Chapter 22
A knock on the door woke Nene up. She yawned as she got out of her bed and groggily answered the door.
"Ah...yes?" she murmured as she waited for her mind to reawaken.
"Ahem, we may have a problem," Calixes informed her seriously, "Please come topside." He then walked to the stairs without waiting for her to reply.
Confused, she quickly washed her face and got dressed. After hurrying up to the top deck, her jaw almost dropped to the floor. The captain was facing a… something inhuman. It looked like a normal human man but coral and seaweed grew out of his head. He wore a robe of seaweed and thick kelp with shellfish trim. His skin, where visible, was dotted with barnacles and scales. He carried with him a staff made of a single coral.
"Erm, what is going on?" she asked as she came up from behind the captain.
"I see," said the strange man in a deep voice, "It was you and several others, I see."
She blinked a few times and asked, "I… what are you talking about?"
"I have been told of your fight with Ursula Brinedrinker," he continued in his deep voice, "My master is most amused."
"Er… you're welcome?" she muttered in surprise, not knowing what else to say.
He then clapped his hands once and said, "For this, he will not tithe this ship for wandering in his domain. In return, he wishes you to do something for him."
"What exactly?"
"There is an island to the south. Beneath the waves of that island lies a shrine. A thief stole something belonging to my master and has placed it there. You will retrieve my master's property and throw it into the sea. Do this and both you and the ones in control of this ship will be granted free passage through his territory… permanently," he offered, "No longer will you be under threat of attack while you sail through his territory. His protection is extended to you. What say you?"
"I… can I speak with my friends first?" she asked. This was… a big decision. While they had to bring the letter back to Lord Aruran, getting this benefit for both them and Captain Calixes is… tempting.
"If you must. Be quick. I cannot tarry any longer than needed," he told her.
She hurried back to their cabins and tried getting everyone up. Thankfully, a few of them were already up.
"Nene, is something happening?" asked Aloe, "I can feel something... strange in the air. What's going on?"
"Umm, there is this strange guy upstairs that is asking us to get something for his master," she informed them, "If we do this, we are granted safe passage if we ever find ourselves in their territory. We just need to visit a shrine and take it back."
"...Did his master tell us what kind of shrine it is?" asked Lamy with a frown, "I rather not steal from a shrine if I can help it."
"The guy didn't say… maybe we have to accept to find out?" she suggested as she shrugged.
"Hng, just accept it, I say," stated the succubus, "Even if he refuses to tell us, we can just decide when we get there."
"...I suppose..." mused the cleric, "I better wake the other two up and let them know about this."
"Then, I'll accept their request."
Captain Calixes was not very happy with our decision, but after being told that the island wasn't that far and that he would be able to sail faster through the mystery master's territory, he relented and took the party southwards. The island seemed to be sparsely covered with trees and bushes. Several wooden buildings surrounded by a wooden wall were in an open clearing at the center of the island. A simple dirt path connected the compound entrance, a large wooden gateway decorated with carved symbols, with a wooden pier that went further than normal. It was as if it was used to receiving large ships there.
"The shrine must be in one of those buildings," mused Nene as the ship docked.
"I hope you know what you're doing," stated Calixes as his men lowered the gangplank.
"We won't be long. No worries," she assured him with a smile as the party moved on down, "We'll be back soon."
"Hn, just don't get too over your head," he warned.
"I'll do my best to remember that. Thank you," she said as she walked down and joined her team. "Ready?" she asked, getting nods from the other four, "Right. Let's go find the mystery property."
They went up the dirt path and reached the entrance. The carved symbols on the wooden gateway began to glow blue the moment they were right in front of it. This put them on guard and made them hesitant to pass under it. However, since they were pressed for time, Botan decided to go through. Poking a toe past it didn't elicit a reaction. After taking a deep breath, she jumped through.
"Oh, no worries," she exclaimed in surprise. Turning to the rest of the party, she urged, "Come on! Let's go!"
The others strode on through… save for Aloe, who received a jolt of lighting which threw her back several feet away.
"Aloe!" shouted the others before dropping their packs and ran to check up on her.
"Urgh… I guess… I can't go through then," the succubus stated woozily as she tried to get her bearings.
"Ah, then I'll keep her company then," offered Polka.
"...Alright. Let's go Botan, Lamy," decided the bard.
The three then headed to the center of the compound and looked around. One large building overlooking the others. One medium-sized building on the left and one smaller one on the right. The center of the compound had a small well. A much smaller building, presumably the outhouse, was the furthest building.
"Where do we look first?" muttered Botan as she glanced over the buildings.
"What do we have here..."
The three girls spun around to find a white-furred kitsune standing before them wearing a shrine maiden outfit.
"Greetings, visitors. My name is Ayane. What brings you here today?" she asked.
They glanced at each other, hesitant to reply, but eventually, Nene said, "Hello, I'm Nene. Um… we are here to... get some stolen property back."
"Hmm, I can't say that I know of any stolen property here," the kitsune mused as she tilted her head, "This place mostly only receives offerings of foodstuffs and rarely, gold… However, there has been a lack of visitors to the shrine lately. Those that do have been frightened by strange sounds as well as mysterious cracks suddenly appearing on their ships."
"That's strange… Do you mind if we find out what's going on?" she asked.
"I do not. If anything, it would put my mind at ease," replied the shrine maiden.
"Alright… umm, do you have any clue of where to start?" she continued the line of questioning.
"Well… as far as I know, the visitor's come from the west, so perhaps one would start there," the kitsune said after some thought.
"Thank you for your time, Miss Ayane," said the bard gratefully. The three of them bowed before leaving the compound and rejoining the other two.
"Hng… we have to fight in the water again?" moaned Polka.
"I think we might be up for a hard time," muttered Aloe with a frown, "We don't have those rings anymore… how do we do this?"
"...Maybe get the captain's help?" suggested Botan.
"That's not such a bad idea..."
Captain Calixes was reluctant to put his men in danger but he allowed them to ask them anyway. A few of them volunteered in spite of the potential danger and were willing to help scout out the west of the island. It wasn't long before one of the sailors discovered an underwater entrance to a sea cave. The one that found it then led the party there.
"Thank you, sir. That was very kind of you," said Nene gratefully to the young man while the others got out of the water.
"It was no problem… you don't mind if I stay here, right?" he asked nervously as Polka, Aloe, and Lamy flopped on the ground, breathing heavily.
"...sure, I don't. We are part of the adventurers guild after all. We are prepared for this," muttered the bard in reply after Botan shook her mane vigorously, showering the both of them with more seawater.
The lion girl grinned and said, "Done. Let's find the mystery thing and get this over with."
After getting the others to their feet, the party trudged down the tunnel of the cave, which ended at a small alcove with a large stone. Working together to move it, Botan and Polka rolled the stone aside and the room beyond opened up to a single cavernous area. In the middle were skeletons of various heights propped up against stalagmites and stakes driven into the ground, among other things. Some of the skeletons were wearing armor and holding on to various weapons, a few that seemed to be gleaming a bit… or was it a trick of the light? The surface grave was bordered by four human-sized, violet mushrooms. Off to the side was a large pool of water, calm and serene.
"What is this place?" the bard asked as she looked around the dank, dimly lit cave, "Is something living here?"
"Shine. Float," commanded Polka as she let her driftglobe float above her. The ceiling was low and faint-glowing moss was growing in patches.
"What strange things," stated Lamy as she glanced at the mushrooms.
"Careful, Lamy. Don't touch those," warned the lion girl, "They can sprout tentacles that can rot your skin."
"Urgh, that sounds disgusting," muttered Aloe as she wrinkled her nose, "Other than those, I don't see anything here that might be the thieves."
Shrugging, the fennec fox girl walked over to the pool of water. It was dark and briney, with very little light being able to pierce through the darkness. "Nothing here," she yelled as she turned to the rest of the party.
The half-snow elf was at a loss as to how to get past the violet fungi. She was, however, able to see that the skeletal remains of the victims were propped up like gruesome trophies. She grimaced and muttered, "Such horrible-"
A loud yell echoed through the tunnel, getting everyone's attention to the entrance.
"Is he alright?" asked Nene aloud.
"...the thieves might be back already," warned Botan as she unshouldered her bow, "Better get ready."
With bated breath, they watched the entrance of the cave, with Polka not noticing a dripping figure rising out of the water behind her. A large lobster-like monster stepped through the doorway, the sailor with his neck snapped in its claws. Some odd static in the air began as it caught sight of them.
"Watch out!" yelled Lamy, pointing behind the monk, who then tumbled forward before turning around. Her eyes went wide as she realized how close she was to being caught by those large pincers.
"Anyone know what these are?" asked Botan as the two monsters slowly came closer to them, the one at the entrance dropping the body beforehand.
"I've only heard stories of them," replied Nene as she raised her rapier, "Monsters serving bigger monsters."
"You got that right," confirmed Aloe, "Chuul used to be servants of crazy strong monsters that hunted for magical treasure. Just don't get caught. Their mouth tentacles can paralyze you."
"Good to know," shouted Polka worriedly as she stood her ground in front of the cleric, "I just hope I can crack their shells."
The succubus circled around the mushroom patch, keeping an eye on the chuul in front of her. The lore bard did the same as she strummed her lute, hoping her words would dull the senses of their would-be opponents. It was then the archer that struck first, her arrows pelting its face, cutting off one of the tentacles in the process. It let loose something in between a roar and a shriek and charged. The first pincer missed, but it second clamped down on Aloe's wing as she shrieked in pain, It pulled her in and its tentacles reached out to wrap around her neck.
The second chuul decided to go after the monk but its pincers couldn't grab the constantly swaying monk. She struck back with surprising power. When the cleric's spells and spectral weapon, a mace, bounced off its shell or missed, Polka's kicks left its abdominal area cracked and throbbing.
"Damn it, let go!" yelled Aloe as she squirmed around, trying to get out of its pincers through wriggling and clawing.
"Let her go!" shouted Nene, the thin rapier finding purchase in the softer, fleshy joints of the chuul in its leg. An arrow found the same, in the pincer holding on to the succubus' wings.
It bellowed and tried grabbing at the lore bard while still trying to poison its victim. It was successful and to the surprise of the party, threw her at the nearest violet fungus. Luckily, she was agile enough to make sure she didn't fall down too near it. The same couldn't be said for the monk, who experienced the same thing and this time fell right next to the purple mushroom. She screamed when two tendrils shot out and whipped her, leaving dark streaks of dead cells on her skin.
"My goddess guides you," chanted Lamy softly after she directed the spirit weapon to continue its attack.
"Take this!" shouted Polka, her punches tearing apart the mushroom before running towards the cleric and standing in front of her defensively.
Meanwhile, Aloe finally got loose after her claws cut off one of the chuul's mouth tentacles, its pincers loosening in reaction to the pain.
"Nice one! Let's turn this one into dinner!" shouted the lore bard, both encouraging her friend and mocking the aberration.
It merely bellowed in response before getting cut off as two arrows got lodged in its mouth. It hastily snapped the shafts off and reached out with its pincers.
"Watch out!" shouted Nene as she avoided one pincer. Even after the warning, the other pincer got hold of the succubus around her arm.
"Urgh, disgusting!" she shouted as she tried pushing the tentacles away with her free hand. She then let out a startled cry as she felt her whole body lock up suddenly.
Meanwhile, the monk received the same treatment, the other chuul subjecting her to its mouth tentacles after clamping a pincer around her waist. It then moved out of the way of the spirit mace, which crashed down on the floor, chipping at the rock. It then received a faceful of bright light as the cleric sent a bolt of radiance into its eyes. This allowed Polka to punch it in the mouth and stunning it, letting her go. It slumped over, still standing, while its pincers hung down loosely by the side of its body.
"Let her go!" shouted Nene, jamming her rapier in its claw joint. Succubus in question had lashed out at the tentacles and missed since she had to overcome the paralysis, but at least distracted the chuul and wrenched her arm loose. Two more arrows pierced the chuul's chest in the joints.
"Get down!" the bard shouted again, pulling Aloe down with her and both of them avoided the pincers.
"You will not harm them further," shouted Lamy as she fired a ray of frost at its head, while mentally directing the bludgeoning of the other.
"Ha! Nice, Lamy!" cheered on the monk as she continued raining blows on the enemy's head.
"Guh, I should use my daggers if I can't get through this," ground out the succubus as her claws kept scraping against the chuul's shell.
"Would be a better idea," the lore bard replied as she found another fleshy joint to stab, mentally counting another two arrows in the chuul's chest.
Already bleeding out a lot of blue-colored blood, it bellowed out in pain and carefully walked backwards, waving its pincers in front of it to fend off its attackers. Not that it helped, as another stab in the joint and a lucky claw slash still went past its defenses.
At the same time, the other chuul toppled over as the spectral mace crashed through its head and crushed the insides. The half-snow elf then focused her attention on the violet fungi, sending a ray of frost at one.
"I want to take the bodies down and put them to rest," she stated when Polka sent her a questioning look.
"Ah, I'll help then," the latter replied and then pulverized another.
That little exchange got the others to agree and cut down a third mushroom, with Botan pausing to send a final arrow into the retreating chuul's mouth. It then fell forward and onto the arrows already in its entire body.
"Thank you, everyone," the cleric said gratefully as she froze the final violet fungus over. She then walked over and shattered it to pieces with her mace.
AN: Hello, readers. Welcome to the next chapter. So, when we left the party, we were repairing the ship. Now, we have a mysterious visitor asking them to retrieve some sort of item for him. He is actually a kraken priest speaking on behalf of his master. They don't really know that, having never encountered one before. So, this enticing detour goes all over the place before settling into an underwater cave. So, chuul's are large lobster-like creatures with tentacles coming out where their mouths are supposed to be. Supposedly, some sort of snake-like creature implanted there by aboleths, another monstrosity. I dunno if I wanna feature one yet but, who knows?
After they settle this debacle, Holo5 will continue on their journey back to Rivirapolis. Thank you for reading and have a good day, dear readers.