Knack's Surprise

Taking a look at the progress so far: Essraya has grown parallel vines across the river to act as a guide, a pile of sawn and unsawn logs has been deposited nearby, and James is still working on the first deck segment as Essraya's guard stares at her from a distance. I focus in on Diana and Essraya, the pair on their own discussing something. When the verdure spots me, she waves me over.

"[D] You know, I could have grown a whole bridge myself if you'd given me enough time."

A living bridge, huh? "[D] And how long would that have taken?"

She rubs the back of her head. "[D] Longer than we have. At least, if we want it sturdy enough to carry wagons and people like Xerxes and Markonath. Well, Markonath could fly, but you understand."

I nod, looking at the potted verdure. "[D] How permanent are your vines? You're not connected to them right now, so what's up?"

"[D] Oh! I can't actually get rid of them the same way I grew them. I used my own growth to make them, but so they wouldn't die quickly, I grew some roots for them. They're completely they're own plants, now."

"Uhuh... [D] Do you think you could make something like rope? If this is going to be a drawbridge, we need something sturdy to make it go up and down, and...part of me is worried rope won't be enough."

The verdure cocks her head, placing her finger on her chin. "[D] It's possible to make some vines sturdier than rope, but they'd need to stay alive and rooted, so...does that work with a drawbridge?"

I nod along, brainstorming. "[D] Alright... Let's keep that in mind, but if you come up with anything better, don't be afraid to bring it up." I then turn to Diana. "[D] Good to see you're making friends."

The hornet gives me an irked look as Essraya interrupts, wrapping an arm around her that Diana clearly doesn't want. "[D] Yeah! We were just talking about the old Demon King and his almost total-conquer of the world!"

I blink at the smiling verdure. "[D] ...noted... Anyway, I-"

"Excuse me, sir." I turn, seeing that Bel and Blobby have snuck up on me, the undead now also clad in a set of leathers. "Captain Camilla is requesting your presence at the barracks immediately."

Didn't I tell her to take it easy today? "Uh, sure. I'll be right over." I glance back to Essraya and Diana. "[D] Keep me posted on the bridge progress."

. . .

Belinda opens the door for me before departing herself, and I get my first look at the 'barracks' since Camilla moved out. Half the floor is covered in bedrolls, and the other half has racks of weapons and armor, and some straw and burlap training dummies. However, what draws my eye the most, besides Camilla leaning against a table, is who she's staring daggers at.

"[D] Knack, I told you to stay on the other side of the river." I cross my arms, leaning up against the same table the captain is at. The devil herself is tied up in...her own merchandise? Fuzzy handcuffs restricts her hands and feet, and a ball gag is wrapped around her mouth as she sits in a chair facing us. Blobby has by now detached herself from Belinda, and is beginning to wrap herself around Knack, further restricting her.

Camilla looks at me with curiosity. "You know her?"

"She's a merchant from a nearby town across the river. [D] Bestion, was it?" I look to Knack and she nods.

"Well, she decided to make herself cozy in Garth's. Charmed a half-dozen people into listening to her stories about the Demon Kingdom."

"Wait, she knows humish?" Looking to Knack again, she takes an open hand and twists her forearm side to side. "Huh. [D] Anyway, I told you to stay put. Why'd you come over here?" I lean forward and unbuckle the ball gag, letting it hang around her neck.

The devil stretches her mouth and jaw. "[D] I should get better flavors for that... For crossing the river, you said you were having trouble getting people to trust monsters, so I thought I'd help out." She smiles, seemingly wholeheartedly.

After a pause, Camilla lightly elbows my side. "Have you done the thing yet?" As I'm about to ask what she's talking about, her eyes begin darting back and forth, almost as if she's... Reading!

I look to Knack again and activate God's Eye. However, I immediately have to fight off a jaw-drop. Clearing my throat, I double-check I read it right and dismiss the ability. "[D] So, Knack...I appreciate you trying to help...but forcing humans to like us isn't good for...our image. I'll let this slide because you clearly didn't know, but if they don't genuinely accept us, then there's no point to any of this. However...I need a favor in return."

Knack giggles. "[D] Lord for two days and you're already corrupt."

I exhale. Not entirely wrong on that... "[D] At the risk of sounding racist, or whatever the term is for this...I need you to find a way to get me in contact with Seneschal Halicarnassus."

Both the women in the room look at me with surprise. "Dusk, a word." Camilla goes to stand and try to pull me to the door, but I sit firm, looking at Knack.

"[D] Do we have a deal?"

The succubus visibly mulls it over in her head. "[D] That's a pretty big favor. Even if I did know Hali, and even if I could meet with her, what makes you think she'd want to meet you?"

"[D] Tell her...Anon wants to talk."

"[D] Hmm... Fine. But! I need a favor from you, too. You want to see Hali, and I want to see a friend of mine. I don't know if she's here in Riverbend, or one of the other nearby towns or cities on the human side, but her name's Banta. I don't know a lot about what she looks like, but let's just say we're pen pals."

I furrow my brow, before Camilla tugs on my arm again. I follow her out the back door, only for her to loudly whisper at me. "What the hell? You're letting her go just because she might be able to help you talk to Halicarnassus?"

I shake my head. "Cap, I'm letting her go because she is Halicarnassus."

. . .

We both walk back in, 'Knack' still completely restrained. Camilla crosses her arms and leans back up against the table. "[D] I'm still not convinced, but I guess you're free to go."

"[D] Great! Garth already said I could stay the night there, so I'll just-"

I raise my hand to stop her. "[D] Was this before or after you charmed him?"

She sulks. "[D] I'll ask again..."

"[D] No, I'll ask. And if he says no, we can work on some other place for you to spend the night. In the meantime, you can keep doing what you're doing at the tavern, without charming people. Captain Camilla will be there to make sure of that." Sorry about your day off, Cap. I clear my throat. "You can let her go, now."

Blobby slowly droops off the devil as Knack marvels. "[D] Did you tame it? I can think of a lot of uses for a tame slime."

"[D] She's not for sale."

"[D] Oh, I didn't want to buy it, I just wanted to find out how you tamed it." She pauses, Blobby now forming into her usually 'slime' shape. "[D] Wait, did you say 'she'? Why is it a she?"

I blink. "[D] What do you... Oh! Uh, she prefers to be a 'she'." Forgot that slimes aren't the same as other monsters. "[D] And we didn't tame her, she's naturally passive."

"[D] Neat. Does she eat, or..."

"[D] She needs mana, but not much else by the looks of it. Why do you ask?" I cock an eyebrow.

Knack shrugs. "[D] Curious, honestly. Slimes would be pretty good sex toys if they didn't try to drain you dry. Or, if they're smart enough to go by 'she', then I guess 'companion' is the right word..." She cocks her head and looks up, before turning back to us. "[D] Anyway, you mind taking off the merchandise? I'm not trying to demonstrate it for all the potential customers." The devil raises her hands, still cuffed.

Camilla rolls her eyes, pulling the key from off the table behind us. "[D] You realize we don't use coins here, right?"

Knack gasps as the cuffs are removed and handed to her. "[D] What blasphemy is this? What town doesn't use coins? Do you at least pay with- no, humans wouldn't use sex to pay..."

"[D] We trade goods with the merchants that make the trip and the occasional adventuring party that uses us as a final stop before heading across the river. We haven't needed to use coins. Garth probably has some, and the church collects some from the adventurers, but that's it."

The devil side-eyes me. "[D] You weren't planning on paying me, were you?"

I shrug. "[D] If it makes you feel any better, I wasn't planning on buying anything, either. At least not yet. [H] I should get back to the bridge. You okay handling things from here?"

The brunette gives me a look, playfully poking my shoulder. "Don't forget you owe me for this, Dusk."

"I thought we agreed on footrubs?" I chuckle nervously.

"That's just the beginning." She leans up and kisses my cheek before patting it. "See you tonight. [D] Come on, Knack." Camilla leads the devil out the door, the latter nearly skipping along with her bag of 'toys' in tow.

Once the door is closed, I look to Blobby, still on the floor next to the chair Knack was sitting on. Inside her is the pair of fuzzy handcuffs that the devil had just been wearing. I could have sworn... "Hey, are you doing okay?" I crouch down, offering my hand for her to use to communicate.

She doesn't take it. In fact, she doesn't move at all.

"Hello?" I lightly poke her, and she jostles about, seemingly surprised. "Are you okay? Do you need a minute? You can take the rest of the day off if you want."

Blobby readily swallows my hand and signals 'no', my first two fingers tapping against my thumb.

"You're...excited about something?"

She pauses. My hand flattens out, my wrist twisting clockwise and counterclockwise. 'So-so.'

"Okay, so not excited, but...something happened... Did you remember something about your past?"

My hand immediately curls up into a fist, nodding up and down. 'Yes.'

"Got it. Do you want to find Bel so we can talk about it?"

My fist nods again enthusiastically.

. . .

Belinda furrows her brow, signing back and forth with Blobby while I watch from the sideline. I take the time to look through the window of the tavern, eyeing 'Knack' as she regales the late lunch crowd with stories from the Demon Kingdom in broken humish.

"Sir, she believes that Knack was her girlfriend, and that her name is Banta."

So Blobby told her everything? Make sense; she probably would have found out something through translating anyway. "That's...concerning." I activate God's Eye, and sure enough, the slime now has a name: Banta. "Are you absolutely sure? No chance of any kind of misremembering?"

The lieutenant's hands begin moving again. "It's possible she's wrong, but if nothing else, Knack is very familiar to Banta."

I purse my lips. "Well...let's keep it quiet for now. I know, I'm sorry, I said I'd help reunite you two, but..." My gaze drifts back to 'Knack', her hands moving along with the story. "Something's not right here... Could you please trust me on this?"

Belinda's hands raise, about to say something, but pause, before a fist nods, followed by several other signs. "I'll trust you."

"Thanks. To both of you." I gulp. Now to find out what Blo-, Banta, had to do with Halicarnassus...and if that means what I think it does...