[OOC: Gmode permission was granted to say that Aspect followed Nat’s request for silence during the negotiation.]
Aspect’s response to these actions and words was typical of those meeting me under such outlandish circumstances, but her touch in that situation was no more welcome than anyone else’s. The attempt she made to lay a hand on my shoulder merely pushed me back, causing my upper body to twist and recoil even as my feet barely moved an inch. Perhaps she mistook business acumen for want of friendship, but, either way, the only thing I welcomed under those corpse-ridden trees was her question.
“Natsumi.” I told the young shapeshifter my name at her request, but only after some brief trepidation. I saw no reason or benefit in saying ‘Nameless’ this time around since she had at least proven herself marginally trustworthy; and yet there was no conclusive reason in getting so buddy-buddy up front. Aspect was still a mercenary and could easily defect no matter how gracious I behaved. A forename was good enough for her, especially since her will was about to be tested quite heavily in just a few moments. “Now, as a warning for what’s to come,” I told the red-headed woman just as I could faintly hear the footsteps of Stalhadt’s men approaching, “you should let me do the talking with the guards and do your best not to panic at my methods. You should also think of the place you want to go from here, as we will not be teleporting to the same location after we leave the island.”
As expected, the previously humiliated captain had surrounded our refuge post haste. His men formed a sort of bull’s-eye pattern around us: 3 layers deep with dwindling numbers directly proportional to the radius they were stationed at. Most were out of normal earshot - judging by the sound - no doubt under orders to shoot anything not wearing a guard uniform that tried to escape. The captain himself led a small squad into the heart of that formation, accompanied by his most elite subordinates as they attempted to capture the “fugitives” once more.
“Hold!” The dirty faces of the watchmen were silent as the grave as their vanguard came slowly into view. The captain was the one who had spoke in their stead, his voice unmistakable despite the sizeable distance he maintained between himself and us. Clearly he had learned that he was not dealing with humans by this point, for he appeared in no hurry to physically apprehend us. He even had an emergency smoke bolt (a canister enchanted to send up a smoke signal on command or death) attached to his belt in case things went wrong, no doubt to dissuade us from attacking him as he continued to speak.“You’re surrounded, mercenaries. Give yourselves and your co-conspirators up and we’ll be merciful!”
Unfortunately for Stalhadt, however, my negotiator’s persona was already coming out by the time he issued that threat. The mask for my plague doctor ensemble had started to manifest the second I heard his footsteps, bubbling to the surface of my skin and hiding my features before anyone was the wiser. Even my voice changed from this transition, lightly distorting itself for the extra intimidation and anonymity factor.
“If you’re looking for the rabbit and elf, captain, they’re already gone,” I replied with that nightmarish tone, confirming the captain’s suspicions about inhuman criminals. He tensed up from the act, and started fiddling with the smoke canister on his belt before trying to regain his composure. In fact, he maintained that pattern for the next several exchanges between us, his men holding their positions whilst he did the talking.
“So you admit to aiding a criminal then, stranger? You do realize that you’re admitting to a crime?”
“You may think that you have the upper hand here, Captain Stalhadt, but you are definitely wrong in that assumption.”
With a small expenditure of power, I took a break from talking to the good captain at that moment in order to reveal one of my trump cards. Suddenly, the bodies of the men I had slaughtered earlier that day revealed themselves from the canopy. One by one, their heads poked out, until some of them finally fell down like strange fruit, their necks strangled by the vines I had created.
“Captain Stalhadt,” cried out the youngest member of the group once this macabre display appeared! Even Stalhadt himself was shaken.
“Madness,” he proclaimed, just before quickly noticing who these men were! “Those are Gyndnegle security. You’ll pay for their-” But I wasn’t done. The young heiress herself was still there – my other trump card - and I lowered her too whilst her would-be rescuers were busy panicking. It seemed enough to silence them, even though I knew they could barely see the young woman’s face beyond the webbed cocoon I had built for her.
“Even behind these webs, there’s no mistaking Melody Gyndnegle is there?” I spoke to them with a slight hint of deviousness in my voice: an unintentional reflection of arrogance. They knew, as did I, that I had their full attention now, especially given recent events. That said, Stalhadt was not one to be openly intimidated, and he intimated as much with his words despite the fact that his fidgeting portrayed a different picture.
“What do you want, foul creature…” And there was the question I was looking for: the question that had an immediate response.
“For you to forget,” I told him plainly. “You can’t leave this forest without arresting or executing someone, and all I’m asking is that you pretend you did. Pretend that you tried to arrest the women who fled here, and that they resisted; that there were no corpses left after the skirmish. You can even play at rescuing the young mistress to gain yourself favor, should you choose to do so.”
Obviously, the captain was none too pleased with this proposition, and neither were his men.
“You’re surrounded,” he tried to threaten. “Harm even one hair on her head and you won’t be getting out alive.”
All he succeeded in doing, however, was causing me to tighten the cocoon around Melody to elicit a small whimper. That shut him up right quick, though certainly made trigger fingers antsy during my continuation.
“Do you really want to risk young Melody here bringing the wrath of her parents down on your head even in death, captain? If they find out that she was hurt because of a blunder by the watch – and they will find out – it won’t matter what lie you try to sell them. They’ll sniff out the whole guard, and it’s only a matter of time before someone breaks. You know this to be true. Don’t pretend that the merchant families have ever been benevolent during your service, Mark.”
Gritting his teeth, Captain Mark Stalhadt was clearly being backed into a corner by my words. Part of him wanted to rip me to shreds, the same part that was tired of the high-to-do merchants and their politics getting in the way of his job. The other part, however, was more pragmatic. It wanted to avoid more bloodshed, wanted a way out. And so the man was caught between a rock and a hard place: between pragmatism and ethics.
Eventually though, and despite his normally stalwart dedication to the law, Stalhadt tested the waters of temptation.
“And what about her,” he asked? “She’ll tell the truth even if we do make up a story. You said it yourself: her family will sniff us out. And besides, you’re asking us to pretend three fugitives escaped, and that the watch was completely outmatched by a lone stranger.”
Luckily for him, I had already planned that far ahead.
“Fugitives that you, yourself, were reluctant to arrest. Sometimes it’s better to forget than to enforce an arbitrary law, captain, as much as that goes against your code. She’ll remember whatever story you decide to go with. That I promise. And, lucky for you, only a few of your men have actually heard us, so your inner circle just needs to keep their facts straight for everyone to walk away happy.”
The beauties of memory alteration were ever so valuable for situations like this. Indeed, I had the power to alter Melody’s memories, but I would only do so if Stalhadt and his men kept their end of the bargain. Thus far, they were only testing their choices pensively, and I grew weary of their hesitation. I had places to be, so I pressed my point.
“The choice is yours. Is it worth it to you to risk the wrath of the Gyndnegle family because you didn’t believe my threats? Or would you rather everyone gets to walk away with exactly what they wanted? I expect an answer post-haste.”
Pushed into activity by those words, Stalhadt stopped dallying. He realized he would lose no matter what under normal circumstances, especially considering how he had failed to apprehend the serial robber in the first place. He’d been humiliated, blockaded and treated like an insignificant dog even by those he was supposed to serve. For once today, he wanted a victory, and so he succumbed to the lie.
“Fine,” the captain said with a sort of bittersweet acceptance. “In exchange for Lady Gyndnegle’s safe return, you are free to go.” Of course, that wasn’t quite enough for me. I cleared my throat to signify something more, and then tilted my head towards Aspect who had thus far been a good girl. The captain got the memo, and continued his full story much to the shock of his lieutenant and every other guard present. “Never saw her. We chased a black garbed mercenary accompanied by a puca into the lumber yard while they were rescuing the fugitive elf Nea. They refused to surrender, and so we were forced to battle them. Unfortunately, Melody Gyndnegle and her personal guard got into the mix and there were casualties. We managed to save the young lady, but could not peacefully apprehend the criminals nor recover their bodies. They disintegrated themselves rather than allow us to take them into custody.”
“Good,” was my sole response to that acceptable story. The captain understood his place, making things a lot simpler than they might have otherwise been.
However, I wasn’t quite done with the man who called himself captain just yet. Using a touch of memory flux and hibernation magic, I did put Melody Gyndneggle to sleep and implant the story that he had constructed. I also freed her from the webs and stepped back for the man’s subordinates to grab her, but I didn’t simply wait until everyone’s job was done. You see the captain’s story needed some believability, and believability I would give him.
Of primary concern, bodies didn’t just vanish on their own. There needed to be a cause, a cause that I decided to give the captain in the form of a runed pillar. I constructed the edifice from the ground that I had been standing on just before backing away from the young lady, and then observed patiently as its intricate structure lit up with a blue shimmer.
“What are you doing,” Stalhadt questioned when he saw this, immediately assuming treachery? “I agreed to your terms!”
“I’m just helping you with your credibility issue,” I professed calmly whilst finally preparing to teleport myself and Aspect away. “After all, bodies don’t just vaporize on their own. That said, I suggest you start running if you value your own health.” Suddenly, the color started draining from the bright pillar I had created. It began at the top and slowly moved toward the base, showing the countdown timer that I had imposed on this magical bomb. “Tik-tok, captain. Tik-tok,” was the last thing I said to him once my intentions were laid bare, and I followed that up by disappearing in the wake of the guards’ hasty retreat. Aspect, too, was allowed to escape, going to whatever destination (within reason) that she had picked whilst the negotiation was ongoing. Even if she had failed to pick one, she would have ended up in Adeluna anyway; but that was the least of my concern. For my part, I decided to stand watch briefly from a nearby mountain top just as the lumberyard we had been standing in exploded like a New Years firework.
