ALEXiThymiA: Chapter 107 The Return

Chapter 107

The Return

The universe flashed brightly for a minute, as the intended path Alexa had been supposed to go on, was forcefully and irrevocably altered. Rather than heading straight forward, through a dark and forced path, Alexa was instead sent to the right, down a darkened path that was hidden by the natural scenery of the otherwise perfect tunnel. Then she emerged to find herself on a different planet than the one she had been on previously.

The first thing Alexa noticed upon leaving the dungeon was the smell. The air was fresher, somehow cleaner than the maze world she had just come from. This was likely due to the fact that the poisonous vines that grew over every inch of wall in the maze world also had a distinctly poisonous smell. This was a subtle thing that alerted predators and prey with heightened senses of the impeding danger of the plants. It was a subtle thing and one that humans had long ago been developed away from understanding and registering at some basic level. Now that the smell was no longer so prevalent, around her, she could see and feel the distinct differences of this world’s air than the previous world’s. She could also tell by smell alone that no immediate threats were prevalent, there were no scents of dead and drying blood that lingered in the air, no smell of rot and decay. Instead, all she could smell were the smell of fresh ozone, wet dirt, and cold winter air. In other words, she smelled the faint traces of fall that still lingered on the air. Her skin felt the change in temperatures, while the maze dungeon she had been in earlier was slightly warmer than usual, likely to facilitate the growth and movement of the killer plants that covered every wall of the maze, it was a stark contrast to the world she was at now.

For a moment Alexa paused and turned to face the dungeon exit, curious if those monsters would follow her.

A minute passed.

Then another, logically she knew where she was, she knew she was back home by the way her smart watch connected to the local towers and once again began pinging her with update notifications. Looking at the watch she felt relief wash over her. Then after five minutes passed, she felt assured that no danger had followed her.

She was safe for the moment.

Alexa paused, ready to strike down any monster that somehow managed to follow her here. While this was something that her brother Luke had done, there might be ways others could follow her. She didn’t think such a case was likely, as it seemed that not everyone was allowed to be a Dungeon Architect like her brother, it was clear that someone related to both the Orcs and the Elves had access to such a class. That or they had learned other ways to bypass the standard functions of dungeons and alter them to extreme degrees.

While her trip to stage VII had once again reinforced the need to be cautious, she couldn’t call the entire event a waste. She had unlocked a seemingly unique skill Runic Master, and a new psychic power Rune Channeling. The latter being one that seemed to have been an additional reward given by the dungeon. While the elves that had tried to styme her, in her banishment of the Minotaur had also unlocked the skill, it was clear that they did not have the psychic power Rune Channeling, as everyone had still been hindered by the draining runes that were meant to make what she had done impossible. Even now, Alexa could feel the pulse and thrum of multiple runes of power.

Finally, after a few minutes of staring, Alexa let out a long breath and decided to turn around and leave.

Whoosh!

Alexa felt the swell of magic around her. Turning around towards the dungeon entrance, towards the disturbance, she saw him.

Looking at the man before her, Alexa immediately said the first word that came to mind, as fear gripped her.

“Kelvin?”

It was as she had feared, somehow the elves had managed to bypass the security controls and followed her here. She was just about to cast a spell, when she realized there were a few oddities. For starters this Kelvin was slightly broader at the shoulder, though his slender frame made such distinctions nearly impossible. Also the darkness of the hair was a bit too dark, despite being in a darkened cave where her Night Vision mostly applied ultraviolet coloring to fill in what her normal cones and rods couldn’t interpret. Only after a moment did she realize her mistake, this was not Kelvin the level 46 half-elf half-human, instead this was the father.

Rather than being angered or alarmed, a look of shock filled Mr. Mackie’s otherwise stoic features. Whatever he had been about to say, whatever he had been about to do, it all stopped as he stared at Alexa for a moment, then spoke.

“You saw him?” At that, a glint and gleam of power flashed in Mr. Mackie’s right eye, as he began evaluating Alexa.

Only now did Alexa realize the slight interplay of runic magic at work around her. It wasn’t just that Mackie was scanning her, but he was using the assistance of runes around him to help view Alexa. Not just to view her, but to peer into her very soul.

At this, Alexa felt exposed, but also she felt slightly annoyed by the runes and power lines she was feeling. These were simple and inarticulate constructs. The equivalent of Kevin McCallister booby trapping their house with string and paint cans to take out inept burglars, rather than truly effective traps. Looking at the strings of energy, Alexa figured the only reason this system had lasted to this point is that few had the actual knowledge that stage seven was supposed to convey.

Pausing, Alexa used this information to help make sense of what had happened. Rather than answering his question, Alexa made her own assertions.

“You met her in the maze stage, stage seven of the Trials. You clearly spent a good deal of time there, though you never banished the minotaur.” Alexa said.

“Banish them?” He asked, a note of confusion in his voice.

Alexa nodded. “Yeah, that was the purpose of the maze, to show you the paths to take so you could learn to banish the creature.”

At that Mr. Mackie paused, as he looked deeply into Alexa in a way that caused Alexa to shiver slightly from the unwanted attention. Her mind was still active, still dealing with the ability to think and process emotions. Right now, she knew that she had to keep Mackie distracted, that if she directed his attention elsewhere he might not catch on to her. Clara had warned her of just what Mackie was capable of, with that knowledge, she made sure to keep him at arm’s length for the time being. At least until she had an idea of what to do with him. Still, this moment provided her a chance to understand him that much better.

“Huh. I never knew that…” Mackie trailed off, his hand going to his face as he began to ponder that new revelation.

“He looks a lot like you.” Alexa said.

“Kelvin?”

Alexa nodded, her eyes watching him for every trace of emotion he displayed. During these times, her mind was not only able to process her own emotional state, but the state of others at an exceptional degree. Seeing the way he fidgeted, and twisted his body ever so, as he thought about this, Alexa realized this was an important topic.

“Yes. He is older than me and looks like you. Well, he does have his mother’s hair color.”

“Portia?”

Alexa nodded then answered with “Princess Eclipsion.”

At that, Mackie knew she had spoken the truth.

“How is the faction?”

“Good. Since I completed the dungeon they had to move on to stage eight. Kelvin too.” I added.

At that, Mackie nodded.

There were a few questions that Alexa wanted to ask, but chose not to. In particular, how an Aspect of a person could give birth, but that was a topic that would likely lead to other, more disgusting topics, like conceiving with an Aspect and other topics that she really didn’t want to actually know the answer to. Instead, Alexa just paused as she stared at Mackie.

Mackie seemed to be deep in his own personal contemplation as a smile filled his face. It had apparently been an extremely long time since the man smiled as his face all but screamed that he was a serial killer who was recently acquitted due to lack of evidence. Seeing that look, Alexa figured she would once again direct the conversation away from the current topic, into one that Mackie could likely answer.

“Now that I have completed stage seven, could I also be a runic inscriber?” Alexa asks.

Hearing that, Mackie paused as he looked at Alexa. This time he scanned her and stopped.

“You have discovered Three new psychic powers?” He asked.

At that I pause, and focusing on my recent changes I can’t help but think he is correct. Since last he saw me, I had been quite busy, with most completed dungeons offering not only the related skills crystals, but psychic crystals as well.

“Yes.” Alexa answered truthfully, as her new powers included: Analytical Eye (I), Indomitable Soul, and Runic Channeling.

“Just out of curiosity, what is Runic Channeling?” Mackie asked.

Hearing that Alexa paused, “I will need to fully practice with it, and get back to you.”

At that Mackie nodded. “Yes, you have given me a lot to think about. Also, please do keep this a secret between us.”

“The powers?” Alexa asked.

Mackie paused, “well that too, but I mean Kelvin. If certain parties became aware, they might take actions…” He trailed off, as a look of determination flashed in his eyes.

Seeing the look, Alexa nodded her head in understanding.

“So, he too has the Runic Mastery skill?”

“Yes, he was with me at the end, when we all got our completion crystals.” Alexa said, not lying, but purposefully being misleading with her answer. After all, they all had been there and received the same completion crystal from the dungeon, the only difference being the others likely only got the crystal due to being within proximity of Alexa when she completed the trials.

There was a moment of awkward silence between the two. Alexa looked on, wondering if Mackie would ask any more questions, but was more than a little relieved when Mackie’s posture relaxed, and he once again regained composure of his features.

“Well then, I will leave you to it.” Mackie said, as a faint trail of moisture began to build up in his eyes.

Poof.

With that Mackie left, but this time Alexa could see the build up of energy, the activation of a rune that was likely tattooed onto Mackie’s personage. Seeing the mark activate with her senses, and her now enhanced understanding of runic mastery, Alexa couldn’t help but want to shake her head at the inefficient use of runes. His actions were the equivalent of batman firing a batline at objects and depressing a button to pull him forward. The whole process was oddly inefficient and seemed almost childish in a way. Like a child making a baking soda volcano and calling themselves a scientific genius.

Still, now that he was gone, Alexa let out a long slow calming breath. She realized she was still being watched, but seeing the runic patterns that existed everywhere, she could easily find ways to avoid, cut out, or bypass the monitoring wards completely.

Her first, emotional response was to tear it all down. To destroy this simple construct, so it could never be used against her. But she stopped herself, with a force of will, she allowed her rational mind to exert dominance. While she did immediately feel cornered and oppressed by all the different strands of runes around meant to provide a police state, where Mackie could act with impunity, being able to understand the world around him. Alexa began to realize something.

After seeing the layout of this crudely designed structures, Alexa saw it as a method to monitor Mackie back. Just as many of the runic structures were as primitive of eaves dropping devices as having two cans connected by a string, where someone could listen in form one side of the string to another. This structure also meant that Alexa could use that same infrastructure to listen in on Mackie. Also, developing a quick and efficient countermeasure for her pack would be simple, as she already knew the runes to create, and the ability to create perfect obfuscation runes.

Nodding to herself, she began to make plans on what to do, but first, she had to find someone.

Looking at her watch, she activated the family tracking portion of the app and saw, much to her surprise that the person she was looking for was right outside the dungeon.

Going outside, she was amazed to see that the members of her pack, and Gina were all out on the open practice fields going through Hand to Hand Combat drills.

Seeing their work and dedication, Alexa smiled slightly as she realized they were taking this seriously, which meant a lot more to her than she thought it would, if she was being honest with herself.

Then seeing her brother, she ran forward, and grappled him from behind, her arms quickly moving around his large, but underdeveloped shoulders.

“What?” Luke exclaimed.

Alexa still feeling the emotional high from her run, made sure she used this time to act, to show her true emotions for what happened.

“Thank you.”

“For what?” Luke asked, worming his way around in her grip.

“For everything, for being you, for making it so I came back here versus stage eight of the trials…” Alexa trailed off.

“What happened?” Luke asked, a note of concern filling his features.

At that, Alexa looked around to see that she had everyone from her pack around just staring at her. Seeing them, Alexa nodded, as a drop of moisture crested her cheeks. Only now that she was with her brother and her pack did she feel she was truly safe. She had been frightened, beyond frightened in fact, compared to what she faced in her trials Mr. Mackie was little more than a blip. But even still, she knew the time for integration was coming closer. Worse, she would need to deal with Princess Portia in stage eight of the trials, or bypass her, potentially losing out of what secrets the stage eight dungeon possessed. There were so many variables that Alexa couldn’t keep them all straight in her mind as she realized many things were out of her control.

Yet, right here, surrounded by her friends and family, she was safe. Gina seeing her immediately came over and gave Alexa a hug.

Seeing the gesture Luke reeled back, as he knew that was something that you just didn’t do, not to Alexa. But rather than expecting her to yell, Alexa let out a long slow breath, and after a moment returned the gesture. Even going so far as to say, “thank you.”

“Wha..?” Luke managed, as his mind was trying to understand what it just saw. His emotionally distant sister not only accepting comfort, but reciprocating thanks for said comfort, that was just too much.

After a second, Alexa broke her way free of Gina’s hug, and turned to face her brother. Seeing the look of shock on his face, caused Alexa to chuckle. “Hehe,” she began, but then turning to everyone began speaking in earnest.

“There is something I need to tell you all…”