266 - Meeting With Neqal

Lexie sent Tate home after telling him that she might not come home for a while herself. She gave him Doyle's number and instructed him to contact the boy and reschedule their meeting for later in the week. Also, he was to tell Uncle Max that she was spending the night in the dungeon.

Of course, she wasn't sure how long she would actually be spending, but she told Tate they shouldn't get worried until a week had passed with no information. She would try to send word back about how she was doing, using Pvilycht, but if they hadn't heard from Pvilycht in a while, then they could start panicking.

Tate didn't seem to understand what was going on, but he was worried.

"What's happening?" he asked her. "Who is this person you're going to meet?"

"Neqal," she responded. "I'm guessing he's not mentioned a lot in the game, huh?"

Tate shook his head slowly. "Who is he?"

"My sort of Uncle." She sighed and gave him a comforting smile. "It's okay. I think I'll be fine."

"You think?"

"Yeah."

Tate obviously didn't want to take her word for it, but he didn't have a choice.

After Lexie sent Tate home and asked Pvilcyht to hide, the first thing she did was access Yasycht's domain.

This time, she didn’t simply teleport through him. Instead, she stayed there as the confusion swirled around her, making her head hurt.

“Where is Neqal?” she asked.

"Naem’s spawn," The Great Old One greeted. "Still as arrogant as ever."

She paused, thinking about her words. "Sorry. That was rude of me. How are you doing?"

She felt his pause of confusion as he processed the question. Then he said, "Have you changed since we last spoke?"

"Yes. I’m more human now."

"I see. Does that mean you will be setting me free soon?"

Lexie frowned. "Why would I set you free?"

"You will see in due time."

Lexie resisted the urge to roll her eyes. He was just as bad as Naem.

“Can you show me where Neqal is?” she asked. “Please?"

It would be too difficult to go through the trouble of looking for him in all the images that circled her. She didn’t have a true sense of his essence and didn’t know his appearance well enough either. She could easily get lost in another mini-dimension looking for him.

“What a curious coincidence. He was just looking for you, too.”

“Then it’s about time we meet? Don’t you think?”

“If you insist, I shall help you. But I will want something in return.”

‘What is it?” Lexie was wary of making soul contracts with Eldritch, and if he were to ask for one, she would simply need to find another way to contact Neqal. 

"No need to be anxious. I simply want you to open my gates in another domain. You have diminished my influence in this domain, and though I can still observe it, I cannot have as much freedom as I would like."

Lexie pressed her lips together. It wasn't a bad deal. She could capture a small level 3 dungeon for him, one that didn’t cause any harm to anyone else.

Or maybe she could even open his gate somewhere on Earth, but restricted, as had been done in District 8.

“How does one open your gate exactly?” she asked. 

“Through a ritual. Neqal opened the one here."

“I see. And will this ritual harm me or anyone else involved?

"It depends on how good you are at it. A few humans have succeeded with no harm to themselves."

Lexie bit her lip.

She should probably think about this, but she didn't have time.

She didn’t know when she would meet with Naem next, and she needed to speak with Neqal. 

“Fine,” she said. “Deal. Do you want a soul contract?"

"No need. Your word is enough here."

Lexie froze. Was he just being overly trusting, or did that mean that just by agreeing, she'd signed a soul contract? That was scary.

She didn't have time to think about it.

Suddenly, one of the swirling images stopped, and it showed Neqal on the screen. The calculations flashed in her mind, and she instantly appeared in a dark space. 

As her eyes adjusted, it gave her the impression of being in a Victorian manor, with cracked tables and stained glass windows. On the tables were vivsection tools, random creature body parts littered about, and dolls asleep and chattering in the silence.

It felt like a haunted house and an evil scientist's lab combined. But also, being inside it gave her a disorienting feeling, like nothing was right. The dimensions were weird, hallways stretching for miles, and she felt like she was outside and inside at the same time.

As her mind struggled to make sense of it, the darkness surrounding her moved, whispered, reached for her.

Lexie avoided and stepped over it, heading deeper inside.

“Neqal?” He was here somewhere. Well, everywhere. She could sense him even though he wasn’t appearing to her. “I just want to talk.”

Suddenly, a splash of black shot out from the walls and grabbed her by the throat.

It slammed her into the opposite wall.

Lexie instinctively grabbed at it, but it was too wet and sticky for her to take hold.

She could only flail in the air, gasping for breath, instinct ordering her to draw her cards.

But she didn't.

Not because anything was suppressing her powers, but because she didn’t want to. 

Instead, she reached out with her soul card and touched the creature. 

Neqal screamed in her atmosphere. “YOU DARE?”

Oops. That was a wrong move.

“Sorry,” she choked out. “I said I just wanted to talk! I want a deal!”

He snarled, and it flung her into outer space.

Galaxies swam before her vision as something from the sky grabbed her and slammed her into the ground. 

Ouch.

Lexie couldn't lie. It hurt. A lot.

It hurt worse than anything she'd felt in a while, and it reminded her of when she'd first been trapped in the dungeon and had borne pain for what felt like eons.

Her legs and an arm snapped under the impact, thanks to the angle she landed. Blood gurgled in her mouth as she was lifted again by the darkness, swung around in a slasso and slammed again on the ground. 

It's not so bad, Lexie thought woozily, consciousness threatening to fail her. Conrad had done that to Top Dog once. She would be fine.

She knew she would heal soon, so she wasn’t too bothered. 

Besides, Neqal wasn’t trying to kill her. Not really, anyway. 

He was just throwing a temper tantrum, and so she let him get it out of his system, let him fling her up and down and break her collarbone and bruise pretty much her entire body.

He poured out his anger on her, and it hurt so much that Lexie started to doubt her mission. Maybe this wasn’t a good time. Maybe he was too mad at her right now and wasn’t ready to listen to reason. 

She might just have to bail out of here. 

She wondered how she would explain her injuries to Uncle Max if she did. He wouldn’t understand, obviously, which was why she planned on staying in the dungeon until she healed. Luckily, time passed more quickly in the dungeon, so even if she stayed for a few days, it might only really be a few hours on Earth.

So she could just draw her card and shield herself until she accessed Yasycht again. He was here too.

She knew she could fight back and escape at the very least, but she still didn’t.

She wasn't scared of Neqal.

Neqal was a creature of immense pride. If she fought back, he would fight to kill her, just for the principle of it. Or he would try to transform her into one of the beasts in his little toy house. 

He wasn't doing that right now, because that wasn't the goal here. He didn't actually want to kill her. This was just payback.

She let him have his revenge, but she also didn't want to pass out in Neqal's domain. God only knew what kind of creature she would wake up as.

She turned on no pain but gain, using it to give her resilience, and also used her dungeon points, finally, to boost her constitution. Sure, it might make it more difficult for her to be incorporated into the system on Earth, but the way things were looking, it didn't seem like she was going to be incorporated anyway. Nor did she want to.

So she poured half the points she had into constitution, which also boosted her healing.

She took a few more hits before it finally stopped.

Lexie was battered and bruised, but she was alive and conscious as the hand picked her up and hung her upside down. 

She saw then a figure in black emerging, with a grotesque human mask on his face that had been twisted into a strange smile. He looked like Naem in a way, but he also looked like the man she'd seen in the vision.

Except no one could mistake him for anything but inhuman.  

He stopped in front of her and twisted his head 180 degrees so it almost seemed like they were both right side up. 

“You hijacked my dungeon from me," were the first words, a hiss that was somehow louder than a scream.

Thankfully, Lexie’s jaw still worked. “Yes.”

“And you stole my disciple.”

“Yes, but also that one was kind of your fault.”

The things holding her leg tightened in irritation, and Lexie bit her tongue but kept looking at him measuredly.

“Yet you enter my domain and try to steal even more of my minions."

“No, I was just trying to calm it down. I wanted to talk to you."

"Why?

"Because at the end of the day, I’m pretty sure we want the same thing. And I think we can work together to achieve it.”

“You must be mad or daft. Curious, since Naem mentioned neither.”

“Naem thinks I'm smart. He also said you were crazy, but I don’t think you are. I think you might be the sanest Eldritch to ever exist. And the two of us are very alike. Some would say we’re practically family.”

"You do know that Eldritch do not share familiar bonds the way you humans do?”

“No. But they share something even better. Power. The more power we have as Eldritch, the better off we all are. And right now, we have only diminishing power, out of our control."

That got his attention. Lexie could tell that she had piqued his curiosity, but he still wasn’t ready to let it go. He was still angry about the whole stealing a dungeon and Pvilycht debacle. 

“You came to my domain, understanding that I rule it. That I can denature you if I choose to. And turn you into anything I want."

“Yes,” Lexie said. “But you’re not going to." While her coming here had been somewhat impulsive and led by instinct and not as well planned as her human half would usually have it, she did have a reason to think that Neqal didn’t actually want her dead.

He’d only sent two creatures after her and Pvilycht, to mess with their identity and hurt them, though not necessarily kill them.

Even in the pocket dimension, when he had them in his grasp, he didn't disconnect the dungeon quickly enough and merely inconvenienced them before letting them escape.

Neqal was a lot of things. Vengeful. Chaotic.Prideful. Unpredictable.

But he wasn’t stupid.

Getting rid of Lexie wouldn't serve him in any way. In fact, it would do the very opposite.

It might incur Naem’s wrath, Aiden’s wrath, and he would also be down a bargaining chip.

Additionally, he had to consider the possibility that she could be used as a tool against the Fae.

So, in that vein, all his antics had merely been to inconvenience and cause pain. Never to kill. 

That was why Lexie had felt safe enough to come here. She knew she wouldn’t die, though he would probably make her hurt a lot. 

And he did.

“I don’t know how long I can stay conscious like this," Lexie warned him. "What little blood I have left is kind of rushing into my head, and that’s not a good thing for humans.” Some of her blood had even dripped on the floor, the dark red hue lapped up by the shadowy darkness. 

Neqal shook her one last time, then lowered her to the ground.

She couldn't do much except sit there as he twisted his head back in the right orientation. “Does Naem know you’re here?”

“Nope, although I really don't know. Sometimes he can tell when I’m looking for him, especially in my dreams. I’m not sure how.”

He gave her a look and turned his head ninety degrees in the other direction, seemingly scanning her from all angles. “I don’t understand what brought his attention to you in the first place. You do not look like much.”

Lexie guessed he was talking about why Naem gave her a shard of his soul. “My father asked him for a favor.”

“He was not entitled to agree,” he said. “It caused him more trouble than you're worth, so why would he do it? Have all the experiments broken his mind?"

‘What experiments?" Lexie asked curiously. 

“What is this conversation you want to have with me? And you better hope I like it, because while you might think that I won’t kill you, we both know that we have no idea what I will or will not do.” His smile somehow turned even more crazed; “Better humans than you have gambled on my magnanimity and lost.”

"It’s not your magnanimity I’m gambling on. It’s your ambition and your intelligence, and I doubt I will lose on either front.”

“Talk. Your endless sycophancy bores me.”

Lexie resisted the urge to smile. He was so much like Naem but so different as well. While Naem hid his intelligence with silence and riddles, Nepali hid his behind madness and unpredictability.

But a madman would not have created Pvilcyht, quite possibly the most useful creature on Earth.

Although he did squander him quite carelessly.

“I’ve discovered a way to destroy the Fae system on Earth.”

“And who told you this is what I wanted?”

"Isn’t it?” Lexie said. “You’ve been helping the Alchemist all this time to come to that result. Isn't it the point of all the antics so far? Overwhelming the heroes and destroying order undermines the system.  The system thrives by order, doesn't it? When there's too much chaos, it splits apart. Right?"

He didn't answer. He kept staring at her.

"See, I knew you were helping the Alchemist from the beginning, especially with the unstable dungeons and the chaos orbs. The only thing I could’t figure out at the time was why. What was in it for you?”

“And have you solved that mystery?"

“I think so. I think that you know that if the Alchemist manages to collapse the Fae system on Earth, it weakens the system overall. Which is why the Fae go around conquering, isn't it? Because it makes them stronger."

He didn't respond to that, so Lexie kept going.

"The Chaos on Earth was only the side-effect, a distraction from your larger goal, to destroy the Fae. Obviously, Eldritch aren't allowed to even think of going against the Fae overlords. But you, Neqal, have always been great at finding loopholes." Lexie pointed out. "So you found a way to do it without the Fae's knowledge. I'm not sure how entirely, but the Fae probably think that all the Chaos caused by the Alchemist is simply a means of getting revenge on the heroes and proving that Alchemy can work. But you know differently. You know that Alchemy can’t work on a larger scale, but Alchemy can cause outsized damage to the system, and if you manage to do that on Earth and weaken or distract the Fae, then maybe you can finally start a snobwall effect that leads to the emancipation of Eldritch and the rendering of the Fae powerless. I can help you do that better than the Alchemist can. With card magic."

He waited for a few seconds, and then a rough, wicked-sounding laughter echoed all around the atmosphere. 

“You’re not nearly as smart as  Naem gives you credit for,” he said.

Lexie frowned. “That’s a little hurtful."

"I’m hurt that I actually wasted my time listening to that. Is that what you were able to conjure up in your tiny human brain? Card magic? That's the thing that's going to take down the Fae?" He shook his head, his tone carrying a mocking sting. "This isn't just about magic, you pea-sized atrocity. You humans, have made your entire ecosystem based on the Fae. Nothing in your world can work without the Fae. Everything, including your technology and your very lives, is intertwined with the system, and you do not have any of the infrastructure to live without it. Pathways are intrinsically embedded in every human body. What do you think will happen when they're suddenly shut off?"

Lexie blinked. She'd assumed that extracting people from the system would make everyone who didn't have soul magic temporarily mundane, and they could use card magic to make up for it.

But she hadn't thought deeply enough.

She'd forgotten that even mundanes had pathways, and if the system was tied to that, then the very nature of the human body was dependent on it.

Well. That complicated things.

"That is not even mentioning what the Fae will do to you if they believe you actually have a chance at destroying their system." He swept in closer. "Better species than you have tried and failed to defeat them. What makes you think you'll succeed?"

"Because I really don't like to fail," she said. "I'll admit I haven't worked through the kinks of my plan yet, but I assure you that it has merit. And I'll show you. But I need you to give me a chance and stop trying to kill me at every turn."

"Naem tried to ask me the same thing, and I refused. Why should I agree now?"

"Because we're family?"

Neqal gave her a disgusted look.

"Oh, come on. You're a hybrid just like me."

"I'm not like you. I'm better."

Arguable, but Lexie didn't pursue the case.

Before she could be too offended, though, Lexiie realized that Neqal had simply pointed out flaws in her plan, not necessarily rejected it outright. Neither had he said that she was wrong about everything she'd said.

He did the thing Naem did, where his silence seemed to be acquiescence.

So she was on the right track. It would just be harder than she thought.

She wanted to talk to Duru again. Maybe she could get her to show her the ins and outs of the system.  

She also needed to talk to Elvira.

And maybe a human doctor.

She needed a coalition for this to work, a movement of those who wanted to be free from the Fae overlords.

Maybe she should talk to Frank. He might know some people.

"Look, just give me a chance," Lexie said. "My cards aren't just regular cards. Eldritch-linked card-magic. It helps out Eldritch, too."

"Even if I believed that to be true, that's not a good reason for me to help you. Why should I care about helping other Eldritch who are not me?"

Lexie shrugged. "United we stand, divided we fall?"

He looked unconvinced.

Lexie swallowed. "What if I give you something in return?"

"What?" he sounded impatient.

Lexie took a deep breath. This was probably not the best idea she'd ever had. In fact, if Naem knew she would do this, he would probably scream at her.

But it was the best idea she had for now.

She materialized a soul card she'd made before she came here and handed it to him.

"I know you wanted Pvilycht to steal my soul card," she said. "Well, here it is free of charge. I figured we could call a truce with this. I took something from you, and now you took something from me."

"You would give this to me?"

"Yes. It will help you, and you will learn how it works, but you probably won’t be able to make another one without me." At least she was hoping for that to be true.

"And you believe this is enough for me to try to harm you?"

"I'm hoping it is."

"And what about the rest of the Lords? Will you offer them soul cards as well?" There was a note of displeasure and possessiveness in his tone.

"I won't need to. Because I think once you understand what that offers, you'll want to get more. And the only way you get more is with me alive. You and Naem are more powerful than the rest of the Lords. Between the two of you, you can probably keep them off me."

He gave her another head twist. "You're banking on my protection."

"I'm not. I'm banking on your greed."

Lexie hoped she was right here. She was really betting everything on his not being able to reverse engineer the card without her. But if he could or if he could find a way to extract her human magic without keeping her alive, or if he could find a way to use the card against her, then she was screwed.

It made her feel better that he didn't immediately take the card. Instead, he eyed it with suspicion, like it were a trap.

"It's okay, it doesn't bite," Lexie said. "In fact, I think you'll like it. And when you do, you know where to find me."

Lexie felt a little like a drug dealer here, especially because she felt triumphant when he took it.

"The next time you show up in my abode unannounced," he said. "You will not leave Lexie Sparrowfoot."

She smiled. "And what makes you think you can keep me here?" She said it right as she vanished and appeared back in her dungeon, with a sigh of relief.

She was in the safe zone, and she felt Pvilycht come up beside her.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

She sighed. "Yes, I think so."

"You should rest," he told her. "I'll be here."

Lexie nodded and closed her eyes.

Lexie woke up with Pvilycht's hand on her head, reminiscent of Ryn. He'd taken the weaving ability from her card, and he weaved her back together as well as he could.

As he let her heal, he read his book out loud, asking questions like what it meant to 'actualize' and what his 'true self' was.

It was a nice way to pass the time.

Lexie didn't think that much time had actually passed in the human world, but when she appeared back, she heard a loud argument going on around her.

It was between Max, Stella Firebringer, and Monty Ward, who was, for some reason, in her living room.

"What's happening?" she asked as she came down the stairs.

Max glared at her. "Where have you been?"

"Here and there," she said noncommitally. "Why are you guys arguing?"

"It’s your dad," Stella answered, because Max looked too fired up to do it. "He’s been in an accident.”