I nodded absently, still trying to process what she had been saying.
“Curious,” she murmured. “I should be taking on more of your own appearance, but that does not seem to be happening. Maybe because you are male? Or it could be another complication from your alienness.” She waved the question away, unperturbed. “Ah well. Time will tell.”
I held up my hands in frustrated bewilderment, as if to somehow fend off the figurative ocean barge of crazy shit she had just been dumping on me. “Okay, wait. Back up. None of this makes any sense. I’ve met Faen before. Or one. It was just a little… bug… thing.”
“Sounds like one of Ahnbe’s,” she replied, nodding knowingly. “But what you are referring to would have simply been a physical manifestation, not its preferred form. Constructs of that kind are really quite… well, not simple. But for the Fourth they might as well be. It’s something of a specialty of Hers.”
“But… but…” I shook my head in denial. “It… I tricked it! It was… childlike and… and innocent! Nothing like Ahnbe at all!”
“Was it?” she asked softly, as though pleasantly surprised. “What was its name?”
“It…” I had to pause to think back. “It said it wasn’t important enough to have a name.”
“Then it was either very young or just a temporary servant,” Mia surmised. “Ah, my kin… you are so cute sometimes.”
Wha—Ahnbe? Cute? I shook my head. That was far from the most important point. “But I don’t want you to dissolve… or transform… or… or whatever the hell is going on. And I definitely don’t want you to look like me. I want you to be you!”
She scoffed, chuckling. “You act as if I were dying. I told you I remain independent. What are you so worried about?”
“I—I…” Frustrated, I began angrily wrapping my knees with the cloth. I almost welcomed the pain from agitating the wounds. It cleared my head. “Why does no one on this world seem to care about this stuff?” I asked hotly. Then I hastily added, “That was a rhetorical question.”
She flashed me something of a hungry look, then gave a slight nod and waved for me to continue.
“It’s like you all want to gleefully throw your lives away for someone you barely know. You. Jax. Arx. Even Lynnria. I just don’t get it.”
“We all have our own reasons, I’m sure,” she replied enigmatically. “But speaking for myself, I have no life to throw away. I am Faen. I cannot exist save through you. For you to deny me would be to destroy me.”
That brought me up short. Reluctantly, I nodded. “Well… I certainly don’t want that, either.”
“Good.” She smiled, then looked up and away musingly. “Perhaps it would help to think of it like this. You are like… the ruler of the land. Or perhaps the land itself?” She paused for a moment before nodding. “Yes, I think that works better. I am inexorably tied to you. I live upon you, cultivate you. Your glories are my glories. Your failures, my own. Whether you flourish or decay, so too do I. So you see, I cannot seek to escape or somehow separate from you. The very notion is ludicrous.”
I shot her an incredulous look. “Okay. I guess. But none of that explains how thirsty you’ve been acting.”
“Yes… that is curious, isn’t it? I guess patriotism makes me horny, my liege,” she replied with a flirtatious little wiggle. Then she shot me a devilish grin. “Ooh! I know. If ‘master’ makes you so uncomfortable, why don’t I start calling you things like that? What do you say, your majesty?”
My face fell. A lot.
“Please don’t.”
*****
“Did you get whatever-it-was talked out?” Lynnria asked as I limped back over.
“Actually, I think I may have made it worse.”
Mia cackled. Then assuming some kind of weird accent, she wailed, “Dewn’t say such as that, me lord sovereign! I am but a poor, shtewpid peasant girl with bounteous bosom and an empty ‘ead, ‘ere to warm yer bed. Dewn’t cast me aside!”
I twisted my mouth, both in consternation and a degree of unwilling amusement. That had been startlingly close to something out of a Monty Python sketch. Or maybe Jax… but she wasn’t that bad.
“Maybe a lot worse.”
Lynnria looked at me with alarm.
“Only kidding,” I assured her. “Mostly. What have you figured out?”
“Not much,” she admitted. “I can feel more of those hidden Words along the bottom of the lid, and there are more right underneath this riddle. Not sure what they do, but I think they’re linked together. And I haven’t been able to pry open the lid. Maybe it’s some kind of… magical lock?”
I opened my mouth to suggest something, but then the implications of it put an instant damper on the idea. “I… do have a spell that gives insight into these kinds of things, but uh… I really doubt I should use it. I think it might draw some unwanted attention.”
“Oh, that spell?” Mia said. “No, I think we should avoid that one until we figure out what has the Fifth’s panties in a bind, mine lord. But no worries. I’ll just hop over…”
Lynnria jumped. “Oh. Hello, Mia.”
There was a pause, then her tail began to swish as though agitated.
“There’s no need for name calling… No, I’m not!” She glanced at me out of the corner of her eye.
I just crossed my arms to wait it out. It was a little strange to be on the outside of the conversation for once, but it was much more of a relief. Enough to leave me decidedly incurious as to whatever Mia was saying to get Lynnria’s dander up. Let her deal with it for a few minutes.
One of these days, I was going to have to figure out how to either solve the one-way communication problem or get the Faen a body of her own. She had mentioned something about physical manifestations, after all, and it might even help with some of this dissolving business she had been so fantastically lackadaisical about.
How would that work? Maybe some kind of spell?
Seleroan
Hey there, gentle reader.
Enjoying the content? Well, why not drop by my Patreon? It helps me keep this show running, and allows me to afford great things like editors, cover artists, and food!
Each chapter is now being personalized with some... passable chapter-inspired AI generated art. I try. But it gives things a bit of color. And you can read ahead!
Come on down! We'd love to see you.
I nodded absently, still trying to process what she had been saying.
“Curious,” she murmured. “I should be taking on more of your own appearance, but that does not seem to be happening. Maybe because you are male? Or it could be another complication from your alienness.” She waved the question away, unperturbed. “Ah well. Time will tell.”
I held up my hands in frustrated bewilderment, as if to somehow fend off the figurative ocean barge of crazy shit she had just been dumping on me. “Okay, wait. Back up. None of this makes any sense. I’ve met Faen before. Or one. It was just a little… bug… thing.”
“Sounds like one of Ahnbe’s,” she replied, nodding knowingly. “But what you are referring to would have simply been a physical manifestation, not its preferred form. Constructs of that kind are really quite… well, not simple. But for the Fourth they might as well be. It’s something of a specialty of Hers.”
“But… but…” I shook my head in denial. “It… I tricked it! It was… childlike and… and innocent! Nothing like Ahnbe at all!”
“Was it?” she asked softly, as though pleasantly surprised. “What was its name?”
“It…” I had to pause to think back. “It said it wasn’t important enough to have a name.”
“Then it was either very young or just a temporary servant,” Mia surmised. “Ah, my kin… you are so cute sometimes.”
Wha—Ahnbe? Cute? I shook my head. That was far from the most important point. “But I don’t want you to dissolve… or transform… or… or whatever the hell is going on. And I definitely don’t want you to look like me. I want you to be you!”
She scoffed, chuckling. “You act as if I were dying. I told you I remain independent. What are you so worried about?”
“I—I…” Frustrated, I began angrily wrapping my knees with the cloth. I almost welcomed the pain from agitating the wounds. It cleared my head. “Why does no one on this world seem to care about this stuff?” I asked hotly. Then I hastily added, “That was a rhetorical question.”
She flashed me something of a hungry look, then gave a slight nod and waved for me to continue.
“It’s like you all want to gleefully throw your lives away for someone you barely know. You. Jax. Arx. Even Lynnria. I just don’t get it.”
“We all have our own reasons, I’m sure,” she replied enigmatically. “But speaking for myself, I have no life to throw away. I am Faen. I cannot exist save through you. For you to deny me would be to destroy me.”
That brought me up short. Reluctantly, I nodded. “Well… I certainly don’t want that, either.”
“Good.” She smiled, then looked up and away musingly. “Perhaps it would help to think of it like this. You are like… the ruler of the land. Or perhaps the land itself?” She paused for a moment before nodding. “Yes, I think that works better. I am inexorably tied to you. I live upon you, cultivate you. Your glories are my glories. Your failures, my own. Whether you flourish or decay, so too do I. So you see, I cannot seek to escape or somehow separate from you. The very notion is ludicrous.”
I shot her an incredulous look. “Okay. I guess. But none of that explains how thirsty you’ve been acting.”
“Yes… that is curious, isn’t it? I guess patriotism makes me horny, my liege,” she replied with a flirtatious little wiggle. Then she shot me a devilish grin. “Ooh! I know. If ‘master’ makes you so uncomfortable, why don’t I start calling you things like that? What do you say, your majesty?”
My face fell. A lot.
“Please don’t.”
*****
“Did you get whatever-it-was talked out?” Lynnria asked as I limped back over.
“Actually, I think I may have made it worse.”
Mia cackled. Then assuming some kind of weird accent, she wailed, “Dewn’t say such as that, me lord sovereign! I am but a poor, shtewpid peasant girl with bounteous bosom and an empty ‘ead, ‘ere to warm yer bed. Dewn’t cast me aside!”
I twisted my mouth, both in consternation and a degree of unwilling amusement. That had been startlingly close to something out of a Monty Python sketch. Or maybe Jax… but she wasn’t that bad.
“Maybe a lot worse.”
Lynnria looked at me with alarm.
“Only kidding,” I assured her. “Mostly. What have you figured out?”
“Not much,” she admitted. “I can feel more of those hidden Words along the bottom of the lid, and there are more right underneath this riddle. Not sure what they do, but I think they’re linked together. And I haven’t been able to pry open the lid. Maybe it’s some kind of… magical lock?”
I opened my mouth to suggest something, but then the implications of it put an instant damper on the idea. “I… do have a spell that gives insight into these kinds of things, but uh… I really doubt I should use it. I think it might draw some unwanted attention.”
“Oh, that spell?” Mia said. “No, I think we should avoid that one until we figure out what has the Fifth’s panties in a bind, mine lord. But no worries. I’ll just hop over…”
Lynnria jumped. “Oh. Hello, Mia.”
There was a pause, then her tail began to swish as though agitated.
“There’s no need for name calling… No, I’m not!” She glanced at me out of the corner of her eye.
I just crossed my arms to wait it out. It was a little strange to be on the outside of the conversation for once, but it was much more of a relief. Enough to leave me decidedly incurious as to whatever Mia was saying to get Lynnria’s dander up. Let her deal with it for a few minutes.
One of these days, I was going to have to figure out how to either solve the one-way communication problem or get the Faen a body of her own. She had mentioned something about physical manifestations, after all, and it might even help with some of this dissolving business she had been so fantastically lackadaisical about.
How would that work? Maybe some kind of spell?
Seleroan
Hey there, gentle reader.
Enjoying the content? Well, why not drop by my Patreon? It helps me keep this show running, and allows me to afford great things like editors, cover artists, and food!
Each chapter is now being personalized with some... passable chapter-inspired AI generated art. I try. But it gives things a bit of color. And you can read ahead!
Come on down! We'd love to see you.
