Swarming Sovereignty

A few hours after Lia and Rose checked out the fortifications and had their meal, they had gathered all the enlightened members of the swarm save for Lily, who was still clearing the biology building, in a clearing in their base camp. Lia was back in her fox form and was sitting on Rose’s lap, enjoying the sensation of Rose idly petting her.

Before we begin, is there anything super important anyone has to say? Lia asked, looking over the three people in front of her. Stuff that will shape our entire discussion important, that is.

There was silence, so Lia continued. In that case, I’ll present the findings of myself and Rose first. We’ve determined the walls to be good enough for now. We couldn’t get into the main turret because it was locked, though, we’re going to need Bella or Chrys to take care of it. Can either of you pick locks?

“I…think I can, Queenie.” Chrys said. “I haven’t tried it, but it just feels like something I’m capable of, you know?”

“If it can be unlocked from the other side of a door I can slip under the gap and open it that way.” Bella said. “But regular lockpicking is not one of my specialties, I’m afraid.”

Good. Depending on the results of your investigation, I’ll send you two to check it out. So…what did you find?

“The dorm buildings are mostly untouched.” Chrys said. “They should be suitable as housing the moment we clear them of monsters. Said monsters are mostly undead, but none of them are particularly strong. There are a fair number of them, but so long as you work slowly and methodically, they won’t swarm you or anything. Should be a piece of cake to clear.”

“Did you encounter the boss?” Rose asked.

Bella made a face. “No, but we really didn’t check that building much. We could tell it was in there, because the moment we entered the lobby there was a huge screech from up above that didn’t stop until we went away.”

“Probably a banshee, then.” Rose said. “Annoying, but as long as there’s only one it should be workable. We’ll need some way to plug our ears, and communication in the middle of the battle will be somewhat rough, but they aren’t that strong in direct combat.”

We could try and fashion some earmuffs out of modeling wax. Lia ventured. Though I’m not sure how soundproof they’ll be. The modeling wax isn’t really going to stick to us while it’s malleable, and I’m not sure how soundproof it’ll be once it’s hardened, but it’s better than nothing, right?

“We should probably look in the Dimension of Discounts first.” Rose said. “If we’re lucky you can find something that’ll do the job.”

Good thought. Lia replied. I’m going to do that now, you guys keep brainstorming other countermeasures while I do. She turned her attention away from the conversation, and opened up the Dimension of Discounts, then tried to search “soundproofing”.

Lia sighed internally. She really needed to level her Dimensional Search Engine up. Perhaps, the next time she had free time, she’d just make a bunch of searches with the aim of getting Dimension Search Engine more…useable. But, for now, the less specific search would have to do.

Looks like they have some. Lia said. I’ll get a pair for all of us except Lily, since she won’t be approaching this boss at all.

Not waiting for a response, Lia bought four pairs of earplugs, and four cases fell to the ground in front of her. Rose, you hold onto mine for now. I could put them in my dimensional storage, but I’ll need help to put them on unless I’m in my humanoid form, and I don’t want to wait that long to challenge this boss.

“Got it.” Rose said, scooping up two of the cases. “How do we use these?”

It didn’t specify other than saying they’ll adapt to the anatomy of whatever ear they’re put in, so presumably you just put them in each ear. Hopefully there’s two in each of those cases, if not, then…well, I’ll probably send Rose and Bella to deal with the banshee alone, since you two are our heavy hitters here.

Rose opened up a case, then nodded. “There are two in these, fortunately.”

Good. We’ll put them on right before we enter the dorm’s lobby, that should be plenty.

“While you were browsing the Dimension of Discounts, the three of us were discussing hand signs.” Chrys said. “You and mom obviously don’t need them, since you’ve got telepathy, but it would be good if Bella and I were able to…you know, communicate during this trip.”

I…forgot to consider that. Lia admitted. What were you thinking?

Bella began making some shapes with her hands. “We only have four, for simplicity’s sake. This one,” she said, holding up her upper left hand, “is ‘safe to proceed’. The one across from that is ‘danger ahead’, below the safe sign is ‘I see the boss’, and the last one is ‘I need to retreat’.”

Alright. I’ll…well, I’ll keep an eye out. If things get too dangerous and we can’t see your signs in the midst of battle, please retreat anyway. We can’t afford to lose any of you, so your safety is our priority.

“Got it.” Chrys said. “Mind if I hang back during the boss fight itself and let you guys deal with it? I’m not exactly built for combat.”

That was the plan, don’t worry. Lia said. Don’t feel pressured to jump in unless you think you can safely make a big difference. Rose, I’ve never fought a banshee before, how are we going to go about this?

“It’s a ghost, so physical attacks are usually pretty ineffective, unless you’re using a magical metal like adamantite. We don’t have any of that around, so magic is going to be our go-to. Bella, do you have any damaging mental magic or is it all just debuffs?”

“Just debuffs, I’m afraid.” Bella said. “All my damaging magic is fire.”

“Unfortunate. Lia, how fire-proof are these buildings?”

There were way too many accidental fires from students so all buildings on campus have some level of fire suppressing magic. As long as we don’t use any big fire magic it shouldn’t burn down.

“Good to hear. In that case, Bella should just be able to use fire arrows. Remember, like with the last boss, our aim is not to kill this, it’s to convert it. Analysis is telling me that modeling wax will work fine on ghosts, so we just need to restrict its movements and get it covered. That’s going to be harder, since this can go through walls, but…that’s what Lia’s for.

“Lia, you’ll be in charge of debuffs. In all but the most exceptional cases, undead have low Mental Fortitude, so use your mental magic to lock it down. If we’re really unlucky, it’ll be the type to hide itself in the walls and attack us from places we can’t hit it, so you have to somehow get it to sit still in the open long enough for us to begin covering it. Once it’s locked down, I’ll give the signal, and we’ll all rush in and cover it in modeling wax. At that point, if you think you can, Lia, you go in too and dump your Dimensional Storage on it. Hopefully that should do that trick.”

Got it. Does anyone need to do any other preparations before we leave?

“The two of us are ready whenever, Queenie!” Chrys said cheerfully.

“As am I.” Rose said. “Let’s begin, shall we?”

---

Lia felt a sense of nostalgia as she crossed the threshold into her dorm building, but she was sure that nostalgia would have been instantly shattered were she not wearing her earplugs. They, as advertised, blocked out all sound, leaving her in complete silence, and, as the disclaimer said, they were supremely uncomfortable.

But they were manageable, at least for short periods of time. It just meant that they had an extra incentive to kill the banshee as quick as possible. To that end, Lia guided the other three through the dorm building via the shortest route she knew, pausing only to take care of the undead along the way.

There were a lot of undead, sure, but they were all incredibly slow, and individually they were weaker than even a goblin. Rose and Bella had no problem dealing with the hordes as they progressed towards the stairwell.

Once at the stairwell, the group huddled up while Rose gave them a short debrief. Alright, unfortunately the banshee’s probably going to have the element of surprise. She said. We can’t hear her, so we can’t tell where she’s coming from. Keep an eye out for anything…ghostly, and keep one hand on someone else at all times. If you see her, squeeze hard and we’ll get ready. I’ll take point, Lia will take the rear, and everyone be sure to look and make sure the others are still there from time to time. Oh, and look up on occasion. People tend not to do that, and the banshee could well come from there.

With that said, they cut their way up to the third floor, where Rose took a deep breath, and opened the door. The hallway beyond was…empty. No zombies or skeletons, no banshee…nothing. Tentatively, Rose creeped out of the stairwell, and the rest of the group followed.

They walked in silence for a tense minute before Rose spoke up in their minds. It’s going for Chrys!

Immediately, Lia whirled and began preparing her magic. She had struggled for a bit on what exactly she should do to disable a ghost, but in the end decided that trying to put it into a state of complete sensory depravation would be most effective. If the ghost had no way perceiving the outside world, it had no way of knowing it was inside of a wall or being covered in modeling wax, or…anything.

As she loosed her spell, she caught her first good look at the thing. It was…her dorm supervisor, just…in ghostly form. Her hair was longer and tangled and her mouth was unnaturally wide open, but there was no mistaking it.

The spell impacted the banshee and it stopped for a brief moment, its grip on the thrashing Chrys loosening. Not wasting any time, Lia dumped the entirety of her Dimensional Storage on the thing, the mass dropping and impacting not just the banshee, but the entire group.

Lia thrashed about for a moment before sucking up the loose modeling wax into her Dimensional Storage, leaving behind one cocoon and three very disoriented people. Sorry, I panicked. Lia said. I saw that she was holding onto Chrys and just dumped my Dimensional Storage. No one’s hurt, right?

In response, Bella made the hand signal for “safe”, standing up and looking around cautiously.

I’m fine. Rose said, rising to her feet as well. Just a little surprised.

Chrys, on the other hand, was looking…worse for wear. She got unsteadily to her feet before nearly collapsing, only for Rose to catch her, a worried expression on her face. She knelt back down, and began gently probing at Chrys before, eventually, placing a hand on the spot where the banshee had grabbed Chrys. Her hands glowed green for a moment, and then she stood, scooping Chrys up in a princess carry.

She’s been hit with the banshee’s energy drain. Rose explained. I’ve done some first aid, so she should be fine, but we’ll need to get out of here before we can do any more treatment. I’m loathe to leave that cocoon, since it might get…uncocooned, but we don’t really have a choice, I don’t think.

I have room in my Dimensional Storage. Lia said. It’s pretty big nowadays and I only got a little modeling wax from our stores before coming here, so there’s plenty of space.

Good. Rose said. Do that quickly, and then we’ll get going.

Lia walked over to the cocoon and stored it, then turned around. Done. Let’s get out of here.

Getting out was easier than getting in; having already cleared a path, there were only a few undead in their way, so even with Rose not able to fight, Bella was more than capable of dealing with it herself. It only took them a few minutes to get out of the building, and once out Rose immediately laid Chrys down on the grass and took out her earplugs. A moment later she took out her own, placed both sets on the path nearby, and began to talk to Chrys.

Lia couldn’t hear what they were saying due to her own earplugs, but, fortunately, Bella noticed what was going on and came to take out Lia’s earplugs before she even had to ask. Sound returned to the world, and Lia was able to hear Chrys speaking faintly. “I’m just tired.” She said. “Really tired, like I could fall asleep.”

“No pain?” Rose asked.

“There was some pain, but it went away after you cast that magic.” Chrys confirmed. “Now I’m just sleepy.”

Rose breathed a sigh of relief and scooped Chrys up once again. “Then you’ll be fine with some rest.” She said. “I don’t know if this still holds, since you’re technically a monster now, but I find that usually someone this drained should rest for at least two days before getting back on active duty.”

“Two days?!” Chrys protested weakly. “We don’t have time for that! I gotta…gotta…” She trailed off, head bobbing and eyes closing before she snapped awake again. “S-sorry, nodded off. What was I saying?”

Rose sighed. “Lia, please put her to sleep magically. I’ve seen the type, she’s not going to want to rest.”

Yeah, on it. Lia replied, working up a quick sleep spell and hitting Chrys with it.

“Wait, I–” Chrys was cut off as the spell impacted her, body going limp as her eyes closed and she fell asleep.

“Bella, please pick up those earplugs I left on the path, I…don’t exactly have a good way to carry them right now.”

“Already done.” Bella replied. “Let’s get her home.”

Actually…Rose, you go on ahead. Bella, come with me, we’re going back in and hitting up one of the rooms. I’m going to try and grab a bed for Chrys to rest on. Shouldn’t take more than a few minutes.

“Got it. I’ll see you two later, then.” Rose said, and took off for camp, pace only somewhat slowed by her sleeping daughter.

“I’m ready when you are, my Queen.” Bella said. “Just give the word.”

Let’s go, then.