"What do you think is causing this?" Kim asked, not completely certain that the issue was as simple as it appeared.
"The armor is enchanted," Elmo replied. "It pretty much allows whoever enchanted it to control whoever is wearing it."
"Then why did it take so long before that person started to control them?" Kim asked. "When we got back to camp after talking with Aquis, the army had already divided up the armor and most of them had at least a piece of armor, if not a full set."
"For the enchantment to activate, the enchanter had to be so close to them. Then once they activated just one if them, they could use that individual to cover the distance requirements," Elmo explained.
"Why do you think it's a person that did this?" Jonas asked.
"Why?" Kim asked, feeling like this wasn't the time to deal with such trivial matters of what words she chose to use or if she thought it was a person or not. "Who else could it be?"
Jonas nodded, like he shared the same thoughts. "Tell me, would you consider Aquis a 'person?'"
Kim felt like she'd been punched in the gut. Her breathing stopped for a minute, and she couldn't be sure if that was just her perception or if she really had stopped breathing for that long. As when she did start breathing again, she felt like her body had gotten a little short on oxygen from that.
"You think that Aquis is the enchanter?" Kim asked, feeling like this was a possibility that she should have considered already.
"I think it's likely," Jonas answered. "It also would explain why the orcs were here with Aquis as well. Not only that, but your army has more numbers than the orcs, so it isn't surprising that Aquis would rather trade the orcs for your army." Jonas paused for a moment before continuing. "Plus, I think he had in mind to try to get us as well. Even though I doubt he realized it at the time he sent the orcs to attack us."
"How would he have anticipated they'd be able to defeat the orcs so easily?" Kim asked, feeling like there was something missing from Jonas' logic.
Jonas shrugged. "Maybe he already knew. Maybe he'd already somehow become aware we were with them. We can't be sure right now. Plus, he also may have planned on sending the orcs down and letting them get slaughtered. As in not fighting back much, if at all."
Kim felt a headache coming on. "Yeah, I keep thinking that even under any sort of mind control that they'd still fight in their own defense.."
"Whatever the reasons and whoever is behind this, we should decide what we should do," Elmo said, surprising Kim.
She'd thought that Elmo had been pretty much smart but brainless. Like he was used to living life through other people rather than getting out and being in the world himself. Much like the friends she used to have who spent all their time on social media rather than focusing on their schoolwork.
"If we're going to decide that, we should bring him with us," Jonas said, indicating the man that had been unconscious on the ground when Kim had arrived.
"Why?" Kim asked, feeling like the man would be an unnecessary burden. "Won't he try to continue on with what he'd been trying to do when you knocked him out?"
"Not since we removed the breastplate he was wearing," Jonas replied. "When he comes to, he should be back to how he was before he went under that enchantment."
Kim sighed. Things were a lot simpler when it was just the four of them, including Elin. Ever since they'd arrived in the city and gotten involved with the young men that Jonas had saved, she felt like everything about this world had started to become more annoying and get on her nerves.
"Fine," she said, relenting. "You can carry him if you really want him to join us. If You're that invested in him joining us at least."
"Let's then go to where you said you left Elin. She can heal him and then we can figure out what we should do," Elmo said as Jonas picked the man up.
They travelled carefully and Kim was a little amused with how Jonas carried the man over his shoulder, like when Jonas had carried Elmo in the past. Kim was aware that Elmo hadn't been happy about it and could only imagine what he thought about this situation.
Despite her amusement, she moved carefully among the tents, hoping to avoid drawing any attention from those who were under the control of their mysterious enemy. As Kim didn't want to have to deal with anyone else at the moment that wasn't themselves.
Fortunately, the tent Kim had left Elin in wasn't that far away and they were able to slip in the tent without any real trouble. Although, Kim hoped that those under the magical control wouldn't start checking tents any time soon. As that could complicate things a little more than they were at the moment.
Elin hadn't been happy when Kim had forced her to remain in the tent, but it wasn't like she didn't understand what was going on when Kim had had to fight off some of the people in the army that had been following them around. Including the guy who had been working with Elin to improved the 'stuffed buns' dish that Elin was trying to get made as a regular dinner item.
"So, why did you want to bring him?" Kim asked as Jonas set the man he'd been carrying down.
"It's simple. He was under the mind control, and since we removed the armor he'd been wearing, then he shouldn't be under the control anymore. As such, he might know something about it that we don't know," Jonas answered.
"Are you sure he's going to remember?" Elmo asked, sounding as skeptical as Kim was herself.
"Not really," Jonas admitted. "I don't know what he'll know. All I can say for sure is that if we don't ask him, we won't know."
"Is there anything I can do?" Elin asked, clearly eager to do anything to be of help.
"Yeah, if you'd heal him maybe he'll wake up and we can figure out what exactly to do that much sooner," Jonas replied before Kim could say anything.
Elin nodded and Kim resisted the urge to tell Elin to stop. While she thought using Elin's magic that way was a waste of Elin's MP, she couldn't deny that Jonas actually had a point. She'd like to know if those under the mind control had any idea of what had happened to them, or if maybe they were aware of a voice or something.
If it helped then it would indeed be worth the MP, even if it was hardly any help. Yet at the same time, Kim didn't really expect them to get anything useful from the ma. Primarily because removing the armor had been so easy. It felt like it should have been harder, if not impossible, to remove the armor if they were going to get anything remotely viable from him once he was awake again.
Naturally, it didn't take long once Elin used her magic on the man for him to wake up. He groaned softly as he opened his eyes and looked around, a clear expression of confusion across his face.
"What happened?" he asked, looking at each of them in turn. "Last I remember I was on my watch. Then there was that loud sound… and then nothing."
When the man finished speaking without being prompted, Kim couldn't help but roll her eyes. She didn't want to say any 'I told you so's so she merely kept quiet. She wanted to know where Jonas would take this. Especially since she was confident that he hadn't given up on getting something out of the man.
Sure enough, Jonas knelt down by the man as he slowly sat up. "You were under an enchantment that was affecting you in the armor you were wearing," he said.
"Why don't I remember that then?" the man asked, looking at Jonas with a concerned expression on his face.
"Because it took control of your mind," Elmo answered. "You were trying to put a helmet on Jonas, which would have allowed him to become under the same enchantment."
"Are you tired?" Jonas asked, looking at Elmo.
"A little," Elmo replied defensively "It's late and that noise woke me up."
"Why did you think he was tired?" Elin asked looking at Jonas.
Kim let out her breath slowly. They were certainly getting off topic here. As they moved on to a completely irrelevant topic.
"Because the words he said didn't make as much sense as he usually does," Jonas explained.
"Regardless of any of that," Kim interrupted, getting annoyed that they were so easily thrown off topic. "Let's get back to the matter at hand." Kim then looked at the man who'd just been healed. "You. Is there anything that you can recall? A voice? A sensation? Or even a thought that wasn't yours?"
The man looked down, his mind clearly thinking and opened his mouth to say something after a few minutes, but then stopped, his eyes brightening. "Yeah, I think there was. I think it was a voice saying something I couldn't understand. Almost like a rumble or growl or something."