Claude rubbed at his tired eyes and gave the zombie a shrug, the freshly set campfire illuminating his right side. “I was perhaps expecting you to say ‘pancakes’ or something equally as outside the box.”
“No, you know as much as anyone that I like to have fun...” Sally tutted and rolled her eyes. “But he is a bard - clearly the thing he stole was the heart of someone.” As much as it was a cliche - those sorts of things did tend to play out just as expected. Life imitated art... and sometimes life imitated pancakes, too.
The healer looked over to Kristov, who gave a nod of acknowledgement. His eyebrows then creased as he looked back at the zombie. “Wait. You’re not speaking in rhymes now, are you? Not sure I can handle two of you doing it at the same time.”
“What? You didn’t think that was where this was heading? To find out finally that the curse is spreading?” Sally beamed at the man, putting her hands on her hips.
[Poppy: Don’t bully Claude, Sally - that’s not okay.]
[Poppy: We’re all tired, it’s been a long day.]
[Poppy: >>!;]
“Puh… puh!”
Claude sighed and resigned himself to bringing out his bedroll to prepare for the night. “I’m not sure which hellish existence is worse anymore. Things truly have become odd since you arrived here.”
“Never mind that.” Sally looked through her Inventory for her own bedding. “The question is, whose heart did Kristov break, and how can we get that fixed?”
Her question was met with silence as they all turned their attention to the bard. He looked rather sheepish and wasn’t willing to give up the information.
“Well, it was probably a Monster, I bet. Keep your secret if you want - I’m too tired to argue this tonight.” She sat down on the ground and sighed. “Cross, dear. Would you watch the Dungeon while we sleep and wake us up if anything happens? We might be inviting danger by leaving it incomplete, but maybe some excitement would spice things up.” She turned her head to look at Archie.
“Still feeling out of sorts, Sally?”
She pulled a face at the cat. “Kinda, yeah. Not sure what it is… I thought a new world with actual stakes would be right up my alley, but there’s something missing.”
“Chuck did warn you there would be nothing quite like Sanctuary.”
She watched him stand up and walk over to where Poppy was settling down. The problem was the power disparity. Although she had been fine going back to level one… she missed the uncontrollable power she used to wield, even in the early stages of her adventure. With no Players to chew on, she’d become stagnant like their time in the Wastelands.
Of course, the only person who could shake things up was herself…
As she laid down to sleep, her eyes stared into the low flame, the waving amber illuminating her sharp-toothed grin. Time to get devious.
----------------------------------------
“Are you not coming to bed?” Dent stood in the doorway and yawned loudly. “I thought you were beat.”
Chuck raised an eye away from the screens in the control room to look over. “Hmm? Yeah, soon. There’s… well, come over and look.”
The swordsman shuffled over in his slippers to peer at the screens in front of the Architect. “What am I looking at?”
“I made the very clever decision to give the spacecraft a full scan before I blew it up.”
“Ah. So these are the blueprints.”
“In a manner of speaking. There are certain things I’m having to change as it doesn’t use the technology or materials we have here. The end result is something slightly worse, but mostly equivalent.”
Dent stood up straight and grunted. “Are you saying what I think you are?”
“I’m too tired to consider the options.” Chuck pushed himself away from the desk. “All this power and I can’t just go without sleep. It’s maddening.”
“I feel like if you had that, then I’d never see you - unless I sat here working all day long as well.”
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
The Architect waved him off. “Alright, I get it. We could both use a holiday. Let’s get Sally home soon, and then we’ll review current operating procedures.”
“Noted.” Dent gestured toward the open door. “After you.”
----------------------------------------
The door slammed open and two figures stepped in from the darkness. The hallway light flickered on and illuminated the pair covered in blood. With one arm over the demon giving him support with walking, the vampire struggled to enter his house.
“Sorryyyy for the mess, Eddy.”
“Not the first time I’ve been soaked through with blood on account of you,” he grumbled in return.
“Yes. Yes. Yes. Usually your own blood.”
Edward sighed. “Let’s just get you up to bed, alright? This has already been as nauseating as I can handle for one day. I can’t believe you went through the whole zoo.” They fell into a wall before righting themselves toward the stairs. “Sally must have to keep you on a leash.”
“Sometimes. You think she’ll like the bunny I saved for her?” Theo held up his clasped left hand, bloodied, but holding a gray, fuzzy creature.
“First off, that’s a rat. I don’t even know where you found it, because the zoo didn’t have any. And… probably? Would she eat it?”
“No. Yes. I have my ways.”
They reached the landing, and the demon kicked open the bedroom door. With a surge of effort, they stumbled forward and he ejected Theo onto the bed, spatters of blood going everywhere.
“My work here is done.” Edward sighed and crossed his arms. “I have half a mind to betray you right now and…” He stopped talking as the vampire just returned a light snore.
So instead, he shook out his head and walked towards the door. “Don’t know why I bother, really.” He paused at the threshold and turned an eye back to the vampire. The rat was now freed from his grip and sitting in his hand, peering around at the new surroundings.
----------------------------------------
Sally stumbled down a hill, catching her shin on a rock. She bit her tongue to avoid cursing out loud. Two dungeons down, but it was getting pretty difficult to find them in the darkness of night. Despite his insistence, she had made Cross stay put to watch over the others. Archie had already returned to Sanctuary as soon as he thought everyone was asleep.
But she wasn’t. A simple act of deception that had her roving through fields of dark gray grass, guided only by the dim glow of nearby dungeon entrances. Her torso stuck to her clothing where blood had soaked through the fabric. Right arm ached from blocking one of the Guardians… but this was delightful.
Up to the north - another Guardian holding a torch out on watch. Bandits again? No… similar, but better armed. The flickering glow illuminated a metal helmet and breastplate. Guards or a militia of some kind? Usurpers or rebel forces? Didn’t really matter. She licked her lips.
Some basic human brains would get the gross taste of the last sour Monsters she had chewed through. STAR was begging to give her the level-up rewards, but she could wait for after her midnight snack. Then maybe turn back for some sleep - going too far would leave her lost in the morning.
Dagger twirled around in her hand. Any zombies she had created were far back now - but that was fine. She’d soon have more. Gathering them all at the end would give the Party quite the surprise when they woke up in the morning.
She sneaked through the shadows and worked her way in a wide arc. Guard posted outside looked tired, his half-closed eyes barely focused on the part of the darkness he was facing. Sally was low in the tall grass, approaching from his back left like a big cat eyeing up their prey.
Too easy.
[Chain] shot out and hit the man, immediately dragging over to her hidden patch. As he struggled in surprise, her blade came around and went through his neck. Helmet didn’t help, and she had forty-four daggers now.
[Eat Brains]
She gasped. The best brains she had tasted in this world! The rich flavors and depth of experience within the soft, juicy folds. Elation and dopamine ran through her.
Straight before a chill of realization.
There was only one type of brain that could taste this morish. A Player’s.
She looked down at the spent corpse of the man she had just murdered. Wouldn’t be the first accidental death she had caused, but this one weighed on her with guilt a little more than usual.
How would she explain this to the others?
Maybe she didn’t have to. Her crimson eyes went over to the Dungeon entrance. Were there… people who lived outside of the main fortress?
If so - they could be important allies, assuming they could forgive her little mistake. But if they still held a grudge, maybe they’d be a tasty treat instead. Her tongue ran across her lips by instinct.
Bad idea.
She tried to think of someone with some degree of moral compass she could message. They could talk her down from this. At this time at night, though? Lucius would, but… then she’d definitely be dissuaded from something she wanted to do. For the first time since landing here, she felt like herself. Dangerous, sure... and a little villainous... but her happiness was important, right?
Dagger flipping around in her hand, she walked over to the entrance.
----------------------------------------
Somewhere in the depths of the STAR System, an impossibly large vessel of dark metal and dull lighting hummed its way through the infinite sea.
On a dashboard filled with hundreds of lights and buttons, one inert bulb flickered into crimson illumination. On and off, on repeat.
A clawed hand reached forward and flicked a switch, before a second and third arm moved in to adjust dials.
Above the control panel, a monitor bloomed into life, painting the mandible-laden face of the figure in dull blue. Across the dark screen dotted with small green circles, a line of red started to form. From a small planet far away, the dots eventually joined up to a small box representing the vessel itself. A considerable distance, but not unthinkable.
The fourth hand picked up a receiver and clicked a button, a hissing noise squealing from the device before silencing.
“Emergency beacon in sector H8-R. Adjusting course.”
“Confirmed,” a crackling voice returned through a speaker. “Vengeance shall be ours, brother.”