No Emotions to Feel

Ch 10 : Dangerous Questions

The vessel lost track of the time it spent in the spring, most of the butterflies had already landed again.

It finally sat up, the drilled-in need to follow orders made it restless. It climbed out of the spring and looked down at its robes. They had been dyed a bright cyan blue due to the lifeblood in the water.

The King would not be very happy. The weavers would probably also be upset for it staining their hard work. It experienced another painful ache with the mention of weavers... what about weavers was special? What was it forgetting-

No. It should hurry back to the castle.

The vessel brushed aside the broken shards of the jar and finally had its pure nail back. The weapon rested on the vessel's back, at the perfect angle for it to be grabbed.

Now all it had to do was find an exit.

It checked all the walls again, slashing at parts that might be loose, but there was nothing.

How did the jar even get in here?

The vessel then noticed a slight shine on one of the walls. It looked closer and saw nothing but a bright lifeblood vine growing through.

Another light flicker

It reached for the vine and immediately recoiled. The vine was pulsing with Soul. Almost like a barrier, it was a seal of bind- the vessel nearly fell over. Its mask hurt so much, its Soul aching too. A seal of what? It glanced down at the water to check its reflection, staring at the new discovery.

Its mask was cracked down from its right eye-socket.

When did that happen?

A warning ache stopped the vessel from pushing that topic further.

It looked back to the lifeblood water, and dunked its head in. It felt the crack in its mask, it didn't seem to be healing. It should be able to fix itself since the mask was part Soul. The Soul allowed for the mask to be linked to the vessel's health, and also to grow with the vessel's body should The King make them bigger.

...

Where...?

Someone must have told them. The King probably. Who else would know that?

Regardless, the vessel gave up on trying to fix the crack. It was such a mess. Its robes were dyed, its mask was cracked, and it was stuck in this room.

It found a little cove above the waterfall, and sat there.

It would wait for something, anything.

The vessel leaned against the stone wall and relaxed, slightly slumped over.

The water flow was peaceful, the flowers fluttered occasionally.

A couple butterflies rested on the vessel's mask, even more coming to land on its cloak.

It sat there, waiting...

and waiting...

and waiting. . .

. . .

somewhere nearby, a mask burst with Soul to protect its bearer

the lifeblood vines seared with brightness, then dimmed

a single pebble fell from the wall and hit the floor

the vessel snapped to attention, the thin layer of dust disturbed off its mask