The charming little house stood in the middle of a well-kept opening in the forest. The green grass was short, although it didn’t look like it got cut but rather just stayed at a certain length out of respect for the owner. Via paths of flat stones, the house was connected to a pond of fresh water and several rows of fertile, brown earth on which herbs grew.

Herbs that an old man in brown robes was currently watering. Watering way too much, as he had turned towards the flash and was looking at Reysha with open-mouthed surprise, holding the can at a slanted angle and continuously causing water to sprinkle out of the metal neck.

Reysha’s first response wasn’t to snap back, as it should have and likely would have been under other circumstances. Instead, she slowly stepped closer to the fence. “You… you can help me!” she stated. There was no other reason why she would have been brought here. She still remembered what this man had said about the conditions to find this place. That someone needed to desire something he could provide.

What his malicious alter-ego had said, as became apparent rather quickly. “Don’t come any closer!” he shouted, dropping the watering can and stumbling backwards. Gizmo wasn’t afraid of her, they both were very much aware of that. “Don’t give him any chances!”

Reysha listened, instincts and reason both screaming at her, stopping two steps away from that metal fence that surrounded the house. It was a nasty looking thing. Raw metal, blank and unrusting, covered in runes, with thorn-like protrusions that pointed inwards. The intent behind it was quite clearly to keep things in rather than out.

“Okay, okay,” she raised her hands, indicating that she had no intention to take one more step. The man still bore the signs of the recent rejuvenation. His blue eyes shimmered with guilt as he gathered himself, his spotty skin wrinkly and his movements slow. If it hadn’t been for Hemle, he may have died of old age now. Although that was a difficult prophesy to make, as Apotho would always cling to life, far beyond the reasonable expectations of a body.

“I do remember you… you were with Apexus when… it happened,” Gizmo stated and sat down on a log of wood. The depression on the top was smooth and looked like it was made for someone with an ellipsis shaped behind, rather than a normal human. Nevertheless, it was the only seating the old man had. Grabbing a cane that was more decoration than actually needed, he asked, “How is he?”

Reysha clenched her jaws. “Dead,” she told him outright and then told the entire story.

By the end, Gizmo’s head was resting against the folded hands over the grip of his cane. “And yet again, the world devours a good being that did nothing and leaves me behind,” he whispered, barely loud enough for Reysha to hear. “I hoped he would return, you know? One day come back here, so that I may teach him what else he needs to know and then… kill me.”

Letting out a mocking laugh, Reysha only stopped when Gizmo raised his eyes and looked at her directly, confused wrinkles on his forehead. “You’re being for serious?” Reysha asked. “How the fuck would he have done that? You could just suck the life right out of him.”

“No, that’s just it,” Gizmo responded, shaking his head. “Apotho… I couldn’t do that. If I could, he would have done so at some point during his stay here. His alien nature made Apexus one of the beings that the life leech could not affect. Different lifeforms have different life forces that need to be extracted differently. Humanoids are not the easiest, but the most common, which is why Apotho is so good at it.”

“…Fantastic, you and your mage Classes have brilliant problems,” Reysha hissed, reminded of what she actually wanted. “Not that I care. You’ll help me take revenge.”

Gizmo tensed for a few moments, shifting in his seat and then lowering his head again, so that she couldn’t see his eyes. “Why would I do that, girl?” he asked in a dismissive fashion. “It wouldn’t bring back the one who is meant to kill me.”

“Because the fucking Church has Aclysia and you still care about her, right?!” Reysha growled, remembering how the metal fairy had been dragged away under constant sobs and mindless protests. “Apexus would want her free, so you’ll help for his sake, you old wrinkly sack of shit.”

There were moments of silence, Gizmo shifting in his seat some more. The knuckles went white as gripped his cane harder. “Yes,” he responded angrily, adding after a few moments, “…Apexus will be avenged. I can help you with that.” Very slowly, he raised his head again, blue eyes staring with the helplessness of a sealed man, hands now hiding his mouth. “Listen carefully, Ragressian, in the depths of the underground, carved into the stone under the Church of the Thirty-Three, north of Haralry, they have sealed an item of great power. It may seem inconspicuous, like a large, twenty-sided die, but you will find it hard to miss once you find the correct room. Once you remove it from the contraption its part of, you will have your revenge.”

Reysha listened carefully, for anything she knew that might be a lie, but she found nothing. The eyes remained blue throughout all of it, for all she knew that meant Gizmo was in control. Even if he wasn’t, she didn’t care anymore. She was already determined to do whatever allowed her to get her revenge and she was just in the right mood to take a shortcut and fuck the Church in the process.

“So, I just have to sneak into one of the most secure places in the leaf and steal some dumbass artefact thing,” she summarized, looking at the fence. Her gut told her that this could easily end quite poorly. It didn’t take a genius to know that he could lie to her. It wouldn’t have been the first time.

However, she was drowning in the current state of the world. The adventurers in Haralry were monsters, the Church was filled with snakes and the people of this leaf would only ever think that another freak abomination had been killed, rather than the sapient creature the slime had been.

None of them had ever cared about her happiness, her safety, why should she now return the favour? Even if it consumed her, that was a price she was willing to pay as long as she took everyone else with her.

“Fine, I’ll do it,” she stated and even though the man didn’t move, Reysha thought she could see a smile behind his folded hands. “You’ll have to tell me more about the layout.”