Chapter 181: Incorruptible
Jacob stared at Squabee in shock. Slimo was not the only one capable of remembering these people.
’So Squabee and Slimo remember them, I can only half-remember them, and everyone else doesn’t remember anything?! What the hell is the pattern here?!’
Just then, Slimo had finally returned. His face was somber and stiff like he just got done crying. Squabee ran up to him and hugged him tightly.
"Please tell me you remember, Slimo. Please tell me I’m not alone!"
Slimo looked at Squabee in awe. He was speechless for a few moments before speaking.
"You... remember William and Syndey?"
Squabee looked at Slimo hopefully.
"Yes, I do!! I was getting worried that I was the only one who remembered them!"
Slimo rubbed his head feverishly and started pacing around the room.
"What the hell is going on? Squabee has a Zalo, yet she still remembers everything? Why? I was sure that I was on to something with the Zalo thing..."
Squabee watched him pace for a few moments before speaking.
"I also need to tell you something. Me and Sarah went back to Enki’s earlier today and it turns out my power got a big upgrade! Well, kind of..."
Slimo looked at her.
"What kind of upgrade?"
"Well, I have a release and transformation now. But the release will potentially kill me so I’m not sure if I’ll ever do it. My transformation is something called an Angel Incarnate, whatever that is."
"Was there anything else?"
"Strangely, there was! Zalo apparently blessed me with some power! It mentioned being immune to something called corruption? I think it said I was immune to corruption of both form and thought? It was worded very oddly."
Slimo listened to her thoughts carefully.
"Corruption of thought..."
Slimo slowly started forming an idea.
"Where’s Lidia?"
"She’s in the other house right now helping Sarah clean some dishes. Why?"
"I think I have a way to help everyone remember William and Sydney."
Slimo ran over to the other house and barged through the doors, startling both Lidia and Sarah from the kitchen.
"Geez, Slimo. You could at least knock next time!"
"Lidia, I need to borrow you for something really quickly! We can do it here if you’d like!"
Lidia started blushing.
"Slimo! Right here?! In front of everyone?!"
"Right here. I need you, now. We need Sarah to join too."
Lidia started swaying slightly.
"No! I can’t just-... I’m not that type of woman!"
"You don’t want to show your new power to everyone?"
Lidia looked at him with a blank expression.
"Oh. Yah, I can do that..."
"What did you think I was-"
"Don’t worry about it!"
"...okay."
"What do you need me to do?"
"Firstly, I need to know something. Sarah, do you remember William and Syndey?"
"Who?"
"Perfect! Lidia, put your hands on Sarah’s forehead."
Sarah looked at Slimo oddly.
"What is going on?"
Lidia whispered to her.
"Just go with it. It will be okay!"
"Okay, now send your power into Sarah’s head."
"You’re going to blast a hole in my head?!"
"No! It’s a healing power... sort of. Trust me, you will be okay! I used it on Slimo!"
Sarah eased her shoulders. Lidia’s hands began to shine brightly with a warm, yellow light. Sarah looked like she was about to fall asleep.
"This is so soothing. I love this new power, Lidia. Very great."
Slimo walked up to Sarah and questioned her.
"Do you remember Sydney and William?"
"Who is that? I just feel so calm and peaceful."
Slimo cursed silently to himself. It looked like Lidia’s power was only capable of cleansing the corruption of a physical form... for now.
"Never mind. You both can stop now. You did help a lot with understanding something though! Thank you."
Slimo kissed Lidia on the cheek and walked back towards the other house quickly. Lidia rubbed her cheek where Slimo kissed her.
"What just happened, Miss Lidia?"
"I don’t really know, but is it weird I’m glad it happened?"
Slimo walked up to Squabee and started pacing, lost in thought.
"Okay, so it seems like this corrupted leviathan somehow managed to corrupt the very idea of William and Sydney. To think such a thing was even possible... it’s absolutely abhorrent to think about. This is only a leviathan too. What kinds of powers would guardians or keepers possess?! Would that mean if I don’t have a Zalo, I’m immune to corruption? No... that can’t be. I was corrupted by the beast and Lidia saved me. Perhaps, I am only immune to corruption of thought but not to physical corruption. If I were a Zalo user, that would mean I would be susceptible to both! Another win for us normal humans it seems!"
Slimo turned to look at Squabee and Jacob who were staring at him blankly. He embarrassingly scratched his head.
"My apologies! I got a bit excited with all the revelations there. But there’s still one thing that doesn’t make sense to me."
Slimo walked up to Jacob and grabbed his head. He moved it around in his hands like a ball, even sniffing his scalp briefly.
"Uh... what are you doing?"
"I’m trying to figure out why you only appear to be half-corrupted. Is such a thing even possible?"
Slimo paced around some more, holding his chin.
"Maybe that answer will have to wait for another day. Let’s all go to sleep, shall we?"
Squabee latched herself on to Slimo’s back.
"Can you carry me home? I’m just so happy that someone else remembers our friends it drained all my energy!"
"Oh, Squabee..."
Slimo threw her on the ground.
"WALK YOURSELF!! YOU’RE A GROWN WOMAN FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!"
"That doesn’t mean I don’t like being spoiled!!"
Slimo rubbed his face in his hands.
"Sometimes, I wonder why we ever let you join our party..."
After everyone settled into their beds for the night, Slimo stayed up with Doc and had a conversation with him around the dining room table.
"Quite an eventful day we’ve had again, huh Slimo?"
"Sometimes I wish we would have a peaceful day, just once to see what it feels like."
Doc began to chuckle.
"I don’t think we could handle such a thing! We haven’t stopped moving since we left your cozy cabin all those weeks ago."
"Has it really been weeks already?"
"Who knows? Time works differently here anyway, presumably. I wanted to share something with you that I found in the attic. It may be connected to the leviathan in some way, helping us understand the power it possesses."
"Certainly. Please tell me."
"Well, that squeaking in the attic wasn’t squeaking at all. It was a human voice."
Slimo furrowed his brow.
"Go on."
"It warned me about this place. It talked about how it wasn’t a kingdom and how we need to leave, but I’m sure you already knew that."
"Was there anything else it told you?"
"I’m getting there. I asked it as many questions as I could, but I think there was one thing that stood out the most out of all the answers this trapped soul gave me."
"And that was...?"
"A way out."
Slimo stood up out of his seat.
"You know a way out of this place?"
"Well, that’s assuming we even trust the little voice we’re hearing. That brings me to my next point about the nature of this things power. As far as you have told me, it corrupts the memory or thought of the people it eats. However, is it also possible that it traps their soul to fuel that very power?"
"What are you saying?"
"I’m saying, if we find a way to kill this thing, there’s a chance that all of us will remember these people that you’ve lost. I tried asking the soul about it, but they couldn’t answer me."
"How are you even able to talk to a soul in the first place? Does that mean somewhere in this kingdom, we can talk to William and Sydney again?"
"Whoever those people are, I’m not sure it’s that easy. Think about how large this kingdom is. They could be on any square inch of this kingdom without us knowing. Not only that, but I also can’t move when I have these specific hearing devices in so that would increase the search time even longer."
Slimo slowly sat back down.
"Damn it. Now what’s this plan about finding a way out?"
"I’m afraid it may be even harder to accomplish than looking for those people you’ve lost."
"Why? What is it we need to do?"
"We need to borrow the queens power. That includes the emerald staff that she keeps with her."
Slimo rubbed his face. Out of every possibility he would accept, that was one of the last.
"What can she possibly do to break us out of here?"
"That’s what I was hoping you could answer. I’m not even aware of what the queen is capable of besides restoring broken buildings. Also, I’ve been meaning to warn you. That jester that she has seems to be immune to my power somehow. I tried using it on him during your fight, but nothing was working."
"Great. Another problem."
After a few moments of silence, Doc questioned Slimo again.
"So, is it possible? Can the queen really break us out of here?"
"Well, I would need to talk with Enki about it. He seems to know more about the nature of the barrier, considering that he was the only one who survived crossing it before."
"As a matter of fact, I do have a plan!"
Slimo jumped out of his seat in fear. Sitting in the corner of the room with his glowing, yellow eyes, was nonother than Enki.
