Fight or Flight (V1)

Chapter 24: Searching

Rendog looked into the mirror and put on the last part of the ensemble: the flower crown.

He felt the change happen, almost like he'd taken off a jacket he'd worn for hours. He was Renbob now.

Alternate personas was an interesting skill that not many Hermits had. An alternate persona was like a clone of you that shared your body, a clone with different tastes. Some personas were so similar to the original that no clothing change was needed to channel them. Others took up to an hours worth of concentration to channel.

Some, like Grian, had a lot. And others, like Joe, had none. For many, their personas changed every season, like a haircut. Scar and Stress were among those.

As for Ren, channeling Renbob was relatively easy, just a quick costume change was all.

"Well diggity dang." He said to himself. "Another Hippie needs my help!"

And he made his way back to where Grian was.

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Grian watched as Rendog went in, and Renbob stepped out.

"Alright bro, what do ya need?"

Grian stifled a smile. He hadn't seen his hippie friend for almost a year. "Good to see you, Renbob. I need help making a potion."

"Wouldn't you go to Doc or Cub for that? Or maybe even Scar?"

"I would, but it's not their knowledge I need. It's yours. Out of everyone and their alter ego's on the server, you know the most about plants."

Renbob shrugged. "Alright dude. What're ya tryin to make? And why?"

"Well, uh..." Grian remembered why he was there. What he'd done. "I need to create a cure. For something I created."

Ren gave him a quizzical look, but didn't question. "Well, where do you want to start?"

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Beep. Beep. Beep.

"Do you think he'll wake up?"

"No. His condition's been getting worse."

"But if he dies, he'll be cured, right? He'll respawn, like nothing ever happened."

"Again, no. This is magic we're talking about. Remember how Grian's magic wounds stayed even after respawning?"

Beep. Beep. Beep.

"...I see. It's really that serious?"

"Yes, Scar, It's that serious."

"How much time do you think he has?"

Mumbo listened to the silence, only broken by the the beeping of the heart monitor Doc had hooked him up to a few minutes ago. Scar had came in, and he and Doc had been discussing Mumbo's condition.

Doc answered, deadpan and serious. "At most? He's got a week."

One week until perma-death.

One week to break out of this.

One week.

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Grian sighed, flipping through the book, looking for anything. The first step to fixing this, was to find out what exactly he was fixing.

So while Ren was collecting every herb imaginable, Grian sat cross legged in his camper, trying to find a diagnosis.

"Curse of the Sinking Stone, Curse of the Monstrous, Curse of Anonymity, of a Broken Heart, of the Diminished, of the Hunted..." He mumbled to himself, flipping to page after page.

"Curse of Eternal Sleep? That sounds like it..." He said to nobody in particular. Maybe he was onto something? No. No he wasn't.

That was clear when he read the description, along with how it was cast.

Eventually, Renbob poked his head in. "Found anything yet, Dawg?"

Grian shook his head as an answer, not even looking up from the book. There were hundreds of curses in the book, and a hundred variations of each. He found himself enveloped in the runes, searching and searching.

One strange thing stood out to him. Many of the spells were either marked as "Seelie" or "Unseelie". He wondered what that meant. And some of those spells were marked with a season. He noticed that the more light-hearted curses were marked with the Seelie mark, and vice versa.

As he read, he noticed that pattern more clearly.

Seelie curses had far less of an ill-intent that Unseelie curses. Unseelie curses were more cruel.

Seelie seemed to have two sub-groups: Spring and Summer. Unseelie had Autumn and Winter.

And as he read more, Grian wondered what Seelie/Unseelie meant.

Many curses flitted before his eyes, only a quick scan before the page was flipped. Fae terms danced in his head, the runes seeming to slide off the page. 

....He needed to take a break.

He placed in a bookmark before closing the book with a loud snap, making Ren jump.

"Dude, ya scared me!"

"Sorry." Grian mumbled, standing up. He stretched his arms above his head, his wings spreading out as if on instinct. One smacked Ren in the face.

"Ow!"

"Again, sorry." Grian apologized.

Ren laughed. "It's cool. Anyways, I've got pretty much every herb I could find sitting on a table outside. Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Unfortunately, no." Grian sighed. "I was getting a headache so I'm taking a break."

Grian decided he was going to visit Mumbo, Area 77 was a short walk away.

He could've flown there, his wings had fully healed, but he made himself a promise. Until Mumbo was up on his feet again, Grian would not take to the sky.

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Xisuma paced, Scar, Joe, and Iskall sitting on a couple chests nearby. Iskall and Scar had just updated him on what happened.

"It's just like the accident with the Atrium." Iskall noted.

Joe tapped his chin. "I swear I've seen those black roots before, but not in the Atrium."

"You have?" Scar asked.

Joe was quiet, thinking.

"Oh yeah, back during the rescue mission, when he and I were stuck in the tunnels waiting for Cleo." He finally answered.

"So what connects these three events?" Xisuma wondered out loud.

Iskall frowned. "Isn't it obvious?"

The other three Hermits looked at him as he answered.

  "He was unhappy."