Ring of the Artisan

Act II Ch. 2: Stuck in a Trance

When you arrived at Jamanakai, you pulled Hourglass to a stop and looked on in fright. Serpentine roamed the streets, terrorizing and even hypnotizing villagers, commanding them to do their bidding.

"Hypnotism?!" You bewilderedly asked. You slipped off of Hourglass and spun around to see the four ninjas landing their dragons and jumping off themselves.

"The Serpentine?" Kai stopped beside you. "They're real?!"

"C'mon!" You dashed into the village to hopefully find a way to stop this madness.

"Let go of me!"

You stopped at the center of the village, where you spotted the leader of the blue Serpentine. The tallest Serpentine held a golden staff in one hand and a tied-up Lloyd in the other, struggling to escape.

"Ninja!" The leading Serpentine exclaimed. He pointed his staff forward. "Seize them!"

"The entire village's been hypnotized!" You spotted Cole and the others nearby, trying to catch up to you.

Jay drew his Nunchucks, but Zane placed a hand on the blue ninja's arm. "Don't! Our Weapons are too unstable. We'll do more harm than good."

You slowly crept back from an oncoming group of hypnotized villagers. You can't fight them back. If you can't hurt them, how could you possibly snap them out of their hypnosis?

"Well, then I guess that leaves us with—" Jay shouted, "RUN!" The four ninjas then scattered, taking off in different directions.

You instantly followed, escaping the crowd of snakes and villagers and disappearing into the shadows. Hourglass trailed after, though he soon took off in his direction after realizing that he was an easy target. Hourglass didn't want the villagers to find you, so he took off and created a distraction. You continued to book it down the road before slipping in between two buildings, hiding from the patrolling villagers.

How are you supposed to help the people of Jamanakai?

You slid to a stop and kicked a Serpentine back. You kept your eyes low, though it was quite difficult to defend yourself. Snakes and villagers approached from every angle. You're not going to be able to protect yourself for too long. You'd been separated from everyone else.

You heard a valiant war cry, and you watched as a mysterious being rammed into the side of the Hypnobrai fighting you. They weren't human. This being had many golden pipes jutting out from their head and upper back. Organ pipes? Snakes and villagers couldn't jump onto this person's back without getting hurt as the organ-like person snapped at blue snakes and pushed back villagers. Their skin wasn't normal—it was made of dark-ish wood. And their fingers looked like piano keys.

They had to be based on an organ, right? The instrument?

"(Y/n)!" The organ-like person glanced your way. You were startled by their eyes completely made of marble. Their voice had a heavy accent that you've not heard of, living in Kenshibetsu. They grabbed one of your hands, dashing away from the fight and leading you to an alley, hidden from enemies. The person then laid their hands on your shoulders. "Ya'right? It's a shocker seein' ya here!"

"You...?" You put the pieces together. "You're one of my grandma's friends, right?"

"Ah, right," The organ-like person laughed. "The last time I saw ya, ye were just a wee baby." They grabbed your cheek and gently pinched it. "Ye've grown so much!" They then nodded and smiled, flashing a row of marble teeth. "Name's Ebony! Yer grandmother invented an' brought me t' life t' help ya sleep as a baby." Ebony then shrugged a shoulder, "Though I ended up leavin' 'cause'a how small Kenshi' was, but ye always loved me music!"