Gummadoon Councilchamber
Sarrika exited the main councilchambers, her mind on the fact that they could seek no further answers from either the pursuit of a new Gummadoon Staff or the book from which they'd received word of such defeating news. They... could not lock Emi Gummi away.
"Healer Sarrika?"
She looked up from her thoughts, her eyes latching onto the face of Karleni. The haggard bearess looked a bit improved from her previous state, which was encouraging, but Sarrika had no idea what brought her out of her research so soon. "Did you find something?" Please let it be so!
"Yes, but... Well, I'd found a clue to," and she leaned near to whisper the last word. "Concordia."
"Yes?" If such could be retrieved, perhaps they could use it to seal or even heal Emi of whatever had poisoned her in the first place, for surely no gummi went insane without cause. She believed that with all her heart, just as she knew the way Emi Gummi was now would lend no mercy if she chose to attack anyone or anything. She'd come to embody the nightmare of two traits no gummi possessed: bloodthirsty and merciless.
"It's not going to help, though. It's divided into parts, according to legend, and a piece to each clan. We've no time to ask around or search for such a thing, though it states that the location of each piece is found with those who keep knowledge. I... I'm not good with riddles but the part about it being divided and each piece far apart from the second was quite clear. Is your research proving more fruitful?"
Sarrika looked away from the mother's pleading eyes. "I, too, found similar information. The Gummadoon Staff which was key to imprisoning Emi cannot simply be remade. It would take too long and require magical power we simply don't possess at this time."
"But... what of if and when she attacks? The stories I'd heard as a teen, and what happened yesterday with the sleep sand..." Karleni shuddered. Not even being possessed by Lady Bane could frighten her like Emi Gummi. Make her hate herself for being weak, hate herself for what she'd been made to do to her son, but not afraid. She felt she might be able to stand up to that sorceress, though she hadn't felt the witch's grip on her of late. No, she feared Emi, who had possessed her so easily and not over the course of days, weeks, as Lady Bane had. She was not certain if she could fight Emi possessing her and it terrified her.
"Well, we'll simply go together. There must be something in the darker subject material about combatting such evils. There has to be. And we must not shy away from those stories. We must remember all we can of what she could do, because in doing so we can better arm ourselves against the types of attacks that may come."
Thus fortified with a new mission, the two lady gummies continued back down to the older libraries to seek the ancient knowledge buried therein.
Gummi Glen, the site of Emi's Prison
Amid the broken glass, the stone walls, and the black aura of stinging misery and acrid loss of hope, Corvi's sobs rang against the silence. "I can't..."
Not even gruff Sir Ramsei moved to urge him up.
Plucki sighed softly, so sick of the terribleness of the room, of the lack of light and good. It ate at one's soul to be here. But he once more braved the place and knelt by the yellow-furred cub who'd placed his head against the wall, his bloody hands fallen limply into his lap. "Corvi... I'm not Sir Blastus but I'm here for you. We all are. Lean into me, boy. I've got you."
Mentally wrecked, Corvi did not resist the knight-captain's gentle hands pulling him near. The teen then began wailing into his chest, letting out tears of anguish and anger and fear.
Those waiting outside the room gave them space. They were glad to do it. Sirs Gumlittle and Ramsei were first to enter again into the brighter halls of Gummi Glen, followed by Sunni, Gruffi, and Zummi.
Gruffi shook his head. "To think, all this time..."
Zummi similarly looked lost. "It's... unspeakable, what that ditch wid... er, witch did."
"My poor grandmother..." Sunni looked back in the direction of Emi's prison. "All those poor souls... Gruffi? Zummi?" She faced the elders of her clan, the father figures in her life who'd helped raise her. "How in the world did all this happen? Why doesn't anyone know how Emi got to be like this, or why she did?"
Gruffi looked on Sunni and saw no fear in her eyes. Nope. That was anger, determination. She wanted answers. "We just... don't know."
"But... all those spirits... There's gotta be at least one who knows. Right? Well, I'm gonna go back and ask."
"Sunni, I don't-"
Ignoring Gruffi's protests, the Glen girl turned on her heels and ran back to the dark room containing the remains of Emi's prison.
None of the others followed her. Were they that scared? She didn't wanna be in this room any more than necessary but this felt necessary to her. They had to at least take this chance while they could, while they had a translator. And Sir Plucki was even walking toward her with Corvi.
"Corvi, I know you've been through a lot but I gotta ask... I have an important question for the spirits here and if they answer I need you to translate. Can you do that?"
At first reluctant, the blonde gummi squire stood straighter and gave a confident nod.
Passing him first a smile of thanks, Sunni took in a breath, let it out, and called into the darkness, "Hello? Can you still speak to us?" She knew it probably took a lot of energy to appear, to even speak, if they were trapped in this place and not allowed to pass on but she had to try and get them to do it again.
When silence met her query, she called again. "Please? We need to know why Emi went crazy. How did a gummi turn into, well, something like her?"
She felt it first, then sounds could be made out. Voices from the dark began to stir. Very faint at first but she was patient and listened carefully. So did Corvi. Good, because, like before, they only spoke in Old Gummi.
The blonde-furred squire looked from the walls where the voices originated to the yellow-furred Glen girl who'd rushed back in to pester the spirits for more answers. He heard them, knew the words they spoke, but it was the strength behind them and not the meaning which made him gasp.
Sunni threw a glance at Corvi but daren't take her eyes off the wall in case another spirit materialized to speak to them. "What... what are they saying?" Because it was a 'they' and not a single voice. Sounded like they were all saying the same thing, over and over, and as loud as they could.
Corvi gave a brief shudder, felt under Sir Plucki's comforting hold on his shoulder. "They, uh, they're saying 'altered self'."
"So... she changed herself?"
The squire shook his head. "That's what it translates to. What the words mean is that she's got a tainted soul. It's been warped, somehow. They must be able to see it or feel it because, well, they're souls, too." He paused, cleared his throat, because it had cracked in a very dramatic crescendo on the word 'souls'. Stupid body changes... He ignored it as best he could, thankful the two gummies with him didn't make mention of it, and added, "I don't think they know how it happened, Sunni. Just that something did happen to make her turn out the way she is."
Sir Plucki lessened his supportive hold on Corvi. The boy seemed much more centered after Sunni returned. "Thank you, Sunni." He chose not to specify thanks for helping get Corvi's mind off his father's soul or for the information gathered but it was implied in the thanks that both were meant.
The Glen girl smiled at the knight's gratitude. "Any time, Sir Plucki. We all want answers. It just seemed a good idea to ask. It wasn't much but maybe some more information can be pieced together from that? You guys have Lady Bane kind of trapped so maybe you can grill her for more specific information because that witch has to know something about Emi. If she says no, I wouldn't believe her."
"Agreed." Plucki remarked.
As they started out of the prison room once more, the three remained quiet. They were greeted expectantly by Sir Ramsei, Sir Gumlittle, Gruffi, and Zummi when they passed the worst of the depressing presence of dark magic surrounding the area.
"Did we hear correctly? Emi Gummi has a tainted soul?" Sir Ramsei asked, his eyes sharp and tone right to the point. Truthfully, Sir Plucki had seen him like this before. He tended to act like this when he was working around a fear.
"Yes." Plucki replied, continuing to lead them out of the Glen's lower levels. Gruffi and Zummi stayed close by him to catch every word, as did Sunni. "Perhaps it was a corrupting magic sickness that infested her soul, found when she went looking for too much magic power. Or someone may have done this to her as a curse. Either is a possibility. We know a little more, but it is little more. It's time to return, gather together all that we've discovered, and be as prepared as we can. If nothing else, time has taught us that Emi Gummi is relentless. She's subtly been targeting Gummadoon. It's only a matter of time until she attacks. Regrettably, time is not on our side."
The frank speech Sir Plucki gave did not dishearten the group but strengthened their resolve to get back faster and be prepared for anything that may come.
Outside Dunwyn Castle
Their stay of rest lasted only three hours before both Sir Timothi and Healer Sarrani could take no more of the inactivity. They'd shared a rather nice stuffed quail and fresh baked bread which made them drowsy but neither actually slept. Lay down next to each other on a provided bed, yes. Listen to the comfort of the other breathing, most assuredly. It was such a luxury, though, it ate at the both of them until they'd sat up as one and said, "We really need to go." Grinning at how in sync they were, the engaged couple had sought Queen Calla again.
"We've a carriage awaiting you which will carry you swiftly back to Gummadoon. Though both myself and Squire Cavin are very willing to accompany you, I fear we're needed here to fortify the castle and make plans if this threat you've warned us about comes anywhere near Dunwyn. We eagerly await word of what you discover in Gummadoon and can lend aid as needed."
"I agree, Your Majesty, and thank you in advance." Sarrani said.
And that had been that. She and Tim had boarded the carriage quickly and off they now were, headed straight for Gummadoon.
As the carriage wheels clacked and bumped against the rocks of the road, their legs bouncing and swinging in the too-large seats of the conveyance, Sarrani glanced over at Tim, seated across from her. He gave her a nod of encouragement and a smile, which she returned. Who knew what they were venturing toward, or away from, but Gummadoon must be warned.
Lady Bane's Palace, Hidden Antechamber
Councilors Berrybottom and Wooddale entered the hidden section of rotting room, followed by Gusto, Grammi, Sirs Kai and Horli.
Berrybottom stepped closer to Ecri and Lucki and held a hand out for the fragile manuscript in Lucki's grasp. "Let me see. I am fair in Latin."
Lucki started to hand it to him but his arms stopped pushing forward. The cub frowned. Not just any frown but a deep frown of concentration. He then turned his eyes up to Sir Ecri. "You better take it. She's not gonna give it up without a fight."
When Berrybottom took the tome, Lucki's dialogue turned inward. Knock it off! This isn't even yours so it's not like we're gonna learn any of your secrets!
I am fluent in Latin, brat! You're all wasting time!
Oh, you're one to talk! If you'd stop making such a fuss, we could get our answers sooner and actually prepare for Emi's assault, maybe even find a way to defeat her.
"Oh dear..." Berrybottom said under his breath, his eyes darting between Wooddale and the manuscript in his hands. "This is... a sort of documentation of Emi's exploits. She's... actually gloating about how easy it was to turn humans against us." He gulped, not having the stomach for more of that sort of thing.
"Here." Sir Ecri beckoned for the journal. "I can read Latin. Some anyway."
And the manuscript was passed to the lavender-furred knight.
"Yes," Ecri said, paling at the content. "It's... fairly descriptive. I can..." He trailed off as Lucki, next to him, sank slowly to his knees.
Grammi, seeing Lucki's body go lax, marched up to him and said to the possessor inside him, "You leave that poor boy alone, you hear me?" the Glen matriarch demanded.
Lady Bane, taking over the cub's worn body, smirked mightily up at her. "This is my area of expertise and my home that you've invaded. I suggest you alter your tone, and give me access to that manuscript. I grew up with Latin lessons, among other things. Let me see it. Now."
The gummies passed a round of looks, none of them willing to trust Lady Bane, however they felt they had little choice if there was even a chance she could aid in their research, or even speed it up.
The tome was passed to Lucki's hands.
Lady Bane snatched it away and read greedily from the beginning. Silently of course. Not that the brat she inhabited couldn't hear her mental translations. Couldn't be helped. Perhaps, if it be gruesome enough, he'd go back and hide in his corner of the brain. Disgusting wretch. And just look at this penmanship. Almost all perfect letters, but some were not quite in line. Sloppy. She could still hear her mother demanding perfection of her own penmanship, though not bothering to demonstrate it. Too time consuming. That's what Jason was for. Brother, tutor, nursemaid. But he'd had sloppy penmanship and was condemned for passing it on to "Little Bane". Odd how the more she read this writing, the more familiar it seemed. It reminded Lady Bane of her mother's handwriting so much in fact...
As she read, the sorceress's thoughts derailed away from condemning her possessed host. Gripping the manuscript tightly in both hands, she poured over the page before her. No. No, it couldn't be that similar. It was too much of a coincidence, or her mind was playing tricks.
Emi writes like your mother? Did your mom tutor her, too, and you just didn't know it?
No. Lady Bane wrestled with the idea briefly. Pretend friendship, murder and steal, delude and imprison? Yes. Teach anyone anything that she knows? Never.
I... I don't know. But the idea, the one thought that kept coming to her, would not leave her be. To the point that she, too, retreated from the manuscript, and even from the pestering of the cub. No. Too similar, and yet... those irregularities in the lettering. Not all of the time. Just... infrequent. No, it couldn't be. Mother would never tutor an enemy, even one she desperately wanted to gain power from... Would she?
"It's bothering her, too." Lucki reported when he got control back. Easy to do when Lady Bane retreated like that. "I... got all the translation that she was reading but there's something in the words that's got her a bit spooked."
"Do you know what, specifically?"
Lucki shook his head at his aunt's query. "Sorry, Aunt Toffi. She's trying to hide stuff from me again, but whatever it is, it's beginning to scare her."
He wanted to rest some more, and Lady Bane seemed stuck in her mental corner as she reasoned whatever out, and the others were busy poking about the rest of the decrepit room, but, without warning, Lady Bane pushed him easily out of the way, forced his body to a stand, and demanded of all, "We must leave."
Gusto looked up from a disintegrating book covered in dust. He grinned at her. "What's got your panties in a bunch?"
"Nothing. We just need to leave. She may already have gotten out. She could come back here, thinking it is still a safe haven. We need to leave now."
Her insistence was unnerving, like she knew something they didn't. Lucki also wasn't cutting in to tell them otherwise.
"I... suppose we've gotten everything we can from these two rooms." Berrybottom said, meaning the scrolls and tomes from the prior room as well as Emi's personal journal which Lady Bane still clutched in Lucki's grasp.
"Don't tax the boy's body." Sir Ecri warned the sorceress inside Lucki. "I'll help you up. You'll go second to last, then me."
Lady Bane made the cub's mouth twist into a saccharine grin. "That's fine, but before we leave, there is a very important book I must retrieve from my study."
"No way, lady!" Gusto exclaimed, loud with both his denial and the humor he felt over her request.
"I insist. I could wrack the cub with horrible pain until you capitulate, but I'll simply use reason. That book contains spells which will counter what your terrible and shameful ancestor can throw at you. It is absolutely necessary. I doubt you've the resources or knowledge of the dark arts to build a case against me and we've little time so, onward, to my study." And she gestured imperiously up." Oh, and do mind the troggles."
Tavi's prison
The memories... The memories had ceased for now. They'd been terrible, soul-eating memories she couldn't bear to see again, and yet, when they left her sobbing in a self-recriminating darkness, that is when her own nightmare began.
The darkness of inner suffering surrounded her. It was cold and burning and filled with stabbing pain; the silence a screeching black miasma which bled red streaks. There was no longer an up or down, only vertigo and a spinning wasteland of emptiness which had permeated the depth of her being. Vast and unending and swallowing.
Am I alive? Am I dead? Does it matter? Tired. So tired... What have I done? What have I done?! I should die... So tired... Such terrible things. I'm as bad as she was. I let her out! How could I have let her out? I've killed them all!... So tired... Tired...
The inky void engulfed more of what could still be recognized as Tavi Gummi, though the streaks in her spectral hair still blazed a bright gold color. It was the only light in the self-perpetuating darkness but a light Tavi unfortunately could no longer see or feel.
Cubbi's prison
"It's too hard!" Growling in frustration, Cubbi regretted it immediately as the surroundings altered in response, turning a crimson and burnt orange shade which hissed and gave off a solid heat he tried to shy away from.
"No, Cubbi. Don't do that." the calm spirit of Aldi told him. He was unaffected by the hissing heat, or at least he looked like he didn't feel it.
"This is stupid! I'm stupid!" Cubbi admonished, feeling it the truth through and through.
Again, the landscape around him altered from a burning red to freezing black, slick and cloying. It was hard to breathe... or that's how it felt. Hard to tell what was breathing and what wasn't here. Definitely uncomfortable, oppressive, frightening!
"You gotta focus! Try again, please. For Papa." Aldi begged, glancing nervously at the angry environment.
Cubbi sighed, tried to shut out what was going on around him, and focus inward. Yeah. For Sir Plucki.
It felt like time had stopped, for just a few moments, and everything seemed calm.
"Okay," coached Aldi. "Much better. You feel it, right?"
Cubbi managed an ephemeral smile, because he couldn't really see himself as having a real body in this crazy emotion-triggered place. Letting his focus go outside of himself a bit, he was surprised to find blue smearing away all the cold black. A really pretty shade of blue. Like... sky blue. He sighed a relaxed sigh, hoping he could get this down before it was too late...
The blue was muffled over by a creeping gray and red smear, which increased in taking over the gentle blue the more Cubbi wished it would stop. "No, no, no! Darn it!"
"You had it, Cubbi. Try again. For Papa... for Sir Plucki."
"Alright, alright." It was hard, not feeling the futility, the frustration, but he had to do it. Aldi was tryin' to help him an' he was a spirit and probably knew a ton more about this weird place like how he said it was an emotion prison so he knew he better listen. Because, Gum as his witness, he was NOT gonna let that evil Emi hurt Plucki.