We Can Be Heroes ...?

25

"Once you find the Scourge, you will have to charge it up." The princess had turned toward Shion as soon as she touched her, as the others had, and they had all faded, becoming indistinct. "It will gain power from banishing the ghosts of my people to their final rest, but its true power can only be found by charging it in the Well of Forever. I have marked the locations of the Scourge and the Well on your map."

She hadn't. She was a ghost, so how she could even touch Shion's magical map was something to debate. Her pallid hands had reached up, made a movement as though she had done something, but she hadn't done anything at all. Since the Blackout, nothing in this world happened as it should.

"What do we need to do with it once we find it?" Shion had no hope that the princess would answer her. The last time she had spoken like this to someone, they had acted as though she hadn't said a thing. "I'm truly sorry for you and your people."

"The Scourge can disrupt the power of the Arch-Necromancer. Use its power wisely, for its power is finite and, once used, must be charged once again." The ghost clasped her hands together in prayer. "Be brave, bold adventurer, for the essence of my people is in your hands. Free us! Free us! Free us!"

The repeated words faded away, as did the princess, and Shion found herself standing before nothing. The others had returned to solidity and they all looked as though they consulted their magical parchments. She decided they must have a reason for that and summoned her own, moving to the map to see if anything had changed.

It had. The map now showed that they had become transported to the other side of the city, within a castle that stood close to where another piece of the totem lay. Except, the sigil that indicated the totem had now become grey, and two other sigils winked bright and faded in two other areas. One looked like a ring, or a torque, and the other like a well. The two new locations. She dismissed the map and looked to her companions.

"Right, first things first. The totem piece is a little to the south of here, then we need to move north and west to find this Scourge." Mila took charge once again, but it seemed pointless to Shion. The others appeared to take her leadership as more of a suggestion than anything else. "I think we can assume that each totem piece, the Scourge and the Well all have bosses guarding them. That makes seven in total, not including the Big Bad. More than usual."

"Well, i's no' a usual dungeon, is i'?" Dave had found a one-armed long seat and lounged across it, looking at faded, indistinct paintings on the wall. "I recko' thi' Scourge is vi'al agains' thi' Nukrambalam geezer."

"If nothing else, we're one step closer to the second totem piece, thanks to that portal." Jova manoeuvred herself closer to Shion. "And we're levelling up quite fast, so it should get easier as ..."

"How long have you played this game, Jova?" With a scowl, Mila pulled Jova away from Shion. "The mobs level with us. They'll still be just as hard to kill as before, we just get more tools to fight with. And leave the NPC alone, she must be sick of you pawing at her."

Jova pouted at her sister and looked to Shion. It wasn't that it bothered Shion that Jova appeared a little too attached to her, but, still, she'd rather the twin would leave such things for a less hectic time. When Shion didn't say anything, Jova looked hurt, turning away, but that wasn't Shion's fault. Affection needed to go both ways, not flooding from one to the other.

With Jova's back turned, Dave sprawled along the long chair and Mila scowling so much Shion feared her forehead would become one, deep crease, Shion wondered when they would set off for the next totem piece. No-one appeared in any hurry to move, nor to talk to each other. The silence began to press on Shion. A far different silence than at home, or how she had felt while alone in the pub.