Chapter 51: Mission Objectives
“I would recommend immediate action. If these individuals are not dealt with in a concise manner, the situation may become troublesome,”
“Leave it to me,” said Theseus, drawing his tranq-gun, “You guys get behind some cover,”
Phoenie and the others scuttled behind a batch of rocks. Peeking over the top she could see Theseus sidle along the wall with Faye hovering over the archway. He stopped at times, his face at first a mixture of confusion and disbelief, rubbing his head the first time and looking in Faye’s direction. Was she somehow inside his head, giving him telepathic instructions? Phoenie watched, hardly breathing as the action unfolded like a scene from a silent movie. Three figures, wearing the same esoteric tribal clothing as the ones they’d encountered before, emerged from the archway. Before they could react, one fell to his knees, and the others were quick to follow his tranquillized fate. Theseus then hurried over and hid their unconscious bodies behind some rocks, once again proving how some of the more bizarre Survival lessons they’d received from Mr Haan could come in handy.
It is safe to emerge from your cover.
“Did you just hear that?” asked Andromeda as the group rose in startled unison.
“I heard her in my head…” said Katrina.
“So, she’s a telepath…” mused John.
I apologise for the inconvenience. However it is something you will need to adjust to quickly. Telepathic communication is faster, more efficient and less likely to be overheard.
“Feels like we really have stepped into another world,” said Andromeda.
“I can assure you that we are not in ‘another world’,” replied Faye, aloud, “Princess Phantasia, however, is,”
“Hold on,” said Kaori, breaking the silence she’d held for most of the journey, “You said that before: Princess Phantasia?”
Theseus rubbed his damp hair, his face aghast. “That albino girl’s a princess now?”
“Indeed, but I do not have time to explain,”
Faye once again turned her back on the confused humans and wandered into the castle grounds. Theseus shrugged and followed, his spidermech and John quickly joining him.
“This just gets stranger and stranger,” said Andromeda.
Katrina nodded. “At this rate I’ll run out of film!”
Joel and Kaori sauntered past, the ginger Raven retaining a firm grip on his childish weapon.
“Kao, this is getting more awesome by the second,” he said, “Man, this is a proper dungeon. Now we gotta bust some demon heads!”
Phoenie couldn’t help but wonder, from the scale of the castle, if the demons even had heads. Her mind raced with images of eldritch abominations she’d heard whispered about, of giants emerging from the oceans of her dreams. Wait…that wasn’t a dream, was it? If that hazy memory was anything to go by, Joel’s weapon would be nothing more than an annoying thorn to whatever lay in wait for them. Maybe they weren’t ready for this, but turning back now would only prove Faye right. Plus she was their leader, she had to maintain group morale. It was her job.
“Shall we be going then?” asked Andromeda. Phoenie nodded and took the lead, the three surrogate sisters wandering under the arch like lost ants.
~ What awaits inside the labyrinthine castle? ~
~ Next: Crystals of Fear and Lust ~
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I was going to add some kind of recap to the start of the chapter, but I couldn’t work out how to do it without interrupting the flow of the story… I’ve never been a fan of the recap system I’ve been using. It works in print, but not online. I’ve contemplated just having chapter summaries instead. We’ll see.
Anyhow. I moved things around a bit in upcoming episodes to give me a little room to breath. They were all a bit bulky, either in terms of word count or illustrated scenes. Now I’ve got a little bit more time to work things though! The illustrated bits are coming in #54 (a couple of pages) and #55 (hopefully a whole scene, because it just wouldn’t have the same impact in writing).
Also the events in the next chapter have been a right bastard to edit, since I’ve got to keep in mind what people are doing and how long it’s taking them. The extra time is helping get those in order!
As for THIS chapter… I guess it’s very much transitional, moving the characters from their approach on onto their main objective. I gave Andromeda something to do, since she’d been lacking in that department, although it was only a minor thing and certainly doesn’t show off her abilities – it does set her up for the future, though.
Things to note:
~ It takes Faye less than thirty seconds to reach the church (it’s not that far away) and a few minutes to recover at least part of her strength. A need for recuperation is something she would have planned for. She wouldn’t have returned to full strength, however, only what she deemed necessary for the task ahead. Working on the physical plane is much less strenuous than on the fringe.
~ In regards to how much energy she wasted: recall that the fringe plane is more volatile and rife with strands of contamination. It would be to faeries like standing in a hail storm and Faye opening herself up to all the thoughts around her would be like walking into that hailstorm naked! Phantasia, at least, has had some practise enduring the atmosphere.
~ As for humans walking the higher planes… This tossed up the question of “is it even possible?”. Then I decided “yes, it is, because I said so,” XD I don’t want to delve too deep into metaphysics. The higher planes aren’t physical like ours. They’re reflections. You can’t pick up a stone and bring it back with you no more than you can in a dream. I figured the trade-off for a human walking a higher plane physically, rather than astrally, would be adequate. It drains their spiritual energy because that’s what is keeping them alive there.
Questions to consider:
~ How did Ceres and Korrigan get past a golem?
~ Why is Ms Chiltern so anxious about the whole situation?
~ Is SEELIE/Mr Payne aware of what Faye is doing? Of the students getting involved?
~ Thus far the shaman have been taken out rather easily. Is their strength overestimated?
~ What sort of demon is this Alastor?
And yes, I couldn’t think of a poll question so resorted to that old favourite: the popularity contest!
I’d have to say my favorite witch is a tie between Lyra and Korrigan XD
I will say I wasn’t expecting that group to show up, I was thinking Phantasia and the group would have to use some high explosives (that Theseus no doubt has) to obliterate the ritual. Another well written chapter full of suprises!
Thanks
Those explosives might come in handy. Or might not. If a demon manifestation could be stopped by a few booms…