Character Sheet
The Mysterious Orphan

Name: Lotte, daughter of Henrik and Anelie
Sexuality: Pansexual
Age: 18
Species: Lamia, Central Lands Human Culture
Level: 3
Class: Hunter
Weapons: Bow, Knife

XP: 2/18

Description: A tall lamia, with short blond hair, and blue eyes, dressed in a protective vest and a noble's hunting shirt. They are muscular, well-formed and handsome, and have slightly yellowish eyes and a forked tongue. Their snake-half is in a forest pattern that helps for blending in, except for the occasional splash of Tyrian purple.

Traits:

Just Devotions (Racial--Human, Central, Cultural)(Level 0): Humans in some parts of the world worship the Gods, vast and sometimes unknowable beings that do grant blessings to those that believe in them, magical blessings. But even the lowliest of the pious knows how to pray to them, how to do the right supplications, how to act in the proper ways. This knowledge can sometimes be put to good use, though the Gods rarely turn their eyes to every little prayer.

Wholesome Farm Looks (Human, Central, Physical, Level 1): Though most of the people of the Central lands, that mass of Kingdoms, Princedoms, Dukedoms, Duchess States, and more, are of course quite poor, they are a hardy, hard-working people, and sometimes this life less beats a person down and more hones them. They have reasonably good looks, and even more importantly, look trustworthy, clean-cut, and otherwise like the kind of person who'd never lied a day in their life or slacked off a single hour, either. This remains even after becoming a lamia, though it is... tempered, obviously.

Snake Eyes (Level 1, Physical, Lamia): You can see in the dark pretty well. It isn't perfect, but the night is not nearly so dark and full of dangers as you expected it would be, for whatever reason.


Forest Wanderer (0, Pre-Class): The forest is a fascinating place for a child, as long as they don't go too far. As one gets used to it, one learns more about its ins and outs, and while some of it only applies to the forest that such a child lived in at first, much of it is quite helpful later.

Forest Eyes (Level 1. Class): As one could have eyes that pick out every tiny detail of the tundra, so can one be used to seeing in the dark forest tracks, possibilities, old growth, traps, and anything else, especially when one knows how to use your ears and nose to aid it. It is remarkable how much you can see, when you see what is actually there.

Hunter's Mettle (Level 1, Class): To hunt, one needs a bow, an arrow, and perhaps a knife for self-defense. Having some skill at them is inevitable, having solid skill at them is admirable, and quite useful.

Steady Arm (Level 2, Class): You have a strong, consistent aim. You're not a superlative archer, at least by the standards of adventurers, but you don't have off moments, and you don't waver from being able to hit your target, even if you're not doing the fancier tricks.

Leave Few Traces (Level 2, Class): The experience of being on one side of the hunt makes you wonder how you'd hide your tracks if you were being hunted, or tracked by hostile enemies, as sometimes does happen in adventures. You've begun to practice how not to be followed in the woods, and perhaps elsewhere.


Mending Knowledge, Basic (Level 0, Pre-Class, Healing Priest): You know how to apply poultrices, and you know the basic ingredients of a number of potions that cure headaches, deal with common pains, put someone into a gentle sleep, and other minor things. You can also bandage someone properly. You are not very good at this, merely adequate... but that's more than what most people are.


Whitlin' Ways (Level 1, Common): A man or woman who knows how to whittle will never want for whistles, or spoons, or any number of goods. It's a useful, solid sort of skill, and one that could be made into a trade. It also makes a pretty decent way to pass the time, and the person who whittles never lacks for a knife in sticky situations.

Penny Pincher (Level 1, General): You know the value of a Pfin, and how to keep from wasting all of your money, even if you're far from a merchant. Money is something you're familiar with.

Steel Nerves (General, Level 3): You've seen enough strange places and done enough fantastic things that you are less likely to panic in terrible situations, and more likely to think things through, however difficult. This doesn't mean you can't panic at all, but you have a grip on those nerves. In battle and danger only, this unfortunately doesn't help at all with social anxiety.


Divine Sense (Level 0, Divine): You can sense when someone is a Demigod, and there's at least the potential ability--though you have not figured it out yet--to try to track people through their divine 'scent.' A person's 'scent' gets stronger as they get more magically and divinely powerful... but on the other hand, you now have a 'scent' of your own, that will allow other demigods to know you for what you are, increasingly as you grow more powerful yourself.

Captivating Eyes (Level 2, Divine): You can sometimes 'catch' people with your eyes. If you're concentrating, they'll find it slightly more difficult to look away, though any sense of threat or danger breaks it immediately, and they'll hear your words clearly, actually listening… or at least hearing them. There's no requirement to listen to them, nor does it seem as if anyone's mind is being altered in any way, but it's an interesting, if bizarre, power, and certainly is a new take on 'lost in their eyes.'

Slithering Shadows (Level 3, Divine): You can blend into the shadows better than you should be able to. At night, and in darker areas, you can seem to shift away from sight. It doesn't work well in a wide-open space, but that little bit of extra secrecy can be very useful as a hunter, and as someone who might need to sneak through various areas.
 
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Wait. Wait.
Considering that our other contractor was a dude and he didn't have any retainers.

We could've failed this quest back when we were selecting our handler?
Or would his sister have arrived at the nick of time to save her erstwhile sibling and also pass the test for the Eastern Tower?
 
Okay, thinking on things.
I'm seeing two divides here. One is standard male female.
The other? Heaven //earth

"Look at where the blood is. Someone… someone tried to activate the runes, if that's what they are, with their own blood. But I could have told them, anyone could have, that it takes Sepult blood, or Fae blood, or the blood of the divine to… to…" Aisling shook her head, and suddenly looked ill. "I'm… remembering something I shouldn't?"

Lottes blood worked the runes, the guy said stuff about suns to him. Lotte was the only one who didn't get attacked by the eyes in the sky, the watching thing. I also don't like the way lottes blood activated the runes. That way, of a red glow that spreads? That sounds like a rash. Something bad. Something allergic.

While the others- they can see the runes, the statue of the goddess was okay with them, and all the carvings in their side of maze were of earthly heroes. The ruins are fine with them.

I feel like that there's two things ongoing here in terms of influencing- whatever the eyes in the stars were is not something linked with the builders of this place. If it was, it would have hurt us not the others, the ruins have worked for them when it hasn't for us. So I think the eyes are part of the stuff linked to the heavens, while all the earth stuff is what the ruins are meant to be. in which case, I think the male // female divide is the intended divide by the builders, as that's the earthly divide. So Im voting...

[X] Ooor, Naja thinks, it could have to do with all four in balance, in which case she and someone else should put all of them at once.


But I feel that the heaven // earth divide is something more. And I don't like this ruin. The name says palace, but this lock, this isn't a treasury lock. A treasury you want to be able to get in when you want to use whats inside. This lock? How many things you need to go through to get to it? This lock is one you build when you never want anyone getting in. Or, given Waiz was talking about a prison, and how my line of thought has the watcher in the stars as something that is not from the builders of this place, getting out.
 
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I mean, if you don't want to let anyone in, you can make a lock without a key.

Unless this is some metaphysical bullshit where leaving a possibility of escape makes the prison stronger overall.

Never did understand that trope. If you don't want the unimaginable evil to be released by foolish adventurers, then maybe stop organizing the prison as a protracted test of mettle and wits on the way to riches and start with building Alcatraz, but without doors and in space?
 
There's other locks you can compare it too - if it really does need two people to put it in (and you do seem to need groups for the tests) it might be more like a nuclear ignition lock. Turn the two keys at once, and...

Well, something seems to happen.
 
Hmm.

Yeah thinking more about it, I definitely think the male// female divide is the one that's intended by the ruinmakers, and the heaven earth divide is different, as the runes that react to the divine are present everywhere in this place, not just the trial rooms.

And I don't know, there is just something about the way the runes lit up in response to lottes blood. Maybe it is just me being in biology. But them being everywhere in the building, and the way them lighting up is described. It just screams immune system at me. Receptors. Waiting for the moment they come into contact with something, to trigger a response. Warning symptoms. Allergic reactions.

Which is worrying. Given the list of stuff we've been told they can react to.

The other worry is much simpler- if the runes are receptors, what is the response
 
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There's other locks you can compare it too - if it really does need two people to put it in (and you do seem to need groups for the tests) it might be more like a nuclear ignition lock. Turn the two keys at once, and...

Well, something seems to happen.

Eh, let's start a magical nuclear war, I wasn't doing anything these weekends anyways

My point still stands
Make instructions for activation really complicated, in code, undecipherable by intruders and better yet, take the keys for the nuke with you when you leave

Also, I dunno which of the similarities to We Know The Devil is relevant here

The "things need to be done in perfect balance if you want something wonderful to happen" one?
The gender dysphoria?
The "no, Bible in fact doesn't have Parables 1:1 in any of it, but we'll let that slide, because possibly it's a clue that the game's Christianity is quite different from our world's"?
Or are you just shipping Lotte/Naja/Aisling?
 
Maybe there's nothing to fear as long as there's two against the devil? Maybe you need to get some radios?

:V

Too bad we live in medieval fantasy then.

Ah.
Well, fuck.
I suddenly feel gnawing doubt over all the decisions that we've made starting from taking up that contract.

Let's hope that when three stand against the world, the world buckles.
 
Should we also consider the number of trials in our answer? There being four trials might imply that we need to stick all four of them in at once, but we might want to consider who completed them and how.

Heck, did Lotte even complete the West Wing, given that we just followed the path Waiz made instead of going through the maze?
 
Given that we've been being watched, the thought occurs that any order of putting them in would open the door, but the order we choose means something else entirely.
 
[X] Ooor, Naja thinks, it could have to do with all four in balance, in which case she and someone else should put all of them at once.
 
[X] Ooor, Naja thinks, it could have to do with all four in balance, in which case she and someone else should put all of them at once.
 
Today was, today is, the Trans Day of Remembrance, for those who have been killed in the last year because of their gender, and for those who have faced harassment, assault, and worse.

The ceremony I went to listed twenty-nine dead. Killed. At least, since November of last year. And this is a statistic that likely understates things, considering the extent to which transphobic family members and loved ones often seek to erase difference in death as part of their own conception of how things should be.

These deaths are complex. Some of these people were also and additionally murdered because they were women, or poor, or for other reasons, while some were self-evidently killed in acts of pure hate. Many of them were black, many were poor, both groups that in America have fewer resources in so many ways: most, though not all, were women.

Many have died this year, and there is no end in sight. More will die, and this is only in America. The deaths of trans people overseas is not something that can be counted, can be kept track of, in many cases. Erasure is everywhere.

I ask those who read my Quest to be aware of this, and to consider this as they go through their day, today and all days after it.

There is very little I can do, but read about it, think about it, consider the kind of hate that murders people, and consider where it starts and where it ends, and how it might be stopped.

Thank you.

******

Seasons will update on Saturday.
 
3:8
3:8

"It's in balance. The note even says so. So obviously, this means putting in all four at once. That way, everything is balanced," Naja said.

"But, what does Mind and Body have to do with… whatever the other two were. Do the Sepult have some sort of weird… everything is four things schema?"

"Not really, but it just makes logical sense. It has to do with balance, and we balance all four at once. After all, the top and bottom both involved facing an entity, while the west and east both involved navigating a maze, right?" Naja von Siebert asked, with a dramatic sweep of her hands.

Lotte almost opened her mouth to reveal that she never actually navigated the maze… but did she? She had gone through the whole thing, in a way, even if there had been no threat or wandering.

"Sure, but--" Aisling began.

"In order? What does that have to do with balance."

"We did it top, then bottom. East, then west. We did it in balance. I was pretty sure that was your idea, wasn't it?" Aisling asked.

"Well, yes, of course. I intended to do it in that order because I knew, haha, yeah, I definitely knew that was the right option," Naja insisted.

"You did it at random, didn't you?" Aisling asked.

"...well, I just thought that the lowest place would come after the highest. But you're right, that the order we did it matters… but not for putting in the gems and the key." Naja frowned, "Though to be fair, the key doesn't really seem to fit with all the others. It isn't a key made of gemstones, after all."

"It's probably a pun. Or a metaphor," Aisling said, glancing over at the fireplace.

"Well, Lotte, are you willing to help me with the gems? You seem like you had a better time with the maze than I did." Naja smiled, and Lotte felt even worse. But what would they think if they heard what Waiz said? He said insane things, and called her son, and what if they heard it and thought she was weird and terrible, or secretly working against them, or…

No. It was better to lie. But, she hated lying. Lying was wrong, and the kinds of people who lied to another person were the kinds of people she'd never wanted to be.

"Lotte, are you okay?" Naja asked.

"No. I mean, yes," Lotte said. "I'm fine."

"Well then, let's get in there."

They both crawled into the fireplace, and Naja handed Lotte the east and west gem, small as they were, and then said. "I can crawl under you, if that's okay, so that I'm between your arms, so that we can put it all in at once."

"Naja, focus on the task at hand. You can talk about putting it in later," Aisling yelled out.

"T-that's, that's not what I meant," Naja stammered, as she crawled underneath Lotte, her back pushed up against Lotte's stomach as she got into position.

Lotte had to admit, there was something to be said with how close they were, the way Lotte's shirt was rubbing against Naja's back, the warmth of the fireplace. It felt as if it had just been lit earlier, but from the ashes it had been some time. Lotte moved her hands, until she was leaning against the wall to one side, and she was holding the two gems right before where they should slot in. They were just the right size.

"On three," Naja said.

"Wait. When you say one, or will you say go afterwards?" Lotte asked.

"When I say one, of course. Why would I say go?" Naja asked, frowning.

"I dunno. I've never timed anything like that," Lotte admitted, with a blush.

"You're adorable, and also a little hapless. It's part of your charm," Naja said, pushing the key against the lock. "And three, two, one!"

Lotte and Naja managed to do it at the same time, as Naja turned the key as well. There was a glow, and it spread from the fireplace to somewhere behind them.

But the glow was odd, a little dark, and there was a smell, and a sick feeling in Lotte's stomach moments before the entire fireplace went up in a raging inferno. The flames roared around her. They hurt, but the pain was secondary, as Lotte grabbed a flaming Naja and threw herself backwards, out of the fire, rolling around desperately on the ground, and patting at Naja.

Every year, at one festival or another, someone wound up setting their fool self on fire, and so she knew what you were supposed to do. You rolled around, smothering the fire, and got some water. Then with the burns, you--

She didn't know. She'd never paid attention, and now she hated that she hadn't.

"Naja! Lotte!" Aisling yelled, and as Lotte rolled she felt water being dumped all over her. In fact, it felt like almost all of their water was being thrown away. But she needed it.

Finally, after a few desperate moments, the fire was gone. Lotte felt the burns here and there, but looking over both herself and Naja, it was…

It wasn't okay at all, but they weren't badly hurt, for all that their clothing was now blackened with soot, and Lotte's neck felt as if she'd been way too long in the sun.

"What happened?" Naja muttered, as she picked herself off, looking wide-eyed. "It should have worked. Did we do something wrong? Were we supposed to tip over the goddess? Or… Lotte, can you tell us about your maze? Maybe it was different in some way we--"

"Guys!" Aisling said, pointing at the wall. There was a trail of runes, not the whole wall, which was still lit up. It was like a path.

"I, I--" Lotte began.

"What?" Naja asked, glancing from the runes on the wall to Lotte.

"Did you leave something out of what you told us?" Aisling asked.

"It would not be hard," Naja said, and then gave a few hoarse coughs. "Agh, the smoke in my lungs. You didn't tell us anything, just that you'd gotten the gem."

Only moments before, Lotte's actual life had been in danger. But she hadn't had time to panic, and so she hadn't. She'd just acted, and even the pain felt distant now. But those words made it feel as if the world was closing in. Lotte wasn't afraid of tight areas, but she was used to having a wide-open world before her. Now, it felt as if she were in the smallest room possible. "I think I messed up."

"How?" Aisling demanded, narrowing her eyes, and looking from Lotte to Naja. No doubt blaming Lotte for it.

"Someone had disarmed all the traps in the maze, and knocked out the walls. I didn't… I didn't walk a maze, I just went through the path I was told, and there was a man at the end."

"A… man?" Naja asked.

"He and his father went into the place, I think. But his father must have died," Lotte began. "He called himself Waiz, and he called me son, and talked about the sun… and then he cut my hand and rubbed it against the runes."

"What an idiot. How old was he? How insane? He sounds it," Aisling said, voice snapping.

"He was odd. I do not think he was entirely there. But the runes lit up. I don't know why," Lotte insisted, desperately. The idea that she was working with this dungeon somehow was silly, but what if they thought…

"Perhaps it has to do with your parents? Or perhaps only the blood of a hunter can activate the runes?" Naja asked. "Still, that's more evidence. If the two weren't--"

"If Lotte had told you about it, you might have guessed!" Aisling said, striding forward.

"She's saved our lives repeatedly," Naja insisted.

"And lied to us!"

"I…" Lotte began, feeling the prickling of tears against her eyes.

"See, and now you've made her cry."

Aisling snorted. "Her? Is it her I've made cry? I'm starting to wonder--" Aisling began, and then she turned away. "Whatever. We should follow it. If we're not going to turn back."

"I'm fine, so why would we?" Naja asked.

"We're out of water now."

"Lotte has some in her pack. She'd be willing to share."

Lotte nodded, uncertain that they were doing the right thing. There was more that she hadn't explained, and more that didn't make sense. For one, why had her blood done that? Did it really just come down to being a hunter. How was being a hunter in her blood?

*****

The trio looked nothing like the heroic legends. No, by this point they stumbled exhausted through the dungeon, still damp, ash-soaked, burned in places, limping, low on arrows and low on water, though not food.

But the path of the runes was pretty clear, taking them down and around, to a part of the castle that they'd walked by on the way to the dungeon.

At least, that's what it looked like.

They were also very quiet. No songs of adventure for any of them, especially with Aisling glaring at Lotte the whole time. No, it wasn't just glaring. There was a part of the look that felt as if she were weighing Lotte on a scale, and wasn't sure whether she'd turn out not to be a clipped coin.

But as they walked, Lotte began to hear sounds behind them. Yet whenever she looked back, she didn't see anyone. Nor did she see anything, since she thought the odds that anything here would be a person rather than a monster was unlikely. Even the people were warped and twisted.

The sounds got louder, but there was still no sign of anyone, as they hurried until at last they came to an archway that hadn't been there before. It was about half-again Lotte's height, and far more elaborate than anything else in the palace. Along the arch for the door, in white against the black rock, were what looked like the pattern of snakes, twining and crawling their way upwards, their eyes made of pretty looking gems whose value Lotte couldn't guess. At about stomach level on each side, there were strange vessels. On the left, there was a tiny, thumb-sized cup held in the mouth of one of the serpents, which had icy blue gem eyes. On the other side, what seemed like a hand coming out of the spiralling pillar of the arch, holding a tankard.

Then up top, there was what looked to be writing… for the door was not a door, but instead a white wall of stone where the entryway should be.

"Oh," Naja said. "One moment, let me translate this."

There was a hissing sound from behind them.

Lotte turned, and saw nothing. She stared out into the darkness, and finally she saw it, a glint far off, and bright eyes, as if someone was watching them.

"It's some sort of creature," Aisling said, her elvish eyes no doubt seeing better. "I can't make out details, but we need to hurry!"

"It says: one drop, or one cup."

"That's all?" Aisling asked. She looked briefly panicked, and then she turned to look at Lotte. "You should try your blood on the smaller of the vessels."

"What? No, we can't just…" Naja began.

"We've fought and we've bled already than this. You burned because Lotte was too scared to just admit what happened, and what it meant," Aisling said, fingers gripping tightly on her spear. "Lotte, you will do it." It felt like a threat.

"I was going to do it," Lotte said, looking at Aisling. "You do not have to threaten me."

"Do I? I feel like you know far more than you let on. Is this all a trick?" Aisling asked.

Lotte stared at Aisling, not sure how she was supposed to prove it wasn't. Wait, she had an idea...

"You forget yourself!" Naja said. "I am the employer, and not you!" Naja looked like a rope that was about to finish fraying and snap. "We approached Lotte, not the other way around! If anyone was deceiving anyone, it was me! And I wasn't!"

Lotte took out her knife and pricked her thumb, before stepping forward and pressing her hand to the tiniest cup. She pulled away, and that's when the very top of the entryway began to glow. It was a very thin patch, at the top where the two archways met, but it seemed to be moving.

"Oh," Aisling said, staring up at that. "It's doing… something."

It was then that the monster in the distance began to move their way. It flowed across the ground, with a billowing robe that covered its lower body, and a strange bone-white mask barely visible underneath its hood. Gloved hands gripped a sword that seemed to wave and move, and a strange hissing sound came from the monster as it threw itself at Aisling.

Aisling managed, just barely, to duck aside, spear-point coming up to slash at the robes of the creature.

"Aisling!" Naja yelled, pulling out her own sword.

"Stay back," Aisling retorted, barely keeping up with the movements of the monster, which were just a little faster on the ground than a human's should be, let alone while still wielding a weapon. Naja wouldn't stand a chance.

Lotte, meanwhile, drew one of her last seven arrows, notched it, and when Aisling had taken another step back, loosed the arrow into the thing's chest. It let out a high-pitched scream but didn't slow down, pressing Aisling still further back, until she had to either stand or let the monster aside.

Aisling changed instead, spear stabbing at the thing's shoulder as she ducked a fast, powerful blow from one side, and shifted away from an overhead blow… leaving the monster open as Lotte buried another arrow in its torso. Lotte didn't have the time to really aim, and so she focused on getting solid shots in the same general area, rather than trying to hit the glowing eye-slits on the mask, or anything fancy.

With each arrow and spear stab, the body of the monster seemed to grow more solid, to the point where Lotte could hear a strange sort of scraping sound, like a boot dragging very quickly across the stones. But not quite that, worse than that.

Lotte's third arrow caught it in the already wounded shoulder, thanks to a desperate shift to avoid another Aisling offensive.

Lotte was down to four arrows, but the creature seemed more solid now, and it looked like what was trailing back behind the robes was a… tail? Like a snake, perhaps. It was hard to tell, and Naja distracted Lotte for a moment by saying, "Look!"

She was pointing at the door, and when Lotte glanced she saw that the light had grown. It was as if the door was opening, or rather turning into pure light, from the bottom to the top. It was still above their heads, but if it kept on dragging itself down, soon enough it would be a door they could use.

Aisling let out a cry as the masked being shifted forward and… bit her. That's all that it could be described as, its jaw unhinging as it took a chunk out of her shoulder. She went down in a shower of blood, stabbing limply upwards..

It shouldn't have hit, but the monster was careless, and the spear went straight through its stomach. It screamed, and its sword sliced the spear in two as it backed up. It didn't take a step back, no. It slithered backwards.

"A lamia?" Naja asked, eyes wide, as Lotte's fourth arrow caught it just below its neck. It twisted and turned, one way and another, as Naja stopped heeding Aisling's advice and began desperately and clumsily attacking it.

"Naja, out of the way!" Lotte yelled, and her fifth arrow caught it in the stomach, just below the spear.

"Grab the damn spear from its guts," Aisling cursed, covering her bleeding shoulder with a clumsy hand.

Naja, realizing what she meant, grabbed it and pulled as hard as it could. But it was stuck in there tight, and the monster continued to slash at her. She ducked, a slash cutting across her forehead as she did, and Lotte realized that the moment for standing back had passed.

She charged forward, roaring in anger and frustration, one hand with a bow in it, but the other open to pull out the spear.

The creature stared at her for a long moment, then finally slashed, but by then she'd half-slid under it, and then grabbed the spear. From where Lotte was, she could see how there was a point where human flesh became that of a snake, below the belly. In a single pull it came out, and with it the bile and guts of some strange and ancient… ghost?

Lotte retreated, filthy and exhausted, and drew another arrow as the monster keened and writhed.

"Lotte," Naja said, her voice faint. "Lotte."

Lotte wasn't in front of her, though.

No, Lotte stared at the creature as it died. It whined and wailed, it was hissing in a tongue Lotte did not understand.

Lotte was in front of a wolf, all those years ago.

It was dying, there was nothing she could do, and perhaps no mercy it deserved.

If she approached seeking to slit its throat, it'd probably tear her hand to pieces. She could only act at a distance, and while the world had seemed to retreat for the fight, now she could smell the bile on her body. She stank as bad as she had early on in her hunting career, when she'd been less careful about blood and guts, and fascinated as a child was by all of it. The monster, the lamia (another species, like others she'd seen) was hissing and groaning in misery.

It would never thank her. Nobody would.

But it was the right thing to do, and Lotte grabbed her second to last arrow and shifted into a proper archery stance, nocking the arrow and pulling it back. Then she held it for a moment, shifting where she held it, and how she held it.

The lamia's eyes weren't glowing anymore. In fact, the mask had half-fallen off, revealing a face like any other. In fact, the rest of his body above the waist was entirely like any human's, at least if you didn't consider his eye color, or the tongue in his mouth, lolling now as he writhed and died.

Then she loosed the arrow. It seemed almost to whistle as it went through the air and slammed right into the lamia's heart. She'd taken the time to aim, and it gasped and collapsed. In a matter of moments, it died. Then, after it died, a male voice said, loudly. "Praise… and… thank… you."

Lotte blinked, not wiping at her eyes because her hands were filthy. But she was crying a little.

"I… I should be fine," Aisling said. "If I can get up."

"We'll rest here, and then continue. Unless there's another monster, in which case we'll go in or run away." Naja tried to stand up, and stumbled, the cut in her head no doubt keeping her from thinking.

"No. We go back," Lotte insisted. "I'm the only one strong enough to do anything. I'll carry you out of here if I have to." She would have been willing to go on, if there was one less burden, if she hadn't almost gotten them burned alive, if she hadn't just killed another… person?

"You're going to try to carry me?" Aisling asked. "What happens if I fight back."

"I… I don't want you to die," Lotte said. "You can keep your coin, if it means you live." Lotte thought about Naja's brother, who wouldn't have wanted Naja to keep on going into death. "We're going, and that's final."

"Lotte," Naja said, eyes wide.

"What? I'm sorry I'm yelling," Lotte admitted, since her voice was very loud. "But I don't want--"

"Lotte, behind you!"

Lotte turned, just in time to see what seemed like a tendril, or a tentacle, or something inky black… wrap around her leg. It was smooth to the touch, though she had very little time to appreciate this as she was tugged backwards towards the almost entirely open gateway.

Fumbling, she grabbed onto the edge of the archway with one hand as the powerful tendril tried to drag her in. She shifted, trying to get her other hand to grip the side, the spiralled grooves of the pillar helping her to hold on, as her burnt, bloody fingers were very slippery. She was screaming, wordless fury and fear, heart feeling like it was about to explode.

Lotte managed to get her second hand around the archway, which was when she felt a second tendril grab her other leg and pull. Her fingers slipped, and she scrabbled, screaming, at the archway. She was hanging on by her fingertips, every heartbeat an impossible struggle.

Thump. Eyes blinded by tears, sure she was going to die.

Thump-thump. Just a few fingers.

Thump-thump. She let go, and was dragged into to the light as the stone closed up behind her.

She thought it'd last forever, dragged until she died, dragged until at the end of the tendrils was a mouth.

But, just as suddenly, the tendrils were gone, and she was… somewhere else.

******

A/N: To be concluded.
 
So it was the second option I'm thinking. At least, I don't think this was the very wrong option.

Would this have been an entirely different quest if we'd gone with the guy? We wouldn't have been able to complete the eastern maze.
 
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So it was the second option I'm thinking. At least, I don't think this was the very wrong option.

Would this have been an entirely different quest if we'd gone with the guy? We wouldn't have been able to complete the eastern maze.

The answer is different because of the guy undoing the maze. Though actually you managed to pick the one answer that wasn't right in either version of the answer.
 
Well now I'm confused. Are you saying we would have had to use a write in to account for the stowaway? I could see that, I regretted not writing in to tell the girls about him pretty quickly. Really, I'm not sure why we didn't think to tell them.
 
Well now I'm confused. Are you saying we would have had to use a write in to account for the stowaway? I could see that, I regretted not writing in to tell the girls about him pretty quickly. Really, I'm not sure why we didn't think to tell them.

Because you were afraid. Though actually, there was one of the three choices that would have been correct.

...it's just the one that literally nobody voted for.

It doesn't matter that much, since none of the choices, even the worst, would have killed Lotte or Naja at that stage of things. You'd know, since for that particular choice you picked the one with the most disastrous outcome, and it was more "ow" than "Game over."
 
No I meant... looking back I wrote that maybe we should write in to tell the girls what happened but no one responded and I let it go and that was that. I should have wrote in anyway.
 
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