Thursday, November 27, 2014

Page 889

Hector hadn’t wanted Garovel to join them on the mission, but the reaper insisted on it.

It’s fine,’ Garovel had said. ‘If we find Chergoa, I need to be there to talk to her; otherwise, she won’t know she can trust you.

I could just tell her I’m your servant.

Could you, Hector? Could you really?

...Y-yeah. I mean, probably.

Well, even so, I’m sure you’ll have need of my observational support.

Hector couldn’t tell if Garovel was being brave or stupid, but he knew that he didn’t have much room to argue about it. He wasn’t exactly an expert on how much value one should place upon one’s own life.

The group proceeded on, making slow progress. With the stony walls all soul-empowered, the reapers couldn’t sense where the enemy would be coming from, so they had to be cautious each time they entered a new room. Hector consulted one of the maps he’d been given and noticed they were coming up on a large complex of rooms which had been collectively marked as a foyer. It seemed to be the center of transit in this area, bearing two staircases, two elevators, a pair of bathrooms, and connecting three major hallways and a massive auditorium.

And when they approached its double doors, they found that the foyer’s lights were still on.

Xuan waddled through them without much care, and everyone followed.

With only Xuan’s exceptionally modest stature ahead of him, Hector got a clear view of the room. Spacious was the first word for it, bearing rectangular chambers on the first floor and staircases that led up to a second and third. Ornate was the second word, though perhaps not in the conventional sense. Polished rock was the theme of this place. The floor, the walls, the stairs, the guardrails, the chandeliers, even some of the furniture had been constructed from stone. The handful of chairs and sofas at least had darkly green cushions to go along with them, but it truly seemed like stone was utilized in every conceivable manner, save only where sheer practicality required otherwise.

The room reminded him of Warrenhold, actually--like what Warrenhold might have looked like in an earlier era, all furnished and obviously cared for. The only real difference to Hector’s eyes was that the shadowy stone still didn’t have quite the same pitch blackness that nightrock did.

Xuan stopped abruptly. “Ah. There you are, Darktide.”

11 comments:

  1. So. Been a while since I commented. Just wanted to let you know I'm still here.... Waiting..... Judging...... Ripping my hair out as I wait for more.....

    I'm probably going to be bald soon because of you George. It's hard enough waiting when not much is happening to Hector. But when it's focussed on him again and you imply they are about to meet Chergoa? I'm surprised I still HAVE hair... (Just in case anyone is worrying, I'm not ACTUALLY losing my hair.)

    Just a quick question: Where are we story wise? (10% done, 40, 70 90? Please say 1%. We shall go on an epic adventure together for years to come.)

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  2. FROST, DON'T ANSWER THAT LAST BIT PLEASE. PLEASE.

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  3. He says in "About the Story" that he doesn't have an ending planned at all.

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  4. Caught-up reader, first time poster... well, for this, at least. ;)

    Speaking of Warrenhold... a certain integration-based scientist is going to be quite unhappy when he (eventually/maybe/perhaps) learns about where the "only boring iron" guy he intentionally tried to belittle actually lives. ;P Looking forward to that, should it happen, actually. xD Having trolling reapers in family-linked stereo rubbing it in would also help.

    Mind you, I think just missing out on a free, all-you-can-dissect aberration would annoy him more. :P

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  5. ‘Well, even so, I’m sure you’ll /have/ need my observational support.’
    Looks better without 'have'. *quacks for more bread*

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  6. Actually, we are 162% done. The story ended months ago. WoooOOoOooOooOoo...

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  7. YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO. UNLESS IT PERTAINS TO ANAGRAMS. I'M SHIT AT ANAGRAMS.

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  8. With all the shenanigans that go on it's easy to forget how all this started for Hector.
    Here I am enjoying Frosty's Marvelous World of Snark and then this line appears, "He wasn’t exactly an expert on how much value one should place upon one’s own life."

    And I'm suddenly reminded of the very beginning. Besides his crippling shyness is his mental state ever going to be addressed?

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  9. Well, the problem that drove him to suicide is now addressed. He'll never again be without at least one friend.

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  10. Omg a reply! Wasn't actually expecting that.

    Haha yea it has been solved in one respect but realistically it doesn't mean that Hector is past that entirely. And that's all I'm wondering, if/how any remaining issues will be brushed on.

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