Siora watched as Luis tapped the dead monster, something Jade had called a spider, and looted it. It puffed away into smoke, leaving behind a pile of crescent coins to be gathered up. Was this a creature from their world? The elf hadn't seen anything quite like it before. That wasn't unusual, the Labyrinth was always borrowing creatures, concepts, and places from the worlds it linked to. She liked to think of it as the center of the cosmos, a vast land where all the scattered worlds of the multiverse mingled to form something truly unique.
Siora refrained from asking about the spider beast, distracted as she was by the reveal of Jade's true nature. A succubus? While she'd meant the assurances she'd given Jade, there was no denying the kernel of apprehension nestled in her stomach like a lead weight. Racial transformation or no, it was a off-putting to be so close to a creature she'd spent her whole life being told to be wary of.
No. Siora calmed herself. I'm not going to treat her any differently.
While she barely knew her three new companions, they had been nothing but kind and helpful to her so far. They had even agreed to escort her back to Lysara, something that could turn out to be quite a chore considering that the trap that had sent her tumbling down to the first floor had scrambled her node logs. Their trial had apparently given them their own incentives to do so, but they could've easily declined the quest had they wanted. In the end, Siora simply had a good feeling about them.
The elf was self-aware enough to know that she tended to see the best in people, but was that such a bad thing? The universe had enough negativity as it was. Besides, Master Rhysten had taught her to trust her instincts. Not blindly, of course, but they were there to guide her. She had faith in them.
Her only regret was that her new companions didn't seem to realize what the Labyrinth coming to their world meant for it. Surely the sanctuary attendants had explained everything to them? She had almost asked more than once but couldn't figure out a good way to do it. And, she admitted to herself, a part of her was frightened that if she were the bearer of ill tidings, that she would be blamed for them.
Siora pulled up her interface, checking her character sheet. Unlike the prompts Jade, Luis, and Naomi received, which looked like videogame tooltips, Siora’s interface displayed itself as a mesmerizing pattern of shifting stars. Spindly lines stretched between the shifting star field, forming constellations that coalesced into words.
* Name: Siora Windsong
* Level: 4
* Race: Elf
* Class: None
* Origin: Labyrinth-immigrant.
* Base Stat Scores
* Strength: 4
* Agility: 7
* Fortitude: 7
* Intelligence: 10
* Willpower: 11
She noticed with a start that she was close to reaching level 5. When she'd last checked, she was barely at the halfway point. Like most people in Lysara she had avoided conflict with the monsters of the Labyrinth throughout her life, relying instead on the town's protections and the relative safety of the region surrounding her home. Juniper had been right, now that she was travelling with wayfarers, all of that was going to change. Monsters wouldn't be inclined to just ignore her the way she was used to. Would she perhaps reach level 6 before this was done? It would be nice to get to be gifted another Labyrinth boon. The thought excited her, and she started thinking through the possibilities. Maybe another alchemy spell would be…-
Wait, no! She had gotten distracted. Again. Why did that always happen to her? Siora forced herself back on task, shifting the star field to the region she was interested in. There it was, in the 'Racial Effects' constellation.
* Racial Effects
* Racial Ability: Resistance to charm effects.
There had never been a need for Siora to pay much attention to that aspect of her heritage before. Resistance to charming enchantments might be useful if one became a wayfarer or had dealings with fey, but in everyday life in a normal village it just never came up. Despite her gut telling her that Jade was trustworthy, the elf felt more comfortable around her new friends with the knowledge that she wasn't helpless against a succubus's infamous powers.
"Ewww!" Naomi exclaimed, breaking Siora out of her internal reflection. She was pointing to a spot on the ground where the second spider had just dissolved into smoke. It had left behind a pile of… something. The strange mass was red and goopy, comprised of hundreds of tiny gelatinous spheres. "Luis! What did you do?"
"I looted it just like the other one!" The large man protested, holding up his hands in what Siora assumed was a gesture of innocence. "It wasn't me!"
"What is that?" Jade asked, stepping forward to inspect the strange substance. She had shifted back into her previous form, looking for all the world like a normal human again. Siora had to suppress a shiver, shape shifters were always a little unnerving.
Pushing that thought aside, Siora joined Jade in inspecting the odd loot. It was a collection of sticky red spheres, each a little larger than her thumbnail. Something dark and indistinct was held inside the semi-transparent membrane of each one, though the elf couldn't make out any details.
"They're eggs…" Jade said, her eyes glossing over as she read a system prompt. "Spider eggs!"
"Nope." Naomi took three steps back. "Gross. I can't deal with this. Someone else handle it."
Next to the mass of eggs, there had to be hundreds of them, was a pile of fine green crystalline shards. The system labeled them as 'poison effusion'. Jade made to start scooping them into a small pouch attached to her bag, but Siora stopped her.
"Use this." She said, handing Jade an empty vial and a cork. How could someone just dump loose, quality crafting materials into a bag without a proper container? Siora knew that Jade most likely didn't have proper storage equipment, but she found the notion of storing potentially valuable alchemical reagents in such a haphazard manner to be even more disconcerting than the fact that her new friend was a literal demon.
Does that make me weird? Siora reflected, cocking her head to one side.
Nope. She decided after a moment. It doesn’t.
"What do we do with them?" Luis asked, giving the egg pile a dubious look.
"If we collect some, I might be able to make some useful potions with them." Siora suggested, speaking slowly at first as she considered the possibilities. "I'm more knowledgeable about plant extracts and effusion crystals than monster-based ingredients, but I could make it work!" She finished excitedly.
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Siora was already starting to feel self-conscious about her lack of fighting skills. She wanted to support the team, not be a liability. None of her spells or abilities were combat focused, but maybe she could supply the group with helpful alchemical creations. She pulled out a few more empty vials, then hesitated. The egg things were quivering slightly, and she wasn't especially keen on touching them. Instead, she proffered the vials to Luis.
"Here you go!" she said, shamelessly dumping the responsibility of collecting the ingredients onto him.
Luis wasn't having any of it. "Hey, it was your idea, friend!" He said, taking a step back. "I wouldn't want to, uh… ruin them. By handling them wrong."
"Jade, you like spiders. You do it." Naomi said. She was avoiding even looking at the goopy egg pile now. Some of them had begun to pulsate gently, which did nothing to make them more appealing.
"No way." Jade shook her head, stowing the container she'd just filled with poison effusion. She looked around and, after none of them volunteered, threw up her hands in defeat. "That's it, we're drawing straws."
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"I hate you..." Naomi complained, using the shortest of the four sticks Jade had collected to try and sweep the disgusting mass of eggs into one of Siora's small bottles. "I hate you all…"
"You're doing great!" Luis said, giving her a thumbs up.
"You aren't even watching!" She snapped, and then immediately regretted speaking up as she caught a whiff of the pungent odor wafting off the egg sacs. "Ughhhhwa…" She groaned, nearly gagging.
There was a rustle of movement beside her, and Naomi turned to see Siora crouch down next to her. The elf was looking a little worse for wear, her flowing green clothes spattered with mud and sticky residue from webbing. She didn't seem to care as she gave Naomi an apologetic smile, holding out her hand.
"Here, I'll help. It was my idea…"
"Thanks." Naomi said gratefully, passing her a half-filled vial. "When one of these eggs hatches into a monster that tries to eat us, I'll save you first."
"I would very much appreciate that." Siora laughed, her eyes sparkling with amusement. "Don't worry, I'll put these to good use."
A few short minutes later, or long minutes as far as Naomi was concerned, they were done. Three vials of eggs disappeared into Siora's satchel, the elf explaining that the enchanted containers would keep them as fresh as when they were first harvested. Naomi wiped her hands off on a large leafy bush, trying to get the icky feeling off her fingers.
"Siora, I just realized." Jade said, walking up. "We haven't added you to the party yet."
She tapped her wayfarer mark with a finger, something they'd discovered let them manage their party interface. A moment later, a message popped up in Naomi's vision.
* Party Notification:
* Party Leader, Jade, has invited Siora Windsong to join your party.
Siora's eyes glossed over as she glanced at a spot in front of her, then cleared as she looked back up at Jade.
"Really?" She asked, excited. "You want me in?"
"We're travelling together." Jade said, shrugging. "It can only help."
"What she means," Naomi said with a reproachful look in Jade's direction. "Is that we'd be delighted to have you join us."
* Party Notification:
* Siora Windsong has joined your party!
Naomi smiled, happy that the elf seemed so eager to be a part of their group. She thought she understood. No one wanted to be alone in a place like this.
The sticky feeling on her hands wasn't going away. Scowling, Naomi gave up on her attempts to clean them and returned to the group. Friends or not, they weren't getting away with making her do that.
"Next time, I get to pick who gathers the gross loot." she declared, glaring at her party members, daring anyone to disagree.
To their credit, no one did.
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The remainder of the day's journey was uneventful. Using the map in her interface as a guide, Jade led the rest of the group back to the quadrant node that sat nestled in the high branches of the jungle canopy. It didn't take long for Siora to make the climb to activate it, the nimble elf having little trouble with the ascent.
"It's going to take forever to build up my node list again." Siora said glumly when she was back on the ground.
"How many had you been to?" Naomi asked.
"Nineteen." She sighed. "Most of them were on the second floor, a couple on the third. The third-floor nodes will be the difficult ones, I'll have to wait for an expedition." The elf's expression brightened. "But at least I'm adding some on the first floor now. It'll be worth it."
That finished, the four of them were finally ready to proceed to the sanctuary. The jungle was calm and warm, filled with sounds of chirping insects and distant birdsong.
Jade kept a careful eye out for any signs of monsters or other threats as they trudged through the dense undergrowth, but she needn't have bothered. Whatever other dangers the jungle held; they didn't seem to be nearby. She was mildly disappointed as it would've been nice to dispatch one last monster to finish her quest, but she had no doubt that there would be plenty of other opportunities soon.
After about an hour of hiking through the uneven terrain they arrived at the sanctuary entrance. It was set on the shore of the large lagoon they had first seen when descending into the valley, taking the form of a shimmering golden doorway that was nestled between two large trees. The water of the lake was clear and pure, and they took the opportunity to refill their supply.
Fortunately, Jade hadn't been the only person with the foresight to bring a water bottle with her into the Labyrinth. Luis and Naomi both had an appropriate container as well, scavenged from what they'd had access to when they'd suddenly found themselves thrown into this strange land. From an earlier conversation Jade had learned that Naomi had also been pulled from her home, while Luis's transition had happened while he was working in his uncle's car shop. As for Siora, she carried a waterskin that looked to be woven from plant fibers. The strange container didn't seem to have any sort of cap, but rather constricted and relaxed its shape as needed to allow consumption.
Upon opening the sanctuary door, they were confronted with yet another change of scenery. Just as before, the doorway acted as a portal into a new environment. On the other side of the threshold lay a large room with a high, vaulted ceiling. The chamber had a rustic aesthetic with wooden floorboards and gas lamps providing illumination. It was also filled with rows of bookshelves that were laden with all manner of tomes, scrolls, and even some more modern looking paperback books. Jade stepped through the doorway, looking around with interest. As the others filed in behind her the succubus stepped up to the closest of the shelves, plucking a book at random.
'Historical Atlas of South Africa - 4th edition'
"Huh." She grunted, putting it back on the shelf. Beside it was a scroll that seemed to be some sort of treatise on the properties of magical fruit. Weird. Even stranger was that she could read the title at all. Surely such a scroll hadn't been written in English? Did that mean the Labyrinth's translation magic worked on the written word as well?
"They're all replicas conjured by the Labyrinth, unfortunately." A voice came from further inside the room. "If any are removed from the sanctuary, they'll fade into smoke."
Jade turned to see an immaculately dressed man standing at the far end of the line of shelves, hands clasped behind his back. He gave her a slight smile, turning and gesturing for them to enter.
"It is good to see you again, young lady." Damos said.
"Damos!" Relief swept through Jade, and she let out a breath that she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "It's good to see you, too. I have a lot of questions."
"I would be surprised if you didn't. My apologies for taking so long to return, I have been busier than expected."
"Is that the attendant you met when you got here?" Naomi asked.
"It is. Everyone, meet Damos." Jade said, going around and introducing each of her companions one by one. "What do you mean by busy? With other people from Earth?"
"Yes." He said, leading the group into the center of what Jade was thinking of as a library. There was an open space in the middle of the chamber with a few tables and cushioned chairs arranged around them.
"Please, sit." Damos continued, gesturing towards the open seats and getting right to the point. "It is past time for me to explain exactly what is happening to you, the true importance of the Wayfarer Trial, and what the Labyrinth's arrival means for the future of your world."
Jade was eager to finally get some real answers, although she had a sneaking suspicion that she very much wouldn't like some of them.
As it turned out, she was almost right. She liked none of them.