Border of Millibelles Domain, near the village
As witnessed by the Divine
The Grand Priestess gives and elated sigh as the village of Sern'in comes into view. Finally, after two weeks of travel, they're getting close to that strange phenomenon. Her breath catches in her throat though, as she happens to glance to the south, beyond the village.
A massive tree towers into the sky. Its size is such that she has a hard time understanding how she hadn't noticed it until now. Even though it's cold enough to make her breath visible as she peeks out through the open window of her stagecoach and it's well into the beginning of winter, it still retains its leaves.
"You don't need a sense for the Divine to know that's what we've come to see." Her Trusted retainer remarks as they join her in looking at the formidable tree.
"We'll spend the night in Sern'in, collecting information and hiring a guide before heading out tomorrow." The Grand Priestess instructs. Although her entourage is small, her standing prevents her from going completely incognito. For what kind of Grand Priestess would she be if she hid her identity?
As such, her stagecoach is pulled by specially bred Hornhests, their leucism seeking to imitate the regal appearance of the Unicorn without all the hassle that keeping a monster as skittish and shy as the Unicorn entails.
It's dusk by the time they reach the village, but it is still lively, particularly the Guild Hall of the Hunters Guild, where the hubbub of the merriment within spills out into the streets.
"We'll need a few Hunters, I think." The Trusted advises as the carriage passes the Hall by on its way towards the local Church. The Grand Priestess nods in agreement. It would be folly to travel into the wilds without protection.
A shiver suddenly runs down her back, and she glances outside the window to see the silhouette of something glaring at her from the shadows between two buildings. She blinks once, and whatever it was is gone. The intense feeling of being watched lingers though.
"Are you alright, milady? You've gone quite pale." The worried voice of her retainer snaps her out of it. The Priestess shakes her head and mumbles "It's nothing, I'm fine."
Did she imagine it? It must have been a Fenhound or a Cat that got startled by the Hornhests, but why did it feel like it was specifically looking at her?
Once they arrive at the Church, the Priestess excuses herself to the visitors quarters. She's tired and is more than anything looking forward to a nice long bath. The things needing to be taken care of before tomorrow can be handled by her retainer.
Before long, she's fast asleep in her bed, completely unaware of the slithering shadow that's crept into her room and under her pillow.
The next day
Millibelle's POV
"That should be everything that happened. I'll be sending a monster to you, to allow you to contact me once you've arranged things. It might appear quite suddenly, so beware." The slightly blurry image of King Dervix nods, and the transmission is cut.
Myra nervously glances at the strange monster standing beside me, just out of view of the crystal. Its body resembles that of a small child, but with three toes and fingers instead of five. Small bat-like wings sprout from its back, and an odd tail that ends in a clawed hand gently sways back and forth as the monster looks back at her.
Its most startling feature, however, is the fact that instead of a head, a nebulous void filled with unblinking crimson eyes slowly undulates in its place. It looks like a hole in the fabric of Space, and peeking through it is innumerable eyes, all curious about the sights of this World.
*Argos*
*An EXUnique Undead created when an Evil Eye came into contact with Oasis Water whilst aiding its master. The Argos is a curious being, able to fully utilize its infinite eyes to see far distances. These eyes can be removed from its head, becoming Argos Eyes, a special kind of Evil Eye that shares all it sees with the Argos. Little is known of its combat abilities, though a cursory look at its Skills have shown it to possess a multitude of new Skills involving firing a beam of some sort from the users eyes.*
*Rank: ??? Stars*
Who'd thunk that playfully dunking the Evil Eye into the pool on top of the Oasis Tortoise would cause this. I certainly wouldn't have, but here we are. I took the liberty of naming this new species after the Greek giant that was said to have more than a hundred eyes that never slept.
I reach out my hand, gently reaching into the darkness that surrounds its eyes. It's like sticking your hand in water that exactly matches your body temperature. There. I gently but securely grasp an eye and pull it from the Argoses head.
Opening my palm, the eyeball spins on the spot, as if trying to take in every detail of the room all at once. A small shiver runs through it, and it stops moving. Turning black, it then sprouts wings and a tail that looks just like those the Argos has.
A slit appears in the surface of the eyeball, and the newly born Argos Eye blearily blinks a few times before opening its singular eye fully. Now, to send you to your new home.
*Triangulation complete. Using Teleport on this Argos Eye will consume 75% of your total MP.*
*Proceed?*
Yes.
A flash of light bursts from where the Argos Eye sits, and as it fades, the Eye is gone. I stumble as weariness overtakes me almost instantly.
"J-just what was that? I... I Saw what happened, but my mind just can't accept it." Myra quietly whispers, her eyes wide and blank. I steady myself before replying. "The Argos Eye or the Spell?" I ask, my tone perhaps a touch too blunt.
The voice of King Dervix chimes into my head. Seems the Argos is relaying what the Eye is hearing to me. Let's see if I can't...
"Your Highness, this is an Argos Eye. Don't worry, it feeds on ambient magic, so all you need to do is keep an eye on your Magic Crystals, lest it leeches the magic from them."
I use Telepathy via the Argos Eye. The cost is much higher than normal, and my head spins slightly as my low MP makes itself known.
"You look pale, Monarch, are you all right?" Myra asks, her worry for me overpowering her confusion at what she just witnessed. "I'm fine... I've just... Used a bit much MP." I respond.
Myra recoils slightly as a knock on the door startles her. She casts a wary glance at the Argos before opening the door just slightly, trying to keep whoever is on the other side from seeing the monster.
"What is it? I told I'd be busy and to wait." She curtly states.
"Please, it's important, I fear something's befallen milady. I cannot rouse her!" A panicked voice responds. Myra gives me an apologetic look before she sighs and opens the door. Quickly, the Argos slips outside through an open window.
The townsfolk are used enough to the odd monster scampering through the village to pay it no mind. After all, they're all harmless as long as they aren't attacked, so the Argos should be safe to leave. I just want to avoid it being seen by outsiders. Those that might not yet have realized they have nothing to fear.
In the doorway is a distressed looking... person. I can't tell what kind of humanoid they are, nor their gender. Well, from their height, I can rule out Minars, but that's about it. Covered head to toe in a burgundy robe that obscures any distinctive features, the only thing really visible is their eyes.
"Relax, Trusted. I'm sure she's just-" Myra begins, but is cut of by this 'Trusted'. "No! She's not ever been like this! She even missed the Sermon!" They insist. The severity of the situation seems to set in for Myra.
"Millibelle, could you come with? I'm sure that you'd be of help." She asks.
"Sure, I have the time. Who is this milady anyway?" I shrug and begin following Myra and the Trusted. "Hm? Someone who hasn't heard that the Grand Priestess is visiting?" The Trusted gives me a distrustful leer. I swear that if I wasn't immune to things that force one to reveal ones true form I'd have switched back on the spot.
"Millibelle's... uh." Myra gives me a conflicted look. "I am the Great Monarch, the ruler of this Domain. I was just updating Myra here on the current situation in the Domain." I bow to the Trusted. "Please, call me Millibelle, it is my given Name."
The Trusted gives Myra a bewildered look, as if asking for confirmation if I'm lying or not. "It's true. Now, if anyone's going to be able to help, it's the Monarch." Myra nods before ushering the Trusted outside. Seems she's impatient to get this over with.
We move through the village, and I catch a glimpse of the Argos playing with the children as slightly worried mothers look on. I... I guess they were young when... I shake the thoughts out of my head.
Once we're inside the Church, the Trusted narrows her eyes suspiciously at me as I cross the threshold without changing into my monstrous form. "How?" They accuse, as if they've caught me in a lie.
"I have the Unique Skill Divine's Favored. I am immune to the Blessing, though I could change back if you'd like. Of course, I might not fit inside the smaller doors in my true form..." I explain.
"T-that won't be... that won't be necessary. My apologies." Their tone shifts, and I'm sure that if they didn't have that cloth in front of their face, it would be bright red. "Uh- it's through here." They mumble, pointing at a small side door labeled 'Private'.
Inside the visitors quarters, we're led to another door. The Trusted fishes out a key from somewhere and unlocks it. Behind the door is a decently sized room, tastefully but sparsely decorated. It reminds me of the room I used in Hu'ul.
On the lone bed in the room lies a woman. She's obviously asleep, though her nightgown is soaked through with sweat and the duvet is a twisted knot, kicked off the foot-end of the bed. Her face is contorted in a pained expression, and occasionally a low moan emits from her.
"Nightmare, must be." Myra mumbles as she edges closer to the bed, pointing at a blackish stain on the pillow, next to the Priestess' right ear.
"B-but they can't be removed! At least not without killing the host..." The Trusted gasps. "Are we truly to lose the Grand Priestess to such a vile creature?" Tears begin welling up in their eyes as their voice breaks.
"Millibelle, you should hold command of any monster within this Domain, wouldn't you be able to order it to leave her head?" Myra asks.
*The monster, Nightmare, is rated at 6 Stars. As the User's estimated Rank is 8, the Nightmare is too highly ranked to fall under the Minion Status, and would need to be convinced to become a Servant in order for the User to control it. Additionally, Nightmares that have infected a host are immune to Command, as the targeting for the Spell becomes confused by the merging of the host and the Nightmare.*
"Ah... No. Unfortunately, it's too strong. I'd have to convince it to become my Servant before I could force it to leave." I admit, looking down in disappointment.
[Monarch, it's me, Yggdrasil. I might have a solution. Though you need to bring the Priestess to the center of your Domain first. By entering the Dream there, you should be able to enter the shared dream that the Nightmare is using to torment the Priestess. From there, you might be able to oust the Nightmare from the Dream.]
[But beware, if the Priestess 'dies', that is, she thinks she dies, you'd be trapped within the Dream. This will be risky, but I believe it will be worth it if you're able to save her life.]
I consider for a moment. So the only way to get a Nightmare out of someone its infected is by entering the Dream? How on earth would people deal with them without the aid of a monster?
*They don't. Infection by a Nightmare means a slow tortured death as the body wastes away and the mind is ravaged by horrors tailored towards creating as much fear as possible.*
But why? Why here? Why her?
*Nightmares are born of Souls that have been Banished, Souls that fiercely believe they were in the right. They predominantly seek the suffering of those they feel are responsible for their Banishment, but going for the Acolyte that performed the Banishing on them is extremely rare.*
...
"Monarch? are you quite alright? You seemed a million miles away." Myra gently asks.
"I... I have a plan, but you must let me bring her to the center of the Domain."