Millipoid Tickle Story

Chapter Twelve

"My queen, if I may, who was that man? Or boy?"
"That was queen Iva's younger brother, Sampson Azaylia."
"Did he come for revenge?"
"I'm not sure. For as long as I've known him, he's never been the revenge type. More of the stare-at-the-ground-and-tremble type. He's changed a bit."
"I see."
"That reminds me, how is Iva?"
"Broken."
"Ooo, do tell."
"I did a bit of experimenting and eventually decided to implement Kalossinian practices into my torture."
"The Marquis Of Pleasure? Interesting."
"Two days have gone by since the time we spent together and I believe she is still unable to stop laughing."
"Wonderful!"
"Indeed! Indeed!"
"I want all the details."
"Ha ha ha! Well... it is... rather difficult to explain, my queen. I kept her far over the edge of her tolerance for about a month."
"Goodness...!"
"Indeed. That is the reason I returned the device to you in such poor condition, my queen. I did not mean to damage it, I simply meant to use it to optimise th-"

"Hey, shh shh shh. It's okay." Aljilani placed her hands on Ezarin's cheeks and gently caressed them with sympathy and compassion. "I didn't mean to throw it at you. I only wanted you to be more careful and sometimes, your misbehaviour really gets to me. Don't make me do these sorts of things, Ezarin. I don't enjoy hurting you."
"Y-yes, my queen... Forgive me."

Aljilani went back to sit on her bed. "My queen, if I may, would it be possible for me to obtain this 'Sampson'?" She laughed.
"Absolutely not! He is one cautious nomad - paranoid even, about what might be lurking around the corner or in the shadows beside him. You will never catch him by surprise, not even with my help."
"Oh, I see."
------------------------
"Look, can you help me or not?"
"Yes, yes, yes. Just give me your head."
"...Erm... pardon?"
"I mean like, put your head like... in my lap." Sampson looked confused. "I won't do anything weird, I just need to see through your nexus to witness what you've witnessed." Sampson remained confused. "I need to read your mind."
"Ah. By all means." He placed his head on her lap and she placed her fingers on his temples.
"Now, clear your mind. Br-"
"You don't... need to do th-"
"Shush! I'm doing it. Breathe. Empty your mind."
"If you're trying to read my mind, wouldn't emptying it be counterprod-"
"SHUT UP!" Sampson shrunk into her lap slightly. He then felt a sort of calming wave wash over his face and closed his eyes, and before he knew it, the events that unfolded prior to his arrival were returning to the forefront of his mind without his asking.

After a few minutes of flashing images, he felt something wet and cold drop onto his face, shaking him from his trance-like state. "Jane, what the... are you... drooling?" Jane herself appeared to have entered somewhat of a trance-like state, cheeks blushing fiercely, salivating. "Jane."
"There's... no... way-hay-hay... no waaayyy..."
"What?"
"It's... reeeeaaaaal..."
"What's real?"
"The creature from my dreams... the giant, sapient millipede... is real..."
"Oh, yes, that. Yes, it's real alright. It's the very reason I came back and it's the reason my sister is the way she is now. Is there anything you can tell me about... any of this?"
"...No... way..."
"Jane!"
"OH! Oh, yes, what?"
"Focus!"
"Yes, of course, sorry. Um, the um, sapient millipede thing used an... amazing, beautiful, simply GENIUS path. A path associated with Kalosini, The Marquis Of Pleasure."
"Path? What does that mean?"
"It's erm... well, the thing is, you sort of kind of have to be in the know to know, you know?"
"No."
"Well, okay so, basically-"
"Spit it out."
"I'm trying! She... um..."
"JANE!"
"IT'S A SEX THING!"
"...And?"
Jane sighed.

"Kalosini is a marquis, one of the more... infamous. She inhabits the domain known as the Torture Chamber. You could probably infer by the name what goes on in there. A 'path' is a field of sorcery known only to a marquis or a maker. Whatever path your friend used-"
"Not my friend."
"-revolved around tactility, something to do with her nervous system. Have you tried asking it itself?"
"I tried storing an arrow in its skull."
"That's not going to get you much information."
"Well, thanks for your help. I'll be going now."
"I am SO coming with you! I must meet this millipede creature, see it with my own eyes, talk to it and... beg it to teach me everything!" Sampson looked at her as though she was freshly scraped off the bottom of his shoe, then walked out.

"Oh, wait. Gimme back my parropix."
"Huh? What's that?"
"The small, bird-like pixie you were poking earlier."
"Ohhh, this!" She clasped her hands and then opened them, and from them appeared a small, odd looking creature. A parrot the size of a fist, with a mouth rather than a beak and hands at the ends of its wings. It also had no legs. "What exactly is... this?"
"My final test from the guild that trained me - the Alari monks."
"I don't know what any of that is or means, but it sounds so cool! Actually, where is it that you live exactly?"
"In a land far, far away."
"Called?"
"Dysposia." Jane was not amused.
"You're not funny."
"Sunny Isle."
"Oh, that makes sense. Oh and how did you get here anyway? Did you fly or run really fast?"
"Transportation."
"Where?" Sampson once again reached into his hip-mounted quiver and pulled out an arrow, aiming it at the ground. "You... ride your arrows?"

Upon bouncing off the ground it morphed into a large dragonfly, albeit with slightly bigger wings. "EW! You fly on insects?! GROSS! EW EWE WEWWWWW!"
"Were you not the one who was just drooling over my memory of a large sapient insect?"
"That's different!"
"I'll meet you there then."
"What, no! I said I was coming with you!"
"Can't you transform into something that can fly? Or sprout wings or something?"
"Well yes, but I can't fly nearly as fast as that thing looks like it can fly. Can't you make something less... insecty?"
"No. Get on or go home." Jane sighed then climbed reluctantly onto the dragonfly's back. "I recommend holding onto something because this guy moves very fast." Jane firmly wrapped her arms around him and off they went.

There were no stops on the way back and the journey back to Sunny Isle took no longer than 20 minutes. This would have been Sampson's favourite trip had it not been for Jane constantly digging her claws into his torso in fear of falling off. They did happen to be flying at half the speed of sound.

Upon reaching the border, they headed south. "Where are we going?!"
"I'll tell you when we get there!" Within minutes they had reached a rather large gathering of moderate to tall buildings, all clustered together tightly.
"Is this where the millipede creature is?"
"No. This is the Institute of Arcane Acumen, the place you go to when you're looking for information about all things mystical. I'm certain that plenty of knowledge regarding this and any marquis or maker will be available to us here."
"But I want to meet the millipede!"
"Well, if you'd like, you may go off by yourself and search the whole of Dysposia for it."
"..."
"As I thought. Now, we're going to head straight towards the lexicel receptacon, which is this way."
"The... what?"
"Lexicel receptacon, a very large repository for most of the knowledge accrued at the institution. It's where 99% of the books, scrolls, enchiridions and more or less anything containing words is stored."
"Wow, you're a nerd."
"No, no no. It is you who is the nerd. For you see, it is you who is obsessed with makers and marquis. I also think 'geek' would be an adequate term to use to describe you."
"..."
"Mhm. Which makes it quite odd that you have such little knowledge on this."
"Hey, I've looked!"
"Not well enough, it seems."