damned_institute | Day 43: Sun Room, Second Shift

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Day 43: Sun Room, Second Shift

When the shift changed, HK stayed put. Even after a long night of zombie killing, he had no interest in meatbag fuel, especially after all the discussion of chocolate with that rather strange meatbag. It was just making him crave the stuff even more than he had previously, if that was possible.

Oh, right. He was supposed to be looking for someone who was "VERY LARGE, WITH DARK HAIR." And also seemed to not know what lower-case letters were on the bulletin. As if that would help. He'd seen a likely candidate last shift, but talk of chocolate had distracted him.

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"Hmm... I'm more familiar with spirits than actual ghosts. We did have to fight the summon spirit of darkness, but only after we had it all... assembled. Until then, it was split up into pieces that didn't try to attack or do anything else hostile--they didn't even mind being touched." Raine had, of course, tried repeatedly to pick them up.

"I'm more familiar with actual immortals than types of undead, in general."

"Hmmm? Immortals?" Porky said, suddenly interested, "You mean to say that you have immortal beings in you world? And, uh, pardon my asking, but what exactly is a 'summon spirit?' I'm assuming it's a summoned deity of some sort, but you can never be too sure, right?"

Hmmm...Perhaps Raine would actually believe Porky if he told her he was...10,000 years old...

"Is it that unusual?" Raine asked, surprised. "True immortals, called angels, aren't common, but everyone knows about them. And other worlds seem to have their own versions. Besides them, we also have elves, who can expect to live around a thousand years. Half-elves like me have lifespans of about the same length."

She was curious why he wanted to know; well, this conversation should be worth remembering!

"N-No! Well, I suppose it is a little unusual, but it's nothing that I haven't...Uh...Which is to say..." Porky stammered. Ugh! He had managed to be so calm up until now!

"What I mean to say, is that we also have immortals," Porky said after finally managing to calm down, "They're called Magypsies, and they..."

Oh, God. Porky shouldn't have had such a big breakfast, because just thinking of Magypsies made him nearly gag. Those skimpy outfits they wore...their hairy legs...and...all that makeup...

"Ah, pardon me," Porky finally gasped after nearly vomiting, "As I was saying, they don't technically live forever, but they'll only die after the needle they guard is pulled, which means that they live for millenia at a time. Although..."

Porky looked around and then leaned in a little.

"Truth be told..." he whispered, "I am immortal."

Raine frowned, concerned, when he suddenly looked sick. When he managed to recover, she asked, "Are you one of these Magypsies?" If so, she was sincerely tempted to ask to see that needle... "What's the connection between immortality and the needles?"

The revelation itself was nothing major, in her eyes; her only companion from home here was another type of immortal, and she'd met more than her share of them, by now.

"Wha-?" Porky shouted when Raine asked him if he was a Magypsy, "How dare you call me a Magypsy! I've never insulted you so vilely! Honestly! I could have been a lot more rude to you, but no! I was polite!"

After ranting and raving for a few more minutes, Porky suddenly went absolutely silent mid-sentence. After that, his face went beet red and he bowed his head in repentance.

"Ah...I...beg your pardon," Porky said sheepishly, "I forgot you had no idea what a Magypsy is. While it's true that they're immortal, it's also true that they're...transvestites. Actually, I was gagging earlier at the mere thought of them...I know you didn't mean to insult me, but...they're just so...so...hairy...and they wear all this makeup and wear these bizarre outfits..."

"As for the needles, I have no idea how they cause the Magypsies to live so long," Porky said, grinning weakly, "And, again, I apologize for shouting. If you knew what Magyspies were like, I'm sure you'd understand."

Raine had been tempted to smack him, walk away, or both, but she decided to wait and see if he realized his stupidity first. When he did, she was slightly mollified. "Even if I had known, what's wrong with people wearing 'bizarre' outfits and makeup? The latter is important in many cultures, and the former could be applied to nearly any outfit if you're not used to the style in some way. Besides that, not every race has the same amount of hair."

Had he ever studied cultures beyond earlier versions of his own? Honestly...

Oh, dear...Raine was quite mad, wasn't she?

"Ah, I'm afraid you don't understand..." Porky said, sheepishly, "It had nothing to do with culture or race or anything like that...anthropologically, they were exactly the same as me. Let me explain in simpler terms...the Magypsies were essentially a race of dumpy, middle-aged men, complete with five-o-clock shadow and male pattern baldness that insisted on wearing lipstick, mascara, and stuff like that. On top of that, they wore the most garish outfits, like...bright pink leotards and feather boas..."

Porky turned to the side and coughed.

"It really has to be seen to be understood completely, I suppose," Porky said, "Again, though, I apologize."

Raine raised her eyebrows slightly; different cultures had different standards of beauty, but that was somewhat odd. "And this was a group consisting only of men? Had any of them been raised that way?" Maybe they had formed a counter-culture of some kind... or just a club.

She was curious why he called them a race, though--if he really meant that, she was especially curious how that worked.

Ah! Raine finally seemed to understand!

"Well, it's a bit more complicated than that, I suppose..." Porky sighed, "The Magypsies technically don't really have genders, per se, but their forms are about the same as a full-grown male's. To be honest, I'm not really too sure how they work myself...they say that they're women, but they're obviously men...and they live for centuries at a time. They were also most likely the first beings in existence. All that I really know is that they are the...ah, is 'sacred' the right word? Whatever. They are the sacred guardians of the seven needles of Tazmily Island."

...now Raine just wanted to meet this group. ~~Unless they liked dressing up visitors.~~ "It sounds like they may be asexual in the literal sense," she mused, definitely curious. "And if they embody both genders, I can see how they would come to be known as sacred beings.

"Do you know anything more about the needles they guard?"

"Hmmm...you may be right..." Porky murmured. It was true that they appeared to be men, but Porky had never actually checked "under the hood."

...

Oh, God...disturbing mental images flooded Porky's mind and he couldn't help but gag once more. After he had settled his stomach, Porky addressed Raine's question.

"Ah! This is sure to interest you!" Porky said with a grin on his face, "Legend has it that there are seven needles scattered around Tazmily Island, each pinning down a different part of a massive dragon's body. They say that when all seven needles are removed, the dragon will awaken and that its unlimited power will be granted to the one who freed it!"

After explaining the needles to Raine, Porky realized that he was panting and grinning like a maniac. He quickly composed himself and gave a nervous chuckle.

"Of course, that's just an old folk tale, you understand," Porky said, "There aren't many people who actually believe it, you know?"

"Mmm-hmm," Raine said, slightly amused. "How many of these needles did you manage to find, and what happened when you removed them?" The validity of folk tales varied, but sometimes it was to one's advantage when most people had long stopped believing in them.

Of course, that generally no longer applied when actually facing down the guardians of the artifacts you were after!

...Was it really that obvious? Either way, as long as Raine didn't know what Porky had intended to do with the dragon's power...

"Well, I didn't pull all of them..." Porky said, a little gloomily, "Only six of them were actually pulled before I came here. And what's really frustrating is that I was just about to pull the last one before I got whisked away here! Who knows what could have happened while I was gone?!"

"But," Porky said, a little more quietly, "Every time a needle was pulled, I could feel this immense rush of energy come pouring out of the hole where it was held...the ground seemed to shake, and purple gas shot up out of the hole, too! It was truly a sight to behold!"

That did sound like an impressive sight! Still, Raine said, "It might be a good thing that you didn't succeed. My student was supposed to have the honor of becoming the vessel of a goddess; we found out almost too late that it... wasn't quite what we had been told."

And then there was the side effects of acquiring all the summon spirits they were after, but... she'd save that for later.

"Oh?" Porky said, interested now, "A goddess you say? How very intriguing...ah, would you mind telling me how the ritual was performed and what went wrong? I mean, I'm assuming there was a ritual involved. Also, do you know if the student is...here?"

If Porky couldn't have the dragon's power, which was almost certain, given that the Commander had already failed to defeat Lucas once, perhaps there were other ways he could gain vast power...

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Day 43: Sun Room, Second Shift

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