Chapter 160 – Legend of the Moonbeast

Savri

‘When do we leave?’ Aki asked.

‘Tonight,’ I said with a heavy heart. ‘We will be provided with transport there - Phosi Express. The trip should take around two hours. She will drop us off near the entrance to the cave system. Hopefully, we will be back by morning.’

‘Who’s coming?’

‘Us four, Ren and Deirdee.’

‘Anika? Arcarius?’

‘This is a Tenebral Order matter.’

‘Deirdee isn't a member,’ Lilyth pointed out.

‘But she is part of your original party and has a patronage contract. That's close enough.’

‘Ereshkigal did show interest in her in the gallery,’ Aki observed.

‘And she does have something to offer Deirdee too: her soul,’ Caei added and told us about what happened between her and Ereshkigal.

‘Huh,’ Lilyth sighed. ‘The more I learn about the Blood, the more I hate the cunt. Still, there is also a second reason for Deirdee to make a deal with Ere - Zvirvil.’

‘Dangling her brother’s soul as a “sign-up bonus” would be a bitch move,’ I muttered, feeling genuinely uneasy.

‘Not necessarily,’ Caei protested. ‘Remember - whatever Blood does to us after we die… I think Deirdee might get it much worse. So this is genuinely the only way to save her and him.’

‘Nothing is free,’ Lilyth sighed. ‘Honestly, it is up to Deirdee to decide what to do if she is offered such a deal, so no point in us arguing.’

Did I hear that right?

‘Damn,’ I whistled. ‘What happened to the Lilyth who stared down the Sun?’

‘She is still there, don’t worry. Just gonna pick her battles.’

Someone is growing up, I see.

‘Still, I understand Arcarius,’ Aki circled back to the original subject, ‘but why not Anika? Weren’t you comrades?’

‘We were. And that's how I know she is not the right fit. At least not for this mission. She didn't have a chance yet to have her preconceptions… challenged.’

‘She seemed genuinely excited about going to both Murdergrove and Akh'ret’s Mercy,’ Lilyth agreed. “A major red flag now that I think of it.’

I grimaced, hearing that. It was worse than I thought.

‘Did she cite her service record by any chance?’ I asked, already knowing the answer.

‘She did mention some ship with rogue AI on it,’ Lilyth confirmed.

I covered my face with my hand and shook my head.

‘Of course she did,’ I spat. ‘She spent most of that mission on the bridge, trying to hack the bots. That's the problem with her. I am not discounting her combat abilities; she was with us on the frontlines plenty enough, but she has a completely wrong idea.’

‘She’s a virgin adventurer, isn’t she?’ Aki asked.

‘One with special forces training, yes, which makes it ten times worse, ‘I agreed. ‘I was like her, too. Thinking that since I survived dungeons, I would be fine on the battlefield. I wasn't. And frankly, I don’t want to babysit her now or in the future. You guys are my companions now, and I will not endanger you for the sake of an old friendship.’

Turning a special forces soldier into an adventurer. Easier to circumnavigate the world on foot.

I left the girls to rest, and possibly fuck, and went to find Deirdee. I wanted to feel her out.

The former assassin was in the armoury, going through the weapon racks. She kept pulling out a sword after sword, giving them test swings and putting them back with a disappointed look on her face.

Finally, Deirdee found one that seemed to suit her - a fairly long smallsword. Like previously, she swung it a few times, tried thrusting with it and, clearly satisfied, grabbed the sheath for it.

‘Gonna just keep standing there?’ she turned to me once she finished fastening the sheath to her belt.

‘Didn’t want to disturb you,’ I replied.

‘And you were interested in my choice.’

‘That too. You can tell a lot from someone's weapon choice.’

‘Can you now?’ Deirdee asked with a raised eyebrow. ‘So what does my pick tell you?’

‘Nothing I did not know before,’ I admitted. ‘Both your… professions seem to lean towards agility rather than strength.’

‘Yup. There is also the problem of the fact that I am straight up not built for long stand-up fights.’

‘Wouldn’t dancing build up your stamina?’

‘Not over three weeks. And still not the best prep for swinging heavy pieces of metal for hours on end. So this will still be my main weapon.’

She pointed at the banged-up Magitek carbine.

‘Did you let Anika take a look at it? Maybe she could use her new abilities to identify any immediate issues.’

‘The blinded-by-love ghûl? Hard pass. Don’t trust her after the outburst in the inn.’

‘The outburst?’ I got confused, and after Deirdee explained the argument over Arcarius, horrified.

‘I mean… Lilyth could have been nicer,’ she finished. ‘She has a certain way with words, but still…’

‘Yeah… both of them were out of line, but Lilyth was in the right there. Defending Arcarius while they were discussing the effects his action had on people in the building… not a good look. Don’t get me wrong, I like the man, but his presence will always be… problematic.’

‘He seems decent enough sort, yes. But I have no doubt Aki and Bergia will always look at him the way I look at Lilyth - someone who killed a person that was dear to me. And at least she was justified in killing Zvirvil - she was defending herself. Arcarius… not so much.’

I sighed. This was worse than I thought.

‘This isn't the first time feelings made Anika… unreasonable. She was one of the first people I met in the world I ended up in, and she was actually in prison for trying to get into government files. Our Commanding Officer, Paul Rykers, met her when he was working in law enforcement. Anika developed a crush on him, and once he was accepted into special forces, she tried to find him.’

‘And she got caught. Sloppy.’

‘More like stupid. This was the equivalent of trying to sneak into the House of the Serrated Blades.’

Deirdee winced at that.

‘Pretty much. Paul took pity on her and accepted her into his unit. I mean, someone with guts and skills to do what she did was a potential asset.’

‘Did she manage to get into his pants?’

I smiled.

‘As it turned out, Paul was more into chicks with horns and a tail.’

‘I can't imagine Anika was happy about that development.’

‘By then, she had already moved on to another target.’

Deirdee nodded at that and said:

‘By the sounds of it, Anika is a massive liability as far as I am concerned. She is new here, so if her next “crush” turns out to be a problem…’

… Then we will be in deep shit, I finished in my mind.

Lilyth

The figure waiting for us at the lake shore wasn’t what I expected to see. Instead of a giant drowned woman made of acid, a dark blue-skinned woman with pointy ears and wet-looking black hair stood there looking at the lake.

She wore shin-high black leather boots with gleaming buckles, a black frock coat and pants, a grey vest, a white shirt and a red cravat. If it wasn't for the lure antenna, red eyes and a mouth filled with pointy, sharp teeth, I would have never guessed that it was Phosi.

‘Hello there, morsels,’ she rasped at us, dispelling any remaining confusion. ‘Not what you expected?’

‘Well…’ Ren began carefully. ‘You did lose some weight, it seems.’

‘Good answer!’ The sconryoll laughed. ‘Alas, my true form makes it difficult to walk on land, so I had to adopt this… inferior body.’

‘Walk on land?’ Aki repeated.

‘What, fiery one? Did you honestly think I would be sitting around in the river while you six took your sweet time in that cave system? I’m coming with you.’

We all looked at Savri, not understanding.

‘News to me too. Nyxie did say that Phosi would be assisting us on that trip, but I assumed well…’

‘That I would just be a glorified Darhun, Savri? Hardly. Nyxie thinks you six may be in need of help, and since I was bored, I agreed to assist you. This applies to your journeys in general. If you will have me, of course.’

‘I don’t think we are in a position to decline help,’ Aki said and looked at us.

We just nodded.

‘Umm… just a question,’ my Dark Lady began, trying to find the right words, ‘Are you sure you are going to be fine in cities or villages… you know… given your… ummm… diet.’

Phosi laughed at that.

‘I’m sure there are people in those who won’t be particularly missed. On a more serious note, I can sustain myself with… other things. Fish and other sea creatures, forest animals, low-flying birds, and occasional goblins. That kind of stuff. As for cities… I don't like them terribly. They are noisy, and the never-ending prattling of food annoys me. But I can manage.’

Well… at least she is honest. Brutally, in fact.

‘Don’t worry,’ I heard Nyxie say. ‘Phosi might be somewhat rough around the edges, but she is a bean once you get to know her.’

Something occurred to me then.

You seem awfully attached to her. I get why Irmen would be, but why you?

‘Just because Phosi is, mostly, aquatic, doesn't mean I can't hang out with her. Or be her Patron deity.’

Patron? Why would you…

‘C’mon, Lilyth. You are smart enough to figure this one out.’

Yeah. After spending more than five seconds thinking about it, the answer was obvious.

You took interest in her because of why she died and turned into that?

'Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!’'

Nyx, the goddess of Air, Storm and Women’s Rights?

‘Yes. At least that is what I hope to become associated with eventually.’

I will happily help you spread that message.

‘Glad to hear that.’

The trip back to the Murdergrove was fairly pleasant. We had an actual boat this time around, so we could mostly relax while on the way.

One downside to it, other than us heading into danger, that is, was that the weather was quite chilly. I viewed the fact that I actually had time to worry about the weather as a massive positive. This let me also start figuring out the dates using the local calendar.

So, a Dwynveian year was three hundred and sixty days long and divided into twelve months of five six days weeks. The naming was about as creative as the one we had back on Earth. Each day was named after a different one of the old gods in the following order: Irmen, Akh’ret, R’as-T’uar, Gin’Ig, Nyx and finally Ereshkigal. Months were divided into pairs named after the gods in the same order, using the “First/Second Moon of <Insert that God’s name>” format. As such, we were now in the second week of the “First Moon of Nyx”, as the local equivalent of September, a name coming from “septem” which means “seven” in Latin, was called, so summer was nearly over and autumn was fast approaching, and we were all wearing warmer clothes. For me, it was my navy blue greatcoat, Caei once again was a blue cloak burrito, and Ren, Deirdee and Aki seemed to emulate her with brown woollen cloaks of their own. Savri was just zipped up in her brown leather jacket. Phosi seemed none the worse for wear and just looked at the stars as her powers propelled us towards our destination.

‘Nice drip,’ I said to her to break some more ice with her.

She looked all over her body.

‘I don’t think anything is dripping, morsel,’ Phosi glared at me.

Oh.

‘What I mean is - your clothes look very nice.’

Her expression smoothed, and she grinned.

‘Why… Thank you. It was the height of fashion among the Imperial nobility back when I was alive. I could barely afford it, but I had to uphold my family name. And I still look well in it, even if it is just a magic-created facsimile.’

Imperial nobility? She must be older than Savri, then.

‘How old are you exactly?’ confused Ren asked.

‘Surprisingly undiplomatic, descendant of Shinji,’ Phosi chuckled. ‘Allow me to reintroduce myself. My name is Phosi Vaan Lohren. I was born in 1103 Imperial Calendar to an impoverished branch of the “Great and Honourable” Vaan Lohren family. My great-grandfather was given a domain over a bunch of fishing villages and a small and barely used port down south called Ghantville.’

‘Never heard of it,’ Ren said.

‘Wouldn’t expect you to. It was wiped out by a hurricane some four hundred years ago. There is a forest growing over it now.’

‘Did no one ever try to rebuild it?’ I asked.

Phosi shook her head.

‘There was no one who could do that. The Empire was gone, and so was my family. No one cared, because why would they? Some of the survivors did try to settle down again, but they abandoned it pretty quickly and moved to more livable places.’

‘Any relation to Doctor Hakon Vaan Lohren?’ Aki suddenly asked.

I was planning to bring it up, too, but I was waiting for a better moment. Phosi didn't seem to mind, though. She was more confused than anything.

‘He was a distant cousin of mine. Three or four times removed, I think. Similarly out-of-luck branch of the family. Where did you hear about him, though?'

We told her about the Akh’ret's Mercy and what we had found there.

‘So Hakon did manage to fulfil his dream,’ Phosi laughed with surprised warmth. ‘Even if the world ended soon afterwards. Just my family's rotten luck, I guess.’

‘You didn't know?’ I followed up before I could bite my tongue.

‘I met him maybe five times during my entire life,’ the sconryoll shook her head. ‘I knew he wanted to become a doctor and help people, but that was all. Shame, though, Akh'ret's Mercy was a prestigious hospital. Even now, I feel proud of his achievement. Alas, I died in 1124 and for the first few years after my rebirth I was detached from my… mortal concerns, and by the time I regained my senses it was over. I might tell you about what happened to me back then, but that stuff is very private.’

I imagined it would be so, I shifted the subject.

‘So you don't know what caused the fall?’

‘No. I have been hearing about disturbances here up North my entire life, but I never paid much attention to them. Like… Ror-Bhyk was a backwater even back then, so why would a young girl bother with it? I had more important things to worry about. Like clothes. Or boys.’

She shuddered at the last part.

As I mulled over what we had just heard, I looked up into the sky as my gaze fell on the broken moon. I have long learned to just accept it and shrug off as another Dwynveian idiosyncrasy. But now… now I had someone to ask about it.

‘Phosi… Do you know what happened to the moon?’

‘It exploded,’ she responded with a wicked smile, but then grew deadly serious. ‘At least that's the version that was officially accepted around the time of my birth. There were legends going around about it being a giant egg that something tried to hatch from… but… those were usually stories parents would tell their children to behave. “Be nice or the moonbeast will come and get you”.

‘Wait!’ Ren shouted. ‘Those stories are that old?’

‘Was someone misbehaving?’ I asked with a mischievous smile.

Ren just gave me the one-fingered salute.

‘The legends about the “moonbeast” were thought to predate the Vandarian Empire,’ Phosi answered, ignoring our antics. ‘Like most kids, I outgrew them and mostly forgot them until one lonely night, maybe two centuries into my life as a Sconryoll. You see… most people can’t see it, but the rocks trailing the moon actually move. It is slow. It took me a century to even notice that, but ever since I started tracking those, I began to notice things that made me consider that there might be some truth to the legends. Strange shadows, faint glow from the inside.’

‘Those could have a natural explanation,’ I pointed out.

‘Maybe,’ Phosi shrugged. ‘I could have been seeing things too. At least that is what I thought for a while. Then…’

She pointed to one of the pieces floating very close to the moon.

‘That one is new. Well… relatively anyway. Watching it slowly break away was fascinating in a weird way. It took maybe fifteen years. But when it finally did… There was something behind it. I never got a good look. It was just a mass… of something. Flesh maybe. It shifted slightly… and then it was gone.’