D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

--- Lily ---

Lily was in her human form when she let out a long sigh. Her confidence in finding her way to the exit, or at least back to everyone else had taken even just five minutes later. She’d transformed to ensure Malt could see where they were going… but the truth was Lily found herself mostly guessing.

Lily felt like she was playing a video game, trapped in an endless looping maze almost like the lost woods. The easiest way to explain to someone who couldn’t sense just how completely messed up the space here was? It was a lot like walking into a room with four exits that would spit you out at a completely random location, including the ’door’ you just walked through.

Sure with her link to Kat and her sense of space Lily could tell which direction would lead her closer to her girlfriend… but that was part of the problem. Her link to Kat worked on a level she couldn’t properly understand. The link acted a bit like a guide laser, or perhaps a bit like a giant arrow in the distance. Continue reading stories on empire

Lily knew what direction she needed to face to see Kat at any given time, and she knew which part of space would take her closer to Kat because of her still relatively new senses she’d unlocked while everyone else was finding this place… but the problem was using them together. Sure Lily could take them closer to Kat using her sense of space…

But it wasn’t so refined that she could take them on a PATH closer to Kat, just that she could ensure that whichever exit they took would be the closest to Kat’s current position. The problem? Not only was Kat constantly changing position but being closer to Kat right now didn’t actually mean closer to Kat in the long run. It was entirely possible that by constantly trying to get closer to Kat Lily was actually getting further away…

And the worst part was that Lily couldn’t really tell. Sure she could tell how the difference between her and Kat changed, and she could and if she pushed herself she could even check the ’next room’ over to ensure that she was getting closer to Kat then if she just looked at the available rooms… but that same sense of ’looking one room’ over told her an uncomfortable truth.

Just because the path looked correct didn’t mean it actually was. A path that took her one step closer, might force her to take one that took her two, or three steps back. Worse? There was no backtracking so if Lily chose poorly she couldn’t rescind her choice… and likely wouldn’t even know that she’d made a mistake at all.

The fact that Kat was constantly moving around, following the path Meg was treading towards the exit? That did not help matters. It meant Lily had to come clean. So letting out another sigh Lily turned to Malt and said, "I think we’re best off just waiting here for a while,"

"Wait why?" asked Malt. "I get that I messed up but I don’t exactly feel comfortable leaving the girl’s to fend for themselves. Not while hanging around Meg…"

"Um… you do realise that you likely can’t stop her?" offered Lily.

Malt snorted, "Yeah obvious sly but if she decides I’m more interesting then they are it means I’ll be the one dealing with her shenanigans…" *

Did Meg actually sneak around and cause issues for him? Or does he just have good instincts?*

"Right… well… ok so that’s fair… but at the same time I don’t know if we’re making progress…" admitted Lily. Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Malt tried not to be angry but couldn’t help but glare at Lily a bit for that statement. He didn’t sound angry, but it wasn’t hard to tell that he was, "When you transformed, the first thing you said was that you could lead us through the distorted space!"

"Yes, yes it is… and I stand by that! Sort of. So like… I can’t sense the whole maze you see? I can only sense the ’step’ we’re currently on and the step after that if I’m focusing. I can also tell how to get closer to Kat… but she’s also moving around somewhat erratically because of the distorted space and that link sort of just… cuts through all of that?" explained Lily.

"That doesn’t really tell me anything. What’s the problem here?" asked Malt.

"Um… hmm… how do I explain? I can take us closer to Kat… as the crow flies. Essentially. My sense of space isn’t all that refined so I can’t really… follow the link specifically through the warped space? Or maybe it’s because the link is too good and it just ignores the twists and turns?

"If I actually had better control over the space element I could just brute force my way directly to Kat by walking in a straight line but that’s not how this works. Um… hmm… how do I explain this though? It’s sort of like… hmm… I guess it’s like working out too much?" offered Lily.

"I hate that I think I understand what you’re saying," grumbled Malt.

Lily nodded more confident in her answer now. "Yeah! So it’s like… the problem is that we need a ’full body workout’ but with Kat moving around so much I can only work on… say the arms. Sure it might seem like I’m doing the right thing but over time you’ll realise that you’re unbalancing your body… or if you’re going really crazy actually doing damage. It’s like that.

"I can get closer to Kat. I know how to get closer to Kat… but ’closer’ is relative and not necessarily the way we want it to be. So… it’s probably better that we wait until everyone else stops for lunch and then we run to try and catch up. At least then Kat will always be in the same direction," explained Lily.

Malt sighed, "I guess I get your point. Are you going to tell the group why we’re not moving?"

Lily nodded, "No reason not to."

Malt sighed again and dropped down onto the ground clearly intending to relax on the grass… and vanished. Lily stared at the slight spatial distortion Malt had fallen through. She’d sensed it before but it wasn’t large enough for a person before… and only barely seemed to be now. Even as Lily stared at it she could feel it shrinking.

Acting swiftly Lily transformed and dove through, finding herself just outside the dome and right next to Malt. The problem? The treants were nearby as well and all three of them turned around to face them. Lily didn’t waste any time, a giant shadowy hand wrapped itself around Malt, and reeled him in as she jumped through to the side, the space shifting her a huge distance away from the treants in an instant.

Lily looked around, she could just barely make out the dome in the distance though Kat and crew were nowhere to be found. She’d apparently found a way to send them pretty far to the wrong side… but that was fine. It was only the wrong side right at this moment, everyone else might come back around.

Lily gently lowered Malt to the ground, careful to keep him away from any disturbances in the natural space of the area. Once she was sure he was on solid ground Lily allowed the shadow hand to retract as she transformed once again. "Ok, I don’t know what THAT was but either you have space affinity, or you have something like it… or maybe even like… negative space affinity?"

"What do you mean?" asked Malt, somewhat shaken.

"Well that gap you fell through was too small. It’s the reason I didn’t warn you about it. Before you sat down it was just a slight space distortion. There’s plenty of them everywhere here. It’s just the big ones that move us around… or so I thought. I guess I didn’t notice it when you got lost the first time, probably because I wasn’t paying specific attention to you…" mumbled Lily.

"Well… what does that mean?" asked Malt as he looked around at the nearby ground, not willing to just sit down after what happened to him but a few moments ago.

"Yeah I really don’t know how to explain it better? I suppose it means that the fact you got separated from the group probably wasn’t your fault? Or… well it maybe still is in part but it’s less your fault then it was? Hmm… I could probably ask Hunter and Meg if they know anything?" offered Lily.

Malt shook his head rapidly. "Yeah I’d really rather not have those two know anything at all about me thanks,"

"Eh, Hunter’s not so bad… but yeah if you want to keep it from Meg I just won’t say anything. Kat will know, and Meg might work it out… but I suppose it’s for the best if nobody tells her," said Lily with a nod. "She might found out anyway, but I won’t tell her,"

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