>>6101151The creepy woman smiles at you, “I didn’t think so. See? Isn’t it so much nicer when you don’t resist me, Lorina?”
The last thing you remember as you wake is a painful, wretched heat that encompasses your entire body as it boils alive. Then, a flash of a different world, one of a waste filled with demons and a rotting corpse at the center of it all. The outfits of both her and the woman were frighteningly similar.
The morning is nothing special other than the fact it’s entirely unpleasant. Asher’s bed is not what one accustomed to the life of nobility would consider comfortable. Marie also somehow seems to have acquired most of the blankets sometime during the night. Then there’s that fact Alyssa doesn’t have any sense of subtly when waking early and preparing for the day. Then Asher leaves practically without saying any farewells or fanfare in a very improper manner, Marie hogs the outdoor “bathroom” for far too long, and Alyssa, well, having someone hover over your shoulder while you do quite literally anything isn’t exactly pleasant. Her impassive gaze somehow feels judgemental when you do even the smallest of things.
But you get through it well enough and can find yourselves to the cathedral with very little fanfare, again wearing your cloaked disguise. Thankfully, Marie is an expected element and you, very discreetly, drop your name to a dungeon guard, so there’s no problem entering. Though it is an insanely strange realm that you enter below the cathedral. There are no damp stone bricks, rusty iron bars, moss at the corners of rooms, or slacking guards. Instead the entire area feels… sterile, in an otherworldly sense. The place wouldn’t look too out of place in the Metal Castle. You’re confident they’ve used a liberal amount of secret strangetech to ensure this lair is as secure as possible. Complete with guards that seem to be nearly as disciplined as royal ones.
That’s not to mention the variety of Strange people who are locked up. Granted, most of the cells seem empty, but you can count at least five in separate rooms. One holds a typical boy of around ten, another a large man who huddled in a corner muttering, the third a rather endowed woman who tries and fails to catch the eyes of the guards, the fourth a short woman who looks to be scribing a spellbook, then finally a common blue slime in the center of its cell. At the entrance of said cell stands an older man in dark attire.
“You’re the Stranger,” He says to Marie as the three of you approach, “Who are they?”
You simply undo your hood, revealing yourself as your long hair beautifully sways out and down your back. He merely nods, “It’s nice to have you back with us, Your Highness, Inquisitor Corvus,” he introduces before commenting, “What about her?”
“My bodyguard,” You say to which again the man nods, “Are we allowed in?”
