Cherish bit her bottom lip. "I asked around at all the weapon shops but... you're probably right. I could of just missed her.”
“Or,” I didn't stop the growl this time, “she could have died.”
"No.” Her voice was firm. “I checked. She didn't respawn.”
I felt an intense surge of relief at her words. "So… we really do respawn?”
“Yes… Oh, Ruin." Her voice filled with surprise and sympathy. "Did you think…”
I tried to hide my relief, though I wasn’t sure why I bothered. “It did occur to me that they could've been lying about that. The word of an Overseer and all that.”
I barely saw her move as she grabbed me around the neck in a hug, squeezing me so tightly to her I tried to say, “Hey! It's all good, don't worry, be happy.” But what came out was. "Urk! Aaack, hooohhrrree, haathee…”
“I’m so sorry! I should've told you straight off about resurrections! This whole time you were worrying about us!” She shouted in my ear. "I didn't think about them lying about it and then I got to the temple and kept seeing people who died by Whatsits and can you believe that's what they call them what a stupid name! And who made up that name is going to get punched for making up that name!”
“Hurk!”
“And then the priestess told be about Death! The Goddess of death and how she knew that everyone had made it here and how resurrection worked and how we lose, like, twenty percent of our experience whenever we die and that sucks but it's better than permadeath! And when permadeath happens we get reincarnated which is super cool too but she didn't give details because people kept arriving after dying and she had to explain things to them all over again…”
“Um, sweety,”Tahaniria interrupted. “You're smothering him. And he's turning blue.”
“Yurk!” I agreed.
“What?” she asked.
She let me go and stared up at me in confusion as I gasped for breath.
I rolled my eyes toward Tahaniria, pointing a limp, floppy finger at the Shadow Elf as I weezed out a, “Hhhaathaaanks” and fell to the ground.
“Ruin!” Cherish yelled.
“I am not giving him mouth to mouth,” Aeria said.
"Why… so strong…" I gasped.
"Oh, I pumped all my starting experience into strength after unlocking my class starting spell. Not the best idea with my build but it sounded like a good idea at the time. Are you okay?"
I raised a trembling hand. "Dieing…"
“Like I said, I am not giving him mouth to mouth."
I drew in a couple of long, slow breath and said, “Why is everyone so mean to me? I'm a delicate, innocent, fragile flower and I deserve to have someone give me mouth to mouth." My hand stopped trembling and started pointing. "And it should be done in the order of: Tahaniria, Aeria, Crystaliza, Aeria again, then Cherish.”
“Oh, good. You're fine now,” Cherish said before grabbing my hand and pulling me to my feet. “Feeling better?”
I squeezed her hand gently. "I'll feel better when the rest of our Chain is together. But yes.”
David stepped up, introduced himself and said, “There will be a meeting at the town center. You'll have a better chance of finding her there.”
Cherish and I looked at each other, both trying and failing to smile reassuringly at the other.
After Cherish introduced herself to the others we started walking again. Linking our arms together, we leaned against each other as we walked.
We talked as the others trailed behind us. Me telling her what I had been through and what I had learned after she told me the same.
She had spotted the city as she fell and managed to get here straight away. Then she spent some time asking around for us.
She learned that Five and me would have fallen here but Three and Four hadn't.
"But Three is Dark Kin!" I protested. "Everkin. An Elf!"
She looked at the ground dejectedly. "Yes. But he's a Dark Elf. Apparently Dark Elves have bad relations with other Elves."
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, as if I could exhale some of my frustration before saying, "Right. Okay. We'll deal with that later. What skills have you unlocked?"
She said her starting ability was Charm, a basic Siren skill commonly used as a crowd control ability.
“But I've spent most of my time split between the cities Bardic Hall and a few taverns. New songs are highly prized and combined with my singing abilities… well… let's just say if you need a loan, I got you covered. As long as you don't go crazy with it.”
“Just for a few songs?”
“No, for an immense amount of new songs. Remember, there is no internet here. You can’t just download a few terabytes of songs, movies, books and audiobooks. In this world music is always live, books are handmade, plays and musicals are acted out over and over for each individual audience. Entertainment is money. And it is going to be big money with so many new people.”
When she put it like that it made sense.
A little after that David cut in and asked to speak with me. Cherish and I agreed and reluctantly separated.
Then she got an evil look in her eye and cheerfully said that she'd be gossiping about me with the girls.
“Don't believe anything they tell you!” I called after her. “I am the pinnacle of propriety! Honorably honest and incredibly innocent until proven guilty!”
I turned to David and said, “What's up?”
He was silent for a few seconds, gathering his thoughts, I assumed.
Finally he spoke without looking at me. "You were going to kill him.”
Without asking I knew what he was talking about and answered immediately. "Who? Dollore? Nah…”
“You wanted to kill him.”
I didn't answer.
“I've seen that look in others before.”
He waited, but I continued to stay silent.
“You wanted to kill him, hurt him. Before you knew he would resurrect. Not only that." Now he turned to look directly at me. “You wanted to destroy him and then destroy everything around you. I could sense it in you. Some people just… it's who they are.”
I let him speak, not defending myself.
“The way the others look at you. With fear and just a little awe. As if you were the most dangerous thing here, even before you threatened that Elf. I've seen other Fallen who pass us and the looks they give you...”
He seemed to expect an answer but I just shrugged. He watched me for a long moment before continuing.
“I am a guard. I protect this city, the people as much as the property. I need to know. With all these strange, new and confusing people running around my city, I need to know who is just trouble and who is a real danger.”
I laughed at that, we were all trouble, we were all dangerous. But I knew what he was really asking.
I turned to look at him and noticed Taren and Vicious walking behind me. Both were close but not within arm's reach and I noticed that all four girls were in the back, chattering away.
Dollore was behind them not looking at anyone but talking quietly to Cashus.
When I looked at the Dwarf and Elf behind me Taren raised his eyebrows and Vicious just looked on unapologetically.
I decided to ignore them.
“Well it's as simple as this David. I am not a good person.”
I paused a second but no one said anything so I continued. "I am not a good person. I wasn't raised that way. I wasn't raised with pleases and thank yous or I'm sorry's. I wasn't raised to think of others before myself. I wasn't raised to be a good person.”
Not like Two, I thought, not like Cherish.
“And it's not in my nature. It isn't in my nature to be kind.”
Unlike Four, was my next thought.
“I wasn't raised by people. I was raised by books, television, movies, games...”
I trailed off when I noticed his confusion.
“Stories,” I amended.
He still looked confused but seem
ed to understand the gist of what I meant.
“I'm a bad person. A bad person who cares about good people. And those good people don't want me to do bad things, so I won't. So if you're worried that I'll go on a killing spree, don't. Just because I want to do bad things doesn't mean I will do bad things.”
David continued looking at me but didn't say anything. I sped up, making it clear that I was done with this conversation.
Wanting a distraction I watched the people we passed. Most were Natives but a few Fallen walked the streets.
Figuring out who was with their Chain and who wasn't was actually pretty easy.
Those of the same Chain had a closeness. Not just the familiar, casual touch we reveled in now that no one could stop us.
It was like they revolved around each other. If I had been paying attention to how Aeria, Taranar and Tahaniria moved together I would of noticed it earlier.
I wondered -
RUIN.
“What?” Someone calling my name slapped me out of my thoughts.
RUIN.
"Who said that!"
I stopped and looked around, the others stopped as well, looking at me oddly.
RUIN.
“It's… oh. It's a voice inside my head." I thought about that for a second and said, “Well that's not good.”
David, looking exceedingly disturbed, moved out of slashing, lashing, flaming claw distance while staying in "Stab it with a long sharp pointy thing" distance.
“Is it a signal?” Vicious asked while Taren pulled out his axe.
“No, it's more… stretchy? Gooey? Fluid. No… I don't know.” I looked back to where the girls had been giggling. "Hey, Crystaliza?”
“Um, yes? Oh, and just call me Liza.” The others giggled while Liza blushed.
“Right, well. Liza?” More giggles. “What is so…”
RUIN.
“... nevermind. Liza, your world has telepathy right? When someone talks using it, is their voice sort of…”
“Echoey?” she supplied.
“Yes! Exactamundo! That! Or, you know, close to that. Or, okay… not really.”
David lowered his weapon, a bit less freaked out that I may be freaking out and asked, “How does that telepathic magic work exactly?”
RUIN!
“SHADDAP!” I yell at the sky.
The street went quiet as everyone turned to look at me.
I looked around, gave an awkward wave and called out, “Sorry! I wasn't talking to any of you! Just to the voice in my head!”
I realized what I just said and hurried to reassure them. "But don't worry! I'm not crazy! I've been tested!”
Most of them looked unconvinced. "Its true! Multiple times! In every mental institution I've ever been sent to! Why is everyone always backing away from me!?”
Cherish walked up and patted me on the shoulder. "Sweety? Maybe you should just, you know, shaddap yourself?”
"Everyone's solution to me talking is for me to stop talking. Okay, fine I'll shaddap. I can stop talking anytime I want. I don't need to talk. I just do it for fun. I'm a social talker. But if you want me to shaddap I'll shaddap. I'm not one to keep talking after being told to shaddap. I - “
“Sweety?”
“Yes?”
“Shaddap yer shaddin' up."
“... okay.”
RUIN!
“Just as soon as I find out whoever is shouting into my brain and do some caveman surgery on their head!"
I started forward, the others hesitating before following me at a distance. All except Cherish, who walked right beside me without the slightest bit of hesitation.
Then, when the voice came again, I abruptly turned to the right.
“There. It's coming from there.” I pointed down an alley. "That's where I need to go.”
Cherish frowned. "You mean down that dark, dirty creepy cliche of an alley that's perfect for killing someone, looting their body and stomping said body into a trash can for the rats to feast upon? That alley. That's the alley you want to go into because that's where the mysterious voice penetrating your mind is coming from?”
“Yep.”
“Oh, okay then, let's go!”
Chapter Ten: Death, Is Only The Beginning, To Respawning. Wait, I Think I Misquoted That.
David said no. I said you're not the boss of me! He said his orders were to escort us to the meeting safely. I said orders smorters. He said it was his duty. I said he could take his orders and shove them where he usually excreted his duty.
The conversation when downhill from there.
The voice in my head was getting louder and louder and I wanted to get to the bottom of whatever was going on. Even if I had to dig down to it with my bare claws
I just hoped I didn't dig myself into a hole so deep that I fell into a cave with exploding green monster thingies while skeletons shot at me with arrows and laughing people threw poison bottles at me.
I hated it when that happens.
So there I was, striding not so stealthily down the alley, alert and ready for action. So quick and light in my feet that any adversary would be amazed at my awesome amazingness.
Then I saw him, standing at the dead end of the alley with a confused look on his face.
“Umm, you know you're saying all that aloud, right?”
“He said with a dumbfounded look on his face. Then, I thought to myself, his face was less ‘founded’ and more of the other part. But I didn't want to upset him so kept that opinion to myself ”
“Hey! I call insult!”
“He claims insult but I have yet to insult him. I have not so much as spoken a single word to him. I have not even thought an insult towards him. Merely a perfectly accurate description of his expression.”
“Oh, you think you're funny? Real funny! I know who you are Ruin!”
“Ah, I finally understand. He has taken it upon himself to punish me for something that is obviously not my fault. Liken to the Punishers of old. Despite all logic he has decided to trust the word of an Overseer. The poor sad sack of sap. So I stood straight and tall and with fearless manliness asked, are you? The one who summoned me?”
“His face looked less and less ‘founded’ by the second. Then his face screwed up in anger. Or constipation. Possibly both.”
“He tries to speak but I cut him off saying, Dude. Relax. Just tell me what I want to know and I'll just - “
“Shut up!”
“He yells ‘shut up’ at me."
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP!"
"He says it twice more in quick succession, at an unnecessarily loud volume. As if that would make a difference. He flips open a surprisingly nice looking butterfly knife with a flourish made to compensate for his lack of skill. Hmm, the blade appears to be glowing. One wonders if - ”
“Okay, forget this! Kill him!”
“I look behind me and to my complete and utter lack of shock, two others with the same constipated expressions come out from behind the trash they were hiding in. I put my back against the wall to keep all three in sight.”
“Dude, please stop with the internal monologue.”
“I am confused by what the newcomer says. Is my inner monologue broken again? I decided to clarify. What do you mean! I thundered extravagantly.”
“Thundered? Extravagantly? Dude, that's… that's just… horrible.”
“Oh ya, well guess what?” I told the two super smelly Neon Elves, who I knew were there the whole time because of my super smell. "Okay. Did you guys just hear me say anything about smells?”
The two Elves blocking my escape looked at each other before one of them said, “No?”
“Ah, good. It's working again. Wait!" I held my hand up and said, " Anybody else hear that?"
It came, wafting towards us. Soft at first, barely a sound at all. But it grew, becoming, not just louder but fuller, more real. Then it was weaving through the alley capturing the attention of us all.
It sounded like every animated singing princess distilled in
to a single voice.
The sound was beautiful and enchanting, literally in the case to the two on my left. Their eyes glazed over and soft smiles oozed onto their faces.
The one on the right was less happy with the situation.
“What are you doing! Kree! Dass! What's…”
“Oh, don’t bother. They're charmed. I mean you can waste your time if you want. I'll just stand here patiently and think about what song this upcoming fight should be soundtracked to.”
“Dust and Rust, shut up!”
I turned to face him fully and smiled. “How about this, I let you and your friends go and you promise to forget all about this. Seriously. I don't want to hurt anybody. I want people to be kind to each other. So come on, don't be heartless."
"I'll kill you!"
I sighed.
“I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you until you… you...”
“Die from it?” I prompted.
“Yes! I’ll kill you until you die from it!”
I snickered as the song Spirit Never Die by Masterplan started playing in my head.
"DIE!"
His mind blasted into mine, stabbing into my thoughts while his blade went for my heart. I ignored the pain of his mental attack and I dodged to the right, grinning as ghost fire erupted in my hands.
I was in the perfect position to step forward and shove my clawed hand up under his ribcage. A grab, a twist, a yank and I would’ve ripped his heart out.
Then his knife scratched my shoulder and an electric shock spasmed through me. My muscles froze for a few seconds and he used those seconds to step to the side and sliced at my neck.
I bent backwards, arching my back in an effort to get away and lost my balance in the process. As I fell back, my foot lashed out and connected with his ankle, making him tumble to the ground.
We thrashed around, a dirty grappling, stabbing fight that ended with him on top of me.
I held his taser knife at bay with the backs of my crossed hands.
He had both hands on the knife handle as he bore down on me.
Over me, above me, with his teeth bared and a cut on his cheek bleeding wisps of blood smoke. He tried sliding the blade over one of my hands only to have the point to blocked by the other as we struggled.
Dubstep Succubus Page 21
