Quoted By:
<span class="mu-r">“All sorts! He made bombs filled with glue, he built tiny metal spiders that could tell him the location of anything he stuck them to, and most important to the battle at hand, he was capable of producing a potent explosive material that he could smear onto other objects. For it was this invention that turned the tide of battle!”</span>
You proceeded to tell the tale of the Under Queen firing a storm of explosive knives at the Beast while the Princess kept it distracted, and the Thief delivered the killing blow. Except, the Beast wasn’t truly dead!
<span class="mu-b">“The Beast was a person!?”</span> Ester exclaimed.
You nodded.
<span class="mu-r">“Yes. As it turned out, the Beast had been a scientist that was experimenting on himself. And after a freak accident, he was transformed into a horrible, hideous creature! The Thief recognized him as someone he’d robbed before. And against his baser instincts, he chose not to execute the man-turned-Beast. Instead, he chose to contact Lady Maria of The Hill.”</span>
<span class="mu-b">“Ooh! Who’s she?”</span>
You grinned at her and slowed down so you wouldn’t reach the terrace before finishing this part of the story.
<span class="mu-r">“Lady Maria was the owner of a floating castle in the sky known only as ‘The Hill’. There, she contained all manner of ill-mannered folk and dangerous criminals. And they were guarded by an order of royal knights. They rode winged steeds and commanded steel chariots that carved through the very heavens above.”</span>
Ester's eyes went wide as she tried to imagine the wondrous image that you were painting for her. It wasn't all that impossible, considering the fucked up world you lived in, but to someone who's spent a good chunk of their life underground, it was purely a fantasy.
Maybe someday she'd get to see it for real. Although, after the damages incurred to the Helicarrier on the night of Doom’s attack, that might be a while.
Ester was broken out of her reverie by the sight of the bronze angel statue with flowing robes, and a pair of raised wings sprouting out of her back, delicately stepping on a stone with water flowing out of it. Said water flowed down into a bowl, which overflowed into a larger pool at the bottom.
There weren't any other Morlocks here at the moment, and as a result, the place looked to be absolutely deserted, which was something you had never seen during any of your visits to the park.
But it was because of this that Ester found it entirely appropriate to dive into the fountain as soon as she got close enough.
<span class="mu-r">“Careful! It's shallow.”</span> you warned.
Thankfully, the girl was uninjured, but she was now grabbing handfuls of coins and tossing them into the air.
<span class="mu-r">“You know, that's not the <span class="mu-i">cleanest</span> water in the world…”</span> you said, right before catching a face full of water from the fountain.
Ester let out an shameless chuckle at your expense.
<span class="mu-r">“Alright, you asked for it!”</span>
(Cont.)
