Chapter 1259
New
Malcolm Tent
Monkey with a typewriter.
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They didn't notice me returning after my conversation with Azazel, not that I'd expected otherwise. My parallel had been keeping my body functioning as normal, which mostly meant drinking tea and eating cookies. Once I returned, I let myself slip into the conversation so I knew what was going on, and once I was caught up, I interjected. "Well, I'm excited to see this new bed when it's done," I said brightly. "But I was actually wondering if you could show us around the town a bit more. Not that I don't adore the library, but this wonderful tea has me in the mood to stretch my legs a bit."
Gordon chuckled. "I find tea has the same effect on me on occasion. Is there something in particular you were hoping to see?"
"I was interested in taking a walk in nature," I said with a smile. "Is there a park near here we could take in?" There was, according to the books, exactly one park in Sunshineville, and it was at the center of town. INSIDE that park, meanwhile, was a very mysterious hedge maze that no one in town had planted or took care of. It wasn't a sure thing, but it was a strong contender for the location of the Domain holder.
Gordon looked excited. "Of course, we can take a walk around Pleasant Park!" I almost winced at the name. The Demigod who made this place clearly had a very particular naming sense. More than that though, I was in awe of how REAL this place was. This was a Domain, a projection like Gehenna was for me, but this felt so…solid. I imagined part of that was because we were inside a Domain that had been merged with a body. The Saga contained the Domain, and when the Saga became part of an Ascendant, so did the Domain.
Of course, that wasn't going to stop us from finding this person. Just like I had a moment ago, he could manifest inside his Domain directly. Projecting a Saga infused Domain wasn't something I knew much about, though I'd seen Lark do it several times. All I could say for sure was that a post Saga Domain was stronger and more real, like this one.
It was, quite frankly, intoxicating to think about. How much I could learn from the Demigod who had created this place. I'd been floundering around on my own for a while now. I knew they wouldn't be able to give me one to one instructions, but I'd been blazing my own trail for so long now. Ever since I established Gehenna, I'd been slowly diverging further and further from common sense. Dean Gibbons, the Old Man, Atlas, there were plenty of people who gave me advice and helped me with things like mythcrafting, but my Domain had been just odd enough that they couldn't really help.
Seeing the animal people here, the town itself, and how real and solid everything was, I couldn't help but get excited. This Domain was anchored to the fragment we were in somehow, this wasn't a projection, it was a PLACE. I didn't know how they'd done it, but Dantalion was telling me clearly that we were in stable space in a way that wouldn't be the case in a normal Domain, even one like Lark's.
I was so caught up in my giddiness I almost missed Saunders asking me a question. In fact, I did miss it, but my mom roused my with a quick kick to the ankle as we followed them out the door. "Sorry, got distracted, what was that?" I asked sheepishly.
Saunders laughed. "I asked if you two were hungry? We have an amazing steakhouse in town, we could visit."
Considering we were standing in a town of what I suspected were anthropomorphized skills and most of the ones we'd seen so far were Divine rank (probably), I couldn't deny that I was thrilled at the prospect. Sadly, now wasn't the time, so I had to defer. "That does sound great, maybe after our walk in the park?"
"Sounds like a plan," he chuckled. "Hold up, Gordon needs to lock up the library so he can come with us."
I turned to see the Goat man closing up the library, locking it with a large brass key hanging around his neck that I hadn't seen until he grabbed it. "Oh, Gordon's coming along? That's wonderful, the more the merrier, I say."
Something about Sunshineville just made me want to act…pleasant. I wasn't sure if it was how nice everyone was or something about the Domain, but it was almost irresistible despite being very subtle. It wasn't just words either, everything about the place was mild and nice. The weather was JUST warm enough, with a cool breeze to balance it that carried the scent of pine and flowers, and even the street felt comfortable under my feet somehow.
I was so caught up in the spell I barely noticed we'd walked for a mile until we reached the park, and when we did, I stopped short as I stared ahead. "Um…that's a nice maze," I said slowly.
It wasn't. It was, to be frank, horrifying. The maze was constructed of bushes, which should have been inoffensive, but somehow the bushes were projecting some kind of force of malice. They were towering and terrible, with jagged dark branches and razor sharp serrated black leaves. The shadow they projected was much too large, and they gave the impression of looming hungrily over us like a great beast waiting to pounce.
"Isn't the park lovely?" Saunders said cheerfully. "I always feel so refreshed walking through here."
"You pass the maze often?" I asked, noting how he and Gordon seemed to be skirting around it without ever actually looking at it. He'd also ignored my mention of it a moment ago, which seemed a bit suspicious.
Saunders blinked at me. "The park?"
"The maze," I clarified.
"Oh, I love the park, isn't it lovely? I always feel so refreshed walking through here," his tone was identical to what it had been when he said the same thing just a moment earlier.
My mom put a hand on my shoulder. "It's warded," she clarified. "They can't see it. I don't think anyone in this town can. I've seen five or six other residents walk by and none of them have even glanced at it. One of them dropped something and chased it around the corner of the maze. Like it was luring him past. Something is keeping them away. I don't even think they can hear us talking about it."
Sure enough, when I glanced at them, I was surprised to see the two of them had turned and wandered off, chattering to each other…and to us, despite our not being there anymore. "Well, that's deeply unsettling," I said, staring at them in discomfort.
"Agreed, now what are we looking for here?" my mom said as we walked toward the towering twisted branches.
I told her, filling her in on everything I'd learned. She frowned at that. "Are you sure they're like your demons? You said they have Divine ranked skills, right? Wouldn't they be S-rank then, if they worked the same?"
"They would," I said slowly. "But they might not work the same. I mean, I can almost guarantee they don't actually. For one thing, my demons all look like different versions of me. The residents here are friendly animal people. The skills all seem to be lifestyle stuff. Teamaking, furniture crafting, baking. It seems like this person is focused on the enjoyment of life."
"You think that makes a difference?" she asked with interest.
I shrugged. "I don't know. In fact, I don't know what I don't know. Whoever they are, they've clearly gone MUCH further down this path than I have. I won't know anything until I talk to them about it. Which brings us to…" I gestured at the entrance to the hedge maze we'd stopped in front of.
"This place," she said grimly. "I don't love it. You really think they're in there?"
"Maybe," I admitted. "Theres a few places in the Domain they might be. But this one feels right to me. I can't say why, it just seems…likely. Maybe it's my fate sense, or maybe it's the similarities. Whatever the case, we need to go inside. Even if the Domain holder isn't there, we might find some clues to the missing townsfolk."
She nodded, then paused. "Actually…where are the others? Should we be letting them wander off on their own?"
"It's fine," I shrugged. "Bethy seems to like everyone, and if Mordu has anyone in town, they'll be paying attention to them and not us. Mostly because I sent a clone after them before we entered the library, so she'll think them IS us. If nothing else, it'll give us an excuse to look around without drawing any attention. Or it would if this place wasn't apparently some kind of cognitohazard for the locals. That was not part of my plan."
She snorted, but despite her amusement, she tried to step forward into the maze. I held out an arm. "I'm wearing S-rank armor," I said dryly. "And I have a powerful defensive form." I activated Mornax, boosting it with my staff before stepping forward. "I'll go first, and you can back me up." I grinned at her from behind my mask. "Just sit tight old timer, I'll keep you safe."
Her eye roll was undermined by her slightly exasperated grin. "All grown up and too big to let your mom protect you now, huh?"
I chuckled as I called for my staff, stepping into the maze. "What can I say, I've come a long way." Despite the joking tone though, my words lost a lot of their strength as I stepped into the maze. It was the strangest feeling, one second I was out in the town where the weather was perfect, albeit under the shadow of the branches, and then I stepped over the threshold and the air went icy cold.
Under my feet, dead leaves crunched, branches rustled around us, and off in the distance I heard a murder of crows squawking loudly. "Well," my mom said worriedly. "That was dramatic."
"It feels like another world," I frowned. "It feels like…" I paused to consider. "Like the citadel. Shit. You think this place is already compromised? We should have brought Lark along. In fact…" I closed my eyes, reaching for the clone I'd sent, and redirected it to my location. I made sure it knew to bring Lark along, and I gestured for my mom to wait. "Hold on." I warned her. "We're waiting."
I wasn't sure if the Demigod was here, but if they were, and if they were corrupted, I'd be screwed without Lark to help. To my surprise, it didn't take him long to find us, and as I stepped out of the maze to meet him, I was surprised to see him jump slightly. That added a bit of credence to the whole other world theory.
"What do you need?" Lark said, obviously bored. "It's usually good manners to send that in the message. Not just 'come here, will you?' Just for future reference." He didn't seem too put out, but I winced anyway.
"Sorry," I sighed. "There's a lot going on." I filled him in on the various bits of information, the theories, and everything we know or suspected. "Basically, we need you to come with us into this creepy haunted maze where no one can hear us scream." I shot him a grin to let him know that while I WAS joking, I was also being very serious.
He just rolled his eyes. "Fine," he groaned. "I guess I'm interested to see what's in there." He turned and walked away. He strode through the opening in the bushes and vanished, and after a quick shared look with my mom, I trailed after him. I had a feeling we didn't want him to get away.
Gordon chuckled. "I find tea has the same effect on me on occasion. Is there something in particular you were hoping to see?"
"I was interested in taking a walk in nature," I said with a smile. "Is there a park near here we could take in?" There was, according to the books, exactly one park in Sunshineville, and it was at the center of town. INSIDE that park, meanwhile, was a very mysterious hedge maze that no one in town had planted or took care of. It wasn't a sure thing, but it was a strong contender for the location of the Domain holder.
Gordon looked excited. "Of course, we can take a walk around Pleasant Park!" I almost winced at the name. The Demigod who made this place clearly had a very particular naming sense. More than that though, I was in awe of how REAL this place was. This was a Domain, a projection like Gehenna was for me, but this felt so…solid. I imagined part of that was because we were inside a Domain that had been merged with a body. The Saga contained the Domain, and when the Saga became part of an Ascendant, so did the Domain.
Of course, that wasn't going to stop us from finding this person. Just like I had a moment ago, he could manifest inside his Domain directly. Projecting a Saga infused Domain wasn't something I knew much about, though I'd seen Lark do it several times. All I could say for sure was that a post Saga Domain was stronger and more real, like this one.
It was, quite frankly, intoxicating to think about. How much I could learn from the Demigod who had created this place. I'd been floundering around on my own for a while now. I knew they wouldn't be able to give me one to one instructions, but I'd been blazing my own trail for so long now. Ever since I established Gehenna, I'd been slowly diverging further and further from common sense. Dean Gibbons, the Old Man, Atlas, there were plenty of people who gave me advice and helped me with things like mythcrafting, but my Domain had been just odd enough that they couldn't really help.
Seeing the animal people here, the town itself, and how real and solid everything was, I couldn't help but get excited. This Domain was anchored to the fragment we were in somehow, this wasn't a projection, it was a PLACE. I didn't know how they'd done it, but Dantalion was telling me clearly that we were in stable space in a way that wouldn't be the case in a normal Domain, even one like Lark's.
I was so caught up in my giddiness I almost missed Saunders asking me a question. In fact, I did miss it, but my mom roused my with a quick kick to the ankle as we followed them out the door. "Sorry, got distracted, what was that?" I asked sheepishly.
Saunders laughed. "I asked if you two were hungry? We have an amazing steakhouse in town, we could visit."
Considering we were standing in a town of what I suspected were anthropomorphized skills and most of the ones we'd seen so far were Divine rank (probably), I couldn't deny that I was thrilled at the prospect. Sadly, now wasn't the time, so I had to defer. "That does sound great, maybe after our walk in the park?"
"Sounds like a plan," he chuckled. "Hold up, Gordon needs to lock up the library so he can come with us."
I turned to see the Goat man closing up the library, locking it with a large brass key hanging around his neck that I hadn't seen until he grabbed it. "Oh, Gordon's coming along? That's wonderful, the more the merrier, I say."
Something about Sunshineville just made me want to act…pleasant. I wasn't sure if it was how nice everyone was or something about the Domain, but it was almost irresistible despite being very subtle. It wasn't just words either, everything about the place was mild and nice. The weather was JUST warm enough, with a cool breeze to balance it that carried the scent of pine and flowers, and even the street felt comfortable under my feet somehow.
I was so caught up in the spell I barely noticed we'd walked for a mile until we reached the park, and when we did, I stopped short as I stared ahead. "Um…that's a nice maze," I said slowly.
It wasn't. It was, to be frank, horrifying. The maze was constructed of bushes, which should have been inoffensive, but somehow the bushes were projecting some kind of force of malice. They were towering and terrible, with jagged dark branches and razor sharp serrated black leaves. The shadow they projected was much too large, and they gave the impression of looming hungrily over us like a great beast waiting to pounce.
"Isn't the park lovely?" Saunders said cheerfully. "I always feel so refreshed walking through here."
"You pass the maze often?" I asked, noting how he and Gordon seemed to be skirting around it without ever actually looking at it. He'd also ignored my mention of it a moment ago, which seemed a bit suspicious.
Saunders blinked at me. "The park?"
"The maze," I clarified.
"Oh, I love the park, isn't it lovely? I always feel so refreshed walking through here," his tone was identical to what it had been when he said the same thing just a moment earlier.
My mom put a hand on my shoulder. "It's warded," she clarified. "They can't see it. I don't think anyone in this town can. I've seen five or six other residents walk by and none of them have even glanced at it. One of them dropped something and chased it around the corner of the maze. Like it was luring him past. Something is keeping them away. I don't even think they can hear us talking about it."
Sure enough, when I glanced at them, I was surprised to see the two of them had turned and wandered off, chattering to each other…and to us, despite our not being there anymore. "Well, that's deeply unsettling," I said, staring at them in discomfort.
"Agreed, now what are we looking for here?" my mom said as we walked toward the towering twisted branches.
I told her, filling her in on everything I'd learned. She frowned at that. "Are you sure they're like your demons? You said they have Divine ranked skills, right? Wouldn't they be S-rank then, if they worked the same?"
"They would," I said slowly. "But they might not work the same. I mean, I can almost guarantee they don't actually. For one thing, my demons all look like different versions of me. The residents here are friendly animal people. The skills all seem to be lifestyle stuff. Teamaking, furniture crafting, baking. It seems like this person is focused on the enjoyment of life."
"You think that makes a difference?" she asked with interest.
I shrugged. "I don't know. In fact, I don't know what I don't know. Whoever they are, they've clearly gone MUCH further down this path than I have. I won't know anything until I talk to them about it. Which brings us to…" I gestured at the entrance to the hedge maze we'd stopped in front of.
"This place," she said grimly. "I don't love it. You really think they're in there?"
"Maybe," I admitted. "Theres a few places in the Domain they might be. But this one feels right to me. I can't say why, it just seems…likely. Maybe it's my fate sense, or maybe it's the similarities. Whatever the case, we need to go inside. Even if the Domain holder isn't there, we might find some clues to the missing townsfolk."
She nodded, then paused. "Actually…where are the others? Should we be letting them wander off on their own?"
"It's fine," I shrugged. "Bethy seems to like everyone, and if Mordu has anyone in town, they'll be paying attention to them and not us. Mostly because I sent a clone after them before we entered the library, so she'll think them IS us. If nothing else, it'll give us an excuse to look around without drawing any attention. Or it would if this place wasn't apparently some kind of cognitohazard for the locals. That was not part of my plan."
She snorted, but despite her amusement, she tried to step forward into the maze. I held out an arm. "I'm wearing S-rank armor," I said dryly. "And I have a powerful defensive form." I activated Mornax, boosting it with my staff before stepping forward. "I'll go first, and you can back me up." I grinned at her from behind my mask. "Just sit tight old timer, I'll keep you safe."
Her eye roll was undermined by her slightly exasperated grin. "All grown up and too big to let your mom protect you now, huh?"
I chuckled as I called for my staff, stepping into the maze. "What can I say, I've come a long way." Despite the joking tone though, my words lost a lot of their strength as I stepped into the maze. It was the strangest feeling, one second I was out in the town where the weather was perfect, albeit under the shadow of the branches, and then I stepped over the threshold and the air went icy cold.
Under my feet, dead leaves crunched, branches rustled around us, and off in the distance I heard a murder of crows squawking loudly. "Well," my mom said worriedly. "That was dramatic."
"It feels like another world," I frowned. "It feels like…" I paused to consider. "Like the citadel. Shit. You think this place is already compromised? We should have brought Lark along. In fact…" I closed my eyes, reaching for the clone I'd sent, and redirected it to my location. I made sure it knew to bring Lark along, and I gestured for my mom to wait. "Hold on." I warned her. "We're waiting."
I wasn't sure if the Demigod was here, but if they were, and if they were corrupted, I'd be screwed without Lark to help. To my surprise, it didn't take him long to find us, and as I stepped out of the maze to meet him, I was surprised to see him jump slightly. That added a bit of credence to the whole other world theory.
"What do you need?" Lark said, obviously bored. "It's usually good manners to send that in the message. Not just 'come here, will you?' Just for future reference." He didn't seem too put out, but I winced anyway.
"Sorry," I sighed. "There's a lot going on." I filled him in on the various bits of information, the theories, and everything we know or suspected. "Basically, we need you to come with us into this creepy haunted maze where no one can hear us scream." I shot him a grin to let him know that while I WAS joking, I was also being very serious.
He just rolled his eyes. "Fine," he groaned. "I guess I'm interested to see what's in there." He turned and walked away. He strode through the opening in the bushes and vanished, and after a quick shared look with my mom, I trailed after him. I had a feeling we didn't want him to get away.