Looming Shadow: Journey to Chaos book 2 (37 page)

“Are you listening!?”

“Of course. I was
looking for you because I found more living skeletons.”

“Really?” Her eyes
narrowed. “Are you coddling me?”

“I really found some,” Nolien
said, thrilled that her room was the last he checked. “I was going to tell you
before you...um...used Videlicet Mens.”

“There was a monster in
there and…” She raised her arms to act out the battle, but then dropped them.
“Who am I kidding? We can’t let Daylra find out about this.”

“Absolutely! After
Najica, it…you know.”

“Yeah…okay! I'm gonna
change. You stand at the door the skeletons are at.”

“Got it.”

“And don't peek!”

“I would never! A
gentleman –” She glowered again. “A
teammate
respects his fellow's
privacy.”

Still glowering, she
returned to the chest room. Minutes passed. Nolien faithfully stood his post
without ever considering to peak. More minutes passed.

“Uh...Tenderfoot...”

“Y-yes?”

That shy, sweet, and
embarrassed tone didn't sound like his teammate and it stirred feelings other
than camaraderie.

“...I...I...” She
paused. “I can't get this off...”

By sunset, Team Four+
gathered at the fire to share dinner. Tiza was
still
wearing the dress
she found and her face had been a shade of crimson all evening. They ate dinner
in silence because no one wanted to comment. Finally, Eric said, “Isn't someone
going to ask where the princess came from?”

Tiza pounced and
Basilard yanked her back by her ponytail. She screeched and Nolien jumped to his
feet and demanded that he let her go. Basilard complied by tossing her into
him. Nolien's arms reacted automatically and encircled her to steady her. Tiza
pushed him away and he fell down.

“Both of you fail. You
promised me that this would never happen again. It was on the airship out of
Najica, remember?”

“But!”

“You promised.
Sathel
was supposed to fix this. Green Dust –”

Tiza shivered. “Spider
Daylra didn't want to use...that stuff.”

“In that case, I will
have to take matters into my own hands. Your punishment for breaking your
promise is wearing that dress until we return to Roalt.”

“That's not fair!”

Basilard made a patient
look. “You're right. Take out your patched clothes and I'll help you.”

Tiza nodded with hope
in her eyes. She returned to the tent, brought out her bag, and took out the
clothes. Before they were out of her hands, Basilard snapped, and the clothes
burst into flames. Tiza dropped them in shock and they were soon ashes.

 “I'm your mentor. I'm
not supposed to be fair.”

“Please, Daylra, don't
make me do this.”

“Did I make you put it
on?” Tiza looked down. “Did I?”

“...No.”

“Did you promise me you
would fix this?”

“...Yes.”

“Are you aware of what
will happen if you do
not
fix this?”

“...Tenderfoot will be
transferred to a different team.”

“That's correct.
Tomorrow, we will train as usual and you'll see it's not as bad as you think.”

“Not as bad –”

“Dresses are not evil; if
your friend protects you, then it doesn't mean he thinks you're weak, and
lashing out at minor slights is a sign of immaturity. I shouldn't have to tell
you all this.”

“...Okay.”

The meal resumed.
Haburt talked about his findings for those interested and discussed Dragon's
Lair connections with Basilard. Nolien sneaked glances at Tiza while she
pretended not to notice and quelled her anger and humiliation. While they
cleaned up, Eric asked, “Seriously, who’s the princess?”

Tiza's grimace
transformed into a trickster grin. “The princess of this mountain, Aracnid
Omniferris the Starkiller. It is by my goodwill that you are allowed in my
domain.”

“Oh! Uh...Thank you,
Your Highness. No, he's not her consort.” Both she and Nolien blushed. “You're
old enough to tell the difference. Are you teasing them?”

When Tiza woke up the
next morning, she was still wearing the dress, gloves, and stockings. All of
them were as clean and unwrinkled as the day before. She spat on the skirt and
a rune activated to dissipate it. She grabbed her dagger to tear it to shreds
so she could shove them up Basilard's ass, but then she imagined Sathel's
disapproving look. Instead, she grabbed the ribbon, the one thing Basilard
allowed her take off, and put it back in her hair. When she left her tent, she
was wearing it as a bow.

At breakfast, Basilard nodded
his approval. “Part 1: A+.” Tiza blushed despite herself.

“That's a becoming
blush,” Eric said. “My friend says it surpasses the powder he made for noble
ladies back in Ceiha.”

Tiza’s right hand
clenched and her left hand gave him the finger.

“Part 2: C.”

Nolien joined them at
the fire and started to act normal. Tiza responded in kind. They sat close and
talked as they always did in the guild mess hall.

Haburt, Zettai, and
Sias all joined in their turn and asked Eric a question to see what he'd say.
He responded with philosophical nonsense. While they ate, he spouted random
information about the food and how it related to magical study or was thought
to relate to it. Spontaneously, he threw the food away and said he didn’t want
to be a cannibal.

“Those are vegetables,”
Nolien said.

“No, they’re
mana
just like I am. It’s not different from me eating
you
.”

“Then what are you
going to eat?”

Eric assumed a
meditative posture. “I shall subsist on the dew of the universe!”

His stomach growled.

“Then again…that too
would be mana…as would be everything else in Noitearc. Thus, it is impossible
to survive without committing fundamental cannibalism. Then again,
again,
it is the nature Chaos, the source of all mana, to be in a constant state of
change; never created and never destroyed, but always existing in a series of
shapes, whether leafy green or brown poop.”

He retrieved his plate
and ate everything on it. This would have included the plate itself, but his
teeth couldn’t break it, so he put it aside.

“I wonder if monsters
come to this realization and, if so, then are we not the truly mad ones?”

“No,” Tiza said. “Shut
up and clean your plate.”

After breakfast, the
team prepared for the second trip into Dengel’s Lair. Now that Eric had seen
the whole of the path to the chamber, Haburt wished to know if it were possible
for him to travel it. In response, Eric pulled a bag out of his pocket, said a
word to make it expand, stuffed Haburt into the bag by the ear, shrank the bag,
and stuffed it back in his pocket.

“An elfin philosopher
once said, 'Space is an illusion and limited volume is an excuse.' Now if
you'll excuse me, I have to garden the dogs.”

He heaved the sack over
his shoulder and floated to the tower on a current of air. The rest of Team
Four+ followed him apprehensively. The last time, he was gone for nine days and
now they had more reason than ever to worry. Only The Trickster's reassurance
convinced them not to follow him.

For his second trip,
Eric threw caution to the winds and jumped between the traps like he was
playing hopscotch. He threw in flips, handsprings, and pirouettes all the way
to the top of the staircase. Then he threw back his head and laughed madly.

“I have the power! I
AM
THE POWER!”

Inside the lair, Eric
dumped Haburt on the ground with a “ho-ho-ho!” After coming to his senses,
Haburt made notes with disinterest. Although this was what his sponsors sent
him here to do, and he found them all interesting, the lair of a long-dead mage
didn’t set his mind on fire like the village of a long-dead society. Then he
saw the mirror. His face flushed, he grew very giddy, and he moved his arms up
and down. He even did a victory dance.

“A Meditation
Aurel...!” he whispered. “I've never seen one of these intact before...The
Vatics
Palciso Gjsai
mentions use in religious ceremonies...confront inner
demons... after fourth-century references disappear... initiates possessed by
evil spirits... Long bouts of sorrow and anxiety. Professor Julian Kempe put forth
the hypothesis that this was in fact a mental breakdown caused by the mirror's
power…This is truly a groundbreaking discovery. All other examples of
Meditation Aurel have been broken beyond repair...Why would Dengel have one of
these?”

“You could ask it,” Haburt's
reflection said.

“Excuse me?” Haburt
asked.

Mirror Haburt sneered.
“Didn't hear me, did you? Not used to your research subjects talking?”

“Quiet, you!”

“I believe it was more
that they
couldn't
at the time.”

Haburt turned away and
plugged his ears. “I'm beyond that! I am!”

“Don't lie to yourself.
When you saw her in a dress you –”

It fell silent when
Eric replaced the sheet. His eyes were clear and focused as they glared at
Haburt. His staff was chambered and ready to thrust.

“So it's true.”

“Abyss take it. Of
course he would recover at this moment…”

 “Kidnapping Tiza,
brainwashing her into thinking she's your dead daughter, assisting Mareth
Jacquins with her work – it's all true.”

“Yes, it is...”

“Give me one good
reason why I shouldn't gut you right now and blame it on Dengel's ghost.”

“Mrs. Aranid caught me
on my way to the Latrot Justice Station. I had a written confession in my
pocket.
She
didn't kill me.”

“Good reason.”

“We both agreed that death
was too good for me. I experienced years of nightmarish hallucinations, random
memory loss, and itchy spider bites before she was satisfied. I’ll have you
know that all of this was
after
I lived out my prison sentence.”

“How’d you do it?
Sathel’s a senior in the black ops part of the guild and her husband literally
has eyes in the back of his head. How’d you get away with their only child?”

“I had help. Overcoming
one of the Four Loves is a high achievement for ordercrafters. Helping me with
my grief became this ordercrafter’s excuse because we were friends at the
time.”

“
Nulso
.”

“Yes. They were playing
at a park when we… decided to do it. He suppressed their power while I chanted
spells. Then we snatched her and ran away.”

“Just like that?”

“It wasn’t easy! We
were both Greater Mages at the time and my friend was empowered by Order, but
we still came close to death.”

“How close?”

“If my friend were not
immortal, he would certainly have died and, even now, Retina is killing him.
He’s the reason why Nulso’s ponytail is shaped like a noose. Soon it will break
his neck and his body will no longer be a suitable tool for Order. At that
point, Order will revoke his immortality.”

“What about you?”

“I was in critical
condition for days due to the injuries and poisons I suffered at Sathel’s
hands. I would have been killed instantly if not for my own formidable spirit
power, depth of magical knowledge and the assistance of my friend. Even now I
have chronic health issues because my body cannot completely heal.”

Nulso’s later attempt
to abduct Annala flashed through Eric’s mind.

“Does this happen often
– ordercraft kidnapping?”

“I don’t know! I’m not
part of that society!”

Suddenly, Eric’s
crystal blade lay against Haburt's throat. “I give you fair warning, Mr. Haburt,
if you as much as
appear
to be a threat to Tiza, I will unleash the full
power and knowledge of my enlightenment. Sathel can target your organs, but
I
can target your very
essence
.” Just as suddenly, the spear returned to
Eric's side. “With that out of the way, allow me to give you a tour.”

First, he showed his
client the cauldron and Haburt marveled over its design and expense. Next, Eric
showed him the ingredients: ear of goat, bone of eel, powdered human tongue,
among others. When the scholar read off “
diluted energy from the womb of the
mother of elves,”
his attention perked. He unscrewed the lid and took a
whiff. Immediately, he made a face. The contents smelled like someone threw up
and decided to keep it. Then an idea struck him.

“Could this really
be!?” Haburt smelled again. “The first Mana Juice! We know Dengel had Low Mana
Inhibition, but to think he discovered this at the dawn of the AA era! It
wasn't commercially available until the
nineteenth century
and wasn't
invented until the
tenth!”

“My guild has claimed
for ages that Dengel invented it, but no one believes us.”

“Yes, your guild may be
entitled to some royalties when I return...”

Now borderline maniac,
he inspected the rest of the lair. Every detail of every jar was scrutinized:
design, rune, contents. Eric had to catch him when he smelled something
particularly strong. When he woke up, he turned his attention to the scrolls.

First, he made notes of
the position of each one. Second, he brought out a camera crystal and
photographed everything twice over. Third, he stood directly over one and
pulled out his staff. As he swirled it in gentle circles, small air currents
gathered. Softly and slowly, he began to chant, “Work of sages, sweat they
gave, with this spell you shall endure. Knowledge of ages, wisdom to save, with
this spell I shall procure. Wind Vault!” 

A film of air cradled
the precious paper and lifted it into the air. It thickened and compressed. The
scroll was now encased in a solid bubble of air. He repeated the process until
Eric interrupted him.

“If you need help with
translations, give me a shout.”

“You understand this
language?”