Location: Soarele Blestemat, Hallways
Φ As we all move forward towards the Queen's chambers, I stare at everyone, where I see the three idiots carrying their parents, Avram giving a piggyback to Stelara, and all of the other incapacitated guests standing on a giant platform of blood that Stelara controls. I grip my sword, looking around the area for any intruders, yet as none of my senses go off, I relax my body.
"Turn left, in the next 3 seconds."
Looking ahead, I see nothing but a wall, yet as three seconds pass, I follow her instructions, and in front of me, another path lies. I quickly turn my head in amazement to see the rest of the civilians doing the same.
Elia says, "I barely even recognised my perception was being controlled."
Avram says, "There is no one who has all of their sense operating a maximum output at all times. Eventually, one will lag, and this building has so many overlapping layers of manipulation that you'll never recognise it."
"That's why the path is predetermined. Though I guess now a whole gaggle of people know about it," Stelara says, tilting her head to all those behind her.
Veekeeris, resting his head on Gheorghe's shoulder, looks at all of the people behind him and says, "If any of you blab about anything you've seen here, know you will die horrific deaths!"
His glare and words send fear through the eyes of all those on the blood platform, and seeing this, Elia says, "Is threatening people with violence the only thing you know how to do, you fried jellyfish? I thought your negative inches were just an aesthetic choice, but it seems to actually reflect how much of a child you are."
Veekeeris sends a tencile forward from his face, but Elia dodges his weighted body, and then, opening her mouth, she bites right into it, causing him to yelp in pain and return it to his body.
"Y-You bite me!"
Wiping the blood from her lips, Elia says, "Some garlic, paprika, an onion, some gloves, salt and maybe black peppercorn, that out to do it."
As Elia stares at Veekeeris, he quickly turns his head around, and giant obnoxious smiles appear on the three idiots' faces, which is quickly interrupted by Vėja saying, "Eyes in front, Wadim, you're not balancing your mother's weight properly."
"YES MAM!"
Looking down at the top of his head, Vėja rests her chin against it and says, "I see at least you've kept up with your nutrition to be able to carry your mother so easily."
Under his breath, he says, "I wouldn't say easily."
Vėja puts Wadim in a headlock, and staring up at her father on her back, Ivana says, "It seems that one of them lacks sense."
"You're right, how shameful for him to say such a thing about a woman, but at the same time, I am no better. Let me walk, Ivana."
"But aren't you feeling do-."
"It does not matter, I, your father, shouldn't be getting a piggyback ride from you."
Ivana lowers her head and wraps her head even tighter around Stiprais and dashes forward. Causing Avram to say, "Go slow or else you'll mess-." Ivana trips to the floor, and Avram says, "Up."
With a sigh, Stelara adds, "If you move quickly, all of the sense-altering effects rack up immediately; you need to only walk in here or blast your way through."
I run up to her, and I almost collapse as my sense of balance completely disappears. Getting my footing, I help Stiprais and her onto their feet, then I say, "Let me carry him, just use your hair as support."
With a sad expression, Ivana nods, and I through him on my shoulders then say, "Here we go, old man."
"I am not that old."
Almost falling to the floor due to his pressure, I say, "Say that to my back, you old man."
Stelara says, "Take a right up he-." Stelara jerks in pain, cutting off her sentence.
"Are you sure you're okay? You're controlling that platform of blood behind us. I am sure it feels like hell."
"It's fine, we can't carry all the rest of the members of Perfecțiune without it, and they would be targeted. Besides, you're dealing with 606 years of weight on you, I need to do something to equalise that."
She smiles at him, and we all move forward to the right, where are eyes are greeted by a pile of bodies of servants. Seeing this, my heart and those of the three idiots all tremble in fear.
And Avram says, "What is this?"
Pointing forward, Stelara says, "That body over there belongs to the 5th seat Memento of the Cursed Heart Army, he was one of Orlok's favourites. He probably directed these servants with him to try and reach Orlok in the Queen's chambers, but the heaviness probably incapacitated him as the rest of the Members of Blamator came through."
Veekeeris says, "Then we need to hurry up."
"But father, look at all of these bodies, are we just going to leave them?"
"Of course we are, you fool. This is war, and there are two strongest pieces lying ahead, under a probable assault. It's time to pick up the pace."
Avram says, "He is right, guys, we need to go, and we need to hurry."
Walking forward, we increase our pace, yet as my eyes pass by Memento, I see blood across his weapon. Were you fighting all alone while protecting these people? Did a man like you really even have to die like this?
With a heavy heart, I move forward.
-Break-
Turning another corner, we see a large door in front of us, wide open, and Stelara says, "Everyone, the effects cease here, dash forward."
Following her instructions, we rush through the door, all holding our hearts in fear. If the Queen is dead beyond these doors, I don't see how this country could even stay together. All I can do is hope she has been able to make to through, but from the dirty brown carpet beneath covered in the footsteps of all those who have passed through, I don't know if it is even still a realistic option.
We all head through the door and rise up a series of stairs, yet the moment my foot reaches the very top step, a body is flung right past my head, smashing into the floor behind me.
Yet before my mind can fully understand what has happened, my eyes lay upon the sight of a single man whose skin is as dark as the night sky with a bloodied uniform and a golden mask over his head, only allowing his purple hair to escape from it.
He sits with his legs crossed, his blade plunged into the ground, and surrounding him are countless Nightmare bodies leaking blood everywhere. Then, raising his head, he glares at us all before saying, "Sorry for the mess, I thought it would be longer for you, Stelara."
With a smile overcoming her face, she says, "No problem, I am just thankful you're alive, Orlok."
Standing up, he says, "Did you think that these pests even had a chance of doing me in?"
"I apologise. It seems the strongest warrior in the country strikes again."
Raising his hand, all the blood across his body flies off, then moving it again, all of the bodies along with the blood fly right out of the room past us all, and he says, "Are you sure no intruders lie among you?"
"No, everyone here was equally targeted, and as far as I know, they have no special connection to Dragoste. His lack of sociability allows me to guarantee that."
"So this was set up by Dragoste. He is the only person competent enough outside of Perfecțiune to step this up. Especially not the three idiots in front of me," he says, looking at the ministers.
Elia starts to laugh as the Minister's faces turn red, and I turn my head to Avram, who says, "It's a hereditary title."
Feeling the tension from my body vanish, I laugh a bit as well, and Orlok says, "Come on in."
We enter through the door and see a rather unimpressive room. The size and bed at the end of the wall directly in front of us exudes a level of strength and class that amazes me, yet throughout all of the room are countless little trinkets, we no shape or order, many of which look like they are from completely different eras of history altogether. It's not something I would be able to tell normally, but given how different they all look, they must be.
Yet despite the chaos, there are a few things that remain consistent, which are the little suns scattered everywhere, one bright and orange like the one in the sky, and another a deep blood red, along with the symbols of each of the cursed armies.
As we enter the room, Orlok moves all of the survivors from the attacks to the side of the wall, while moving Avram, Stelara, and the Ministers over towards the Queen.
Elia, tapping me on my shoulder, says with her eyes gleaming with the same malice that she always has, "Let's take a moment to inspect everyone here. We don't know what injuries they might have."
Nodding, I say, "Sure, gearhead, but do you need some oil first?"
Φ Hearing Willow's words move through their ears, Ivana, Wadim, and Gheorghe all turn their heads in fear, and Elia says, "Ehh, someone got a big mouth. Desp-."
"Cyrus and Dumnorix got invited to see the Cursed Sea Armies' ships, due to doing a lot for the church. Do you want to come and hang out?"
With her face lighting up with joy, she says, "REALLY! All of the armies' advanced ships are near spectacles of engineering?"
"Sure. Only a few people are allowed to go due to how busy they are, so I can give you my spot. Though it is a pretty big missed opportunity yet, if someone could tell me all about what I am missing in ridiculous amounts of detail, I will probably be fine with that."
Φ As Elia starts to ramble whilst we move towards the people, I give a thumbs up to the three younger idiots in victory. I guess she really is as the same type as Orb, really dumb.
Φ Staring at a dried-up corpse with overflowing hair covering every single part of her body, I say, "Is this her majesty?"
The five around me stay silent until Stelara says, "The same one you say through your youth."
"Didn't you say she was healing herself?"
Stiprais says, "A lie we made up to protect stability, and defend her honour."
Holding my hand against my head, I say, "Did her curses for longevity finally reach their end?"
"We don't know; it just happened one day, and we don't know why. No one entered the premises, and no one outside of the normal people even interacted with her. We just don't know," Orlok adds.
Stelara says, "Maybe God simply got tired of waiting for our majesty to join him, and is trying to rip her off the earth."
"If so, it is a cruel way to go out, for such a stunning pillar of beauty and strength to die rotting in her bed despite her glory," Veekeeris utters.
"Don't deceive her into just that. Even now, the institutions she has built within the country have allowed us to deal with extreme strife and succeed; the only reason we haven't collapsed completely is due to her. She is Blestemate."
Stiprais says, "And in 3 years of her sickness, we have almost brought this country to its knees. What fools we are."
"Why are you all talking about this as if she is gone?" I say staring at her.
Stelara, touching my shoulder, says, "I know you're emotional seeing her like this, Avram, bu-."
"Nothing. We simply need to figure out what's wrong with her and do an operation."
Orlok, moving over to my face, asks, "Is there some kind of medicine you found abroad that can help?"
"Far better than that, I have my employees. Ivana, Gherogeh and Wadim can save the Queen."
They are all free for a moment, and then Stelara, Vėja, Stiprais, and Veekeeris shout, "WHAT!"