Chapter 56 - Great Slime Lake
"Nothing in here," Will remarked as he pulled out the last drawer in the cabinet and shook it's content onto the floor before he carefully broke it in half to see if it had a hidden compartment. Finding none, he tossed it over his shoulder and it joined a pile of broken furniture and clothing on the ground around him.
"Disappointing but not surprising at this rate," Alice replied with a sigh, 'standing' amongst a similar pile of junk.
Their search of the former vampire queen's room had proved fruitless. Will didn't really expect to find anything, but agreed with Alice that it was a good idea to check it over just in case.
Not like she was going to leave around a journal detailing all of her treasonous activities, Will thought to himself. And if she did we probably wouldn't have much use for it.
"Well at least we were thorough," Will said as he surveyed the room. It was a complete disaster, to say the least, with every piece of furniture dismantled and upturned. "You know, it occurs to me, if you rescinded Fatima's title, that makes you the current vampire queen, correct?"
"For the time being, I suppose," Alice hummed in thought and then shrugged. "At least until I find a loyal vampire capable of taking on the role. That's not a priority though."
"Okay, but," he held up his hands and gestured to Alice, "if you're the vampire queen, and this is the vampire queen's bedroom slash throne room, doesn't that mean we've been tearing apart your room this entire time?" Will spread his arms out.
"How very astute of you," Alice dryly replied as she rolled her eyes. "Consider this remodeling then."
"Ah, of course, how could I not see it before. Such an unique taste in decorum. Truly you have a refined palette, my Lord," he stated in a pompous voice, smirking at his own dumb joke. "Shall we smash open a wall or two to tie the whole room together?"
"That won't be necessary," Alice dismissively waved off his suggestion. "You've done enough of that already."
Will glanced to the doorway and the vaguely human shaped dent he'd left in the stone wall beyond it. "That's true. You can't improve upon perfection."
Alice shook her head and softly tutted. Slithering up to Will, she gently patted his shoulder. "I'm sorry to say this, but you don't have much of a future as an architect. Or a bard too for that matter."
"Your words wound me so," he clutched his hand to his chest.
"The truth often does," Alice smirked as she patted his cheek. "Now then, we've spent enough time here. We must go to Undine's Spring in Grand Noah and meet with Erubetie. She wishes to speak to me in person and is refusing to respond telepathically."
"Oh?" Will tilted his head and faintly winced in pain, the bite marks on his neck aching. He hadn't heard anything about the slime queen causing trouble.
"Erubetie has concerns regarding my current course of action. She's always disagreed with making peace with humans through diplomacy, so she's taking issue with the possibility of allying with human kingdoms to fight Ilias," Alice grumbled as she crossed her arms in annoyance. "She always was the most troublesome of my Heavenly Knights."
It's not surprising that Erubetie would be a contrarian. She's the collection of something like ten thousand souls held together under her iron will, Will mused. There's quite a few differing opinions bouncing around in her head.
"She's loyal at least, even if it'll take some convincing or browbeating to get her to cooperate," Will remarked as they left the ruined room and began to make their way through the castle. "Ilias is our enemy, surely she'll understand that."
"She will, one way or another," Alice confidently stated with a nod of her head.
They quickly exited the ruined castle, striding through it's broken doors and front gate without pause. It was sometime in the afternoon, but the sun was still fairly high in the sky. Alice gestured for Will to climb onto her back like he did earlier. He took a deep breath to steele his nerves before hopping on and holding on tight to her.
It was their fastest form of transportation for the time being, so he had no choice but to endure it.
Man was not meant to fly, but I'm not exactly a normal man per say, he overdramatically thought to himself.
A moment later Alice took off without a word, kicking up a massive cloud of dust in her wake. The duo shot up into the sky and raced eastwards at breakneck speed.
-
The journey to Grand Noah took several days. The kingdom, and its capital city of the same name, layed eastwards of San Ilia, and the kingdom was comprised of great tracts of grasslands bordered by the sea to the south and east, and a thick tropical jungle to the north.
They were high enough in the sky that Will was sure most people on the ground would have trouble spotting the two of them, and even if someone did… It didn't really matter. Will did find the idea of rumors of some strange flying serpent following in the wake of their flight path amusing.
He wasn't sure if the constant hours spent airborne was helping him with his fear of heights or not. His grip certainly never let up but there were a few times that he could actually enjoy the view without being completely overcome by fear. It certainly was something else to see the landscape from horizon to horizon.
The view allowed Will to spot Undine's Spring from quite a distance as they approached it. Calling it a spring undersold the sheer size of the vast freshwater lake. It stretched out for miles in every direction and was surrounded by lush woodlands. Will had forgotten how big it actually was and stared at it in muted awe for a bit.
It wasn't long until they finally reached its shore and landed. With a grunt Will detached himself from Alice and groaned as he stretched his legs.
"That flight took longer than I thought it would," Will remarked as he paced around to returning blood flow to his legs, leaving prints in the moist sand.
"We would have gotten here faster had you insisted I not go supersonic," Alice grumbled as she raised her arms above her head and stretched. "It's not that bad. I don't see why it freaked you out so much."
"Man was not meant to break the sound barrier under his own power," he sagely replied as he raised his finger.
"I don't believe that applies to me," she dryly replied, thrusting her chest out for a moment before she finished stretching and put her arms down. "The entrance to the spring itself is nearby. It's a cave under the lake hidden behind an illusion that looks like the rest of the shore."
"And yet they complain that humans don't leave them alone. You'd think they'd have put up a sign or two," Will gestured to the pristine waters and woodlands surrounding them. It betrayed no sign of habitation. "Maybe inform Grand Noah this was slime territory. Out of all the human kingdoms in the world, they're the ones that'd have the least problems with that."
He hadn't interacted with Erubetie, yet, but knew she would be a difficult person to deal with. She wasn't a lost cause and at least cared about her subjects. He just thought he lacked the tact necessary to suffer her personality 'quirks.'
"You can suggest that to her yourself. However I doubt she'd care much." Alice shrugged. She surveyed the shore for a few moments before beginning to slither off in a direction, with Will following behind her.
"She'd tolerate your presence in the spring, given your loyalty to me and monstrous blood. It's a courtesy she doesn't extend to many. I'm sure you're very honoured," she stated with a wry smile.
"Quite presumption of her, given it's not even her home. She acts like she can get away with it just because she's friends with Undine."
"She's also a queen," Alice idly pointed out without looking back at him.
"Yes, that too," he acquiesced.
The lamia stopped at a seemingly random spot on the shore. Will could faintly sense the magic at work keeping the entrance hidden.
"This is it. Leave speaking with Erubetie to me. She wouldn't appreciate any snide remarks." She slithered forward, causing the air to shimmer and rippled around her like water. She quickly disappeared from sight, except for the rest of her tail, which was trailing behind her.
Will followed closely behind, passing through the illusion, and entering into the entrance to a cave that ran deep beneath the waters of the spring. He spotted a human skull, stained blue with dried slime, sitting on the ground. His features contorted into a grimace.
"Perhaps I shouldn't be present for the meeting, at all. I'm afraid I won't be able to keep my thoughts to myself," he growled as his hands curled into fists.
Alice followed his gaze to the skull and lingered on it. "I'll convey them to her for you," she remarked, expression forcibly neutral. "Wait here. It may take a while."
Will nodded in agreement, and watched as Alice slithered off deeper into the cave. He left through the illusionary wall and decided to wait on the shore.
Slimes were odd monsters. They were comprised mainly of water enveloped in a membrane. They were more like colony lifeforms than actual creatures. They required a great deal of moisture to survive and were quite susceptible to pollution and poisons.
Will found a slight distaste for them, if for no other reason than he had no real way of fighting one. They lacked any sort of brain analogue, so any fight with one would turn into him trying to scatter apart a puddle of jelly. The most effective method for dealing with them was magic and vibro-weapons, neither of which he possessed.
He could see how a slime like Eurbeite became such a powerhouse. They were far from the weak cannon folder they were often thought of, for some reason that he never understood.
"It's like a shoggoth but with less teeth and eyes," he remarked to himself as he dropped down beside a tree and waited.
-
Will perked up when he sensed a slime approaching him from the water. He didn't think it was looking for a fight, given the slimes should know he was with Alice, but stood up and casually lifted up his weapon just in case.
"I know you're there," he said when the slime was near the shore. "What is it?"
The shape of a woman took shape while the blue slime flowed its way out of the water. She stood motionless and blank faced, literally, for several seconds until her face formed. He recognized her immediately.
"Oh, uh, hey, Nomia," Will awkwardly waved, putting his weapon down and leaning it against the tree. "I… I wasn't expecting to run into you here."
Nomia hesitantly lifted her arm up and returned the gesture. "Hey William… I've been uh, busy. I traveled across Sentora, spent a while in Grand Noah, and spent the last month here."
Neither of them managed to make eye contact with the other.
"And uh, how's that going for you?" he asked. He felt bad about how they had parted ways previously. He stood by his decision to reject her but felt guilty over yelling at her. She was remarkably kind and restrained, especially for a monster.
"It's been uh, eye opening, I suppose, seeing so many monsters living alongside humans in Grand Noah, though," Nomia answered and glanced towards the 'hidden' entrance to the cave and back to Will. "It's a bit different here. The slimes here are very nice to me, but so… mean to humans. I don't understand it. I love humans, my dad was one. I make sure to turn away any human that comes here before other slimes notice them."
She's probably saved a few lives doing that. No, she's definitely saved lives, Will thought to himself. It seemed Nomia was still a sweet girl, even with potential negative influences around her.
"That's very noble of you, making sure nobody's getting killed," Will softly smiled at her.
"Oh, thank you," she rubbed the back of her head, the vicious fluid producing a wet smack as she did so. "It seems like something anyone would have done."
"If that was the case then you wouldn't need to do it in the first place," he pointed out. "You're a sweet girl, Nomia, and… I'm sorry for yelling at you before. I stand by my decision but I could have been nicer about it."
The slime girl started anxiously bubbling. Her gaze fell downwards. "Your words hurt, a lot. I've learned a lot more about relationships though." She lifted her eyes back up. "I realized my mom, she was… she wasn't a good role model to look up to. Everything she taught me about love, everything I thought I knew, was wrong."
"What… what did she teach you?" Will tentatively asked, unsure if he should be prying into her background like that. He nervously scratched his cheek.
"She told me that love was the most important thing in the world and that I should pursue it to the ends of the world if I needed to. That… That was the last thing she ever said to me before she left to find my dad. I never saw either of them again," Nomia wrapped her arms around herself, the limbs slowly melting back into her toso.
"That just sounds, so, awful. I'm sorry you had to live with that," he sympathetically replied. He couldn't quite relate to his own experiences, but truly felt bad for the poor girl. She deserved so much better out of life than that.
"It's in the past," she remarked with a sad smile. "I heard that the Monster Lord and her consort were going to arrive to speak with Queen Erubetie, and I just knew you'd show up. So I wanted to say that I'm sorry too, for how I behaved. You're more patient with me than I probably deserve."
Well, at least consort is a nicer 'title' than pet. I can live with that, he mentally shrugged.
"Despite all the bad advice your mom gave you, I think you're a good person. You were just a bit misled," Will assured her. "So, don't worry about it, I forgive you."
"Thank you, I'm glad to hear you say that," she nervously chuckled, causing more bubbles to form, bursting moments later. "I wasn't sure what to expect."
"Neither did I. I didn't think I'd run into you here," he admitted and gestured to the expansive lake she had swam out of. "How did you get here anyway?"
"Oh, I stowed away on a ship of course! Once ships started leaving Ilias Port again it was easy to sneak on board," Nomia proudly exclaimed, her expression perking up. "Nobody suspects a puddle of water."
"I suppose not, no," Will thought on how easily a slime could move around and infiltrate most places. It was almost comical how easily they could move around if they set their minds to it.
Slimes are bullshit, he mentally concluded, privately thankful for his improved senses. There were few things in the world that stood a chance at sneaking up on him.
"So, uh, what have you been doing?" Nomia inquired as she tilted her head, emerald eyes looking him over. "You weren't a monster before, so it must have been exciting."
"Well, technically I'm only monster blooded, but yeah the last few months have been quite eventful," Will corrected her, before he began to recount his journey in an attempt to make polite conversation. He attempted to keep it brief and glossed over unnecessary details that she didn't need to know about.
-
It was some time later when Alice finally emerged from the cave, air shimmering around her as she slithered out. She pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes as she let out a long suffering sigh. She opened her eyes and looked between Nomia and Will.
"I see you've made an acquaintance. You've probably had better luck dealing with the locals than I have," Alice huffed in annoyance and crossed her arms.
"Oh?" Will replied and waited for her to continue. It was clear she intended to vent.
"Erubetie is exceedingly difficult to deal with. I was half tempted to freeze her in place and shatter her into ten thousand little pieces," the air temperature dropped suddenly, causing frost to form on the sand and grass around Alice. "It wouldn't be an undeserving punishment either. She has willingly misinterpreted my decree."
Nomia rightfully backed away from the frustrated Monster Lord, eyeing her nervously.
"That seems to be a running theme, unfortunately," Will pointed out.
"I've noticed that trend too," Alice let out a sigh and the air temperature stopped dropping. "Regardless, Erubetie begrudgingly reaffirmed her loyalty to me once I impressed upon her the gravity of the situation. She understands our current enemy is Black Alice and her allies."
"Well that's something at least," Will remarked with a shrug. He turned his gaze from Alice to Nomia and gestured to the slime girl. "Oh, and this is Nomia."
Alice stared at the slime girl for several seconds before speaking. "The slime from Happiness Village. I recognize you," she hummed in thought. "I supposed I shouldn't be surprised that you'd end up here eventually. Few slimes live outside the spring's waters."
Will cringed at the mention of Happiness Village. He felt a bit embarrassed over how quickly he had jumped at the offer to sleep with Beatrice. "I rather not think about Happiness."
Alice gave him a sidelong glance. "I wonder why," she dryly remarked.
Nomia looked between the two of them and nervously bowed her head at Alice, causing slime to drip onto the ground in front of her. "Uh, my Lord, it is an uh, honour to meet you, o-officially. I hope you've uh, enjoyed your visit to the spring."
Alice's expression softened when she turned her gaze back to Nomia. "It's a very lovely lake, even if the inhabitants leave something to be desired. I don't know how you could stand them."
"They aren't that bad…" Nomia trailed off, frowning slightly as her expression turned pensive. "Actually, they kind of are that bad. Though," she perked up as she stared up at Alice, "now that you've reprimanded the queen, does this mean they won't attack humans anymore?"
"If they do, I'll be far less forgiving next time I visit," Alice grimly replied as she shot a glance over her shoulder, before looking back to Nomia. "You need not concern yourself with that however."
"I'll do my best to make sure they're on their best behaviour, anyway," Nomia proudly exclaimed, bowing her head once more. "I'll be a role model for them."
Alice smiled and nodded at the slime . "I wish you luck then, Nomia."
"I think you might have your work cut out for you, but I wish you luck too," Will remarked as he gathered up his stuff, ready to head off and leave the lake behind them.
"I won't let you two down!" Nomia declared in response.
"I trust that you won't," Alice replied and started to slither away from the lake.
"See you around Nomia, I think this chat was good for both of us," Will gave the slime girl a simple wave.
"I think so too," she smiled back at him. "Bye!"
Will followed after Alice and quickly caught up to her. The lake shore disappeared from view as the pair made their way into the woods surrounding the vast body of water.
-
After a few minutes Alice came to a stop and surveyed the area around them. Not spotting anyone watching them, she gestured for Will to climb onto her back once more. She didn't want him to do so in front of Nomia, claiming she had to appear dignified in front of her subjects.
Without much grumbling, Will complied.
"So, where to now?" he inquired, wrapping his arms around Alice's waist and resting his head on her shoulder.
Alice hummed in thought before answering. "Grand Noah. I've… always wanted to see the city where monsters and humans live side by side. It should be a nice change of pace."
"That sounds like a lively idea."
A second later she took off into the sky, leaving the vast body of water and its accompanying woodlands in the distance behind them.
