Two days later, after the confrontation in the alley, Shini finally woke up. She notices that she is no longer in the alley, having been relocated to a dimly lit room made of some kind of purple brick. Initially a bit disoriented with her new surroundings, and maybe just a bit disoriented in general from her head injury, Shini scoots back into a far corner. She clings tightly to her sword, and stares blankly at a doorway in front of her. The beggar from earlier walks in, and stops in the doorway, "Oh... hello, then," he turns on the lights. Shini Shields her eyes from the sudden change, "You know, you don't smell so good. You should take a bath."
"A bath?"
"Yeah, a bath. You know what that is, right?" Shini nods, "Alright. It's in that room over there," he points to a doorway to the left Shini. She clambers up, using her sword to balance, and starts shuffling through the doorway.
"You can leave your sword. It's probably pretty heavy." Shini decides to just keep moving. It would be too much of a waste of energy to describe why she couldn't leave it. A few minutes later, Shini shuffles back into the original room, "Did you get lost?" The beggar asks. Shini nods. And so the beggar leads her down the hall, and to the left once, then to the right, then left again, "I suppose I should have given you more directions," he scratches the back of his head, "Are you good from here?" Shini hesitates. She deliberates for a moment, and just nods. "Are you sure?" She nods after another hesitation, "Maybe I'll just wait out here if you need any help," Shini nods again, more lively this time. She steps into the room, and the beggar shuts the door behind her. Initially, she is overwhelmed by the diverse faculties in the bathroom. The sink, bathtub, the mirror especially gave her a fright. And what's this little white thing? This brush? What's that for? She had taken showers before, so she had heard of baths. But taking one was a whole new thing. She saw a strange green object in the same shape of soap. Or maybe it was soap, but soap isn't green, it's white. She pondered the potential soap for a second, and decided it must've been some sort of food to eat while you bathe. She had heard of people doing this with fruits sometimes, so she thought that this weird old man who had taken her to his home just did that. She would pass on eating it, because it wasn't hers, and it looked far too clean. There must've been some kind of poison in it. Shini's fear of pristine foods comes from her younger days on the streets. A day or two after eating a perfect pear she had found in the trash, she came down with a nasty stomach illness. Now, in between the eating of the pear and the illness, she had eaten several other things: bugs, random mushrooms and plants, dirt, and the like. But she didn't really remember any of that. What stuck out to her was that perfect, vibrant green pear. It was soft, but not too soft, and firm, but not too firm. But it was also found in the garbage. If it were so perfect, why would it be there in the first place? What Shini doesn't know, was that it was actually a peach that she ate. A peach that was so malformed that it looked like a pear. And so Shini surmised that it was the "pear" that did her in, and swore off all good looking foods found in the garbage.
Back to the scene at hand, Shini somehow had the "food" in her hand. She gives the bar a squeeze upon realizing it was there. It slips out of her hand, and, in a panic to not drop it and dirty the man's food, she stumbles forward to grab it. It slips again, and so she steps to grab it once more. As she steps forward, she expects to land on flat ground, as you usually do. However, her foot collided with the bathtub, causing her to lose balance. Her legs kick back as she lunges forward involuntarily, and, expectedly, she held the sword with her the entire way. As she fell, it clashed into several of the bathroom appliances on the way down.
"What happened?" The beggar asks from outside.
"I fell," Shini responds quietly.
"Are you decent?"
Shini nods, before realizing he can't see her, "yes."
The beggar slowly and gently opens the door to observe the scene. The faucet for the bathtub is on the floor next to the sink- definitely not where it's supposed to be- and water is spraying out of the pipes onto Shini. She's twisted up in her cloak, trapped in the bathtub. The sword is lodged three feet up the wall, and her hand is still firmly gripped around the handle.
"We can skip the bath for now," the beggar decides. Shini tries to nod, but her position in the bathtub make it hard for it to be identified as such. Before Shini can realize what's happened, the room is fixed, and she and the beggar are standing outside.
"Do you want some new clothes? You're awfully soaked."
Shini feels confused. But, on top of that, she feels confused about her confusion. She decides to ignore her feelings, "no thank you."
"To be honest, I would much prefer if you did. Mold and mildew smell are the bane of my existence, especially in this massive place."
"I like my clothes. can I just air dry?"
The beggar squints at her.
"sorry."
"You are forgiven," the beggar waves his hand, and a white bathrobe appears, "This will have to do for now. Please change, and meet me outside."
He steps out of the room, and Shini is given privacy to change.
She stumbles out in the bathrobe, holding her sopping cloak. She holds it up in front of the beggar.
"You want me to take it?"
"just asking what i should do with it."
"I'll take it for now then. It should be ready by the time we're done."
Shini has some questions, but she just nods instead. Shini has learned that questions often get answered along the course of conversation. She figures that she will be talking to the beggar for at least a while, so there will be plenty of time for him to answer her questions on his own.
"Are you hungry?" Shini doesn't answer, "Well then we'll have some food. We can talk more when we eat."
And so they arrive at an area in the lair that has food. Normally, that would be the kitchen. However, most of the winding corridors lead to rooms similar to the one Shini awoke in. Square rooms with square floors and walls, all made of purple brick. Each had one medium sized cabinet in the left corner. No matter which direction she faced, the cabinet always started out on her left when she entered. It was kind of disorienting. Confusing. Shini felt as though she was going through the same room each time, yet the beggar effortlessly guides her through the maze. Never making a mistake, never doubling back. A table shoots up in one of the rooms, causing Shini to jump back. The beggar leans over the cabinet on the left, and shuffles around for a second.
"Have you ever had cereal?" He asks. Shini shakes her head, "Of course you haven't, I invented it!" He fetches a tall, rectangular box made of wood, a clear glass bowl, and a spoon, "It's made of leaves and grains. Healthy, AND delicious! Not one or the other."
He opens the heavy flap of the box, and pours some into the bowl. A glass of milk appears from a compartment under the table, and he pours it in. He places the spoon inside, and slides the bowl towards Shini. A stool shoots up from the ground near the table.
From Shini's knowledge of plants and herbs, there could be several kinds of poison in this "cereal". She stands, staring at the cereal, motionless. Elidon stares back, not understanding what was happening.
"Can you please eat? It's made from leaves and grains. It's safe."
Leaves and grains? Shini thought he said roots and berries. Well, leaves and grains ARE usually pretty safe. She sits, and eats a few spoonfuls. She wipes her mouth, "Is this the right way to hold it?" She asks about the spoon, "This is a spoon, right?"
"You would be correct," the beggar puts a finger up, "Why would you think you're holding it wrong?"
"Only read about them. Never used one before," she continues to eat.
"You've just used your hands until now?" She nods while shoveling cereal into her mouth, "How strange..."
"Is it? Most of my meals are from the garbage."
"Why is that?"
"Don't have a home. Homeless, some people call it."
"I guess I should have assumed that."
"It's the dirt, right? Don't know how to get rid of it."
"That's what the bath is for."
"Right. No baths out in the streets, though.
Could use the sewer," she laughs.
"Were you always homeless?"
"If memory serves, around four years old."
"So how do you know all this? Like what a spoon is, what a bath is."
"Read about it, probably," she eats some more.
The beggar tilts his head. A stool pops up on his side, and he sits down, "You read about it? Where?"
"A book, probably."
The beggar is fascinated, "Where'd you get a book?" He'd never heard of a homeless person actively reading before.
"The library's free. If you behave, the staff leaves you alone."
"How interesting. People have never had a problem with you being there?"
"Not for being homeless. Mostly just if they don't like fiendlings. Those kinds of people are usually not in the library."
The beggar laughs, "There's a moral in that, you know."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that you didn't encounter a lot of discrimination in the library. The place for nurturing and sharing knowledge. The people who spend time in the library are stronger in character because they're more educated."
"Why'd you have to awake a speech out of it? What's so good about reading anyway?"
"Well, it made you smarter. I bet you learned."
"I didn't learn how to not have crippling debt," the beggar doesn't have an answer to that, "I can't use most of the knowledge I gained. I can't say any of the big words I know unless I'm not hungry, which isn't very often. And it's not like I have anybody to talk to, so what's the point of even knowing the words in the first place?" She sighs, capping her exasperation, "Sorry, shouldn't say 'I' so much."
The beggar's glad to be able to change the subject, "Why not?"
She shrugs, "Don't like the word, never did any good. Got me beat up a bunch."
"Saying a word got you beat up?"
"No, you're looking at it too literally," she scoops the rest of the cereal into her mouth, "It wasn't very good."
"What? But you ate it all!"
"Hungry. It got stuck in my teeth and tasted like ferns."
"It's made of leaves AND grains! No ferns!!" He rubs his forehead, "Sorry... I tend to get very passionate about certain things."
"Don't worry about it. Why were you begging earlier?"
"Am I not allowed to?" He feigns being offended.
"It just seems like you don't need to is all."
"Well you would be right. You can see that I don't need the money," he leans forward, "So why do you think I was begging?" Shini shrugs, "Guess."
She thinks for a moment, "You were trying to scam people?" He shakes his head, "Not really sure then."
"I was testing people. Or rather, testing their character."
"By seeing if they would give you money?" The beggar nods, "Garbage pot doesn't pay out too much. For some people, that's food for the week."
"Exactly!" The beggar sticks a finger up, "It's a bigger sacrifice because it means more to them."
"Why does that matter?"
"If they're willing to give up something very important to help someone in need, they are strong in character."
"And you're willing to risk starving them for that?"
"Well I would have given them something in return. Something greater in value than their contribution."
"It better not have been something like advice. Or love."
The beggar laughs, "Like I said, I wasn't there to scam people."
"So then you wouldn't give a gift to someone who didn't give you money?"
He raises his eyebrow, "Are you asking if I'll give you a gift?" Shini nods, "For someone so perceptive, I thought you would have figured it out."
"I'm not perceptive," Shini adds quickly.
"Wrong. And if you were thinking I wouldn't give you a gift, wrong again," a pedestal pops up in the middle of the table. A silver amulet with a shiny brown jewel.
She stares at the amulet for a good 10 seconds. "What is it?" She asks.
"A gift," the beggar giggles, "try it on," he gestures to the amulet.
She grabs it by the chain, and makes sure she's seeing everything all right. "Where did you get this?" She asks.
"It's something of a family heirloom. Why?"
She shrugs, "What does it do? Is it just jewelry?"
The pedestal and the beggar's seat retract. He grabs hold of a cane that seemingly appeared from nowhere. Shini doesn't comment on that, "I don't know what it does," he responds, "You might not for a while either. You'll just have to put it on and wait." She looks it over again as the beggar starts to walk away, "Come now. Let's get you home."
Shini slips the necklace on, "Where is home?"
"What a deep, profound question!" He chuckles, "You don't have a home?"
"Homeless."
"Then you can stay here to sleep and eat," Shini catches up with the beggar, and walks beside him, "I don't much care what you do during the day, but make sure you're back here by," he looks at his wrist, "We'll say ten o'timey."
"Ten o'timey?"
"Yes, yes, oh yes," he nods. He pulls out a small, gold circular object with a chain of the same color, "I call this 'Elidon's Timey Wimey handheld time display,' or, 'The Timey,' for short."
Shini scratches her head, "What?"
"Sorry, I get really passionate about my inventions."
"No, no, that's fine. What does it do?" She elaborates.
"Oh!" The beggar tilts his head back, "It gives the time at any point in a day. The long pointy points to the first number or two, the short pointy points to the second number or two."
Shini doesn't understand. She nods as the beggar rambles on while they walk.
"Oh and-" they somehow exit the lair, "I call the first two numbers 'timebies' and the second two numbers 'wimebies'. Hence the timey wimey."
"Sure, makes sense," Shini lies, "Where are we?"
"Oh, well, we're," he looks around, "Uhh... I'm not so sure," they can hear slight chanting in the distance. Shini starts off towards it.
"Now hold on," the beggar follows behind her, "I don't think it's smart to move towards chanting."
Shini marches on, "Why's that?"
"Well... there's a cult that practices in this area..."
"Cults are no good."
"Exactly. We need to turn back to safety," he turns, expecting Shini to follow suit. She doesn't. The beggar notices and shuffles quickly to catch up with her, "So you didn't mean 'no good' in the sense that they're trouble for you?" She nods. But she's confused by the phrasing of the question, so she shakes her head as well, "Oh dear."
The chanting grows louder as Shini and the old man walk towards an open door: "Rend the flesh! Tear the bone!" They can make out from a distance.
"Don't they sound quite sinister?" The beggar asks.
"They're using the wrong words. Who tears a bone?"
"Well... I suppose you have a point. What does that have to do with anything though?"
"It means that they don't know what they're doing," they reach the doorway, and step inside.
In the large, dimly lit room, about ten shirtless men crowd around a pole. Tied to the pole is Ghizh, the gladiator Shini fought two days earlier. After they enter, the chanting stops, and the other men stare directly at the new visitors.
Shini turns to the beggar, "You said this was a cult..."
The beggar sighs, "Yes," one of the shirtless men tries to say that it's not a cult. "It is," the beggar continues.
"Why's it so small then?"
The beggar looks around. The cultists shuffle around in place, "It's not THAT small."
"It looks more like a small gathering." Shini adds, uncaring of the psychological anguish she causes the cultists.
"It's a fine size for a cult. Besides, it was a lot bigger the last time I was here."
"No thanks to you, Elidon," one of the cultists shout. The others mumble in agreement.
"Then your name is Elidon?" Shini asks the beggar.
"That would seem to be true. And your name is Shini," she nods, "I'm sure you have a lot of questions, but we should handle this first."
Shini didn't really have any questions. She could see how there could be questions, but she didn't really care to ask them. She did think it was a little interesting how Elidon knew her name.
She was more interested in something regarding the cult, however: "Is this a sex thing?" She asks the cultists.
Some of the cultists glance at each other. One of them walks up to Shini, and glances towards Elidon. He leans in, "That depends on who's asking," he whispers covertly.
"What did he say?" Elidon asks. Shini nods, "Sexual acts occur within this cult?"
"Well that depends on who's asking," the same cultist explains.
Elidon rubs his brow, "You told me the first time that there weren't."
"Yeah, because we thought you were a cop."
"So why are you telling me now?"
"I didn't," the cultists shrugs, "There isn't any sex stuff in this cult. But there might be, depending on who's asking."
The room is quiet for a second, Elidon stares at the man in disbelief, "Just... get out."
"What? Why?"
"For what I needed, you had to have pure, virgin blood. This won't do."
The cultist looks around, "We're not leaving."
"Please just leave. For me?" Elidon asks this time.
A variety of no's come from the crowd of cultists. Elidon decides that that was enough of an effort for peace, and pulls out a purple handkerchief covered in sparkling stuff, and asks the cultists if they're sure. "If you don't leave, then we'll have to fight."
The cultists deliberate, and decide that yes, they're willing to fight, and Elidon asks if they're reeeeally sure if they want to fight.
Shini is familiar with these types of questions, and how tricky they can be. The question in question could have two particular meanings: either "Are you reeeeally sure you want to fight? Because I don't," or, "Are you reeeeally sure you want to fight? Because I don't." Shini knows that people who ask questions like these are either cowards or people strong enough that they don't much like to use their strength. She's curious to see which group this hunchbacked, gray, crumbling old man is a part of.
And so she's even more intrigued when Elidon asks them if they are reeeeally reeeeally sure. What was his angle? His deal? Was he just messing with them? Could he hurry it up? Shini had to get to the mine eventually.
"Sure we do," one of the cultists answers, undoubtedly acknowledging Shini's busy schedule.
"Are you reeeeally..." now Shini thinks that the only reason for this is comedic effect, one way or the other. Nobody could ask that so many times and still be serious. The cultists decide that, after the fourth time, actions speak louder than words. They have made it more than clear that they were reeeeally sure, and even that they were reeeeally reeeeally sure that they were ready. They rush towards Elidon at the same time. A few of them are waving their blades or clubs in a futile attempt to be intimidating. The others, with no weapons, are just charging forward while screaming. Shini stands completely still, wondering if she was reeeeally sure if she still had to be there. Her bored gaze switched from the cultists to Elidon. He brought the handkerchief to his nose, and blew. A flurry of purple energy- or lightning, or whatever the hell it was- flew from Elidon's nose, knocking the light from the cultists' eyes. They shot back to the far wall, and slumped together in one big pile.
"Don't worry," Elidon looked at Shini over his shoulder as he flapped the handkerchief. Shini already knew that she was not worried about whatever elidon was going to say, "they're not dead." Shini was right. She didn't, and had never cared, "We should help this one over here," Elidon points to Ghizh.
"Why's that?"
"It's better than leaving him here, hm?"
"He doesn't like me."
"Why's that?"
"He lost our fight... pretty badly."
Elidon ponders on her statement as he cuts the rope tying Ghizh to the pole. He falls to the ground, but Elidon, in the middle of pondering, doesn't notice, "I don't see why he'd dislike you."
"I'm not well liked in general. You weren't going to catch him?"
"I thought you would."
Shini was a good 15 feet from where Ghizh fell, "From over here?"
"Well, I thought you'd swoop in all hero-like, you know? Strong moral compass, savior complex? That kind of thing."
"What gave you that idea?"
Elidon hoists the incapacitated elf up, "You give off that sort of aura. You remind me of a character in a story I read once."
Shini didn't know what he was talking about as far as auras went. She could safely assume that it was some sort of wizard thing that she never would be able to understand. She glanced down, "I have to go," she claimed as she spun on her heel towards the door.
"And why is that?" Elidon countered, dropping Ghizh in favor of putting his hands on his hips for effect.
"It's ten o'timey," Shini said as she held up her wrist, displaying the 'Elidon's Timey Wimey handheld time display,' she had been so graciously gifted earlier, "I think it's ten o'timey at least."
Elidon shuffles over to Shini, checks her Timey, then checks his own. He scratches his head in confusion, then makes a portal in the wall and walks through it. He pops back a second later, "It's only first 10."
Shini pretends to understand. She nods, "Right."
"There are two of each time," he walks over to Ghizh on the ground, "one is day, one is night. If it's bright, then it's first time. Except for numbers before six or seven. Then, when it's dark, it's first time."
Shini nods, forgetting immediately what she was just told. Elidon hops back through the portal with Ghizh on his back.
Shini shifts her weight around for a second as she waits alone. She glances around the room, noticing all of the chains and similar devices tucked in the far corner. She's not sure which instruments are for horny, which are for torture, and which are for horny torture.
"Sorry I'm late," she hears a snap from behind her. A man saunters in through the doorway wearing a tight thong and a bathrobe. Of course, Shini can't tell that the man is wearing a thong. That one is for the readers. Shini, with no knowledge of the thong, assumes that the snap was from his fingers, "but it looks like the ORGY proceeded just fine without me," he tosses his bathrobe to the side, and it catches on Shini's sword. He stops, and finger guns at Shini, "New guy? Well what are you waiting for? Why're you still in uniform?"
Shini looks over at the pile of incapacitated cultists, "Are you sure the orgy's happening right now?"
"Well it looks like it."
"Do you know what time the orgy is at?"
"Time? I don't know, when the sun is up or something."
Elidon hops back through the portal, "So for a number like ten, when the sun is up, then it's first time."
"So you said the sun was up?" The thonged cultist throws his arms up joyfully, "That means it's time to grease it all down!"
"Yes the sun is- what are- who are you?" Elidon points at the cultist, "What do you think you're doing?"
Interpreting Elidon's confusion as anger, the cultist gapes at Elidon (with his mouth), "What am I. Doing here? What am IIIIII doing here?! I am here, in MY cult headquarters, getting ready for OUR bi-daily orgy. What are YOU doing here?" He, still wearing nothing but a thong, sticks his finger in Elidon's face.
"Well I didn't realize it was so easy for an entire cult to lie! You were the one who told me that there was no intercourse in this cult."
"Because I thought you were a cop!"
Shini notices Elidon reaching for his pocket, and steps forward. "Here," her monotone voice contrasts causes a tremor in the heated argument. Both of them turn to Shini, and notice that she's holding out her Timey, "I'm not that smart, so I don't really get it... so you can have it."
"Why?" Elidon and the cultist ask at the same time, with differing tones. Elidon asks out of utter curiosity, and the cultist asks out of pure confusion.
"So you're not late for your orgies anymore," she pushes it out towards the cultist once more. He takes it, and nods politely to Shini. The sort of nod when someone gives you a gift you don't need, but you don't want to hurt their feelings.
"Thank you so much," the cultist said, but did not mean, "this'll be very useful," he lied through his teeth, "How does it work?"
"Well it's," Shini strains her eyes at the device, "so you," she scratches her head, "I think it- well I know it tells time," she gives a pained expression to Elidon, "a hand?"
Elidon stares back with an odd expression, filled with a mixture of contempt and bewildered amazement towards what just happened.
In Shini's eyes, it just looks like he's thinking very hard, "Fine, I'll help," he shuffles over to the cultist, and starts directing him on how to use the Timey. Shini had no idea why Elidon is helping. She was just confirming whether there was something called 'a hand' on the Timey. But now, as she thought more about it, it became clear how her question could have been misconstrued. Elidon thought that she was asking for a hand, when she was really just asking about the logistics of the Timey itself. What a funny misunderstanding.
"And so that's all you need to know," Shini snaps back to attention as Elidon finishes his instruction, "Questions?"
"Yeah, so-" as the cultist begins talking again, Shini zones out. She looks around for a while as Elidon patiently walks the man through a few mock scenarios to get a feel for the Timey. As he started to go through a few more mock scenarios, Shini focused harder on not paying attention. Her mind and person began to wander. She walked around the dim, dank room, giving stories to all the little blemishes and mysterious stains scattered around.
It was really only one room, so she didn't have much physical exploring to do. However, near the entrance, Shini stumbled upon some sort of secret door that popped out from the wall as she walked by. Intrigued by secrets, specifically relating to doorways and paths, Shini slid her hand in the opening, and slowly pulled the creaking door open. She took a careful, quiet step, as to not disturb the dust that should have been inhabiting the room. But there was no dust, so Shini's worries were irrational in hindsight. As she cleared the door, she took notice of a silky, glittering piece of fabric sitting atop an ornate pedestal in the center of the room. She inched forward, and searched the room for more emptiness. She couldn't even find a single spiderweb. Shini marveled at the sheer amount of nothingness contained in the speck of a room.
In it's own little world. It's own space to exist where spiders and everything else did not.
The fabric beckons her forward, which scares her. Her inching slows to a centimetering, and eventually to a stop. Shini has found that voices in her head calling her to do something are generally malicious, so she stopped having voices in her head. That's why it's all the more strange that she is being called forth.
"Shini," a voice calls out, "Shini- oh," she whips around to the voice, and points her sword forward. It's Elidon, watching from the doorway, "Still a bit guarded, Eh?" He steps forward as he analyzes the fabric. He stops by Shini, who turns to look at the fabric along with him.
They stand still for a while, Elidon in deep thought, and Shini pretending to be thinking. "It's a cloak," Elidon breaks the silence, "or a mantle, or a robe. Maybe a shawl, or a cowl. Or a... well I'm not sure. It's clothes," he scratches his cheek.
"What's so special about it?"
"Well I never said it was special."
"Right... but," Shini centimeters a bit closer, "there's something special about it. What is it?"
Elidon looks at it for a little while longer. He tilts his head to see if he can see a little deeper into the fabric, to see if he can figure out what makes it seem so special to Shini. If he reacted to it in any way, Shini did not see it. "Take it," he suggests. Shini looks at him with confusion, "I said you should take it."
"Why? What if it's someone else's?"
"Something so special would mean that the owner would want to take care of it," Elidon looks around the room once more, "It wouldn't appear that they care for it that much."
"Why not? There's no dust anywhere."
Dust comes mainly from dead human skin and other microscopic debris carried by wind, Shini thought to herself. So the lack of dust would imply more that the chamber had never been opened. But she felt like her argument would stand against Elidon.
"Dust is mostly human skin," Shini cursed the gods in her mind, "So there being no dust implies that there has been relatively little contact with this and the outside world. Or maybe none at all."
Birds, books, pond, fur, mountain, apple, horses, axe, birds, Shini thought to herself, since Elidon must have been reading her mind.
"You should take it."
"No," she snapped to attention.
"Why not?"
"Because I shouldn't."
Elidon grabs it off the pedestal. Shini gasps silently, "It's mine now, isn't it."
"I... don't know," she responds honestly.
"Woah," the cultist enters the room, "What is this place?"
"You've never seen this?" Elidon asks while still looking at Shini.
"No. Never. Not once since we moved in."
"And when was that?" Elidon asks, rubbing it in even more.
"6 years ago."
Shini searches for a reason that she shouldn't take it.
Elidon holds it up to her. She looks at it, but doesn't reach out for it. Elidon raises a hand to it, and a small flame emerges from the tip of his finger.
She snatches it from his grasp before the flame can meet it, "What are you doing?!" She asks, infuriated.
"Just giving it to you," Elidon smirks, "after all, you have it now."
"Take it back."
"I can't. It's yours."
"Take it back."
"That would be rude."
She lifts her sword above her head. Her eyes glow a deep red, and her body fills up the room. The cultist dashes away, "Take it back."
"Not when you look all angry like that."
She grips the sword tightly. It clinks as she fills out past the room itself, "Take it back."
"No."
Shini brings the sword down, cutting through the space between the air as she puts her entire weight into her attack. A thunderstorm rages out through the room as the blade approaches Elidon.
Shini is in the wall.
She doesn't know how she ended up there. There was no sound, no indication of her moving position, or any changes at all in the world around her, except for that she was now located in a roughly Shini sized hole, 5 feet to the right of her initial location. She still clutches tightly to the fabric.
"I can't take it from you, Shini." She's out of the hole now, back where she was. The hole is gone, "It's yours."
She looks at the fabric. It's something that covers the shoulders and chest and has a hood. Shini doesn't know what it's called, but was sure it was one of the things elidon had mentioned.
"It's... no it's not."
The cultist rushes back, "What was-" he pauses, surprised at the lack of damage, "What happened?"
"Nothing," Shini mutters.
"Well, good," the cultist scans the room once more, "I would have been rather cross if there were damage to this room."
Elidon tilts his head and cracks a little smile, "I wonder why that is..."
"Well it's because I would have had to pay for it," the cultist answers, thinking Elidon was talking to him, "And, it would have been a waste of this cool new room."
"Oh, so that's why. Because it would be a waste?" Elidon replies, while still looking at Shini. He turns around, and starts walking out, "So that's why, huh?"
"Uh, yeah. Duh. Would you listen to me?"
Elidon pauses in the doorway.
"You're right. It'd be a waste to lose it." He walks out of the room.
Shini follows behind.