Chapter 28: Arc 3 – Queen of the Monster Maze 3.2

Kikori frowns. Is this some sort of trap?

But the girl is very cute: a slender redhead, brass scales cover almost all of her body.

No, wait, she is not a redhead, she’s…

Fanning out like a blooming flower, twelve snake heads rear around the girl’s head, ready to strike. Twelve brass snakes. She has heard of this monster, but she’s supposed to be long-since extinct.

“You are a Visage?”

Kikori steps back, trying to cover her own face, but she has yet to turn into something like stone, or metal or mud… maybe the legends are not exactly true, or this one is different.

“I can’t harm you not,” she mutters, lowering her face. “I have lost all my powers much time ago I did.”

“What happened?”

From above comes another rumble. The trees seem to grow even thicker and the foliage to reach around them hiding them to sight.

“We came here in this cave thing we did,” she recounts, passing a hand through her so-called hair and calming the snakes down. They lay down and do not like they are trying to harm her any more. “I’m sorry if I scared you I did.”

“You… listen, I’m just a little jumpy. I did not even want to come here, but I think I got tricked. Now I want to reach the end, claim my prize and get out of here.”

“Oh. I understand yes I do,” she says, fidgeting with her brass-stained hands. “I can help you to find the exit I can.”

“That would be amazing. Thanks…?”

“Oh. My name is Ardesia, yes it is,” she replies with a big smile.

From above, comes far-off thunder, but the rain seems to die down a little.

“Great. My name is Kikori,” she says extending a hand. Ardesia takes her fingers her brushes her own against hers. “I kinda got lost here. Thanks for your help.”

“Your skin is so smooth, it is. You did meet with the Minotaur, did you?”

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“Yes… we…” she blushes crimson, “… we did have a meeting.”

The sort of meeting that makes you feel like you can’t sit down for a week.

“Oh. You have made the friend together!” She smiles. “How lucky! It has been a while since Sir Enceladus has had nice company. Yes, lucky… lucky Sir.”

Kikori notices she falls into an embarrassed silence.

As they proceed through the forest, she also notices that Ardesia seems to proceed much slower than her, even though as the resident monster, she should have been here a much longer time.

“Where are you bringing me?”

“To the other side, I am.” she says pointing with her scaly hands to the ceiling, or what little she can see. The ever-present drizzle falls over her skin. “It’s far, but it also close. It would be closer if the trees stopped growing it would.”

“You mean…” Kikori stops, touches the nearest tree and expands her senses. It’s a basic trick they teach to every Knight, and the first step towards visualizing their Haoma. These are far from her enhanced, transformed Skilltree, they feel… wrong somehow.

There’s a sort of twisted vitality inside them she can barely perceive, but it’s there.

These are not trees to be respected.

And they do seem to stay back, as she is spending time with the Visage.

“Stand back,” she says. The monster obeys, looking at her with wonder in her huge emerald eyes.

Then Kikori swings her axe at the tree, and her weapon cleaves right through it.

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