully it was, in fact, a perfectly normal key to a perfectly normal door. Just, well, magical. Speaking of magic, she should probably go over her idea to break the curse the continent is on with Chumi.
โSo, um, Chumi,โ she started, staring at the stone ceiling, โWhat do you think we should do about the whole curse thing?โ
โI really donโt think we should let you get cursed willingly,โ he said instantly. Piper turned her head in surprise. She hadnโt expected him to be that decisive about it.
โWhy?โ Piper asked. She obviously had no intention of going along with it herself, but if he answered that quickly, sheโd best listen to it.
โCurses are bad, for one, no matter how well-intentioned. Secondly, though, the way you reacted to the Vigils was, well, terrifying,โ he said, โI donโt think Iโve ever seen you that scared before. There were only two there, and from what I understand, thereโs going to be a lot more if we go to the boss. We can fight one big monster, but I canโt fight you, not when youโre terrified out of your mind and attacking everything in sight with icicle steam spears,โ
Well. She hadnโt thought of that one, somehow. She really should have been expecting it, but somehow the idea that the vigils would be as
scary as the vigils were had completely dropped from her mind.
She laid back onto the bed, spreading herself over as much of it as she could, staring at the ceiling. There really werenโt any other options here, were there? Despite what Julian had said, the only thing they could do was to flee, and eventually face this Fishmonster. Either defeat it, or be cursed. If they managed to beat it, what then? Would they just send more? She didnโt know how far the Vigilsโ senses of duty and self-preservation would go when it came to them losing their own lives.
She doubted they would listen to her when she said she did genuinely plan to break this curse that threatened their very being. After all, people tended to be fearful of things that could disrupt their ways of life, and she doubted squid monster men were any different. Would they accept the word of someone claiming to want to save them, or just curse them for the possibility of ruining everything? She had to go over this with Chumi. Perhaps he had some insight.
โChumi, t-thank you for thinking of that. I didnโt even consider how terrifying that would be. I, um, wasnโt actually thinking of doing that anyway, but for a different reason,โ she said, stuttering slightly.
โI gave it some thinking after what Julian said, and I decided that the only way that I can make everything work out is to, um, completely abolish the curse that will kill the inhabitants of the continent if they become known,โ
Chumi stared at her. Piper felt a little bit shameful for a moment. It really did sound ridiculous, coming out of her mouth.
โI canโt argue with you there. We canโt make history by discovering stuff, only for it to be gone when others go to see it,โ he said, โThereโs also the ethical effects of it all, I guess. I wouldnโt want Julian to disappear, I like him,โ
โMe too,โ
โHow do you think we should start?โ he said. Piper looked at him. He had a massive grin on his face.
โI feel like the best way to do that is to find someone who knows. The Vigils probably have a key to the puzzle, but we need to know what the puzzle is supposed to look like first,โ she said.
โLetโs ask Julian if thereโs someone who knows even more about the continentโs formation and curse than he does, when weโre ready to leave,โ Chumi said. Piper nodded vigorously.
Yaxato WoodlandsEnrique most certainly wasnโt lost. The path thinned here, but it was still certainly visible. It certainly hadnโt gotten muddled with what looked like a rhinoceros charging through several miles back. He certainly wasnโt going to starve if he couldnโt find his way to Rockvale.
Suddenly, a manโs voice erupted from the thick forest to his left. A little red fox shot past him, looking terrified. Was that another man, lost and hunting for food? Company would be excellent, especially if they had food to spare. It wasnโt as though Enrique had any with him.
Searching in the general direction of the noise revealed a tall, bald man who looked to be scratching his buttocks with the butt of a pistol. While he would normally find himself laughing at such a sight, the fact that he was wiping his own arse with a firearm made Enrique a little wary at the idea of insulting him. Perhaps, then, he would instead play the role of a kindly travelling man. Two of those things were true, at least. He took a breath, and revealed himself.
The man didnโt actually notice him at that, as he was too busy inspecting his own behind. With a pistol. Enrique took it upon himself to begin the introductions.
โHello, hello,โ he spoke, โWhat might a fine man such as yourself be doing so deep within the Yaxato Woods?โ
He hoped the formality wouldnโt be necessary, but you never could tell just what level of courtesy a random person would demand. He was well dressed, though sopping wet and possibly quite as lost as Enrique was.
