Chapter 18
That morning, the party gathered at the side room of the guild house. Four of them seem to be well rested but Aloe looked lethargic.
"Hey, are you alright, Aloe?" asked Nene with concern.
"I'm… fine… sort of..." muttered the succubus tiredly, "I just found out something… very strange last night."
"I hope you're alright," said Polka. Turning to Lamy, she asked, "Is there any remedy for this?"
"I do not think-"
"My priestess might be able to help with that."
The party looked to the door and the monk greeted, "Hallo, Leda. Your priestess can help?"
"Indeed. Would you like to meet her?" he offered.
"Ah. If it helps Aloe, why not?" chipped in Botan.
"In that case, please follow me," he said as he led them out into the street. They then spent a while walking before ending in front of an ordinary building. A little too ordinary, as if it was trying a little too much to blend in with the environment.
He went up to the door and knocked. After a few seconds, the door opened and a hooded figure answered the door.
"Hello. I bring seekers of help," stated the lightning genasi. The hooded figure nodded and gestured inside. The interior was surprisingly spacious, as if the living room and dining room had merged into one room. The stairs in the corner and a door leading to the back.
The hooded figure then said, "Follow." He then led them upstairs to another large area with doors leading to several rooms. In the middle was a table and a set of chairs. In one of them sat a robed lady sporting shoulder-length tresses and pointed ears. She wore a strange ornament that adorned her front bangs.
"Ladies, I present Priestess Ina'nis," introduced the genasi warlock.
"Greetings to all. Please, have a seat," greeted the lady as she gestured to the chairs. Aloe, Nene, and Lamy took a seat while the other two stood behind them.
"Priestess, these are the ones you requested," stated Leda as he stood by her side.
"Thank you, Leda. You have done well," she stated as she reached over for the succubus' hand. "Here, let me take that for you," she stated as her hands started glowing.
Aloe blinked in surprise as the tiredness left her face and she sat up straighter, her body renewed with energy. "What happened?" she muttered, "As if I had a good night's sleep."
The priestess beamed and said, "Glad to be of service… Now, we have other things to worry about." Suddenly, the curtain was drawn and a candle was lit and placed in the center of the table by the warlock.
"Thank you, Leda," she stated as she focussed her attention on the uneasy party, "Now that I have your attention, I believe the path before you currently is a perilous one."
"What are you talking about?" asked Lamy as she fidgeted in her seat.
"You will be going on a journey to help one of yours. Though, I wouldn't worry, you five are quite capable," she stated with a serene smile, "Yes, quite capable." And she looked at each one of them and stated…
"A tribal warrior touched by the Feywild..." to Botan.
"A fighter hiding behind a tipsy performance..." to Polka.
"A healer of motherly kindness..." to Lamy.
"A seducer with great loyalty..." to Aloe.
"And a singer that brings the world together..." to Nene.
Nene had no idea how the priestess knew all that about them when she had only met them for the first time. It was a creepy feeling the very moment that the curtain was drawn, which magnified when she said those words. She then stood up and moved towards the bard, touching her chin with the tips of her fingers and muttered, "Such a bright future."
Her head involuntarily glanced to the side and what she saw freaked her out. The shadow of the priestess cast by the candle was more than it seemed. She saw further protrusions growing out of her head. She saw a shadow in the shape of a halo above her head. She saw a large mass of what could only be called tentacles growing out of her back and reaching for the ceiling. She could also feel a clammy, cold sensation where her fingertips touched her chin. Very unnerving.
The priestess then stepped away and moved towards her room. "Leda, send them on their way, please. And you are free to go about your day."
"Yes, priestess," he complied as he stepped up to them and motioned to the stairs.
A shiver went down her spine as she glanced at her door while walking down the stairs. She couldn't explain what she saw. She couldn't understand what happened.
"Are you alright?" asked the genasi suddenly.
"Ah, I'm fine," she quickly said with a smile, smoothly schooling her expression. Then, she asked, "Are you heading out for anything?"
He shook his head and replied, "No. Temma is busy with something today. I'll be taking time to relax." Then, he opened the door for them and motioned outside, "If you would please?"
After the party exited the house, the door closed behind them. They hurried back to the guild house, Nene being eager to put some distance between her and it. When they reached the guild house and went inside, they found Artia and Doris waiting for them.
"Where have you been?" the genasi asked in a questioning tone, "I have been looking for you."
"Sorry, we were helping Aloe with something," the bard apologized, "What did you need?"
"Well… I will be returning to my home and I was hoping to get some protection on my journey home," stated the mermaid triton.
"We get to visit your home?" asked Nene in amazement.
"Oh, it does sound good," muttered Botan, thinking of possible trophies.
"Woah, let's go, let's go!" urged Polka eagerly.
"Enticing. I do wish to walk under the sea,' mused Lamy, thinking of the beautiful vistas she could possibly see with her own yes.
"Hmm, the first one under the sea… me likey," chipped in Aloe.
"Then it is settled! Thank you so much!" said Doris gratefully as she bowed, "Is it alright if we leave today?"
"Eh?"
An unexpected request, but the party quickly got over their surprise and gathered their stuff together. It was a simple thing as their backpacks were always ready to be taken every morning. They didn't need to worry about transport as the mermaid had hired a coach cab. Not a cart, but a full stagecoach, as well as a porter. It was at the place where she was staying and her travel chest was securely strapped down at the back. As for seating arrangements, Polka sat on the roof with the porter, Botan sat with the driver, while Doris, Nene, Lamy, and Aloe sat inside.
The journey was quite speedy and they quickly went through Solena and Greenwish, only stopping at the gates. Past the latter town was a long stretch of lonely road through the forest to Nikubasa, where they were supposed to hire transport across the desert. However, halfway to the desert border town, the cab suddenly came to a halt when a crossbow bolt slammed into the driver's seat in the middle of the driver and Botan. Then, several shouts came out of the surrounding forest and two half-naked, muscular bandits wielding greataxes ran straight for them.
"Drive on!" she shouted as she unshouldered her bow and moved to the roof.
"What is going on?" called out Doris in a terrified tone.
"We're under attack!" the archer yelled out as she shot a berserker bandit charging out of the forest. It missed but the dart that followed didn't. Both of them tried to jump on the moving carriage. One managed to grab on the horse and clambered on while the other jumped on but lost his grip, tumbling over to the side.
"Fire!" shouted someone ahead of them. A volley of crossbow bolts flew at them. Two got stuck in the lion girl's legs while one killed the driver, whose body slumped over the side and fell out.
"Botan! Anyone! Get the horses under control!" shouted Nene as Aloe burst out of the door of the carriage and swerved to attack the berserker on the horse while Lamy leaned out and tried to shoot a frost ray at him. However, the shaky carriage made it very difficult to get a hit in and they missed.
"They have crossbows!" shouted the archer as she grabbed the reins and tried to get the horses under control. A sudden song filled the carriage as Doris suddenly sang in a language they didn't understand and a wall of water appeared in front of the thundering carriage, absorbing the second volley of bolts, save two that got stuck in the succubus' shoulder.
"Let me try!" cried out the monk as she crawled down to the driver's seat as the horses suddenly slowed down under Botan's management. It wasn't really her fault as the berserker didn't let up and managed to slice her arm open as she tried to do two things at the same time. Polka whipped them several times and the horses bolted, thundering forward and bursting through the water wall, knocking over the bandit leader at the same time.
Meanwhile, the second berserker managed to catch up during the slowing down and grabbed onto the carriage. At the same time, Aloe landed on the roof and locked eyes with him. "Hey handsome, care to stay awhile and listen?"
His eyes glassed over and muttered, "Yes, mistress."
"Get off the carriage gently. Try not to harm yourself too much," she requested.
"Yes, mistress," he listened as he released his hold and tumbled on the ground, laying still as he came to a stop.
The carriage had one guy left hanging on, so Botan grabbed the greataxe and pulled, unbalancing the berserker. She then threw him off the horse, sending him crashing to the ground as they sped by.
"Shoot them! Shoot them!" shouted the captain. Once again, the volley of bolts rained against the back of the carriage. This time, the succubus deigned to protect the porter Doris hired, getting two bolts in her wings for the trouble. The bandits couldn't do anything else except watch them speed off towards the next town, cursing them as they got further and further away.
Aloe moved over to the entrance and asked, "Is everyone alright in here?"
"Yes, we are!" shouted Lamy as the carriage went over a stone, "Slow down! No one else is attacking us!"
"Alright! Alright!" shouted back Polka as she tried to get the horses under control again. Thankfully, they obeyed and slowed down to a canter.
"By the gods… I never experienced that before," muttered Doris as she calmed down.
"Ah… this is normally what happens, I guess," replied Nene sheepishly, "Things are just that..."
"Hng, I've heard of that before… never thought it would happen to me," the mermaid moaned as she leaned back, seemingly exhausted by it.
The carriage reached Nikubasa in good time. They left it at the stables as well as let the proprietors know what had happened to the driver.
"Ever went over the desert?" asked Nene with brimming curiosity.
"We have," quipped Polka, "We joined a merchant caravan in Huan Tuo to get to the capital."
"Yeah… we don't have deserts in Gekko so it was a new experience," added Botan as she looked towards the vast expanse, "It was a very dry experience."
"Ah, so… do we have any transport over the desert?" asked Aloe as Lamy and Doris walked over from the stablemaster.
"Unfortunately, the camel train was already hired out. We just missed it," informed the mermaid.
"Not to mention that if we need to use camels, we need to buy them..." continued the half-snow elf, "...as well as all the extra additions that came with them. Saddles for each camel and extra space for strapping down our backpacks. In my opinion, it is not worth purchasing if we only want to cross the desert once."
"So… we're crossing the desert on foot?" asked the bard, looking a little worried.
"Well, if you do not mind the detour to Port Viridis, we have to cross the desert," stated the mermaid, "And to be honest, I would prefer not having sand in my feet but… the message I got sounded like something important was happening and I had to get home as fast as I could."
"If it truly is that urgent, I would suggest keeping with the current pace and cross the desert," recommended the cleric.
"Hah, let's hurry up, I guess," agreed the archer as she shrugged, "We still have enough light to travel as far as we can, so let's get going."
In the face of that convincing argument, the mermaid triton relented. After stocking up on waterskins, the group stepped onto the hot sands and began traveling by foot. They walked as quickly as they could, over several dunes as the sun slowly dipped behind the horizon. They almost got caught in a fight between a few giant scorpions and a pair of bullettes but thankfully, the monsters were too busy trying to kill each other to notice them. Lucky for them as well as they didn't slip and tumble down the dune they were on. They reached a ruined area with no visible entrance which Botan and Polka said was a normal pitstop for traveling merchants. The triton requested them to stand in the middle of the area with her, and then asked them to give her a moment to cast something, so they obliged and waited patiently for her to finish,
She took out her lyre and started strumming a haunting melody. After getting into the music, she started singing...
I'm coming home,
I'm coming home,
Tell the sea I'm coming home,
Let the waves wash away,
All the pain of yesterday,
I know my kingdom waits,
My father greets me at the gates,
I'm coming home,
Yes, coming home,
Tell the sea I'm coming... home…
Very slowly, a blue aura shot upwards and fell around them like a shimmering dome. She then breathed a sigh of relief and said as she turned to them, "There. We can stay safely in the dome for the night."
"Er, what did you just do? What was all that?" asked Nene in confusion.
"Well, step outside the area and see."
At her urging, the group stepped outside. They gasped as they found a blue, opaque dome covering their sleeping area.
"Wah..." gushed the party as they went around and examined the dome in various places.
"So, we can go in and out freely?" asked Polka in amazement as poked her head into the dome.
"Yes," confirmed the mermaid bard as she sat down on the paved stone of the ruins, "If I cast it while you are inside, you are allowed to pass through freely as long as I stay inside. It is also very safe to stay here as nothing can attack us from the outside."
"Cool!" exclaimed the monk as she stepped in, "This is an amazing spell!"
"Yeah!" agreed Botan as she stepped in as well, "Right, I think we should eat up and turn in for the night."
Everyone else agreed with her whole-heartedly. As they took out their dry rations and shared their waterskins around, they chit-chatted amongst themselves. And it was mostly grilling Doris on life under the sea. After a while, they turned in for the night, with the mermaid triton dimming the light in the tiny hut to help them fall asleep under the starry night.
AN: Hello, readers. Welcome to the next chapter. After that unsettling night, the party visits Leda's priestess. Cue the face of the Tentacult. After a hint of horror, we go back to the guild and get a new request. Time to escort Doris home.
Doris
Triton Mermaid
Lore Bard
Mermaid princess from the deep seas. Not much to say about this.
Although, on a side note, this whole 'bringing Doris home' arc was being written out during the very stupid China fiasco. Sad to hear Hololive CN is graduating but what can you do? Fanatics can't be reasoned with.
And thus, it is time to bring her home. Thank you for reading and have a good day, dear readers.