Note: I've spent the past like month preparing for an important interview that happened this morning.
After freaking out and throwing up, I got right back to writing. This chapter has been sitting half-finished for ages, but I refused to touch any of my extra-curricular works before the interview was over.
Chapter 25: Lost in the Current
"Hi Eva"
Silence.
Iris huffed. Her and Karl had made the decision for her to visit the Megamycete every three days for at least thirty minutes. Keeping up appearances was vital, they had to appear the doting newly weds, devout and ever faithful, who want nothing more than to be the surrogate parents to bring Miranda's dead child back to life.
She hated every minute of it. But that didn't mean she was to waste her time away in this cavern.
Iris checked her pocket watch, a wedding gift from Karl, his emblem intricately carved into the lid. She'd felt so guilty about it, having nothing to give in return.
Three minutes.
She sighed, staring up at the slimy walls, at the tiniest rays of light peeking through the entrance, anything but the pulsating mass above her. It had been getting more active the past couple visits, the tendrils twitching and extending towards her, beckoning her closer and closer. Iris tried to keep her distance, would refuse to gaze at the Megamycete directly, choosing to spend her time glaring at the cave wall instead.
She'd been practising her power, dipping her toe into the mass of energy, to decipher its power, its intentions. The power here was overwhelming, clouding her head. It took all of her willpower to not focus too much on the energy radiating from the Megamycete. Each time left her breathless and terrified.
Staring at the wall, Iris gently extended her "net" over the Megamycete, allowing her power to lightly drag over the surface of the giant mass of energy behind her. It felt like throwing a lace doily over the sun. From that small motion, she could detect a rushing undercurrent of which Miranda believed to be souls. Iris wasn't convinced however, believing the churning energy, one that made her nauseous if she clung on too long, to be a mere trap harnessed by the Megamycete to capture new prey.
One slip up and she'd fall too deep into its grasp, tumbling through murky shadows, tangling with dark tendrils, until she was nothing more than a wisp of a memory, stuck in the Megamycetes web for who knew how long. But Iris was careful, she'd been here nearly a dozen times now and was gaining more and more control. Able to dip her toe into the whirling vortex of power without losing grip, and with each minute she basked in that horrific energy, her powers blossomed.
She fell into a trance like state, allowing herself to feel the current of energy pass through her, but maintained her hold onto reality. Or at least tried to.
She could feel the life of every single Lycan in the village, how they slept in the ancient stronghold that used to protect the village from outsiders centuries ago. Their leader, Urias was pacing up and down the entrance, the fur on his back bristled and alert. She wondered if he could sense her.
She could track Dimitrescu walking through the castle, calling for her daughters who were playing hide and seek. She could sense their giddiness, their fuzzy heads. She must have given them some wine, a rare treat that always ended in mayhem and dead maids.
From the west of the castle, Iris grazed over what felt like dozens and dozens of infected entities. All surrounding what she knew was the Benniviento Manor. Each entity, barely glowing to her, their energy so weak, reminded Iris of Donna's own signature. Iris had never thought that Angie would have so many playmates.
Further down, near Old Town, where men worked deep in the mines, manning the reservoir, and fished in the lake, Iris could feel-
What the Hell was that?
From the direction of the reservoir, a hulking mass of energy was lurking. A rush of childlike glee forced it's way through Iris's chest, causing her to smile manically and giggle.
The energy reminded Iris of Moreau, but she had never detected such power from the hunchback during any of the meetings, nor the wedding.
Instinctually, Iris clenched her hold onto the Megamycete, descending deeper into that whirling sea. Her eyes glazed over, her feet numbed, if she was more present, she'd notice the descending tendrils from the quivering mass above her, feel them grazing her shoulders, her legs.
Iris honed every ounce of herself towards the reservoir, the edges of her visions darkening, until she swore she was no longer looking at the dark wall of a cave, but at the dark, muddy bed of a lake. Her vision blurred further, as if she was weaving through the water rapidly, darting in a huge loop over and over until she was hurtling towards the surface.
The light was blinding, droplets of water flinging off her, shining in the golden sunset like crystals. She felt so happy, so free, when she was able to swim so fast, dive so deep, jump so high she swore she was flying.
She twisted her body, ready for descent, admiring herself in the pretty blue waters of her reservoir-
What the fuck is THAT?
Iris jolted back to reality, shrieking in fear at the sight of sticky black tentacles clinging onto her legs, hurtling forward towards the stairs, dry heaving from nausea and white hot fear.
She'd lost control, gone too deep into the Megamycete's currents, she'd… entered? Moreau's mind.
Was that even Moreau? That gigantic monster?
How long had she been down here? In this cave? She'd arrived here in the early morning, just as the sun rose over the mountains, but now that sun was waning, casting an orange glow over the valley.
Karl's going to kill her.
She ran. Not caring if any villagers saw her, if Miranda saw her, desperate to get home to safety. She slammed into the security room of the factory, too scared to use her power to locate her hus- Karl.
"HEY" Iris jumped out of her skin, hunched over the security monitors frantically clicking through screens.
"You've been gone for hours. I was losing my mind!" Iris threw herself at him, tucking herself under his chin as if making herself as small as possible would save her from the repercussions of her actions.
" I'm sorry." She whispered, "I- I connected to it again-"
" I told you-"
"I know! But if it helps me grow stronger it's a good thing Karl! We need all the help we can get!"
" I won't let you become some psycho bitch like her" He growled into her hair, hands clenched and hugging her tighter.
" I won't. I… I slipped up today. Dug too deep. I think… Karl, is there a monster? In Moreau's domain?"
"Monster? What do you… That fucking prick." He let her go, throwing his hat onto the desk of the security room. " THAT's why the engines are on the blitz?"
"I… I was just sitting in the cave. Then my vision got blurry, I started to see things that weren't there. Think things that weren't my own thoughts. I saw this big, black thing in the lake"
"Yeah, that thing is Moreau." He growled, "Fuck if he doesn't let up by nightfall I'm going over there myself."
" Moreau?"
"Yeah. We, uh, have different forms. Miranda called them our Stressor forms, supposed to be some final resort if we're really injured or sick. One last hurrah I guess. Moreau's got a good hang of switching between his forms, uses it to swim around and fuck up my factory."
Iris thought back to the tales of the dragon that attacked the church in which the Lords had their meetings within. How some versions portrayed Miranda transforming the dragon into Lady Dimitrescu. Maybe there was truth in the tale, except instead of a dragon it was this, "stressor" form.
"What does yours look like?"
" What?" Karl snapped, Iris had a feeling he knew what her question was about. Maybe these forms were personal to the Lords, a source of secrecy. But, they were technically husband and wife now. Secrets within a marriage were rarely a good thing. Even if the marriage was a sham.
"Your… alternate form?"
He gruffly removed himself from Iris's arms, brushing his coat as if she'd dirtied it. Iris likened Karl to a cat sometimes, grumpy and dramatic in it's ways to ensure everyone around it knew it was grumpy.
"None of your business."
"But what if you need to transform into it, when fighting Miranda?"
"That won't be necessary. We have a decent army now, plus whatever you're getting out of the Megamycete. Hey, if your story of looking through Moreau's eyes are true, maybe you'll be able to do the same to her. Take control of her body, like she took control of mine . Force her to slice her own damn throat." His smile was a dark one, sharp fangs and murderous eyes, "Although I'll admit, I'd much prefer I do it myself."
"I… I don't think I'd be able to get that far. We can make that plan… B"
"B? You think that little of me? That I'd only have one contingency? My dear that would be plan F"
Iris scoffed, but didn't argue further. With the adrenaline gone, she felt faint, light-headed, her legs aching from her sprint home. Suddenly everything felt odd, as if she was in a dream. Glancing at her hands, she noticed a fuzziness to the ground below. Maybe she was.
Maybe she was still in the cave.
"Hey, how's your head?" Karl's voice sounded far away, and annoyed.
"Iris. Iris ."
His voice was stern, fed up. Iris knew she'd have to make it up to him later, he hated seeing her get like this, he'd say it was a waste of his time, that he could be experimenting with the Soldats or documenting his cadou implantations. But Iris knew better.
It scared him.
The megamycete was able to control and manipulate memories. Miranda's ability to veil the village from the outside world, and keep the minds and memories of the villagers suppressed stemmed directly from the Black God itself. The closer you got, the more exposed, the easier it was for it to manipulate you. Make memories of the outside world bend and break, any knowledge of the modern world sifting away like sand through fingers.
Neither had noticed the change until Karl had needed Iris's help with the laptop Duke had gifted them. She'd stared dumbly at it as if she'd never seen such a thing before, insisted to Karl that she didn't know what a computer was, and cried in frustration as he showed her CCTV footage of her hands whizzing away on the keyboard, as if she'd always been around electronics.
After that, a routine had been set. After every exposure, Karl would read to Iris from her very own diary. Force her to remember what was taken, and cling onto those memories like a lifeline.
She felt a warm body behind her, blinking and wondering how long she'd been standing there, like an idiot.
"Did you hear me?" He murmured, "Let's get you to bed." His beard tickled the shell of her ear, strong hands gripping her arms and leading her towards their room.
The bed was messy, but warm and comfortable. She sank into them like an anchor dropped in water. A threadbare blanket was laid on top of her, her husband, the h-word still odd in her mind, slipping into the covers brandishing her small, battered diary.
Her chest tightened seeing it in his grasp, the memories of her frustrated tears as the man mocked her, shouting her secrets for the dead factory to hear, still ripe in her mind.
" Today I found myself humming a tune that I am certain I knew before" His voice was rich, a thick honey trickling over Iris's weary bones. She felt ice cold even still, and fought the urge to check under the covers for dark tendrils.
" The tune made me burst with energy. I believe it may have been a song I listened to as a child, as I found myself brimming with happiness. I do not remember many words, but one lyric comes to mind well. Because everytime we touch I get this feeling, and everytime we kiss I swear I can fly."
"Do you feel like that with me sweetcheeks?" Karl smirked roguishly, wiggling his eyebrows like a leering drunk. "Your entries are so flowery Iris, did you talk like this in the castle?"
"Mostly, Dimistrecu liked us to be formal. I don't know, writing in this diary felt so sacred to me back then, when I had to do it in secret, that it didn't feel right to not be formal."
Iris thought it made sense, and scowled as the chest she was leaning into rocked with laughter.
"Whatever floats your boat princess"
" I found myself staring at my Lady once again, I used to wear makeup once. Not the red paint that stains Lady Dimitrescu's lips like her wine, but a bright pink gloss, it smelt like cherries, and tasted so good. My mother would shout at me for wasting it."
"Karl, I'm fine."
" Shut it. I saw a bird today. Just outside the grounds, where I was helping string up some new scarecrows. I'm not sure how the men found their way to the castle, but in their pocket was a phone. It doesn't look like a phone. But I know it is one. I had a phone like that once. It was pink. I liked taking photos on it. I wish I had my phone, to take a photo of the bird."
"Ok! I get it. I'm fine, I remember everything." Iris snapped, wishing she'd burnt her diary in her forge the second Karl had discovered it. She hated hearing her precious thoughts and memories be spouted from someone else's mouth. It felt invasive, embarrassing.
"I promise I won't go too far like that again. I'll just sit and wait, like we agreed."
"Promise?" A hand extended towards her, Karl glaring into her eyes as if he could see the lies swirling in the darkness.
"Promise."
Her stained hand clutched at his, whilst ideas of her next excursion into the depths of the Megamycete sprung in her mind.
She'd be careful next time.
I Promise.
Note: I hope this chapter was worth the wait! I needed a way to show Iris's power with the Megamycete here, because I've got an idea brewing for a oneshort/shorter fic set after this story.
Iris's powers are quite murky, I hope by the end of the story they make more sense.
If not, then oh well she's a mysterious gal I guess.