Merijest maintained the floating bolt of cold magic raised above her hand. Thesa pointed her halberd, cautiously.
Apart from the green scales and patches of coral skin, the naiad looked a lot like a human. On her head, the coral looked almost like hair. Her hands were raised in surrender.
“I mean you no harm,” she said, trying to speak softly though her voice quivered.
“Why did you trip me?” Thesa asked. She was still pretty frazzled by the whole experience of falling on her hands and knees into the murky water. “Trying to get the jump on me, huh?”
“Honest, I was just trying to sneak past. I’m in charge of this [Floor] and I’m supposed to do the rounds every couple hours,” the naiad said. “I got impatient and thought I could slip past. I’m really sorry.”
Merijest was starting to realize this girl was not a threat. Dismissing her cold magic, the demoness put a hand on Thesa’s shoulder.
“I think it’s ok, kitten,” Merijest said.
Thesa became extremely meek on account of being called ‘kitten’ in front of another person. “Wha– I just– Um– Yeah, ok. Ok. Sorry.” Her cheeks burned as she stepped behind her [Stake]. She tried to pull it off as showing reverence to Merijest, but nobody was fooled.
“What do you mean about being in charge of this [Floor]?” Merijest asked.
The naiad nodded. “Well, it's just a part time gig. Hardly even. More of a work assignment. It's supposed to give me experience toward my [Druid] class, tending to a body of water in a [Dungeon],” she explained. She gestured for Merijest and Thesa to follow her on her rounds.
“No offense, but this place seems more like a clogged sewer than a body of water,” Thesa said. She realized a moment later that might be rude, but before she could scramble to cover for herself, the naiad nodded. She walked with grace as if unimpeded by the backward force of the water.
“Honest, I think they ran out of proper assignments and stuck me here. Turns out IthorBeau Mage College has been accepting more [Druid] students than they have the resources for, and as the newest student I get the worst of it. The term ends just after the summer solstice, so I’m sort of almost done, but…um,” the naiad said. “Sorry, that’s a lot of personal drama. I’m Lellindel, but you can call me Lelly for short.”
Thesa nodded. Internally, she was getting frustrated with how much this woman talked… Although, as she thought, it’s like she is trying to anticipate and answer every question before I can ask it, she remembered being told something similar by [Archknight Superior]. Maybe she had some things in common with this naiad.
“Sorry for almost attacking you,” Thesa said.
The party had finished Lelly’s rounds and were standing outside of a [Dungeon Seal] leading to Lelly’s temporary lodging.
Thesa looked up at Merijest and remembered something. “Wait, do you have any interest in becoming a [Familiar] for Merijest, the [High Devil]?”
Lelly looked at Thesa, then looked at Merijest. The naiad’s eyes were translucent, indigo orbs. Her face tensed as she finally had a moment to take in Merijest’s intimidating visage. Lelly moved closer to the [Dungeon Seal]. “Oh! You are Merijest? I– um– didn’t realize. I don’t think I’d be a very good fit is all and–” Lelly stammered on. “Um– What would that even mean?” It was a strange question from someone attending IBMC.
Thesa could tell Lelly was starting to freak out, but she didn't know what to say. No doubt her words would get tangled up as always. But she felt that strange power inside. The one she couldn’t place after Merijest called her ‘Kitten’ earlier. It still wasn’t like the wells of power she used for magic. It was almost like a loaded spring. Something ready to pop. She hadn’t felt this since before she died. As a [Paladin], she had plenty of [Blessings] and they felt something like this.
As she released the spring, time slowed. Thesa’s [Arrow Time] ability had activated and everything around her seemed like it was moving through blood-red molasses. Part of the reason she hadn’t recognized the [Curse] earlier was because she hadn’t considered the potential uses for the skill outside of combat. Here she was in a conversation, not sure how to respond, but rather than barreling through like usual or just ruminating silently, she had just a few extra seconds to figure out how to respond.
When time resumed normal speed, Thesa said, “you do not have to become a [Familiar] if you do not want to. We will not hurt you or anything. Right, Merijest?” Although the ability had left Thesa’s eyes bloodshot, Lelly wasn’t keen on eye contact so she didn’t notice.
Merijest nodded. “I see no reason to bring harm to you, Lelly. You are free to make your own decisions on the matter.” Her voice was flat, which actually helped her seem more trustworthy in a way. Like if she had wanted to lie, she might have put on an act. Indifference was harder to fake than friendliness.
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Lelly’s face released some of the built up tension. “Ok,” she said. “But why would you want me to do that? I don’t really do fighting. I’m more interested in studying the interactions of biodiversity and water magic. And honest, I am already extremely busy with school.”
“Um, Merijest is better at putting it into words than me, but I’m trying to practice talking to people more so, um, here goes. Beautuk, who I have served as a Knight for basically my entire life mind you– I’m not some rando who doesn’t know what she’s talking about, ok? I devoted my life to him. I was almost a max level [Paladin] serving under him. But he…he killed me,” Thesa felt an emotion dislodging in her throat for a moment, but she carried on. She had practiced a million versions of this speech a million times each. She wasn’t staying completely on script, but she had some points to hit and a destination in mind. “He killed me because I refused to kill Merijest when she was at her weakest moment and refused to fight back. He tossed me aside and well, Merijest told me some things I never knew about Beautuk. About how the realm where the Knights–where I–sent so many of the dead… His realm is not a paradise. Its torture and the immortal souls are being, they’re being siphoned endlessly. And, and–” Thesa stopped herself before mentioning her mother. She could tell she was getting worked up. She hadn’t even been paying a lot of attention to how Lelly was taking any of her words.
Thesa was starting to feel a truer, more vulnerable kind of embarrassment. But Merijest’s hand touched her shoulder and Thesa sheepishly turned away from Lelly as she dried her leaky eyes.
“Woah,” was all Lelly could muster. “That’s a lot. I mean, I’m not really a follower of Beautuk.” Lelly actually stepped toward Merijest and Thesa. “I know his name is on the school and region, so sometimes people think everyone here must be all about Beautuk, but I honestly don’t know a ton about him. I get my magic from the Twin Stars, Ki Shathra and Arthash Ki. Ki Shathra especially has a strong connection with smaller bodies of water which is what I’m interested in. Arthash Ki is more associated with oceans and stuff. Although even that binary is a simplification… But um– sorry, lost my train of thought! Um, so are you trying to form an army then?”
Merijest [Messaged] Thesa, “Doing ok? Need me to take over?” Thesa nodded, exhausted.
“That’s partially true. An army never hurts, but I do also get benefits from having more [Familiars] which could, given enough of them, allow me to match Beautuk’s power. But I’m getting ahead of myself. The short term goal is to rescue those who have been trapped in Beautuk’s Realm. Many of my non-sapient [Familiars] on the [Floors] below us are simply going about their lives as they would have without having met me.”
“Honest, it sounds important,” Lelly said earnestly. “I guess, and I mean no offense, but I’m just worried what would happen to my [Cleric] spells if I became a [Familiar] to a [High Devil].”
Merijest pondered. “Do the Twin Stars have a pre-existing relationship with Beautuk?”
Thesa knew the answer to this. She knew practically everything about Beautuk and in her old life, this would have been the perfect thing to launch her into a bunch of information she had memorized on the subject. As it was, she debated speaking up and ultimately stayed silent.
“Well, that depends who you ask,” Lelly said. Her face tightened with anger. “For a while, Beautuk was outright hostile toward them. When he wasn’t as popular as he is now, his followers did a lot of…forceful work to spread his word and all. I’ve certainly heard about it, although this kind of thing hardly comes up for his followers. The Knights still frame half those attacks as heroic.”
At that, Thesa was exceedingly glad she had not chimed in. The version she knew did, now that she thought about it, put Beautuk in an almost paternalistic role of authority and order over minor gods who she had been taught were untrustworthy and power hungry.
“In that case, they might be amenable to the idea,” Thesa said.
“Maybe,” Lelly said, scratching her chin with a scaly hand. “These days the Twin Stars put on a more diplomatic face about Beautuk most of the time. And I get it. A lot of minor deities have to play the game enough to avoid being squashed. But honest, it’s a pain. Just makes me wonder if they think it would be worth the risk. If word got back to Beautuk or the Knights that they let one of their followers ally with Merijest the [High Devil], I can’t imagine it looking good. I guess I don’t know a ton about where you fit into all of this. I know most devils fall from being a [Deity], minor god, or messenger, but I don’t actually know where you came from.”
Merijest got a little uncomfortable at the implied question. “I have no pre-existing relationship with the Twin Stars,” was all she said.
“In that case, I could try contacting them to see what they think. Their communications are rarely as direct as someone like Beautuk, but they answer in their own ways.”
Merijest nodded. Time to call up some minor gods.
“Ok, let me grab some stuff from my room,” Lelly said as she hopped through the [Dungeon Seal]. She left it open, but asked that everyone stay outside because it was such a mess. (To most people besides Lelly, the dorm would look very clean.)
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BONUS VIGNETTE
Waiting for Lelly to set up the divine communication, Thesa said, “Hey, Merijest, I was just thinking, Do you have telepathy with your non-sapient [Familiars]? What would that even be like?”
“Not quite,” Merijest explained. “We can’t [Message] with words, but I can still inhabit their senses temporarily just like I can with sapients.”
“Inhabit…senses?” Thesa asked, cheeks turning pink. “What does that mean? It works on sapients too?”
“I can fully inhabit a [Familiar]’s senses with permission,” Merijest said. This gave Thesa some momentary relief before Merijest added, “And there’s always a minor link so I can hear if anyone of my [Familiars] is calling out to me with their thoughts. ”
“So you would notice…” Thesa stammered, face now red as fire. “You would notice if a [Familiar] was just like…thinking your name.”
Merijest smirked. The demoness stepped closer to Thesa and leaned over her. “Only if someone were mentally shouting it in distress…or for other reasons… Why do you ask, kitten?”
Thesa swallowed. “No reason…”