Alice is getting impatient.
So far, nothing really interesting is happening in this girl’s dream. Yet a small part of Alice is telling her to wait and not to interrupt the dream. But what is she waiting for? Maybe there’s something important in the girl’s subconscious that’s about to resurface?
Out of boredom and the fact she hasn't checked in awhile, Alice picked the oracle hand mirror.
In a instant she was given a mental replay of everything that happened since Isaac entered the mansion.
Her eyes twitched once she processed what she saw.
This calls her attention... Yet... she really doesn’t want to stop watching the girl’s dream... Wait. There is a way.
Alice chanted some words as she placed a invisible seal on the girl’s forehead. That way, she can scry into the girl’s subconscious and manipulate it at any time without needing to touch her.
With that out of the way, Alice stood up and slung the girl's unconscious body over her surprisingly strong shoulders.
One second later... Were there was once a old woman carrying a teenage girl, there was nothing but misty woodland air...
------------
Isaac was glad thedetour into the mansion was nearing it’s conclusion. They can finally start heading for the mountains again. The sooner he can help this kingdom solve their problem, the sooner he can return to the crypt and solve his kingdom’s problem.
He glanced back at Mary who was still struggling to walk due to her new human form. Despite cloud folk and humans having the same body shape, it seems the weight and balance of a human body seems to be different then that of cloud folk. Slar, who was helping to balance Mary's increased weight as she walked, was simultaneously aiming his weapon at Issac's head and giving him a disgusted and angry glare.
Isaac really did feel bad for Mary. She didn’t deserve what happened to her. But what can he do? It doesn’t seemed that Slar would let him come near her again, and he wasn’t sure when the mystery substance will ever wear off and turn Mary back. And what if it doesn’t wear off? Is there another way to turn her back?
And that brings up another problem. Now that Mary is human, what is she gonna eat? Everything in this plane is made of clouds. And he doubt that clouds will appease her human hunger.
Isaac glanced down at his viney body.
No. His body may be capable of growing fruits, but his body is also corrupt. There’s no telling what the corrupt fruits would do to her now that she is in a vulnerable human state.
He’ll just figure things out later. For now, they just need to leave this place.
But as the group were about to leave the lab, a strange, unnatural voice sounded throughout the halls.
*INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT! INITIATING LOCK DOWN SEQUENCE!*
The next thing he knew, thick, metal doors slid down around them, blocking the walls and entry ways. And in some explainable way, the floor and ceiling changed from being made from clouds to being made out of some impenetrable metal.
*CLAP CLAP CLAP*
A sound of clapping could be heard behind them.
The group turned around to the sound of footsteps coming from behind one of the lab instruments.
“Bravo! Braaaaaaavoooooo” A elderly human woman shouted as she stepped out from behind the contraption with Nat slung over her shoulder.
Slar, who was currently standing closest to the new arrival, was getting tired of surprises. Especially when that surprise is one of these otherworldly humans. So he blasted the old lady with his gun as soon as she appeared.
“Slar wait!” Isaac shouted, but was too late to do anything.
“RUN!” Slar shouted, picking up Mary’s surprisingly heavy body and making a run for it.
But as the smoke subsides, Mary and Slar are surprised to see the old lady still standing there.
“Nathan!” Mary shouted. She tried to get free from Slar’s grip and run towards her supposedly captured friend, but she and the rest of the group was suddenly rendered unmoving due to some unseen force. The only things they could move was their heads.
“Now, now. No need to resort to any more unnecessary actions. Let us have a rational conversation.” The old lady warned.
The old lady gently set down Nat’s body onto the ground. Thankfully, it doesn’t looked like Nat was touched by Slar’s sudden onslaught. The old lady then looked Isaac straight in the eye. ”This is your friend, correct?”
“Answer the question.” The old lady ordered.
Isaac nodded. “Yes, she is my friend.”
“I already know that. I was talking about the man that shot at your friend.” The assumed mansion owner said pointing at Slar.
Isaac considered calling Slar a friend only to protect him, but his honest paladin mouth was already moving. “He’s more of a acquaintance.
“Good.”
Slar felt chills as the rumored owner of the mansion walked menacingly up to him. It’s one thing if she was a cloud folk, but she just HAS to be a human! Being human makes her that much scarier.
The old woman stroked her chin like a experienced old man. “Now... what to do with you...”
She placed her hand on Slar’s forehead, causing him to remain deathly still, the fear of memory erasure keeping him from moving.
A few seconds passed...
And then she removed her hand.
“Huh...?” Slar doesn’t FEEL any different. And he still remembers what he saw. So what did she d-
“You’ll find out when the time is right.” The old lady answered with a had a cold smile on her face.
Did she just read his mind!!!
Isaac tried to divert her anger. “We were just about to leave as you wanted. We apologize for intruding on your mansion.”
Mary was able to take the hint. “Yes, it wasn’t my intention to enter your home. And further apologies for camping on your front porch. There was a heavy storm last night and we couldn’t find any other shelter from the rain.”
Slar was slow, but even he caught on. So with his amazing writing skills, he came up with the ultimate way to salvage the situation. ”Um... Yes. Sorry for shooting at you. You know how it is. It’s a dangerous world out there, so I tend to get trigger happy.”
The next few moments was filled with tense silence. The tension was so thick, it could be cut with a sword.
After a few moments of anticipation, the mansion owner finally responded...
“BAH HAAAAAAA HA HA HA HA!!!”
The trio stood there with dumbfounded expressions as she laughed like a mad woman.
“Haaaaa. Haa.... ” She finished off with a amused chuckle.
A mix between a bemused smile and a disturbingly calm smile stared back at the trio. “You don’t really need to apologize. But I accept your apology none the less!”
That look of surprise on the intruder’s faces didn’t fade away.
After a awkward moment silence, the old lady broke it. “I suppose I was asking for this when I said to make things as amusing as possible!”
Once again, the old lady receive no instant responses.
“...I’m glad you were entertained... Are we allowed to leave now?” Isaac formally asked.
As he spoke, the mansion owner was casually picking up and examining the arm Isaac ripped off himself a few minutes ago. She didn’t even bothered to look at him when she responded.
“No.”
The trio stiffened to that.
Or at least two of them remained silent. Slar chose that moment to jump the gun again.”WHAAAAT!?”
Slar’s panicked energy transferred itself to Isaac. “I did what you told me to do! I was getting Mary and Slar out of you mansion!” Isaac reminded her..
Alicia nodded. “Oh yes. You did just that. But you punishments are for a different matter entirely.”
She gestured to the wreckage strewed around the lab.
The message obvious for everyone.
“Some things are easy to replace with magic. Others aren’t so easy. Some of them took me years to obtain and are irreplaceable.”
The trio shared uneasy glances.
“I would have let you go without saying anything. But sadly... Rampaging around my personal lab simply wasn’t amusing....”
Slar tried to move to shoot the old lady again, but just like Isaac and Mary, Alicia’s magic is holding his pose in place.
Once again, the woman paused as if she was expecting to be answered.
“Are you going to kill us?” Mary stepped in.
The eccentric women waved her hands dismissively. “OHHHHH Nonononono. Nothing as permanent as that! How can you redeem yourselves if your dead?!”
This time, Isaac responded immediately. “Then why can’t we leave?”
The old lady started pacing. “Simple. Have you bothered to notice that all three of you are soaking in my lab samples?”
The trio took the moment to fully notice that all 3 of them were covered in all kinds of unknown substances.
“Why punish you when you three did the job for me? I can tell you right now that a lot of those concoctions had a lot of transformative properties. Some of those samples can have unpredictable effects on your body. Changing species is the last thing you would have to worry about if left unchecked!”
“Can we leave now? We’ll find a cure and endure the effects in the meantime.” Even Isaac was capable of sounding annoyed.
Alicia raised a eyebrow. “I see... Tell me. Just how exactly do you plan on purging your systems? I’m sure you can find someone who can treat some of the substances you were hit with, but with sheer number of test samples you three were inflicted with , I doubt they can fully treat all of them.”
“I’ll find a way.” Isaac answered.
The mansion owner crossed her arms. “YOU'LL find a way? Alright. Then let’s talk about YOU, paladin. Your corruption runs so deep and is mixed up with so many different essences that it’s doubtful that even I can restore your human form. I’m not even sure what species you classify as. The closest I can come up with is ‘chimera’.”
“I accepted long ago that there's a chance I may never be human again.” Isaac answered.
Alicia waved to Mary and her human form. “YOU may have accepted your new form, but what about your companions? Changing species can be a hard transition that may permanently change the mental state. Not everyone is willing to accept that. You didn’t even try to treat your corruption when you had the chance! If you can’t even put in the effort to help yourself, then how could you possibly do any better for them? You know first hand how deeply rooted the mixing of essences can get. Luckily for them, they were struck by diluted essences in liquid form, unlike the more personal exposer you received. I can help them unlike you. I’m sure you wouldn't even prioritize their treatment!”
’I didn't try to treat my corruption when I had the chance?! You asked to change me into a woman in order to treat my corruption!’ Isaac thought.
Admittedly, he chose to keep to his corrupted member for two reasons. The first reason is that he might be more vulnerable to the corruption as a woman, and the second reason being the desire to keep his gender and self identity.
Slar was casting Isaac a suspicious look. Mary meanwhile, was casting Isaac a annoyed look.
'That’s right, Mary can hear his thoughts. Hopefully, she understands my intentions.' Isaac thought.
Isaac returned his attention to the mansion owner. “Do you want us to stay so you can treat us?”
The witch gave Isaac a 'are you kidding?' look. “All three of you need treatment as soon as possible... But why would I owe any favors for those who vandalize my equipment? Yes, seeing you three fight were amusing, but you costed me precious samples. Consider me not punishing you as a favor for entertaining me. Things just balances out in that regard.” The witch keeps crossing her arms. “If you want another favor from me, you must do more then just amuse me.”
Isaac was catching her drift. “You want us to do you another favor before treating us?”
The witch smiled. “More of a job actually...”
She waved her hand to the empty pedestal Slar noticed a few minutes ago. “See that over there? There’s something that supposed to be on that book pedestal. My personal tome to be more precise. About a week ago, a thief stolen it. My job for you is simple. Get back my tome, and I will treat you in return.”
“And if we don’t?” Slar asked.
The old woman smiled as if she already won the battle. “Then you are free to go. I just won’t treat you. Simple as that.”
She then narrowed her eyes. “But be forewarned. Some of my lab samples are capable of altering you minds and bodies into mindless beasts. If you start becoming a danger to the world around you, THEN I WILL PERSONALLY SEND YOU TO MY BASEMENT WERE I KEEP ALL WHO ARE A THREATS TO THE PLANES. Do you understand?” She finished off with a cheeky smile.
The three interlopers shared concerned looks. Well, Slar in particular showed hate towards Isaac.
“We understand.” Isaac relayed. “But if we do decide to retrieve your tome, we must know about the thief, were he might be, and anything else you might know about the situation.
The elderly looking witch nodded to that. “Yes, yes, of course. But before I explain the job in detail, you must accept it first."
Isaac, Mary and Slar looked at each other.