Serious Plots 8: Rawr serisaurus!

[Recaiden]

The last cooling elements are removed, she's floated up to the surface, the breathing tubes retract.
It is done.
I imagine there's still some pain through her throat and sides, and she's probably still feeling a weird temperature, which will settle down soon.
The hive has not seen the need to do anything extra, not wanting to interfere with this unique specimen of fiendishness that they have. If one of her cousins goes through such a metamorphosis, then they can experiment...

"How do you feel, Sekhmet?"

[bc56]

Razor Wit

Sekhmet heaves herself out of the pool, dripping wet, and breathes deeply for a few seconds. "Ohhhhh. I'm alive." She slowly gets to her feet, and smiles back at Prumathe, until he embarrassedly turns away. She realizes why, and blushes deeply, her cheeks turning dark black. "Uh, could you bring me a towel? And a, uh, change of clothes?" In the meantime, she pulls her hair in front of her as a makeshift covering.

Prumathe's now had his first good look at the new and improved Sekhmet. She's taller than before, but unless he's shorter than average, she still won't be as tall as him. Her hair now hangs down to her waist and has a metallic sheen to it. Her lips have turned black. Faint lines of metal can be seen beneath her skin, especially in her wings, where they glow with reflected light from the ball of fire between her horns.

The golem is still at least partly intact. Sekhmet didn't need all that much metal. It can probably be removed from the pool as well.

[Earl of Purple]

The Sword of Lies

"You can have my shirt. Um, if they don't have anything else." Prumathe does take it off, offering it to her. He's not wearing anything underneath, but it should still fit. He's a little taller and probably quite a bit wider, as he's a stonemason with a powerful build. Makes it easier for his magic, too; he doesn't have to boost it as far.

[Recaiden]

The weavers return to resting postures, the workers return to the tunnels under the hives. The strider heads off towards the garden, the princess tiredly glides back to Castle Ell.
The duke has a new assignment, and sets off to do it.
It's just Spike and Spot and the other Marquess (subject to lots of tests and a little bit of being-taken-apart to see how a being like Sekhmet should have been doing if their soul were in place - she'll be fine by tomorrow) left paying attention to Sekhmet. Spot is immediately sent down to the village to fetch rags and clothes - a stalker's plain brown robes.
"Yes, we should have some."

Sekhmet, do you know why this new appearance was able to anchor your mind to the body, while the old was not? They will have to look into this whole mysterious phenomenon. Any information could be the key.

[bc56]

Sharp Words

"Thanks, but, uh, it wouldn't fit." Sekhmet says to Prumathe. Her wings prevent her from wearing most clothes designed for normal humans. She puts on the robes, squeezing her wings through the upper limb-holes, and then joins Prumathe. "So, uh, how do I look?" She's still quite wet.

She also sends thoughts back to Osa. I don't know for sure. I just knew it needed to be like this. Sort of an instinctual thing. Maybe with more research I could find out? The one thing she is sure of is that she needs the cooling organ to prevent herself from cooking to death.

[Earl of Purple]

You Khanda Do It

"It buttons up. You can put it on back to front. Might be awkward, but better than nothing." And Sekhmet won't be able to fasten it properly, but it should be doable.

Regardless of what she wears, he smiles at her. "Stunning. Bit more... um, intimidating, I guess, but only to those that don't know you. You're still Sekhmet, even with the... halo of fire and stuff." He gestures at it as he speaks, in case she hasn't noticed it or something.

[Recaiden]

We would appreciate if you investigate this.
As far as secondary transformations go, this one was inconvenient.

"Your horns look better like this, with the light. And you're almost as tall as me." Spike offers. It's not as subtle as the previous Sekhmet.

[bc56]

A Cut above the Rest

Sekhmet wasn't really talking to Spike, and the stalker's comments are mostly ignored. She focuses on Prumathe. "You always say that." She smiles and reaches over to give him a hug. "Thanks for saving my life." She releases him a second later and then turns to Spike. "You too. Thanks." She pauses awkwardly for a moment. "What time is it? I'm famished!" She hasn't eaten since before Prumathe called her this morning.

[Earl of Purple]

You And Urumi Together Forever

"It's always true, that's why." Prumathe smiles and hugs back, happy Sekhmet's alive and still with him.

Just don't think about what's happened to the golems Pontius volunteered to help, specifically the armour golem which is certainly destroyed.

[Recaiden]

The golem is slowly hauled up out of the pool, which is glad (to the extent it can be) to have it gone.

Spike smiles. But they don't expect gratitude from Sekhmet. And it's not necessary.
"I don't think Prumathe will enjoy our food much." *you* can have a worker bring you things from the village though. Or they could start on their way back to GLoG and get normal food.

[bc56]

Like a Hot Knife through Butter

Sekhmet's smile widens at Prumathe's response. That's sweet. "Then, uh, we should eat when we get back," she decides. She can wait a little longer for a chance to eat with Prumathe, and she wants to talk with him.

[Earl of Purple]

Seax, Pulwar, Spike

"Then let's get to GLoG, so you can get some proper clothes and we can have lunch together." Wasn't planning a date today, but might as well since they're together anyway. He'll haul the golem onto his back, unless it's intact enough to walk on its own. Depends on where the metal the Hive needed came from, really.

[Recaiden]

They probably started with the bottom of the golem and worked up. It was faster that way.

One of Ell's dukes, who originally secreted Sekhmet away here, lumbers down from the sky to pick them all up for the return trip. Spike needs to get back towards the city, and the others need to get back to normality.

The hive has other things to do.
There's a great deal of holy silver paint. Surely it can be used to reinforce the magic circle around Sapphira, if properly applied. And it may have other uses.
They need to investigate certain forms of candle-making, and adapt the gardens' metal-making techniques.
They know the words to demand a fiend's name. Although it seems the name of a Marquess is just something like 'Serket'; they aren't quite of same magical caliber as Sekhmet. But neither are they just humans with wings and tails. They will have to experiment.
A cave buried in rocks is only barely workable as a hiding place for such a great danger as this bound fiend. It will have to be improved. Fortified and disguised.

Late that night, a fairly large contingent of various hivelings will be arriving at the site of Sekhmet's trap...

[bc56]

Back Again: A Fiend's Tale

Sekhmet mentally calls for Ellie, and the hound comes running from wherever it wandered off to while Sekhmet was getting surgery. She helps to carry the golem to the Duke, then climbs in, bringing Ellie along. It's a little while into the trip before she talks to Prumathe again. "I, uh, I'm sorry I got you into all this danger. I didn't mean for any of this to happen."

Old Fiends and New Enemies

Sapphira hasn't gone anywhere. She remains in the circle, in the form of a whirlwind of fire and lightning. When the hivelings arrive, she speaks with a derisive tone. "HERE TO GLOAT? THESE BONDS WILL NOT HOLD ME FOREVER. I WILL ESCAPE."

[Recaiden]

The vox chirps "Gloating is unnecessary."
Workers carry in nodules of metal and stacks of plump cleaner creatures. Hounds eye the painted magic circle and scamper into the depths of the cave.
"You agreed to help us if we delivered your daughter. We cannot be blamed if you then let her slip through your fingers." That probably counts as gloating.
"And let us speak of what you would do after destroying us, hypothetically. You fiends are very interesting entities."

[bc56]

I think we've used most of these Fiend puns already.

Sapphira coalesces into her earlier humanoid form. "Why does it matter to you? You'll be dead." She sees no reason to give a straight answer to this question. "But oh, my plans are so exquisite. First I'll cut out Sekhmet's tongue, then her eyes. I'll break every bone in her wings and legs, and cut off her hands. Then I'll put her in a birdcage about this big, Sapphira indicates a size with her hands which is much too small for a person to fit in, "And hang her in my throne room as an example of what happens when my children disobey me. And there she'll stay for all eternity. Be glad I'm only going to erase you from history." She smiles wickedly. "What do you think? Not cruel enough?"

[Recaiden]

"It it but a single type of cruelty, though quite enough of it. Pain and the threat of pain go only so far. They consider it brave to endure." Oh good, that swirling storm of fire was so unpleasant to look at. "They will see the broken bat in its cage but think 'Oh, that could never be me.'"
"It is better to take away the things they fight for. Besides, without a tongue she can't properly be ignored. Without eyes she can't see anything horrible. What you ought to do is put her human in the cage. Or better, make him love only you."
"What is best, though, is to make your enemies the instruments of their own destruction."

"But right now you are in that circle. And you will remain there for quite some time. Do you have any interests other than vengeance yet?"

[bc56]

Capital Punishment

"You fail to understand just how long an eternity is. I've lived several. No one, mortal or immortal, could withstand for so long, no matter how brave." Sapphira replies, "And she is cowardly. She will fall quickly. No, to keep her beloved would motivate her to resist. He must die." She looks thoughtful for a moment, and replies to the last comment with a question. "You are not here for idle chatter. What do you want?"

[Recaiden]

If she would fall in eternity's time, what's the hurry in killing Prumathe?
"We do have very few eternal beings to talk to." the vox brings up. They don't bother explaining the hive's long existence, the countless perspectives it has included. Sapphira likely has lived in some way that dwarfs the mere linear time they've existed in. And it might give her ideas.

"But yes. We would not bother with anything other than preparing for your escape otherwise. We want more half-fiends to study. We want passage to your worlds. We want to understand your kind's energy, the underlying Form."
"Will we have these things with you, or without you?"

[bc56]

References and Punishment

"I can do you no service while bound," Sapphira winks. "Passage to my world? Easy. But I have no intention of handing my children over to you to poke and prod, and I cannot explain my nature to the uninitiated." Sapphira laughs. "But enough of that. Let's play a little game. If I vow to answer your next question truthfully, will you vow to answer mine truthfully as well?"

[Recaiden]

"You're not literally helpless in that circle. Why, we've just seen your shape change. And they needn't be your existing children."
Such a sudden and obvious change in demeanor. They didn't think Sapphira had it in her.
"The game sounds like a start. Make your vow, and you may ask your question."

[bc56]

Fiend and Games

<I swear to answer your next question truthfully> Sapphira swears in the Fiendish tongue. "But you ask first. I insist." She spreads her wings in a beckoning manner. She probably has a reason for wanting to go second. Or maybe she doesn't. Who knows?

[Recaiden]

"It is your game; you should have the first move." The vox responds.
"Although if you could swear as to the effects and motives of our going first, that would be convincing."

Did Sekhmet's books have much on fiend-binding magic circles on them? Side effects of making deals?
Anything Sapphira comes up with, especially something unusual like this, has to be highly suspect.

[bc56]

A Fiendly Competition

"Very well. First swear to me that you will give a truthful answer, then I will ask." Sapphira assents. "Although if you're not certain you want to go second, I'm still willing to."

[Recaiden]

The voice does swear to answer truly the next question Sapphira asks.
Then the vox gestures with one of its tiny wrap legs that the fiend should go first.

They consider that getting to go first is actually what she wanted, but sometimes you need to take risks to learn things.

[bc56]

A Fiend Indeed

"SO THE PACT IS FORGED" Sapphira intones. If the hive was thinking of breaking that oath, they might find it more binding than they expected. Sapphira then clears her throat and speaks. "Tell me, young ones. What is it that you fear most?"

[Recaiden]

"Long ago, we had no room in our heads for fear. And now we have largely set it aside. Pain, death, slavery; these do not matter. But we are not machines; there is...

The voice coming through grows a little bit more somber. "We fear our brothers, Oldest and Strongest, whose Form is unmatched."

"What are all the weaknesses of fiends?"

[bc56]

Fiendly Conversation

Sapphira smiles knowingly at the answer, and the question. "Silver. Holy relics. Certain rituals. Stronger fiends. She doesn't see any need to elaborate. If they aren't giving her more details, she doesn't have to give them any. "Prayer. Love. Angels."

[Recaiden]

"I enjoy this game. If you wish to continue..."

Half those things were known, but there was a bit of new information, and it ruled out many things that could otherwise have been tried wastefully.
The recently identified Marquess Kiun is assigned to the mystery of love. Lokvah is furious that Sekhmet was right. Isn't the Nexus terrible?
They are still deciding how to approach investigations into prayer and other religious matters.

[bc56]

What are Fiends for?

Sapphira smiles. "Then let us continue. The question is yours." Is her appearance changing? She was curvier a second ago, and her horns were longer and didn't curve forward so much. What is she doing?