Infinitus turned to look at Mortem, a look of confusion plastered on his face. “How do you know what Perte is like?” he asked, then wondered himself why he even knew the name of the underworld’s city.
The witch’s cloudy eyes slanted in anger, and she took threatening steps towards the group until she was only a couple feet away. “Watch your words, girl. There are forces here on this world that you do not want to mess with and I am one of them,” she sneered. Then she looked at each member of the party, giving them a hard glare. “One more chance, then you won’t live to see your precious city.”
Infinitus turned to Mortem, silently begging her not to say anything. If they were actually born today, he wasn’t looking forward to fight with no idea how on their birthday.
"Fine, I'm shutting up, stars above, chill out," Mortem muttered, holding her hands up in surrender, though she didn't back away in the slightest. "Only because Fini doesn't want me to mess with you," she added , rolling her eyes with her arms crossed.
"So, do you think you could offer us some guidance? I'm not sure the others are up for it, but I'd certainly like to know what's going on and you seem to know a lot more than we do, miss… mister… uh, what's your name?" Imperium stammered.
The witch turned towards Imperium, a sly smile upon her lips. “I am called Pythonissam, the protector of this land,” she gestured to the surrounding woods. “And yes, yes, I will offer guidance, but perhaps a bit more if you are kind.” Pythonissam paused for a moment, almost looking like she was deciding something, then turned towards the cave, beckoning them forward. “Now come on, children, let me help you. That map won’t give you all the answers.”
Infinitus put a hand over his pocket which held the map. “How did she know…” he whispered, following her hunched form entering the cave. He turned towards the rest of the group, a question in his eyes. Should we follow her…?
"Lets go." Imperium said, following. They seemed nervous, but certain that this was right.
Mortem shook her head. "There is no way I'm going in there. She threatened me like 2 minutes ago. And she's some kind of psychic or something. I don't like that she knows everything. She's probably trying to trick us so we'll go in an then… I don't know, I don't like her," she stated quietly.
"We can fight if she tries anything. But I have a feeling she won't." Imperium said.
Infinitus placed a comforting hand on Mortem’s shoulder, sending a hopefully calming smile. Glancing back at the witch, she smiled and weaved her fingers at him, causing a shiver to go down his spine. “Well, I agree with Mortem. I don’t like how she threatened us with like two seconds of meeting us. But I feel like she could provide some much needed information. Didn’t she say we were some kind of gods?” he then shrugged. “It’s a group decision though,”
"She's not our best option," Vanitate said confidently, pushing hair out of her face with one hand. The other was clenched tightly behind her back, hiding her nerves. "But she's our only one. I say we go for it." She turned to Infinitus and tried for a smile. "And we must mean something to her, something that makes us valuable enough to keep alive."
Mortem groaned. "This. Is. Stupid. We're all going to die. What kind of person follows an actual witch into a dark and creepy cave? Its like you're asking to be murdered."
“Times a ticking dearies,” the witch called from the cave. “The old gods thought they had all the time in the world; I wouldn’t recommend making the same mistake.”
Infinitus nodded. “V is right. She could’ve killed us when she saw us, but she didn’t. My vote is to go.” He stepped out of the group, arms crossed.
Vanitate hesitated for a moment, then followed him, unclenching her hand. She ran her thumb over the nail marks left behind as she turned to the others expectantly.
Shaking her head and muttering curses under her breath, Mortem crossed her arms and went to stand with Infinitus. "This is the stupidest thing I've ever done. I haven't done a lot of things, but this is still the stupidest."
//sunflowers? I think we’re waiting on you
(sorry y’all i was at camp and they didn’t have any service. i was hoping the others would’ve replied but i guess not)
Infinitus sighed and nodded, leading the group to the cave where the witch stood. She clapped her hands excitedly, a smile full of crooked teeth on her face. “Oh, I like this group. Much more curious, that’s for sure,” her strange accent tilted the words, pronouncing the constants too harshly and the vowels too softly. He had never heard it before, but then again, he’s only been alive for what seems a few days.
(also, i’m going to have the witch give them their weapons instead of them already having them. it will make things run a bit smoother)
Mortem crossed her arms again, leaning against the wall as close to the entrance as possible without leaving the group. "Yep, yeah, we're great, let's move this along, shall we?" She said, a mixture of bright and sarcastic.
//yeap sounds good, hope you had s good time at camp!
Vanitate twisted her lips a bit, eyes darting back and forth. She stepped into the cave, hands behind her back. “So?”
(thank you, i did !)
The witch laughed, high pitched and loud, before turning back to look at the group, a certain look in her eyes. “An elderbeast is much harder to fight without weapons, yes? Maybe that’s why the old ones didn’t last very long… some poisons’ effect lasts over years,” she tapped her chin. “Now, what was I saying?”
Infinitus cleated his throat, but despite of doing so, his voice still broke. “Weapons?” he tried, shrugging slightly.
"Literally none of this makes sense," Mortem muttered. "D'you want to maybe actually TELL US why we had to go in a cave, or were you planning to kill us first? It's good to have a schedule."
The witch turned towards Mortem, eyes ablaze. “If you’d be patient, girl, then maybe things would make sense.” she spat. “Some things take time. You’ll be better off learning some patience.” Swiftly walking now, she went deeper into the cave, and the group followed her, helpless to know where else to go.
They came upon a lit room with mix matched carpet covering the floor and various herbs strung in the air. A makeshift kitchen was tucked into the corner, and papers upon papers were plastered on the wall, writing covering the pages.
The room had an almost magical aurora, and Infinitus hadn’t a clue why. Maybe it was because the witch pulled out a wand? and began stirring the cauldron placed in the middle of the room. The liquid was something between a cloudy bluish green color, and gave off a lavender scent.
The witch was clearly happy to be home, as she had a crooked yellow smile and her earlier hostility had appeared to disappear. Gesturing to the pillows placed randomly around the pot, she spoke. “Come, children, take a seat! The show is about to begin!”
Giving the others a wary glance, Infinitus did as he was told, and took a seat on a gold embroidered pillow. For how old it was it was surprisingly soft, and he felt himself relax.
Scowling, Mortem sat next to Infinitus. She didn't like being told what to do or how to act, and this whole situation was very frustrating for her.
