Chapter 5: Reasonable Discussion
Loyd lowered his hands and looked to Shoten. The Oni was standing above him with an expression of mild concern.
‘That has to be an affectation. Why would he be concerned? We were having a lively discussion not ten minutes ago. What interest would he have in a dead man besides what was in his pockets? He obviously only cares for this hoard currently out of his reach. Say something before he tries to make a ploy.’
“You okay? Deadman?”
‘Damn it.’
Loyd stood, the shreds of his clothing sliding to the floor.
“Fine, shithead.”
“Shoten.”
“What did I say?”
“Shithead.”
“No need to be rude.”
The oni glowered at Loyd,
“This is not helping”
Loyd looked back blankly,
“I didn’t say it would.”
Shoten sighed in defeat,
“Do you enjoy doing this?”
Loyd’s thin lips stretched,
“My enjoyments are many and varied.”
“Are you going to answer the question?”
“I can answer that one.”
Shoten turned his back on the lich and walked back through the holes blown in the stacks of crates by the liches’ impromptu flying lesson. Loyd dusted himself off, shaking splinters to the side, and strode after the Oni back to the improvised fort Francesca had built within the aisles near the center of the warehouse with the aid of her... playmates.
Shoten sat on an improvised bench made from various bits and pieces of shattered wood he had scavenged from the surrounding debris. Standing before the doll again, Loyd formally addressed her.
“Francesca, as you are a formal representative of the council, I request information on what business you are about for them. As a former member, I am entitled to a cursory explanation of your presence to prevent immediate war between the council and myself.”
Shoten thought it was fortunate Loyd had been standing in the already shattered opening he had shuffled back through. This prevented further damage to the warehouse as Francesca opened her tiny mouth to reply,
“Playing with you.”
An ominous glow started to rise from the sightless eyes of the children arranged around her in the fort. Then her still open void of a mouth let forth another shrieking blast sending him hurtling right back through the opened tunnel. Shoten could hear swearing from the tunnel after the shock wave died down, followed by soft laughter.
Shoten winced at the destruction. This would take forever to sort out after the lich was destroyed or the doll was driven off.
A minute or two later, Loyd strode back through the opening with the scraps of his remaining clothes barely hanging to his desiccated form. He clutched a doll about the size of Francesca in one hand and looked to the oni sitting on his impromptu bench.
Shoten figured the deadman must have snagged it from one of the broken crates.
“I need this if I am to provide Francesca with a new playmate. Can I have it?”
The doll’s expression grew petulant. She glowered down from her perch atop the play fort.
“Everything here is for my playmates and me. If you want some of our toys, bring more playmates.”
“I understand, Frannie.”
The doll did not like that. She started to float above the fort as the children’s eyes glowed a brighter shade of red. Loyd calmly addressed her wrath,
“Pardon me, Francesca. I seem to have had my manners rattled by some of your… exuberant playtime. I meant to say that I would like to make you a playmate with more…endurance.”
Loyd gestured with the hand holding the doll he had plucked from one of the shattered crates,
“With this and a few other items from the wonderful toybox you’ve so recently acquired, I can make you a playmate to ensure these ones last much longer.”
Francesca continued floating ominously above her fort, but the glow of the children’s eyes faded some. Loyd waited patiently for her response and did not react to the lessening of the visible threat.
“No free toys. You have to at least play a game with me.”
“Understandable, my dear. Let’s play twenty questions.”
Francesca rolled her ghostly head around, and the painted expression on her face betrayed distaste. She did not care for the idea, but a game was a game.
“Twenty is too many. Games should be fun, not boring.”
“Would seven questions and then a game of tag be better?”
Francesca’s floating became an eager bounce,
“Freeze tag! And no fibbing on the questions!”
“Fair enough. We can establish the particulars of the rules for freeze tag after our first game. Now, what business-”
“I’ll start! Where is your phylactery?”
Loyd looked annoyed at being interrupted. However, it was less about the rudeness and more about losing out to the extra question at the end of their game. Francesca looked pleased with herself.
Shoten started to panic. A little rough and tumble was one thing, but a secret like that would ensure Loyd took the next bout of their discussion seriously and soon. He may have been a demon in his own right, but he knew that a weakness that threatened one’s existence being exposed was not resolved with such gentle words as they had been using before.
Loyd glanced behind himself at the visibly nervous demon watching a Lich and possessed…something, play a game that could get the oni killed. He turned to address the demon while keeping an eye on the still floating being he was playing this game with.
“Oh, relax, Shoten. You should be more experienced in wordplay trickery to know I wouldn’t give the whole answer. Everyone here knows the shenanigans one can play with such a simple outline of “no fibbing.” Honestly, did you expect anything different? I’m starting to suspect you had help setting up the extradimensional space around here.”
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
Shoten relaxed a little. He made a face at his magical skills being questioned. Then he rubbed his chin thoughtfully before responding to the dead man. Francesca had started making idle loops in the air behind the lich above her fort.
“You liches are not known for consistency when it comes to rational responses to sensitive information about their existence being questioned.”
“I blame Jerry. He was always a bit touchy and overreacted to stress about his continued existence being threatened with unnecessary excessive force. Can’t say it hasn’t worked for him so far, though.”
Francesca was looping in the air closer to the conversation, the painted expression on her face mildly interested. Shoten tried to ignore the gargantuan presence of malice from the diminutive figure.
“Jerry? Jerry the Lich. One of your race named Jerry is why you all have a reputation for destruction and admirably horrible acts of violence?”
“Well, we aren’t a race, first of all. And it’s not only Jerry. I blame him because it gets him wound up about it at the council meetings.”
“You are so a race. There’s too many of you to be one-offs like the naga.”
“We’re a race to the top, maybe. And we’re winning. Or at least, I am. And I’m working on that population control issue. I really am, I promise.”
Francesca had stopped her loops and sat in the air close to Loyd’s head, slowly reaching out to poke him in one temple,
“You’re supposed to be playing with me. Answer the question. If needed, I’m very good at keeping all my playmates focused on our games.”
Loyd’s face twisted at this statement, and he looked at the blankly staring children scattered around the space. The small bodies barely breathed and did not sway in the gaze they leveled on the trio.
“I believe you. Very well, my phylactery is on this continent, underground. What business of the council are you on in this warehouse and geographical location?”
Francesca giggled and twirled in the air, satisfied to be the center of attention once again,
“I’m here to care for the toy box, silly. But, once it gets started, we need a place to stage everything for the main event at the black canyon. Marlowe promised me all the playmates I could want if I gave him a place where he could gather troops.”
“I hope he can hold up his end of the bargain. I can play caretaker or fireman. I’m not very good at the second one, though. The flames are so pretty I don’t like putting them out.”
Shoten paled at the answer,
“Did she just say she would burn my place to the ground if this Marlowe didn’t follow through? That’s bad, Loyd. Very, very, very bad.”
“Aren’t you immune to fire, magical or otherwise?”
“I’m not immune to every supernatural being within a hundred miles tearing me to pieces because their stuff got destroyed over a broken deal!”
“A hundred? Really? Impressive.”
Francesca floated over to Shoten and flicked him on the forehead below his horns. Shoten started rising into the air flailing his arms for balance. She watched as he raised toward the ceiling three stories above and calmly stated,
“Stop interrupting.”
Shoten dangled from invisible strings near the ceiling and pouted as much as a seven-foot-tall red-horned demon could be said to pout while dangling forty feet in the air. Francesca turned back to Loyd,
“Question three goes to me. Marlowe is quite upset with you. Why?”
Loyd ignored the now squirming Oni above him.
“I was his apprentice before I ascended. He didn’t want me to ascend. I disagreed. Where and what manner of troops are you guarding for Marlowe?”
“For Marlowe? Several tens of magelings are suspended in a room of time below this toybox. They are scheduled to be woken in a month or so. Question the fifth, the human in charge of this nest of humans, have you met with him yet?”
“I will be meeting with him. I have a prior claim of sovereignty over the beings in this area and need to explain to him how things will proceed with my dam project. It has been left to its own devices for too long and is probably uppity at this point.”
Shoten noted that Loyd referred to the mayor being an “it” instead of a “him.” Shoten didn’t object, as humans often lacked the longevity to develop any interesting personalities worth observing, but he did note it. Loyd continued,
“My turn. Is Marlowe alone in the area, or are there more council members present interfering with my goals?”
Francesca floated back to the center of her fort and sat on the ledge of one of the towers she and her playmates had built. She stared at Loyd for a long time before glancing at the still-wiggling Oni overhead. She gestured, and the Oni came crashing to the floor. She smiled at the sound of a bone or two crunching before addressing Loyd,
“Marlowe has two other council members with him here in Las Vegas. Jerry is doing something in the southeast district. Clancy is dealing with the human authorities for Marlowe, so expect him to attend when you meet with the human in charge of this nest at some point.”
Shoten sat up from a crumpled heap on the ground, moaning. He twisted an arm back into place as he set the bone with a soft crackling sound coming from within the limb. A soft groan escaped his lips. He performed similar ministrations to both legs and then staggered to his feet.
He shuffled over behind Loyd with no comment about the state of anything besides a sullen look at Francesca. Loyd continued ignoring the silent, hulking demon. Francesca settled on her perch some, waiting for the Oni to stop moving. As Shoten stopped in place, she spoke to Loyd again,
“Question seven, this game will be finished, and we can move on to more fun. Did it hurt when they took your little brother?”
Loyd’s form stiffened. Francesca’s small painted mouth was a cruel smile,
“Oh, yes. Marlowe told me about him. All about how his vaunted head pupil had brought him such a prize with so much potential to be useful in his work. He seemed nostalgic for a while as he talked of pulling him apart and using the pieces to drive his research forward decades.”
“Marlowe does regret the misunderstanding over him telling you he would take care of your little brother. He seems to think that a little miscommunication led to you going against the council’s wishes in the first place. He is quite mad.”
A soft red glow had begun exuding from Loyd’s skin, faintly flowing toward her. His fist had clenched around the doll in his hand. She was feeding on his pain. His form did not move as he gazed into the soulless face of Francesca.
Loyd let the pressure of emotion trying to find the walls of his mind within him flow towards them. Two hundred years had made the cavern of his mind hollow from most strong emotion, but this was a potent tool she had reached for and a relatively fresh body he was wearing.
“The impression that he gave me that this whole scheme you have going with the dam is some misinformed and wild scheme to bring back your…dear…baby…brother.”
Loyd started laughing. Francesca stared at the laughing dead man before her. The lich had doubled over into gales of wheezing laughter before her, which had to be an affectation. Dead men didn’t breathe.
Loyd stood from his doubled-over position and wiped an imaginary tear from the corner of one desiccated socket in his skull. He looked at the doll clutched in one of his hands and started laughing again. He trundled down over the next few minutes, starting up gales of laughter every time he spied the sour lemon look on Francesca’s face.
He sighed almost happily at the now angry thing perched on her fort built with the hands of stolen children.
“My dear Francesca, of course, it hurt at the time. Why do you think I worked so hard to disconnect my mind from strong emotions at the start of all this? I knew there would be attempts by the council to derail my plans, and one of the tactics they would always come back to would be to attack those I let get close to me or my attachments to others.”
Shoten chose this moment to sidle away from the pair in anticipation of something violent happening. A glowing lich monologuing about how little he cared for others was almost always a precursor to bad things happening. A thinly smiling, almost happy undead delivering the speech added to the tension he was experiencing.
“You are attempting, poorly, to use a memory that has no more meaning for me. The goal is important, not why the task was started. My motivations are more pure than sentimentality. I will succeed because I have stated that I will.”
Francesca had crossed her arms as she listened to the short monologue of the Lich. By the end of his speech, the glow around Loyd had faded, with no more particles of energy moving toward her.
She may have been an unholy abomination that Loyd was starting to suspect had insecurities he could exploit. But she was a pouty abomination at this point.
“You don’t have to gloat quite so hard.”
“Why not? You wasted your big trap question on an attack that didn’t work and couldn’t have hoped to. I think this is the perfect time to gloat. We have another game to finish before you let me make you a more permanent companion, so don’t be a sore loser about it.”
Francesca brightened at the reminder of the next game, and her dress swirled under her as she floated off her perch back towards Loyd. Loyd’s thin smile faded as he sobered at the presence of Francesca returning to her typical predatory feel.
‘A thrust diverted doesn’t mean the fight’s over. She’s going to do something nasty to these kids. What a waste. Some of them might have been useful when they were grown.’
Francesca floated before him, her painted-on smile back to a set of cruelty. The surrounding children dismounted from their positions around the makeshift fort and surrounded the trio. Lich, oni, and unholy thing centered in a circular formation of blankly staring children.
Even for Loyd, it was a surreal setting. The children surrounding the trio were unnaturally still, barely breathing as another ominous glow welled in their eyes. The blue color instead of red was not reassuring to Shoten. Loyd thought he might have an inkling of where she was going to take this.
Francesca spoke icily in a whisper,
“That’s right…we were going to discuss the rules and then play…freeeeeeeeze tag.”