//------------------------------// // Curiosity Kills The Horror, Satisfaction Brings It Back // Story: Subject 27 // by Phyrexian //------------------------------// Chapter 26 - Curiosity Kills The Horror, Satisfaction Brings It Back We spent the next few hours going over red stemmed plants and what kind of effects they can have, different kinds of poisons: Paralyzing, Numbing, Crippling, the list goes on; I’ll keep these in mind just encase I need to rely on old skills. She goes into more detail about more of the basic type of harmful potions, I get the jist of what I can craft with these. We touch on the basics of ones with more different-colored stemmed herbs, it was a light yellow; Nyuel goes into detail as these aren't really used much because the outcome of the potions made with these can be random and chaotic if it’s not brewed correctly, but if you’re able to brew the potion correctly with these types of herbs and plants it could greatly enhances its effects. She says that each type of herb and plant can have opposing effects, for example the Poison Joke; It has a light blue stem while most blue stemmed ingredients have beneficial traits to them. We come to a stop after studying for additional few hours, we talk amongst ourselves before a zebra enters Nyuel’s hut. He holds his head high as he is dressed in important-looking robes, Nyuel greets him with a friendly smile and a hello but he does not acknowledge her; He walks past her and walks to me before speaking. “Demon, you’ve taken up the task of learning our ways of healing. What do you hope to gain by learning our ways?” He wastes no time as he cuts straight to the point. “Since you’ve sealed my powers, a dormant virus was freed and now runs rampant through my body, claiming it as its own. If I do not find a cure with your way of healing than everyone in Unyasi is in trouble. I wish no one any harm, all I want is survive long enough to complete my quest.” The shaman stands there, his eyes feel like they’re staring right into my very soul. Nyuel makes her way towards the shaman as he interrogates me, she stands there quietly as she watches the shaman and I very carefully. “I see, Nyuel, you know the demon best, are his words filled with truth?” He turns his head to see Nyuel giving him a deep nod in agreement before he turns his gaze back upon me. “Very will, Demon our tribe is the smallest of the three, if you seek a cure you’ll need to go look somewhere else.” His words don’t phase me, I figured finding a cure wouldn’t be so easy. “I would like an audience with your leader; Caesar. But Nyuel has informed me that I need the blessing of you and your High Priestess before I may speak with him. Would you kindly give me your blessing so I may be on my way?” “If I may, Vrax? Demon has been very diligent in his studies and what ails hims is true. Nightmare Moon has sent him to to find a end to our war that the maddened Shaman has started. If his intent was to devour us he would have by now. I put my trust in Demon and would like to travel with him to see his quest through.” Vrax soaks in what Nyuel just said and stands there pondering over his thoughts. I’m about to speak, but stop before I open my mouth as I hear the clicking in my head, I can feel the Horror moves around my mind as it stirs from whatever dark corner it’s been nesting in. I close my eyes and enter a meditative state and escape from the world around me and into my little happy place that’s being invaded - - -         I open my eyes in the darkness, the clicking continues on as I look around to see where the Horror is at. I see the small white box as the Horror lurks in the darkness from behind it, it sniffs the air before leaning in close to the box. The clicking comes to a stop as the Horror is only inches away from the box; What was it doing? Was it trying to figure out what it was? It brings one of its claws up to the top of the box, it tilts its head to the side before poking the box; Bad idea.         The box reacts to the Horror’s poking and zaps it, causing it withdraw quickly and releases a powerful roar; As it roars I can see its many sharp teeth. I laugh a little at the Horror as it brings its claws to the box again, but being more cautious than before. I slowly approach the Horror and the box, inching my way towards them, the Horror looks up and sees me and starts to stand up and clicks once more; I come to a stop and simply watch it.         I can tell the Horror isn't blind, it obviously saw me approaching it, but why does it keep on clicking? Before I can hear Nyuel calling my name, snapping me back to the world. - - -         “Demon, are you alright? You closed your eyes and went quiet.”         “Yeah, sorry I was meditating on something, please continue.”         “I did not know demons could meditate, you’re a strange one. But I’ll give you my blessing if you promise me this, you’ll protect Nyuel with your own life.” I look over to Nyuel and see her joyful face and look back to Vrax and nod in agreement.         “Very well, you have my blessing, may the spirits watch over you two on your adventures. Take this idol and show it to Caesar as proof of my blessing.” Nyuel takes the small idol and takes it over to a saddlebag resting against the alchemy table.         She starts to pack her bags with potions and ingredients before slipping it on and tying it tightly around herself. She trots back to me and eagerly waits by my side, Vrax takes his leave leaving us alone.         “Come Demon, we still need one more blessing before we can leave for Caesar.” I agreed and we left the hut and made our way across the village towards the High Priestess hut.         As we walk through the village I can see out of the corners of my eyes as zebras; children and adult alike gawk at me passing them, was my appearance that unnerving to them? Or was it the medallion carelessly hanging around my neck and they thought I’m working for this Nightmare Moon person? Something catches my attention causing me to slow down just a little bit as I examine what it was closely, there were two zebra foals sparring in a ring as adults watched them. There fighting style I’ve never seen before and what it looks like it highly mobile fighting style equally balanced between defensive and offensive stances. For children to easily learn what appears to be such a taxing fighting style at such a young age, but able to keep it up without a hint of fatigue on their bodies; I was blown away to see this kind of discipline in their tribe.         A leather ball hits my back as I slowly walked aimlessly while watching the two foals spar together, I come to a stop and turn around to see the ball resting at my feet; I bend over to pick it up and see a foal standing roughly twenty feet away from me with a terrified look on her face. I smile at the little one and toss the ball gently back towards her, her face lights up with excitement as she see the ball coming back towards her, she smiles back at me and runs off to play again. I turn around to see Nyuel talking with another zebra as she waits for me patiently, I walked towards her as she finishes her conversation, I meet up with her and we continue on a short walk towards the High Priestesses hut.         We near the hut and I look up into the sky and see the sun is starting to hang low, it was roughly dinner time and I was glad the air was finally starting to cool down. We enter the hut and we’re instantly assaulted by the powerful scent of incense; Nearly choking on the overwhelming aroma that it created. The High Priestess looks up from her meditative state, the jingling of her gold rings around her neck catches my attention. She’s an older mare, but very wise looking with gold hoops piercing her ears.         “High Priestess, we came to receive your blessing.” Nyuel bows before her, I do the same trying not to be impolite.         “Ahhh, a demon who knows common courtesy! This is a rather nice surprise. Now tell me, why do you seek my blessing, child?” I look into her eyes and see vast amounts of wisdom in them, if I had time I could probably learn a thing or two from her.         “If I may Priestess, we came here today for your blessing so I may speak with Caesar about the events that are currently taking place on Unyasi; I only wish to help the zebras in need and stop whatever is causing any suffering here.”         “I know you’ve been sent here by Nightmare Moon, but you do speak the truth about your actions you wish to take. I’ll only give you my blessing if you’ll do me one thing before you leave, the Shaman that’s been speaking with the evil spirits and demons has created an evil book filled with their dark magic; I want you to obtain this and destroy it.”         “Very well, if I find this book I’ll make sure to destroy every last piece of it and make sure no one will be able to use whatever dark secrets fill its pages.” The Priestess gets up off her haunches and slowly makes her way over to me.         She stares me dead in the eyes, watching me very carefully before a smile breaks across her muzzle, she reaches down to her front left hoof and removes one of her gold bracelets and hands it to me; I grasp it in my hands.         “Thank you Priestess for your blessing.”         “May the spirits watch over you two on your journey, and please bring peace to our beautiful land.” Nyuel and I bow one more time before leaving her hut.         Nyuel and I head over to the marketplace and stock up on a few supplies before leaving her tribe. I just stand there and watch Nyuel as she gets our supplies. I’m twiddling my thumbs just waiting as a ball hits the back of my head. The ball drops to the ground and I turn around and pick it up, I look up with a smile on my face to see the same foal from before but this time she has a few friends with her; She nervously stands there and watches me, I simply smile and toss the ball back towards her. All the children’s faces light up with joy and merriment and run off to with their ball once again. I turn around to see Nyuel with a smile on her face and her saddle bags full.         “Looks like the children have taken a liking to you.” She laughs and trots past me, I just smile and walk behind her and we make our way to the gate of the village.         We stop by one more hut before leaving; Nyuel steps inside as I wait patiently outside the hut. I hear laughter coming from behind me as the children play with each other, I close my eyes and just listen to their playful merriment; The world around me goes quiet as all I can hear are the children that are at play. I can hear the ball hitting their hooves and bouncing against the ground. I turn around with my eyes still closed, I hear one of their hooves hit the ball hard enough to send it rocketing towards my face, I open my eyes just in time to catch it with my left hand. The children freeze in place as they watch the ball fly towards me, I can smell their fear as the cower together in a small tight knit group.         “Now children, this is the third time this ball has flown at me; is there something you need?” I lower the ball to reveal a smile on my face, the filly from before steps forward; Her legs are shaking.         “D-D-Demon, would you p-play with u-us?” childish innocence, such a precious thing. Not knowing if I was good or evil, they just wanted someone new to play with.         “I would love to little ones, but I’m afraid that I’m leaving your nice little village here really soon, but I promise when I come back I’ll play some games with you.” I toss the ball back towards the children, they all rejoice and begin playing again.         I turn around to see Nyuel with a smile on her face as another zebra stands besides her. Wonder how long she’s been standing there?         “Demon, we may leave now, this is the new healer for the tribe. Caesar’s palace is going to take us one new sun and moon before we reach it, we should leave before the new moon is born.” She says her goodbyes to the new healer and we leave the village.         We walk through the jungle in silence, I’m slightly on edge as I don’t know the area at all and have no idea what might lurk in the overgrown plant life; I keep my eyes peeled for anything that might jump out and attack us. The sun hangs lower in the air the further we walk into the jungle, after walking for a few hours I come to a stop and look at my surroundings and stop at a fairly good-sized tree; Nyuel stops by my side and turns her head to see where I was looking, but is utterly confused by what I was looking at.         “Nyuel, it’s getting late, we should set up camp for the night; And I know the perfect place to do it.” I point towards the large tree and Nyuel is still at a loss.         “I don’t understand, Demon. Why do you wish to sleep in a tree rather than on the ground?”         “A tree provides more protection than us being on the ground, I don’t know this jungle as well as you and I would be at ease if we slept up somewhere safe and away from things that go ‘bump’ in the night.”         “I still don’t quite understand Demon, and how would you propose us getting up there in the first place? We can not fly unless you can grow a pair of wings that you might be hiding.” She draws her head back and stares at my scale covered back.         “Simple, this is just child’s play to me. Look, you see those vines? They look thick enough to bear our weight and it’s only about a fifty foot climb to that rather large branch jutting out from the tree’s trunk. Are your saddle bags secured tight enough around you so they won’t fall?” She checks the straps again and looks up and gives me a quick nod.         “Good, now climb up on my back and wrap your front hooves around my neck and hold on tight.” I kneel down and hunch my back over, Nyuel hesitates for a second before climbing up on my back.         She’s extremely lightweight including her bags filled with our supplies. I slowly get to my feet as she holds on to me, I make my way towards the vines and give them a few good tugs, none of the vines even flinch with each pull I do. I wrap the vines around my left leg and start to pull myself up the vines, with each pull of my arms I take us higher and higher off the ground. I can feel Nyuel tighten her grip around my neck as she holds on for dear life, we’re only twenty feet off the ground before she starts to squirm a little, I tighten my grip around the vines and stop climbing to make sure she’s fine.         “Nyuel, how you doing back there?”         “I-I’m doing fine Demon, just not a big fan of heights.” I can feel her shaking a little bit as I rest there in the air.         “Close your eyes and rest your head against my back, I’ll let you know when we reach the top, when night comes you shouldn't be able to see the ground under the veil of darkness.” I take my right arm and push Nyuel further up my back and let her get a better grip.         I continue up the vines, the small workout brings me pleasure as my arms start to burn a little bit for working the muscles in them again. We’re nearing forty feet before Nyuel starts to squirm again on my back, I can feel her slowly slipping. I tighten my grip and push her up again my right arm, she tightly hugs my back and digs her head deeper into my scales. We reach the top of the vines and I climb onto the branch, I stand up on the branch and see a small hole burrowed into the tree, it’s a shallow hole but deep enough for us to sleep in for the night. I walk into the hole and kneel down and Nyuel’s eyes are still tightly closed.         “Okay Nyuel, we’ve made it, you can open your eyes now and climb down.” I can feel the hug slowly loosen as she slides down my back and lands on her hooves.         She gets her bearings and peeks her head out over the branch, only to quickly retract it away from the edge as she backpedaled into me. She turns around and see me and makes her way to the back of the small, room-like hole we’re in. She slides down to her hunches and unties her saddle bags and let them lazily slumps to the floor.         “You okay, Nyuel?” She nods at me before opening the bags and pulls out some fruit.         Night falls and the temperature drops low enough to make this a cool night, I’m going to sleep well tonight. I love the cold but hopefully it’s not cold enough for Nyuel. Light radiates from the ceiling above us, it’s a faint eerie green but rather beautiful to look at. I look up to see a few hundred bugs resting at the ceiling, there color puts me in a kind of a hypnotic trance as I’m mesmerized by the beautiful green glow they’re creating; They resemble Fireflies but slightly larger.         “Ah, this must be a nest for Baleflies, they’re common around Unyasi and like to group together in these swarms and awaken during the night. The color they create with their bodies is due to lesser spirits residing in their bodies and trying to communicate with the living world.” She takes a bite of her exotic fruit and I take one of the sweet fruits and bite into it.         We eat our dinner under Baleflies’s light. Goosebumps start to raise on my skin as the brisk night air nips at my body. The cool night air puts my mind at ease as we eat our food. I crawl to the back of of the room and lean my back against the wood, Nyuel sits there as she finishes her food and stares up at the Baleflies. My eyes feel a little heavy as I lay there, I look down at Nyuel and see her shiver a little.         “Nyuel, are you cold?”         “A little, but I should be fine.” I can hear a quite clattering noise as her teeth start to clatter against each other.         “Nyuel, you can sleep next to me or on my lap, I don’t mind the cold, You’ll be warmer this way and hopefully sleep more comfortably during the night.” She makes her way to me and crawls up onto my lap and curled up into a striped ball and lays down.         I lay my hand on her and softly pet her as I drift off to sleep, the light from the Baleflies slowly start to fade away as they fly out from the hole. As my eyes shut completely I can hear the clicking echoing through my mind as the Horror stirs from its slumber. Credits Editor frieD195