Wish upon the Stars chapter 1216 (Patreon)

The formal dinner was unsettling. We were offered seats of honor next to the Doctor, which was odd on its own because he shouldn’t have even known who we were beyond ‘friends of Stanley’. Despite that, though, he was fawning over us as politely as possible, making it clear he recognized us as important for some reason. I didn’t like it.

Luckily I wasn’t here alone. Crell was infinitely better at this game than I was. The former spymaster of a ruthless despot who ruled over a sealed world, and who planned a coup against said despot which we helped pull off, Crell was a political beast, and I knew I could trust him to handle this.

Unfortunately, the Doctor himself hadn’t gotten the memo.

“We’re so pleased to have you here,” he said silkily, pouring me a glass of wine I definitely didn’t trust him enough to drink. “I admit, when I heard the son of Elijah Wyndham was in the city, I didn’t quite believe it.”

Ah, that was it then. He didn’t know who I was, exactly, he just knew my dad.

“Did he really make that big of an impression last time he was here?” I asked, genuine curiosity in my voice.

My dad had clearly done some impressive things in Bloodcrest, but I hadn’t really had the time or inclination to ask about them. Judging by the Doctor’s attitude though, my dad’s antipathy was…well, maybe it WAS still shared, but there was clearly a one sided respect there. I couldn’t help but be curious what he’d done to deserve that.

The Doctor, it seemed,wanted to avoid talking about what my dad had done almost as much as I wanted to hear about it. He smoothly changed the subject. “So, you’re hoping to gain access to the Moonfiend Grotto?” He asked casually. “What might you be searching for inside?”

“Fish,” I answered immediately. “There’s a very rare type of trout we’ve heard about in there. The Fiendwrack Trout. I’m told it can directly strengthen Impact.”

We’d done a bit of research on the place before coming here, because we all agreed it was a bad idea to confide in the Doctor. The Fiendwrack Trout was real, in fact, though not worth enough for me to bother searching for. Impact was great, but it wasn’t getting my wife back.

The Doctor chuckled. “You haven’t touched your wine. Please, try some. It’s my favorite vintage.”

I frowned behind my mask, but decided it was better to be accommodating. Of course, I wasn’t an idiot. I reached for Zagan silently, and as I picked up the cup and tilted it toward my mouth, I breathed a long stream of green flame into it. The flame hit the wine silently, rolling through it and purifying the drink. Not just of toxins, but of all poison, essentially turning it to clear water. I tipped it back, draining the glass in one pull before slamming it back down. I smiled at him through the gap that had opened in my mask. “Delicious. Now, we’re hoping to get access to the Grotto sooner rather than later. Can you tell me what you’d require to let us do that?”

He nodded cheerfully. “Of course, I’d be happy to share that information with you. But first, I hope that you might be willing to help me with a small project.”

“We don’t really have time for a project,” I said bluntly. “We really need to go, maybe when we come back we can help. We can leave as soon as we contact my friends. They’re waiting for us now so I don’t want to leave them hanging.”

He chuckled again, but this time there was something ominous about it. “Why, I don’t think that will do. You see, the wisps have faded. You need a guide to get out again. I’m afraid the halls can be a tad confusing. You know, I was so excited to hear Elijah brought his brat here. His power was so…fascinating. But unfortunately his relationship with the Ralkyne was too complex. You, however, have no such protection. I half expected you to bring guards, but instead, you just brought this diplomatic fop.”

“Hey!” snapped Crell. “I’ll have you know that I can be very impressive!”

I grimaced at the Doctor. “What the hell do you want? Don’t think we’re so easy to contain. I can leave here anytime I want.”

“Oh I wouldn’t be so sure,” The Doctor grinned. “You see, I’ve prepared rather thoroughly for this little game. You came here to request entry to the Grotto? Well you’ll be pleased to know you need look no further. You entered the Grotto minutes after passing the front door. Outside realspace you have no hope of spatial shifts or recovery artifacts returning you to your previous position.”

“So what?” I spat. “You turn us into one of your little experiments? I heard all about those.”

Laughing, he just shook his head. “Silly child,” he cooed. “I’m not going to turn you into anything. You’re ALREADY one of my experiments. You have been since you entered. Drinking the wine I gave you was simply the icing on the cake, as it were. But don’t worry. The paralytic you ingested will slowly penetrate your bloodstream as you run from the monsters currently coming to catch you, and only once you’ve completely collapsed will they finally retrieve you and bring me to me for study.”

I blinked at him. “You…you’re not nearly as smart as people seem to think, huh?”

He just sneered. “Enjoy your false confidence while it lasts, boy. Even an S-ranker would fall before that toxin. It’s only a matter of time before-” He was cut off by the thump of my staff smashing into his mouth, sending his mask spinning off into the distance. Glancing behind me, I casually released ten of my A-rank demons. “Kill the monsters he mentioned, and capture any of the experiments that seem like they might still be people.”

Crell just snorted as I turned back to the Doctor. “So, I didn’t drink your paralytic,” I said conversationally. “And as far as I can tell, you leaned WAY too hard into Focus. I could almost see you getting lost in your own thoughts just then. You have no chance of beating me in a fight under almost any circumstances.” I had almost as much effective Might as I had TOTAL stat points thanks to my triple point bonus, not to mention my Vitality and the power of my Domain.

The Doctor stared at me in horror, his expression empty and shocked. Crell laughed as he stepped up beside me. “You know, I was half expecting this to turn into some kind of locked room escape trial when he started talking.”

“Nobody has time for that shit,” I said coldly. “I have a wife to rescue. The Doctor here is going to be as helpful and friendly as possible in accommodating us, because if he’s not, I’m going to beat him nearly to death with my staff, then heal him up and do it again until my arms get tired. And I have very strong arms.”

He glared up at me bitterly. “What do you want to know?” he gritted out. 

“I want to know where the entrance to this place is,” I said immediately. “I’m letting some people inside. Then you’re going to take me to the nearest forest inside the Grotto.” I needed to use Yama, but I REALLY didn’t want to look at the karmic lines inside this hospital. Karma was more than just a map, it was a reflection of the world as it was, and I had a feeling the karma in here was not particularly pleasant to look at.

Obviously, the smart move would be to wait to get to the actual woods before checking on the chain. If Callie was here, I would see it immediately and be close enough to search, if she wasn’t the chain would lead me right back to the exit, most likely. Seemed like a win win.

The Doctor staggered to his feet, glaring, but didn’t dare to try anything. Instead, he turned and skulked out of the room. I shot Crell a look and followed, trailing behind the malicious medic as we were led through the seemingly endless hallways. I silently cursed myself for not activating Dantalion on the way. The wisp had distracted me by moving JUST fast enough to force me to hurry, which I suspected was the point.

This time I didn’t make that mistake, I triggered my information demon, not bothering to boost it with my staff, because A-rank was plenty for this. It didn’t take long to arrive at the front door. When we did, I glared at the Doctor, considering what to do…but eventually I remembered what Stanley had said. I cracked him upside the head, knocking him unconscious as I stepped past him to push the door to the outside open. The chill air of Bloodcrest hit my face as I noticed the pair of guards from earlier rushing me for an attack.

My staff snapped out, crashing into them like a meteor and putting them both down temporarily. Knocking people out at A-rank wasn’t easy, exactly, but having more than my normal share of Impact helped give my attacks that little bit of extra heft. The two of them dropped and I reached for my scan ring, placing a quick call.

Within twenty minutes, reinforcements arrived. My whole crew as well as Stanley, who had come in person. He glanced at the unconscious guards and Doctor with a grimace. “Well at least they’re alive,” he sighed. “I assume this was a trap?”

“Apprently he remembered my dad,” I said dryly. “Making friends wherever you go, huh old man?”

My father sniffed loftily. “Lions do not concern themselves with the opinions of sheep.”

“Do they concern themselves with sleeping on the couch?” my mother asked sweetly. “Because I can have a den made up for his highness if that’s his preference.”

I snickered at their antics, then turned back to Stanley. “So, did you know the hospital was IN the gate? This place is a shallowing apparently. Once we entered we ended up trapped in some labyrinth we didn’t even realize was part of the Grotto. Dr. Dumbass there used wisps to disguise the spatial distortions by pretending it was all part of the dinner. Then he tried to poison me.”

“You have a life nova bloodline,” my mom said in disbelief. “You could just burn it clean in a second if you wanted to.”

“If he’d gotten me,” I pointed out. “Which he didn’t even manage. I used Zagan to breathe fire into the cup. Ended up drinking pure water. Once he was convinced I’d been drugged, he lapsed into the stereotypical villain speech, so I smacked him in the head with a stick and made him bring me to the door to get you guys.”

She grinned at me. “That’s my boy. So, have you checked if this is the right place yet?”

“I don’t think using Yama inside that place is a good idea,” I grimaced. “He’s going to bring us out into the woods and I’ll check from there. If we’re at the right place it’ll give me a line right to her, if not the chain will lead back to the entrance.”

“Except,” my dad sighed. “If there’s another gate in there. Remember the land of endless summer is a Webworld. It’s connected, even broken. Don’t take for granted that this will be the last stop. Chances are good we’re only on the first step of the journey. Even that requires us to confirm we’re in the right spot though.” He turned to glare down at the Doctor. “Hey, jackass. Wake up and bring us inside. We've got places to be.” I tried not to laugh at the twitch when he heard my dad’s voice. Admittedly, I didn’t try very hard.