Another way home

[death_gone_mad]

"Well, that was unexpectedly… fun."

The words are carried into the cold northern air of the desolate wilderness. There was no one to hear the words except a few crustaceans who had crawled out of the sea.

The speaker, a bedraggled woman emerging from a ruined fortress. Soot and blood mat her hair and cover her hands making her unrecognizable. If it were a later year, she would have served as a potent example of the evils that would emerge from the place if it remained unguarded. But luckily for those who would come to guard it and explore it's depths, the Halls of the Demons would not announce it's existence to the world for several years. They would not have to face this demon.

There was no one here yet to guard against new evil coming into the word and no one to prevent ███████ from returning home.

"I thought I recognized the architecture," she says as she steps outside of the structure to get a better look at it. She brushes hair of her face, revealing a few strands of clean, vibrantly red hair. "Well someone has been busy here," she says with a smirk. "Bilrach, you magnificent bastard. How the hell did you manage to get your project all tangled up with the end of the universe?"

No one answers.

She fishes a ring out of her pocket, puts it on, and rubs it. The teleportation magics of the slayer ring removes her from the frigid northern landscape in short order, and again the crustaceans are the only evidence that something lives there.

---

She appears outside the door to her house in sunny Pollnivneach and quickly darts inside. Her afternoon is spent washing off the grime that the battle to get out of Bilrach's dungeon had deposited on her, so it is evening when she emerges from her house with a coil of rope around her shoulder.

"Why did I have to leave the teleportation tablets down there?" She is looking down the town well when a child approaches.

Comments

[myriadbeautiful]

"Hey, Sumona, whatcha doing?"

No matter how hard he has tried, he hasn't been able to figure out this lady. Is she a merchant? An adventurer? A witch?

Oh, yes, he's caught her visiting Ali the Hag a couple of times. But don't witches have big noses?

He will figure out this mystery out sooner or later, or his name isn't Ali!

[death_gone_mad]

███████ turns toward the boy.

Oh, it's Ali. Of course. She shouldn't have stood around that well for so long. Ali was bound to notice her. If not him, then Ali would.

The other Ali. What is with this stupid town?

"Oh, hi, … Ali."

She begins look for a way to secure the rope for her descent down the well.

[myriadbeautiful]

"You haven't answered my question," he huffs. "Where have you been these past few days? Your store has been closed for so long!"

[death_gone_mad]

The brat and his friends probably miss stealing from me.

"I am not Sumona, I am Jesmona, her sister. She was visiting me, now I am visiting her.",

[myriadbeautiful]

"Really? Are you twins?" The resemblance is uncanny!

[death_gone_mad]

She rolls her eyes. "Yes …"

[myriadbeautiful]

"Wow. You are just as pretty as her."

He thinks.

"Oh, that is why her name isn't Ali! Why didn't I figure this out before? You two aren't from around here."

[death_gone_mad]

O.O

"Yes, we aren't from around here." Ugh, why won't this kid go away?

He's a cat in disguise!

She sniffs at him to check.

[myriadbeautiful]

"Where do you come from? It must be full of pretty girls. You and your sister are weird, Jesmona, but one day I am going to go there and marry the prettiest girl in the village."

[death_gone_mad]

Not a cat, definitely not a cat.

Wait, what? Is she getting hit on?

Wearing a confused expression, she adds "we... we are a wandering tribe."

Maybe that way he'll wander into the desert and die. Weirdo.

[myriadbeautiful]

Aww. Disappointment.

Then he remembers, "You still haven't answered my question."

[death_gone_mad]

"I've been doing nothing but answering your questions."

Oh, there's something to which she can tie the rope.

[myriadbeautiful]

"What are you doing with that rope?"

[death_gone_mad]

"I dropped something in the well, if you must know. So I am going to climb down to get it."

[myriadbeautiful]

"Shouldn't Sumona be here helping you? I would help my brother out if he dropped something down the well."

He eyes her. The twin sister thing is a lie, it has to be!

[death_gone_mad]

Eugh, enough of this.

She squats down so that she is eye to eye with him. "Sumona is busy and I am perfectly capable of doing things myself. And we aren't the same person, if that is what you are thinking. Look, we have different eyes. Look into mine. Look closely."

ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOTOAD

[myriadbeautiful]

"But I have never looked at Sumona's ey… Oh, ok..."

Those are interesting eyes.

[death_gone_mad]

"Now be a good little boy and stand guard while I climb down. If anyone comes, distract them."

Rope secured, and she starts descending into the well.

[myriadbeautiful]

"I am not a little boy," he protests. He stands guard anyway.

[death_gone_mad]

"Oh, sorry Ali. You are not a little boy, you are the manliest murderer the desert has ever seen."

For being a well, the bottom is awfully dry.

"Ok, I have reached the bottom, you can untie the rope now."

[myriadbeautiful]

Really, he should be wondering how Jesmona (and yes, she is Jesmona, she proved it without a doubt) was going to get back out, but such things don't concern Ali, the manliest murderer of the desert!

He throws down the rope. "There you go!"

[death_gone_mad]

"Excellent! Now go, Ali, and seek your fortune. The girls of my tribe appreciate murderous men such as yourself. You will have no trouble finding someone to marry!"

ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOTOAD

[myriadbeautiful]

The bottom of the well is actually much much larger than the bottom of a well should be. Much much larger. And not wet.

Actually, it's kind of hazy there.

An insect-like head peaks out from behind a corner. "Mistress?"

[death_gone_mad]

███████ quickly turns to face the new speaker. The man sized insect poking its head from behind the corner is roughly man shaped and stands on two legs, leaving two pairs of forelimbs free to use as manipulators. It wears some clothing, but its yellow and grey carapace is plainly visible.

Scarabites do not normally speak with humans, but the voice he hears is not human, and the owner of the voice is not human. ███████, true to one of her many appellations, does not appear human to the scarabite. Even her image deceives, as to the scarabite, she appears as a beetle with a carapace as red as her hair appears to humans.

"It is I."

[myriadbeautiful]

"We were not expecting you to be gone so long, Mistress. Nor to come in that way," the scarabite reports.

[death_gone_mad]

"Your worry is unwarranted. I merely found a new way home. I was delayed by evil ones guarding the entrance I had found."

[myriadbeautiful]

"Forgive us, Mistress, we have grown accustomed to your trips to and from that realm to be instantaneous. This is the third day since you have left. But be assured, we had no doubt you would return."

[death_gone_mad]

Three days? Had fighting her way up to the surface really given her that much trouble?

"They were three days well spent, purifying a hive of villany with holy fire. I returned to this world amidst great numbers of wretched creatures busy with the task of delving into the cursed ground of the Northlands. The flames of Scarabas which were bestowed on Him by Tumeken Most High found little good in them and their labors. They returned to the ashes they were formed from."

[myriadbeautiful]

"I fear such knowledge may only corrupt me, but I must know, for it maybe in the service of the greater good. For what purpose do wretched creatures delve into the ground in such great numbers?"

From what he knows, those who refuse the wisdom of Scarabas cannot live long without the Light of Tumeken. Save for those that shunned His Holy Light completely and a few others.

[death_gone_mad]

"Such a noble man; pray that like finest gold, only a small portion of yourself is impure when your turn to pass though the flames comes. But yes, we must suffer impurity in order to purify the world and not only ourselves."

Preach, sister, preach!

"They are driven to delve by one of the faceless," she turns and and spits at the ground, "but it's not possible that a faceless one drives so many. I tasted a voice when I arrived, and it grew silent for fear of the flame."

Not the purifying flames of Scarabas, the devouring flames of ███████, the jealous, hungry memory of her name.

[myriadbeautiful]

"You speak as though there are still wretches delving."

[death_gone_mad]

"There are but they are greatly reduced in number."

"We must allow our enemies the opportunity to destroy each other. We must not do all the work when it pollutes us and they are so willing and able to do it for us."

[myriadbeautiful]

"Your words are wise, Mistress." The scarabite gives her a bow of respect. "I suspect you want some time alone to cleanse yourself of the ordeal."

Truth be told, he feels the urge to meditate and rid his thoughts of the terrible news.

[death_gone_mad]

"Yes, but before I do, I must speak to Cheles Khepri.The chinchompas I took with me on my journey were behaving in a strange way, and I believe talking with her may clarify my thoughts on the matter."

[myriadbeautiful]

The scarabite recoils in horror. "She who befouls herself with ichors of strange creatures? Why?"

[death_gone_mad]

"Stop clattering your palups uselessly. She is one of us, and what she does is done so the rest of us don't have to. As do I. We are kindred spirits. Fetch her, then do what you must for yourself. Do not bother telling the others I have arrived. They will figure it out themselves if they are paying attention."

Dealing with these clean freaks can get frustrating. Poor Cheles is the only one unafraid of getting dirty. She is also the only one willing to butcher other creatures and study their organs. While Cheles is not nearly as knowledgeable about anatomy and disease as ███████ herself is, she is still useful for bouncing ideas off of.

"Send her to my quarters."

[myriadbeautiful]

"Yes Mistress!" responds the scarabite before scurrying away.

[death_gone_mad]

Home again, home again, jiggity jig.

███████ ventures into the smoky cavern the well opens up into and toward her quarters. As much as she wanders about, she has no real home, but these caverns, stolen from the ingrate Catolax millenia ago, full of noxious smoke and dangerous, murderous creatures, is the closest thing she has to one.

On this world anyhow.