Catpurr 29: Schroedinger

Catpurr 29: Schroedinger

[Time Remaining: 19:20:01]

Less than a day. Adam sighed as he laid in his small cot eyeing his timer. Now that he was finally alone, he rubbed his finger, pulling up the interface to distract himself from his nervous and wayward thoughts.

He still held a hundred pounds of Cesium, whatever that was, in his ring. An item he'd been wanting to inspect but hadn't due to the object's assumed massive size. Meaning he'd have to take a look at it once he was alone within the trials.

He shifted his eyes, glancing over the third, forth, and fifth slots that had been filled with random objects after he’d forgotten to put in place holders in the ring’s slots.

-[Orb of Slope Finding x 1]

-[Ring of Invisibility x 1]

-[Crona's Amulet of Time Travel x 1]

T-TIME TRAVEL?! Immediately Adam pulled the item out his ring, summoning it forth from the void where he used identify to inspect the gold and silver necklace with a clear white gem embedded in its center.

[Crona's Amulet of Time Travel: A prototype amulet made by the Goddess Crona. Has the ability to teleport the user one second into the future or one second into the past. Requires a charge time of one second to activate. User is also affected and resetted along with everything else.]

"THIS IS USELESS!" Adam screamed, throwing the gleaming necklace away before taking out the other two items.

[Ring of Invisibility: When worn, ring turns invisible that's it, doesn't effect user.]

Useless.

[Orb of Slope Finding: A round marble. When placed on a surface, will attempt to find the nearest slope.]

Useless! This is just a marble! Adam groaned, holding the tiny blue ball and metal band in his hands. Besides being shiny, the items were absolutely and unequivalently useless.

Maybe I can pawn these for money. Adam thought to himself plopping down in his cot. If he had his old skills, he could probably deconstruct or break the items down, allowing him to just resell them as goods or even augment them.

However in his current state, they were all just useless trinkets.

I wonder how Schroedinger is doing… Adam sighed, rolling over and attempting to go to sleep.

****

Faith, The Capital of the Vol Theocracy.

"Report." Junith demanded, the paladin's back facing her invited guests as she stared down into the partially destroyed Holy Sanctum of Voltrain below.

"S-s-sister Junith." A bald man in the attire of a church scribe stuttered out, his robes charred with various cat scratches decorating his face. "I regret to inform you that we have had little success in researching the feline abomination."

"And why is that?" Junith said, her eyes shifting to a curtain below that was suddenly ripped in half and set aflame.

"Well, as you may already know. We aren't capable of seeing the cat. Everytime we attempt to look directly at the cat, the feline teleports, destroying the nearby area within a one foot radius. All attempts at destroying the abomination have been met with failure with even the Spear of Righteous Light unable to extinguish the beast. The best we can do is trap it within the sanctum using the cathedral's security features. There is also the issue with the fire breathing."

At the scribes words a twenty foot torrent of flames lit up, illuminating the destroyed church below.

"Have you tried corralling it into a secure prison room?" Junith asked, touching a scar on her cheek from where the necromancer cat's claws had nicked her.

"We have, but only the enchantments of the sanctum are powerful enough to contain its devilish magic. The Bishop is very displeased at these turn of events."

Junith sighed. It was as she feared. The beast of the necromancer was untouchable, nay, indestructible. For the brief moment she held the cat, her interface labeled the animal an indestructible item, with even her holy sword incapable of taking its head.

After she tried to dispose of the beast, the animal began developing powers, with the army having to contain the fire breathing cat by locking it in an enchanted prison created for its master that was fueled by the life force of hundreds of believers.

A measure that was temporary at best. Even though it was for the sacred act of cleansing heresy, the cost of so many lives weighed too heavily on Junith's heart.

Hopefully research into the cat can give us a link to its master. Junith thought, furrowing her brow as she thought of the portal and the day her prey had escaped. Her hand gripped on her sword, replaying the events of the coward who had thrown sand in her eyes.

Suddenly a knock at the onyx double doors took her attention.

"Come in." Junith ordered, a black robed girl walked in.

"Sister Junith. The Duchess of Volbrook is here with her father."

"I see. Bring them in." Junith said, turning to the scribe and ordering him to continue his research.

As the nun and scribe left, it didn't take long before a white-haired girl appeared, irate with a golden box in her hand.

"JUNITH!" Rosetta barked, the little brat bursting through the doors and immediately demanding answers. “WHERE IS HE?! WHERE IS THAT FILTHY DISGUSTING NECROMANCER?!”

“Currently beyond our reach. The scryers are attemp-” Junith began, however she was interrupted by the little girl throwing a tantrum as she moved to a nearby golden table and flipped it.

“YOU PROMISED ME! YOU PROMISED ME YOU WOULD KILL HIM! THAT THE CURSE WOULD DISPEL ONCE YOU DID!” Rosetta cried, fury in her voice as she trashed the room. “I GAVE YOU MONEY! MERCENARIES! FOOD! EVERYTHING YOU REQUIRED!”

Junith sighed. “We are making every available move we can to deal with the heretic-”

“LIAR! While you stand here my father still remains a frog!” Rosetta cried, brandishing the box and opening it to reveal a frog terrarium with a large fat toad sitting in the center.

Junith raised a brow, glancing down at the creature. “Mi’lady, thats is a toad. Not a frog.”

“What? They’re the same thing.” The interim duchess said, looking down at the box with furrowed brows.

“A toad is heavier, more squat, with bumpier skin and dry appearance, while a frog is more lithe, athletic with wet looking skin.” Junith pointed out, the girl not realizing that what she held in her hands was not her father but rather a common toad.

“Nonsense! This is my father! He’s just gained a little bit of weight from overeating is all.” Rosetta argued, putting the box to her eye level. “Isn’t that right father?”

A moment passed, then another. With the entire room silent as the duchess stared at the toad and waited for a response.

When the “frog” didn’t respond, Rosetta went wide-eyed, immediately dropping the box and running through the double doors screaming “FATHER! FATHER!”

Seeing the brat run off, Junith turned, her eyes settling on the toad crawling on the ground. A moment passed, then another before she approached it, placing her armored boot over the creature.

“Filth.” Junith said before crushing the creature.

****

Elsewhere.

Sitting under a large oak-like tree beside a splendid mansion of gold and silver, sat a large green frog that ribbited silently in fear, a tear falling from its eye as it hid, avoiding the flock of aerial predators encircling it from above, waiting for their chance to feast on his portly frog body.

Rosetta! Please save your papa!