[Mkguild] The Illusive Chain: Ignorance (3/?)

[Azariah Wolf]

-LurkingWolf

---

When the party arrived at the door, Julian was still standing before it 
dutifully, and he nodded when he saw Lucy approaching.He seemed 
surprised that she had brought both Balrog and Alex with her, but he 
nodded at her brief explanation.He offered to remain outside while they 
spoke with the amnesiac ermine, since the two of them had only met at 
the very beginning of the patrol.Lucy agreed, and then slipped into the 
room before the others.She returned shortly thereafter and beckoned to 
the others before disappearing inside the small cell once again.

The three others stepped in behind her.While the room was small, it was 
large enough to fit a bed in the far corner, and that gave them just 
enough room to fit four people in the floor space without being too 
cramped.The ermine stood to meet them as they entered, the spare robe he 
wore making him look more like a scholar than a warrior.He looked at 
everyone present with a touch of cautious hope, but there was no 
immediate recognition on his face.

A few moments passed in uncomfortable silence before Lucy spoke up.

"You do not recognize any of them?" she asked, looking to Lois.

He frowned severely and shook his head."I was hoping I would, but I do 
not recall any of you, I am sorry," he replied.He glanced to each of 
their faces in turn once more, but there was no change in his fortunes.

Alex stepped forward slowly, a look of confusion on his face."Weren't 
you... taller before?" he asked in utter confusion.

Lucy found the question odd, but she discovered as she looked at Lois 
that the lynx was absolutely correct.She had not thought to even check 
for something as odd as what he now suggested, but she remembered that 
Lois had stood a full head taller than her commander.Now, although the 
weasel clearly stood as straight as he could, he was still a half head 
shorter than his commander.

With that unexpected revelation, however, Lucy began to notice other 
things as well.

"Your muzzle is also more pronounced, and your neck is longer..."She 
squinted, surprised as she noticed more and more that seemed off about 
his bearing."It's almost as though your human proportions have been 
completely replaced by those of an ermine!"

"What are you saying?" Lois asked, his voice lacking any of the 
confidence that he had ever shown since their first meeting.He seemed 
genuinely frightened.

"Is it possible that we might have failed to completely revert him?" 
Balrog asked Lucy.

Lucy shook her head resolutely."No!I am certain that we fully reversed 
the spell on him!"

"I am standing right here," Lois snapped."Speak to me; what are you 
talking about?"

"Whatever spell was on you before seems to have had some lingering 
effects," Lucy replied, leveling a cool stare on him for his outburst.He 
barely noticed.

"No!I am a man!I am no animal, no creature to be bantered about with no 
regard to its own feelings!"He took deep, heaving breaths."I am no 
ermine; I am a man!"

The outburst caught the others off guard.Balrog stepped forward resolutely.

"Calm yourself, Lois," he spoke softly."We are friends; no one means you 
any harm."

"Then speak of me as a friend, not as of some animal in a cage!"The 
former assassin leveled a poisonous glare at the disguised lutin, but it 
was the shaking ermine who took a faltering step back towards the bed.He 
hissed quietly and bowed his head a moment later, his eyes darting away 
from those that stood in the center of the small space."I am sorry, this 
is too early," he muttered."I do not think I am ready for visitors."

The few assembled glanced among themselves, but Balrog took a single 
step forward."Is it all right if I speak with you for a little while at 
least?Privately?"

Lois looked at him warily.The man's intimidating size made him seem 
threatening, but the kind demeanor and careful, measured tones with 
which he spoke made the ermine feel that he could trust him.He looked to 
the others briefly, but quickly returned his eyes to the large man.

"Privately," he confirmed."I don't want anyone listening in."

The others nodded, and began to file out slowly, leaving the two friends 
to speak by themselves.

***

Alex caught Lucy's arm as they exited the room, ignoring the evident 
confusion on Julian's face as he saw them leave so soon after their 
entrance.

"Is it wise to trust the two of them alone?" he asked once they were a 
few steps away from the moondog."We don't know if Lois' allegiances 
remain unaltered, and we have barely known Balrog."

Lucy nodded to his words."It is a bit of a risk, I agree, but I am 
inclined to believe that Balrog's intentions are good.I never thought I 
would say as much about a lutin myself, but he has already risen above 
any preconception I held against his people.Nothing that he has done 
seems suspicious at all to me so far.It is his commander that worries 
me, honestly."

The lynx winced."He has been acting strange since before you even broke 
the spell.Do you have any idea what he might be after?"

Lucy shrugged.She glanced at Julian, but he was dutifully guarding the 
door and did not seem at all interested in the subject of their 
conversation."I am suspicious of him, but what I have heard from him 
could simply be well-founded concerns based on Lois' past."

Her commander looked uncertain."He gave no indication of knowing who 
Lois was on the first day.His arguments did not even begin until our 
second day working together."

"You are right, of course," Lucy admitted."The question is, what 
happened between the two days to so thoroughly alter his demeanor?"

"Perhaps nothing."Alex's voice carried a clear note of frustration to it 
as he made the suggestion."For all of the arguments that he has made, he 
has also been quite helpful at times, even since our second day of 
efforts.It is possible that there had simply been no specific 
opportunity presented for him to express his concerns before the second 
day."

Lucy shook her head and paced a few steps to one side."That doesn't seem 
right," she muttered."If he knew about Lois' past before it seems to me 
that he would have objected to the idea of helping him at all from the 
beginning.Perhaps Balrog only told him about Lois' past recently."

"That seems rather an odd time to choose to reveal something that could 
change a man's opinion so thoroughly counter to your interests," the 
patrol commander commented.

"I did have one other theory," Lucy confided, lowering her voice even 
further.The lynx prompted her with little more than a raise 
eyebrow."That power he claims, the one that led his company to Outpost 
at the start.Perhaps he received some revelation from it instead?"

Scratching his chin, the lynx nodded slowly."It is possible.Why would it 
bring him here to help us, and then place such a thing in his mind, though?"

Lucy shrugged broadly and shook her head."I do not claim to know 
anything about the workings of the supernatural," she admitted."I may 
serve the pantheon, but even their ways elude me more often than I would 
care to admit."

"Well, we can at least take precautions even if we are not certain of 
the cause," he concluded."As far as I am concerned, there is no reason 
for him to need to speak with Lois at all."

Lucy agreed wordlessly."Unfortunately, I doubt that he will ask our 
permission before trying anything."

"Then there is nothing to do but keep Lois under watch."He rubbed his 
muzzle a moment before changing the subject."Do you have any idea what 
might have caused Lois' form to be altered?"

"No more idea than I have of why Lois was trapped as an animal at all," 
Lucy explained ruefully."Nothing has made sense magically since our 
investigation began, so it surprises me only slightly that we have found 
yet another oddity."She shook her head slowly."I can always examine him 
again later if it makes any difference."

"I just don't want to be surprised when something else happens.I've had 
enough surprises already on this patrol."

The mage nodded."I will look at him after Balrog has finished speaking 
with him, then," she decided.

The lynx nodded, but then his gaze was drawn to where the moondog was 
standing.Beside him was a short man, his Cursed form that of a large 
chipmunk.Both of them were looking towards Lucy and Alex, and the lynx's 
heart sank.

"Perhaps we will not have the opportunity for that," he whispered.
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