Princess Hannah of the Jade Harem CH 37

Hannah stood at the edge of the etched circle, waiting until Quinny, Umtha, and Breanne returned. They had gone to search the rest of the tower and ensure they were alone before Hannah tried her next step. Blackbast paced irritably by the wall, where Legeis and Chandice looked over some of the components recovered from the map room. Evalynn stood by the door to the stairs, dutifully guarding the room. Frank stood at her side as she held one of his giant gray fingers, gently swinging it as she looked over the spell in her interface.

“So you brought the paladin skulls here to test how this spell works?” Frank asked as he read the spell over her shoulders.

“It seemed like a good way to practice it,” Hannah replied. “Plus, I want to question one without channeling essence to compare it to one where I do. If it doesn't add any significant time to the duration, I won't bother using it for the necromancer skull.”

Frank seemed to be content with that answer, so Hannah went over the spell one more time, using her interface to examine the details. Once she began to channel the spell, the skull would become a fragment of the player it once belonged to. That fragment would have the player's memories and be able to answer questions. Time would be against her, though, as the skull would begin to break down, crumbling to dust in minutes. She would get few answers if she asked elaborate questions, but short questions wouldn't be as useful. She hoped that she could buy a few more minutes by using her essence and the power of the circle.

“You seem nervous,” Chandice said as she joined Hannah. “Are you afraid you might learn something you don’t want to know?”

“No,” Hannah sighed. “I am afraid that this won't work the way I need it to. I have a lot of questions to ask, and if the spell description is accurate, I won't have time.”

“Ah, that's why you want to test it,” Chandice nodded. “You want to know exactly how much time you have before you use the real skull.”

Hannah nodded and dismissed her interface, satisfied that she knew what to do. What she needed was a good five minutes of solid answers if she wanted to get anywhere with her questions. Candice wanted to know how much essence Hannah planned to pour into the spell, but she couldn't answer. She had no way to gauge how much she was using as it was more of an emotional reaction than anything she chose to do. The only time she had ever directly controlled the essence was when she used it to boost her health. That had only worked as she hovered near death, seconds away from entering the buffer. Somehow, that gave her access to more controls that were not there in the waking world.

“Hmm,” Hannah said as she considered that idea. “I wonder if I can put myself into a near-death state?”

“What?” Chandice asked in surprise to the sudden shift in topic.

“Oh, nothing,” Hannah said with a dismissive wave. “I was just having another thought.”

“Well, let's not jump to a new idea until you finish testing this one,” Chandice urged before leaning in to hug Hannah. “And don't do anything too risky. I don't want my wedding present damaged.”

“Boy, you outdid yourself with that,” Hannah said as she looked at her husband.

“It seemed like the perfect gift,” Frank said with a shrug.

“It was very inspired,” Blackbast agreed as she leaned into Frank. “You are a good master.”

“Hmm,” Hannah said before turning back to the skull in the center of the rings. She smiled to think of the few days she spent as a wedding present to Roric and Chandice in a mountain cabin. The experience had been interesting, to say the least, and left Chandice with a loving appreciation for Hannah.

“We’re back!” Quinny called as she entered the room with Breanne and Umtha.

“So, are we safe?” Hannah asked as her little succubus girl ran up and swept her into a hug.

“All clear,” Quinny said. “I set zombies to guard the lower tunnels just in case.”

“I have some lesser banshees in the forest outside the main gate,” Breanne said. “I searched the outer yard, and as near as I can tell, nobody has been here since our battle with the forest warden.”

“The elemental spirits say we are alone,” Umtha added. “They will warn me if anyone approaches.”

“Well, then there is no reason to wait,” Hannah replied, putting an arm around Quinny. “Except to wait for my hug to finish.”

Quinny laughed and stepped back, her face beaming with a bright smile. She stepped out of the ring as Chandice shooed them out of the way, eager to see what would happen.

“So, are we taking readings for this?” Legeis asked as they gathered along the wall.

“No, we know this will be pure necromancy with maybe a little divination,” Chandice replied. “I doubt we will see anything out of the ordinary.”

“So, are we all ready?” Hannah asked. When everyone acknowledged she turned back to the skull and moved to a triangle of magical silver laid into the floor. She stood in the middle and steadied herself. The first of the paladin skulls would be questioned with nothing but the magic circle to amplify her power. She wanted to see how long it lasted without her tricks in play.

“Are we sure this will work?” Breanne asked.

“No,” Hannah replied. “The spell says I am supposed to place the skull into a magic circle drawn on a grave. It’s also supposed to be done under the moonlight, so this might all be wasted effort.”

“Well, let's see if the necromancer's circle acts as a grave,” Chandice said, urging her to continue.

Hannah closed her eyes and focused on the task, beginning a low chant that sounded more like a zombie moaning. She rolled over the words with practiced ease, calling to the dead beyond the void. With a flick of her hand, she dashed some salt over the skull, part of the process of the cast. Lines began to glow on the magic circle as Hannah raised her voice, calling to the beyond.

“Hear my voice and return!” Hannah cried before throwing another pinch of salt over the skull. “Return and answer my questions!”

“Look!” Quinny said as she pointed. “The ground is smoking!”

“It's working,” Breanne gasped as trails of black smoke began to waft from under the skull as if an unseen fire were being smothered. As the black smoke grew thicker, several magical symbols began to glow with a sickly green light. A faint blue light crawled over the skull like small cracks in the surface. Black smoke began to pour from these cracks as the smoke became a covering like flesh, and the skull floated into the air, raising to eye level.

Hannah nearly stepped back as those black lifeless sockets turned her way, and the missing lower jaw was replaced by a green magical copy. It hissed as if angry while continuing to pour smoke as if it were burning in some great fire.

“Who calls to the dead?” a voice as cold as a frozen grave hissed. It sounded like wind blowing up from a well and caused her skin to prickle with goosebumps.

“I did,” Hannah replied as she set her feet, determined to make this work. “A necromancer of great power.”

“Ha, ha, hahaha!” the voice cackled. “You are nothing compared to the necromancer kings.”

Hannah was shocked that the skull could reply with mocking laughter and biting comments. Was this an NPC spirit or some part of the player who was trapped, unable to respawn? She focused on her task and put the strange interaction aside to ponder later.

“I called you here to answer my questions,” Hannah replied as she noted ash falling from the skull.

“Then ask your questions,” the skull hissed. “Go where you should not dare to go.”

“Who are you?” Hannah asked as she steadied her nerves.

“Anathar, paladin of Hevinthor and knight of the holy empire,” he replied.

Hannah had no idea what those names meant, but it was a good start. She knew time was precious, so she moved to her next question to ponder the names later.

“How did you die?” she asked.

“I was swallowed up by the darkness,” the skull replied as black holes began to appear where parts of it crumbled away.

“What were you doing in the darkness?” Hannah pressed.

“Chasing you!” the skull replied in a much stronger voice.

Hannah felt a chill run up her spine as the spirit acknowledged that it knew who she was. This was yet another mystery that would have to be considered as she delved into her hidden past.

“Why were you chasing me?” Hannah asked as she leaned closer, her mind crying out to know the answer.

“To stop you before you destroyed everything!” the skull howled as its eyes suddenly glowed with orange light. “We were tasked with sending you to the void, but you took us with you.”

Hannah felt a chill like a ghostly hand was clawing at her from beyond the grave. She shouted to the skull to ask why it hadn't respawned, but the skull cracked, and all she heard was a howl as it crumbled to dust and fell to the circle. She stood in silence until Frank's arms wrapped around her. He had taken his human form so he could hold her tight as she closed her eyes and trembled.

“So it’s true,” Hannah whispered. “I am destined to destroy the world.”

“No,” Frank whispered back as she held her tightly. “We have no idea what it was you were in danger of destroying. For all we know, he was talking about their empire, or Kevin’s power, or the mad systems they put in place.”

“He's right,” Breanne agreed. “That spirit never said it was the world you would destroy.”

Hannah nodded as she welcomed Frank’s loving embrace, struggling to remain calm. She had several more skulls to question, but she no longer had the desire to get answers.

“You don’t have to do this,” Quinny said as she took one of Hannah’s hands. “We should go home and put the skulls away. You can ask more questions when you're ready.”

“No,” Hannah countered as she set her resolve. “I will press on.”

“Quinny and the rest of us are worried about you. Maybe it would be wise to wait,” Blackbast said. “His words must have touched a nerve.”

“They did, but he didn’t say anything we didn’t know already,” Hannah replied. “I want to ask more targeted questions.” Frank released her, and Quinny placed a new skull into the circle. This time, Hannah would use some of her essence and pull at the necromancer's circle to see if she could get better results.

With arms thrown out, she began her moaning chant, throwing salt over the skull as she called to the spirit. Hannah's eyes glowed with blue light as she poured a little essence into the effect. The necromancer's circle lit up, its runes shining with matching blue light, indicating the necromantic power was being boosted.

“Do you really think this will change the outcome?” Evalynn whispered to Chandice.

“I have no idea how her essence works,” Chandice replied. “All I know is she can use it to magnify magic. If anything is going to work, this is it.”

The group watched spellbound as the skull glowed with blue light and floated into the air. This time, there was a spectral silhouette, indicating a body that housed the skull.

“Who calls to the dead?” the skull asked with a similar voice to the first.

“You know who I am,” Hannah replied. “I want to know who sent you after me. Who told you to stop me.”

“Ithaniel,” the skull replied. “He said you would unmake the system.”

“What does that mean?” Hannah asked. “What system?”

“The system you helped create,” the skull replied. “I do not know how it works, only that you were integral to its creation.”

“Who would know how it works?” Hannah asked as she grew desperate, her mind trying to understand what this system was.

“I don’t know,” the skull replied. “I only know you helped create it. You were important to it somehow.”

Hannah grew frustrated at the dead end but decided to press on, asking the skull why it hadn't respawned. It said it was trapped in what it called the ice but couldn't explain what that was. All it knew was it was part of another project Hannah had helped create and acted as a prison.

“This is getting creepy,” Quinny said as she clung to Umtha for support.

“This is like a bad sci-fi movie,” Legeis commented as Hannah pressed on. She wanted to know where to get answers about these projects, but the skull didn't know. He was just a soldier doing what he was told. He didn't know anything about what was happening behind the scenes. When it finally crumbled to dust, Hannah paused to reconsider her next options while her family stood in silence.

“Trapped in the ice?” Hannah questioned. “What does that mean?”

“He didn't know,” Breanne said. “And I have never heard that term used while I was in the necromancer empire.”

“Do you know anything about Hathlisora?” Hannah asked as she looked at Breanne. “Was I infamous?”

“No,” Umtha spoke up. “You were very secretive. Few people outside those who needed to know had any idea you existed.”

“She's right,” Breanne said. “I don't know anything about your alter ego. I knew you existed, but what role you played or what you were doing wasn't revealed to me.”

“Why would she go to such lengths to hide her existence?” Chandice asked.

“She was more well known in the end when they needed somebody to blame,” Umtha explained. “But even I don't know much about her early days. She didn’t want to talk about it either. She said it was too painful.”

“Great,” Hannah sighed. “So, my past is too painful to tell even to the woman I love.”

“I wonder if this is why you never mentioned Vylah to Umtha,” Quinny said. “Maybe she's a part of that painful past.”

“I don’t trust her,” Umtha cautioned as she huffed. “She isn’t what she seems to be. Something is off about her.”

“She seems fine to me,” Frank said. “Quinny and I have played chess with her.”

“I agree with Umtha,” Chandice cut in. “There is something not right about a woman who can pretend to be a house alone in a swamp for years.”

“Jaina would agree with that sentiment,” Evalynn added. “She can take the shape of inanimate objects now, and she says it's difficult to sit idle for any length of time. She's said she has no idea how Viylah does it.”

“She’s not idle,” Frank said. “She extends her mass in thin bands across the graveyard to explore and even goes down into my tunnels.”

“Yeah, plus there are lots of people in the graveyard now,” Quinny said. “I have seen her talking to other players.”

“She’s up to something,” Umtha insisted. “She may be talking now, but she sat alone for so long the rest of us would have lost our minds.”

“We are getting off-topic,” Blackbast cut in. “The original comment was if Hathlisora's secrecy was part of why Umtha didn't know about Viylah. I would say that it is very likely this is the case. It appears she kept her friend groups in cells so they couldn’t be betrayed or compromised by one another.”

“That makes sense,” Evalynn agreed.

“Maybe,” Hannah grumbled as she examined the bone dust in the circle. “They collapse into exceptionally fine dust.”

“I wonder if that dust has magical properties,” Chandice said, drawing her wand. She stepped into the circle and waved her wand over the dust, creating a chain of magical symbols. “It's highly magical,” Chandice gasped. “We need to collect this and bring it back.”

“We should be writing down some of these names and concepts,” Breanne said. “We can hand it over to the harem girls tasked with researching and data collection.”

“Good idea,” Hannah agreed.

“So, are you going to try more?” Quinny asked.

“Yeah,” Hannah replied as Legeis helped Chandice collect the dust. “I want to pour more essence into it this time.”

“That one lasted longer and had a body shape around it,” Frank commented. “I wonder how defined the body will be if you use more essence.”

Hannah wondered that, too, as Quinny placed another skull, and they all stepped back. She took a deep breath and began the chant, moaning like a dead thing as she sprinkled salt over the skull. This time, she poured essence into the summoning from the very beginning, turning the salt into a rain of blue glitter. Her eyes glowed, and crackling sparks of electricity crawled across her skin as she used significantly more. The skull glowed to match her power, rising into the air with almost no black smoke as a body formed around it.

“I can see detail!” Breanne gasped as others did the same. Before them stood a woman with long translucent hair and sharp, elvish features. They could see she was wearing plate armor, but her image was still spectral and out of phase, making it impossible to tell color. She was like a blue hologram of a person who one was, and the expression on her face said she wasn't pleased.

“Who calls to the dead?” she asked as her arms folded.

“Who are you?” Hannah asked as she was overcome by how lifelike the woman was. She forgot her original line of questioning and focused on learning more about the person before her. The ghost answered that she was Jacinth, the paladin, but offered no further details. Hannah plied her about the ice, asking if the woman knew anything about it or where it was. The woman knew nothing but shifted her pose as she looked around the room. She appeared so lifelike and real that Hannah felt a sense of pity to know she would vanish soon. She asked the ghost if there was a way to help her, and the ghost said she didn't know. All she knew was that Hannah had killed her with the darkness and sent her to the prison she helped build.

“The darkness,” Hannah gasped. “Do you know what that place is?”

“An abomination of the necromancers,” the woman growled. “A tunnel through the shadow.”

“That’s useless,” Chandice complained.

“She's trying,” Evalynn countered. “It's impossible to know what the people do or don't know.”

Hannah agreed but pressed the conversation, asking if she knew Hathlisora. The woman shrugged and said she knew of Hathlisora and had even attended her wedding. Hannah winced to be reminded that she had once been married to King Kevin. She asked if the woman knew why Kevin wanted to stop Hathlisora, and the paladin answered.

“She betrayed him,” the paladin hissed. “She changed her mind and tried to flee New Eden.”

“She wanted to escape?” Hannah asked.

“She would have undone all they worked for,” the woman hissed. “It was her idea, after all, and she knew how to dismantle it.”

Hannah froze at that proclamation and asked what idea was hers. The paladin said that all she knew was that Hathlisora wanted to change the system and that Kevin had been her greatest ally.

“Do you know why she wanted to escape?” Hannah pressed.

“She fell in love with another,” the woman replied. “The one we all despised.”

Hannah didn't want to look back and see Frank as she recalled what Umtha had told her weeks ago. She had once been married to King Kevin, but they parted ways in great anger while Hannah ran off with Frank. It stood to reason he was the man she had fallen in love with, her eternal guardian who never left her side.

“Why did you despise him?” Hannah asked, needing to know the answer.

“Filthy undead,” the woman spat. “A monster, even among monsters.”

Hannah nodded and ordered the woman to silence. She studied the image to see very little flaking of the skull. Her essence and the focusing effect of the circle were giving her much greater longevity than expected.

“I want to help you,” Hannah said. “I want to find your prison and let you out. Can you tell me anything that would help me do that?”

The ghost looked confused for a moment, then tossed her head. “Ask the necromancers. They were the ones who helped you hide and corrupt it.”

“They are all dead or so deep in hiding it would take me a thousand years to find them,” Hannah countered. “You must know something.”

“Only Kevin would know then,” the ghost replied. “He was part of the process from the beginning.”

Hannah sighed as she struggled to think of another question that might shed some light on matters. It was wonderful that her spell was lasting longer but useless if the spirit in question didn’t know the answers.

“How am I supposed to talk to Kevin?” she asked absentmindedly.

“Go back to where you first met,” the ghost replied. “Go back to the ice fangs.”

“The ice fangs?” Hannah asked. “What are those?”  The paladin woman smiled as her face lit up with bright lite. Suddenly, her skull rapidly decayed into dust, falling into a heap on the floor below. There was a terrible silence as Hannah took a moment to collect her thoughts. Was there really a way she could talk to Kevin? Was it wise to alert him to her presence in the world? Even if there was, was it worth taking the risk for a bunch of people who had been trying to kill her?

“Umtha,” Hannah asked without looking back. “Do you know where the ice fangs are?”

“No,” Umtha replied. “I have never heard that name before.”

Hannah nodded as a dark-furred hand came to her shoulder.

“This is enough,” Blackbast said. “As your master, I am commanding you to stop. You are to take a few days to think about what you have learned before you try this again. Now, let’s take our findings and go home. You need a good drink and a warm place to cuddle with your lovers.”

“She can't go to this place even if she did know where it is,” Quinny said. “The woman in the crown said Hannah would go insane if she confronted Kevin.”

“We don't know that she wasn't lying,” Frank countered, then sighed. “But I don't want to take the chance.”

“We have a necromancer’s circle back in the mountain,” Blackbast said. “Let’s give the harem the information and see what they can dig up from their books and research. Then maybe we will have some good questions to ask the remaining skulls.”

Hannah was grateful that Blackbast was taking charge and ending the questioning. She was upset, and her mind spun with possibilities, all of which ended in chaos. She turned and went directly to Frank's arms, needing to feel his embrace and know he was there to protect her.

“I need you,” Hannah whispered as she buried her face in his shoulder.

“I will always be at your side,” Frank replied. “Nothing can tear us apart.”

She nodded as they collected their things and headed off. The undead were left behind as they gathered at the mirror and steadied themselves for the difficult journey home. For what seemed like hours, they ran through the terrible darkness that claimed the lives of the paladins. It was only as they passed the headless bodies that Hannah had a revelation. Hathlisorra had caused the magical pylons to fail, allowing the darkness to overtake the group. But now they were functioning, meaning somebody came back later and repaired them. That could only have been a necromancer, which proved at least one of them was alive or had been long enough to fix it.

They eventually arrived in the mountain tunnels, grateful to be out of that terrible place. Chandice and Evalynn thanked them for a wonderful time, and then Chandice ran Evalynn off, threatening to punish her.

Hannah was quiet as they headed home, using the magic doors to reach the palace in moments. As usual, the grand central chamber was full of women lounging on cushions as they cuddled and played.

“Do you want to join them for a bit?” Frank asked.

Hannah almost didn't respond as she considered what the skulls had said. She had abandoned her first husband to be with Frank, and that thought made her skin crawl. She wasn't the kind of person to abandon somebody like that, or at least she didn't think so. She was more the dedicated type, faithful and committed, but then was that true? Wasn't she a harem girl? How faithful was a woman who had a hundred lovers? She put a hand to her forehead while struggling to fight her emotional thoughts. She needed a break from the chaos and turned to Frank for support.

“Can we all go to our private room to be alone?” she asked. “Just you and your wives for a few hours.”

“Yeah, if that’s what you want,” Frank said before taking her hand.

Hannah nodded that she needed to find the binding of her family and sort through some things. Together, they headed off and renewed their love while not speaking about what had happened. Hannah knew her past would be dark, but the more she learned, the more it haunted her. Maybe she needed to give it a rest for a little while. Maybe she needed to focus on being a slave girl.