Lady of the Lake
"Found a new toy?" Gisena smiled happily as he walked around to her side of the fish.
"No. It clung to me out of nowhere," he deadpanned, running a hand over the scales. They varied in tone and texture, some clacking with the ceramic smoothness of porcelain, while others resembled jewels or gold.
"Such a humble hero," she said, coming to his side. She laid her fingers against his new cloak. Her eyes flashed, changing color, become emerald green instead of blue.
"What's that?" He gestured at her face.
"Hm? My beautiful face, of course."
He scowled.
"Oh? Do I have something on my face? This beauty mark, perhaps? It's very fetching, I know."
"Your eyes. They changed color."
"Huh?" She tilted her head to the side, the picture of perfect innocence. "But I've always had green eyes?"
"Is that so? How mysterious." He turned and began walking to Verschlengorge, but Gisena caught up to him, placing her hands around his own.
"Sorry, sorry!" She giggled. "You're just too much fun to play with! It's one of my Sorcerous Graces. A type of Nullity that requires close-in work, but can exert very fine control. It comes with enhanced magical senses."
"Good. Then you should have no problem dressing and studying the fish while I explore the Armament."
"Fine, fine! I can tell when I'm beat. Just one thing before you go. Which color do you prefer?" She fluttered her eyelashes at him.
"Mm... Green-eyed monster. It suits you."
"Hmm?" She tapped her lip contemplatively. "That's a bit of a stretch, don't you think? Or perhaps you're projecting? Afraid Zea and I will get too close!"
"Of course. That would be my worst nightmare. Two allies who won't shut up."
"Then you'd better keep an eye on me!" She dragged him back to the fish. "Come, help prepare it! Leave the studying to me. Even with the comprehensive~ defenses of your new artifact, it'd be a shame to inflict my cooking upon you."
"A terrible cook? And here I thought you were a genius."
"Every genius has a weakness. Mine is that I'm just too humble."
"What happened to empirical self-assessment?"
"Oh, you remembered?" She clapped her hands in joy. "How wonderful! You pay such close attention to everything I say."
"...Now who's projecting?"
"I can't help but remember everyone's lines! A genius has a genius memory."
The fish was truly a magnificent catch, its flesh utterly delectable and tender, melting in the mouth with a brief contact, but lacking neither substance nor chew. Letrizia brought over cooking supplies from Verschlengorge and they gorged themselves on a spread of different preparations: thick-sliced sashimi; thin cuts honey-glazed and lightly smoked; steaks pan-seared with a salt and pepper crust; and the remains broiled in a bed of spices and green onion.
"Mm," Letrizia moaned after taking a mouthful of sashimi. "This is even better than my palace kitchen's! Your skill befits your name, Lord Hunger!"
"Just call me Hunger," he said, suppressing a cringe at the appellation. "And it's mostly the ingredients." They'd foraged around the lake bed for the vegetables, which were positively violent with flavor, and the flesh of the fish was succulent enough to fully justify its bearer's arrogance in life.
Idly he wondered if claiming the ring's title had affected his cooking in any way. On the run for years on end, he'd developed a competence at preparing his own meals, though his skills in that area paled compared to his wife's.
He stopped eating for a moment, looking into the distance. As Letrizia continued to feast, Gisena intercepted her chopsticks with her own.
"Such a spoiled Duchess. Save some for the chef!"
"Bwuht it's soh good!" Letrizia whined, attempting to angle around the Sorceress' guard. Gisena, with superhuman dexterity, was sadly much too agile for her.
"Look what a mess you are! Hmm, is this the vaunted dignity of House Artriez? You've got sauce all over your cheeks! Let me get that for you..."
"Mm! Lemme go! I wanna eat!"
After their sumptuous repast, Letrizia stumbled semi-insensate into her cockpit to sleep, while they examined the other treasures extracted from the King Fish's corpse.
A pearl the size of a melon that glowed the color of jade, a message wound tightly inside of a bottle, and the enormous crown-like scale that had crested the fish's own head, shimmering menacingly with subdued force.
"Good work today!" Gisena patted him on the back. "Go get some rest! I'll show you my notes on everything tomorrow. Sleep in for once?"
"No," he shook his head. "We could be attacked at any time. I'll obtain what power I can from these things before turning in."
"Such a diligent hero," Gisena tutted, eyes soft. "You don't have to push yourself to exhaustion every day, you know! Zea and I are plenty impressed already."
A long silence stretched between them.
"I'd given up, once." He said. "I was as good as dead. But someone gave me a gift. Something I'd neither asked for, nor deserved. A second chance, and power enough to seize it. I must do everything I can, not just to survive, but to avenge myself upon those responsible for my comrades' deaths. And, to repay the being that made all this possible. How few are given such a chance as that? I couldn't live with myself if I simply..."
"Squandered it?" She finished perkily. "I understand. And that's why you need to rest, Lord Double Standards! I heard you lecturing Letrizia. Then you push yourself to catch a giant fish and forge a new artifact from spirit and will?"
"...It's rude to eavesdrop."
She shrugged. "I'm a noble. It's to be expected."
He scoffed. "Fair enough."
"Now then..." she raised a hand to her forehead, brow furrowed. "The root of the matter is not that you want to exhaust yourself, nor do you have a problem relying on others. You're just used to always pushing forward and giving your all. Perhaps you used to have much greater power, and could easily withstand such a punishing pace?"
"Hmph." Perhaps she was right, not that he would admit it.
"In that case, the solution is simple! Until you've regained your former might, let us help you more. The being that saved you, he didn't do it for free, right? You're burdened with something. A form of metaphysical doom, beyond that suspiciously convenient 'Affliction' that you share with Letrizia's robot."
"Four in total," he admitted. "The Decimator's Affliction, The Tyrant's Doom, The Geas of Indenture, and The Apocryphal Curse. Even so, a small price to pay..."
"Supernatural Curses? And you haven't asked this friendly Nullity to help you?" She pouted. "Fully resolving them may be well beyond my power. But I can at least take the edge off!"
"You were clearly aware of their nature already. Perhaps I was waiting for you to volunteer, if you were capable of doing something. We don't all have such comprehensive insight into our compatriots' powers."
"You overestimate me," she demurred, adjusting her hair with a finger. "Well, let's do this: tell me how you understand your Curses. I'll get right to work... as long as you promise to rest immediately."
"Fine. If you also promise not to throw any shoes at me for a month."
She raised her fingers. "Maiden's honor! How smooth, extracting so great a concession just so I can do more work for you..."
"You're one to talk. As for the Decimator's Affliction, your eavesdropping has covered it. I've got it suppressed for now and for a few weeks after."
He cleared his throat, and continued.
"The Doom of the Tyrant. It forbids me from acknowledging or obeying any external authority, law, rule or custom. The Geas of Indenture. It casts me from world to world, imposing tasks I must fulfill. Here I am to conquer the Human Sphere within the next two millennia. Finally, the Aprocryphal Curse... Have you ever heard of the malediction, 'may you live in interesting times?'"
She shook her head. "No, but I think I understand. A Curse that can essentially do as it pleases to complicate your life, hm? How dangerous. I always knew you were trouble!"
"Actually I'm Hunger. Miss so-called genius."
Gisena laughed. "Whatever happened to your real name? Burned it away for a moment of power?"
"Yes."
"...Thought so," she said quietly.
Her fingers gently grazed his cheek, turning his face to hers. Her eyes were the green of deep ponds. Moonlight invested them with flecks of blue and gold.
"What are you-"
"Sssh. I'm examining your Curses. It's a very delicate procedure, so please stay still! Wouldn't want your powers to be amputated."
Skeptical, but unwilling to countenance the risk, he did so. Long moments passed. He didn't remember slipping into sleep, or the airy softness of his cloak around him.
---
The winner was [X] Crown with [X] Dress the Fish. Choose one benefit below:
[ ] Superb Nutrition: The power of the King Fish infuses your insides. Gain +0.05 additional Astral Rank.
[ ] King's Blood: The limitless stamina of the Lake's overlord. Heal all active wounds on yourself and your company. For the next two months, you cannot bleed out and all wounds heal at ten times speed.
[ ] Fierce Vigor: The terrible might of its thrashing sinews, fit to part wave from shore. Gain one copy of [Echo of the Forebear], granting +Might and +Agility.
Mitigation time! Gisena can work on 2 Curses at baseline. You may spend 2 Arete for her to work on a third. You currently have 2.7 Arete.
[ ] Spend 2 Arete (top 3 picks will occur)
[ ] Spend No Arete (top 2 picks)
[ ] Decimator - Direct Mitigation: Reduces drain rate by 12.5%, now 8.75% per year.
[ ] Decimator - Huntress' Moon: Impairs all conventional mitigation attempts by 40%, but dramatically increases the number and availability of targets for A Hunger, Sated. Targets will always be at least minimally challenging or in some way exceptional.
[ ] Tyrant - Direct Mitigation: A difficult Curse to mitigate. Imparts a very small amount of flexibility in acknowledging (though not obeying) some important laws or customs, if the interlocutor is extremely courteous and subservient.
[ ] Tyrant - Trusted Counsel - A single trusted Lieutenant can attempt to convince you that one law or custom would be sufficiently valuable to comply with that you may tolerate it for a time. The custom may be broad, but not overly so, and may not be changed once your mind is set.
-[ ] Trust Gisena
-[ ] Trust Letrizia
-[ ] Trust Verschlengorge
[ ] Indenture - Companion - Add a companion to accompany you on your travels. You may decide upon the moment of transition.
[ ] Apocryphal Curse - Direct Mitigation: Reduces the difficulty of encounters by roughly 10%.
[ ] Apocryphal Curse - Tribulation: Slightly increases the difficulty of encounters, but the Apocryphal Curse will not trigger more than once per month, starting next month.
Thread participation has yielded 2 of the 3 the following options! Pick 1:
[ ] +0.5 Arete
[ ] Extra +Gisena
[ ] An Insight Into Mitigation: Veschlengorge
