Draith
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Chapter 94 - Oversized Action Figures
🕑 Added 2025-05-05 14:00:12 +0000 UTCMuch as I was worried I'd broken something, the attendant’s laughter finally slowed, becoming more even. Then she let out a soft sigh.
I shared a glance with Inertia. The sound of Inertia’s whirring chest seemed to finally remind the attendant we were there. She covered her chest with one arm as she glanced at me, only to freeze in place once more as her eyes fixed on Inertia's massive form.
The attendant swallowed audibly, which raised all sorts of questions about the golem body's design. Then she noticed the towel that'd been covering her earlier and reached out for it. She moved slowly, while keeping her gaze fixed on Inertia.
Inertia didn't move, other than to let out a small hiss of steam, which had the attendant suddenly retract the towel with a gasp. When there was no further action from Inertia, the attendant wrapped the towel around herself.
Only then did her attention leave Inertia, glancing around the room. Her gaze landed on the towel covered forms of the other attendants, before moving to me.
Finally, she looked back towards the bucket, one hand reaching down and pushing it over. Then she laughed once more, a smile fixing itself on her face.
Figuring that was as good a sign as any, I cleared my throat.
Her gaze snapped towards me, her smile fading slightly, though not entirely gone.
"So, uh, hi," I said, not entirely sure on the procedure for greeting someone who'd been turned into a slave-golem-bathroom-attendant then freed after years of being stuck in place. "I'm Perry."
She tilted her head, then worked her jaw, her smile growing wider as she did so. "Hi Perry. I'm… I'm Banya. Why did… are you… how… how am I free?"
"Uh, wasn't that complicated. Mostly just had to erase the bits Balthum used to enslave you," I replied, gesturing in the general direction of her chest. "Though I didn't get a chance to finish before you woke up."
Banya's face twisted into a scowl at the mention of the former Magus Dominus's name, though they smoothed out as she glanced downward. "So… I'm not… free?"
"Honestly? I have no clue. Could be that enough of it's broken, that none of his control runes are doing anything. Could also be we just can't tell."
She nodded, her gaze drifting towards the rest of the attendant golems. "Will you… free the others?"
"Since it worked on you, that's the plan," I agreed, though my gaze flicked down to the still present runes. "Would prefer to get everything cleaned up properly. Might not affect you now, but I've seen enough cases of neglect coming back to bite a person." Even if I was talking about car maintenance, I still felt the point held true.
"Thank you. For helping me. I hate to ask, but… Can you… can you help the others first? It's just… we've been trapped inside for… for so long. I can wait," Banya said, taking the bucket and turning it upside down. Then she attempted to sit on it.
I say attempted, cause the moment she put her full weight on the metal bucket, it folded like a beer can smushed against the forehead.
Inertia's whistle-hiss of laughter filled the room, and I fought down my own chuckle. Before I could offer her a hand, Banya had righted herself, sucking her lips in. With a glance towards the now folded bucket, she lowered herself into a cross-legged sitting position, a hint of a smile on her stone lips.
"Uh, would you mind helping, actually? Might be better to have you holding them instead of Inertia," I said as I moved to the next attendant, the one with the barber razor clasped tightly. "Or maybe have both of you helping," I amended as I looked at the razor. Despite using it to fend off Calbern’s sword, the razor remained unchipped. "Rather not have her stabbing me with that."
Banya's smile slipped away as she stood up with a resolute nod, then kneeled down much like Inertia had with her. Then Inertia came over. She tilted her head towards me, letting out a single huff of steam as she put her foot over the attendant's arm. The one holding the razor. Wasn't sure if I was imagining it, but something about the puff of steam seemed almost… amused.
"Thanks," I said, deciding not to worry about whether I was interpreting her correctly for the moment.
As I set to work, Banya would regularly lean forward, and I'd have to remind her I needed to see. After she'd done so for the fourth time, I started explaining what I was doing. Despite it being repetitive, she still seemed fascinated. Enough to start asking questions. It kind of reminded me of Bevel.
The runes themselves were even messier than Banya's had been, and it took twice as long to make half as much progress. I had to take a break after two hours, and I was only halfway done.
When we got close to the point when Banya had awoken, I warned both of them that the attendant might wake soon.
Unfortunately, I was wrong. Even as I removed the last of the control runes, she didn't regain consciousness. It was impossible for me to diagnose the exact problem, since I still didn't understand most of the underlying mechanics that animated them in the first place. But it wasn't the control runes, that much I was certain of.
There was one change when the last control rune dissolved. Her face, which had been locked into the scowl she'd worn during the fight, had smoothed over. She almost looked at peace.
"She was the first. We spent years together, and I don't even know her name," Banya said, stroking the unwaking attendant's head. To my surprise, tears streaked down her chiseled face, dropping onto the other golem. Even with the circumstances, part of my mind couldn’t help but wonder at how it had been accomplished. "We… we couldn't talk to each other, not unless it was to… to please… him. But she was there for us, in the ways she could be, when we first awoke."
"I'm sorry," I said. Didn't really have anything better to offer her.
Then my gaze shifted towards the others. I could only hope that Bevel's sister would fare better. To my surprise, it was Banya who reminded me that I should feed myself, lunch having come and gone while I'd been working on the second attendant.
Was a little embarrassing to be reminded to eat by someone who couldn't. Still, I pulled out the lunch Tamrie had arranged for me that morning, sitting along the edge of the bath chamber. My eyes drifted over the empty bath in the middle. It was big enough you could probably fit a couple dozen people in it.
Seemed like a total waste of water, but I supposed Balthum would've been able to simply conjure an entire tub full with a wave of his hand.
Probably didn't even need to wave his hand.
Which once again reminded me of how cruel his enslavement of the attendants was. He hadn’t needed them.
Once I polished off my lunch, I returned to work, moving to the attendant I'd been referring to as Soap Bottle when they'd attacked us.
Proving that she was a quick study, Banya started asking why I was choosing to start with certain runes over others. Her questions forced me to slow down and reconsider my approach. Not all of the connections had the same importance, though I hadn't realized it. But she'd felt it when I was working on her.
So, with her guidance, I adjusted my work on Soap Bottle. The runes were less messy than the razor attendant's but still not as… I hesitated to use the word ‘neat’ for either set of runes, but these certainly weren’t as sloppy.
We were about halfway done when Soap Bottle jerked in place. Her eyes shot open, and found me instantly. "You!"
The immediate surge upward sent me stumbling back, slipping partially into the empty pool, barely catching myself from cracking my head open. She wasn't able to follow up, thanks to Banya and Inertia stopping her.
"Let go of me, you oversized action figure," she yelled up at Inertia. "Shouldn't you be in a Gundam commercial?"
It took me longer than it should've to realize she was speaking in English.
"I… you're from Earth," I stated more than asked. Also in English.
That got her to snap her head around to me, her eyes narrowing. Then she said, in heavily accented Elinder, "What was that?"
"Nothing," I said, also in Elinder. "You still feel like attacking me? Haven't exactly finished getting rid of those control runes."
She glanced down at her chest where several of the control runes still gleamed red. Then she shrugged, shaking her arms to try to pull them free. Neither Inertia or Banya loosened their grips though. "Oh come on, not gonna hurt him after he freed me… Well, not on purpose. Probably."
"Inspiring," I replied, not entirely sure I wanted to remove the rest of her control runes. Mostly cause I didn't want to get smacked upside the head by a stone fist. Or by the soap bottle she still held in her hand. "So, what's your name?"
She just gave me a little half-smirk. "What, think I'm gonna tell you my name just cause you removed a slaver's brand?"
I snorted out a half-chuckle. "Just figured it'd be nice to refer to you by your name instead of Soap Bottle."
With an arched brow, she raised the soap bottle in her hand, looking at it. Then she let out a snort of her own. "Certainly been called worse. It’ll do. So, you gonna help a gal out and finish up proper?"
"Are you going to sit still and not hit me?" I asked, crossing my arms and notably not stepping any closer.
She gave me another uneven grin. "Probably not."
I resisted the urge to rub my nose, shaking my head instead. "Inertia, you wanna make sure she doesn't interrupt?"
After receiving a nod from my large friend, accompanied by a half-hearted protest from Soap Bottle, Banya and I moved over to Bevel's sister, Keria.
"I didn't realize she was such a…" Banya whispered as we kneeled down next to Keria.
"Jerk?" I offered as I traced over the runes. "Think maybe it'd be better to start with the unimportant ones first?"
"Nicer word than I was thinking," Banya replied as her attention joined mine. "Why the unimportant ones?"
"Then it'll be over and done with in one go. Or do you think that'll be too uncomfortable?"
"I… didn't really notice you doing anything at first. So… it might be better?" Banya said with an apologetic shrug.
"Right," I said. She was literally figuring it out at the same time as I was. And had less knowledge of the runes besides.
As we worked, Soap Bottle mostly kept to herself, though she was constantly muttering in a third language I didn't recognize as she prodded at her stone skin.
The work on Keria was definitely a step up from all the others. It was still messy, and in a couple spots, much worse, but for the most part, the work was fast. I was also getting better at breaking the runes down. Combined, it meant that only half an hour after I started, I'd turned all the less important bits to dust, and was more than three-quarters of the way done with the major ones Banya had identified.
Much like with the razor attendant, there was no sign of her stirring. It didn't worry me as much though. With two successes, I was pretty sure the problem had been something other than the control runes or my removal of them.
Even as I removed the final rune though, she still hadn't stirred. Not even as much as the razor attendant, whose expression had eased.
"Did it not work?" Banya asked, sucking her lips in once more. "She's free now, right? Why isn't she waking up? I thought she'd be-"
Her words cut off as Keria's eyes snapped open, locking on Banya. They remained fixed there for several seconds before moving to me. Then she continued her inspection of her surroundings, the eyes being the only thing that was moving. Only after she'd taken in everything she could from her position did she sit up.
Banya was startled by the movement, and ended up falling back as she released Keria's shoulders. Keria once more swept her gaze around the room before fixing back on me. Then in a voice that was almost at odds with the seemingly calm demeanour she'd awoken with, one that came out in a pained whisper, she asked, "Where is my sister?"
Comments
Jason Hardman
TYFTC!
