Chapter 310: Parsing Pieces of a Puzzle (1/2)

Florence raised a hand while stammering, ”Uh...that's an exaggeration, right? Hyperbole? Perhaps a saying I don't understand?”

I winced, ”Or Plazia's a fortress caliber eldritch. That's a bad situation.”

Florence's fur bristled over his skin, and he took sharp breaths. I pulled the Rise of Eden over our group, the augmenting aura calming him down. Behind me, another person panicked as well. Well, monster, but either way, Amara gasped in shock.

She took a step back, pointing her palms down. As she did, her hands trembled. The smaller eldritch hyperventilated before putting her hands against her head. Florence snapped out of his daze and walked up to her. He snapped his fingers, ”Hey, you alright? Everything ok? You look unwell.”

She couldn't speak, her emotional unease overwhelming her. Three minds of mine went into action, dissecting the situation. One of them noted this reaction was her being afraid. The sweating, trembling, and shortness of breath sealed the deal on that. Those signs spawned right after I mentioned a fortress caliber eldritch, so the two connected somehow.

My second mind remembered that Amara was a part of the mission to Gypsum. She was almost eaten by the Spatial Fortress there. A third mind clicked those details together, and I stepped up to Amara. I raised a hand with confidence,

”Hey.”

My voice compelled her, and she glanced up to me. I lunged down and placed a hand on her shoulder, ”Listen to me. You're not the same eldritch you were when Yawm controlled you. You wear my skin and flesh over your body, and it gives you strength. If you can't believe in your own power, then trust in mine.”

I raised a fist, ”I will keep you safe.” I peered at Florence and Helios, ”That goes for each of you as well.”

Florence waved both his hands like he was psyching himself up, ”Of course, of course. I just, you know, was abjectly terrified for a moment. It would be par the course for me if you hadn't already guessed as much.”

Amara gave me a nod, her legs wobbling still. I stood up, giving Amara's helmet a tap, ”Come on, stand up straight. You're the Harbinger's technician, aren't you?”

She adjusted her helmet, staring down. She took a slow breath, her heart rate steadying. She murmured, ”Yes...Thank you. The thought of facing another fortress...That terrified me. I lost myself while imagining what happened before, but I won't allow that to happen again. I will move past this fear in time.”

Althea let me know she feared the fortresses, so of course, the other Gypsum members felt the same. Armed with those thoughts, I smiled under my helmet, ”Alright then. Now, Reason, I want to understand more about what's going on with Plazia. Is Plazia literally the ground beneath us, or is this just a phrase you're using?”

Reason considered my question, her emerald form rippling like a stormy sea, ”That...that is what we have gathered. If we burrow too deeply, then Plazia's insects will swarm us from all angles. We believe that insects are the center of the planet because of this.”

I closed my eyes, marveling at Reason's objective misunderstanding of how a planet works. I took basic science back in, like, fifth grade, and there, I learned that solid planets had molten cores for the most part. Insects wouldn't hold up an entire mantle of a world, as the pressure would destroy them utterly along with the heat.

That being said, maybe Plazia was pulling some shenanigans with gravity and the like. I didn't put that past him as I opened my eyes, ”Ok...So insects are the center of the planet?”

Reason raised two extended limbs of slime, ”Yes.”

”And this is because once you burrow down, anywhere, there are bugs?”

”Yes.”

I gave her a slow nod, ”Alrighty then. Is there, uh, anything else you can tell me about Plazia?”

Reason tremored, ”What would you need to know?”

Florence took a step up, ”When did he land? What's his favorite color? What does he do in his spare time?”

Reason shifted towards the arena of slimes, staring at another battle, ”Plazia arrived on Svia many centuries ago. The exact date of his coming is unknown to us, but we understand that he is an ancient entity. We do not fully understand him, and that is one of his greatest weapons against us.”

Oh yeah, I figured as much by now. Reason continued,

”His tactics are vast and unwieldy. He pits us queens against one another, abusing our most admirable asset - our ability to wage war. This immense destruction of our colonies is why we've let him fester as long as we have. It is only recently that our squabbling has finally stopped thanks to Wrath.”

Reason watched a blue bruiser slime get squashed before she dangled a limb over the body. The razor queen slurped up his remains in a disgusting guzzle. As the cobalt ooze disintegrated in her moss-colored muck, Reason pulled back. She sighed,

”And despite our unity, he has evaded us time and time again.”

At this point, something dawned on me - they knew next to nothing about Plazia. I mean, at least half of what she answered with had nothing to do with him. It was the inner workings of the razor queens' situation, something I already understood. I lifted a hand,

”I got that already. I'm trying to get details about Plazia so that I'm not left squandering at what to do if he jumps my team or me. Do you know what he looks like, at least?”

Reason shrunk away from me, ”We have never seen his true form.”

I scoffed, ”Ok, does he have a favorite slime he likes to eat?”

”He never eats us.”

I grabbed the side of my helmet, ”Is there, I don't know, any tactic he uses that's most common?”

Reason jiggled, ”He has confounded us at every turn, and so, we don't know what his tactics truly are.”

Amara seethed, ”I think there is more that you don't understand than merely his tactics. It would seem you know nothing of your ancient and venerable enemy.”