Lady Bane's Palace
While the body remained unconscious, the fight continued between the two souls within Lucki's corporeal form as it was carried by Sir Kai out of the Palace and on to Gummadoon.
How DARE you! I've practiced magic since before your grandmother was born! I refuse to be thwarted and snuffed out by a snivelling emotional brat! Lady Bane shrieked, launching herself at Lucki's soul, pinning him down and squeezing with all her might.
Back off! I'm warning you! Lucki said, pooling his strength, winding it up. When she did not relent, when she let her full anger and fear strengthen her soul's hold on his, he let loose with his own gathered impetus.
Lady Bane's attacking soul was not only knocked clear of throttling Lucki's but his strength was enough to push her to the very brink of the fold which kept her soul stuck in his body. To be pushed to that extent had her frantic, scrambling to keep herself together. She was powerless, squished up against the force which bound them together with such strength that it instantly terrified her. Not since... Not since Mother had she felt such fear, such weakness and helplessness.
When Lucki relented, not meaning to truly break her soul or push it out - ...could he actually do that? - but just to get her to back off, she fled as far from him as one could go when they shared the same body. He told her, Don't do that again or I'll squeeze you out of me like a healer draws out a poison. Cuz you are a poison, Bane. Your soul is anyway. It's been trampled and chewed and bit and blown up until it's all twisted and sick. But it's probably the type of poison we need to stop Emi. Now, I know you're hiding something and I want you to tell me what it is. There's something more giong on between you and Emi than what you told everyone. So, spill it. Why are you afraid of her and no one else? Well, no one but your mother, anyway.
She flinched slightly when he said that. Just a bit, but he did see it. So he pestered, What?
Lady Bane clearly did not want to reveal any more but kept silent instead of casting idle threats his way. When it looked like he would pursue the answer endlessly, she begrudgingly said, I... I don't know.
It was a lame response, especially to a kid who'd used it a time or two himself. Not buying it. Tell me. We need to help each other or we're not gonna make it, remember?
If souls had teeth to grind, hers would be doing it. What she could do was visibly boil and seeth and hiss, which she did.
Which made Lucki a bit ticked off. Enough. Or do I hafta poke at your emotions, your memories again.
No. was her quick reply.
Good. He didn't really like threatening people. Not even her. But he would if he had to. He prompted again, Well?
I don't know why Emi spared me, nor how she knew my mother's nickname for me. I have no proof of anything.
Don't need any. Whatcha got? A theory? That's what she seemed to be hinting at.
I... I do have a theory, yes. One that had wanted to keep all her own, lest these wretched gummies find a way to use it against her, but it seemed as though the brat had gained more strength than even she'd become aware. Trifling with him, without giving even a little of what he suspected, would likely lead to a very bad situation for her. So she added, before he could get all huffy again, Emi's journal... She uses words, phrases, much like my mother. She... sounds... like my mother.
And you said Emi and your mother knew each other, that your mother taught Emi magic?
Yes.
And you think Emi killed your mom and somehow absorbed all her power and attributes?
No, stupid bear. Think. My mother didn't care for teaching, and you can only teach someone so much. No, there is only one logical reason why 'Emi' would dare call me 'Little Bane', why she is so good at using spells my mother crafted herself, why she sounds like her, acts like her, thinks like her. Two people met. Only one left that meeting. That's what they say, but I don't think that's actually what happened. Not by far.
Halls of Gummadoon
Cubbi would remember little in the next few moments except a deep feeling of calm that seeped into his very soul. He also felt as if he were floating and later realized it was Plucki carrying him to his mentor's quarters. He would also recall the soft voice of Sir Plucki, heard it echo inside the Knight-Captain's chest along with the adult's heartbeat.
"I've got you, Cubbi. I've got you, son."
It was a struggle to remain awake, to not fall into the warmth of sleep. Cubbi fought it, despite his exhausting trials. There was still so much to tell Sir Plucki.
"Emi... Not Emi..." he murmured, sleep threatening to claim him now that he was safe from his ordeal and secure in his mentor's arms.
"What's that?" Plucki leaned closer to hear.
"Not... Emi..."
When Cubbi felt himself falling, his arms flew out to grab purchase onto something solid. They smacked Sir Plucki in the face.
"Hold, lad. I'm only placing you on my bed. I've got to get you dried off, a change of clothes."
Yes, that's right. He was on a soft bed now. He'd only been lowered to the bed is all. Cubbi willed his arms to work and had managed to sit up by the time his mentor returned with a towel and fresh clothes. He did not resist nor try to assist the Knight-Captain as his clothes were removed, his fur dried.
"It's... not Emi." he got out while Sir Plucki toweled him.
"I don't understand, lad. What do you mean 'It's not Emi'?"
"I mean," Cubbi took a breath, let it out. He was more awake now that he was feeling real cold and real wet and real solid surfaces again. Being out of Plucki's warm comforting embrace also shocked him into a more aware state. "that poor Emi is just like I was. Plucki, she's not herself. She's possessed by some... something. I don't know who or what but... something. Something truly evil. And it's not her fault, Plucki. That... that poor girl..." He couldn't help the quiver of his lower lip, nor the tears which spilled from his eyes. "I saw what Emi did. There were memories in that prison. I couldn't do nothin' but watch 'em, Plucki! It was... so horrible. And... and I felt Emi, felt her fight that evil person at first but it didn't work. It was too powerful. And I... I felt her will break, Plucki, and I couldn't do anything but watch!"
His blubbering exposition turned to full-on bawling and he threw himself into his mentor's arms. There was just too much pain. Too much he'd seen, felt, could do nothing about.
Never minding the wet towel half-wrapped around Cubbi and starting to soak him, too, Sir Plucki returned the cub's embrace with equal strength. He wanted nothing more than to keep holding the lad, reassure his safety, never let further harm come to him, and yet he knew he could not afford either the luxury or the lie. He knew they were not safe. None of them were safe. Not until the threat of Emi - or whatever lurked inside her - was captured, removed, or if need be destroyed. The revelation that the poor girl was possessed, and had remained possessed even still while in her prison which had meant to heal her, was sickening. How had they missed such a detail? Had no one thought of it? Or was the one within Emi, controlling her every move, so powerful that it avoided detection? Perhaps also, possession simply wasn't as well-known or used by evil sorcerers and sorceresses back in the day? Plucki knew not. He knew only that, armed with this information, they could potentially devise a better means of capturing Emi and her possessing parasite and perhaps driving out the evil.
Actually, he knew one other thing... "Cubbi," he began, pulling away from the lad but only to place a clean, dry tunic over the cub's head. "I know it was difficult to experience that but I must know if there are any other details which may be important to stopping what is within Emi and helping your poor fellow Glen."
He thought, given the boy's previous bout of tears, that a request for more information would be met with resistance. Cubbi instead stood up and became more animate. Excited even. "Plucki... I definitely got more to say. It's... it's..." He shook his head, trying to find the right words. "Mind-blowing." And he gave a little shudder.
Sir Plucki, looking on the lad standing so brave and full of news, his body tilted forward just a tad as he meant to deliver something huge, looked so adorable in the overlarge knight's tunic he'd fetched to throw on the lad that the Knight-Captain could not hold back a large smile. "Alright. Blow my mind. I'm ready." He returned a mask of seriousness, however, for the situation was not one to savor such a precious moment for long.
"It's something I don't want anybody else ta know, okay? At least, not yet. Promise? You gotta promise."
Plucki frowned, growing concerned. What would he feel he had to keep from everyone in this crisis? "I promise, Cubbi. I won't tell anyone else without your permission."
Cubbi leaned in, right to Plucki's left ear. "Emi's cousin Naomi, the one she killed? Naomi's my ancestor, Sir Plucki! I'm related to Emi!" That last bit squeaked out on a bare whisper.
Sir Plucki pulled slowly back from the cub, looked him over, swallowed hard. Yes, this was news that may upset some, but not for the reason that Cubbi may seem untrustworthy due to shared blood with the most terrible gummi in history (now known to be possessed). No, it was for his own safety that this information must be kept close. Cubbi was most definitely right.
"I understand, lad. I won't let anyone else know. I swear." And he took Cubbi in his arms once more.
Cubbi leaned into the embrace, needing the comfort once more. "I knew you wouldn't." The cub indulged in the warmth of his mentor for as long as he dared, perhaps only a moment or two. He'd just come from a terrifying prison of emotions, just escaped his own self-doubt and self-recriminations. He... he just needed a little break...
Plucki felt the cub's legs give out before Cubbi himself even knew what was going on.
When Sir Plucki caught him, the poor cub, worn in body and in spirit, couldn't seem to summon the strength or will to stand again. "Just... just tired, Plucki."
"It's alright, lad. Rest. I'll take what you've told me to the council. Everything except that part you wanted kept secret."
His eyes closed. He snuggled into Sir Plucki's hold of him. "Seen Emi yet?" He just wanted to know how safe they were, if he could afford a little rest right now.
"No. No sign of her. Just rest, Cubbi."
"... 'kay." As his body went lax, his mind drifting into unconsciousness, the memories and sensations felt while in the emotion prison of Emi bubbled to the surface, emerging as semi-coherent words. "... Old. She's... so old..."
"Hm? Emi is old? Yes, lad."
Cubbi roused briefly to respond. "No... What's inside... It's... really old... Ancient..."
And finally sleep claimed the cub. He was still and silent in the knight's arms but for his calm, soft breathing.
Sir Plucki let out a deep sigh of relief. Cubbi was back, safe, in his arms. They now knew the root of the problem with Emi, why she appeared to go mad, why she had no morals, nor compuction against killing her own kind. It wasn't really Emi at all. How stupid they'd been...
But, for just a moment, he cradled the zonked Cubbi to him before setting him down gently. This particular room, a side office Plucki generally used for more private meetings, was also warded from magical spying. Cubbi should be safe here and he must leave, must go see the council, and make a new plan of action to not only capture Emi Gummi but to save her.
Tavi's Prison
Painful silence. Stabbing, ringing accusatory silence.
A cold that burned without ever being visible by breath or frost or snow. It burrowed into her, grabbed her tight, wouldn't let go.
Darkness that permeated everything. It was a dark she felt through her entire being, felt its cloying touch like a suffocating bog she could neither escape nor protest.
Tavi hung suspended in the tormenting sensations. Felt like they were eating at her, had been eating her, for a very long time. How long? A month? A year? Ten years? Yet she had no will to resist, to fight. She only had her guilt.
She'd killed them. Killed them all. Her family, her friends, her entire race.
She deserved to be stuck in this terrible eating darkness and biting cold and stabbing silence. And she was so tired, yet could not escape the torment of this prison. No escape...
She wanted to give in, let it consume her completely, yet this little voice so far away and buried deep within her would not let her. She couldn't exactly hear words but she got the meaning, even across whatever spanse it was trying to span. Don't give up. Don't give up.
It happened slowly, gradually; her awareness of a speck of bright, of hope. Tavi could at first only perceive a tiny pinpoint of soft light in the suffocating darkness. She was so enmired in her prison, however, that she could do nothing but take notice of it and hope it was something not painful, something good.
It reached for her, that tiny light. Reached out and touched her. The darkness, like a mould upon her skin, cracked and fell away to dust when the light touched her and the warmth from that single point of contact began to filter in, to seep all throughout, and chased the burning cold into a retreat. Tavi whimpered, overwhelmed by even the smallest amount of relief. Anything was better than that of before, even the bitter rain which began as soon as the darkness sloughed off her. At least it was something not painful. At least she could breathe in the sad rain.
When the relief had also seeped in and left her free to feel the guilt and despair of before rise up, Tavi frantically began searching for something, anything else to get away or past them, past the memories they would bring.
The light... It had expanded to a break in the rain. It was not far off, though it had wandered away from touching her. Or... had she pushed it away? Didn't matter. She had to get to it!
Struggling through the torrential downpour in this dreadful prison, Tavi waded toward the light as if through tar. It was so hard, not because it was an actual physical thing, but because it was trying to pull her down with waves of horrible guilt which splashed over her head and rained down from above. She cried, oh how she cried, but she fought past it, grit her teeth, pushed at the guilt with anger and with determination, and pushed on toward the light for it was a break in her clouds.
She reached it, she reached out toward it. As soon as she made contact with the light, she felt her hand clasped in the strong and gentle grasp of someone whose touch instantly comforted and consoled her.
"There, there, child. I'm here. I've found you."
Tavi launched herself at the person, though she could not see him. She felt completely safe within his presence, like she knew him and his old voice. She tackled him and held on tight and cried.
"Oh-ho! Look at you." The elder's voice had a smile in it as warm as his welcome return hug. "Do you know me, child?"
"I... I dunno." Tavi squeaked out. "Maybe, but, please, can you help me get out of here? It's crazy in this prison. Nothing makes sense! And it hurts to be in here. Please!" she begged.
"It hurts because you've been going about it all wrong. And you should know me, especially in this place, because it is your soul that's imprisoned here, your body kept safe but separate."
"My... my soul?" Tavi pulled away from the old guy holding her. And, finally, she was beginning to see him. Faint at first but the ephemeral glowy outline of an old gummi in wizard's robes shocked the heck out of her.
"Of course. This is a prison which focuses on emotion. It tries to heal by turning all inward emotions outward and also by providing available memories, but if those memories or emotions are extremely negative, they must be fought through in order to be freed from them and therefore this prison."
Tavi just stared at the guy. "Huh?"
He chuckled at her. "I can explain, though part of this prison wasn't reaching you. I'm a bit surprised that you've managed to evade most of the memories in here but, then again, you are my granddaughter and a powerful budding sorceress in your own right." His soul form grinned at her.
"Your... granddaughter?"
"Yes, Tavi." His grin remained.
"But I don't remember you." she admitted sadly. He seemed like a really smart gummi. It was a shame she didn't know him. And yet... "I... I think I know your voice, though."
"Oh?"
"Yeah." She thought a moment, tried to recall where she heard it, because it was recent, and was interrupted by a sudden memory which surrounded the pair.
She was in a tiny room, the hidden room she'd found when searching for clues, the same room she'd found the magic book in.
It was a recent memory. She knew it! And seeing the memory, she knew exactly where she'd heard that voice. It was a voice she heard in her head when reading the magic book.
Tavi turned slowly to face the glowy transluscent form of her grandfather.
"Ah, so you found that old thing, eh? Yes, that was mine."
"But it sounds like you. I mean, to me, it sounds just like you!"
"As it should. A little piece of me is buried within the spell used to create that book."
"And... you're my grandfather?"
He issued a small bow. "Merlinni Gummi."
"You're... Merlinni... an' I'm your granddaughter?" Taking it in, Tavi barely noticed the turn of her mood, the lift of the rain, the warmth of her surroundings.
"Yes. Now, I'm not able to get you out of here, but I can certainly keep you company and help keep your spirits up, so to speak."
"You're just gonna cheer me up?" Tavi glared at him, both doubtfully and scornfully. She did not notice her surroundings darkening at the negative emotions she felt.
The spirit form of her grandfather cocked a brow at her. "Believe me, child. It makes all the difference in here."
Sarrika's Medical Wing
On hand for medical needs once more, Sarrika was at the ready in an instant when the shouts went up, calling for her. She rushed to the hall in time to lend aid carrying Sir Timothi of all people in to the nearest cot.
"Tim!" She lay a hand on his arm, her eyes scanning his body for visible injuries. The swollen leg caught her notice first. "Gentle with that left leg." she told the knights helping Timothi.
In a kind of fevered daze, Tim struggled to stand, to sit up, his arm stretched out, searching. "Sarrani... She's... out there."
"No, Tim. Lay back down." Her normally forceful tone was a bit moreso, given the fact that her sister, Sarrani, was whom Sir Timothi spoke of. She wanted to know more, to know what had happened, but had to look to Tim's injuries first. "Talk but lay still. Can you remember what happened? Can you tell us anything?"
"An army... loyal to Emi. Humans... Their greed knows no bounds. They're no longer loyal to us... Attacked us on sight!"
Within, that which dwelt within Emi smirked devilishly. What better way to sew dissent than with a false but definitely believable tale? And when the humans came to lend aid, if they made it that far, the seeds of doubt were planted and would carry long after she'd make "Tim" disappear. "Don't... don't trust any of them. They're... under Emi's control! So... powerful." Tooting her own horn, perhaps, but it isn't like any could stop her. She was indeed powerful, young again. Still, it was a shame that little sorceress bear had to remain in the prison. That body, under her command, would have made her even more powerful than even sad little Emi.
Thinking about it, she wondered where her disappointing daughter and her own hijacked gummi body were at the moment. Such a sad attempt at possession. Resurrecting a dead body, dragging the soul back to it, and then managing to pull off convincing the gummies that their dear child had returned from beyond. That was worthy of some praise, perhaps, but when she'd poked a bit at the tenuous connection Little Bane had on the cub, how fragmented and falling apart the body felt even from the distance of her disintegrating prison, she could only shake her head at her daughter's vane attempts to copy her. Sad, sorry Little Bane. But where was she now? She'd lost track of Little Bane during the whole escaping-from-the-magical-prison moment and since leaving she'd been too drained or too busy to consider the twerp.
While resting as "Tim", perhaps she'd poke about and find her disappointing child, if only to poke at that tenous hold until it snapped, trapping the poor excuse for an offspring in some sort of soul oblivion. Honestly, it might be amusing, that end to Bane.
"He's back! Sir Plucki found Cubbi!" was the announcement which rang through the halls as the runner ran by with his news.
Within Emi's disguised body, the monster within it sneered. The brat escaped? HOW had he got out so soon? How had he got out at all?
... Fine. No matter. She'd not waste time on Belittled Bane. It was time to start her plan into full swing and attempt some preemptive damage control while she was at it.
She let the body slide into a false unconscious state which would let her roam a bit and find the answers herself. She heard the healer gummi ask if Cubbi required medical attention and heard that, no, he did not, that he was still with Sir Plucki. She heard the news crier yelling down the halls, growing fainter by the moment. Hmph. With so much going on, and the gummies on high alert knowing she'd escaped, could she let her awareness wander further than this medical ward and risk being caught? She could... if they were further distracted with a more immediate concern. Perhaps it was time to awaken her own "helpers" and get the ball rolling on plundering this troublesome race. Only then could she truly have delicious fun tormenting them mercilessly.