Oswald Manfred, The Crawling Death

It took hours before I ended up behind bars, the idiots dragging their feet with every other one trying to take a shot at me with their trident from afar. Roughly twenty guards were watching me, as I sat in the cell with a pool of water. They were chatting underwater, with ripples reaching the surface, while others flinched at my every move. Not a single doppelganger was present, nor were their any mimics in the cell room. Just the beady eyes of the local Wet Beards watching me with their mouths agape.

Another hour passed as they all started to relax, since I hadn't moved. My goggles growing dim as I decided to doze where I sat. Some of the guards started to swim away, while others returned to the water since they were drying out in the open aired cell. Which was more like circular room with just a pool to let a prisoner moisten up when needed. The constant dripping sound from the rock above keeping the pool at a constant water level.

More time passed, before a new Wet Beard clambered onto the rock, huffing and puffing the second he got out of the water. He didn't have a trident, but he was a little thicker than the other guards. He had a few gold bracelets around his wrists, his fins pierced with golden studs. The guards stood at attention, using their tridents to help them stand just a little straighter. "S-sir! My sincerest apologies for our treatment towards you!"

I titled my head, while the guards looked at each other confused. "I came uninvited, and without warning. Why are you apologizing?"

He adjusted himself, glaring at the guard with the keys, "Open the cell right away! The Queen wants to see him right away!" The guard blinked, before quickly grabbing at his key ring. He swung his head back towards me, "A guest like yourself doesn't need an invitation! What shall I call you, honored sir? Our Queen heard you died in the tunnels near the No Beards! Yet, here you are. Do not worry I will keep your secret!"

The guard lumbered to my cell door, quickly jamming the keys inside while he tried to figure out which was which. This one clearly knew who I was, and their information network was fast enough to get someone important here to free me. He wasn't a doppelganger, and I was about to meet with their leader. I got up slowly, as the key clicked inside the lock. The guard quickly shuffling out of the way, "You may call me, Osmand Godfrey."

The Wet Beard quickly saluted, "Of course, sir Osmand!" This caused the other two to do the same. I raised a brow, even though they couldn't see it. I still had all my supplies on me, since they didn't want to search me after the first couple lost their hands. I walked out of the cell, as the Wet Beard swallowed thickly, "Y-you may call me Tony, sir. I won't bore you with my whole name, and I do not wish to keep you and our Queen apart."

I nodded, as Tony jumped into the water. The bellowing noise causing ripples as he was probably barking orders at the closest guards. He poked his head back through the surface. "We'll have an escort move the water around you to the tunnels of our Queen, sir. The quicker the better, correct?" I nodded, waiting a few minutes before being told to hop in. A bubble of water magic surrounded us both, before two guards started to swim as quickly as they could. It was similar to a carriage, save for being entirely surrounded by water.

I had everything at the ready in case this turned out to be a trap. Tony watched me, |"Do not be afraid, good sir. I will ask that you do not lash out when we reach our Queen. She is.. unique."|

I turned towards him, |"Telepathy? That would explain why you see smarter than the others here. How unique is she? How long until we arrive?"|

|"Yes, but I am not advanced enough to connect to more than one person at a time."| Likely a lie, but I didn't say anything as he continued. |"Our Queen is something you have been sent to destroy, as far as we know. A mimic Queen, but she poses no threat to us. A good number of our people worship her actually."|

I looked around, making certain I didn't feel any doppelgangers. |"How is this possible? What is going on here?"|

|"Our Queen will explain everything once we reach her chambers. As you can tell, we aren't exactly the brightest compared to the other dwarves. Even I need to use my magic constantly to form cohesive thoughts and plans."|

|"I met a scout before meeting the guards. He didn't seem as disabled as you are implying your kind to be."|

Tony shook his head, |"Every population has those that are smarter than others. Our Queen has them go out as scouts since they can think more clearly. You think I'm lying, but what's the benefit and telling you this?"|

I shook my head slowly, |"I can think of a few, but I'm sure I'll discover the truth in time."|

The 'ride' was quick enough, ending when we arrived at the end of a tunnel where water met air. I climbed out, to find the another tunnel with about thirty Wet Beards. The walls coated in slime, bits of gold, and other metals spread out around the room painted a deep red with blood. Tony climbed up after me, |"This is the religious room, were some of us perform sacrifices. It's the quickest way to our Queen."|

I looked around, |"What do you sacrifice exactly?"| I saw a few Wet Beards with scars on their arms and shoulders. The place filled with more holes with water, and tunnels to walk down. I found the alter, it was a tendril of flesh rising from the ground and opening like a bowl where blood was like poured into it. I looked up, catching an eye watching the room. The Wet Beards that noticed me only took small glances, seemingly fine with my presence thanks to Tony.

|"We sacrifice blood and flesh to our Queen, as she gives us directions. She helps us hunt, and farm fish. She has done so many things to keep us from the Underneath. Our Elders were wrong to fight against her, she would have allowed them to live, had they not tried poisoning her."|

I just nodded, motioning for him to lead the way. Which he thankfully did instead of going on and on about their history or how great their 'queen' was. We had to go through some tunnels filled with water, and walk inside pockets of stale air. I took note of the eyes that would open and watch as we moved. Finally we arrived in a room filled with pink flesh. I had my slurry ready in case this was a repeat of last time. The radiation threatening to break out of my cloak and just kill the mimic with cancers I could control.

Tony bowed, "She asked me to leave you two alone, so you can talk in private. She senses you are on edge, and that anything you talk about here shall remain private." He bowed again, before leaving back the way he came. I waited for something to happen, but nothing did. The flesh throbbed, and pulsed. Eyes were watching me, occasionally blinking. Now was a good time to kill the mimic queen, but this whole situation just felt weird.

Finally a few tendrils of flesh moved sluggishly in front of me. More slithering as they couldn't rise off the ground. The entire effort was lethargic, even as they collapsed in front of me, words slowly forming on the flesh itself. "I will not fight back if you make my death painless, but there is much to discuss. I am doomed, even with your help. May I connect to your mind?"

I felt the sensation of something trying to reach out to me, but it was a halfhearted gesture. This mimic queen was handing herself to me on a silver platter. I arranged everything so that she would be killed if I were knocked unconscious. Finally I accepted the telepathic link, |"Hello?"|

The voice was slow and tired, as if it just wanted to sleep. It took seconds to reply, each word stretched out lingering. |"Greetings, Oswald. Thank you, for accepting the link. Moving my flesh takes more effort."|

|"Yeah, what is all this about? You sound like you're in pain. What made you give up? Do you want to die, or is this a ruse? I'm actually having trouble figuring this out."|

Its tendrils seemed to coil on themselves, slowly being pulled back to it. |"I could ask the same of you. You've stepped foot in the domain of a mimic queen, and if my flesh rots the stone is likely to collapse. On top of all the magic that you might expect to be thrown at you. My answer is simple, I am doomed to die, because existence is painful. My body... the minds that I have absorbed. Most come from those souls influenced by the monster king. Their souls burn me, screaming for me to slaughter everything that isn't a monster. It hurts, but it may hurt less to speak to another about it."|

I looked at the flesh around me, still not seeing anything happening. The air towards the back of the small cave flickered. A massive heart thumping slowly, as it didn't even bother putting the illusion back up. The eyes looked away, half closed, some glazed over. Then they snapped back to me as I responded. |"I would have expected you to be inside the water of the tunnels so close to here. A maze of flesh, tendrils grabbing from all directions. You need water to live don't you?"|

A soft bitter chuckle came from it. |"So it was, the first fifty or so years since I could think. The Wet Beards, it is impossible to turn them into doppelgangers. The algae protects them, it evolved to eat my flesh, making me lose so much of the mass I once held. What you see before you is the center of my being. Trapped here with thin veins that allow me to see and communicate with those that follow me. The Wet Beards die quickly, most not living more than a century or even fifty years. Their previous rulers kept it that way, old dwarves taking young suitors and creating a toxic system. The young clung to me when I provided answers and protection. Something I was all too eager to do, when I still thought I could find a way out of these tunnels."|

|"You can't just drain a few tunnels and slowly work your way out?"| I sat down, as my gas formed a chair.

|"We are where the streams of the North converge. Water is all around us, and some force of magic brings the water towards these tunnels, even collapsing what is dug. More stone erected by quakes moving. I believe there are elementals hidden where I cannot sense, nor see. As you suggested to someone in the past, they may not be spirits, but the forces of nature acting on the behalf of the gods."|

I raised a brow, |"You speak as if you know me on a more personal level than some stray monsters. Who have you eaten?"| I searched through my own memories, trying to piece together who's memories they were using.

The flesh went still as even the heart of the creature refused to beat. The silence lasting for a few seconds, before that ever present throbbing began once more. |"Fiend's evolve and most gain sapience by eating a magic user. The stronger the magic, the will of the one eaten, the more intelligent they can become. They become fiendlings, dedicated to their magic field, their hunger for such knowledge driving them."|

I swallowed hard, whispering, "No..."

|"I was hoping you might remember him through the way I spoke to you. Fiendlings have another form, one gained from eating five other fiendlings with sapience. The first known Fi'mur, that was forced to come here. He held all your talks to him in the highest regard."|

I shook my head, my eyes watering. I couldn't afford to let my guard down here, but I had hoped he would have survived somehow. That his soul magic would have allowed him to hide himself. My body shook from the pain of hearing this news. The back legs of my chair failing as I fell back onto the ground. There was no better time for this mimic queen to act than now, and yet she didn't. Instead she continued to speak, her words twisting into my heart.

|"Do you still not remember? Are you trying to hide from such? Most of my ideas came from him, he who understood you, he who called you friend. He wanted you to be king, he said you fit the position more than a bleeding heart like Charles."|

I clutched my chest, my teeth grinding against one another. My closest friend and advisor. I noticed the blackened flesh around me, my gas eating away at it. All eyes from this queen staring at me, all of them pained. I struggled to regain my composure, stopping the damage from advancing any further. I slowly stood up, looking at the heart. |"To you, my friend, I bear my heart. To let slip the pain upon my breast, to whisper the darkness in my soul. You would be king, and yet you seek it not. The one who seeks to understand us more than the two seeking the darkest glyphs."|

I felt tears escape my eyes, at the bitter beauty the queen had set before me. She continued his final words to me, |"The true king of monsters, in all but name and power. The one who cast aside his person-hood, and seeks a place for the broken within the light. You who sought our nature, and understood our instincts. Vice lord of the Black March, and grim harvester of those sent to our lands to die. Know that none may defy their reason for being. Accept yourself, as you have accepted us. You will be more useful that way."|

I laughed quietly at the final part, our most intimate moments shared with a creature we had sought to destroy. It knew too much, and I should kill it. My hand shook, as I stared at the heart once more. |"What knowledge do you have to share?"|

|"You mean, 'what knowledge do I have to trade?' I know my death is inevitable, it hurts to live. What drives me, is the desire to see the other queens die before me, who is doomed. I seek a painless death from the alchemist that has bested dragons. I wish to learn the stories you will carve from blood in these tunnels, before offering a mimic queen of my own flesh to place inside the hole. The great silk that was woven by the true Queen is lost forever, but perhaps we can rebuild it. I know you have something to contain those that escaped Dark Fell, Charles wouldn't let so many die."|

I considered her terms, my tears brushed away under my cloak. |"I cannot promise anything but a painless death. I will put in the effort to carry out your terms so long as they are achievable. Tell me, how did he come under the monster king's control?"|

|"Fiendlings are vengeful by nature, he was hidden for months while the order to kill everything that isn't a monster spread. I would have killed you by now had you not been a doppelganger. He sought to slay the monster king, his soul magic keeping him hidden while he stalked away from those with souls. He ran a blade through the monster king's heart, but he had fused his body with so many to create something disgusting. He expected a quick death, but he was forced to slaughter and eat the flesh of his fellow advisors. He was made to suffer before being sent off to establish an outpost in this place. His mind stuck in a haze as his soul fought against the infection of the monster king's talent. He allowed me to kill him, to take him as part of me."|

This was information that needed to reach Charles. The bitter feeling still lingered, but I understood the goals she stated were truthful. I could almost imagine Saul doing just that, since the kingdom itself had fallen to the monster king. |"What is a Fi'mur? In what aspects are they different from fiendlings?"|

|"Their strength is greater than that of a fiend, despite a fiendling being weaker. Their bodies are about the size of the Count, if he still lives. Their forms shift, and their magic is likely on par with that of a dragon's. Though the infection of curses can affect anyone, can it not? Sadly, Saul didn't get much of a chance to study his form. I cannot confirm his suspicions, nor can I turn back time and find out more than I have already suggested. His mind was a mess at the end, and his soul was burning to the point he sought to die and become a part of us. Perhaps his nature changed? I could see his final act as a move to hopefully strike back against the monster king since the remnants of the black march would come in time."|

I nodded slowly, |"Do you know if the infection will wither and die with the monster king?"|

|"Saul looked for such in his moments of clarity. I am sad to say, that the order must be purged by someone else with the same talent, or something capable of purifying it. The gods do not care for the creations of the mad one. Think of how much pain could have been spared, if only they would leave their golden peak and stopped this from happening."|

|"One day the gods will be slain, but now I have a mission after this. If nothing else, I will prepare everything I can to rend that talent from the bastard that killed so many of my friends."| For the first time in a long time, I felt a fire building up beneath me. I had spent decades sobbing, and mourning. I had waited for the last of the advisors to pop up suddenly, or for Charles to point me to where they were. Now, it was clear that everyone I had hoped to rely on, was well and truly gone. That last light of hope dashed, only to be replaced by a feeling like cold ice running through my veins.

|"Do not be foolish, you cannot take him alone. The monster king has a mind that is capable of planning and thinking. The time for you and Charles to strike has yet to come."|

I nodded slowly, letting the cane slide off my back to my hand. I admired the details of the spider for a second, the only thing that kept me from death should null magic come into play. |"I said it was a mission after this. I will ask you for more information as I continue about this crusade. I will leave you alone to protect the Wet Beards, and focus on the Underneath. Prepare maps for me where the other queens are hiding. Just to be certain, what happens if one of them dies?"|

|"Their control wanes, and the doppelgangers controlling the dwarves are free to do as they see fit. Though it is still the doppelganger in control, versus the person beneath. Unless you have a way to rend that control from such creatures, it will be a death sentence to many as many doppelgangers view their queen as their reason for existing."|

I twirled the cane, stopping it as it pointed at the heart, before letting it slide back to its spot behind me. |"Luckily I have an idea for how to get around it."| I burned a list of supplies onto a piece of paper, letting it fall from my bag. |"That is everything I would like you to gather for me. Do you mind if I test a few chemicals on your flesh? It might hurt a little now, but it will let me make it painless as you asked later."|

A tendril sluggishly grabbed the paper, before bringing it to an eye. I heard the mimic queen laugh in my mind. |"Of course, you're going to use whatever is most effective to fill a few tunnels with vats of stone slurry, and mimic bane set to pour directly after, aren't you?"|

|"Mimic bane doesn't exist yet. It is a good name, but I'm going more for, flesh slayer."| I held my arms out, while the queen rolled her eyes.

|"You always go a bit extra whenever you make something to impress someone. I'm relieved you think of me so highly with just the small bit of information I have given you. I do not have all these supplies, but I'm certain you'll find ways to get them. I still have so much more to tell you, and we both know as much. Are you treating me as an old friend because you hope some of this gets to Saul, or because I'm the closest thing?"|

|"Why not both? You understand his thoughts, and that means you understand me to an extent. How even the best things that happen, can feel so sick and twisted. How others are always using you, and that will never change because you have power they will not work towards."|

|"At least the monster is on the outside with mimics. More honest that way, as the debate between you two went."|

|"Monsters, the monster is on the outside with monsters."| I stretched a little, flexing my fingers.

|"Can't blame me for trying. How long do you think all of this will take?"|

|"It might have taken years with me guessing at the possible combinations needed to make this work. Then there would have been the moving around, trying it on base mimics, injecting doppelgangers, and hopefully finding tunnels with the mimic queen flesh. That said, I have a willing test subject, an confirmation of what happens after a mimic queen dies, and something to give control back to the dwarves beneath the doppelgangers. The plan is to kill the queens, and put the doppelgangers to sleep while their control is diminished by something I found. After that, it's just teaching those grateful idiots how to mix a solution that melts mimics, and let them take care of the rest. Let them do the more tedious work."|

|"That certainly is an efficient way to go about it. Making it painless just helps you kill the others without them noticing. Truly we do use everyone we come into contact with. Though I cannot find it within myself to be upset, given that it is what I desire in the end."|

|"All that matters, are the results in the end."| I gave the heart one last look before getting to work. The plan was simple enough, and I didn't care about the details. The sooner this was done the better.