Lady of Dust
The Never Ending Quest - Episode 117796
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Her name was Nypheria, Lady of Dust. In local mythology she was often a rather grotesque figure, a patron of dead things and all creatures that made their homes among them. Plants instantly shriveled and decayed where she manifested, and she spoke with a voice as soft as cobwebs. She appeared now as a woman with greyish brownish skin and a long train that looked like beams of grey light with dust particles dancing inside them. She had six emaciated arms and huge, dark eyes, and fungi grew on her head and shoulders and feet. Fred's human brain would have been startled to see her if it had any appreciable role anymore, but as it happened, her independent roach brain was calmed by the sight of her. She peered into the log, watching the roach colony for a long time, until her eyes alighted on Fred. "You are not like the rest," she murmured, and her voice sounded like it would crack apart if you laid a hand on it. "You have not always been one of my children." Fred had forgotten this fact, and she was a little surprised and uncomfortable at being reminded - after all, Sir Fred had been on a mission, a quest, which Fred the cockroach was decidedly not pursuing right now, and in fact had no real plans to pursue. Now that she was thinking about it, though... she really should be... The quest was important. Her former life was important. Wasn't it...? "But," said the Lady of Dust, drawing Fred's rapt attention back to her. She looked at the little roach for a long time, and finished at last, "you are now." Fred was vaguely pleased - at least, as pleased as a cockroach could be - upon hearing this, dismissing her previous notions. "The wizard who did this is very powerful. He does not truly know what he has wrought - left to him, you would have been changed promptly back. But not you, little one... you listened to your instincts, and embraced this life." Nypheria offered her hand, containing a rotting leaf, and Fred crawled upon it to eat. As she did, Nypheria waved her other hand over the roach, murmuring words in a long-forgotten tongue. As she did, any conviction that Fred had of the importance of her quest dwindled into nothing. She became sure of herself, and her place in the rotting log. It was such a beautiful, simple life, and maybe it was short compared to her old one, but it was plenty long enough to her, and she mustn't waste it chasing any fleeting fancies. And in actual fact, Belboz's potion had been incomplete - that was why it had needed testing. It was volatile, and though it had worked, and stuck for some weeks, there was no telling what things going forward would look like. But with Nypheria's blessing, Fred's place in her domain was secured. "Nothing wasted," Nypheria murmured as Fred contentedly munched on the decaying leaf. "Humans perplex me - they see rotting things and they are disgusted by them. They do not understand the need for them - they do not see how they fit into this world they think they own. But now you see. You understand. You are unique among them, and I shall not let you go. You shall be called Kirixir - in the old tongue, 'she who sees.'"
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9/12/2020 6:02:28 AM
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