Interlude XXVII

(Charlaine)

The giant blue sun had long since risen to its zenith as it began to crest and slowly make its way down in the sky. As it descended, it shed its brilliant light on the alien planet. A planet that only recently began showing signs of life and magic.

At first, the signs of life had been small and subtle, a tuft of grass that would dry out and die by the end of a standard day. Next there would be a raincloud that would pour to life, creating a temporary mud trap that would stick to your feet and body layer by layer, the more you walked through the area. Only to then be dried and cracked within hours of its arrival.

Each spell cast, was a testament to the defiance of fate that the pixie had. Honestly, Charlain had to admit that she loved seeing the futility that the pixie suffered day in and day out. Everyday, through pained eyes that slowly melted from the sun, from the sand, from unknown allergies, she watched and stared.

Charlaine watched each day, as a fully rejuvenated pixie emerged from a capsule, only to come out, and cast spells from morning to nighttime. With each spell, she would slowly wither to a husk, until she could no longer fly. Then she would continue to cast until she couldn't walk, often collapsing to a husk on the ground. At which time, the crone of this world would pick up the dead pixie and put her back in her box that would then be sealed, so that she could rest up and try and fail again the next day. Then the next.

The sight was amazing, and oddly therapeutic. Here she was, the instigator of her and the two others' torment being tortured to near death every day, every drop of life and vitality being drained from her, until she was nothing but skin and bones. Then like magic, she would come back, have a smile and try again until she once again collapsed.

While she began collapsing more and more frequently, her impact was undeniable. By the third day, those tufts of grass remained. By the five day, over an acre had been saturated with life in such a way. Once the ground was there, Charlaine and her co-conspirators were put to work. They tended the fields, then picked up the pixie when she collapsed and placed her back in her cocoon.

Seeing the cocoon, Charlaine was originally curious as to what wonders remained inside. What type of healing capabilities were hidden within the cocoon that could allow for the constant transformation that occurred to the Doctor each and every day. One where she entered as barely more than a corpse, and returned as a fully living pixie with energy and zeal to spare.

Yet it was empty, well that wasn't entirely true, for there was one thing in there, a dying husk of a worm.

Hiss.

Thinking back to her first time bringing in the Doctor, Charlaine remembered looking around and finding the circular room oddly bland. Just dark emptiness, that would seal up completely behind her once she closed the door flaps on her way out. No adornments, no food, nothing. Just a near dead serpent that coiled around the Doctor once she was on the ground.

For a moment, she thought about ending the pixie right then and there. It was clear that this was torture, that no sane person would be able to withstand such pains, it would be a mercy, especially considering what she put Charlaine and the others through. And it was that last thought, the thought of a premature death being a mercy that stayed her hand.

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Death was too easy for her. Like this, the pixie could understand what it was like to live the life of a Chuthulu. It was for that reason and purpose alone that Charlaine smiled at the pain that the Doctor was now facing.

From that point on, it was cathartic to see the way the Doctor would work herself to exhaustion just a little bit faster each day. While truly changing the landscape of the world in ways that were incomprehensible.

Before Charlaine knew it, there were bushes that could be hidden behind for protection from the burning rays of the sun. Then there were trees that offered fruits. Fruits that both burned with acids and tasted amazingly sweet. Yet, she had long since gotten used to the minor levels of pain that she would suffer, and began to focus on the good in her life.

Life became easier, and oddly repetitive. The only difference was the size and shape of the serpent. That should have been the first clue, the fact that the serpent was seemingly healthy after a week, and seemed to be holding back while staring at Charlaine as she placed the pixie's lifeless form down on the ground.

Once she stared at the serpent, only to feel a cold radiation of power emanating from the beast. A cold radiation that something deep within Charlaine's mind told her of imminent danger. Despite the creature seeming to be unable to move. Yet, somehow whenever Charlaine placed down the pixie, and turned to look away, she would always glance back to see that the pixie's body had somehow gotten right next to the monster. A monster who coiled its way around the pixie and twitched its tail annoyedly at her.

Looking back, that should have been a sign that the two were up to something. While the pixie's acting was phenomenal, always coming out somehow managing to do twice as much as the day before in less time, there was something off about her routine.

Then finally today happened.

It started with a bright purple burst of energy that filled the night sky. Almost like a reverse shooting star. At the time Charlaine thought nothing of this, as surely if anything was off the great mother would have noted something being amiss.

Only afterwards, did Charlaine realize the true plan. All this time the pixie had been doing things oddly, working in a near straight line away from her safe zone. What was more curious was the fact that Charlaine had just placed the pixie back to rest no less than an hour ago. But again, only after her body was near emaciated, and the ancient being herself nodded and forced Charlaine to pick her up and return her to safety.

When she arrived, the serpent was asleep, another sign, for the serpent always glared at her. Yet this time he remained asleep. At the time, Charlaine chalked it up to this being nighttime and the beast being naturally nocturnal. An error in judgement that she would regret, especially after it was shown that the pixie and her familiar had both vanished.

At first, they searched the entire planet, looking for safe spots, and hidden caverns. Oddly enough there were a few such spaces where a pixie could have hidden, these too were ultimately deemed to be misdirection. Only after exhaustive searches and scans were carried out did the crone and the others finally understand what actually happened.

The pixie had somehow managed to return.

Realizing this, Charlaine and the others were lost for a moment, wondering if their slightly easier life would suddenly evaporate slowly once that effects of the pixie were slowly destroyed. While change had been made, it wasn't enough to fully change the world, Charlaine knew that, and the old crone of this world likely knew that as well.

This was when Charlaine was given a task, to return to her home world and retrieve the pixie at all costs. With that mission pressed into her mind, she felt the desperation that the old crone felt seep through the commands. She felt the way the crone was staking nearly the last of her reserves of power to do two things, first send Charlaine back, then attach enough energy to her, so that she could grab and return with the pixie.

Given the task, she gladly accepted.

FWOOOSH!

The time it took to travel across space was near instantaneous, and while Charlaine had noticed a few faint bursts of purple light around her, the time spent traveling was far faster than she ever expected. For one second she was on the green fields of what had become her new home. Then the next, she was in the lands of her rebirth into this new afterlife.

Once again, she was in Timult, but this time not only had she changed but the city had changed drastically as well.

***

Meanwhile, at the exact moment of her arrival, Mr. Kujo couldn't help but find his attention drawn to a distant area far off to the east. As he stared, a shiver ran down his spine, a shiver of fear for the power he felt coming from the east was more frightening than anything he had ever experienced before.

Then as if being summoned, his overwhelming sense of fear abated long enough for him to hear the conversation going on around him.

"Years?"

"Yes, years.."

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