No More Riddles - Part 1

“Well, well, now that’s a place I wasn’t expectin’ to be anytime soon, y’know?” Anna spoke to herself and to the thing she believed was watching her. She couldn’t really see it right now, or anything else for that matter, but the feeling, or lack of it, was enough to tell anything to the inquisitor. It was easy to get it since there was a single place in which all her senses would be unable to answer at all.

And it wasn’t even the weirder this place could get. Staying here was like flying but without being able to feel the air as if you were doing so with your eyes closed. The only color she could see was white though.

It was bad enough that, during her first visit here, Anna was barely capable of reacting to anything. She took way too long to even understand what was happening. Understanding how she should ‘talk’ in this place was hard enough, so she could only ‘hear’ by the time.

There was also a problematic fact related to how her foster parents were dying or dead at the time and she had just been killed.

All she managed to get there was accept the incoming offer the voice gave her and then go on a rampage since she couldn’t control her unleashed evil eye.

The second visit was a little smoother and more useful though. For one, it was after her seals were, to some level, in place and she was more used to what she could do. More even, she was way angrier than she ever felt at the time and only found out how far she went after a tutoring lesson in this same unchanging room. A lesson that took much longer than it looked and gave her knowledge her real mother would die again to know.

In the end, this place was both scary, weird, and very useful. But right now, Anna wasn’t sure of what exactly was the reason for being here.

“So, am I goin’ to hell now?”

[There is no hell to you. No reason to. Your role is yet to end.]

There was no voice in the answer Anna received but she still understood it.

If she had to explain, then it was as if she ‘knew’ the answer to her question or ‘knew’ that those words were uttered. Another very weird feature of this place, but she couldn’t really complain about it. She couldn’t even understand how she could speak with what was on the other side, so complaining was beyond her.

Also, if she wasn’t wrong, this being was likely way too powerful to be worth the risk of complaining.

“So, if I ain’t done yet, why I’m ‘ere? Feelin’ nothin’ and talkin’ to some formless will ain’t fun at all to mah’ already messed head, so be kind with me, ay?” Without a moment of her asking though, the scenario changed from the eerie white nowhere to Anna actually feeling as if she was walking in a white room. She could even feel, even if only weakly and surely in a fake way, her body back. “Now that’s better… Thank ya. Why I’m ‘ere, by the way?”

[You overdid. The vessel was damaged. Awaiting its recovery.]

“Overdoing’s how I can get yer hero down, ‘kay? And ya’ve no reason to interfere if only due to that. I’ve got mah’ body in worse states already, so…”

[There is no worse state. It is in NO state right now. You overdid. Miscalculated. Even if it was necessary.]

It wasn’t exactly easy to understand this body-less voice, but some thinking was enough to get what it was saying. Though, if it was saying what Annabeth thought it was, then it was right in saying she overdid.

Since all was pointing to her not having a body to go back to right now, miscalculating was even an understatement.

“So, am I ‘ere to receive a scoldin’? I mean, it’s far fer sure, but it ain’t feelin’ like a real decent use of yer powers…”

[‘Scolding’ is ineffective for the current avatar. No records show it working even once. There is no reason for it too. Nothing of immediate value was lost.]

Saying that some thousands of deaths and an overall loss to the people nominally on Anna’s side were nothing of value seemed harsh, but was fitting. From all the redhead understood of this being, all it cared about was keeping the world away from destroying itself.

Or in other words, it would be a win as long as a single couple of living beings with complex souls survived, no matter if it was a human, a spirit, or whatever else. And it somehow believed that helping Annabeth, a clearly insane person and not even a living being, would be better for this goal.

Didn’t make much sense to the inquisitor, mostly because she was actively working with another psychopath, but who was she to go against it?

“Gotcha. I’ve still no idea why I’m ‘ere then. Real sure I ain’t desenvin’ praise fer now too. That traitor escaped in the end…”

[There is a warning. Observing you has shown worries. Corrosion by cursed energy faster than predictions. Unsure if your vessel can hold for long as is.]

“I see... Is that why mah’ head’s goin’ weird lately? Something like losin’ focuses to hold mahself in one piece of somethin’.”

[Unsure. Cannot know what is yet to enter the circle. The effects are unknown. Ending your existence is expected soon. Nothing more can be predicted yet.]

“Usually I’d only burn the energy a li’l later and be done with it, so it’s weird that I’d be affected... Heck! I’m even protected by mah’ chocker, so it shouldn’t even affect me fer real.” Anna thought as she remembered the day she got her most reliable weapon at the moment and started to feel weird. “Maybe that was another miscalculation from mah’ part, ay? But who’d think someone would be stupid enough such massive cursed bullshit in the middle of the capital?”

[It was not there before. Some saw the tools arriving and the new room being built. Safety was not assured in the long term. The goal is unknown.]

“That can’t… No. If I’m thinkin’ right… Yeah, it should be it, ‘aight?”

[It is a possibility. Predictions give a 73% chance. Cannot be sure with the known information.]

“Hah… Hahahahah! And I sayin’ mah’ team was full of dumb heavy hitters with no planners… How long since I’ve got tricked like this, ay? It got me real blindsided ‘ere...”

[Irrelevant. All you need to know is that an extra timer appeared. Either safeguard the device or defeat the key before the vessel fails. Expectations are between thirty-one and ninety million seconds. Converting to days… One to three months.]

“Good enough fer me… And from what I feel, more than needed even.”

[Success chances are below 50% yet. It is an advancement. Keep going and do not fail. All life is in danger here.]

“I know, I know… Don’t worry, ‘kay? I’ll kill him and be done with it. Now get me back down, ay? I’ve things to do.”

[I repeat. Do Not fail. Do not visit again too soon.]

“I will try, big boss… I will try…”

Then, with her last thoughts conveyed to the bigger existence, all her feelings vanished again like the white landscape. And next, her vision and feelings were filled with wet blue.