Chapter 83: Questioner

We sat crammed into the boat, our knees were knocking against each other with every small shift of weight, and for a while, it actually seemed to be working.

Starlight Hurricane held the seams tight while Mary’s light-rope was glowing faintly steady in the dark, and the black water carried us forward in slow, patient ripples that felt almost peaceful after everything else tonight had thrown at us. Also we were using some remaining slabs as oars, they kind of helped and so did the black water, which was concerning.

Nobody spoke much.

Because after the tree and after Choez and after Ouroboros, The Supreme Angel of Fate himself, a quiet boat ride across corrupted water felt like the closest thing to a break we were going to get. In this realm.

Then, halfway across, the boat shook.

And not softly...

"F—ck," Theodore barked, grabbing the side with both hands as the whole hull lurched sideways, water sloshing up over the edge and soaking through my boots before I had even registered what was happening.

Something enormous rose up in front of us, water sheeting off a body that looked, at first glance, almost like a sea lion, like if sea lions grew to the size of small houses and sprouted four curling horns from the top of their heads.

Its dark, glistening hide caught the dim light in patches, and its eyes, wide and disturbingly intelligent, they were fixed directly on the five of us as we huddled in our very small, very fragile boat, sizing us up with an unhurried, almost curious patience that felt far more unsettling than outright hostility would have.

[You Are Looking At A Beast Lord: Questioner]

My hand was already halfway to summoning Thunder Sunlight when the creature spoke.

"Wait, wait! I don’t want to kill you..."

’It can talk?!’

"Well, yes, I can talk," it continued, delighted with itself, its voice was pitching up into something almost giggly. "Hehehehehe. I am Questioner. Nice to meet you!"

All five of us wore, I imagine, some variation of the exact same twisted, deeply unsettled expression.

Questioner reared back slightly, clearly enjoying the reaction, its four horns catching the faint light as he tilted his head from side to side, studying us like exhibits in a very small and a very damp museum. "I’m the one who decides whether you get to cross to the other side or not. Hehehehe. After all, I hold all the advantage here. Hehehehe."

"...Right," I managed and was still not entirely sure I was talking to something real and not some fever dream brought on by too many deaths in one night.

"To cross," Questioner continued, horns tilting forward with something like genuine glee, "you have to answer two of my questions. If you Lie then you’ll be punished. Refuse to answer, and you’ll still be punished. Hehehehe."

Beside me, Sera muttered, "I already don’t like this."

"I’ll answer the questions, I guess," I said, mostly because volunteering felt marginally better than watching Questioner pick someone at random.

The creature’s laughter bubbled up again, it was delighted and almost gleeful in a way that made my stomach drop a full second before he actually spoke.

"Did you have an erotic dream in the past week?"

’What the f—’

Silence descended over the boat so total I could hear the water lapping gently against the hull.

Theodore made a sound that was somewhere between a cough and a laugh that was violently strangled in his throat. Arthur’s eyebrows disappeared somewhere into his hairline. Mary’s expression didn’t change at all, which was somehow worse, and Sera looked like she was doing everything in her power not to burst out laughing at my expense.

I considered, briefly, throwing myself into the black water instead of answering.

"...Yes," I said finally, because it was true, and because lying to something that had just threatened punishment for lying felt like an extremely bad life choice even by the already happening generous standards.

Questioner’s grin, if a giant horned sea lion could be said to grin, widened considerably.

"Other than you," he said, practically vibrating with anticipation, "who was the star of the dream? Hehehehe."

I felt my face go completely, thoroughly red, the heat was blooming from my ears down to my collar in a rush I couldn’t have stopped even if my life depended on it, which, considering the phrase "punishment," it possibly did.

"That’s—" I started, then stopped, acutely aware of four separate sets of eyes now locked directly onto me with an intensity that made Choez’s strings feel almost gentle by comparison.

"Oh, this is good," Theodore whispered, leaning forward like he had just been handed some front row tickets to something.

"Theodore," Mary said, without looking away from me either. She looked amused as well.

"I’m just saying, we’ve earned this," Theodore said, seriously.

"Answer honestly," Questioner sang, horns swaying side to side in what I could only describe as barely restrained joy. "Or face the punishment. Hehehehe."

I opened my mouth. Closed it. Opened it again.

Sera leaned in slightly, arms crossed, eyebrow raised in a way that was distinctly our father’s expression when he already suspected the answer to a question and simply wanted to watch someone squirm before confirming it. Though it felt somehow worse coming from her than it had ever been coming from him.

"Well?" she prompted, drawing the word out far longer than strictly necessary.

I considered, briefly and was calculating the odds of surviving a swim across the rest of this lake versus finishing this sentence out loud in front of everyone currently in this boat with me, weighing corrupted water and unknown horrors against the very real horror sitting directly across from me with an expectant grin.

The odds of surviving the water did not look good. But The odds of surviving this conversation looked worse.

"It was..." I started, my voice was coming out about an octave higher than I intended, heat was crawling up the back of my neck along with some coldness. "It was—"

Questioner’s laughter rippled out across the water, delighted and patient, it was in absolutely no hurry to let this moment end.

"Hehehehe. Go on."