City of IF

[Lilith]

WARNING! THIS CHAPTER HAS STRONG LANGUAGE! NOT FOR THE ONES WITH PARENTS OVER THEIR SHOULDERS OR WHO HAVE NEVER, EVER HEARD A CURSE WORD IN THEIR LIFE!

A SIDE NOTE! THIS STORY IS BUILT ON THE SILLY RUMOURS AND THINGS THAT GO ON IN IF AND IN THE INN! IF, FOR ANY REASON, THE JOKE THAT IS MADE IN A CHAPTER ABOUT YOUR IFIAN PERSONA YOU CAN'T TAKE... THEN GET OVER IT AND DON'T READ THE STORY. THIS STARTED OFF AS FUN AND WILL REMAIN SO AS LONG AS I HAVE PEOPLE WHO ARE GOOD SPORTS WITH THEIR SENSES OF HUMOR!

Chapter 10: Circling the Wagons?

Lily’s eyes were wide as she kept her fist up behind her ear, her other hand steady as she held Neurosis’s body clear from the ground. “Don’t wanna talk? Alright I can fix that..” She fluttered her wings imperceptibly and hovered three feet off the ground.

“Uh oh” Neurosis uttered before she shot high into the open air, bringing him about eye level with a couple clouds.

“Wanna go higher?” Lily threatened with a sneer.

Neurosis whimpered, shook his head and soiled himself.

Lily scoffed and hovered back down and dropped the Ofian the last few feet in a heap on the ground.

“Now how about you talk to me now?” Lily said in a honeyed voice as she took a seat on a fallen tree.

“Y-yes ma’am..” Neurosis sniveled and sat on the ground, trying to put himself back together.

“Well? ” Lily snapped. “What’s in the whiskey?”

The once oil-slick Ofian visibly flinched at the venom in Lily’s tone and began to speak. “Well you see, I don’t know the specifics of the chemical.. All I know is that it works against the Idearium that makes up the constitution of every Ifian’s body. The main element. But somehow, it does not affect the city itself.”

“I see..., who did it?” Lily’s tone dropped as she narrowed her eyes at Neurosis.

He looked as if he wanted to take his cowardly ass into the nearest staked pit and jump into it, face first. “Well,.... I’m rather sorry to have to tell you this, dearie, but..” His eyes flicked over to the group of Ifians as the juvenile red dragon took off, a large bundle of Ofians in his claws.

“Syranore? I refuse to believe that.” Lily stated immediately and pulled her dagger from her boot, advancing on him.

“No! NO! I’m serious! That’s what I was told!” Neurosis cowered and put his hands up above his head to protect himself.

“What you were told was wrong, scum. Last question, and you better give me the proper answer... I’ll find out who put it in the whiskey on my own. Why? What is the motive behind incapacitating the mods?” Lily’s wings quivered as she stood over him, her eyes narrowed.

“Well I - erk!” The point of a crossbow bolt appeared in Neurosis’s throat and he made a gurgling noise as he slumped to the ground, dead.

“SHIT!” Lily shot straight up and looked around quickly for the culprit but she couldn’t see anything in the distance.

Except for Syranore, who had returned from depositing the leftover Ofians in the ASS Hole. He was holding a crossbow in his hands, waving it around and showing Sir Wax, Gallant and Tavanesh special properties about it.

*********

“Now if you look here at the handle-“

”SYRANORE!”

Syra looked up to see the flame-haired fey charging him, bloodthirst in her eyes. He looked around quickly for away to talk himself out of it, and then he spotted the dead informant, close to where Lily had been standing moments before.

“Crap, guys, she thinks I shot him.” Syra whispered to the other three.

“So explain it is a mistake?” Tavanesh suggested.

“Have you seen her in that mood? The ‘I-wanna-kill-something-and-bleed-it-out-and-bathe-in-it’s-blood’ mood?” Syra hissed, panicking.

“No but I’d like to see her in a different one that might have a nice effect on that one.. Hehe..” Gallant’s speech became less blurred the longer he was away from his tankard back in the Inn.

“She’s completely unreaso- AGH!” Syranore was cut off midsentence as a strong female arm curled around his throat; Lily had leaped onto his back and was now trying to put him in a headlock, but the best she could do was a sort of throat-hold, choke thing.

“Oh ho! Look at this! It’s a dragon rodeo!” Gallant sat down on a tree stump and watched the Lily-Syra tussle, pulling a flask out of his armor somewhere and taking a swig.

“Meh, nothing better to do..” Tavanesh sat next to him, stretching his legs out and leaning back on his elbows with a yawn.

Sir Wax put his pencil and wooden sword away, crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against a tree, shaking his head with chuckle and watching the antics with a bemused smile on his face. “I’ve got to hang around here more often if this is the type of lunacy they have moderating.”

*********

“Well what have we got guys?” Hours had passed since Idea Master and JezSharp, both now returned to their right state of minds, had begun working on making a special brew to reverse the effects of the virus. Cy was pacing the main lab room of the IT, his worry spurred by Noni’s musings. He was very nearly breathing down their necks as they worked furiously to shut him up.

“Not quite but nearly there. Would you PLEASE sit down? You’re making us nervous. This is a highly volatile combination, chemicals and magic.” JezSharp snapped as he brought over a heated tube held in tongs and gave the mage a nod.

IM rolled up his sleeves and began muttering words that could have well been Latin while he held his hands over the tube. “Patience, young cyborg. We might be working against the clock, but we work smarter, not harder.”

Cyberworm grumbled and turned back towards them.

“I’m not saying we’ve got a traitor in our midst, but if you think about it, whoever did it is most likely an IFian. It’s the only way that he/she would have gotten through everything without being caught so far.” Noni babbled on, as Phantomfan and DeadManWalking yelled insults across the room at one another, throwing objects that were ridiculously named and completely GodModded.

“Very likely, Noni. However, which IFian would risk the rage of most of the rest of us? I mean, honestly. Like we wouldn’t figure it out? WOULD YOU STAY CORPOREAL FOR TWO SECONDS WOMAN ?” DMW had tossed something very large and heavy at Phan and she had simply responded with becoming her non-solid self.

“Hehehe... not my fault you can’t move those old bones fast enough.” She teased him back and threw a duck with fangs at him. DMW flattened himself on the floor as the tossed duck flew over him, letting out a call of “Thwack Thwack ” as it whizzed by.

“Noni’s correct... but whoever would take that kind of risk would be someone that must’ve already pissed most of us off and therefore had nothing to loose... who would that be?” Cyberworm mused aloud, watching the two old mods work diligently.

Noni stood straight up suddenly and gave Cy, Phan, and DMW a look.”Oh no.... he didn’t... but he must have.... oh boy...”

“SUCCESS” The loud whoop of achievement from Idea Master and JezSharp simultaneously drove the musings on the culprit from all their minds. Except for Noni’s.

Okay this is good. We have an anti-virus for the IFians that are sick... but if it is who I think it is... It has to be, no one else would even think of it. Noni thought, while Cy and she prepared to head off to the facility that the IFians were being held at while infected.

“DMW and Phan. You two stay here and guard this area and our venerable old ones. Make sure no one gets in or out until I come back and let you know that things are back to normal, got it?” Cy snapped out orders and both responded with a smart salute.

As he and Noni set out, she spoke up. “Cy, I think I know who did it.”
Cyberworm whirled around on his heel. “WHO? ” He grasped her by both shoulders and lifted her up off the ground easily. “WHO???”

“Stop shaking me ” Noni wriggled a little, moved her hand slightly and there was a puff of smoke. When it cleared, she was on the ground again and dusting herself off. “Cy, I think it was...” She lowered her voice to whisper in his ear.

His eyes widened and he ran a hand over his face. “Of course, .... it all fits.. you're a genius. But keep that suspicion to yourself until we get everyone back on their feet.”

Cy and Noni made good time as they darted across the strangely quiet streets of the city, and as they crossed through the Fantasy Forest on a shortcut, they saw the Lily-Syra tussle and the audience watching.

“What in the name of Key.....” Cy began and then was knocked over when a bucking Syra threw Lily off his back and into him. Noni covered her mouth and snickered, moving to stand by the rest of the audience, all of whom were laughing heartily.


As Lily picked herself up off the ground and Cy regained his balance, Syra looked for a place to hide himself. Lily had just righted her wings and moved to storm off after the red dragon when Cy grabbed both her upper arms from behind and held her back. “Let me at him, damn it He killed my informant ”

“Who did what with who now?” Cy asked, keeping a firm cybernetic grip on the temperamental fey.

Syra flinched at Lily's glare and covered himself with his wings. “I did not I've been trying to tell you We missed an Ofian It shot him ”

Lily stopped snarling and trying to shove Cy off. “What? Are you serious? WE MISSED ONE? WHERE DID IT GO? ”

“I DON'T KNOW YOU WERE BUSY STRANGLING ME SO I COULDN'T SEE!” Syra let out a roar of frustration and shook the forest clearing.

“Aww, I am sorry Syra..” Lily looked sadly at him as her temper cooled and Cy let her arms free. “And what are you and Noni doing here?” She glanced at Cy then at Noni.

“That's a long story. Perhaps we should all go together to give the sick this anti-virus and we’ll exchange stories when this is over?” Cy suggested. The others nodded and all eight of them made their way to the island of AN, in hopes that the anti-virus in Cy’s hand was what the sick needed.

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There it is guys, Chapter 10. Posting epilogue right after this and then this one is done!