The Mimic in Monsterland

The shop door closed with a gentle clunk. I watched the woman walk by the front of the store and wave at Mrs. Warbler with another sickeningly sweet smile. Mrs. Warbler waved. Her back was turned to me so I could see her face.

The strange chill from Lirae’s final gaze turned into irritation. Its uncomfortable heat pricked my whole body. Sure, it was probably some Aura bullshit but it frustrated me to no end that she could affect me so. I snorted slowly as my face twitched. Why am I bothered by her? It feels a bit more than just Aura shenanigans. And I’ve been called much worse by disgruntled students before. I shook my head. Maybe it's just because she is a…

“Vicious Bitch.”

But it wasn’t I that manifested those thoughts into reality. I turned to the speaker from which the unexpected insult came. The elderly shopkeeper turned around with her feathered arms crossed and huffed. I couldn’t help but giggle. She turned to me and gave me an obviously fake snarl. “And what are you so giddy about?” The giggle evolved into a laugh not soon after.

“Mrs. Warbler, how could you say something so distasteful about a highborn lady like her?” I said in between laughs.

Her face held its faux frown while she replied. “Highborn harlot more like.” Then her face betrayed her attempt at being upset and she began to laugh with me.

After a few minutes of elation, the heavy feeling was nearly gone. But for a moment I looked at the older woman’s face when she looked out the window. The smile from just a moment ago disappeared and an expression just as dreary as the weather filled her face. It passed as she walked over to the back room. “Need to clean up back here. Come on child.”

“Sure thing Mrs. Warbler.”

I collected the dishes from the table as Mrs. Warbler walked over to a spigot hidden next to the giant stone stove. So they do have some form of indoor plumbing. It was a surprising yet overall welcome discovery. I didn’t think they’d have that kind of technology but they do have labs and weird magic computers. Wacky world this one.

She filled a small bucket and put it on the counter. I placed the dishes next to it. She started to wash them with cloth but I took it from her and told her to go sit. It was a busy enough morning for the poor woman. I cleaned the plates in relative silence as she sat back down at the table.

While I worked on the last plate, I heard a sniffle. I put the plate back in the bucket and turned to see Mrs. Warbler wiping her face. “Sorry hun, it's nothing.” I sat down at the table with her. She took a deep breath and composed herself.

“Seeing you help like that reminded me of my boy. He would help me clean up ever since he was small. Even after he grew up and became a soldier.” She smiled. “I would get on to him about it all the time. Telling him he would be late for duty or training. But he would always help. At least until he started working for her.”

“Is he…” I stopped myself, it was probably a bit personal to ask. I’d only been staying here a few nights.

“Yes, he’s gone. He died a few months back. He was a part of Lirae’s personal guard. He died…” She paused and took a breath, stopping herself from tearing up. “He died saving her life from a raid boss. He’d just gotten married to Loreli.” She closed her eyes. “He didn’t even know she was expecting.”

A sweeping wave of emotion overtook me. That anger from earlier made sense now. How could the woman not be upset? That green asshole was the reason why her son died and on top of that, she just took away her daughter-in-law as well. I grabbed her hand.

“I’m sorry.”

“Thank you dear.” She wiped her face again. After a few more minutes of silence, she stood up. She fixed her clothing and walked back over to the kitchen. I followed after her but she stopped me. “You’ve done plenty, I’ll be alright. I’d like to be alone for a while.”

I nodded. “No problem.” I walked out and back into the store front, but before going any further, Mrs. Warbler returned with a coat in her hands.

“Here, take this. I don’t know what your plans are for today but if you go out you’ll need a good coat.” I accepted it from her and thanked her. She walked back into her living area.

I looked at the door leading to the basement, and then back at the store’s entrance. I felt that similar frustration from before. I gripped the jacket in my hands. I threw on the coat, a heavy leather jacket that I could tell would keep me plenty dry, and walked out the front door.

——

Fennel sat on the floor of his room, arms in his lap and legs crossed. He breathed in deeply through his nose and then out of his mouth. He felt his Aura flowing around his mind. He was using one of the techniques Daila taught him to help quell Aura imbalance. It was one of the few that worked well for him. His Aura had been out of whack since the night before last. As soon as he walked into that house, the one that led him out of the Gloom.

He opened his eyes. “How many were in there?” He recalled the event.

He stood before the door, the half elf girl knocked and yelled for whoever was inside. The mysterious fear that dominated his senses teased his brain even more. The door opened. Fennel could hardly believe his eyes. The man, or at least that’s what he thought it was, hid behind the door. Fennel’s eyes were drawn to the part of the man’s body that he couldn’t hide. There were no legs below the man’s waist. Only a stubby short tail. The tail was mostly covered by some rags roughly sewn together. The end of the tail was pink and fleshy, like that of the Wormus monsters that he read about. There weren’t many around The Forest. They were more common in The Desert.

His arm naturally moved for the sword that wasn’t on his hip. He shuddered. The Gloom girl, his contact that Len and Jaren had him deliver a scroll to, tapped Fennel’s shoulder. “Let’s go.” She took a step and then stopped. “And no questions.”

Fennel gulped. He walked into the house, grimacing, expecting the fear in his head to increase tenfold. However, it dissipated as soon as he crossed the threshold. “What?” He said under his breath. The worm man slammed the door shut behind Fennel, making Fennel jump. The man slithered by Fennel and into one of the rooms in the hallway of the house, shutting the door behind him.

Candles were the only ornaments that hung on the walls of the hallway. And only a few were even lit, which made for a fairly spooky atmosphere. But the unnatural fear he felt was still gone. This made him question where it came from, was it an ability, like the shade panthers are known for? No, I never got a shaken debuff, or a fear one either. A cough broke him from his thoughts.

His guide coughed at the end of the hallway. Even with the light from the candles, he still couldn't see the girl’s face well, only that she wore a frown. “Where are we?” He asked.

“No questions. Now follow me.” She turned right at the end of the hallway.

Fennel hurried after her, but one of the doors near the end was slightly ajar. He couldn’t help his curiosity and peered through it. Inside was a body lying in a bed, covered mostly. He was about to look away, but he caught a pair of ears staring up at him. A small child walked out of the door. Fennel bent down to get a look at them but recoiled when he saw their face.

It was a little elf girl, but half her face was covered in fur and held a single bright yellow feline eye. The other side of her face was normal and held a blue eye. Waves of strange Aura flowed from the girl and onto him.

“Are you a friend of Griddy?” She asked.

“Wha… you're a mor…” Yet before he could finish his statement, the Gloom girl grabbed his arms and yanked him up. She knelt before the little morph girl.

“He is a client sweetie. Now go back to bed. You don’t want to wake up your daddy, do you?” The girl shook her head and whispered in response.

“No, Daddy worked hard today.”

The half elf ruffled the girl’s hair before she crept back inside and closed the door.

Fennel’s guide turned back to him. “Follow me this time.”

“But she is a morph, and so was the man at the door. What is this place?”

“None of your damn business, now move.” She stood behind Fennel and pushed him forward. Once he started moving on his own, the girl ran up in front of him. They walked through the rest of the poorly lit house. Fennel didn’t know what was going on but he knew for certain he was too tired to process it properly.

They stopped before a staircase. The girl knelt down at the side of the staircase and began to pull wooden boards from it. Fennel looked up the stairs and walked close to them while she worked. He touched the railing. The unnatural fear he felt before the house crashed down on him, almost making him fall down. He let go of the stairs and jumped back. The feeling receded again. He felt it better this time so he could tell that it was definitely Aura manipulation that caused it. The terror-filled Aura had pierced his mind much better that time. He was sure he’d be a weeping mess on the ground if he didn’t have Daila’s training.

“What the hell is this place?”

“Shut up. Let’s go.” The girl spoke from underneath the stairs. He walked over and saw that she was sitting in front of a small dark hole. One that Fennel very much did not want to crawl through. But he had a feeling that was the plan.

“Through here” She gestured at the hole. ” It leads to the Western Residential District.”

“Damn it.” He said under his breath. But truthfully, he was more than happy to get out of there.

Fennel stretched his arms, once he was done with the exercise. He shook his head. “That Aura was incredible.” He had to admit, whoever was up those stairs was a master of Aura manipulation, even if it rocked his balance. That and the wild aura spiking from the other morphs in that house.

As he stretched and thought, his left arm, the shield bearing one, locked up a bit. He got up and twisted it, trying to relieve some of the tightness in it. It was still a bit sore from the raid and the added stress from the invasion yesterday didn’t help. He didn’t take any damage from the monsters yesterday. He was getting tired of blocking the tusxic charges though. His back was slightly sore as well, but that wasn’t from the battle.

“Blasted old men. Throwing me from the wall like that.” Fennel lay down on the floor. He sighed and then got up.

He looked out this window and saw the downpour. He grabbed his raincoat and made his way to the door. He wanted to do some more training. Gloria ordered him not to. Especially after a battle, but he felt anxious today. He knew it would earn him her wrath if she found out, not that he ever minded her ire. He actually looked forward to it in a weird way.

He sighed again. “But there is one place I can train without her knowing.” He nodded and walked out the door.