Ch. 84 - The Nameless Quest

“Dusk! That’s not a snack, that’s our housecarl.”

The cat meowed in annoyance, holding the gecko firmly between her teeth. Momo glared at her, making a downward gesture with her thumb.

“Put him down.”

Dusk stayed stubbornly still. Nooblin squirmed, flailing his tiny legs uselessly.

“To think I was going to stop by the market to get you some salmon filet later,” Momo shook her head, crossing her arms dramatically. At that, Dusk promptly dropped the gecko. Nooblin scurried away under Momo’s bed, quivering in fear in his tiny apron.

“Meow?” Dusk pleaded, pawing at Momo’s ankle.

“Nope. You lost your salmon opportunity when you started poking him with your fangs.”

“Meow.”

“I can’t be bought, Dusk,” Momo narrowed her eyes. “Don’t give me that cute face.”

Dusk’s pleading eyes only grew larger. Momo’s lip trembled.

“You’re terrible,” Momo grumbled, picking the cat up and hauling her over her shoulder. “One filet. And no more attacking your fellow members of government.”

–

After a trip to the fish market, Momo rode Nightmare back towards the agricultural district. She hooked the horse up to a post outside, strode up the zigzagging staircases enclosed inside in the city walls, and knocked politely on the door to the Western Watchtower.

“Come in,” a ragged voice ushered.

Crunching her molars on the remaining fish bones, Dusk smacked her lips greedily as they entered Komodo’s former den. Momo wrinkled her nose. The cat’s breath reeked of raw salmon.

“Okay, no, you’re going on the floor,” Momo said, disgusted. She placed Dusk down on the carpet, and the cat eagerly zipped across the floor, slipping underneath the writing desk and terrifying the room’s inhabitant.

“Oh Gods!” Gunther jumped, his furry paws flying upwards. “I would hope guests would refrain from unleashing monsters into my room in the future.”

The room looked mostly the same, flush with ornate furniture. The only new edition was the – in Valerica’s words – humane prison bracelet around Gunther’s ankle. Valerica had assured it wasn’t an animal rights issue, and that Gunther would have a large space to roam around. She also tried reminding Momo that Gunther wasn’t actually a bear, but she was not persuaded.

“Sorry,” Momo apologized. She leaned against the desk, gazing at Gunther’s recent work. A fat stack of parchment was slipped into envelopes, each addressed to the King. “How’s the mail been going?”

“Oh, you mean the lies and treason? Superb,” he gritted his teeth.

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Momo frowned. “You’re just preventing a war, you know.”

She gazed downward, eyeing the current piece of correspondence.

My liege,

Things in Nam’Dal are going splendidly. The necromancer unfortunately figured out how to file the Ruling paperwork before we could catch her, but I can assure you that the Holy Knights are very much still in power in this city. It is wholly unnecessary for you to send any of the Circle of the Sun to investigate.

Their efforts are much better spent on the Nameless Quest.

Yours,

Lord Gunther

Momo squinted at the last line. The Nameless Quest. She recalled the knights she overheard through the mycelium talking about a quest. How they wanted to prove themselves in Nam’Dal so that they’d be deemed worthy enough for it.

“What’s the Nameless Quest?”

Gunther tensed, as if caught saying something he shouldn’t. He quickly flopped a paw over the envelope.

“Nothing that concerns you,” he snorted. “Knight business.”

Momo narrowed his eyes at him.

“I don’t appreciate being lied to,” she said, tapping his rounded nose. “Especially by a living teddy bear. It’s very unnerving.”

“Nonsense,” he sputtered. “I’m not lying about a single thing. Your tall, terrifying friend was very clear about the repercussions of that.”

Momo crossed her arms. She really didn’t do well with conflict, but she also suffered from incurable curiosity. She had accrued so many unfortunate intellect points during her time in Alois that her brain had begun to pulse every time something was out of place. It was like someone had drugged her innate pattern matching ability with steroids.

“I don’t want to have to call my tall, terrifying friend,” Momo raised an eyebrow, deciding on the bluff using Valerica strategy, “so I think it’d be great if you could just tell me what the quest is.”

His face went red. Momo could tell Valerica left a lasting impression on him.

“Fine, fine,” Gunther groaned audibly. “Why don’t I completely tarnish my reputation with the King while I’m here. I’m already doing a jolly good job of it.”

Momo clapped happily. “Perfect, yes, continue.”

He sighed, pulling open the desk drawer. He fished out a wrinkled piece of parchment and slapped it down on the table, creasing the edges. It was a drawing – a poor one, too, by Momo’s already-mediocre standards. By the age of the parchment, it seemed to have been drawn by a caveman.

“Have you ever heard of an Oblivion Stone?” he said, voice suddenly quiet. It was the most apprehensive Momo had heard him.

“Uh… no.”

“Gods, for a Ruler of an entire city, you know squat about squat…” he grumbled, and then pointed a pudgy finger to the drawing. The stone was not really a stone. It resembled a tablet, with squiggly lines depicting what Momo assumed were words in an archaic language. “This is an Oblivion Stone. Oblivion Stones are some of the rarest, most powerful artifacts in Alois. Until recently, it was thought that none remained.”

Momo’s eyes grew with interest. “That is the most powerful artifact in Alois? It looks like a prehistoric coloring book.”

Gunther rolled his eyes. “I wouldn’t be so wry. This stone has the power to create an entire new rank of power in Alois. An unbalanced rank of power – one that the Gods can’t touch. You think Excaliburs are powerful? Imagine the power of a being ten times their strength and ability. That’s the kind of power an Oblivion Stone can offer.”

Momo’s blood ran cold, her mouth freezing in an unreadable expression.

“More power than the Excaliburs? That’s impossible.”

“The realm of possibility is far greater than your trivial mind can imagine,” Gunther grunted, sliding the drawing back into the drawer and snapping it shut. “When the King acquires the Oblivion Stone, the Circle of the Sun will ascend to an unbeatable rank, and your silly encore of the Dark Calamity will be nothing but a historical footnote.”

Momo’s jaw hung slack.

“Well,” she said, after a long, speechless minute. “We’ll see about that.”

—

“Stupid rock, do the thing!”

Momo all but growled at the Summoning Stone in her hand. Her arms shook, completely drained from the amount of Nether she had infused into the stone. It had done nothing. The stone taunted her with its perfect stillness, almost mocking her with its lack of reaction.

“I need to talk to Valerica,” Momo said, shaking the stone deliriously. “Can’t you summon her?”

The stone stared at her, as if to say no. Clearly not.

“Useless,” she grumbled. “So you’re telling me she can summon me whenever she wants, but I can only summon her when she’s in jazz class?”

Momo glared at the rock. The rock gave her radio silence.

She sighed.

“This is another of her tests, isn’t it?”

—

“What are these… gray, casual pantaloons you’re wearing?”

Momo startled. Teddy looked at her with a quizzical look, eyeing the gray sweatpants she forgot to switch out of. Flaring red, she snapped her fingers and switched them back into medieval business casual.

“You saw nothing,” Momo said, clearing her throat. “So. What do you think our odds are of beating back a group of Holy Knights?”

Momo and the Thieves stood high on the Northern Wall, looking over the vast green fields. A dirt road winded into the distance, disappearing into a mountain range.

“Aye, solid odds. A battle on home turf is always better. We’ll use every trap and trick up our sleeves,” he said confidently, rolling up his actual sleeves. “They won’t know what hit ‘em.”

Momo hummed. “That’s… reassuring. I’m just worried that fighting them might actually be a bad idea. If they return to the capital beaten and bruised, or don’t return to the capital at all, they’ll just send further reinforcements.”

Teddy nodded. He looked out into the distance, ruminating.

“Well, deceit is our playbook. We could… trick ‘em, in a way.”

Momo brightened. “I’m all ears.”

“We could get the Nam’Dal Knights in on the ploy, but I don’t trust them not to sell us out. I say we borrow their armor and offer the Holy Knights a tour of the place. Show them a few of our men locked up in cages, give Radu a fake beating or two, feed them some ale, and show ‘em out.”

Momo giggled at Radu’s deep frown. The lizard was too far away to object, but close enough to hear his inclusion in the plan.

“Perfect,” Momo said, grinning broadly. “But I’m going to need my own suit of armor. I don’t think any of the knights are my size.”