The bullet intended for Ripley impacted the wall to the side of her. The masked Percy looked to see that Cassandra, his own sister had moved his hand, and now stood between him and his prey.
"Percy, what the heck, man? She's unarmed! Half-literally!" Yin asked. The party was frightened by the sudden action and had no idea what the hell was up with him.
"My family was unarmed when she helped the Briarwoods slaughter them," he responded coldly.
"Percy, she may have something we can use! They kept her alive for a reason," Cassandra tried to reason with him.
Vex butter in, "Um, mind telling us who this is?"
"Dr. Anna Ripley," Percy responded before ripping off his mask and leveling a death glare at the imprisoned woman, "Another Briarwood pawn in about to remove form the board!"
As his gun clicked, Ripley just laughed, "And here I thought you were the intelligent one. We're both engineers, Percival. We know the value of knowledge. You must be curious as to the information I possess."
Percy wasn't having it though, and once again took sun, "Not that curios."
"Brother, wait," Cassandra stopped him again.
"Why should I?!"
"I've been with the Briarwoods for years, and I know next to nothing about their motives."
The smoke faded from around Percy as he lowered his gun.
"Fine. Interrogation. Then she dies."
With that, he stalked away to stand further from the group and cool down. Vax got to work on the cell door again.
"Speaking of burning questions, uh, quick sidebar here?" Scanlan recommended to Percy. The two of them, Pike, and Keyleth all stepped aside.
Once they were a little bit away from the rest of the party (though not so far they didn't have Pike's light), Scanlan confronted him, "Percy, hey, love ya pal, but we gotta deal with this smoke thing. I mean, you are legit fucked up!"
"Not this again," Percy groaned.
"But it's been getting worse," Keyleth insisted, genuinely concerned. She looked to Pike and asked, "Ehm, can you divine anything?"
"If Percy will let me," she said.
Percy was reluctant at first, but ultimately nodded. He knelt down as Pike laid a hand on his chest and closed her eyes.
When she opened her eyes, she saw a vision. Percy was surrounded by flaming smoke, swirling all around him. She gasped, "Percy? Look at me, please."
The Percy in the vision did so, but when he did, his eyes followed orange and his mouth was an evil grin.
"Percy—"
A shadowy hand grabbed her wrist as a a demonic crow head lunged forward.
Pike reopened her eyes back in reality with a shout. She backed away slowly.
"I-I don't know what it is! But, something is clouding your soul," she told them before insisting, "We need to get you to a temple."
"Really? With the rebels at the gates and the Briarwoods in this castle?" Percy snapped and stood up, "Have you all gone mad?"
"But if something is wrong with you—"
"Your concerns are appreciated, truly," he brushed them off, "But we must press forward."
Pike and Keyleth's looks of concern were enough to make him at least reconsider his exact statement. He sighed.
"As soon as this is over, I will sort it out."
YOU ARE READING
The Legend of Vox Machina: The Power Within
Fiksi Penggemar"Balance is not something you find. It's something you create." The world of Exandria, like any fantasy setting, is often beset by various threats. Some are simple, but others can threaten the safety of entire nations or even the world. What's stan...
