MAZE - The Endless Quest

During the journey to the Alliance prison, the Harmony Guardians continued to try helping Kimmy and Greg break free of the mind control. Some other specialized healers, mages, and researchers even joined in. Everyone did their best, but so far, Ashley was the only one who was truly free from the hypnotic effect.

There were two main differences between the sisters. First, Ashley was more cynical. Which made her doubt most things that were told to her, no matter the source. Secondly, she also had a set of three skills that fought against mental influence and illusions. They were [Mental Fortitude], which was a common skill that simply made it harder for various effects and situations to hinder one’s ability to think. [Emotional Anchor] made it harder for any skill or effect to influence her emotions. Ashley got that skill because of a second, minor benefit it brought. People that had it could deal with stressful situations better. They wouldn’t be influenced by the mood of other people as easily. That wasn’t a quantifiable effect, but something that was agreed upon amongst those who had the skill.

Lastly, was a highly controversial skill, especially amongst psychologist and therapists called [Echoes of Freedom]. In essence, the goal of that skill was to make it harder for bind effects to take place, whatever the form they took. But people who went through traumatic events could also get the skill, so it pushed back against the mental entanglements formed around those memories. Some doctors argued that relying on the skill was the same as treating the symptoms of a disease without treating the disease itself. While others considered trauma as a chronic disease. And exactly because of that, any treatment that could lessen the symptoms with no side effects was a good thing.

Ashley only got that skill thanks to a doctor that helped her after a traumatic car accident back on Earth. That was even part of the reason why she decided to come live inside the MAZE. Vehicles with motors were a rare sight. Mostly due to the hassle that was to make one and take it across several rooms. Not to mention the general lack of roads fit for something like that.

Kimmy, Ashley’s sister, only had one of those skills, [Emotional Anchor], which both acquired after the accident to better deal with their families. [Mental Fortitude] was easy to learn, and with the right help, so was [Echoes of Freedom], but that created a new problem for the Alliance. Were they willing to spend resources making their potential enemies stronger in hopes of them snapping out of the mind control? Even if that worked, and the effect was no longer there, there was no guarantee that Kimmy wouldn’t still agree with the guild and be an enemy to the Alliance.

It was a messy situation, and in the end, above the pay grade of everyone in the boat. Including Thalion. So, their only choice was to continue looking for alternatives that did not include giving the humans more skills. Little by little, that worked, Kimmy slowly became able to go against parts of what the guild told her, but only the smaller details. The core values were still fighting back when she tried to break free, causing another bout of headaches. Greg, on the other hand, wasn’t even able to get to that point. He was adamant the Alliance was in the wrong, and seeing his girlfriend suffering due to the tests only made him angrier.

Still, that only lasted two days. After that, the next days were spent moving from room to room. Which meant no time to attempt to break the mind control. What bothered Hera the most about all that was borrowing everything was. They had to move at a slow pace since there were so many people around, and there was nothing to do. Monsters didn’t show up, not even the most aggressive of creatures would risk going against thousands alone, and Thalion made sure no one was splitting off from the main force of the army.

Once they arrived at the room where the prisoners would be kept, the Harmony Guardians were sent to the city in order to meet with a team from the Intelligence Agency. The actual location of the prison wouldn’t be shared with them, even if it wouldn’t be that hard for anyone in the room to find. Still, there was no need for them to know, and they had other things to do. After passing Ashley, Kimmy, and Greg to this new team, Hera received a message from Thalion asking them to wait for him before heading out to the triton capital. The elf, as well as Kaela and a few troops, also were going to the ceremony. Going alone would be a waste, but the Commander promised that this time, the Harmony Guardians wouldn’t be moving as part of the army. Instead, they would be treated like their own independent group that was heading the same way.

This time, the journey was much more pleasant. People only had to worry about the potential monsters in the way, there was no need to keep an eye on prisoners, and no looming threat of a large battle hanging above their heads. Not to mention, they were all going to the triton capital to be celebrated. Most had never been there, but a few were familiar and kept singing the high praises of the place. The only moments when the mood soured were when someone mentioned people who were not coming along. Unfortunately, this was a small victory. The war was still going, and the Alliance couldn’t afford to call back an entire army worth of troops. Some would have to stay back and go help on other fronts, while others needed to rest and prepare for the next battle.

“Neria, are you excited to go home?” Helena smiled, they were hearing some of the people in the army ask a similar question to a triton who quickly started reminiscing about his childhood. They were just one room away now. After spending almost a week traveling. And they even took a shortcut through the Underground Babel.

“That’s not exactly my home. I lived in a room adjacent to it. The problem is that it’s very far from the capital. It takes a couple of days by boat to reach it. But it will be nice to be so close. Maybe my parents will show up,” Neria smiled while looking into the distance.

“Don’t they know you are going there?” Vash asked.

“I don’t know. I hope they do,” Neria sighed.

“You didn’t tell them?” Roan turned to the triton.

“No? We can’t talk about that… can we?” she frowned.

Roan sighed and turned to the side, facing the people from the army and yelled, “Hey, Kaela?”

“What?!” the Scoutmaster shouted in an annoyed voice.

“Is this ceremony a secret or something?”

“What? No, are you stupid? People know about this, it’s going to be televised and all. What’s the point of doing something for morale if you don’t show it to everyone?”

Roan just turned to Neria, “See.”

The tuition blinked slowly, “Fuck. Hang on,” she quickly pulled up her tablet and sent a message to her parents, “Does anyone know when the ceremony will happen? Like, is it just for us to get there and it will start? The capital is in the next room.”

“Hey Kaela?” Roan yelled again.

“The fuck you want now?” the Scoutmaster shouted again.

“Is the ceremony going to happen tomorrow?”

“No. We still have a couple of days. And we are far from the capital. We need to reach the waterfall and go down it first, then take a boat!” Kaela explained, “Can I get back to my conversation or your royal ass needs cleaning now?”

“You can relax, but I will want some fresh tea when we stop,” Roan replied with a smile.

“I still don’t know how you won that bet,” Skyler shook her head.

Two days ago, all the beastmen in the group started playing some games that were famous amongst their people. It was a mixture of a treasure hunt with hide and seek. Each person had to hide a personal object around the camp. Then they all, at the same time, could go around searching for the object while protecting their own. If someone found your object and touched you while holding it, you were out of the game.

Despite not being an expert on hiding and finding things, Roan somehow ended up winning a tiebreaker game between him and Kaela. The prize was being able to order the other around until they reached the capital. Kaela attempted to lose with grace, but after the third time Roan complained about his drink being too hot or too cold and asking for another, she gave up on that. Still, she was a woman of her word, and would continue paying the bet, but she wasn’t going to do it with a smile.

“They answered it! Oh.. They already knew. Apparently someone sent them a message about it, an official one and… Seriously?” Neria groaned. Her mother had just sent a picture, one with the official invitation to the ceremony that would reward her daughter for her outstanding valor in the face of danger, framed right above the entrance of her house. Neria’s mom had a huge smile on her face and was pointing at the framed picture.

“Aw, that’s sweet. You are still mommy’s little girl,” Hera joked.

“Fuck off. I’m sure your dad would be no better,” Neria huffed.

“He wasn’t. He’s now calling me ‘the fourth Hero,’” Hera rolled her eyes, “I still prefer Goldilocks, though.”

“Why Goldilocks?” Flint asked, “I mean, sure you are blond, but it can’t be just that, can it?”

Hera shook her head, “It’s silly. When I was little, I had a lot of trouble sleeping. The bed had to be just right, the covers heavy enough and stuff. I went to a cousin’s house for a night and people teased me about it, so I got really sad. A few days later, my dad came with a book. The one about Goldilocks. He read it and said how she was just like me, and she still found a family that loved her. In that version, she ends up being adopted by the bears. After that I started calling him grumpy bear, because his food was always super hot, and his bed really hard. It’s not a big reason, but the nickname stuck.”

“That’s really sweet, actually,” Helena nodded.

“Silly, but sweet, either way,” Vash noticed something in the distance and took flight. A few moments later, he came back, “I see the doorway!”

A few minutes later, they were setting up camp near the white frame that would take them to the room where the capital of the Triton was located. The room was called Oceancrest Falls. From what Hera heard, it was a massive ocean, large enough to be a continent like Australia back on Earth. Most of it was underwater, but there were a few large islands around the room, and a single landmark that could be seen from almost everywhere. A gigantic waterfall that went so high up in the sky that the top was hidden by eternal clouds. They would be arriving there and then going down to the boat. After that, they would move across the waters to one of the islands where the port district of the actual capital, Neptara, was located. Neria also mentioned that most of the city was underwater, but a few buildings would be always above the sea level.

Just as they finished setting up their tent, and were discussing what to have for dinner. The options were to have everyone eating some power bars and travel supplies, or to form a group to go out hunting for monsters and fruit. In the current room, both were plentiful. People would be spoiled for choice between a red mane rabbit that had a bit of a minty flavor to its meat, a venison that seemed to come prebuttered, or thick and juicy pieces of chicken from the flying creatures. Everyone was leaning towards the idea of hunting, but before they could come to a decision, a notification appeared in front of Hera.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You have completed a quest.

Struggle of the Strength Spirits

Go to your private room to receive the rewards from the Guides.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~