Chapter 41 - Meeting Joey

It was cold, windy and icy.

As far as the eye could see, there were towering mountain peaks in every direction, looking bleak, and hateful, wreathed in mist and wrapped in ice and snow. And in the middle of it, stood the stronghold of jet black stone, the entire structure supported by walls easily rising to a hundred feet and more. Between the atrocious weather and these stone fortifications, Lukas could only wonder how lonely the residents would be, paranoid as they filled the world with weapons, each as deadly as the last sin they inflicted on those less fortunate. It was large and sprawling and empty, and despite the dozens of checkpoints and guards all around, the only thing that stood out was the lingering stench of death.

The team had been studying the entire mountain for the past week, both from afar as well as rifting on and off it. They’d intercept the igriott-drawn carriages driving up to the mountain, and Elena would charm the soldiers on it, and try extracting security detail out of them.

The keyword in this case was try. Lukas had been stunned when, upon being asked about the interior layout of the fortress, the soldier threw his head back, and screamed in a long drawn out fashion, before dropping forward like a sack of potatoes.

Dead.

If he had any doubts about the level of Mujin’s paranoia, this one definitely ended them.

Still, it was not entirely useless. They had gotten a fair idea about the layout from Tanya, and whatever information they could gather from the soldiers confirmed her information. Much to his surprise, Solana had offered to shapeshift into the dead soldiers, and make the trip back to the base, and return with the next carriage. Lukas had joined her a couple of times, just to get first-hand experience with the wards. Luckily, those weren’t the svartalfar kind, and did not cause any reaction with the anomaly within. He had made some rookie mistakes from time to time, but Solana was experienced enough with impersonation to excuse it off easily.

“This is the farthest I can get us, Lukas,” said Tanya.

“Why?” he asked. “The checkpoints don’t even begin half a mile up from here. No soldiers either. You’re supposed to get me past the main ward line.”

“That isn’t how wards work, Outsider,” said Solana. “A ward isn’t a barrier you need to step through. It’s a bounded field that extends from one ward-line to the other. In this case, the entire distance between one checkpoint and the next. The moment Tanya rifts you in the middle of it, the ward will sense intrusion and react. And you know that won’t be nice.”

Lukas winced. He had found out that only igriott-drawn carriages were allowed through the checkpoints. The set up had less to do with ensuring convenience, and more with security. Lukas had once conjured a tiny metal bullet and let it drop on the ground when crossing checkpoints, only to see it get crushed to dust by invisible forces.

Exhaling, he looked up at the imposing fortress looming over them. Unless they had missed something, there were thirty-one checkpoints, including nine towers, two bastions and a drawbridge, between them and the main citadel. Not to mention the vast number of unknown wards that could sense his presence if he tried to squirrel his way through them.

Damn it.

He scowled. “So, unless we decide to blast our way through the wards, I’m on my own.”

“Yes,” said Tanya, looking distinctly unhappy about the matter.

Super. Without Tanya’s ability to Rift them to the outer gates of the castle, their chances of successfully infiltrating the place, finding Zuken and getting out would be steeply reduced, and Lukas had hoped he’d send Olfric to do the bargaining (a hopeless attempt to begin with) while Elena held everyone else’s attention. He even had a couple of camouflaging monster prototypes ready for this purpose.

“This place reeks of death,” said Olfric.

He looked like he was second-guessing already. At least he was doing his best to hide his anxiety behind a mask of bravery.

“It’ll reek even more when we’re done with it,” Lukas promised with a shaggy grin. “Not having second thoughts, are you?”

The man took a deep breath, his wristbands forming into the chain-scythe Lukas had seen him use earlier. “I’m a Bergott. If I died a coward, my ancestors wouldn’t let me hear the end of it.”

“...Ah, right. You’re a strange one.”

“If you cannot rift Lukas past the gates, then he has to travel with us all the way via carriages,” said Olfric. “And that means he’ll have to pass through the checks without losing his shit.”

“I feel like we’re already doomed right off the start,” said Elena.

“You’re just a big ball of sunshine,” said Lukas.

Elena glared at him.

Lukas ran his fingers through his hair. One option was to have Tanya to rift him up there, and then stand by on the opposite mountain, ready to hammer against the outer wards with her best shot. A single attack would have been enough to create a ruckus, allowing Lukas to escape. He supposed he could still use her as a distraction once inside, but trying to get her the signal while being closely watched by guards would be difficult if not impossible. For obvious reasons, the entire execution would have to wait until Elena, Olfric and potentially Zuken were safely out of the wards. That way, he could fight without having to protect anyone. Even in the worst case scenario, Tanya could rift her way through the wards and the two of them could perform a repeat of the borderland.

Fun times.

But there was one glaring problem.

The time between them finding out Zuken’s location and actually extraditing him out, followed by their safe passage through the wards would be extremely crucial, and everything would be dependent on him. Quite naturally, he didn’t fear for his own safety, but he couldn’t say the same for the rest.

He was liking the idea less and less with every passing moment.

“What’s our status with Mujin Shimizu?”

“The meeting is set as we discussed. Shogun Naowa would be in a meeting with Shogun Straff and Mujin. The svartalfars would also be sending representatives. Mujin won’t be able to get out of this one without causing a diplomatic nightmare” said Tanya. “We’ll have him tied up for six to seven hours.”

“Any chance of these guys alerting him?”

Solana shook her head. “Already covered. I can construct a barrier around the entire place. But do not expect anything else from me while I’m doing that.”

Lukas whistled. Holding a barrier that size in place? It was humbling.

“You will have to send me a signal. If the barrier is up from the very start, they might get suspicious.”

“Point,” Lukas nodded. “So we have them locked in for six hours.”

“More or less,” said Maude.

“At least that’s something,” he murmured. Now only if he could do something about the other problem. He still needed to see exactly how efficient Elena’s nightmare was, as well as how competent Olfric was with his new kami. Having another combatant, at least someone on Ryu’s level, would have been better, and obviously Solana wasn’t an option. Maude could definitely win in close combat, but against an army of spiritists, he wasn’t sure exactly how useful that would be. Her healing prowess would definitely be a plus, but her presence would invite all kinds of questions. Worst case scenario, she’d be one more person he’d have to keep alive while helping them escape the fortress.

You could make the problem go away, you know, said a voice that felt suspiciously like Inanna. You know exactly what that would entail.

He balled his fists.

Be a hypocrite if you must, the voice kept whispering. But if they die, on your head their deaths shall be.

He gnashed his teeth. Shut up, me.

“Lukas?” Tanya asked, concern shining on her features. “Everything alright?”

He didn’t bother with trying to hide it. “No, not fine. But  I’ll deal with it. Let’s— let’s return for now.”

“Yes,” said Solana. “That feels like the best strategy, for now. We still need to test the nightmare’s abilities on the captured soldiers.”

He nodded, and turned to Elena. “It’s time I had a face-to-face meet with Joey. Think he’s up to it?”

Elena swallowed.

....

....

....

“Are you… absolutely sure you want to do this?” asked Tanya.

Lukas arched an eyebrow at the wariness in her features. It didn’t help that every single person in the room had a similar if not worse reaction. Solana had actually crafted barriers inside and around the room, with at least three-fourths of them concentrated around Lukas, as if fearing for the worst. Maude looked absolutely grim, and Olfric had a just-puked expression on his face.

Well, everyone except Elena. She actually looked thrilled to have someone willingly match gazes with her pet nightmare, as if it were a vindication against all the biases she had faced over the years.

“Why is everyone looking at me like that?”

“Words cannot come close to how frustrating you are, Aguilar. And I know at least a dozen of the old tongues.” Solana glared at him with venom, her eyebrows twitching. “You are matching gaze with a nightmare of all things, just prior to an important operation.”

He inwardly winced. When put like that, it did look quite reckless. But it would be equally reckless to not know what kind of effect the creature would have on him.

Especially with Elena joining him with Olfric inside the Shimizu fortress.

“I don’t have a kami,” he said. “Neither do I have a spiritual bond with anyone.”

“Meow?” A purr echoed through the room, catching everyone by surprise. Except that the purr felt less soft, and more like the sound of rusted metal dragged across glass.

“Oh calm down, Blob,” Lukas said offhandedly, brushing off the metal-slime’s displeasure. “You’re not a familiar bound to my soul. You’re a direct Accessory connecting to my origin. And mine.”

“I’m more surprised that it was able to make that assumption in the first place,” Tanya blinked in surprise.

“Blob has always surpassed expectations like that. Even when its constitution was broken, it was still aware of its surroundings. I’d have died many times over if not for Blob coming to my rescue. Speaking of…” he turned to Solana. “Can you open a rift for me sometime today? I won’t be going anywhere, but Blob’s feeling a bit famished. It needs to refuel its tank before we get started on the mission.”

Solana blinked. “I… can arrange that.”

“Meoww!”

“Blob says he’s grateful.”

“Uh, Elena, are you sure you didn’t Charm me by mistake?” whispered Olfric. “I’m genuinely certain I’m seeing and hearing things right now.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Olfric,” the changeling huffed. “I don’t Charm anyone by mistake.”

“Yes, because that was the relevant point in the question,” Tanya deadpanned.

Lukas sighed, as the minor bickering slowly faded to silence, as all eyes fell on him, no doubt expecting him to say something.

“Let’s just get started. In the worst case scenario, I go crazy, in which case, Tanya knows exactly how to bring me back to my senses.”

“Correct me if I’m wrong,” said Olfric slowly. “But the last time it happened, didn’t we have to smash your head repeatedly, until you were unconscious?”

“That’s exactly what he means,” said Tanya dryly.

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Lukas gave him a half-shrug.

“You’re forgetting that you’ve grown in skill and power since then,” Tanya pointed out. “Not to mention after all those monsters you’ve siphoned, there’s no saying what kind of demon will attack us if you go crazy.”

He grinned. “Yeah. I can see how that might be a problem. But com’n, where’s your sense of adventure? And I hurt any of you too badly, you have permission to hate me.”

“Oh, good. Now that settles everything,” Olfric glowered.

Lukas chuckled. “Now can we begin?”

Everyone looked at Elena with mild degrees of wariness. That is, everyone except Olfric and Tanya, who had a barrier raised in front of them, keeping them from meeting the nightmare’s gaze directly. Lukas on the other hand, stood opposite her, thumbs in his pockets, looking recklessly cavalier.

“Okay, just don’t say that you weren’t warned alright?” asked Elena. At his nod, she swallowed and put on a determined face. “Here goes.”

She raised both hands daintily and crossed them across her chest, her fingers paused in a particular gesture that would have probably classified as a mudra back on Earth. Slowly, carefully, she uncrossed them, both hands running parallel, but never quite touching each other. It was like she was opening the gates to some invisible lock. Lukas didn’t need to be an anomaly to sense the sudden flux of energy that seemingly appeared out of nowhere, spinning all around her protectively, while something began to materialize in front of him.

“Shokan!” she said, her voice reverberating in a way he couldn’t really explain, as if it was more than just sound. Like it carried a greater weight, had a greater existence than just sound.

And Lukas… gawked.

The thing that appeared before him was strange. Its body colour was blue, with a tinge of dirty green, oysterish, with wriggling tentacles dropping out of its nearly round skull. It had two pairs of wings on its back, too short to be anything but vestigial, and its periphery felt hazy, like he was seeing it through a hazy mirror.

“What the….” Lukas began, unable to believe his eyes.

“Enough!” cried Solana. “Look away from it before something worse happens —”

But it was already too late. The squid-like thing had already blinked and was staring at Lukas directly.

Analysis Complete

Rendering…

TYPE - CORRUPTION

CONSTITUENT - SPIRITUAL

Deciphering Spiritual Constitution…

Decoding…

Corruption Resisted Decoding.

Scan Complete.

Establish Accessory Link to perform Rollback Protocol

Proceed?

The squid-baby let out a tiny squeak, and all but leapt into Elena’s arms, and then her neck, before hiding in her hair, peeking at him through her hairs.

Establishing Accessory Link failed due to obstruction by known prototype ‘CHANGELING’

His lips twisted in amusement. This… this was the grotesque, bloodthirsty monster that was the bane of yokai and spiritual predators alike? He had expected Joey to be some kind of twisted abomination that was deceiving the changeling and posing as her familiar while stealing her body and continuing its nefarious plans. Instead it was…

It was staring at him with all the seriousness of a newborn puppy. Its cute, cuddly, plump, babyish face blinking like a small baby looking up at an adult looming over its cradle.

All the while hiding behind Elena’s hair.

“Hey,” cried the changeling. “Stop bullying him!”

Lukas couldn’t control himself any longer. He snorted. “This… this is Joey? This is your monstrous nightmare?”

“Isn’t he the cutest?” Elena squealed, proceeding to pull the squiggly creature in front, and cuddle the life out of it. The tiny thing let out a cute gurgle, one that Lukas could only assume was a prayer to save it from the brunette’s antics.

Lukas glanced at Tanya, and then at Olfric, who seemed very intent on not looking at Joey.

Or in his general direction.

“Alright, guys, no harm done,” said Lukas. “I’m still me.”

“No harm done?” asked Maude. “You — you are absolutely certain?”

Now that he considered it, Maude looked utterly pale, her body upright, her hands clenched and shaking and her body seemed absolutely frozen in place. More prominently though, was the horror in her dilated eyes, and the occasional erratic twitching of her body, as if she was witnessing an unmatched abomination. She was sweating like a pig, unable to look away from the creature regardless of how badly she wanted to.

Same with Solana.

“Elena,” cried Tanya. “What are you doing? Stop your nightmare from affecting — doing whatever it’s doing!”

“What do you mean whatever it’s doing? It’s doing nothing. Aguilar scared it so it was hiding behind—”

“Send it away!” Olfric all but shrieked. “Cast it away! Now!”

“You’re being mean,” she grumbled, and did her hand-gesture thing again. Joey let out another gurgle and dissipated into thin air. Almost as if a breeze had just entered the room, everyone let out a gasp of breath.

“Elena,” said Olfric, angrily. “What did you do?”

“No— nothing, I swear,” said the changeling, looking around, confused. “I’ve never seen this kind of reaction before. Usually people with no spiritual bonds just have splitting headaches at best. If anything, Aguilar scared Joey.”

She glared at Lukas as she said the last bit, as if it was entirely his fault.

Honestly, what would he say to that anyway? That Joey was a spiritual corruption, and that the anomaly was about to treat him the way it did any spiritual constitution that had any irregularities? That his Omphalos had just tried to perform Rollback protocol on it like it did on Blob?

Wait. Come to think of it, what kind of effect would Rollback have on it? For Blob, it was about repairing a broken structure back into order. But Joey was a corruption — an orgasm of pure chaos. Trying to organize it into a form would…

Fuck. Had he just mistakenly tried to unravel the fuck out of Elena’s nightmare? Was that why it had squealed and tried to hide behind her?

Maybe he should just apologize and make it feel better?

“Uh, Elena,” he tried, doing his best not to look at Tanya or the others. “That might have been because of a minor misunderstanding. If you don’t mind, could you show it to me again? I really think Joey and I started off the wrong foot.”

The stares that he got from everyone in the room made him feel two inches tall and thrice as thick.