CW: Implied drug taking
Words: 785
"They tell me you're the only one who might help," I say as the door is opened. I've slogged through mud and jumped tussocks, braved rotting jetties, to see this person. The agaran witch stares at me impassively as I huddle on the doorstep, coat pulled against the driving rain. I feel like I've entered a test of wills. Stubbornly, I stand, ignoring the drop of murky swamp rain trailing down my face. It plops off my chin, splatting on the jetty. The witch grunts and steps back to let me in.
I stand, soaking the creaking planks of the vestibule, and a hand is waved at the table. Two steaming cups already sit on the blackened surface.
"Nab, nab!" the witch says.
I take that to mean I should sit. The chair settles with an alarming noise as I ease my weight onto it. The witch sits opposite and lifts their cup but doesn't yet drink.
"Hoom, squishfish," they say.
I take up my cup. The liquor in it is a peculiar shade of purple, like coral too far from the surface. The witch gestures I should drink. I raise it to my lips and sniff; it smells of over-ripe berries and old blood. Sensing my reluctance, the witch reaches across and tilts my hand so I'm forced to drink or spill the liquid over myself. Bitter warmth flushes through me. Fermented boneboo must be an acquired taste…
"Nab! Mesti hab carpa, squishfish," the witch says and stands. I follow through a close corridor, separated by two damp curtains, and into a darkened room at the back of the mycelium house.
"Nab, nab!"
The witch sits at a table, the dark wood unfinished and covered with a burgundy cloth. On its surface is a small metal dish, tarnished and dark. The witch watches me until I take the other seat.
"Hoom, hoom. Halhoom!"
A light springs forth in the darkness. Sickly green, like a ball of marsh gas, it spreads along the mycelium walls. The witch's mushroom cap turns a toxic yellow, and their face is a shadowed, spectral mask. Unease stirs in my gut. The walls seem to waver and spin.
"Hoom! Toi lmose, squishfish," the witch says, drawing my attention to the green ball of light floating about its tarnished dish. "Toi lmose."
Words tumble out of me at the witch's command. "I need insight. I am to fight a beast which destroyed a planet. A planet which contained my friends, my purpose of being. This being is ancient and terrible and has been locked away for millennia. A more powerful being than me put it there. If they couldn't destroy it-" My voice wavers and fails.
"Hab." The witch nods. A dirty white glove pats my hand. "Lli yuca, squishfish. Hab?" The witch tilts their head back, hands placed around the bobbing light. "Halb! Halb! Vay toloclbo, rtori! Toi seemo, seemo!"
A tremor runs through the house, the mycelium shivering as if a great wind has struck it.
"Lmose, vay toloclbo. Rtori squishfish nab!"
The witch's head snaps back. They stare at me, eyes burning with sickly green light. Their mouth moves. A voice, like a crashing wave, speaks.
"Chop onrsi! Smashroom onrsi! Nab oaken smashroom cantaloupe!"
I can hardly breathe. The presence of this being has chased the air from the room. I feel crushed beneath the weight of a million gallons of ocean.
"Squishfish cantara?"
The air comes rushing back, purest salt-breeze. I nod – I do understand. I am filled with clarity of vision; with vim, and purpose.
"Halhoom!"
The witch crumples. Their hands fall away, and the bobbing light falls back into the tarnished dish and vanishes. I rush to their side.
"Auert," they croak. I don't know the word, but yet understanding still lingers. I dash back through the curtain and up to the next level. The mycelium is soft and giving underfoot as I move to the apothecary table and snatch up a bottle.
Back downstairs, the witch takes a grateful glug. When they appear cognizant again, I take their hand.
"Thank you for this gift. I understand now how to defeat the Ruin. How can I repay you?"
The witch laughs. "Halb! Icub nheei. Smashroom onrsi nab cantaloupe." The witch pats my hand. With effort, they stand and shoo me towards another door at the back of the room.
Outside the rain has stopped and the sun is rising. Mist seeps from every cranny. I'm ushered out of the house.
"Thank you again."
The witch gives a satisfied nod. "Vay toloclbo mesti, squishfish."
With the witch's blessing ringing in my ears, I teleport back to my ship, finally prepared to end the Ruin forever.
Build & written for the SB Autumn Prompts: Agaran, Giant Mushroom, and Boneboo.
Mods used: Prop Pack, Casa Obscura Furniture, WW Furnishing, Immersive Props, Galactic Dungeons, Foodie's Furniture.
