Novel Full Chapter 2189 A Less Nice Distraction Part 1
— Lily —
Lily swallowed heavily as she stepped carefully into the room. Her lantern still flickering constantly. The light it provided barely enough to see around her. Lily could stretch her shadows far further then the light from the lantern would go. Lily wasn’t sure where it was safest to hold it either. Ahead of her? Around her? To the side perhaps? Lily was starting to have some second thoughts about this.
The area felt dangerous, especially compared to everything else. Perhaps it was just the lack of proper lighting and a lack of Kat that made this so scary, but the sounds she couldn’t properly identify were also putting her on edge. Was it instinct… or simply fear of the unknown.
Lily carefully stretched her lantern further forward out into the darkness until she managed to illuminate a… table. Lily took a few more steps towards it, keeping the lantern above until she’d hopped up onto the wood. The table had a few drawers but rummaging through them didn’t reveal anything useful but mush. Whatever paper notes had once existed certainly didn’t anymore. Perhaps she could restore them… but Lily wasn’t sure if there was enough left to restore or if this even counted as paper.
Still… Lily decided it was worth the attempt. Powering the spell, Lily felt it latch on for a second before shattering in her hand. Lily made a few more attempts before sighing. She was correct, the damage was too much, at least for this version of the spell. Perhaps if she was a higher Rank… but the restoration spell was more about returning paper to good condition and filling in small holes. Not turning mould back into paper.
Scoffing in disgust Lily slammed the desk shut and hopped off, ready to look around the rest of the area. More holes littered the floor, these ones much larger, with enough space a trailer to fall down in one particular area. Leaning over with her lantern above didn’t give Lily a great idea of what was going on down there… and it felt like if she lowered her lantern too much something might grab it off her. The odd sounds she was hearing were still present, but identifying what creature or contraption they belonged to was still impossible.
Lily continued to walk around the area for a bit… only to eventually realise that this had been a reception area once, complete with pots for plants that had long since died and what might have been couches once upon a time. The holes in those spots made it hard to be certain considering there wasn’t anything left of them, but the holes were right up against the wall with cabinets either side and the hole was suspiciously couch shaped.
Even with all of this, Lily hadn’t been properly prepared for the next issue she noticed. When Lily decided it was time to move on she went to look for the door into the later areas… only to realise there was none. There was no wall either, not anymore. She’d just stepped over the distorted remains of the wall trim. Lily had just assume it was rouble, but the fact the floor changed from smaller tiles with some colour mixed in to large polished marble slabs gave her a hint.
Lily swallowed again as she heard the sound of something moving next to her. Swinging the lantern around all Lily could see was a faint sheen on the ground, like someone had just recently mopped the floor… the fact that it was in a straight line was not a good sign. Lily sniffed at the air, but she couldn’t identify anything like a monster’s scent. It was mostly mould, dust, and hints of fresh water. The water plant wasn’t exactly nearby, but Lily supposed it was a LOT of water.
Lily shifted her lantern around a bit more, and the trail continued for a bit before turning away from her and extending off into the darkness. Following it the other way was the same, though it remained straight without curves. Lily… didn’t know what to make of it. Did she follow whatever this was? Some sort of enchanted mop perhaps? Lily sniffed the air again and there was no scent of soap or cleaning products… but would people care about that?
*It’s hard to say. What are the chances that something like that would remain enchanted? I… I guess I don’t really know… but there wasn’t any sign of that sort of cleaning elsewhere? Maybe they were testing it here? Then what’s the bubbling sound? It’s not moving water, not quite… and there isn’t a smell of soap at all…*
Lily chewed on her lip for a bit before shaking her head and stepping away from the trail across the ground. She didn’t want to fight a haunted mop if that’s what this actually was. So instead, Lily moved further into the area and found more holes… but something else. There was more shattered glass on the floor alongside some sort of metal base. It looked like it might have been a cube at one point but a lot of the metal was gone now. Three long bars remained, one across the top, one lining the side, and one sitting directly up. The one going down seemed to have a join for two other bits of metal, but they were missing.
Lily sniffed at the air and once again… found very little to smell. Glancing around she tried to make out anything on the wall behind the metal… but there was nothing there either. Though off to the side she found the remains of what might have been a step ladder? That leant credence to the idea this could have been a fish-tank of some sort. Though why would they study fish here?
Lily sniffed, once more. *Though I don’t smell any fish. Except… would I? How long has it been since the fish would have been here?* Lily moved around and found the ’wall’ the fishtank was on actually existed as a large, solid shelf that seemed to have been designed just to hold two layers of things. The top shelf was empty, and lacking in the metal supports. It was also rather high up, and Lily wasn’t sure if it actually had space to fit another tank up above.
The layout was mirrored on the back, and then further copied on the left and right once she made her way around the area a little more. None of them had any more informative remains then the original. They did all still have some remnants of what might have been there, but broken glass and metal sticks were hardly more informative when you found them in sets. Though… it did confirm that the group here were probably studying something. If they were just farming fish why not have a bigger tank? Why have so many smaller ones? If they were more for amusement… why have so many at all?
Lily turned away and was planning to backtrack a bit and head off to the side… only to notice that there was now water on the floor behind her. Lily lowered the lantern down and saw that distinctive shine. Then shivered. There had been no sounds, or rather, no distinct sounds to alert her to the fact that something had passed so close. The other instance at least had that wet flopping sound but… there had been nothing.
Lily licked the air, as she fought back the temptation to lick the floor. It looked like water, smelt like water… it was probably water… but she wasn’t Kat. Lily certainly did NOT have a regeneration factor that could keep her safe if this was poison. It probably wasn’t but… she hadn’t heard anything. There was no reason to assume. Anything.
*Do I contact Kat? I don’t want her to worry I’m doing anything stupid… I say as I’m doing something that’s arguably quite stupid. Dammit. I’m still not sure I’m ready to confront Kat but I don’t think I’d ever forgive myself if something happened to me and she didn’t know what that could be. But I’m strong. I… I should be fine.*
Lily’s mind flashed back to the kick. The impact on her face, the bleeding… and Kat’s request. Lily slammed that line of thinking back down but the hurt lingered. *I’m not inconvincible… but I haven’t really seen anything dangerous. Just a bit creepy. It’s probably just water. I… I don’t know what this is but… but it’s probably not dangerous right?*
Lily gulped, wondering if there was perhaps a way to contact Kat automatically. Set up like a slingshot in her mind that would trigger if she got too scared or hurt. The answer was… probably but Lily certainly had no idea how to do it. Not unless she could perhaps ask KatE somehow?
Lily glanced around the area, into the darkness where her lantern didn’t yet shine. The light spluttered for a second. Dying. Lily tensed, that second it was off felt like an eternity. Lily worried she’d need to sprint for the door. But the light came back. Everything was the same. She was… fine. Probably.