"I think we can cut a deal here. Her life for mine," offered Keke as she stood over the fallen Whelp.

The illusionary withered old man was briefly shocked but then cracked a thin smile."I see from your shackles that she had you bound to her service. Sadly, these mists play tricks on all types of magic, especially those of a more permanent nature. Did her hold on you weaken?"

Keke wasn't sure what the old man was babbling about. "Sure, sure. Whatever. Do we have a deal?"

The old man cackled as she pointed at the fallen Whelp. "Aye, but first bring her along. A high priestess, she's quite the prize, one that I'll gladly trade to give you your freedom. However, I tire, and I do not wish to wait for my other servants to arrive. The faster you assist me, the quicker I'll send you on your way. Though I've lived over thousands of years, time…time is fleeting."

Keke rolled her eyes. She bet that she lived way longer than this stinking fish creature. As for his statement, well…she's learned to take up a hobbies to pass her time. Or even expand one's social network. Besides Selexia, there was that Balor General Orloxus, he was always good to talk shop with. The Cambion duel master Malleus, always good for a sparring match. A few Babau demons she often diced with, and of course….

Eliaos? Keke's mind suddenly drifted to an image of the bloodied and impaled formed of a winged Celestial. Why was she standing over him? Why was she covered in blood? Why was she carrying his scimitar?

"Watch your head lady," said the old man bringing Keke back to the present.

She wasn't sure how, but she found herself carrying Whelp over her shoulders as they she followed the old man. They were going down a spiral stair case with a low ceiling, and she wasn't sure why or how long she had been following him. This wasn't part of the plan. Was his mental powers subverting her will? Or maybe she was suffering from some random blackouts. While that former did not seem likely, she couldn't rule it out. She had been trapped in this mortal frame for a while now, and with these shackles and mists surrounding her, who knows what that was doing to her mental state.

"…..as I was saying," said the illusionary old man, oblivious to the fact that Keke wasn't even paying attention previously. "I had lived in the Alphatian sewers for millennia. Always hiding out of sight, living in their refuse, while gathering my strength. What irony that the gods decided to strike them down before I could. In a single night, they tore the great magical realm from the surface of Mystara and sent them to who knows where? Some speculate there is a dimension for failed civilization to slowly decay, but who can say? All I know was that I was the king that I always wanted to be, but sadly I lord over only my slaves and the occasional shipwrecked voyagers."

Keke suppressed a yawn. Even without knowing this creature, she detested his like. Those that scheme forever and never make a move was worse than those that seized a chance and failed. Whatever success this creature had gained was due to chance and fate rather than his own desire.

"Eh? What was that? Fate you say? My telepathy isn't as good as it used to be, especially with these mists, but yes, you are right. I'm a mere ship caught on the current of fate. One of the reasons for the downfall of Alphatia, was that they were all caught up in destiny and some bizarre prophecy about lost scrolls and eclipses. It was all over my head, literally heh, but I did catch a bit of their prattling. "

"Eh? What did they forsee?"

"Oh, the sun being eaten, demons taking over the world, that type of nonsense. Honestly, I've heard it over a thousand times in the past, but this time those golden mages took it seriously. Perhaps a bit too seriously. Many of their finest archmages left Alphatia to avoid this fate, and as you can guess, their absence sort of caused this magical catastrophe around them."

"Hmm, that doesn't make sense. Why would the sudden exodus of powerful mages cause a mass magical disaster? Shouldn't their self-exile postpone a magical disaster?"

The old man stopped and sighed as he shook his head. "If this was two thousand or even one thousand years ago I would agree, but Alphatia was doomed a long time ago. As you know magic flows around the world, but its use…no let me be more specific, its extravagant use weakens the fabric of reality. Which we all know is the cause of random monsters, zombie invasions, magical storms, cursed items, and the like. It's one thing for …let's say a shaman to make water for his tribe, it's another thing to power an entire empire's hydro systems based on a gateway to the plane of water. The Alphatians learned too late what excessive usage of magic can do, but instead of restricting its deployment, they foolishly used more and more magic to hold reality together. What hubris! Well, what first became a few epic spells casted by some archmanges, became a council of archmages maintaining the magic, to the fabled mystic circle of a thousand wizards of the ….get this…the thirty sixth order! Thirty six! It's insane I tell you. I remember when a mage reached the eighteenth order he was consider the be all and end all of his craft, but these foolish Alphatians needed a thousand wizards of the thirty sixth order to keep their country from destroying itself."

Keke scoffed at that notion. Thirty six was surely an exaggerations, an a thousand of them was simply ridiculous. "So, a few of these mages left and then the country imploded on itself?"

"Well, yes and no. There was a costly war with Glantri, and many of their upper echelon mages was caught up in an anti magical barrier and slain. After that, it was all the remaining mages could do to keep the spells holding this country intact."

"Rats are the first to leave a sinking ship…."

"Yes. Given the dire prophecy and the impending doom of their country. Many of the remaining mages simply left. Combined that with said exiles, and it was only a matter of time till they could not maintain the spells needed and…well….this is what you see. Whether it was the gods' anger or simply the result of their pride. This few collection of ruined islands surrounded by this damned mist are all that is left of Alphatia."

"A shame," said Keke suppressing a chuckle. She loved sad tales of mortals done in by themselves. Sometimes she wondered if they even needed demons to cause their downfall since they do such a good job of it themselves.

After a few more levels of steps, the pair reached a large, but well-lit cavern. Surrounding them was a mountain of treasure, both cultural and monetary. Sitting next to piles of gold and jewels, were statues, paintings, and even strange devices that looked more decorative than functional. Besides a few weapons, it was all junk in Keke's opinion even though it was probably worth a fortune to some of those long perished foolish mortals.

"Put her on the table please," said the old man.

Keke looked confused until she finally spotted something resembling a large stone coffin next to a large circular pool. Though it did have straps, it did not look like a sacrificial altar since there was a lack of blood stains on it. As she flopped Whelp onto the table, she got a whiff of the dark pool's nauseous scent. While Keke had sailed above the rivers Styx and Lethe, and even ventured onto the dark swamps of Dagon and the raging oceans of Gaping Maw, this large pool was easily as fetid and stagnant as any of them. In fact, she wondered if pool was too generous of a term, and if it was simply a large cesspit? If this creature had lived for a thousand years, then it probably had never changed its water.

"Ah, I am flattered. I can't read all your thoughts, but you've compared my home to the Styx and Gaping Maw. Isn't that Demogorgon's realm?" said the illusionary old man. " While my sense of smell is somewhat muted, I do detect an abyssal scent on you? Are you perhaps a demon in disguise?"

Keke held out her shackles. "I can show you if you removed these."

The old man looked at her bounds and shook his heads. "Curious artifacts you have, but sadly I can not remove them. It would a need a command word, or perhaps a master lock smith could remove it, but I have neither at my disposal. They are interesting though, shifter shackles, specifically ones from the the Emerald Throne. Those are meant to hold even a dragon you know. Which isn't surprising considering how many plague those realms."

Keke had never faced a dragon, since they are very rare in the outer planes, but she had heard of them. They were large, almost impossibly colossal lizards that were partially composed of the four elements as well as having a healthy infusion of magical essense. They were supposedly dangerous creatures, the most powerful of them able to challenge a demon lord or even a minor god on equal terms. If Keke could ever escape her bounds and retrieve her scimitar, she would like to seek one out and face it to see if their myth matched their actual might.

"I've summoned one of my servants," said the old man as she marveled over Whelp's prone body. "He'll guide you back through the mists and take you to your boat. I can temporarily negate the power of the mists for you to escape. Though if I were you, I would stay here or return to whatever plane you hail from within the next month."

"Eh? What's in the next month?"

"The prophecy remember? This whole civilization was destroyed because of fear of this prophecy. It's said that on the year of the great yak of the woods, the gates of Abaddon will be unleashed on the first full eclipse. Then Asuras will flood into the world, destroying everything until some mythical hero figures arises and puts them back in their place."

"Great year of the Yak? Mystical hero figure?"

"1250 after the crowing by Thyatian years, or 1374 after the Duke in Grommish times though that event with Yeenoghu messed their chronology up, the 214th cycle of the mystical Ram, by the Emerald throne Zodiac, 413 double jam berry year, by the Halfling Almanac…it doesn't matter what you call it. It's the year of Armageddon where the hordes of demons are no longer kept out of the mortal realms. As for the Mystical hero? I am not the one to ask for that. Supposedly the priestess in charge of keeping the seal that held the demons or Asura at bay, will rise up from the grave and unite a great artifact that was sundered in three, and use that to seal the demons. A scroll or book in some reports. I've heard that Taraksun one the Asura lords has one of them, and the other two are lost. I doubt this hero will have an easy time to get it. In fact, while some of the Alphatian mages are optimistic and say the demon invasion will only last shortly before this hero fixes it, others say it might take several generations, or maybe a millennia for the scroll to be recovered and united and therefore they left for greener pastures on other worlds. I have heard the current priestess of the holy temple is very capable."

"Priestess that keeps the demons at bay? Holy Sampada?"

"Yes. I believe that is what they call her. While I am shut in my little island, my ears extend far. "

Keke snorted a laugh. "Hah. Then she won't be saving the world anytime soon. I stuffed her in a bottle and umm I was defeated and….lost her…."

The old man stopped and stared at Keke and then to Whelp. "You captured her in a bottle? This woman has holy Sampada?"

"No, not her," chuckled Keke. "Some old guy in yellow robes, or his boss, some snotty nosed princeling. But regardless….I don't think holy Sampada is going to rescue the world anytime soon, since she needs rescuing herself. And believe me, those guys are not pushovers. It sounds like we should be expecting the several millennia option."

The old man considered her words then shrugged. "Regardless, I can wait it out here. And it appears I have a consort to accompany me during those long years of demonic rule. I watched the battle, and your mistress has powerful divine magic at her command, perhaps more powerful than my own abilities. Her runes provide her with unparalleled magical protection, but not against my particular brand of power. Or perhaps it was the mists interfering with their usage, I do not know. If she had more experience dealing with my psychic abilities she might have been able to defeat me, but for now fortune favours me, and I will convert her to my eternal slave. Those others I recently captured were weak, and frankly, uninteresting. I used them to create more simple skum, but your mistress here, now she has potential."

Keke rolled her eyes. She hated Aboleths, and their slime magic. Besides being disgusting, she preferred fear and intimidation on slaves, rather than coat them with slime and messin with their brains. The whole process was just so…unclean…and that's a lot coming from a demon.

As Keke reeled in disgust, several green and pink tentacles began to crawl out of the fetid cesspool. They looked and moved like huge earthworms as they stretched and undulated towards the stone table and then crawled upwards towards Whelp.

"Pardon me," said the old man. "I was going to wait till my guard escorted you off the island, but her presence here is intoxicating. I must have her now."

Keke shrugged and waved the old man to continue.

The tentacles reached Whelp and then began to fumble around with her armour and her clothes, stripping the parts that weren't strapped or tightly tied on, exposing her tall muscular body covered with glowing tattoos. Several large lumps then began to travel from the pit, and through the length of the tentacles until they bloated the tip of the appendages, before spraying green goo over Whelp's face, and the portions of her breasts, stomach, and legs that were now exposed. The liquid was quite runny and quickly covered the unconscious woman in a light green glistening coat. Afterwards, the tentacles moved closer and began to entwine around her body, slithering and squeezing underneath Whelp before reappearing on the other side to wrap and fondle her….

"That's enough, you perverted overgrown fish,"said Kalikekeztra. With the tentacles anchored on Whelp, Keke easily grabbed all four of them, pulling them together with her inhuman demonic strength, before wrapping them up twice into her grip. While she could have attempted this earlier, she was afraid they might have been too slippery and waited till they wrapped around Whelp first to prevent their escape.

"What…what is the meaning of this!" protested the old man. He attempted to step in front of Keke, but the demoness simply ignored him as she walked through him away from the pit. With a mighty tug, she yanked a large bloated catfish creature onto the platform and dragged it towards her.

"You think I'm stupid. You think I've never faced an Aboleth before?" she yelled at the slippery abomination that was flopping helplessly before her. "I know about your crappy illusions, while they are good, probably the best in the world, they hide the real you. I wasn't going to make my move till I can get my hands on your ugly fishy body…"

"But why? I offer you freedom!"

"Hah, as if. I might be too much for you to handle, but you'll just let some of your other seacritter friends to finish me off. You think I believed that part where you can control the mists to release me? I'll take my chances with her thank you," said Keke as she pulled the disgusting slimy fish before him. When the creature was significantly away from the pool, Keke stomped on it's back, shaking the cavern in the process. Despite its slime, thick blubbery skin, and armored carapace, Keke was rewarded with a satisfying crack from her efforts.

"You…you would side with this..human..over me? I thought you …were a demon?"

Keke stomped the fish again, before yanking the tentacles and spinning around, tossing the giant broken fish into a particularly large statue. The Aboleth struck with a wet smack, before slowly oozing its way down to the ground. Before it fell however, Keke was on it like a flash, smashing her knee into its hard armored head and even exploding one of its multiple eyes in the process.

"This human has saved me twice, which is more than what I can say for you. I wouldn't have even gone with this whole charade if I hadn't noticed your mental powers breaking down her will. She would be too hard to placate in that state. I wouldn't have gotten her back to the ship, let alone sail away. Myself however, I'm used to your fishy mind tricks, and I just played along till I got a good shot at you."

"No…please spare me….I…I can serve you….I've lived a thousand years under the Alphatians and know their secrets…I can…"

Keke had just enough of this big blubbering fish. She raised her heel above its head before bringing it down hard straight through its skull. No amount of magical fish slime could save it, as yellow puss sprayed the room.

Keke then waited to see if some of the Aboleth's servants would come to avenge their master, but when none showed up she happily picked through the fish monster's assorted loot to refill her arsenal.

After a few hours of scavenging, Whelp finally began to stir.

"Where...where am I. Ahh..my head….feels like I downed a bottle of wine, maybe two. Wait…why am I half naked…why am I covered in slime….."

"We are even now. Actually I think you owe me."

"Eh?" asked Whelp, as she fumbled around her pack for a dull grey sarai to cover herself with.

"Remember that arranged marriage you were so against, well let's just say there are worse things in life."