Outside Influences

Bel woke up groggy, the wisps of a dream clinging to her thoughts like a thick mist on a chill morning. She grasped at the details, but they slipped through her fingers, dispersing in the morning light.

Like always. She could never remember her dreams, just vague impressions that she was missing something important.

Bel set up slowly, twisting her body to relieve some of the soreness and frustration. She always woke thinking that she’d dreamed of something important, but no amount of mental straining produced anything tangible. Bel glanced in her brother’s direction, the vague lump of his form just barely visible in the slowly lightening interior of their tent.

In the past, she had inquired about his dreams, but talk of them would usually make him homesick and morose. Nowadays, Bel avoided the topic.

Beth thrust her head into the tent like an attacking crocodile, her sharp teeth just barely illuminated by the faint light outside. Bel shrieked and threw her blanket at the invader.

James grumbled and pulled his heavy blanket tightly around his head.

Beth laughed at their antics. Bel was certain that her sister had been trying to startle her.

“Hey kids,” the sadist greeted them, “I found the air shaft! We aren’t even that far.” She raised her eyebrows with excitement.

“Is it even morning?” Bel asked.

Beth pulled the tent flap fully open, letting in a cold breeze that made Bel regret throwing her blanket.

“Plenty of sun on the horizon,” Beth sang.

Bel squinted. “So there’s still time to sleep?”

“Nope. I’m collapsing the tent in a minute, whether you’re inside or out.”

Bel grumbled, but she gathered up her stuff and forced herself into the frigid morning air. She looked back to see that her brother wasn’t going to make it – he had just pulled his blanket from his face when Beth kicked out the stick holding up the front half of the tent. Bel heard his cursing from inside, but a moment later he scrambled out of the back side of the tent. Beth just laughed.

Bel peered at her sister suspiciously. “Why are you in such a good mood, sis?”

Beth patted her on the head, uncomfortably squishing the dead snakes that served as her hair. “Today we’re doing your ritual. It’s exciting, right?”

“Uh, yeah,” Bel agreed. She didn’t actually have high hopes, not after Beth had tried this a few times. “So how far is it?”

Beth pointed a tent stake up the ridge. “Just up this path!”

Bel stared blankly, suppressing a groan at the steep incline.

James pressed something into her hand, and Bel looked down to see one of his awful brushing sticks.

“Durak’s dark fist, I don’t want to brush my teeth with your rock paste.”

“Hey,” Beth scolded, “curse with some other god.”

James shoved a similar stick into his own mouth and commenced with a type of self-torture that Bel couldn’t understand. Bel’s lips curled in disgust when he eventually spit out the strange slurry that he swore was good for a person’s teeth.

“Come on Bel, if you don’t brush your teeth then they’ll all fall out.”

Bel pointed at Beth. “Beth’s teeth don’t fall out, and she doesn’t brush.”

“She also has that ability that dissolves blood and grime with the power of darkness,” James retorted.

Bel turned to her sister. “Do you use that in your mouth?”

Beth nodded. “Of course. You have to get rid of all bodily odors if you want to sneak up on some people.”

James nodded with satisfaction and gestured for Bel to stick the brush in her mouth. Bel eventually complied, brushing her teeth as quickly as her brother would let her. By the time she was finished, Beth was done packing up the camp.

Beth rubbed her hands with excitement. “Okay, let’s get going.”

Bel watched her sister’s back as she quickly shot ahead of them. She leaned close to her brother and whispered, “she seems suspiciously excited about this.”

James nodded. “Yeah. I keep saying that she’s got some weird plans for you.”

For the first minute, Bel appreciated the walking. Using her muscles helped work out some of the soreness and a bit of exertion dispelled the chill in the air. After the second minute though, she’d changed her mind. By the time they finally reached the air shaft, Bel was ready to collapse.

She massaged her cramping calves as she peered down at a heavy metal grate that covered a small hole in the ground.

“This is it?” she asked, uncertain that she wanted the answer. The grate was made of thick, metal bars that blocked an opening hardly wider than her shoulders. In her opinion, it looked less like an entrance for a person and more like an entrance to a deep trash pit.

Beth tugged on the grate, but it didn’t budge. “Yup. It’s not so bad on the inside. I think there’s even a ladder.”

The crafty assassin tugged one of the bags from her belt and pulled out a small set of lockpicks. Bel marvelled as Beth’s fingers danced, and a few heartbeats later the lock on the grate shifted with a satisfying sound. Beth heaved off the grate and the dark, empty hole yawned open in front of them.

“You two will have to go first so I can lock this behind us,” she informed them.

James held up a hand. “Wait. You’re going to do what now?”

Beth rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry James, we won’t be trapped. My hands fit through the grating, see?” Beth shoved a hand through, demonstrating. “How else would I lock it behind us?”

“Oh.”

Beth pointed at the dark hole. “Go ahead. There should be a second grate down below to make it harder for things to get out. If you encounter any essence beast it’ll just be a bug or something. Just step on it.”

“Yay,” James deadpanned. He carefully stuck his leg into the hole. After a bit of searching he found the ladder and descended the stairs. After the darkness swallowed her brother Bel followed after him with just a small amount of hesitation.

The ladder was metal for a few strides, but then switched to rough gouges torn into the rock. Bel would have had trouble holding on to it, but the hole was so narrow that she could easily brace her back against the opposite side. After just a minute of struggle, her feet touched the metal of a second grate. She stepped to the side into a wider space, clearing an area for Beth to arrive.

With the faint trickle of light, Bel could just make out her brother standing to her side, although she couldn’t make out any details of the room farther from the opening.

Bel jumped with surprise when Beth’s bag landed with a loud thump. It was followed by a clang as Beth pulled the grate closed. Beth came last, dropping almost the entire way down.

“Hold on for a second, there should be emergency supplies in here.”

Bel could hear her sister rummaging around in the space, but she couldn’t see anything herself. Bel tried to stretch more of the kinks out of her muscles and sighed in relief as a few of her joints popped.

She was startled by a cracking sound, but a moment later she could see. Beth had broken open a wooden box and pulled out a candle. The small flame illuminated a rectangular room just large enough for a pair of people to lie down end to end. There was another grate set into the floor, leading to even more darkness.

Beth looked around, nodding to herself. “This place looks perfect. Bel, lie down over here and we’ll start your ritual.”

“Just… just like that? Isn’t there some preparation?”

Beth guided her to the ground. “Sure, I’ve got to spill some chalk and light some incense, but I need you to lie down first. I’ve also got to put on a mask and eat something to channel the spirit of Durak’s familiar. I’ve mentioned Grudge before, haven’t I?”

Bel held up her hands. “Wait, wait. Is Durak going to heal me?”

Beth started digging through her bag. “If you lie down I can explain. And James, you go stand in the corner so you don’t accidentally kick anything.”

Bel looked at her brother, but he merely shrugged.

Not seeing a way out of it, Bel lowered herself to the cold, stone floor. A few leaves that had made their way through the grate crunched beneath her as she moved around to find a comfortable spot. Beth’s previous ritual attempts had involved much more preparation, and multiple steps of drinking and eating strange things. Or sometimes a few days of not eating or drinking normal things. Bel thought that this one seemed rather slapdash by comparison.

“So,” Beth began, “mortals can’t talk to gods. You get headaches and can’t remember what happened.”

“So they’re like bad drugs?” James asked.

Beth tilted her head. “Sure. You can think of it like that, I suppose. Anyway, I’m on my third core and I can just barely remember what Grudge passes on to me. I assume it’ll be worse for you Bel, but the gods will understand your situation even without you speaking.”

Beth pulled out a small wooden mask of some long-snouted animal and slipped it over her head. “The way this works is that I’ll connect with Grudge and he’ll connect with Durak. Then Durak will connect with some goddess that he knows.”

“And that one will heal me?” Bel asked, hopefully.

Beth shrugged. “I… well, I didn’t really understand past that point. But it should be fine, I think.”

James shook his head. “This is some incredible nonsense, even for you. At least give Bel some mushrooms or something so she has a good time.”

Beth snorted as she crushed one of the spirit stones into a bag full of chalk dust. She ignored James and concentrated on shaking the bag vigorously, which resulted in so much dust that they all went into sneezing fits.

Beth resumed her explanation while she spread the mixture in a rough rectangle around Bel’s prone form. “I’ve got an excellent connection to Grudge and Durak, and an excellent connection to Bel. I’m the perfect bridge.”

Beth pulled off a trio of her bracelets. “Oh, hold on to these too, Bel. They belonged to some really bad people, and Grudge wanted you to bring an offering to the goddess.”

“She likes bracelets?” Bel wondered.

“Nope, she likes punishment. Think of the bracelets as proofs of a bounty.”

“Oh my god, this has all been one terrible fetch quest, hasn’t it?” James blurted incredulously.

“Ignore your brother,” Beth instructed. “Now, I’ll swallow one of the essence stones and you’ll swallow the other.”

“Uh, wait, didn’t you say that would be a bad idea?”

Beth nodded. “Sure, but it’s not for you. The gods will digest them through us.”

“This sounds worse and worse by the minute,” James scowled.

“That’s why I didn’t tell you the details before, because I didn’t want to have to listen to all your whining. Eat the stone, Bel.”

Bel stared at the small, glowing rock that Beth pressed into her hand. What’s the worst that could happen? she thought. Before she could overthink it, Bel put the stone into her mouth and choked it down. It felt surprisingly smooth and warm as it travelled down her throat, more like honey than a rock.

Beth pulled out a few sticks of incense and lit them from the candle. She pushed the burning sticks into the line of chalk dust and clapped the excess material from her hands.

“Okay, that should be it.”

Bel’s eyebrows shot up. “Really? What happens–”

The world lurched around Bel and she felt very sick. She opened her eyes and… then she closed them again. A voice – or maybe a crowd of voices – greeted her.

Her thoughts grew muddled, like she was trying to think through a thick mud.

James had once insisted that they get drunk for his birthday. This felt a lot like that, only far, far worse. It was the difference between a small cut to having her skin flayed. Things – people? – moved around her, but Bel could barely focus. Words were being said, important things that she wanted to know, but her mind was as clear as a puddle of mud.

Someone forced something into her mouth. Something like a wad of fur. Bel tried to spit it out, but then someone tipped her head up and poured a thick, metallic liquid down her throat. She swallowed reflexively.

Someone made a noise of delight. “Much better! That looks balanced, right?”

Bel looked down at her body and saw an outline of a person, filled with light, sitting on a chair. Was she always a jellyfish? Was that how she looked? Or was she having trouble seeing? Rather than getting worse, she felt like her vision was clearing – and her thoughts as well.

She was at a table: a single, solid block of stone as dark and imposing as a mountain. Bel looked up and realized that she wasn’t alone. There were figures sitting to her left and right.

The one on her right was a woman who exuded power. Her lean muscles glowed with an inner light, and she wore armor woven of gold and covered in glowing filigree. On top of her armor she wore a deep, crimson tabard stitched with designs so tiny that they made Bel’s head swim.

Bel tried to focus on the woman’s face and felt a pinprick of worry. The strong sensation broke through her mind’s haze. The woman had the head of a beast, furry and muscled. Her eyes burned like golden suns, bisected by a slit pupil. Meeting her gaze sent a wave of awe through Bel’s body, like she was a tiny splinter of wood adrift upon the vast ocean.

The goddess – Bel knew the powerful woman could be nothing else – opened her mouth to speak, revealing her sharp fangs.

“Beloved, child of Lempo. Are you awake?”

The goddess’ breath was hot and humid like the worst summer day, and her voice was a storm tearing through Bel’s body. Bel turned to her other side, unable to withstand the force of the goddess’ attention.

Bel gawked at the creature on her left. There was a vague outline of an arm, the hint of a few strands of diaphanous hair, the twinkling of a grinning face. But the person’s body was made of a shifting storm of sand, their features only emerging momentarily before being swallowed by chaotic motion.

Bel stared in slack-jawed wonder as the storm stilled, coalescing into a woman with vibrant green and purple flames for hair.

“Is that better? Hello there little one! I’m Dutcha!”

“A-are you a goddess too?” Bel stammered.

The woman laughed, the sound like tinkling panes of ice. “I’m not some stuffy concept personified! I’m a spirit! A divine spirit! That means I’m really powerful!”

Bel stared at the woman’s sandstone features as she made an exaggerated muscle.

The spirit laughed and leaned back in her chair, displacing sparks and jets of steam as she moved. “I’ve just half-adopted you, so you can think of me as your second mommy!” She pointed enthusiastically at the goddess. “And Kjar over there will be your aunt!”

Bel could feel her mind slipping back into its previous haze. She was tempted to just let herself go, unable to dismiss the possibility that this was a hallucination brought about by another one of Beth’s failed rituals.

Or maybe James had found one of those mushrooms that he was always talking about?

The spirit had other plans though; she jolted Bel with a small fork of lightning. “Stay with us! This is important!”

The spirit smacked the stone table. “We’ve already signed a contract, but you need to know what’s in it.”

“I…” Bel trailed off, struggling to process her situation. “I signed what?”

The goddess with the sharp fangs tapped a clawed hand against the table. Bel’s attention was drawn to a stone tablet that had escaped her notice, overshadowed by the lunacy surrounding her.

Bel glanced at the goddess, but immediately looked away again.

“You have no cause to fear me, child. I am Kjar, goddess of corporal punishment.”

Bel stared at the goddess’ hand, still too terrified to look into her eyes again.

“Your mother has asked us to mend your body and spirit. We have agreed…” The goddess tapped the stone tablet. “…and the agreement has been signed.”

Bel stared at three glowing marks. Signatures, she guessed. The first burned with a fiery intensity that reminded Bel of the goddess, Kjar. The second was formed of several substances, some of the marks made of ice while others glowed with heat. That seemed to match with the spirit, Dutcha.

The third mark though, was an ever shifting set of lines of curves that made Bel’s head hurt.

“But,” Bel objected, “I didn’t sign anything.”

Dutcha laughed, a mix of lightning and flames belching from her mouth. “Silly, a teensy thing like you couldn’t sign something like this. Your mother signed for you.”

“My… my what?” Bel’s head was spinning. She was truly afraid that it would burst, and not in a figurative way. “I don’t have a…”

Then Bel remembered what Kjar had first said to her. “Lempo?” she asked out loud.

“Yes,” a thousand voices responded.

Bel looked across the table at the figure – or maybe a hundred, or a thousand figures – sitting there. Bel’s eyes teared up as she tried to focus, but the figure shifted like the light shining from a thousand tiny waves and eluded her comprehension.

“Your presence overwhelms her, sister.”

The shifting figures glanced at Kjar, and a moment later it solidified into a woman. A woman with a familiar face, one that Bel had seen many times in her dreams and in shrines and temples across Satrap. Lempo, goddess of healing and harvest.

“Beloved child,” the goddess said sweetly in a thousand voices. They didn’t overlap, but changed even as she spoke, as if her voice were an instrument playing an entire movement between each syllable.

“I am your mother, the goddess of change and upheaval.” The nearly overlapping voices were difficult to process, and rather than just being spoken aloud they were also rammed directly into her head.

Dutcha reached over the table and shook her, and Bel realized that she had slumped over. She may have also blacked out, she wasn’t sure.

“Yeah,” the spirit drawled, “how about I do the talking, okay?”

Bel tried to nod, but only managed a slight drooping of her head.

“Great!” the spirit declared. “So, obviously your little mortal mind isn’t going to be able to remember any of this. It’s sad really, your mom’s been haunting your dreams for years trying to get you to do important stuff. She never does anything basic, so her recipe for life was a little… eh.” Dutcha waved a few hands and tentacles and a couple of wings through the air. Bel assumed it was some kind of gesture, but she wasn’t equipped to interpret it.

The spirit shook her head, tutting quietly. “So, here’s the solution.” Dutcha poked the tablet. “Don’t look at us, just read this thing. You’ll forget most of it, but we’ll be able to remind you of stuff along the way. Hopefully. It’s not like you need to understand our plans anyway.”

Dutcha didn’t wait for Bel to respond, instead she grabbed the tablet and held it up in front of Bel’s face. Bel recoiled, startled by the sudden movement.

“Read,” Kjar’s voice commanded.

Bel’s eyes struggled to focus.

“Beloved, child of Lempo–” Bel began.

“That’s you!” Dutcha called out.

Bel shook her head. “–shall be restored. In return, she will serve the wishes of her divine benefactors. If the child falls upon Olympos, her spirit will leave the mortal coil and be gathered into Lempo’s embrace, where her experiences will be divided among her benefactors.”

Bel stared at the words, struggling to comprehend them. Did that mean that she would die if she didn’t do something? And Lempo and the others would eat her soul?

“Do not stop,” Kjar demanded. “Your connection wanes.”

Bel looked at the next line. “The child shall leave the Barrier and seek–”

Bel blinked at the darkness surrounding her. Her body – no, her everything hurt. Bel groaned.

What happened? Was I dreaming again? Did I fall asleep? Wait, did I finish reading the tablet?

With a swelling sense of panic, Bel realized that she could only remember the very first part of it.

A hand shook her, eliciting a hiss of pain as her body shifted.

“Bel! Are you okay?”

She cringed back, momentarily frightened by the eerily backlit face of her wide-eyed sister, still wearing her eerie animal mask. James was right behind her, his hands squeezed together around a shaking candle, his knuckles white from his excessive grip.

“Bel, can you hear me?” Beth shouted.

“Crows,” she hoarsely cursed. Her words caught in her dry throat and she coughed until her eyes watered.

“Bargainer’s balls! I think it worked,” her brother’s voice proclaimed. He sounded happy, but for what reason Bel didn’t know. She felt terrible.

“I told you I could handle the ritual.” Bel could hear the smug satisfaction replacing the worry in her sister’s voice.

“Beth,” she wheezed. She really wanted to complain that Beth’s ritual had not gone as planned, but her’s throat was still tight and dry. Speaking more than a word at a time was too difficult.

As she blinked back her tears her eyes began to focus. She could make out the dark skin and braided black hair of Beth as she leaned over her. “Having trouble seeing Bel? You’re healed though, right? That was pretty dramatic.”

“Yeah,” added James. He gawked at her like she was a fish on display. “You caught fire and everything.”

Bel tried to turn her head towards him, but she felt heavy and awkward. Her words scratched her throat like a saw against wood as she asked, “I did what?”

Bel winced as Beth clapped loudly. “Okay, give your sister some water. I feel like this was a success, but we’ve already tarried her for far too long. We need to make like rain in the sea and disappear.”

Beth grabbed Bel’s hands and pulled her upright. “I hope you can wal–whoah, look at them go!”

“What?” Bel looked around. The world was slowly coming into focus, but was still mostly just fuzzy blobs. Bel reached up to rub her head, but quickly retracted her hand when something hissed at her.

“Yup,” Beth continued, “looks like they’re healed too.”

Beth rubbed her hands with anticipation. “I can’t wait to see what you can do now!”

Bel felt something cool slither down the back of her neck. She shrieked.