Willow
Approaching Prior Campsite, Feather-branch Forest, Savriâ
It was odd to see Madrick again, sitting on top of a stone that appeared to have been crushed under his weight. She’d expected to feel anger, trepidation, maybe even fear. He’d handled her so easily before, literally tossed her into a new world without an explanation or warning, and had done absolutely nothing to help her in any way. Someone might argue the UICI modules unlocked as a result of her being his disciple were helpful, but the truth was that if he’d had to do anything to unlock those for her, she was entirely certain he wouldn’t have bothered.
All that to say, when she saw him lounging in the center of a previously scenic but not badly windswept and earth shaken clearing, she felt almost nothing. Nothing except a mild annoyance at his haughty gaze. The man looked at her as if he was a king looking down on her from a throne, while in reality he looked like a middle aged gothic cosplayer splayed on top of a stiff grey beanbag.
“We’re home, and the weirdo’s here to greet us!” She called back to her party before striding into the clearing and looking around. She frowned down at the relaxed man, “Didn’t bother to clean the joint up for guests? Some patron you are.”
Although she didn’t really feel it, she put as much hostility into her words and behavior as she could. Curious to see how he’d react. If he was as unhinged as his initial behavior had suggested, she’d rather be entirely sure now rather than tip-toeing around him. Especially if he intended to provide the “mission” reward and give her an hour of training. As much as it irked her, she felt that getting training from him would be helpful. He was clearly powerful, though she wasn’t really sure where he fell on the scale of things. At the very least if he could teach her how to make portals to hop from adventure to adventure, that’d be worth it by itself.
He snorted and stood. With a wave of his hand fire flooded out of him and into the world. The flame converged near the center of the campsite, where it rose and twisted itself into a complex pattern of looping knots and twists. The burning air fluttered and twisted in a heat haze around the tree-like figure. Then the fire suddenly imploded on itself into a singular point of bright white, which drifted gently to the earth where it exploded in a visible discharge of energy. The white flash was accompanied by an oddly comforting soft breeze which set her tangled hair to bouncing wildly. Then everything was still again, except now they were standing atop what seemed to be an earthenware tiled floor without a spec of dust. The stone Madrick had been relaxing in had been molded into a regal looking throne, while the brush and debris which had been haphazardly blown about was nowhere to be seen. Presumably, the fire had burnt it all to nothing so quickly she hadn’t even seen it happen.
“Better?” He asked with a mocking smirk. Putting on her best impression of gram-gram’s investigation of a space’s cleanliness, she began walking around the periphery of the campsite tsking and tutting. She kept an eye on him out of the corner of her eyes, noting that he seemed amused rather than upset. Though, he’d also seemed amused when he’d thrown her through a portal directly into a fight.
Finding there wasn’t even a speck of unwanted dust atop the oddly elegant earthenware tiles, she huffed and threw her hair, an act which was less than effective due to the tangled state of it, and nodded. “It’ll do.”
Then she turned around fully and waved toward the other three. All three were staring at Madrick with wide eyes. Truth be told, Willow would probably have the same expression if anyone but Madrick had displayed such an awesome application of magic. Since it was him, though, she refused to be impressed. Treat me like a freakin’ plaything, lose your ability to impress me. Seems like a more than fair exchange. She consoled herself that he was getting the rougher end of the stick. She’d been fine, after all.
“Nuu, this is Madrick. He forcibly made me his disciple and tossed me into a portal which lead to this world. Madrick, this is Nuu. He’s got a super cool power and neat pink wings.”
She clapped once, which made Nuu jump for some reason, “Right! Now that introductions are in order. Mind telling us why you wanted to meet Nuu?” She directed the last part at Madrick, but saw realization cross the fae’s eyes as they widened in horror.
Before Madrick could answer, Nuu accused, “You’ve lead me to my death! My trust was misplaced and I shall be laid to rest with a curse for your names upon my lips!” He proclaimed harshly, sounding to be on the edge of tears.
“Uhh… Whatnow?” Willow asked, looking between Madrick and the fae.
Seeing Madrick was just looking at the fae with a condescending expression, she decided it was unlikely he meant to kill him. If he could turn a hundred meter circle of earth into baked tiles with the wave of his hand, then there was literally nothing keeping him from killing Nuu if he wanted to. She turned to try and calm the man, but before she could speak she saw him finish flipping through the book he’d taken from his waist. He didn’t have a pen in hand, but he pressed a finger to a page and spoke in a calm but still angry tone, “Plot armor!”
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Nuu
Encircled by Enemies, Forest of Whispering Fronds, Savriâ
Upon realizing that the large man standing before him was the one who had been hounding him, Nuu immediately took action. The time for words, planning, and careful consideration were past. It was unfortunate that his erstwhile allies had held deceit in their hearts. He had begun to believe his decision to accompany them and indulge their desire for conversation had been the correct one. Although, in truth, he knew it still might be. It was difficult to anticipate the twists and turns of the great narrative.
Having found the section of his journal containing his prepared battle scenes, Nuu quickly pressed a finger to the first of his defenses and channeled his mana into it. As soon as he felt the scene’s infusion was complete he triggered it with the phrase he spoke in the prepared scene, “Plot armor!”
Feeling the grooves of a scene, Nuu stepped into it. This scene was written vaguely, but was hopefully just specific enough to prevent his instant death at the hands of the clearly powerful mage who’d been pursuing him between worlds. Abstaining from distraction, he didn’t raise his head as he flipped through several pages before finding a scene which might work to cause a distraction long enough for him to escape. Infusing another scene, he felt his mana drop precariously. He had enough power for two more similarly scoped scenes, or perhaps one more of much greater strength. The later was his preference, but he’d unfortunately be required to decide after observing the result of his efforts.
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“Call to Arms,” he spoke to activate the second scene. He felt no grooves with this activation, as he knew there were no lines which would direct him directly. His plot armor would be the only scene he was following, as he knew from past experimentation that attempting to remain within the lines of overlapping scenes was difficult and at times impossible.
“Heeey, Nuu, whatcha doin’?” He heard the honey-sweet voice of the treacherous woman who had lead him to his peril. His eyes snapped up to hers, meeting the curious filled icey orbs with a gaze laden with his fury and feeling of betrayal.
Perhaps this was the proper course of action. In actuality, it was entirely possible that he had followed the fulcrum’s prompting appropriately. The enemy was now weary, as they knew a part of his power and had hesitated long enough for him to gird himself and ensure he was equipped for escape, if not victory. He deigned to answer, as he felt confident in his current protections.
“I have summoned your doom, pretender and betrayer!”
“A bit dramatic, don’t you think? No one’s planning to hurt you. Right, Madrick?” She turned a glare on the large wizard. He smirked, but didn’t answer. He knew there was no need to play the fool any longer. Willow might wish to maintain her illusion for a bit longer, to avoid any painful punishment he might be able to inflict with a properly written scene, but he didn’t care.
“Urgh, don’t do the devil’s work for him here. There’s no reason for this mess. Just tell the poor guy you’re not about to burn him at the stake or whatever.” The girl was adept in her deception. Even understanding the situation, Nuu could almost believe she was frustrated with her benefactor.
Sighing, the man replied in a languid and spiteful tone, “Fine, fine. I promise I’m not going to burn you at the stake.”
“That’s not helpful! You KNOW what I mean!” Her voice was becoming truly furious and Nuu suddenly began to wonder if all of his assumptions were correct. The possibility that the trio who had lead him here were under the impression that he truly would not be harmed was outrageous, and yet he considered. He hardly knew more about these beings than he knew about the gods themselves, so he was understandably lacking in certainty. Somehow, he found he would like to learn that they were benevolent and truly wished him no harm. The threatening presence of the man they’d brought him to, though, made that more difficult to hold as a certainty.
“Very well, my dear dear disciple. As a reward for advancing from rank zero to rank three in less than a month.” The smile spread across the master’s face was malicious and bespoke of malicious joy. Yet he continued in alignment with his promise, “I, Madrick, do hereby swear by my soul not to harm the fae Nuu within the next seven days so long as he does not attempt to harm myself.”
“What in the pope’s holy underpants do you mean by ‘within the next seven days’?! Why are you such an… An ass!?” Willow’s face cheeks were darkened toward purple in clear anger. “Did you send me this mission just to be a jerk? This guy’s nice! He just wants to experiment and improve his ability in peace! C’mon dude!”
A sudden feeling of shame washed over Nuu seeing her confront her better on his behalf. Although he hadn’t known her long, it was unfitting of him to presume the worst of her on a dime. Surely, she’d displayed no intent to harm him. Perhaps his willingness to believe the worst with little provocation was an indication of a personal lack.
Madrick just shrugged in response, “I don’t make soul oaths without an end date, ever. You’ll learn that lesson eventually too, it’s common enough. This fae should know better than most how important it is not to give promises without limits.”
Turning to look at Nuu, he saw a look of pleading in her eyes. Clearly she wanted this cleared up. He let out a deep breath, “I… Appreciate your coming to my defense, Willow. I acknowledge I was incorrect about your intentions and may have voiced a review before experiencing the play. However… I am afraid I cannot undo my call to arms… I shall be safe with my armor, but perhaps the rest of you should flee.”
Even given the realization that Willow, and likely the others in their trio, intended him no harm, it would be best to separate here. The exceptionally short window of guaranteed non-aggression from Madrick was enough of a reason to end this particular chapter. The specificity of his wording of his oath also did not slip by unnoticed. He swore not to ‘harm’ him. He didn’t swear not to cause another to harm him, nor did he promise not to restrain or enslave or otherwise make him unable to avoid harm after those seven days had passed.
“Again, what do you want from him?!” Willow demanded, striding over to stand just in front of Nuu, facing Madrick with anger made manifest in her aggressive and closed posture. She stood with her arms cross in front of her, shoulders tight, body slightly angled with her right side more toward Madrick. If Nuu didn’t miss his guess, she was a fighter of some experience.
“I just need to know what he was doing on Hesvāra, get his oath not to fuck around on that planet anymore, and tell me how to get the spirits to quit spawning.” He shrugged easily, then walked back to the chair which had been been a rock before the impressive fire aspected utility spell.
“WHY couldn’t you just SAY that!?” Willow’s arms uncrossed and she reached both hands up to grab her head in a clear sign of distressed frustration.
The deep chuckle from Madrick was full of derision, “That wouldn’t have been nearly so fun. So, how are you kids going to handle the three titans heading this way?”
“What?!”
“Titans?”
“How long until they arrive?”
Were the immediate and simultaneous questions from Willow, Jonah, and Naomi.
Shrugging with a distinct lack of concern, Madrick answered, “Yes, three titans. The things that caused all the destruction to the land and forests around here. They’re heading here, I assume that’s what that guy’s ‘Call to Arms’ did. Am I right?” The man’s horizontally slit pupil seemed to bore into Nuu as the poison green surrounding them bubbled and churned. He swallowed and nodded, “Indeed.”
“Right, so! How are you going to handle it?” He repeated the question.
Having dropped her hands from her hair already, Willow’s hands turned to fists as she looked around as if expecting the massive monsters to sprout from the earth. Then she shook her head and turned to Nuu, “Does your scene just call them to you? Could we just leave?”
He hesitated for a moment, then shook his head, “The scene is written such that a conflict between the called forces and their target is inevitable.”
Thinking for a moment, Willow scrunched her nose, “We could just leave the planet?”
He nodded, “This course of action would certainly solve the dilemma. It would certainly break the scene.”
All three of them turned expectant eyes toward Madrick, who shrugged, “Sounds good. How you getting off the planet?”
“How about… You just open another portal and let us off?”
“HAH!” The laugh was a sharp bark, “No. Solve your own problems.”
“YOU created the problem!” Willow screamed as she strode toward him. A part of Nuu considered whether she would brave his wrath and strike at him. Apparently not, as she turned and paced back toward Nuu looking to be near to breaking into a true rage from the sever fury on her face.
“Nuu,” she said with a markedly calmer voice than she used while conversing with her supposed mentor. “Can you write a new scene that conflicts with the first? That would break them both, right?”
He hesitated, then shook his head slowly, “I have tested just such a thing. In the past the result was not two broken scenes, but rather a failure to invest the second scene along with a violent backlash which rendered me at the edge of death.”
Suddenly, all of the anger seemed to drain out of Willow, “Alright, well I guess that just leaves killing the things. Are they more like the pop-hoppers, full of anger and aggression? Or more like the combined hopper things, just kind of puppets that attack their target relentlessly?”
After a moment’s hesitation, Nuu revealed his ignorance, “I am uncertain. I wrote nothing regarding the emotional state or motivation of any of the guardian’s forms. As those are left unwritten, the great narrative supplements my failure to properly fill the details.”
“So it could go either way.” Willow confirmed with a deep sigh. “How urgently will that scene of yours be pushing them to run into us?”
“The call is designed to immediately attract them. However, I suppose there is a bit of ambiguity as to the duration between the call and the collision. It might be moments or it might be days. This was intention as I wished to avoid the scene breaking in the event something delayed my would-be saviors from arriving specifically on time.”
“Great, good.” Willow started pacing back and forth, staring at the ground with a controlled expression. Not slowing her pace, she asked, “Who exactly will they target? Will they split up and each come after one of us?”
“Indeed not. I… I’m afraid I had little time to amend the scene and therefore it is somewhat clumsily constructed. They are directed specifically toward yourself, as my mind was set upon you as the primary betrayer and I knew not Madrick’s name to indite him.”
“I literally said his name like three times before you called literal giants on me.”
“I have never claimed a perfect memory, nor infallibly rational decision making process.”
“Urgh. Yeah, yeah. Alright. Well…” She stopped and looked toward Naomi and Jonah with a slightly forced smile, “I think I have a plan. Well, more of a scheme, really.”
With a groan, Jonah answered with a deeply sighed, “Fiiiine.”
Naomi, just nodded, “Let’s talk about it. Maybe this one won’t almost get you killed.”