Lich Encounter: Part 6

I was getting rather used to waking up on this stone floor. It wasn't exactly my dormitory bed, but there was something distinctly comforting about being in the middle of those candles, and hearing nothing but a gentle silence all around you. I sat up and gazed sleepily into the flickering candlelight, processing yesterdays events in my head. I remembered what a disappointment I must have been to Alyssa, for a Lich to have a husband with such poor magical abilities. Perhaps I could improve with time, but this would still be very frustrating for her. My thoughts also turned to Ross' sword, and the agonizing pain I felt just from touching its handle. I felt myself shiver as I looked at my hand. It looked fine, there was no sign of any injury at all. Perhaps it was all a nightmare after all, brought on by my fears and paranoia of being trapped in this dark place with a Lich. I continued to stare at my hand, remembering the intensity of the pain. No, it couldn't have been a dream, it was all too vivid and real. I looked around, and immediately fell back with a start. Alyssa was silently kneeling beside me, with a slightly concerned look on her face.

"Is something wrong?"

"How long have you been kneeling there? You haven't been watching me sleep all this time, have you?" I asked, feeling more than a little disturbed. I noticed that taste in my mouth again. Funny, it wasn't so unpleasant this time...

"Would it be a problem if I was? I don't see how it affects you in any way" Alyssa calmly replied, before smiling gently "Besides, you look really cute and peaceful when you're sleeping."

I stared at her, trying to let this sink in. She might have done this every night, just standing over me as I slept, staring. I shuddered again, we really would have to talk about this and lay out some rules for appropriate behaviour. "Do you have any idea how creepy that is?" I began to argue. "I know you probably don't need to sleep, but isn't there anything better you can do, like reading or practicing magic?"

Alyssa just knelt there, looking as if she was taking all this in, before responding. "I don't just watch you sleep all night, I normally use that time to research interesting experiments, or look up some fun new kinds of eromancy for us to test on each other. However, I still don't see why it's a problem if I want to watch you sleep for a couple of hours in between all this. You're adorable when you're sleeping, you should take it as a compliment."

I gave up. This would just have to be something that we worked on over time, if I was to be trapped here forever. Besides, I had something more pressing to ask the Lich about after last nights events. I found myself looking at my hand once again. "Alyssa, is there any reason why I can't touch holy artifacts anymore? I tried touching Ross' sword the other day and it...well... repelled me."

Alyssa gently picked up my hand, and examined it carefully. "Oh... it's happening sooner than I expected..." she murmured.

I felt a slight panic rise up in my chest. "What? What's happening!?"

Alyssa's eyes met mine, and she slowly ran a hand down the side of my face. "It really isn't anything for you to be afraid of, my love. This all really is for the best"

"TELL ME WHAT'S HAPPENING!" I spat, terrified.

"Calm down" Alyssa gently chided. "you probably already know that a mamono's husband will receive demonic energy from his wife during sex, and will eventually transform into an incubus, yes? There is nothing wrong with this, it's a beautiful thing, and proof of the love between a mamono and a human. The end result is an increased ability to experience pleasure, an immunity to illness or disease, and a significantly increased lifespan." Her voice slowed. "What you may not know is that there are ways to... modify this transformation."

"M-modify?"

"Please, relax. I promise nothing bad is going to happen." She gazed into my eyes, pleading silently with her stare. "An Incubus will normally take a few traits from his wife, but I wanted to offer you more. Rez, I wasn't entirely honest with you about the ritual. The healing and freedom from hunger were only side effects of the spell's true purpose." She continued speaking calmly, affectionately stroking my face in an attempt to soothe me. I couldn't stop shaking, both in fear and anger. Why did she feel the need to lie to me about all this? Was I just being used as an even more sinister experiment all this time? I forced myself up to my feet and pushed Alyssa's hands away. I noticed her stoic expression fade and a look of worry replaced it.

"What were you really doing to me?" I wanted to shout, but my voice was hoarse and only came out as a whisper. My knees were shaking.

Alyssa stood up with me, and grabbed my hand "I wanted you to have more. The powers enjoyed by an incubus are superior to that of any human mage, but I knew that I could offer you something greater!" She must have noticed the fear in my eyes, because the desperation in her voice started to become more pronounced: "So I prevented you from transforming after the first experiment, and instead gradually filled you with Demonic Energy over time. I placed you in a magic circle as you slept, and over the course of a few days slipped you a weakened concoction of mine: an Elixir of Defilation."

I wanted to throw up. That strange taste in my mouth for the past few days, it was Alyssa pouring some unholy mixture down my throat as I slept. I felt my heart racing and my breathing became heavier as I began to panic, imagining what such a potion would be doing to my insides. Or even what it could be doing to my soul. The panic only increased when I remembered where I had heard that name before. It was in an old book on the occult back in The Library, a potion designed to kill the drinker and revive them soon after as a powerful undead - a Lich. "WHY!?" I screamed in horror, as Alyssa attempted to calm me.

"You don't understand!" She cried. "I only did this because I love you! This way you'll be able to reach your true potential, and we'll both be equals! You would have become undead anyway through the standard process, and because I'm a Lich it would have made you a simple underling, incapable of questioning any of my commands. How could I let my beloved husband become a mindless slave?" If it were possible for a Lich to cry, she would probably be bawling her eyes out right now. "Please, don't lose any trust in my because of this. I would NEVER hurt you. No mamono would ever hurt her husband willingly. You have to believe me when I tell you I was only thinking of your best interests when I decided to do this!"

"...what's in the elixir?" I slowly asked, staring at the floor. I only remembered some of the ingredients listed, but even that was enough to make my stomach churn.

"It really isn't as bad as you think." Alyssa hurriedly assured. "There isn't just one recipe for it, and I needed a weaker variant for you anyway. It isn't like you've drank some child's blood or anything!" Oh, that's a relief, then.

I felt myself seething. For the first time down here I could look at Alyssa without feeling the slightest hint of fear. Instead I trembled with rage. "So you didn't think it was important to tell me any of this?" I hissed. "Did you honestly think I'd be grateful to you for poisoning my body? For trying to rip out my soul? For lying to me?"

"I was worried that you'd react like this if I told you!" Alyssa snapped. "You humans are so worried about "maintaining your humanity" you wouldn't even entertain the idea that you might be happier transformed. Don't you understand? If I just let nature take its course, you would become an incubus, turned undead due to my abilities and wound up a mere puppet unable to truly think for himself. And you're angry because I didn't give you the choice in this?" She sighed. "OK, maybe it was wrong for me not to mention anything, but considering the alternative this really was the best way. Some Liches out there just allow their husbands to become slaves to their power. Where's the happiness in that? Tell me Rez, would you rather spend eternity as a mindless zombie, or have forever to expand your mind and pursue limitless knowledge?"

"You say I would have become some mindless drone, but how do you explain Lani? She seems to be fairly autonomous." I argued.

"The effect is generally based on the servants proximity to the Lich." Alyssa explained. "A basic guard will not spend most of their time around their Lich, like you would. My power would eat away at your mind and soul if left unchecked, as you will spend a vast amount of time in close proximity to me, and take on a vast amount of Demonic Energy every time we make love. So standard undead like Lani are fine. She's still bound to my every command, as will the Paladin after his conversion. Their power and rank will also afford them more energy, and allow them to act more autonomously. You see, more advanced servants enjoy varying degrees of mental freedom, but in the end they are not truly free." Through my anger, I thought I could hear the slightest pang of regret to Alyssa's voice.

I continued to glare at her "You had a third choice, you know. You could have let me go. If you really wanted me to be happy and live a good life, then you could have returned me to the Library."

Alyssa laughed. "Yes, stayed in that old library like a good little boy, bumbled around for a few short decades never really learning anything of any value, and dying old, alone and forgotten. What a wonderful life I stole from you!" Her arms hung to her sides in defeat, as her laughter became bitter. "You honestly thought that allowing yourself to rot away, unloved would be preferable to an eternity at my side..."

I just stood there. As furious as I was with Alyssa, she genuinely thought that she had done a great thing for me. It was hard to think clearly after having all of this information dumped on me, but thinking about it, maybe Alyssa's actions were the lesser of two evils. The more I pondered on it, the more I came to realize that my actual grievance was over her secrecy, and not being slowly turned into a Lich. I already knew that Alyssa's Demonic Energy would turn me into an undead, and the new information that it would slowly make me into a zombie (of sorts) made her decision understandable, but my mind kept going back to the lies. "But surely you could have at least told me about this process, just to keep my mind at ease?"

"You would have fought against it. Your struggling would have been futile, and the added stress on your body would only made the transformation painful as you fought the change." Alyssa hurriedly approached, and held me tightly in her arms "I'm so sorry, Rez. I only want us to be happy together. I understand you might have some trust issues with me after this, but I promise I will make it up to you somehow." If nothing else, there was a genuine honesty in her voice.

We both hung in each others embrace for what felt like a long while, before I finally broke the silence: "So if I'm to become a Lich, what were you planning for my Phylactery?"

"Hmm." Alyssa happily sighed. "I have a rather romantic idea in mind." She placed a tender kiss on my lips, and carefully pulled me across the room. "A Liches Phylactery can be almost anything, and a long time ago I was lucky enough to happen across a very interesting artifact. I plan on making your soul share the exact same vessel." Alyssa had the look of a giddy schoolgirl about her. "Our souls literally as one!"

"Is that even possible? Is it even a good idea?" I almost stopped myself. Of course it wasn't a good idea. But I was still angry, and Alyssa seemed to be very taken with this idea, perhaps this whole idea would seem a little less insane with some context.

"It's a wonderfully romantic idea!" Repeated Alyssa "And it's more than possible. You've said yourself that you've lost some trust in me today, well I hope what I'm about to show you will win at least some of that back." She continued leading me across her library, until we came across a large and foreboding book on an altar. Its cover was pitch black, and was marked with some rather alarming glowing runes. There was some kind of presence emanating from this book, and I felt uncomfortable just standing before it. Alyssa stood a little behind me, and clasped my shoulders.

"This is The Song of the Dead. My Phylactery."

I was lost for words. She was actually showing me her Phylactery, the one treasure that a Lich guards more jealously than anything else in the world. More-so than any knowledge or tome that they could possess.

"Why would you show me this? My soul isn't in there yet, I could just tear up this thing and hope it's not too late for me."

"Love is giving someone the power to destroy you and trusting them not to. Am I not doing the same?"

"...Is this why you and your followers are immune to divine weapons?" I asked, still wearily gazing upon the book.

"Yes. The Song of the Dead was originally in the possession of another undead, but she-" Alyssa gave a quick laugh "but she was either incapable of using the tome to it's full potential, or was unaware of its true power. The book itself full of necromancy spells, and the pages itself are bound with powerful hexes and magic." Alyssa ran a hand carefully over it. "I came across this book a long time ago, back when I was still human. After studying it I had an idea, if the book itself is such a powerful source of necromancy magic, what would happen if a Lich were to bind her soul to it?" She moved away from the book, and turned her attention to me. "The answer is that the new Lich not only gains the traditional powers over the dead, but she also becomes able to overcome many of an undead's standard weaknesses."

"So if my soul were to-"

"WHEN. And yes, you will gain advanced powers over both standard sorcery and necromancy, too. Just as I told you Rez, we will stand as equals. It's a wonderful solution, is it not? And on top of it all, I literally get to share my soul with you!"

"How much longer until I fully... go Lich?" I struggled to finish the sentence.

"Soon. The process started a few days ago, and it's advancing at an impressive speed. You won't have long to wait my love. I assure you we won't be playing around with torches when you're up to your full potential."

"Wait, if you knew this was going to happen why did you put me through that humiliating exercise?"

Alyssa giggled. "Oh come on now, don't act like you didn't enjoy it. I saw how hard you got from being spanked..."

I'd probably be angrier right now if I hadn't had all this dropped on me. "On the subject of pain, is it going to hurt?"

"Oh, no! Quite the opposite! If my own transformation  was anything to go by, you're going to be screaming for all the right reasons." Alyssa winked alluringly at me. That was a relief at least, if I had to become a monster, I may as well feel good about it when I turn. I thought about everything I had learned since this morning. It was an awful lot for me to process, and in all honesty I still felt like I needed some time to forgive Alyssa for some of it. I really did appreciate the gesture she made in showing me her - our Phylactery, but it was going to take a little more than that for me to fully accept all this. I turned to face down the hall, and as I did, I noticed that the library didn't seem to be as dark as I remembered it. Come to think of it, I didn't need my illumination spell to navigate my way over here, either. Of course, weakness to divine artifacts hasn't the only effect of undeath, one's vision was also highly improved in the dark.

"I'm going to need some time alone." I told her, as I began to make my way through the gloom towards the exit.

"I understand. Go and clear your head, I promise you'll feel better about all this when you finally think it all over." Alyssa called back to me.

Really, this was unprecedented. I was actually allowed to leave Alyssa's sight. On any other day I would have been happy about this, and would see it as an opportunity for escape. But this wasn't the average day, even by recent standards. This really was the turning point, if I could think of anyway to get out of all of this then now was the time to act on it. Assuming of course, that I was not too late. I already had a negative reaction to divine relics and an improved night vision, if I wanted to escape now, this did not bode well for me. I actually rather enjoyed being able to walk the labyrinth corridors unaided, if I was to be honest with myself. As I came more to terms with my future as an undead, I began to wonder what it would all mean for me. What would existing for eternity be like? Surely both myself and Alyssa would go mad after a certain amount of time? Unless of course immortals instinctively knew how to cope with a potential eternity of boredom. I very much doubted that I had the same attention span for endless sex as my wife, at any rate.

I continued walking down endless, similar corridors. If it wasn't for my honorary status as a Lich, I would have been quite worried about getting lost and starving in these catacombs. I noticed frequent skeletal statues standing against the walls every so often, and found myself shivering as I realized that they weren't actually statues. This undead army would take some getting used to, even if they technically would answer to me over time. As I mulled over these morbid thoughts I noticed the distinct sound of someone running. I followed the passage to the source of this noise, and was surprised to find a man in armour doubled over and panting for breath. Leaning on his knees, he looked up and immediately recognized me.

"You... traitor!" It was Ross. He looked terrible, like he hadn't slept in days, or even weeks. I was right about my earlier assumption, it would seem - he really wasn't giving Lani an easy time. I remembered what Alyssa told me earlier, that eventually he would just become a servant like Lani. The anger I felt against Alyssa surged back for a moment. The thought of a noble Paladin losing his reason and happily defending a Lich was still somewhat offensive to me, even after all I had been through. It was then when I came upon an idea. It was too late for me, but maybe I could save Ross from this fate. "Do you have any idea what that... MONSTER has been doing to me!?" He wheezed. Of course. Ross would now know that Alyssa had taken me for her husband. To him, I was just another abomination now, and nothing more. It was foolish to think that I could ever leave this place in my current state. To Ross, Kyle and the others back at the Library, Rez Gideon was dead, and a monster walked in his place. The least I could do for Ross was try and get him out of here. I doubted my chances though, especially since Ross no longer had any reason to trust me.

"Ross... Ross!" I whispered as loudly as I could. "Get up, I still might be able to get you out of here!" The Paladin was either delirious from hunger and sleep deprivation, didn't believe me, or both. He struggled as I tried to take his shoulder and bring him to his feet. It was then I noticed another "gift" Alyssa had bestowed upon me. I was able to restrain a mostly armoured Paladin with minimal effort. Obviously he wasn't at his optimal potential right now, but I certainly would not have been capable of this a couple of weeks ago. I began to carry him towards what I hoped would lead to an exit, and wondered if Alyssa found these repeating hallways and crumbling passages as confusing as I did. Maybe, I thought, I should have asked for a map.

"Oh, there you are!" A familiar voice echoed. So much for the escape plan. Sorry, Ross. "My new husband is so stubborn! It's almost like he wants to be all alone!" Lani pouted, holding her hands on her hips. "Thanks for finding him, darlin!" She effortlessly picked up the struggling Paladin, and slung him over her shoulder.

I could have just left them, but this bothered me too much. "Hey, Lani?"

"hm?"

"Are you... happy here?" I delicately asked. I wasn't entirely sure just how aware Lani was of her situation, I didn't want to risk distressing her, if that was even possible to begin with.

"Of course I am! Especially now I've got such a cutie for a husband!" She nuzzled Ross' face affectionately. "He's resisting me right now, but most couples go through these problems. He'll understand just how good he has it sooner or later." She gave a conspiratory wink to the trembling man on her shoulders "He sure wasn't complainin' last night!" She turned to face me. "Speaking of resisting, you aren't tryin' to escape now, are you?"

I shook my head. "No, I don't think I could leave this place if I wanted to anyway now. I just needed a walk to clear my head."

"So what's on your mind?"

I leaned against the wall "I've learned a lot today about Alyssa's plans for me. Frankly, I wish I didn't know half of it."

"You shouldn't let yourself worry so much, darlin'. The Boss will make sure you're happy in the end, she knows what she's doing. It's the same for Sir Knight here." She motioned to the now unconscious Paladin draped over her shoulder "You guys would be much happier if you just trusted us once in a while. We only want to live peacefully with you all. Is that really so bad?"

It really wasn't, I supposed. But I still had to bring up my concern. "Lani, just how bound to Alyssa are you?"

Lani shook with laughter "Worried about lil' old me, huh? Don't worry, I might have to follow my Necromancer's orders, but The Boss isn't unreasonable. She wants her girls to find nice husbands and to be as happy as she is." She smiled gently, and then frowned, remembering something. "believe me, she's a huge improvement over my old boss."

Wait, what? "Your old boss?" I repeated, confused. I had assumed that Lani was originally some adventurer who fell in the tomb under Alyssa's rule. Come to think of it, Alyssa mentioned the Song of the Dead belonging to someone else before she became a Lich. Could this be the same person?

"Yeah, my old boss was a real tyrant. Supposedly, she was some great hero from around here a long time ago. Then the Boss came along one day and drove her out somehow. You'd have to ask her about it, I can't remember much about what happened." The goofy grin came back on her face "So you see, we've all got it much better now!"

That really didn't make me feel any better, although I doubt anything would make me feel any better about potentially brainwashing someone. But come to think of it, was my position really that different than Ross'? We were both stuck down here, with no hope of escape or rescue, our only option left being to adapt to this new situation instead.

"Is Ross going to be OK? He doesn't look so good..." I found myself asking. He was leaning silently over Lani, looking extremely pale. I reached over to him, and found that he was cold to the touch. My hand recoiled back in shock, it was like touching a corpse.

"Relax, darlin'. Sir Knight just took on a lot of Demonic Energy last night, that's all." A devilish grin appeared on the Ghoul's face, one that appeared to be unnaturally wide, reminding me of the time we first met. "You livin' folks always get a fright out of it, but it's perfectly normal. A man always gets some traits from his wife." Lani looked me over carefully. "Come to think of it, I doubt you've seen yourself recently. Just go easy if you come across a mirror now, it might give you a bit of a shock!"

Well, that's all I needed to hear. It made sense that my appearance would be changing, but considering everything else that was happening, I didn't really consider it. I hoped that the change wouldn't be too shocking, I'd already been through enough today without suddenly bumping into a dessicated reflection of myself somewhere down the line. I looked at my hands apprehensively. They indeed were pale, but other than that, there was little else wrong with them. Maybe I was worrying over nothing, but I'd save that judgement until I could get a good look at myself. Ugh, I still needed to take my mind off all this. I almost wished there was a pub down here to drown my worries in, although my undead state would probably also render me immune to the effects of alcohol, too. Something else then, I'd take my mind off all this with some idle conversation.

"This old boss of yours, what was her name?" I asked, as cheerfully as possible. "There are lots of old legends around Valewood, maybe I've heard of her."

Lani frowned for a minute, and replied "She was some Wight, Lady Cassandra, I think it was."

Cassandra? Nope, didn't ring any bells. But that wasn't a massive surprise, these valleys were filled with tombs, so it was more than possible that a few of the heroes of the previous age had become forgotten.

"Anyway, I've got some "special training" to do with Sir Knight. You go and have fun with The Boss, now!" Lani walked off into the tunnels ahead, carrying Ross' unconscious body with her. "And remember, relax! It'll all work out!"

I remained resting against the wall for some time, accompanied only by the occasional breeze through the tunnels, and the silent skeletal sentinels. I briefly wondered just how much sentience was afforded to them, before reflecting back on Lani's words.

Maybe it really was going to be all right after all. It wasn't like it could get any worse, right?