Episode 8.4 - Expedition Campfire.

It's been over a week since Eshu's miraculous recovery. We all kept a close eye on her at first, sure that it must be some sort of act or coping mechanism, but no matter how long we looked, nothing changed. We kept waiting for a catch, for her to suddenly break down in tears. Not because we wanted that obviously, but it just seemed far too good to be true that she could ‘recover’ so completely in such a fashion.
     Eshu is Eshu again, more so than ever. Bubbily and hyper and downright raunchy!

One morning with a defeated sigh, Lila announced it was time for an expedition. It came as less of a surprise than you might think; she'd been mumbling about it for a while. In essence, the incident with the town has highlighted that we might have more company than expected in this post-apocalyptic world - for better or worse - and that more information on the lay of the land is vital. A secondary purpose she confided in just me and Ko: That people often open up more on trips, with a nice change of scenery, that sort of thing. Well, it seems worth a try.

 And so we set off North, leaving Major Tom behind in command, the Estolpfo and villagers still hard at work on their various building projects. I almost dread to think if they'll erect any strange bits of architecture in our absence.

We decided, based on the old minimap for Escape's world, to head for a solitary mountain that used to be a popular viewing spot in the game. There was a chance it might have been destroyed, but we had to aim for something.

 Hiking in the new world has its pros and cons. On the one hand, the further north we go, the more torn up and muddy the land is. Trodden down by clashing forces, cratered by stray spells and bombs, littered with the odd decomposing demon corpse or sparking pile of robotic parts. Even the sky is thick with dust and debris, often making it unpleasant to breathe. On the other hand, everything is very flat now. We follow no roads, but rather simply walk as the crow flies, in a straight line towards our goal, stepping often through the ruins of old settlements and landmarks reduced to rubble.

 It's easier going than you might imagine. I don't know when I gained such stamina; we walk for ten hours a day easily, marching across the landscape. Lila actually does own a horse; I don't see it often, as it seems to be a bit of a lone agent, but sometimes you see it trotting around the fields in the fort's general area. It is, of course, a skeletal horse, a huge and impressive creature, but still a tad small for all four of us.
      In the old days, it could take a couple of weeks to ride from the top of Escape to the bottom, but when you level all those pesky farms and villages and homes, it rather speeds things up.

Our days are fairly quiet; the odd topic will spark some banter, and Lila continues to give magic lessons as we march. Those make me feel rather inadequate, I won’t lie. The girls have a whole vocabulary of demon language words and their meanings now, working on aggressive and enhancing spells I don’t understand the half of. Meanwhile, I’m still on single words paired with ‘imagination training’
        They did in amongst convince Lila to tell us more about her family. She told us stories of her oldest brother, the one she likened me to once. Stories of her older sister, too, whom she claims was the brains of the litter. And tales of a half dozen younger siblings, it seems there were quite a few.

 On the Eshu front, she reveals a strange type of colour blindness that came as a shock. Not full on black and white or nothing, but apparently she sees some colours differently from others. Albeit that wasn't quite the sort of opening up we'd hoped for from her, but it may explain the mystery of the base’s barrier spell camouflage not working on her.

We do periodically have to take cover; these lands are not wholly deserted. We've come across a few groups from both of the other worlds. One particular encounter really stands out; we took refuge in the ruins of some old building and watched from afar a meeting of drones from the Mechanised Empire. They were not the scout type that we've grown rather used to, but instead, they were the Killer-Drone class, a far more powerful unit from the WarLands game.

 To describe them my mind is reminded of those black bins you get on streets, the ones with ashtrays on the top - except where the rubbish slot would be, is this massive laser turret. We saw a dozen of them slowly approach a group of humans, or well, 'cyborgs'. In their game's world, the Cyberborgs (humans with mechanical limbs, metal-plated skin, or artificially enhanced organs) made up the population of the world. By rights, this group of robotic humans should have been the drone’s natural leaders, so we were rather shocked when, after a rather brief conversation, the Killer-Drones simply opened fire.

 Within seconds, we watched bulbous balls of superheated plasma energy melt the cyborgs alive. Even if we wanted to intervene, we never got the chance; their death throes were just that fast. The best we could do was guess it was some sort of factional infighting - one more oddity of the NPCs in this world post-merging.

Distractions aside, it took us about a week to find the still-intact lonely mountain. From its peak, we could see an awesome view, one that was once the sort of beautiful vista video game trailers so often open on, but that has now been replaced by the rolling landscape of ashen land and destroyed civilisation.
      I say 'we', but the others can see way more than I can with my feeble telescope. Lila has already taught the girls the same spell she uses to see great distances; apparently, they can see as far as across the borders into the other worlds, gaze upon the decimated castles and nuclear wasteland of the Demon Realm. Opposite that, the shattered glass and metal cities of the Mechanised Empires, flattened to a pulp by magic and great Eldritch demons.

Given my inability to see as far or as detailed as those with magic, I absently took to sketching what they describe; creating a map of the new Escape and the major points of note that remain.
     Our mountaintop camp is about one-third up the ‘country’, two-thirds away from the very tip, implying another two weeks of ten-hour marches in a straight line is all it would take to reach the utmost northern point - a horseman could do so even faster. To the northeast, we spotted the ruins of Escape's old capital city. Just a crater in the ground now. A big impressive crater, but all the same…

Along its outskirts, the ruins of its outer areas, we spotted something more pressing - a large faction of demons. A real ragtag collection of goblins, ogres, imps and skeletons patrolling and camping out across the ruins. Survivors of the one-day war to end all wars.

 Lila seemed fairly unworried by this, however, stating that demons that scattered and disorganised hardly pose a threat to us. When we asked if she'd consider going to them and bringing them home with us, she shrugged. Supposedly, the likelihood is exceptionally high that they would indeed submit to her, as she's likely the only Grand Demon not hiding in a bunker right now; however, foot soldiers of mixed allegiances and skills could be more hassle than a boon, and their loyalty would always be one of convenience, a loyalty that might vanish should another Grand Demon ever appear.

The more alarming discovery was to the west. Gathering along the old barrier between Escape and the Mechanical Empire, we spotted hundreds, if not thousands, of Killer-Drones. A myriad of tall, narrow traffic bollard murder-bots, congregating into outright armies. It's clear that in the one-night world war, no one really ‘won’. Effectively, the fantasy and sci-fi game worlds respectively levelled each other - but out here in the wastelands, it seems pretty clear to us who's winning smaller conflicts. The demons are in small pockets, aimless and disorganised; the drones, much like the ones we faced before, though diminished, without orders and low on power, are gathering.

Resorting to their basic operations, seeking out life and systematically destroying it. Perhaps the ones we saw kill cyborgs were just following that logic too, wiping out even half-alive beings simply to fulfil their basic programming.

And yet, despite all this doom and gloom, despite potential enemies that could turn their eyes south and attempt to invade us someday, there was one bit of good news: A surviving human city.
To the far North - so far my poultry telescope certainly can't see it - is the game's homage to high fantasy, a city of rising concentric circles climbing up the side of a mountain. Generally considered Escape's second-largest settlement, and its most fortified by far, Arianrhod still stands.

 Unfortunately, even Lila's magic can't see so far as to spot people or smoke from chimneys, but she confidently states the city is fully intact, its layered walls standing firm. It's a moment of excitement for us. That city had plenty of player homes you could buy if you were the type to prefer roleplaying in a populated area. Along with shops and other player facilities, combined with simply being a rather cool place to explore, chances are a large number of players, not to mention tens of thousands of NPCS, are living there, still alive. Holding out in this new world, just like we are.

 Even our demonic mistress agrees that someday, when we're confident in our defences, and the situation with roaming drone armies settles down, we should try and send word; let them know we exist and see how they reply. It's strange, I never liked people - I mean, I'm a shut-in for crying out loud, it's in the job title - and yet, I find myself genuinely warmed to know we’re not the only true humans left in this world.

"Here Sek," Ko says, handing me today's dose. My face no doubt scrunches in displeasure as I swallow the foul-tasting tablet, "Ugh, thanks..."
As a precaution, we're all taking radiation medicine bought from the menu. Lila is a demon, but the girls insist she should, too. Unlike the skeletal Estolpfo, Lila is very much a demon with skin, organs and other things that might get ill in such circumstances as we now find ourselves.

“It's a pretty nice spot this, you wouldn't really expect it on top of a mountain," Lila muses, sitting between Ko and Eshu on a fallen log across from me.

"Ah well, that's a 'game-thing'. This place was made to be visited, rather than to obey geographical constraints," I reply, warranting me one of Lila’s patented ‘your species is insane’ looks.
      The mountaintop is indeed pretty cosy, a small meadow really. Lush, soft grass, some cute trees, plenty of space for a campfire crackling in front of us, and so high up that the dust and depravity down below are nowhere to be seen.

"You could just reach up and grab one," Eshu adds, staring wide-eyed at the clear view of the night sky and stars above. It's a somewhat cliché sentiment, but I get how she feels. This high, up staring at the glorious 8k hyper-detailed night's sky-box is really something.

"Hiking is fun, I wouldn't mind doing it more," Ko says softly, stirring the campfire with a stray twig.
Lila gives her a raised eyebrow, "All we’re doin' is walking for days on end, surely you don't find it that engaging."

Ko just smiles back at her, Eshu instead answering, "If it’s with you guys, anything is fun."
     The ever critically weak to cute girls Lila, sighs at that, "Now really, you guys are impossible sometimes, ya know that. I can't imagine what it is you find so fun about being with me in particular."

"You get feelings like that, too?" I mutter without thinking. My cheeks flush as my face catches up with my words.

The two newly dubbed Tier 2 demons develop displeased looks at us both, "You guys really just don't get it, of course we enjoy being with you both," Ko says, and Eshu nods firmly.

Lila shrugs, looking oddly unconfident compared to her usual self, "Even though I'm an evil demon?"
       Now the girls look thoroughly pouty, leaning in all but cheek to check, one on either side, Lila is brokered no line of retreat as Eshu and Ko respectively glare at her in a surreal scene of ‘moe skinship’.
     "If you're evil, then so am I, easy," Ko says.

"What sort of logic is that?!" Lila moans, growing more flustered by the second from the overwhelming amount of close contact.
      Ko sighs, her tail and ears dropping disappointedly as she moves back and crosses her hands behind her head, "You just don't get it. Anyway, what you call evil is mostly just practicality."

"I enslaved you, that's pretty evil!" Lila tries to counter.
      "Meh, advanced socialising technique," Ko replies, before even touching her bare neck to hammer home the point. Upon becoming blood sisters, the slave collars fell off just like that. In fact, they even have an immunity to such devices now, more or less. That said, I don’t think that was Lila’s point, and I’d like to add, I’ve still got my collar hanging heavy around my neck! Hmph!!

"Eh?!" Lila slumps, not even reacting to Eshu on her other side, poking at her face playfully.

"And not to mention, you say you've done evil stuff, but most of that was before Escape anyway. So like really, did you even do it--"

"No," Lila cuts in harshly and in an instant, the air goes icy. Eshu stops messing, and I find myself sitting more upright. I haven't felt this, aura? This sensation, from her, since that day we first met in the cave.

"I just mean that you shouldn't beat yourself ov--" Ko tries to recover.

"That's wrong," I add, it's not my place to say, but I can't help it. Some things never change, I guess. I've thought a lot about Lila's 'morality' lately. I was always the one least happy about the arrangements, I suppose, but more than that, I can't ignore the suffering of those villagers because of Lila's 'practicality' and likewise... "If she is real, if she's lived her life, then the bad things she's done, whatever evil shit we will never know about from her past, that's as real as she is, right? Whether they happened before the game ‘started’ or not."

Lila's eyes fall on me, those glowing amber orbs underlined by her stern expression. After a moment, she nods at me, as though to say thanks.

"But Sek, that's..." Ko adds.

The great and mighty Grand Demon of mildly ‘anime’ antics, raises one of her small hands, beckoning silence; "Listen, even if I don't fully understand it, I appreciate all yere’ kindness towards me. And lets us not beat around the bush, I've grown very fond of you guys, far beyond that of my initial plan's specifications."

She closes her eyes and smiles as we all look at her intently.
    "You can have my blood, I'll give it gladly. You can have my whole body if needs be. My name is already yours, is it not, sisters of Rowan? You have my affections, my benefaction, and gods know I let you spoil and play with my dog to your heart's galore."

"To be fair, I was their dog first... No wait, don’t call me that," I sigh.

"Heh," she smiles, eyes shooting open, reflecting in them is all the vibrancy of the campfire light's glowing flames. Her smile is impish, no, tonight it's downright devilish, "You can have all that gladly, for I have no one else to give it to, because you've given me all that in turn - But my past, all our pasts, those are our own. Our crimes, our sins, the people I have hurt and stolen from. The fellow demons I have cut down both on the battlefield and off it in the name of my own power and position.
      The people, friends I have sacrificed for the sake of strategy and survival - all of those deeds and sins and memories, all the pain and remorse and regret, those are mine and mine alone. They are what make me who I am; they are as precious to me as they are shameful. They're the one thing I won't give you, K’?"

There's a calm silence as her words sink in with us, even Eshu's recent uncontainable energy seems to settle as she shuffles in place, looking a little uncomfortable.
     Before the silence can go from warm to awkward, Ko nods softly and, reaching over, takes Lila's small hands inside her own, "Sorry, I was thoughtless to say what I did."

She shakes her head softly, "I know you meant well."

"Maybe it's wrong of me to claim that if you're evil so am I so flippantly," Ko continues, her elegant face ever framed by her snow white bangs, warm with a smile of her own to rival the demons, "But whatever it takes, I want to stand by you.
     This world gave me legs, but it was you who taught me how to run. This world gave us freedom, but you filled it with a purpose. And now this world turns its back on us, filled with so many terrible things and acts, and there you are shielding us from it. How could I not want to stand by you?"

Lila actually blushes, trying to avert her gaze even. It's a touching scene, could have been taken right from a manga I wouldn't mind a copy of, but my brain has it paused a couple of ‘lines’ back. It's busy, processing, trying to tie together some loose dots that the catgirl badass's throwaway comment just lit up like a neon sign.
     "Ko did you," I stutter, "Did you not have? I mean, was that just a figure of speech just now, or?"

Their tender moment broken, she and Lila finally stop holding hands to look at me. Realisation suddenly dawns on her face, "Ah! I'm sorry, Sek, that was careless of me, haha. I've been meaning to tell you, honestly. It’s just hard to find the right moment to bring something like that up."
     I stare between the trio sitting on the log. Lila and Eshu are simply looking at me, there's no surprise in their expressions, they already knew...

"Ah-ha, that's fine, that's completely fine, seriously, don't worry!" My eyes dart between Ko's eyes and her legs. Long, slender legs, always exposed to the cool night air, framed between her battle kilt and combat boots. Pale soft skin; they are beautiful legs, like all the rest of her. They have athlete vibes, I've often thought, strong but lithe like a swimmer perhaps. All those crazy acrobatics lately, how she managed to move like a cat as though she never had a human's muscle memory to begin with…

I force my eyes to stay on her face. What sort of ass would stare at her legs after learning that, "We really should be getting some sleep now hey? Gotta' start heading back tomorrow, right Lady Lila?  Can't stay up heart-to-heart all night ah-ha," I fire off, knowing I must be speaking way faster than normal and probably waving my hands around in a strange way, but I can't help it.

"Sek, you sure you're good?" Ko asks a bit more nervously.

"Good? I'm great! And seriously, you know, ah, thanks for letting me know and all," I nod, trying my very best to sound convincing, to keep the whirlwind of emotions and thoughts going through my head at bay.
     Eshu is staring at me, head tilted and maybe a little worried, even pained-looking, but not saying anything. Lila is also watching me considerately, "Ya, he has a point. Bright and early tomorrow. But look, it's oddly warm and cosy up here, how bout we ditch the tent and just lie under the stars?" she grins.