Chapter 33
Chapter Thirty-Three
We’ve spent two nights in Thrace while Ismarus is within a day’s hike. I’m so close to completing this big quest for Aphrodite, but Zeus is throwing everything he can at me. At this point, I would turn off my ability to break the game if I could, despite how pleased Aphrodite seems to be.
Usually, Sylvia makes breakfast, but she’s still asleep, and we’re afraid to untie her. So Miko is trying her hand at cooking but failing spectacularly. I consider taking over, but Joshua beats me to it. Apparently, he’s a pro at toast in a pan.
Miko watches Joshua with an appreciation that I’ve noticed growing more and more every day.
It’s almost comical, someone so serious and standoffish as Miko getting along so well with a goofy horndog like Joshua.
Yet, they make sense, too. They balance each other.
I can’t help but matchmake them in my head, even if I’ve only seen friendliness and respect between the two of them.
Aphrodite is really making her impact on me. Love, love, everywhere. A few weeks ago, I would have cringed at who I’ve become. Love? Really? Ew.
Yet I can’t stop smiling as I watch Cait and Guy walk toward the chaos dragon.
They’re chatting and laughing, like they have been all morning.
There’s almost a flirtatious element in their postures, but I can’t tell how deep that runs.
We should feel exhausted, defeated. Guy died, after all.
I had to use up my first Kiss of Life to bring him back.
In addition to that, Sylvia’s been compromised.
Our group mom getting possessed isn’t a great morale booster.
I hope there’s something we can do to fix that, otherwise we’ll have to leave her behind the way we did with Tara.
God, if we’d known about the eidola leaving her, she would be with us now.
However, she’s using this as an opportunity to spy for us, and we can use all the help we can get.
Aside from the beautiful moments I shared with Cait and Guy, there’s only one good thing that’s happened.
The long rest healed what I wasn’t able to, and Guy looks like he did before the chaos dragon attacked.
I would love him even if he was permanently scarred from head to toe, but I know how much it would hurt him if he had to live with the stares he used to get in the real world.
“What are they hoping to get from that dead dragon?” Miko asks as she grabs the first piece of toast Joshua made.
“They’re wondering if there’s any magic in the scales that made the dragon turn to smoke,” I say. “I don’t think they’ll find anything, though. It was chanting a smoke spell, which stopped working once I silenced it.”
“Why did you do that?” Joshua asks. “You had to have known that it would wipe you out.”
“We only had a few minutes left to kill it,” I answer. “Besides, you were right up there clobbering away at it when you’re a bard.”
“A combat bard!” Joshua corrects as he hands me a piece of toast. “My specialty is to entertain and annihilate.”
“Annihilate” is a strong word for what he’s spec’d for, but I’ll let him have it.
He did kick ass last night, even with all the odds stacked against him.
I hate to admit it, but the person who I judged as a perverted loser in the beginning is actually a brave and loyal person.
Interesting that Miko, the person slowest to trust anyone, saw who he really is right away.
The three of us are eating when I hear a groan coming from the tent. Sylvia’s awake. Great.
I wish Cait and Guy were here with us eating breakfast. Having their support while I do what I need to would make a world of difference. Maybe I can finish eating my toast first. Interrogation will probably be easier on a full stomach.
“What’s going on? Why am I tied up?” Sylvia says. Being in the tent has muffled her voice, but she’s loud enough that I can’t pretend I didn’t hear her.
Joshua and Miko give me a questioning look.
They want to know what I’ll decide. Earlier this morning, I brought them up to date on the troubling revelation.
It broke Joshua’s heart but strangely softened Miko.
Perhaps it’s easier for her to deal with a possessed party member than one that would gladly betray her with no supernatural interference.
I set my toast on my plate and get up. Miko grabs me by the wrist.
“Maybe you should let me do it,” she says with an empathetic expression. “She knows you’ve got a big heart, but I’m a bitch. She’ll believe threats easier coming from me.”
She’s right. Sylvia will play on my sympathies. I’m the one who made friends with Arachne’s spider children and brought an empusa into our little group. Would an eidola prey upon that?
Nodding, I say, “Yeah, let’s do that.”
Joshua gets up and walks into the tent before I’m even done with that sentence.
Maybe he thinks Sylvia might overpower me because of my pitiful strength score.
I’m counting on her underestimating me, though.
I’m a Cleric of Aphrodite, not a mastermind.
Except I’m also a mage now, and my intelligence score is quite high, but she doesn’t have to know that.
Actually, I haven’t told anyone about the level up yet.
We’ve been busy with important matters, and I don’t want them giving anything away on accident.
That eidola could have a direct connection with Zeus, and he’ll want to know any of my strengths he’ll need to overcome.
Not that a low-level secondary class is a high hurdle to jump.
He’s throwing monsters at us that not even veteran players can handle with any ease.
Joshua drags Sylvia out to the campfire. Her eyes are wide with terror and confusion. When she’s face-to-face with Miko, it’s even more exaggerated. Our druid still has all the intimidation of a warlock.
“What’s going on?” she asks again and then turns her pleading eyes to me.
I cross my arms. She’s not getting anything from me.
“Why don’t you tell us?” Miko responds.
“Wh-what do you mean?” Sylvia turns to Joshua now. “Why are you treating me this way? I’ve always taken care of you, haven’t I?”
“Sylvia has always taken care of me,” Joshua answers. “You’re an entirely different story.”
“You’ve all gone crazy,” she whispers, tears rolling down her cheeks. The innocence in her big brown eyes is so convincing. I want to believe her. It would be such a relief if we were wrong. But it’s hard to ignore the smirk she’s trying to suppress.
“There’s something that’s seemed odd to me since our battle with the Zeus worshippers,” Miko says.
“When I met you, there was a wolf by your side. Quite a loyal animal. Joshua told me you found him on your first day as a puppy, and he’s been at your beck and call ever since.
Yet, I haven’t seen him since we were in Dardanus.
Surely, he’d want to protect his friend. ”
“Maybe the Zeus worshippers did something to him,” Sylvia says.
“You don’t seem too heartbroken over that,” Miko says.
“Of course I am!” Sylvia says.
“Liar,” I mutter, causing her to face me.
“Don’t tell me you believe all this, Lauren.” Sylvia’s tone is so pitiful. She’s definitely trying to prey on my kindness.
“Who do you think was the first to know you’re an eidola possessing my real friend?” I ask in response.
Her plaintive expression drops to a scowl so intense that I can feel the hatred rolling off it. This isn’t just a mission from Zeus for her. She actually wants me dead.
“If you kill your friend, I won’t die,” she says.
“Then we’ll have to find some other way to get rid of you,” Miko responds.
Sylvia scoffs. “Good luck. Even if you manage that impossibility, Zeus will just send more monsters after you.”
At that moment, Cait and Guy return. They seemed so pleasant when they left, but now their features twist in anger. They heard enough as they approached.
“You bitch,” Cait hisses.
As one, the group gasps. Even Sylvia.
“You…you just cursed.” Joshua squints at her. “Are you possessed, too?”
Cait crosses her arms. “It’s the best word for what she is.
And maybe I’m learning that some rules don’t make much sense.
” She drops her crossed arms so that she can lift Sylvia by the ropes binding her and growl in her face.
“For example, I’ll do anything to protect my friends, including torturing you. ”
I say nothing, but I doubt there’s a way to hurt or kill an eidola. Then I see the momentary lapse in Sylvia’s expression, one that isn’t an act. She’s scared of Cait. If we can’t hurt her, then she should smile or laugh.
“You know,” Miko says, “I may not have the powers of a warlock anymore or have access to Hekate, but that doesn’t mean all the knowledge she gave me is gone.
” Sylvia flinches, and Miko laughs. “Oh yeah, gotcha there, didn’t I?
” Miko turns her attention to Cait. “You won’t be able to beat the eidola up.
Just like the chaos dragon, it’s a creature of magical darkness.
We need to find a spellcaster with a light spell.
That would basically eviscerate the eidola. ”
A light spell? Often, the spells I receive from Aphrodite come after I need them. When I received the Sun Ray spell, I assumed it had to do with the chaos dragon. Maybe it did, but Aphrodite had to know about the eidola possessing Sylvia. She must have wanted me to have it for this purpose.
“I leveled up,” I say, causing everyone to look at me. “I also got a secondary class as a mage. That got me a new spell called Sun Ray. It can dispel any magical darkness, including creatures made from it.”
Cait, Guy, and Joshua stare at me with mouths agape. Sylvia squirms away from me closer to Miko, seeing me as more of a threat now. And Miko? She’s smiling wide. It’s unnerving, a reminder of who she used to be before we saved her.
Miko turns to Sylvia. “Do you like being alive, little eidola? Would you like the chance to leave this body without harm?”
Sylvia nods frantically.