The Poison Princess

by J. Stone

  The monk continued to screech at her, and now his hands clawed at her, but the beast behind him just waited, content to watch the scene unfold. Daibhu’s strength seemed to have weakened, as he impotently slapped at her hand, attempting to retrieve the orb back from her. Ruby yanked back on the orb one more time, but the cord was limited in length. Rather than coming out, it began to rip upward, through Daibhu’s body. A line tore through the pasty blue flesh, up into his chest, with a spattering of strangely cold blood flying out at her, as she pulled the cord. The monk’s fingers returned to his own body, attempting to keep the fibers from ripping him any further.

  The princess was not letting go. She wrapped the cord around her arm several times like a sailor looping a rope around his forearm. She then placed one of her feet in the empty spot of Daibhu’s gut for leverage and then pulled back on the cord. The fibers got stuck on the bones of his ribcage, but Ruby yanked and tugged as hard as she could. The bones seemed weaker and more brittle than they should have been. His flesh ripped open. She could see as the dust of the ribcage wore away, falling to the ground like sawdust. One final yank and the cords broke into the bones, grinding and scraping slowly up through them.

  Daibhu’s face was full of pain and panic, as his weak fingers tried to halt her progress, but he had slumbered too long and let his power fade. Behind him, the connected beast still waited. The monk tried to say something, but no words came from his mouth. His eyes looked sad and concerned, but Ruby paid them no mind. The orb’s power was all that mattered to her. Leaning backward and placing all her weight against the orb’s tethers, the princess placed her other foot inside Daibhu’s gory gut, so that she was now completely off the ground and using the monk’s own body for leverage against him. She used this new footing to pull back once again, and the cord continued to stretch up to just below his translucent neck. She could see the fiber continue further up, but she didn’t know how much farther it really went. It didn’t matter. She wrapped more of the cord around her forearm and then yanked again.

  Another splatter of cold blood, as the tether tore through his neck and butted against his jawbone. Daibhu made a series of sputtering, gurgling, choking sounds. His hands finally let go of the cord, now too focused on the massive gash from his navel to his chin. He futilely tried to stop the blood flow that slowly dripped out of the wound. Ruby continued to pull against the bones of Daibhu’s face and watched as the brittle jawbone tore away just as the ribcage had been. Gritting her teeth, the princess gave it another powerful tug and watched, as the monk’s face split in two.

  Ruby tumbled to the floor, as the body of Daibhu finally fell from the hovering position it had held. She landed on her backside, still holding the orb, but it was no longer connected to the monk. The last pull had ripped the tether cord completely through his skull, and now his empty husk lay sprawled on the rocky floor, ripped nearly in half. The orb, however, was still attached to the beast through the cord that had been protruding from the back of Daibhu’s head.

  Free of the human remains, the beast finally began to shift and move. The cave rumbled again in response, and debris fell from the ceiling. The echoing, slithering sound was maddening, but still, Ruby held onto her glowing prize. The damp limb that she had stepped over to get to Daibhu’s body began to slither toward her, while the eyes just watched with eager desire. She, meanwhile, was too concerned with what she held in her hands. She stared down at the glowing sphere still covered in the monk’s cold blood and gore. The parts not covered in the tendrils and cords were smooth like a polished stone. The orb gave off no heat despite its luminous glow. Ruby stood back up, but she instantly felt the wet limb behind her coil tightly around her legs, all the way up to her waist. She tried to pull herself out of its grasp, but the limb was too tightly constricted. The slithering limb that grabbed her raised her up into the air and held her there, where it could do as it liked.

  That was when the tendrils that wrapped around the orb came loose and then fell off completely like autumn leaves falling from the branches of a tree. She held the glowing artifact in her hands without restriction, but the beast’s grip still trapped her inside, leaving her with nowhere to go. The cord that had been attached to the orb slunk back behind her, and she could feel it slap sloppily and wetly against the back of her head. Her free hand tried to slap it away, but it held resolute in its position. Another pair of the beast’s limbs slithered forward and grabbed her wrists, separating them from the core of her body. She still held the orb tightly in the grip of one hand. She wasn’t letting go. That seemed, however, to align with the creature’s intentions. The hand that held the orb was made to move toward her own face. A more dexterous appendage shot out and grabbed her jaw, forcing her mouth to open wider than she thought herself possible. The creature’s intent became quite clear to Ruby. It wanted the orb inside her, just as it had been inside Daibhu. It wanted to slide that cord into the back of her neck and connect it to the glowing orb. It wanted a new host to control and use and devour from within. The orb was mere inches from her forced open mouth and moving ever closer. The cord at the back of her skull was now digging painfully into her skin, trying to worm its way inside her. She could feel either blood or its sloppy wetness dripping down the back of her neck.

  Ruby refused to become whatever this foul thing wanted her to be. She desired its power, but it sought to control her. She would not be its slave. The princess did the only thing she could - she dropped the orb, letting it fall down her body. The tendril that had held her mouth open was forced to let go and retrieve the orb in midair. This gave her control over her head once more. She knew what followed would be dangerous given how it had turned out last time, but it seemed her only option. Just as she had done back in Gloomport, Ruby wrenched the lever inside her chest to open with full force. She used the rage of capture, the frustration at being bound, and the loneliness she’d suffered without Scarlett to open the portal into her poisonous core.

  Toxins rushed from her mouth, eyes, ears, nose, nether regions, the tiny holes in her skin, and anywhere else it could ooze from. Her body tore itself apart to release the venom to the outside world once more. The poison rushed out of her and onto the various appendages that the beast had wrapped around her body. The toxic substance tore at the beast, forcing its grip to falter and release her to fall hard to the floor. The tendrils all sucked back toward the creature in an attempt to protect it from the terrible maelstrom that began to form around the princess’ body. The poisons swirled and whooshed around the cavern, and the beast backed itself into a corner as best it could, but the venom carved away at its flesh and bone. It howled some foreign words and the mountain howled with it, echoing every undecipherable syllable. Ruby was in trouble, however, as she found herself unable to stop the flow. She had only been able to do so in Gloomport thanks to her demon’s assistance.

  Scarlett, she thought. Where are you? I need you.

  Chapter 32. Following the Mental Breadcrumbs

  Scarlett, something whispered via a thought.

  The amalgamation of minds of the nether realm had heard it, but the demons there had no use for it. There was, however, one small piece that connected to it - a part of that huge conglomerate of thoughts that sensed the name Scarlett was important to it. This little piece was weak and crushed under the weight of more powerful demons vying for control of the nether realm and for a way out. This little thought that liked the name Scarlett could barely move through the minds it was being suffocated by. Thanks to this small thought though, the Scarlett piece was able to wriggle free from the vice-like grip to a spot of relative comfort. It was but a bubble between enormous collections of ideas, yet the thought was able to pause and recuperate.

  There in that vacant space, the Scarlett thought was able to hear other ideas and concepts for the first time in what seemed like forever. There the thought was able to give meaning to this word Scarlett.

  I’m Scarlett, the thought decided. That’s who I am.

 
She began to examine the word itself. If she were to drop a T, the word began to mean a color. Red. She swam through the other minds, latched onto this thought, and grew in mental size and power. The color had synonyms and associated words, another thought called out.

  Rose. Cardinal. Crimson. Sanguine. Cherry… Strawberry?

  She reached to the concept of a strawberry, encompassing it and making the idea of it part of her. It felt familiar and comfortable, as she wrapped her formlessness around it. As she took it inside herself, she actually thought it generated heat.

  How is that possible? There’s no concept of warmth here.

  The sensation vanished, and she discarded any notion that there had been something there.

  The strawberry, however, led her to more questions with her growing curiosity. It was a fruit, she’d discovered via another thought that she absorbed as well. Then, across the spaceless region of the nether realm, the Scarlett thought felt a tug from something that seemed foreign and unconnected at first glance. It was poison.

  Poison. Toxin. Bane. Acid. Venom.

  These words accompanied it. The concept that housed these words described them as coming in many colors of its own, just like the strawberry was red. It could manifest in a variety of textures and consistencies. It was a part of nature in the physical realm, secreted, injected, grown, and concocted.

  Why are strawberries and poison connected?

  Another synonym for Scarlett appeared then.

  Ruby.

  This word was small, only four letters. Despite its length, the ideas that offered possible connections were numerous in the nether realm, scattered in every possible direction. The Scarlett thought consumed this word, Ruby, somehow knowing it had a greater meaning than just another word for red. The Scarlett thought wanted to discover what that was. One thought explained that ruby was a type of jewel and naturally occurring gemstone. She took in the knowledge, but that wasn’t why it was special. That ruby was lowercase. Hers was upper. This was more important than a sparkling rock. The case meant it was a name, she learned.

  A name for what?

  The Scarlett thought resumed searching through the Ruby connected thoughts. Many, she found, seemed empty of knowledge that she could understand. There was that warmth sensation again, and she felt like the physical realm was tugging at her. These thoughts, she decided, must have been connected to something that happened there.

  Why are they here now?

  The Scarlett thought perused everything she could find on the subject, eventually arriving at one that connected the three big concepts she discovered so far.

  Ruby. Strawberries. Poison.

  This new thought combined those three elements into a single story. They told of a young woman named Ruby (a woman this assorted collection of thoughts found remarkably beautiful) who was poisoned through her favorite food, a strawberry. Rather than die, however, this woman was saved by magic. The caster of this spell died during the channeling of the magic, resulting in an unintended consequence. This woman became something called the poison princess.

  Poison Princess, the Scarlett thought repeated in her head.

  That meant something. This woman meant something.

  What is this poison princess to me?

  The warmth that she couldn’t explain grew. Without searching it out, another image inside a thought appeared to her.

  This was of another woman, but not the poison princess. This was of a redhead with horns and who wore orange eye shadow. She had on a black dress, though she apparently didn’t like wearing it and discarded it regularly. She was quite lovely too, but unlike with the Ruby woman, she wasn’t exactly attracted to her. Rather, the Scarlett thought felt she was her.

  I have a physical body? The growing collection consumed this thought as well, taking it into herself and growing rapidly. Scarlett now had an identity.

  Outside the nether realm, the same voice that had called out the name Scarlett repeated the words.

  Scarlett, where are you? I need you.

  She knew without proof that the voice belonged to the poison princess, to Ruby. Ruby was… her princess, she realized. They were bonded. The bond of a human and a demon. Her suspicions had been true. She did have a body. She must have traveled into the nether realm for some reason.

  The pieces of Scarlett’s memory were being pulled toward her now. She felt powerful - strengthened by the truth, invigorated by her princess’ needs. She focused her full efforts on recovering every missing piece, every lost idea that had been stripped of her. With each one, she knew more about what had happened and why she was there. The craggy hand demon. He had corrupted Ruby’s sister…

  Leina!

  Scarlett recovered that name from a new memory. The craggy hand demon needed to be stopped. He was trying to kill Ruby now, and the only way to defeat him would be something hidden in an archive at the top of a mountain, Rashtalg. They had called the place the Roof of the World. Monks had set up a monastery inside the mountain. There was some item that would help them. It was metal but looked more like stone. It was cold but glowed with an arcane light. She had worn it. Scarlett pulled more into herself. Thoughts and memories were coming toward her with ease now. She felt nearly whole, and she wouldn’t stop until she was the woman she used to be. She would be the woman Ruby wanted her to be.

  The bracelets, she finally remembered.

  They were strapped around her wrists and severing her connection back to her princess. Despite that broken link, Ruby had called out to her for help. She had to hurry. She had to collect everything and get back to her. There was one glaring hole still missing. Scarlett had gone into the nether realm for the craggy hand demon’s name. She wouldn’t leave without it. She remembered finding it. He had trapped it deep within the hidden recesses of the demonic realm, storing it around distracting thoughts, notions, and needs that had ripped her apart. She had made it out though. She had learned it, before the thoughts completely disassembled her, nearly destroying her forever. Ruby couldn’t allow that, though, so Scarlett wouldn’t give up either. She reached out with her mind and grabbed that final piece.

  Tyran.

  That was the craggy hand demon’s name. She could escape now that it was back in her mind’s possession.

  Holding every last piece of her close to herself, Scarlett leapt out from the nether realm and back into the body that Ruby had willed into existence for her. She awoke on the bed of that cold monastery room with a gasp, raising herself up and looking wildly around. The horned demon swung her legs off the side of the bed and tried to pull the bracelets off her wrist. They wouldn’t budge.

  Why won’t they come off?! She shouted in her head. Ruby needs me!

  Scarlett decided she couldn’t worry about that for the moment. She stood and ran to the door, flinging it open before setting off down the empty hallway. Within seconds, the hallway was behind her, and she stood in the great hall. Without her connection, she couldn’t feel where her princess was, but as you can imagine, the sound of the poison maelstrom made the task of finding Ruby easy enough.

  Scarlett ran as fast as she could toward the stairs, then up them, then into the cavernous room behind a set of double doors made of some strange metal with equally odd sigils carved into their surface. She ignored them and moved into the room, staring at the swirling abyss of poison. Her instinct was to rush forward to help her princess, and she even began to do just that, until a stray splash of the venom landed on the skin of her hand. Normally, this wouldn’t have meant anything, as she had Ruby’s immunity, but that was no longer the case. The bracelets were breaking her bond, which meant she no longer benefitted from the poison resistance. The toxin sizzled on her demonic skin eating away at it like she was anyone else. She jerked her hand, flinging the poison off her, and she took a step back. She couldn’t imagine how to reach her princess with the bond breaking bracelets on.

  The horned demon tugged once more at the stone-like bracelets, attempting to wrench them off her body
and restore the connection that she and Ruby had together. Still, they wouldn’t budge. Scarlett got down on the ground, putting her heels on the bands of the metal, trying to exert enough force to just get them off her skin. Instead, the flesh began to peel off as she pushed, but the bracelets stayed where they were. She crawled toward the stairs, bashing the rocky metal against the handrail, but the bracelets were unaffected. They must have some magical restriction, she told herself. Something to keep the wearer from taking them off before the human is ready. She realized she needed her princess to remove the bracelets, but her princess needed her to save herself from her own poisonous spout. She had to make a decision. She had to decide how much pain she was willing to suffer for Ruby.

  Scarlett stood back up, staring into the maelstrom swirling and filling the cavernous chamber. A tear trickled down her cheek, while the bracelets hung defiantly from her wrists, unwilling to loosen their grip on her. The horned demon took a deep breath and then plunged forward through the spiraling poison storm. It was the first thing back from a sensationless realm of pure thought, and she dove face-first into a swirling tidal wave of toxic filth capable of killing mortals in seconds if Ruby made the venom strong enough. Scarlett had never felt anything so terrible. She couldn’t even have imagined that such pain existed. She had only rudimentary magical powers without her connection to her princess, so the poison ate away at her flesh like nearly anyone else. She attempted to mend it, as she went, but the pain was nearly unbearable and a mind-altering distraction. Nearly tripping over the jagged rocks of the cave floor, Scarlett caught herself and plunged ever forward after her princess. The timespan from the outside to the eye of the storm was probably only measured in seconds, but the pain aggrandized it to seem like hours of torture.

  When she had finally made it through the acidic waves, her skin was boiling with burn marks where it had managed to remain. Chunks of bone and muscle were exposed, and there was certainly nothing left of the dress. Her long orange hair was nothing to speak of, having been lost to the all-consuming poison as well. Her curled horns lay bare on her skull. She stumbled forward, falling to her skinless knees just before Ruby, who was still spouting out everything she had inside her. The bones of her exposed knees crunched against the rocks in agonizing defiance, as she crawled forward to help her princess. The black soot and gravel ground into her bones and under what skin she had left. She blacked in and out of consciousness but never wavered in her efforts to get to Ruby. After another lengthened section of time, she had made it to within inches of her human connection to that realm.