Kevris walked into the training dome and looked around to find only Shil'ka in the room. "Where is she?"
Shil'ka turned to Kevris as she spoke. "I'm not sure, I sent the message to her quarters."
"So she chooses to ignore my demand then!"
"She could be asleep still!"
"And laziness is better?
"I did not say that."
"…"
"Huh, I'll be back shortly. I'll go get her and bring her here." Shil'ka said as she walked toward the door.
"You better!" Kevris growled as Shil'ka left him in the training dome. By the time Shil'ka had gotten to the room Louise was using, her anger at having her message ignored had reached a fever pitch, and she was seriously considering dragging the potential Sectlord to the dome even if she was still asleep.
Knock knock knock!
"Lu'eez! Open this door! You were supposed to meet me in the training room already!"
"elp - , please!" Shil'ka heard from inside Louise's room.
"What?" Shil'ka asked.
"Help me!" Louise screamed at the top of her lungs allowing Shil'ka to hear what was said through the thick metal door.
Shil'ka forced the door open and stuck her head through to look inside the room. The room was bare except for the desk with a message bulge in it, and the sleep netting on the back corner. Louise sat in front of the netting with her hands in the top of her head, holding her hair with a pained look on her face. "What are you doing?"
Louise looked up and instantly looked relived. "Oh thank God, I need your help. My hair is knotted in the netting and I can't seem to get it unstuck!"
Shil'ka looked at Louise and her hair. Her hair was bright pink, and there was not a hint of pink in the netting anywhere that she could see. "Um, no, it's not."
"Then what is stuck in the netting! Because something is stuck in the netting and it's connected to the back of my head and if I move at all it pulls and hurts like heck!"
Shil'ka sighed as she forced her body through the small door and into Louise's room. "Fine, let me check."
"Please do," Louise said, obviously upset at herself for being seen in such a situation.
"I feel bad for you, having hair must be a bother." Shil'ka as she slowly ran her three pronged hands though the pink hair, trying to find what was caught.
"Why do you say that?"
"It just seems that hair would be useless as it would just get in the way. What is it for anyway?"
Louise tilted her head slightly and placed her hands together as she thought about the question. "I'm not really sure. It might have been for self-heating at some point, now it's just for looks I think."
"I see. Ah."
"What? What is it?"
"It's what is stuck, give me a second to get you loose and I'll show you."
"So there is something- ow quit pulling my hair!"
"I'm not pulling your hair, I'm pulling what's stuck."
"Then why does it feel like my hair is being pulled!"
"Because what's stuck is coming out of your head, it's just not hair."
"What! Then what is it?"
"As I said, hold still and once I get you unstuck I can show you!"
". . . . . . . Fine, just hurry up please."
"Don't worry, I just about have it . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . there, you're free." Shil'ka said as she backed up from Louise and allowed her to stand up. "Feel the back of your head; you'll feel what was stuck immediately."
Louise, obvious unsure, placed her hands on her forehead and slowly slid them backwards. Right at the top back of her head her hands hit what felt to be some kind of strange cord. She traced her hands down the two cords and pulled them in front of her. The cords were a deep black with purple lines through them like veins, and at their ends were pairs of blade shaped prongs that came out on either side of a small glowing purple bulge that looked as glass. As Louise ran her hands along the cord, she could feel every touch upon them, as if they were always a part of her body. "These- these are connected. I feel my fingers on them."
"I figured as much. It seems that the Hypercondences have made their way deep into your DNA and finally begun altering it."
"Okay, but what the hell are these?" Louise said as she shook her hands causing the cords from her head to shake as well.
Shil'ka looked at the cords for many moments before shrugging. "I'm not entirely sure honestly. They look similar to a tripods proton cannon tendril, but the obvious differences are its size, and the lack of energy signature."
"Huh?"
"Proton beam tendrils are the primary weapons of tripods. Because of the power they generate and need they have a large energy signature, but yours seem to have none. Can you move them perhaps?"
"Well, yeah," Louise said as she shook the cords in her hands.
"I meant without using your hands. Try to move them by thinking about it; they are a part of your body after all."
"Alright . . . . . . . . . . . . did they move?"
"No, but they hang out of your hair completely. If I had to guess it would be that the proton beam tendrils have yet to connect to your nervous system completely, in time they should and you will be able to control them."
" . . . . . I – I see."
"Well, since that is now settled, let's get going!" Shil'ka said as she turned around and slowly forced her way through the small doorway.
"Go where?"
"Why to, oh right you didn't read the message I sent. We've been . . . requested to accompany Kevris on an . . . . . excursion of his."
"huh? You mean the big Sectlord from before? The one who tried to crush me under his weight?
"Yes, him. Kevris is the Sectlord of Reaper-17, in case you forgot. Reaper-17 is one of the oldest Sects of all the Scrin, and the oldest Combat Sect. Kevris has watched the Scrin for almost as long as the overlord himself, though their ideals are light cycles apart."
"What's your point?"
"My point is that despite his obscenely violated personality and his Sects insane almost cult like worship of ichor mutation, he is not the kind of Sectlord you say no to!"
"Um, okay. Where is this excursion to?"
"The tenth planetoid of sector Thirty one."
"Which is?"
"The tenth planetoid of Sector Thirty one, as I said already."
"No I mean what kind of planet is it and why are we going there?"
"Ah right. I don't know why he wants us there with him and I don't know much about the planetoid itself other than its currently being manually seeded and terraformed by Reaper."
"I see. Does the planetoid have local fauna or resistance then that would require us too- . . . . . . . holy crap I'm connecting the dots already!" Louise exclaimed in shock as she finally left her room and began following Shil'ka down the numerous hallways.
"Connecting the,.. dots?"
"Yeah, like realizing how things connect."
"Ah, so your understanding the Scrin thought process then."
"Yeah I guess so, I guess so." Louise said as she stared at her feet as she walked beside Shil'ka.
"Something wrong with that?"
"No, its just... Changing is kind of weird, and it feels like I'm losing as much as I'm gaining."
"That's basically what is happening. It happened for me as well. You lose little pieces of yourself as you gain the power that being a Sectlord provides. It's not all bad, though not perfect either."
"Eh I guess I'm just, nervous or having second thoughts is all."
"That's normal, so I wouldn't worry about it. Either way we need to hurry to the arena as Kevris is already fuming from you being late."
"It's not my fault, its these bloody cords fault!" Louise whined slightly as she grabbed at the cords on the back of her head.
"I'm pretty sure they're proton beam tendrils, just smaller. And they are part of you so it's still your fault!"
"Aww, that is so not fair! How can it be my fault when I didn't even know they were there! They could have grown around the netting for all I know!"
"Be that as it may, they're still a part of your body, and therefore it is your fault! It's not fair, but that is how it is."
"Grr. Fine, do you have something I can tie my hair with?" Louise suddenly asked as she began pulling her hair up around the tendrils.
"Why?"
"I'm going to put my hair into a ponytail so I can hide these cords."
"Oh I see. I don't see the point but . . . . Here!" Shil'ka said as she slid her three pronged hand along the wall causing a thread of metal to peel off into her hand before handing it to Louise.
Louise took the thread in her hand and rolled her fingers over it a few times. "Is this really a piece of the wall? It feels far too soft."
"I augmented its construction slightly for you, seeing as how you were whining about your hair I figured it would be a good idea to make it softer but still strong."
"Oh, thank you then," Louise said as she pulled her hair into a ponytail and tied the thread around it to keep it there. As she finished tying her hair the two of them entered into the arena, and promptly became deaf.
"Where in the Overlord's breath have you been?" Kevris roared in a rage causing Louise to throw her hands over her ears in an attempt to preserve their functionality.
"I was getting Louise as I told you I would; her hair had caught in the netting." Shil'ka said casually.
"A useless trifle, I suggest you get rid of it as fast as possible," Kevris said as he turned his body in Louise's direction before turning around away from both of them. "We leave now!"
"Then lets us head down to the threshold and-," Shil'ka began.
"No, we leave directly from here. I've already made the arrangements!" Kevris stated before a purple glow began filling the entire arena and a flash took them light-years away.
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Tristania, southern forest, midday.
"Be careful not to break anything, these ruins are worth more than what I'm paying you!" Lady Montmorency called out to the workers in the pit below her.
"The pit is quite well kept ,isn't it milady?" Lady Montmorency's servant stated as he came up beside her with a flask of water.
"Yes it is. The ruins are not meant to be buildings either, they're just made to look like buildings."
"What do you mean, milady?"
"The buildings are arranged far too erratically to have been a settlement, if I'm correct their positions mean something, most likely where to find a map to find the Nightscreamer's corpse, or it is the map."
"I see. What of the assembly? Many of the noble houses are demanding to know what you are doing out here, and the church is getting restless as well."
"I know, but I cannot say any more to them at this time. I can't risk my true intentions being found earlier than necessary."
"I understand, milady. I shall try my best to keep them at bay."
"Thank you," Lady Montmorency said as she looked down into the pit to see many of the workers gathering around two workers who hurriedly came up to the edge of the pit.
"Lady Montmorency, we've found this chest in the central most building!"
"Then let's take a look!" Lady Montmorency said as she kicked open the chest and took out what appeared to be an old, but well preserved animal hide with strange markings all over the one side. "This is just what we need, thank you, everyone take a break while I look over this."
"What is it, milady?"
Lady Montmorency smiled. "This is what we've been looking for."
"How so, milady?"
"If I hold up the map to the ruins, it matches them. If I attribute the various buildings to landmarks, and mountain ranges on the continent then,. . . yes, it shows us to a mark on the far side of the elven deserts."
"But, milady, no one has ever gone to the far side of the elven lands. We don't even know what is there."
"I know, and we'll be the first. We'll keep this between us for now. Until we've completely uncovered the ruins, just to make sure nothing has been missed."
"Of course, milady.I shall inform the workers."
"Please do." Lady Montmorency said as her servant walked away leaving her above the dig site alone. "Now everything falls into place. We won't need the Romalians consent or Germania's trade anymore. Soon they will be the ones crawling up to us and begging!"
Authors notes: wheeeee, ah the second chapter took a bit but this one just flew by, and now we begin to see how Louise is changing. Hope you enjoyed!
