dorkasslameo

-Five Years Later- The more things changed, the more they stayed the same. The tlatzal population was slowly growing, enough that the main plaza bustled once more with the busyness of the first day Stone had arrived. While there was still plenty of work to do, the labyrinth already felt changed for the better. Stone had been up early today. It was her first time in months being back, as she and Kelso had been out tracking down a particularly feisty corrupted. They only gave the duo the slip for so long though. She and the vima were becoming quite good at their new job. After Kelso had had her go at Zol of course. Finding out the tlatzal had leveled her entire village was, understandably, not the best start to the relationship. They hadn’t been on particularly good terms before and for a while the vima would openly attack the blue robbed guardian any time she saw them. To their credit, Zol allowed Kelso her frustrations, per their conversation with Stone. When the vima

Several days passed. Some, Stone was more conscious for than others. Of course having ingested the labyrinth’s famed water she was in no danger of dying. Still, the water prevented death, and new sickness and injuries. Injuries obtained before consumption would still need time to heal. After passing out initially, a team of doorlets had assembled with a stretcher to haul Stone to her house. Cal watched silently from the wall, allowing the doorlets to fumble about before it occurred to one of them that they could teleport her. At least that seemed to be the general consensus as one ran off at top doorlet speed and another closed its eyes and gaped it’s portalled maw in a fashion reminiscent of a snake as it shuffled awkwardly to get the massive woman teleported. Though many in the room were shocked and horrified by this imagery, none said anything. Even Sphinx, who always had something to say about bizarre things like that held his tongue. It was too soon. Early

The storm did nothing but worsen as Stone climbed the last stretch of stairs. Her exhaustion and pain slowed her further. Water pouring down the steps caused her to have to sink her claws in to keep from falling. Mae’s new shape didn’t help, the egg large enough that for Stone to securely carry it required two arms. At last she did make it though. Maegg hugged closely to her chest. The more steps she took towards the simple fountain in the center of the platform, the lighter the rain became. Each step closer also made the fountain itself seem brighter, as if the fountain itself were vibrantly full of life. By the time she came to it’s edge, the rain had reduced to a drizzle. Looking skyward, the sun shone lazily through the cloud coverage. The eye of the storm. “Goodness, you even came with something for a victory feast. What a big omelet you must be making.” Stone jerked her head down to the tlatzal that had appeared on the other side of the

When she was finally able to rip her eyes away from the nightmare in the puddle, Stone realized the corrupted tlatzal’s that had been surrounding her had dissipated. All but one. It startled her with it’s closeness, though it still remained out of arm’s reach. It snarled at her, turning its head towards the stepped pyramid. Following it’s gaze, Stone caught sight of Maestrale. The homunculus seemed mesmerized by something at her feet. Though the storm had increased to a point where the pyramid was almost constantly illuminated by lightning, details were still difficult. At least Mae didn’t seem to be progressing any further. Stone briefly wondered why no one had been hit. In fact despite the storm being right on top of them there hadn’t seemed to be any immediate danger from the lightning so far. A subtle chuff behind her caused the experiment to jerk back, raising her injured hands defensively. The panther-like corrupted showed its teeth in a silent snarl before

Stone’s battle cry echoed in the rain as she charged ahead. It had the intended effect of getting all attention on her as she moved. She’d been concerned some of the corrupted may stay behind and try to take on Maestrale. Now though, as she stood in the center of the courtyard surrounded by monsters, she was wondering if maybe she should have accepted help. No. Not monsters, they were just sick. They were sick and she could help. Hopefully. The corrupted had parted and stepped back as she moved, turning to slowly encircle her when she came to a stop. Rain beat down on her as she tried to get an idea of what she was up against. Though her vision in the dark was surely better than she had remembered it ever being, it didn’t seem to help much in the weather. Stone murmured under her breath as she tried to get a count of how many sets of glowing eyes were on her. She kept losing count. Between squinting at the rain in her eyes, the lightning, and the slow movements

“What the hell are those things?” Maestrale hissed. The hair standing on the back of Stone’s neck suddenly made much more sense. The feeling of being watched. Of being hunted. She swallowed, her mouth uncomfortably dry. Maybe she should pay more attention to what her body was telling her. “They’re tlatzal,” Stone said solemnly. “Kind of. They’re sick.” “Sick?” Mae half-squawked incredulously. “They’re creatures! There’s no way those are tlatzal!” “Of course there is, though Stone is only partially correct.” Calacoayan spoke. Both contestants looked back at the door that gazed out on the courtyard before them. “They’re suffering from something called corruption.” Stone said directly to Maestrale. If Calacoayan was offended at being ignored it said nothing. “And you know this how? Why?” the homunculus questioned, a bit in her voice. She was very obviously skeptical. “And why are they coming at us like that? If they’re tlatzal’s why are they being

The final pair stood in the rain as it poured down around them. Zol had led them back to the fountain in the main square. Stone didn’t mind the rain, it made it so that not even she was sure if she was crying or not. Her downturned eyes caught sight of the fountain, which reflected the square’s wall perfectly in spite of the rain. On the wall was the same artistic drawing that had been there since the day she arrived. The water rippled then, and it seemed to change. Her eyes jerked up. Her opponent must have had a similar sight in the fountain as she saw the homonculus’ head dart up as well. On the wall now was an eye with great teeth surrounding it. The eye, the one that had been everywhere. Sprinkled throughout the labyrinth as a recurring theme. The eye of the doorlets, but without the chubby little body attached. “The fountain of immortality is waiting.” Zol announced, voice flat as they floated up behind the competitors. “Calacoayan, allow us entry.” Only

The viewing room presented a welcome sight as the group arrived. This was Stone’s first time to the room itself, and really that’s all that it was. The building it resided in had been all but absorbed by the roots of a tree growing up out of it. It made the room humid in the rain, though it remained comfortable because of the cool breeze that whistled through the ruins. In the center of the room was a round pool. Stone somehow knew it was shallow despite not being able to see the bottom. It’s surface did not reflect the room around it, instead shimmering with a silvery sheen. For a brief moment the fish-cat was struck by the feeling she should stay away from it, a thought of a broken thermometer flashing in her head. “Mercury,” she muttered under her breath. “What was that?” Kelso replied, looking up from where she had paused to try to twist rainwater from the hem of her sleeves. The feeling passed with the memory, though she still felt the unreflective

The dim light from a swinging lantern lit the way through the rain. It bobbed violently as it’s carrier jogged, holding a large broken door above a pair of heads to keep them dry. The only other thing that brightened the surroundings was the occasional lightning flash. It was a morning that was hard to tell had ever come since the heavy rain kept the sun from reaching the earth. Stone stopped in front of an open doorway, standing to the side to allow Kelso in before her. The Vima wasted no time dashing inside, shaking her head from side to side to rid herself of the rain that had reached her even under the makeshift umbrella of a broken door. Stone followed closely, lowering the soaking door to lean against the wall. She shook a bit as well, for the first time becoming very aware of the fact she had a tail. “I’m not used to that strength yet,” the great fish-cat chuckled under her breath, turning to look at the fins on her tail. She gave the appendage another little

The sun sank just enough to paint the sky a beautiful orange when Sadie stopped flying and landed on a branch near a small pool of water. The shade waited for Stone to catch up, looking back expectantly. Stone forced through the brush, panting heavily. “Okay, I’m here.. Whew! I really did dance too much. Jeeze am I outta shape,” The woman huffed, pausing to fold her arms behind her back and bend backwards. She was careful with her unconscious company as she stretched. “You really used up my energy Sadie.” With a final deep exhale Stone straightened up. “Where are we? Where’s next?” Sadie swooped at Stone, playfully grabbing at her fin again before doubling back over the water. Smoke danced along the surface of the pool as she dipped the tip of her wing in it and circled. “In the water?” Stone hesitated. She looked down at the two Sphinxs. She could hold her breath but how would she get the real Sphinx through safe? A soft weight landed on her head and she looked up.