D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

— Kat —

Kat pulled open the next and swam inside. This one seemed to be storage room… and it had enchantments to keep things functional. Good for them but annoying for Kat because it meant she now had to look through a flooded room full of junk to work out where the second piece of the puzzle would be. So… instead of wasting time with that Kat slammed the door shut and moved onto the third one.

[Why skip that one? You’ll need to check it eventually.]

*Well… I wouldn’t put it past Thyme to have skip putting a relic in one of the rooms and instead hide it somewhere else. I didn’t exactly canvas the big room here or there might just be two in the room I haven’t checked yet. Also… you could come down here and help if you’re really worried.*

[Why can I sense a joking tone there?]

*Because there’s no spots to get more air. I don’t know if you can make it down the tunnel and back without running out of air let alone spending time checking out the room. It didn’t seem worth the risk.*

[Hmm… yeah you’ve got a decent point. I should probably test that while your down there in case this comes up again later.]

Probably. Agreed Kat as she opened the final door. This one… opened up into a pool area? Kat studied the room for a little longer and corrected her assumption. This wasn’t a pool, this was a large bath. Perhaps a communal one? On the right side of the room was a large but shallow area for water to fill in and quite a few pipes that allowed the water to cycle through once upon a time. The pool itself was tiled with a lovely tiles that had survived the transition to underwater quite well. Perhaps because they’d been designed to deal with the water.

Much like the rest of the room. There was a cupboard full of towels that were actually dry. In fact the rest of the cupboard was as well. Over on the right there was a firm line where the enchantment kept all of the water outside. It was interesting to watch. There was a few rows of towels, assorted jars with faded labelling that were probably soaps and similar such things. A hand mirror that seemed to be cracked for some reason and a number of vases with plants that had long since died.

Sadly, there was no obvious place for the next piece of the key to be hidden so Kat had to get to looking. First she started with the towels, lifting them up individually and feeling around for any signs of resistance but that quickly proved fruitless. Next she looked through the jars, even going so far as to pull them into the water to check. Kat looked inside and shook them around a bunch but while there was a bit of stuff in the bottom of most they were all soapy liquids. Sadly, no key pieces.

Kat poked around in the vases after that with similar results before moving onto the various pipes. They went on for quite a while and Kat really hoped there wasn’t anything she needed inside. They were just large enough that someone might be able to squeeze inside but Kat knew with her horns that someone definitely wasn’t her. *Hmm… Lily I might need you down here after all. I can’t fit inside these pipes to check. How is your ‘holding your breath’ test going?*

[Not as well as I’d like. It seems like I can hold my breath longer than before… but not a huge amount like you. I can maybe manage five minutes.]

*Yeah… that’s really not enough. There’s a dry section in this room but I don’t know if it actually has oxygen in it. Then again… the dead plants indicate there was oxygen and carbon dioxide here at one point, and presumably more of the former then the latter… still it’s a bit dangerous.*

[I say we give it a bit longer. If you still can’t find the piece I’ll come down and try to help. Though… could anyone fit in those pipes? They’re big enough for a lot of water to flow in but they clearly aren’t designed for people.]

Kat sent a mental eye roll back at Lily but didn’t say anything else. There had to be something here… probably. Kat checked the big mirror at the back of the room for a latch. Pressing up against it and feeling around the edge but finding nothing. Kat considered what she was about to do for a few seconds before remembering that Thyme built this whole thing, it wasn’t a real ancient ruin. So Kat punched the glass with about half of her currently allowed strength. The mirror shattered of course revealing… a normal wall behind it.

Kat frowned. *Huh… really thought there would be something under that. Hmm…* Kat glanced around the room once again and this time, perhaps because she’d just broken the larger mirror… but the small handheld one already had cracks in it. Swimming back over to the hand mirror she’d skipped the first time Kat used her nails to peal away the glass and there it was, the second piece of the ‘key’. Though… Kat frowned and looked at the mirror from the side.

That cheeky little shit. The mirror wasn’t large enough to hold the key. It was why Kat hadn’t bothered checking it the first time and nearly left the room without investigating. The ‘key’ was slightly thicker then the mirror was, including the glass and the framing. The only way for it to be hidden inside was with a space enchantment. Still… it meant that finding the last piece might be a lot harder then she thought.

*Sigh. Over to the storage room… though.* Kat held a hand against her chest and tried to guess how much air she had left. She’d been slowly letting out bubbles for a while now and it didn’t feel like she had much, if any breath left. There was no burning sensation and for the moment she felt fine. *Hmm… do I come back to the surface? Try this little nook? Or just keep going?*

[Try the nook.]

My lady has spoken. Kat ducked her head inside the water-less area and breathed in, ignoring the slightly dry feeling around her eyes. Kat was thankful to find she didn’t immediately start choking and the air here seemed fine. Kat carefully cycled a few more breaths until she was satisfied and then backed out into the water and headed for the storage room with a sigh.

It was filled with junk. Floor to ceiling just… crap everywhere. There were boxes stacked on boxes, shelves that were collapsing in on themselves from the weight of boxes and random shit… but the worst part was when Kat glanced down and to the right to see the rest of the room. At the back was a desk with a small slither of something and a note. The note read ‘Someone dropped the damned key! Fix this shit ASAP’ and as Kat got closer her fears were proven true.

On the desk, there was a very small part of the key pieces she was after. She’d found the first two thirds without issue… and now the last third was scattered all throughout this room in potentially dozens of extra pieces. *Ok… THAT is so evil. I have no idea how I’m meant to find these pieces! I’ve got no idea what they all look like, no idea what’s a piece I need and what’s just a rock or something… and I don’t even know how many pieces I’m looking for!*

Kat picked up the piece and had at least some of her complaints elevated. On the back was a sticky note that read ‘Piece 4 of 9’ which answered at least one of her questions. She did have a new one which was ‘how did the sticky note survive’ if this was meant to be an ancient place. Even with the perseveration enchantment on the room… whatever.

Kat scoured the desk for more notes and clues about where the other pieces might be. Kat didn’t find any… but she found the next best thing. In the second last drawer she checked, one that was filled with pens, also had another piece of the key. It had ‘Piece 2 of 9’ stuck to the back of it and helped confirm what she was looking for… and Kat was pleased to have found the next piece but…

*I can’t even sigh! This is going to take me ages. Is… is it really worth wasting an hour or more on this shit?*

[I think so?] thought Lily with no real confidence. [We’ve got enough orbs to keep us topped up for a while and the chests are meant to be pretty important. I guess the worry is that we then need to find a key.]

*Urgh… fine. Do you want to fly around the beach a bit? See if you can find some other stuff? I’m going to be stuck here for quite a while…*

[Sure sounds good.]