(no subject)
"Well, the good news is that he's going to be fine," says Gregory to the anxious crowd assembled outside of Dominic's bedroom. "The wound was deep but I managed to heal it in time. The bad news is that he's in some sort of trance and I can't snap him out of it."
"Then it's a good thing you brought me here to help." Miranda Deegan, Archmage of the Fifth Circle and headmistress of the Quiral Academy for the Arcane Arts, grins smugly. "The deus ex momina has arrived."
Everyone just stares at her.
She frowns. "Deus ex momchina? Deus... no, wait, deus ex motherna... um, no... mommy ex machina..."
More staring.
"Oh, forget it," she sighs. "I'm his mother and I'm going to fix everything." She elbows her way past Gregory and into the bedroom.
Dominic is on the bed, propped into a sitting position with a pile of pillows. His expression is blank, his glazed-over eyes staring at nothing. He's barely breathing. Miranda sets to work immediately, weaving a complex spell over her son's inert form. Ribbons of light stream from her hands to surround the bed and its occupant.
"This is surprising," she says when the lights finally fade away. "The trance he's in is self-induced. He's gone inward into his own mind. He's actually chasing after the virus spell that he's been infected with. I didn't think he could do that."
"So we can't wake him up until he's done trying to 'cure' himself?" asks Luna.
"I'm afraid not, and he's the only one who saw this 'huntress.'" Miranda frowns. "I want to speak to this Bumper fellow. He heard her call Dominic 'brother.' Where is he?"
"I imagine he's with Dex, being questioned," says Luna.
"No, Sheriff Garrit is with Mayor Chayler right now," says Szark.
"Then who's questioning Bumper?"
Szark looks uncomfortable. "Um... I think Quilt said something about--"
"Oh, for the love of..." Miranda facepalms. "I'm going to go talk to him. Keep an eye on Dominic. What he's attempting is very dangerous."
"Dangerous for Dominic? Or for the virus?"
Miranda hesitates. "...good question." Then she's gone, leaving Szark, Luna, and Dominic alone in the room.
Szark is the one who finally breaks the silence. "You know what? I'm not worried. Dominic is a mental maelstrom. That virus spell doesn't stand a chance."
"But it's still weakened him," says Luna. "Plus he's recovering from a serious stab wound. He's nowhere near full power and that worries me."
"I'm still not worried. Dominic's probably using some genius-level strategy against the virus."
"NECK BITEY ATTACK!"
Tracking down the virus spell had turned out to be the easy part. Actually subduing it--that's something else again. In his mindscape, it manifests as a roughly human-sized orange beastie with no eyes, two angry mouths, and lots of writhing tentacles. And it's not going down easy.
"Still alive, huh?" grunts Dominic as he tries to wring the beast's 'neck.' "Not for long, you nasty son of a bi--"
CHOMP.
Dominic looks up to see the beast's other mouth tear a bleeding hole in his mindscape. "Oh, you did not just do that to me, you little--I KILL YOU!"
Szark grimaces, edging away from the catatonic seer. "Either something's wrong in there or Dominic is just relaxed enough... to wet himself."
The other head takes advantage of the seer's distraction to grab a piece of sky to gnaw on.
"Oh no! No you don't! You stay away from--! DAMMIT!"
*FAAAART*
'Oh God.' Luna cringes, covering her nose to block the fumes.
"You're gonna pay for that, you slimy--! AW, CRAP!!"
Szark edges even further away. "Things are either going well up there or he's just very happy to, um, see us."
This is going nowhere. Every time Dominic forces the virus away from one part of his mind, it attacks another. At this rate, even if he does manage to stop the thing, he'll be in no kind of shape to face down the huntress herself. If only there was a way to--
Wait. There. That opening. It just might be...
"Alright, that does it." Dominc wraps one arm around each of the virus's toothy 'heads.' "You want to fight dirty? You want to play rough? LET'S TAKE IT OUTSIDE!!"
With all of his mental strength, he propels himself upward, dragging the virus to the opening and through to what lies beyond.
"Then it's a good thing you brought me here to help." Miranda Deegan, Archmage of the Fifth Circle and headmistress of the Quiral Academy for the Arcane Arts, grins smugly. "The deus ex momina has arrived."
Everyone just stares at her.
She frowns. "Deus ex momchina? Deus... no, wait, deus ex motherna... um, no... mommy ex machina..."
More staring.
"Oh, forget it," she sighs. "I'm his mother and I'm going to fix everything." She elbows her way past Gregory and into the bedroom.
Dominic is on the bed, propped into a sitting position with a pile of pillows. His expression is blank, his glazed-over eyes staring at nothing. He's barely breathing. Miranda sets to work immediately, weaving a complex spell over her son's inert form. Ribbons of light stream from her hands to surround the bed and its occupant.
"This is surprising," she says when the lights finally fade away. "The trance he's in is self-induced. He's gone inward into his own mind. He's actually chasing after the virus spell that he's been infected with. I didn't think he could do that."
"So we can't wake him up until he's done trying to 'cure' himself?" asks Luna.
"I'm afraid not, and he's the only one who saw this 'huntress.'" Miranda frowns. "I want to speak to this Bumper fellow. He heard her call Dominic 'brother.' Where is he?"
"I imagine he's with Dex, being questioned," says Luna.
"No, Sheriff Garrit is with Mayor Chayler right now," says Szark.
"Then who's questioning Bumper?"
Szark looks uncomfortable. "Um... I think Quilt said something about--"
"Oh, for the love of..." Miranda facepalms. "I'm going to go talk to him. Keep an eye on Dominic. What he's attempting is very dangerous."
"Dangerous for Dominic? Or for the virus?"
Miranda hesitates. "...good question." Then she's gone, leaving Szark, Luna, and Dominic alone in the room.
Szark is the one who finally breaks the silence. "You know what? I'm not worried. Dominic is a mental maelstrom. That virus spell doesn't stand a chance."
"But it's still weakened him," says Luna. "Plus he's recovering from a serious stab wound. He's nowhere near full power and that worries me."
"I'm still not worried. Dominic's probably using some genius-level strategy against the virus."
"NECK BITEY ATTACK!"
Tracking down the virus spell had turned out to be the easy part. Actually subduing it--that's something else again. In his mindscape, it manifests as a roughly human-sized orange beastie with no eyes, two angry mouths, and lots of writhing tentacles. And it's not going down easy.
"Still alive, huh?" grunts Dominic as he tries to wring the beast's 'neck.' "Not for long, you nasty son of a bi--"
CHOMP.
Dominic looks up to see the beast's other mouth tear a bleeding hole in his mindscape. "Oh, you did not just do that to me, you little--I KILL YOU!"
Szark grimaces, edging away from the catatonic seer. "Either something's wrong in there or Dominic is just relaxed enough... to wet himself."
The other head takes advantage of the seer's distraction to grab a piece of sky to gnaw on.
"Oh no! No you don't! You stay away from--! DAMMIT!"
*FAAAART*
'Oh God.' Luna cringes, covering her nose to block the fumes.
"You're gonna pay for that, you slimy--! AW, CRAP!!"
Szark edges even further away. "Things are either going well up there or he's just very happy to, um, see us."
This is going nowhere. Every time Dominic forces the virus away from one part of his mind, it attacks another. At this rate, even if he does manage to stop the thing, he'll be in no kind of shape to face down the huntress herself. If only there was a way to--
Wait. There. That opening. It just might be...
"Alright, that does it." Dominc wraps one arm around each of the virus's toothy 'heads.' "You want to fight dirty? You want to play rough? LET'S TAKE IT OUTSIDE!!"
With all of his mental strength, he propels himself upward, dragging the virus to the opening and through to what lies beyond.