When I arrived back in the village a few minutes later, things seemed to have substantially calmed down. A couple of my soldier friends, Thomas and Hollister, ran up to me. Thomas said, "Luka! Did you see anything out there? We're just about to march out and search for that monster!"
"Yeah… Um.. about that..." and turned around to show them my exposed cheek. Thomas stifled a guffaw but Hollister looked grave.
"You encountered her?! Where is she? Are you hurt?" he asked, rapid fire.
"It's okay," I replied. " I drove her off, and no, she didn't hurt me. Although I need to go wash this off quickly because I was told it could be dangerous to leave it on my body too long."
"Really? Who told you that?"
"Ummmm…. You know, that's a funny story and maybe I'll tell you about it but I really do need to go wash. Just let everyone know it's safe now, they can come out of their homes. Later dudes!"
Hollister shook his head and looked at Thomas. "Dudes. What does that even mean? That guy is so weird."
Thomas replied, "He's not from here, what can you do?"
I arrived at my home, quickly removed my clothes, and got into a bath, carefully scrubbing off any remaining slime, as well as the dirt and grime I acquired running and sweating through the forest. I grabbed a towel and exited the bathroom, still nude, and then "AAAHHHH!!! Holy crap!"
The lamia I had encountered in the forest was standing there with that smirk, looking me up and down again.
"Just… just a moment", as I grabbed some clothes and rushed back into the bathroom. I quickly got dressed and came back out. She hadn't moved an inch.
"How long have you been there?" I asked.
"Since you first came home and dropped all your clothes over in that corner. You're really slow, I beat you here."
"Oh", I said, mortified. I really do need to work on that situational awareness. "So um…. How did you know I lived here?"
"By scent," she replied. "Smelling your unsophisticated scent once was all it took."
"All right. More importantly, how did you get into this village undetected? If people had seen you there would have been utter pandemonium."
"It's easy to trick humans" she said. "Just who do you think I am?"
"I have no idea" I replied. "Sooo… I didn't get a chance to ask before. Who are you?"
"You certainly talked enough, you never thought to ask me that in the woods?"
"Sorry", I said. "I was a bit nervous, Worried about perhaps being eaten and all."
"Well, anyway, I'm just a traveling monster."
What kind of answer was that? "Okay, so what brings you to my humble abode?" I asked.
"Well… I was just interested." she replied. "There's also a couple of things I want to confirm."
"Oh, like what?"
"First, did you know that Ilias didn't make it to the baptism today?" she asked.
"There was a baptism?" I said quizzically, then suddenly remembered. "Ohhhh… yeah, Roscoe, he was going to be baptized as a hero today. First baptism in a long time. They tried to get me in on that. So Ilias didn't make it, what a big surprise," I added with exaggerated sarcasm.
"Heh." She said, "I owed her for giving me those wounds. Wait, hold on, why does her failure to appear not surprise you?"
"Why would it?" I replied. "Goddesses aren't rea.- did you just say you owed her? Are you saying you-"
"Food." she interrupted.
I stared at her blankly.
"Get me some food. Make yourself useful."
I stammered, "You know, while I believe in being a good host, there's a nicer way to-" Her eyes flashed again and my brain went zap a fifth time.
"Stop doing that! It is really unpleasant!"
"Make me some food then," she said sweetly, and then murmured to herself, "It may not work as it's supposed to but it still gets results."
I turned to go prepare some food for my guest. I yelled back from the kitchen, "I'm doing this because I always planned to do it, not because you used a Jedi mind trick on me."
"Jedi mind trick? What the hell is a jedi mind trick?" she called back.
"Oh, sorry, you wouldn't know that. It's a thing where people try to trick your mind into doing what they want and making them think it was their idea."
"What's a jedi? They specialize in mind tricks? Are they powerful?" she asked.
"Very. But also entirely fictional." I replied, as I placed a chicken breast on the pan and began to season it.
"So you made it up? Why is that even relevant?"
"It's hard to explain. It's a very interesting, but very short story, and if you actually want to hear it I'll tell you. To summarize, it was a…. story I grew up hearing about."
"If they aren't real, I don't care."
"Fair enough." I replied, turning the breast over.
"Anyway, that was one of the things I wanted to confirm. Why my ability to make humans tell me the truth or do what I want doesn't work properly on you. That was a mystery I couldn't just leave unsolved. It does work, for a second, but then something happens in your brain to cancel it. That's that weird feeling you're getting."
"Yes, it almost feels like my brain is resetting itself."
"it is," she said. "Someone has tampered with your mind."
Well that was alarming. I dropped the chicken on the plate and brought it out to her. After blowing on it to cool it, she took a bite. Her face lit up. "Mmmmm, this is good. The seasoning is perfect."
That was the first genuine look of happiness I'd seen since I met her. I said, "You sound like a food lover. So am I."
"That's one of the reasons I'm traveling, to sample new foods", she said.
"Oh, you're traveling? In case you missed it, I'm traveling too. Going to leave today. Do you want a fork and knife?"
"No, I'm fine eating it with my hands." Actually, she was already done, happily sucking the juices off her fingers. "Very good. The main course won't be necessary."
"Main course? That was the only course I was serving, I don't really have anything else since I was leaving…" that smirk again. Ooohhhh.
Quick to change the subject, I said, "Okay, so you confirmed your mind trick thing, what else did you need to confirm?"
"We're not done with that yet," she said abruptly. "I know that it doesn't work and I have an idea why, but what I don't know is who messed with your head and why. I'm assuming you can't tell me."
"No, definitely not. As a matter of fact, I know very little about myself."
She arched her brows. "Do you have amnesia or something?"
"Not complete. I never lost my name, and I've recovered some memories here and there over the last two years. But yes, most of my life before the last two years is a blank."
"Hmmm…. So someone has put a block on your mind to prevent you from accessing memories they don't want you to have," she mused. "Or, perhaps to keep your mind from`being controlled by anyone else. Or both. That would fit the facts, that your memory is coming back slowly when you access it yourself, but any outside force trying to mess with your mind gets booted out. That's very interesting. And worrisome."
"Do you have any idea who would be powerful enough to do this to me?" I asked.
"Not really" she replied. "The tough part is that this isn't even really powerful magic, just… tricky. And risky to the person it's being done to. You're fortunate that you weren't turned into a vegetable."
"Hmmm.. Well, thank you for that information." I said, truly grateful.
"I also wanted to clear the air on something. I was pretty rude to you about the whole 'let's just get along' thing. Don't get me wrong, I still think it's idiotic, but it's also a good thing. It's especially good that you aren't just being ridiculously naïve about it and thinking you're going to run around and change the world with the force of lollipops and rainbows. You said you wanted to travel, to learn about what's going on. I respect that."
Well that was different. Two compliments one after the other!
"In fact, I'm a little interested in you," she said.
"Really?"
"That's right. You're interesting. Besides, I want to see what you do with the information you find out. I want to see if you can hold onto that belief that monsters and humans can get along."
"Well, I have a confession to make." I replied. "That's not the main reason I'm going on this journey. Don't get me wrong, I really want to learn, and to help people, but the main reason I'm doing this is to find answers. I'm hoping I can find out where I came from. And also, to see if there's a purpose to me being here. Maybe that purpose is to bring humans and monsters together."
She shook her head. "I can see why you'd want to travel to jog your memory. It's a good idea. Bringing peace to the world is still idiotic though. You are such an optimist. This should be fun."
"What should be fun? You haven't said it directly, but I'm getting the distinct impression you want to come with me."
"I do. And I will. I'm not really giving you a choice here." She said.
"Well, I'll have you know that I'm absolutely delighted that you are traveling with me! What better way to learn, but also to help the cause, than for a human and a monster to travel together! With your superior knowledge of this world you'll help my own learning immensely. And being such an obviously powerful monster I'll be so much safer traveling with you, and-"
"Whoa now", she said. "You assume much. First, I don't have superior knowledge of the world. I know as much about humans as you know about monsters."
"Okay" I replied, "But that's still wonderful, because we can help each other. You're strong where I'm weak and vice versa."
"And more importantly", she continued. "I'm not your protector, I'm not your ally, I'm not your friend. If you get into a fight with a monster, you're on your own."
I thought about that for a few seconds and then nodded. "All right, I'm glad I know where we stand then. We're traveling together, I'm going to feed you, and you're going to contribute… your stunning personality."
"Precisely," she said, smiling sweetly. "I was going to travel around the world anyway, you should be honored that I've decided to do so with you."
I stifled another retort, because I actually was pleased despite it all. I mentioned before that I'm a loner, but that doesn't mean I'm hostile to people, far from it. This lamia seemed very interesting, someone whom it would be enriching to have around even if her personality was indeed all she was contributing to the journey. And she was quite easy on the eyes as well. If Roscoe had wanted to come with me and do his hero thing I would have politely brushed him off. But a beautiful lamia! That was interesting company!
I realized I'd still not gotten an answer to a very important question. "You still haven't told me your name." I said.
"Alipheese Fateburn. But I'll allow you to call me Alice."
"Alice? That's a nice name. I would have expected something more intimidating, although I guess your proper name fits that bill."
"Do you want me to strangle you?" she said, her tail moving around in a rather threatening manner.
"Sorry, sorry, I talk too much sometimes, especially when I'm nervous or excited. So," I said, clapping my hands together. "are you ready to depart? Will you, uh… be able to leave as undetected as you came in?"
"Of course. I don't want a commotion anymore than you do, it would give me a headache. I'll meet you outside the village. I know you'll want to say some final goodbyes but be quick about it, my time is valuable."
Okay then. She's an imperious one. Must be a pretty high ranking monster to behave that way. She turned to head out the back door.
"I almost forgot, one last thing," she said. "You mentioned before that you didn't think goddesses were real. So you 're not a believer in the Ilias cult?"
"No, I'm not. I mean, I don't have a problem with it, they are very nice folks, I just can't get past the fact I've never seen this goddess or the fact that she preaches conflict between humans and monsters."
She smiled. "I'm liking you better and better." And went out the back door. I went out the front.