Anima, Ch.29: Call to Action

[Anima, Ch.29: Call to Action]
------------------------------
--01-- [Scene: none]
Sensation returned and pain faded. Morning sunlight warmed my face.
A feeling of...pressure. An arm against my back. Another arm against the back of my knees.
I'm...being carried?
I opened my eyes.

--02-- [Scene: Tir Chonaill] <BGM: A Credible Roadsign>
(Price)
Oh, are you awake now?




--03-- <BGM: A Credible Roadsign>
I can think of worse things to wake up to.

I smiled. "My hero."


--04-- <BGM: A Credible Roadsign>
(Price)
Hahaha...
Um, can you stand on your own? This is a little embarrassing...



--05--
"I...I think so."
Price set me down on my feet. I managed to hold my balance.
"I seem to be making a strange habit of waking up in the arms of handsome men."
Huh? How am I not a bloody pulp?

--06-- <BGM: Place Where Starlights Gather>
(Price)
What happened to you? I found you in Ciar, passed out on the altar.
I was looking for you, but didn't expect to find you conked out in the dungeon.



--07-- <BGM: Place Where Starlights Gather>
The trial. I...I failed...!
What was I supposed to do?
I defied that thing, tried to fight it...but it just crushed me, then forced itself on me...
I don't have the heart to say what happened...

--08-- <BGM: Place Where Starlights Gather>
I hung my head in shame.
"It was...a test from the spirits... I'd rather not talk about it..."
I remember everything that happened there, in vivid detail. That wasn't just a nightmare...was it?


--09-- <BGM: Place Where Starlights Gather>
(Price)
Did it...not go well?
Well, I won't ask about it...
Anyway, do you remember what we talked about a couple weeks ago?
I've gathered some information about Esras's activities from here and there...

--10--
(Price) <BGM: Place Where Starlights Gather>
I need confirmation from someone with expertise on these items, though...
Know anyone around here who's knowledgeable about rare potions?



--11-- <BGM: Place Where Starlights Gather>
"I suppose Dilys might know something about that..."
I'd barely been listening; my thoughts were still occupied by the traumatic ordeal I'd just endured...



--12-- <BGM: Place Where Starlights Gather>
(Price)
Oh? That's convenient. I was about to haul you over there anyway, but then you woke up...
All right. Let's go see her first, then. If you'll accompany me?



--13--
"Sure..."
Price set off for town and I followed along.
That massive fiery demon... It said it knew me better than I knew myself.
And what it called me... An 'uncrowned queen?' What had I once been?

--14-- <BGM: The Dance of Leaves>
And how am I not hurt?
I don't see or feel any injuries; yet I remember being slammed by that massive mace; every bone in my body broken, half my skin burnt off...

How did I recover from that?

--15--
Before I knew it, we'd reached the healer's house.
Dilys was sitting at her desk, reading a book.
She looked up at us as we entered.
Price set a bottle of some dark-red liquid on the desk.

--16-- <BGM: City Girl>
(Price)
Can you tell me what kind of a potion this is?
I've heard that you're an expert on magic and medicine.



--17-- <BGM: City Girl>
(Dilys)
Whoa... This is...
How did you get a hold of this...?
This is called Marionette Potion...It's a type of sedative...
But there's more to it than that.

--18-- <BGM: City Girl>
(Dilys)
Once taken, the drinker's willpower is suppressed, and the person who administered it gains some
control over them. Whoever drinks this will lose their desires and self-control...



--19-- <BGM: City Girl>
(Dilys)
Once a person is controlled by this potion, their behavior will change so much that it's easy to
tell who's being controlled.
Eventually, they lose the ability to do anything of their own will...


--20-- <BGM: City Girl>
Wait a minute...

"If someone was under the influence of that potion, would they be aware they were being controlled?
Would they know something was wrong?"

--21-- <BGM: City Girl>
(Dilys)
Someone strong-willed might retain enough self-awareness to realize they weren't
in control of themselves anymore...
They'd be a prisoner in their own body, unable to do anything. Why do you ask?


--22-- <BGM: City Girl>
(Dilys)
...Anyway, this is a very rare potion, one that's really difficult to make...how did you get a hold of this?
I only recognized it because someone tried to use it on me once...
If Lassar hadn't...


--23--
(Price) <BGM: The Dance of Leaves>
If you've seen it first-hand, then I'll take your word on what it is.
I'll leave that potion with you. I trust you can safely dispose of it...
And for your own sake, pretend I was never here.


--24--
<BGM: The Dance of Leaves>
Price turned to leave, and I followed him out.
Once outside, he led me around to the side of the building, looking visibly alarmed.
I'm worried, too. How many people has Esras used these potions on?


--25-- <BGM: The Dance of Leaves>
(Price)
Marionette Potion... Does that mean Esras can control the minds of those that drink that?
Now that I think about it, my friend Laoch was also acting strange, the last time I saw him...



--26--
<BGM: The Dance of Leaves>
"I think you have more to worry about than your friend.
I think...Lord Rian himself is under the effect of that potion!
You remember what I asked, about if someone would know they'd been controlled?"


--27--
<BGM: The Dance of Leaves>
"When I had my audience a while back... Rian whispered something to me... He said 'help me.'
I think he's under Esras' control...
If that's so...then, in a way, she already rules Emain Macha."


--28-- <BGM: The Dance of Leaves>
(Price)
That's...horrifying to contemplate. It makes sense, though...
But that means...this whole time, all these years...it's been Esras using the Lord as a literal puppet ruler...?



--29-- <BGM: The Dance of Leaves>
(Price)
All right... So we how how Esras controls people.
Now we need to know why she's doing it...
I've gotten a hold of some of her old letters, but...
They've been encrypted by some kind of magic spell.

--30-- <BGM: The Dance of Leaves>
(Price)
If the letters were obscured by a magic spell, then there's got to be a way to undo it again.
How about we run this by the local magic instructor?



--31-- <BGM: The Dance of Leaves>
"Lassar? She might know..."

We headed off to the magic school, and found Lassar sorting lecture notes.
Price took what looked like a binder out of his pack and handed it to her.

--32-- <BGM: Kind Lesson>
(Price)
Would you be able to break the spell on this binder?




--33-- <BGM: Kind Lesson>
(Lassar)
These are...letters? Yes, there's an enchantment on it, all right...
It obscures the original text and replaces it with nonsense.
I don't know if I feel right violating someone's privacy like this...


--34-- <BGM: Kind Lesson>
"I hate to impose, Lassar, but it's very important that we be able to read those properly.
The whole kingdom might be at risk. Would you please break the enchantment on that?"



--35-- <BGM: Kind Lesson>
(Lassar)
Meara, are you wrapped up in this too...?
If you're the one asking, I guess...you must have some good reason for it.
All right... I'll do it.
But if anyone asks, I'll deny this happened!

--36-- <BGM: Kind Lesson> {SFX: huge success}
Lassar took a scroll and a vial of powder from the cabinets, traced a figure on the binder with the powder,
then cast what looked like the Enchant spell on the book. The scroll and powder vanished.



--37-- <BGM: Kind Lesson>
(Lassar)
There. I overwrote the enchantment on it with a different one that shouldn't interfere with the text.
By the way...whose letters are these? Is this someone else's collection of love letters...?



--38-- <BGM: Kind Lesson> {SFX: huge faliure}
"Do you think I'd sink to that level?"
Lassar handed the binder back to Price.
"Thank you."


--39-- <BGM: Kind Lesson>
(Price)
For your own safety, Lassar, I'd suggest that you don't tell anyone about this, or what we asked of you.




--40--
We left the school.
As Price read the letters, his expression turned more and more furious with each turn of the page.

I wonder if I've just jumped from the frying pan into the fire...

[chapter end]