The wildlife was singing again. The Chosen One was ditating as they travelled to Construct Crossroads so they werent able to follow the strange song that haunted the woods.
You hear that, right? Qube asked the others as the birdsong grew louder.
Its certainly a familiar tune, Sexy Screamy Spider Briar said, tilting her head to the side as she listened. Uplifting, yet sohow still haunting.
The Hunter, having recovered from her brief spell of stillness earlier, had taken to hovering protectively near Qube. The fast travel had forced her to fall back, but she still shot the oblivious Hero several narrow looks from ti to ti.
Familiar indeed, Sencha Bard said, sounding very pleased. I believe its a variation on [The Bards Ballad]. His smile lit up his face brilliantly in the dappled light.
Oh! They must have heard you perform it. Thats amazing! Qube said. The Bard nodded happily.
Its every Bards greatest desire, to hear their work on the lips of an adoring public, he said. Qube wasnt sure if the birds singing had lips, but she took his words in the spirit intended.
One wonders if its magical effect spreads as the tune does, Definitely Bad Guy said thoughtfully, eyeing the darkness of the woods as if he wanted nothing more than to dive into them and demand answers from the wildlife. A rhythmic crashing sound from deep in the woods made Qube glad that his self-control was too strong to let him go off on his own. She wasnt sure what was in that darkness, but it sounded angry.
Their song doesnt appear to be affecting us, the Hunter countered the Mage. Not that we ever managed to determine if it affected those of us whod been touched by our Healers special spell.
Sotis Qube thought the Hunter deliberately chose to say things in the weirdest possible way.
Possibly they lack the magical ability to actively cast, or their ignorance to the deeper magical complexities ans they see it as just a song. The possibilities suggested of a spell able to completely hide in a song and not requiring intent to cast it is, however, intriguing, Definitely Bad Guy pondered. Would it be possible to create a song-spell capable of infecting an entire population without their knowledge?
Whereas with the Mage, Qube knew that he didnt deliberately say things in a sinister manner. He just thought in very sinister ways.
She wasnt sure which was worse.
In the distance she saw the walls protecting Construct Crossroads, and was annoyed at herself to realise that theyd spent their entire fast travel ti talking about Sencha Bards song rather than planning whatever they were going to do when they arrived at the town. What would they do if there was outright warfare? What if they showed up and everyone was already dead? What if the Constructor had replaced all of his creations with a new generation of constructs, ones without their crippling affinities?
And what did any of those outcos an for the partys future?
As it turned out, she hadnt needed to worry about any of those scenarios. As the Chosen One dropped out of his ditative state and rudely breezed past the rusted greeter, the true insanity of Construct Crossroads was laid bare before the party.
Theyd left Construct Crossroads on the brink of civil war. Fueled by the mistaken belief that Zincy the tal construct and Slate the rock construct had both died, the materially divided citizens had last been seen peacefully heading to work while promising bloody revenge on the other side. The Constructor, the creator of said constructs, had abdicated all responsibility of his creations to the Chosen One, and the two lovers at the heart of this drama had been standing in the centre of the plaza, both perfectly healthy thanks to Qubes quick thinking, loudly sighing at each other.
That had been months ago. Or maybe weeks. It was hard to tell, sotis. But itd definitely been quite so ti ago. Long enough for war to have started, ended, and then started again. All kinds of horror-filled potentials had filled Qubes mind.
What she hadnt expected was that nothing had changed.
The two love-struck ti wasters were still standing in the middle of the plaza, loudly sighing at each other. Several tal and stone constructs were going about their day, cheerfully shouting death threats at their neighbours as they passed by. Even the Constructor was aimlessly wandering about, uselessly wringing his hands as everyone peacefully coexisted.
Okay! the Chosen One said cheerfully, standing next to the not-dead duo. What did you guys want to do?
I was expecting a bit more turmoil, Qube managed. Hello, can you hear ? she asked Zincy and Slate.
Oh Zincy, Slate sighed.
Oh Slate, Zincy sighed back.
Qube covered her face. She took a deep breath, pulling herself together, before looking up to see the rest of her party watching her, waiting for her to direct them. Internally she cringed under their expectations, but she steeled herself. Shed co to this place to find answers and, By the Words, answers she would find!
Oh, hang on, lem check sothing, the Chosen One said, flicking his hand through a Save Point. As soon as he finished, he nodded seriously. Right, so, if you guys want, we can go to that stone bookstore and grab so books. Apparently they managed to do a text swap, so the insides should match up with what you guys asked for.
Qube gasped, the oddly polite civil war before her forgotten as she was swept away with the image of books from the Devs realm, filled with new and secret knowledge!
Lets go, she said instantly. After all, if the town hadnt devolved into war in the weeks (months?) theyd been away, then surely it wouldnt turn into a fight in the ti it took them to go to the bookstore?
Bolstered with her own logic, her reservations about her leadership forgotten, Qube led the charge as she raced off towards the stone bookstore.
---
It was fortunate that there were no new riddles to enter the bookstore. Firstly, because it would have delayed Qube getting her hands on books, and secondly because it wouldnt have been very effective, given Definitely Bad Guy had burned down the door to the shop last ti the store owner had tried to give them a riddle.
To his credit, the store owner didnt seem to hold a grudge against the Mage, happily greeting the party.
May their oil coat the streets! he said cheerfully.
Given the Devs gave us these books, do we still need to pay for them?
Qube, trained by the Chosen One, instantly recognised what was likely to be the most contentious part of this transaction and thoughtfully pondered the Chosen Ones question. Maybe ask the shopkeeper if the Devs gave it to him for free, she said.
The Hero grimaced. They did a text swap, so he would still view them as his books, probably, he said sadly. Qube bristled.
If you already knew the answer to that, why did you ask ? she asked.
Cuz I wanted you to give permission to steal them, he replied with a grin.
Qube puffed up in indignation. Chosen One, please pay the shopkeeper so we can get our books, she haughtily requested.
Sure, the Chosen One said, sounding amused. Gim a second, I gotta try and rember what the titles were.
He turned away from the shopkeeper to see Qube already pulling the heavy tos off the shelves and flicking through them. She glanced up as she felt him look at her.
I thought Id help you get started, she said, all wide-eyed innocence before diving back into the book she was skimming through. While the book title had been sothing called Childrens Book Na Later, the story was riveting. It was all about a hungry caterpillar attempting to take a bite out of everything delicious.
The Chosen One reached over her shoulder and plucked the book from her hands.
That, he said, is for Squiggles.
He carefully lay the stone to on its back, and gestured for the sharktopus to co forward. Squiggles picked up the book, looked at Qube and the Chosen One and imdiately tried to eat the book.
No! the Chosen One said, grabbing the book and getting into a tug of war with the teams mascot. No eating! Its for you to read!
Squiggles tugged back on the book, her mouth opening even wider.
Bad! the Chosen One said. This is a gift! A reading gift! Not an eating gift! This is not for eating!
Squiggles narrowed her eyes as she attempted to assimilate this forgein concept. Slowly, with obvious reluctance, she released her grip on the book and allowed the Chosen One to once again place it on the floor of the store. The Hero helpfully flipped over a heavy page, and pointed at the text.
You read it. With your eyes. Not with your mouth. Okay? he said sternly. Squiggles tentatively reached out and touched the edge of a page with her tentacle. She lifted up the page.
No tearing out the page and eating it, the Chosen One said imdiately.
Squiggles put the page back down. Then, after so intense thinking, she slowly reached out and picked up the edge of the page again. With several glances at an encouraging Chosen One, she gently flipped over the page. It made a small thunk sound as the stone page landed. Her nostrils flaring, she pushed her blunt nose into the book and carefully scanned the text, turning her head this way and that so she could examine every word.
There, now thats sorted! the Chosen One said cheerfully as the sharktopus beca fully absorbed in her present. Qube wasnt sure if the mascot could actually read, but she was certainly enjoying herself. Now, lets find the others.
A heavy to labelled Lorem Ipsum he handed over to Definitely Bad Guy.
This is the science of anatomy, he said. Not exactly what you asked for, but the closest they could find in the ti they had. Or maybe it was the anatomy of science? I dont really rember, sorry.
Is that what the title ans? Qube asked, eyeing the gold lettering of the stone to.
Nah, they didnt change the appearance, just the content, the Chosen One said, already looking for the next gift. Ah, here you go, he said, handing over a book titled Attracted to my Secret Admirer.
The arachnid paused before accepting the gift from her forr boyfriend.
Im accepting this platonically, she said, eyeing him. Which, given how many eyes she had, was a lot of eyeing. The Chosen One just looked confused.
Sure, he said, Im giving everyone a book cuz you guys asked for them? Whats going on here?
The Chosen One clearly didnt know about the rules of dating. Qube rembered all too well how Sexy Screamy Spider Briar had explained the importance of gift giving in forcing soone to fall in love with you.
Sexy Screamy Spider Briar slowly nodded at him, then accepted the gift.
So this contains the laws of the Devs realm? she asked, opening and starting to read it.
Uh, well, technically just for the section that we live in, he said. Its from my first year, so it should be basic enough, but lem know if theres anything you dont understand.
Your first year? Qube asked, standing on the tips of her toes to try and see what the Hunter was reading.
Of studying, the Chosen One said. So you can read it too if you wanna know what Ive been studying. I also got you a book on economics, I thought you might like it.
That sounded more like sothing the Chosen One would like than her, but Qube still gratefully accepted the book entitled Broccoli Casserole Recipe.
Last, but not least, this is a bunch of fairy tales from so old people, the Chosen One said, cheerfully handing over a book titled: Reincarnated as a Void. So of them are super famous and they keep adapting them, so I figured that would be sothing youd want. I dunno how many of these stories are ones you already know, though.
This is the anatomy of the Devs? Definitely Bad Guy asked in horror from the corner he was reading in. The Chosen One froze.
Whoops, he said, looking sheepish. Uh, ti to go solve that civil war!
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