Chapter 44
Damara quietly returned to her world, happy to see the black, empty abyss of her planet, with its occasional floating time pieces. But as she was about to return to her hive for a nap, she felt a ringing in her ears. Her vision began to go blurry, and soon she felt she was overwhelmed with the unmistakable presence of Lord English.
WITCH. YOU STILL HAVE MORE TO DO FOR ME. YOUR LEISURE TIME IS OVER. YOU MUST GO FAR FORWARD IN TIME, TO THE DEATH OF A UNIVERSE THAT WAS BORN FAR AFTER THESE EVENTS. FIND THE MIDNIGHT CREW. AND RECITE TO THEM THESE NUMBERS…
Lord English gave Damara the numbers, and she wrote them down. And then she did as she was asked, brandishing the Blade of Bitterness and about to give herself a minor cut to travel forward in time, when her Lord stopped her.
NO. YOU DO NOT NEED TO HURT YOURSELF ANY LONGER. THE POWER TO TRAVEL THROUGH TIME AT MY DISCRETION IS NOW WITHIN YOU. YOU ARE A LOYAL SERVANT. THIS IS YOUR REWARD.
Damara nodded, not showing any signs of gratitude or thanks. She simply took a deep breath and thought of the place that she was meant to go to. Her mind was flooded with a vision of a place she had never seen; a mansion that was completely green, and a city inhabited sparsely by strange creatures that looked like the Hegemonic Brute. This was her destination.
When she opened her eyes she found herself there, already standing in front of four men, one of which she partially recognized. The one in the center, evidently their leader, gasped in shock at her sudden arrival, branding his knife.
"It's some Felt mook! How the hell did she get in here?!" Spades Slick cried out.
"We don't exactly have time-travel-proof walls in here, boss!" Clubs Deuce pointed out.
"I'll deal with her," Diamonds Droog told the others, withdrawing a machine gun he had hidden in his coat. Damara was ready to say the numbers and leave, or fight if she had to, when the last Midnight Crew member spoke up:
"No, wait fellas. Hold your fire. I seen her before…somewhere," Hearts Boxcars explained. "Well, maybe not me, but I trust this girl."
"Too bad! We don't 'hold our fire' for nobody!" Spades Slick snapped. He was about to attack when Damara recited the numbers.
"Eh? What is she babbling in code for?" Spades Slick demanded.
Diamonds Droog's eyes lit up. "They're coordinates, boss. Where do these take us to, miss?" he asked Damara.
"They are…the coordinates to the Felt mansion," she told them. She wasn't quite sure what she was saying, and she didn't know how she had gotten that information. Maybe Lord English had supplied it to her. But could he even do that? Spades Slick gave a wicked grin at her.
"Thanks, girlie! You did good. We've been trackin' those green torsos for years. They always relocate, and they somehow take all their clocks with them, too! Who do they think they are, tryin' to be a rival to us?"
Damara took a deep breath and closed her eyes, getting this urge that it was now time for her to leave. She felt that there was not much to see here, anyway. So she did as she had before to get here and found herself back on her planet.
GOOD WORK. YOUR ACTIONS MAY HAVE SEEMED IRRELEVANT, BUT IT IS ALL PART OF MY WILL, TO EXTERMINATE A DISSENTER. NOW, GO TO PROSPIT THROUGH ANY MEANS. SEEK OUT THE BARD. IT IS THROUGH HIM THAT I WILL SHATTER HOPE.
. . . . .
Aranea came to LOTAS (Horuss' world) on Nelly, finally arriving after a long journey. The giant spider searched around for a moment before giving a hiss. Buster approached, and after he and Nelly made some animal-like noises, Aranea understood what they were explaining. She allowed Nelly to follow Buster, the two lusii galloping away to Horuss' hive.
There Aranea found Rufioh, collapsed at the bottom of the stairs of his now-dead matesprit's hive. Fidusprite fluttered around, nudging his head a bit to try and get him to keep going.
"1 can't, t1nkerbull…or 1s 1t F1duspr1te now? Whatever, 1 can't do anyth1ng anymore. 1'll just go back to sleep. 1 don't blame you for do1ng noth1n'. What could you do aga1nst Damara? Thanks for h1d1nd. 1 don't know where 1'd be 1f 1 d1dn't at least have you." Fidusprite snorted a bit, lifting his chin upward. Rufioh gasped in relief.
"Aranea! Hey, doll, what's shak1n? Me, not so much. 1 d1ed," he explained sheepishly. "But now 1'm back! And now Horuss 1s dead."
"Let me guess, Damara?" Aranea guessed. Rufioh nodded.
"She k1lled me f1rst, and then after Horuss brought me back 1n th1s horse body she k1lled h1m," he explained. "Where were you?" he asked. "We've hardly heard from you." Aranea's eyes began to water when he asked that question. She knelt down to give Rufioh a hug—or rather, his head, since the rest of him was cold and metallic.
"I'M SO SORRY, RUFIOH! I A8ANDONED YOU ALL! A8ANDONED YOU TO A SELFISH, INDULGENT LIFE 8EHIND A SCREEN!" Aranea sobbed.
"You ok, doll? 1 just asked where you've 8een, and what you've 8een do1n…"
"I've done practically nothing since 8ecoming God-tier."
"Whoa, what?! That sure sounds l1ke someth1ng to me!"
"No, you don't understand. Afterwards I just sat around, trolling a few people and giving marshmallows when necessary. 8ut I didn't actually do anything. I misunderstood my role and thought it didn't require much of me. I'm supposed to 8e the Sylph of Light, 8ut what have I done? Nothing!"
"I'm sure you d1d someth1ng. Maybe you just don't know yet," Rufioh suggested. "L1ke M1tuna. He got bra1n damage, you know, but even afterwards he was a b1g help, expla1n1ng what was go1n' on with Damara. Hav1ng just a b1t of understand1ng about the nature of the un1verse, or whatever 1t was he was talk1n' about…1t was k1nd of heal1ng."
"That's what I WAS SUPP8SED T8 D8!" Aranea wailed in frustration. "How can a retard like him know what the pro8lem is when I don't? All I did was waste my time away, sitting around and watching people and telling them what to do. 8ut I didn't do anything myself. I'm nothing like my ancestor."
"Huh?"
"Long story."
"Oh. Well, you could do some heal1ng w1th knowledge, too, you know. Heck, you probably have someth1ng to lay on me now!" Aranea dried her eyes for a moment, frantically hoping she could compose herself and find something suitable. She looked at Rufioh's horse body, and then reached into her sylladex to withdraw a marshmallow.
"This could pro8a8ly help with adjusting to your new 8ody," Aranea explained, handing Rufioh a purple U-shaped marshmallow. Rufioh ate it and found himself a bit stronger. As if it were the most normal thing in the world, he stood himself up on his hooves, feeling more balanced and nimble.
"Thanks, doll!" Rufioh cried, testing out his newfound walking ability. "See? That sure was some heal1ng power r1ght there! M1tuna couldn't do that!"
"You're welcome," Aranea replied, sniffling. "I know it didn't really have to do with knowledge—"
"Sure 1t d1d! You knew exactly what 1t would do w1thout even test1ng 1t out, and 1t was that KNOWLEDGE that made you want to heal me w1th 1t!" Rufioh countered. Aranea smiled back at him.
"I guess you're right. Sorry I was 8alling my eyes out. And don't tell Mituna that I called him a retard. I was just angry."
"1 don't th1nk he'd understand 1f 1 told h1m," Rufioh replied.
"Good. I wish I could stay and may8e help out with Horuss, 8ut I have to keep going. I was hoping to catch up with Damara, 8ut I see she isn't here."
"You were too late. But you could st1ll go and find Porr1m and Kankr1. They're over at one of the1r planets, probably Porr1m's. And 1 th1nk 1 can get you there."
"No thanks, I have Nelly," Aranea explained.
"No, 1 want to help!" Rufioh insisted. "F1duspr1te can keep her and Buster at peace. They can all bury Horuss together."
"You trust the 8ody of your m8sprit in the hands of 3 lusii?" Aranea asked.
"Well, they're the only ones we have left," Rufioh pointed out. "M1ght as well let them g1ve Horuss a decent funeral. He would have wanted 1t. 1 w1sh 1 could br1ng h1m back l1ke he d1d for me, but h1s dreamself 1s st1ll on Derse. So he should be f1ne."
"Well, ok. You seem to really want to help me," Aranea said, not sure how she could say know to Rufioh.
"Yeah. 1 don't have anyth1ng to do r1ght now, and 1 just wanna get out and do someth1n'. Please, could you just let me take you to Porr1m and Kankr1?"
"Sure, why not?" Aranea said, climbing onto Rufioh's back as he got down on his knees in a sitting position. Then he stood up and galopped off towards Porrim's gate.
"Now you all 8e nice and play safe!" Aranea cried. "And make sure to 8ury Horuss how you think he would want it!" Aranea called out. She wasn't quite sure if leaving the lusii alone was such a great idea.
But right now she had other priorities, like the friends that needed her to actually do something for once. And her mind was racing with possibilities.
AN: Just five more chapters to go until the Felt intermission! But first let me clear up something:
Lordpeanut figured out that I had made a mistake—a sort of contradiction, if you will—regarding Kurloz. Right before he went to go fight Prora Methos with Mituna and Latula, he killed himself on his Quest Bed to go God-tier before going on a rampage in Derse, angry that Meulin had been killed (so he went to go and destroy all the carapacians for the actions of a few). But then Mituna stopped him and brought him back down to normal sanity (in some sense) and he went to go fight off Prora Methos.
But after that had ended, I had forgotten that Kurloz was God-tier (there was a sort of hiatus right after Mituna got his brain damage). So I accidentally made Kurloz normal again and even made him go to Derse by dreaming, where he revealed his backstory to DD. So now I have to retcon all this, and I'm going to do so by having Prora Methos "turn him back" to regular after the fight. I know it's not really canon, but it's the only explanation I can think of.
So let me know if you see anything else! This work is big, and I'm perfectly willing to owe up to any slip-ups on my part. I know Kurloz wasn't in this chapter, but he'll be around later, so I need to clarify that as of the moment, he is normal and not God-tier—even though he once was.
