Chapter 231 – Under the Spreading Vines

Lilyth - Day 29 - 97 Days Remain

As we hurried out of the village, Kart gave me the report about Roose’s identity.

‘His name was Wilred, and he wasn't a local. He showed up in “Lazyfucksville” a few days ago and offered to help on one of the local farms for money. By all accounts, he wasn't a terrible farmhand. This was supposed to be his last day before he ventured on. Given the circumstances, I was given access to his personal effects, and it was mostly your usual collection of personal knick-knacks, a red mask and this.’

She took out a rolled-up scroll and handed it over to me. I unfurled it and saw that its contents were disturbing to say the least. Like, I was never the most photogenic person, but using one of the haggard-looking me from right after my heart attack in the bounty poster was extra petty. And the price for my head being just fifty thousand divines was straight up an insult.

Still, it was nice of them to go the extra mile of using a [Memory Print], a nifty bit of Water Arcana, rather than a crappy drawing.

‘They really could have used a better picture of you,’ Aki muttered after I passed the bounty poster to the others.

‘Are there any bounty posters for the rest of us?’ Savri asked, hopefully.

‘Nope,’ Kart shook her head. ‘Apparently, only her Majesty pissed them off enough to warrant that.’

Then she winked and added.

‘Understandable, really.’

‘Remember who is paying you,’ I grumbled.

‘Duchess Ireela,’ she laughed.

Fuck.

Halveck - Day 32 - 94 Days Remain

‘Finally come to kill me?’ he asked, not turning away from the map he was studying.

The stranger who materialised in Halveck’s planning room let out a soft chuckle.

‘Now why would I do such a thing?’ First Saint Valzir asked. ‘Did you do something naughty, Red Mask Halveck?’

Oh, brother…

Halveck had heard that the First Saint loved theatrics, but he never expected to be on the receiving end of those.

‘If you aren't here to kill me, then what do you want?’ he asked cautiously.

‘Is this really how you should be talking to someone who holds your life in his hands?’ the First Saint replied with a hint of warning.

Halveck was past the point of caring.

‘What can I say, Valzir?’ he shrugged. ‘I never expected to live this long after the mess in Ror-Bhyk.’

‘Look how low Halveck the Haughty has fallen. A would-be Emperor of Andermon, reduced to cowering in his base, scheming to take over a petty island kingdom.’

‘Once again, what can I say?’ Halveck let out a tortured sigh. ‘The past few months made me reconsider my… priorities.’

The sad truth was that his organisation was now in complete shambles, and the past two months had delivered only more crushing defeats. The group he had sent to capture Princess Zaevi failed to report back, and while three out of four he had dispatched to Julbar did, they vanished soon after. And so did their entire cell.

‘What if I told you that it doesn't have to end like this?’ Valzir asked. ‘That, if you play your cards right, maybe Emperor Halveck I might yet be crowned?’

That finally caught Halveck's attention. He turned around and studied the First Saint. The blonde man with piercing violet eyes and a short stubble looked to be in his early forties, but was much older than that, as he had held his position for at least sixty years now. As befitting his station, his white and gold robes have been immaculate.

‘What do you have in mind?’ Halveck asked, feeling hopeful for the first time in months.

Aki - Days 54 to 55 - 71 Days Remain

‘Damn, I will never get bored with this…’ I purred as I lay my head on Lilyth's breasts.

The two of us were cuddling naked on a blanket in the forest warmed by a beam of sunlight. The spot we have chosen was in a very beautiful area, as the trees had crimson leaves and many of them had viridian vines growing on them.

‘Always happy whenever one of you decides to join me,’ my foxy plushie purred back. ‘The more the merrier and all.’

‘I hate that I waited so long with this…’

‘Your surprise visits were also fun. Just not "naked cuddle time” fun.’

‘I love you so much…’ I softly whispered.

‘I love you too, Aki.’

It was our third and likely final day of rest at the ruined outpost, at least that was what we were calling the falling apart tower with a guardhouse attached to it that we found on our way to the Royal Magical Agriculture Institute building in Serrezht. Our goal was located in a secluded location, and our scouts in the city reported that it wasn't well known, so the hope was that it hadn't been looted that thoroughly. We came across the tower when we were travelling through the forest towards the RMAI place. In general, we mostly avoided roads to evade people who meant Lilyth harm, and whenever we had to visit a settlement, we would just have a few of us go there, while the rest camped outside.

My foxy plushie wasn't taking it well. I could see her yearn for basic creature comforts like a bed or a shower, but the situation was what it was. In a gesture of solidarity, Caei and I always stayed with her. Ren wanted to do that as well, but more often than not, she was part of the away team, as her knowledge of the criminal underground was too valuable.

It was proving to be worth it, as all their findings were beginning to paint us a picture, and it wasn't a good one either, as it seemed that Princess Zaevi was right about the Red Masks having some plans regarding her Kingdom.

We didn't have much yet, but we heard reports about them arranging massive shipments of rations and armaments towards the coast.

Their “supply hub” was suspected to be in a town called Athinl, on the eastern side of the continent. The town was near the port of Perth, which, apparently, was also a city on Terra. Lilyth took it reasonably in stride, saying that “nothing surprised her anymore in this crazy world” and that “her sense of wonder was dead.”

That aside, getting to Athinl on foot would likely take us months we didn't have, so we made a decision to get another boat. Thanks to Phosi Express, we would get there in three weeks, though we would have to cover the final stretch, some fifty kilometres, on foot.

To save on time, we decided to split up: Ren, Kart, Anika, Sav and Deirdee went to arrange transport for us, while Lilyth, Caei, Phosi, Persephone and I would investigate the RMAI facility.

You would think that Phos would help with the boat, but she wanted to see if exploring the place would trigger any of her buried memories, and we couldn't think of any good reason to deny her that.

I hated how we would be separated from Rennie again, but she was the one with the money and bargaining skills to get us everything cheaper.

The second goal the “Away Team,” as Lilyth kept calling them, had was to try to track down Princess Zaevi. Our goals were now fully aligned, so we figured we might as well join forces, or at least warn them about a potential trap in Athinl.

Hopefully, Zaevi and Nevahl aren't ones to hold grudges.

The two of us weren't alone for long as Caei joined us for some naked “lazing away” in the sun. Some time later, sweating and panting, the three of us formed our bundle of love, softness and warmth, I found myself wishing we could just retire to my mom's house and live the rest of our lives there.

‘Maybe one day,’ Lilyth sighed when I told them about my dream. ‘I’d like that too. I think Phoebe complicates it more than me being the Witch Queen.’

‘Yeah,’ I admitted. ‘I’d hate for you to have to leave your daughter more than necessary.’

‘Tell you what… Once Phoebe is old enough, we can turn it into our vacation house or something.’

Better than nothing, I guess. Still… maybe we will figure out a more permanent arrangement.

Figuring it would be a nice downtime planning activity, I returned my attention to the softness and warmth of my two wives.

We arrived at the ruins of the RMAI compound. As we descended down an old road into the small valley it was located in, at first I thought we were approaching another, heavily overgrown, town, but then Lilyth pointed to the tall dilapidated wall surrounding the area and a small building attached to the wide gate.

‘This looks like an old military base,’ she explained. ‘You would probably show your papers to the guard at the gate, and they would let you in.’

She then gestured towards the dozens of buildings on the grounds.

‘Probably some storehouses, living quarters and small labs.’

‘No,’ Phosi shook her head. ‘Those were all living quarters, plus the armoury and the communal mess hall. No staff member was allowed to live inside the building, and due to the strict decontamination procedures and the potential danger of the handled materials, everything actually used for research would be immediately moved into the building via the loading bay. Don't ask me how the fuck I know that. I just do.’

‘I think we have to accept the possibility that you were an RMAI employee,’ Lilyth said. ‘And we will find your corpse in one of these.’

Phosi - Day 55 - 71 Days Remain

That is not possible, is it? I threw myself off a cliff, didn't I? Didn't I? Why can't I remember my relationship with the RMAI?

So, as much as I hated to admit it, I couldn't rule out the possibility of Her Furry Highness being right.

Once again, I have to ask myself whether I want to open that particular can of worms.

No. I got too far. I had to see it through.

I looked at the main building, a foreboding three-storey black box of a building, covered in some sort of vines, likely specimens that broke containment. Its height was deceptive, though, as there were five levels below ground too. The deeper you went, the higher the security was. I could dimly remember that we called the lowest level “the Abyss.”

What did we keep down there, though? Why can I remember the name but not the contents?

I looked at the vines growing out of the building again. They were thick and vibrant green, indicating the plant's good health, something that was reinforced by what looked to be bleached bone-coloured flowers growing out of them.

Now, those were worrying, and a quick scan of the area told me everything. What we all probably dismissed as shrubbery was looking to actually be much smaller clumps of the same viney plant.

In fact…

I stopped our group and walked over to the side of the path.

‘See those vines?’ I pointed to a few climbing up a nearby tree. ‘Those originate from the main building.’

‘You sure?’ Persephone asked.

I nodded.

‘Oh fuck…’ Aki spat, likely realising the same thing the sorceress did. ‘Those vines have been growing as far as the outpost.’

‘Much further, actually,’ Persephone shook her head. ‘I’ve begun seeing them a few hours away from the last village we passed.’

A brief scan of my memories told me that she was right, which meant we had a major problem on our hands. One that would need to be solved soon, too. After all, magical plants were really not the kind of weeds you wanted growing in your garden.

Not at all.