Chapter 99

M'redith's vibrating alarm clock woke them up. It woke M'redith up really. Then her moving about woke Jay up and he raised his head before letting it drop back on to the pillow. M'redith had to dress in her armor so he thought he might as well get some extra sleep in while she did so.

The room was still dark as M'redith watched him sleep in while she got dressed. Finally she slapped at his feet at the base of the bed. “C'mon. Wakey wakey.”

She was smiling as he grumbled and got out of bed. She politely turned around to give him some privacy and shortly after they were both dressed and grabbed their things. They went in to the hallway and the door clicked shut behind them. Glenda was already up and ready and she waved with one large hand in greeting.

“Morning.” she said softly. No one wanted to attract any monsters, it was still far too early for that. Glenda tapped lightly against Aiden and Norri's door as she yawned and then again after she received no response.

Finally the door opened and a tired looking Aiden stepped in to the corridor followed by a bright and cheery looking Norri.

“What's the matter?” asked Jay as he looked over at a clearly tired Aiden.

Aiden just shook his head. “She snores.”

Norri stamped one foot, “I do not!” she said a bit loudly.

Glenda channeled her inner librarian and shushed Norri. Glenda then raised a finger to her lips in the universal shush sign. “Monster. Remember?” Glenda asked quietly.

Norri nodded but said again, quieter, “I do not snore.”

Aiden sighed and tilted his head back, “How would you know! You were asleep!”

Jay chuckled. Their group all liked each other but that didn't mean they didn't get on each other's nerves occasionally. The sleeping arrangements had apparently not been to Aiden's satisfaction. Although they each had their own beds they were plenty close enough to hear each other snore. That is, if any of them did snore.

“She sleeps as quietly as a charging yeti. Kept me up all night!” Aiden hissed but M'redith calmed the two down.

It really wasn't the right place or time for the discussion.

M'redith had already chosen their destination while Jay had gotten dressed and had gone over the various paths in her mind that she could take. Instead of trying to stop Aiden and Norri from arguing she instead just started running. Norri and Jay followed her immediately whereas Aiden took a moment before Glenda finally moved as she had to take up the last spot in line.

They ran and ran down corridors and hallways and at one point, a wide set of wooden stairs polished to a shine. M'redith took them on a convoluted path and took routes she hadn't seen before just because she could.

The monsters were surprisingly quiet that morning and they made it to their destination without incident. As they arrived their group burst through the doors and then locked them behind them using a crossbeam that had been left leaning against the wall.

“Oh NO.” Aiden groaned as he looked about the room.

They were in the cafeteria.

“No. I'm not eating gruel. I'd rather eat the wafers!” Aiden complained.

M'redith laughed as she looked about the cafeteria for other people but found none. “Oh relax. I don't know if you noticed but we need water. We can get that here,” she said as she walked up to the water dispenser at the end of the tray line.

Aiden opened his mouth to complain further and then closed his mouth. As long as they were there just for water Aiden wouldn't argue, and he was getting thirsty.

The group took turns filling their water bottles and canteens until everyone had drank their fill and then filled their bottles to the top. They would be good for water for a while. Until dinner at least if not longer.

“I miss being in town and eating at the Guild and being able to just go in to town whenever we wanted after classes.” Norri said in one long sentence without pause as she took a break between sips of water.

Aiden grunted, “I'm going to eat until I can't anymore once we get back.” Aiden had his head down in his hands with his elbows resting on a table he had chosen at random.

M'redith smiled before shrugging, “We had a nice routine going back at the Guild, it wasn't going to last forever though. Besides, would you rather be back at the Guild in class learning about off-tanking or tank-switching or stack clearing or whatever weird thing they were planning on teaching us today?”

“Library.” Glenda said in a sad voice.

“See? Glenda misses her library, it isn't just us that miss civilization!” Aiden said with a triumphant grin.

Jay got up and nodded, “Things felt easier back at the Guild but then again M'redith almost died there so it isn't as if it were any safer. Let's head to the library and see if we can plot out the rest of the monster pathing.”

“Pathing? Is that even a word?” Aiden asked.

M'redith nodded her head, “It means the route a monster takes as it patrols. Probably better to say 'path' though isn't it?”

Jay sighed and held a hand over his eyes. “Lets see if we can plot out the rest of the monster paths.” He looked over at M'redith. “Better?” he asked with a challenging grin.

She nodded. “Let's do it. Everyone line up.”

The group got in to their standard order. M'redith first, followed by Norri. Then Aiden and Jay, and finally Glenda. There were a number of doors to choose from and M'redith made sure they removed the crossbeam from the door they had used to enter the cafeteria as they would be leaving out a different door.

M'redith kicked the door and heard nothing. She kicked it again and heard nothing. She did not whip open the door. Instead she inched it open just wide enough to peek through. Once she was sure it was clear only then did she whip open the door and lead the group out in to the hallways.

They ran for maybe a hundred feet before M'redith did something she wasn't supposed to do.

She stopped.

The group bunched together before they sorted themselves out and they all looked ahead at what at caused M'redith to stop so suddenly. The corridor looked clear except for the ceiling, which was cloaked in darkness, a white fog with occasional bright flashes of color within.

M'redith appeared mesmerized by the apparition and was staring wide eyed and slack jawed at the rapidly approaching monster.

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“Don't look directly at it!” Jay shouted as he kicked open a nearby door and started pushing people through it. The others were careful to avert their eyes as they entered the side room. Finally Glenda carefully picked up M'redith and carried her in to the adjoining room.

As Jay entered the room he took a pinch of fine black sand out of a small pouch that hung from his belt. Jay threw the sand at the approaching fog and was instantly rewarded with a small explosion.

It wasn't the kind of explosion that did any damage, rather it was the loud and noisy kind. The hallway lit up bright white as an incandescent flash went off and was followed by a rapidly expanding mass of white smoke that completely filled the hallway.

The creature made a spitting hissing sound that Jay interpreted as displeasure as the smoke began to conceal it and Jay moved to shut the door.

The fog had not been still but had been steadily approaching them. As the white smoke completely obscured the fog monster Jay closed the door tight and barred it shut. The group could hear sizzling from the other side as a clear mucus that stank of fouled vinegar dribbled under the door frame.

A moment later M'redith came to, and stood in the middle of the room surrounded by her friends. “Well that sucked.” she said with a frown as she blinked rapidly and rubbed at her temples with her hands.

“You ok?” a concerned Jay asked as Aiden checked her over.

Aiden looked up, “I don't see any wounds. She was hit with a status effect of some kind. My ability only heals injuries, not status effects so hopefully it has worn off completely all on its own.”

M'redith nodded, “I'm fine, Goddess take that foul thing. I couldn't move!”

“Wait, status effect?” Norri asked.

Aiden nodded but it was M'redith that answered. “A status effect does something more than just straight damage like a normal attack would. Sleep, burn, stun, silence, mesmerize, there are tons of them. Tanks hate any of them being used on them because you can't just shrug it off. A tank needs to be cured to remove the effect.”

Aiden looked sheepish. “I'm sorry.”

Jay shook his head. “It isn't your fault you only have one class ability and can't cure status effects. We need to find some monsters we can actually fight after we leave this place so that we can level you all up a bit. This outing was hastily put together – it is no one's fault except possibly mine, so just do your best. It's worked swimmingly so far.” Jay finished with a polished grin.

Glenda clapped which surprised everyone.

“Good speech.” she teased Jay which surprised everyone even further and as Jay blushed the rest of the group laughed.

“Well as long as it's Jay's fault and not mine I guess it's ok.” Aiden replied with a grin.

Norri looked around the room after Aiden finished cracking jokes and frowned. “What is this place?”

The room was twelve feet square and was a tight fit with all of them in it due to a desk that took up one wall and a row of cabinets that dominated another. The ceiling was painted white, the walls a light blue. The floor was polished something or other. The lighting was relaxing and was mostly indirect light except for the desk which had an overhead light that lit up its entire surface.

“It looks like an office maybe? A study room? I don't know, it could be anything. It is close to the cafeteria so I doubt we'll find anything good. It has probably already been picked over.” Jay said with a shrug.

Aiden grinned, “I've heard that before.”

Glenda nodded. “Should look.” she said before she pointed at Jay. “Jay look.”

Jay peered at Glenda for a moment in confusion. Sometimes she spoke in halting sentence fragments whereas other times she used contractions and spoke in complete sentences. Or almost complete at least. Jay felt that there was something going on with her but wasn't good enough friends with her to just come out and ask.

“Jay?” M'redith prompted him after he had gone silent for a few moments after Glenda spoke.

“Huh? Sorry, I was thinking.” Jay admitted. “Sure, I can search it since we're already here. Besides, it'll give fog monster or whatever that was time to lose interest and move away from the door.”

The group split up and Aiden searched the desk with Norri while M'redith and Glenda searched the cabinets. Jay just turned on his Treasure Sense and immediately felt a tiny buzz. He moved about the room until he had found that it got stronger when he approached the desk.

“It's the desk. Or something behind the desk. Or under it. Let me give it a once over.” Jay said as Aiden and Norri stepped away from it to give Jay room to work.

The desk was giant and had two stacks of drawers to the left and right of the sitting position. The wood had swirling metal details worked in to the wood and Jay's ability had difficulties determining how to open the desk or locate the loot.

Jay waved his hand over the desk but got only a weak response from the right side. “It is a really weak feeling. Whatever it is doesn't feel like it is worth a lot. Plus, whatever opens its hidden compartment is too difficult for me to figure out. Anyone else want to give it a go? It is most likely on the right side of the desk.” Jay said as he stepped away completely from it and gestured to the others to take his place.

Aiden and Norri jumped at the chance and began to pore over the desk's surfaces with a very exacting search pattern that made sure they touched everything. Finally Norri discovered a metal inlay that could be depressed and pushed like a button.

A tiny click was heard and Norri grinned for a moment before it turned in to a frown.

“Nothing opened!” she said accusingly at the desk.

Aiden chuckled, “Sometimes you need to do more than one thing to open the compartment. You just found step one. It's a good thing! Keep going.” Aiden said stopping only briefly to speak with her.

Norri nodded and replaced her frown with a determined look and helped Aiden start their search all over again to find the second action required of them.

Meanwhile Jay walked over to M'redith and Glenda who had already opened all of the cabinets and found them empty. Not entirely empty, there were scraps of cloth and papers but nothing usable or readable.

Something was bugging Jay but he couldn't put his finger on it. They had found safety in the room. Check. Everyone was healed up. Check. They'd found hidden treasure but it was still hidden. Check. The hidden treasure. It was something to do with that.

Jay wandered back over to Aiden and Norri and just watched them as he let his mind wander in the hopes that he would remember what he had forgotten. Aiden turned to the side and smiled and Norri who was taking a break a couple of feet away. He pushed something and Jay heard a click.

Then another click.

Jay grabbed Aiden and rolled to the side dragging him away from the right side of the desk. As he did so a sharp pike shot out of a decorative hole in the desk and pierced the spot Aiden had occupied only a moment earlier.

Jay had forgotten to check for traps.

Aiden was unharmed and dusted himself off as he and Jay picked themselves up off of the ground. “Thanks! That was close!”

“We need to check for traps. I should have seen that one.” Jay said lamely.

Norri felt like she should have noticed it as well so she wasn't too hard on Jay. Now that everyone knew that a pike shot out of a spot in the side of the desk it was easy to see the trap. They all really should have noticed it and most likely would have if they were paying attention for traps instead of just triggers to open the hidden compartment.

Glenda shook her head and Jay felt a hot shame in the pit of his stomach. No one else said anything but Jay felt horrible enough that he planned on never making that mistake again.

Aiden and Norri tried for another hour to open the secret compartment. M'redith and even Glenda carefully looked over the desk as well. Finally they all had to admit that they just couldn't figure it out. Some treasure, even with Jay's Class Ability, would remain hidden.

“Anyone feel like hitting up the library, map out some more paths?” Jay asked. He worded his question carefully with a small grin.

The group nodded. It was what they were there for in the first place. They stacked up by the door in front of which was a gross looking stain where the mucus from earlier had dried and evaporated.

“Eww.” Norri said as she got in line.

M'redith gave the door a kick and then another. Nothing made any noise in response but M'redith wasn't falling for that again. She carefully opened the door a crack and then whipped it open the entire way as the group followed her out. Glenda shut the door solidly behind them and they tore off towards the library at high speed.