After an hour, as everyone started slowly relaxing, Amber was still tense. The malicious presence within the Workshop had not vanished and her forces were still combing the place. Irene and Hestia were discussing whether the capsules could be useful for healing. They were extremely useful for medical purposes but the fact that most of the injuries could be healed almost instantly slightly invalidated their use. Despite that, they leaned towards copying the magitech. It was better to understand something like that and not need it. Aoi and the twins were searching the central island of the Workshop with Rhys. Blackbeard and his people were spread evenly on the wide platform, watching for any dangers. Despite that, Amber still felt that something was wrong. It was a nervous knot tightening in her guts that almost made her nauseous.

  "What should I do now?" She asked no one and looked at one of the pods that remained closed.

  It was strange. Why had no one opened it? She, very slowly, clenched her fists and shook her head. She knew that she was immune to all known mind control effects but her instincts honed by years of survival in the wilderness still screamed in warning. If that wasn't mind control then what? An illusion of some sort? Illusion magic was powerful but Hestia had taught them how to break even the best illusions. However, she was almost sure it wasn't an illusion but, to be sure, she sent a powerful magical pulse. Nothing. The only thing she managed to get was Hestia's worried stare. She smiled at the Goddess and shook her head which was met with a reluctant shrug.

  "Admiral Teach? Why is this pod is still closed?" She asked the former pirate.

  He looked around in intrigued shock. "Which one, my Lady?"

  She almost jumped away as if that pod was on fire. With an angry exhale, Amber focused on the pod and once again released the magic pulse but, this time, she noticed a slight flicker on the edges of the cylinder. Now, she was certain it was hidden by an illusion and the fact she was able to see it, wasn't comforting at all. On the contrary, if only she could see it, it was a trap aimed at her once she believed that everything was cleared and checked. Still angry, Amber raised her slender staff and aimed it at the pod. She couldn't use Dispel because she wasn't a healer but she had something hidden.

  "Cancel magic!" She hissed angrily, sending a mage version of priest reserved Dispel.

  She instantly knew that Blackbeard saw the pod in question as well as a few other things that had been, so far, hidden under a very sophisticated illusion. Irene walked toward the pod with her brows furrowed in a thoughtful expression. Golden sparks flicked near her as she used various magic on the cylinder. She stopped a few steps in front of it and raised her golden staff.

  "Mass Dispel." The echo in the Workshop carried her voice as she lowered her staff and released a quickly expanding ring of golden light that quickly reached the furthest reaches of the chamber. "I should have done that earlier... Sorry, Amber."

  "It's not your fault." The Half-Elf slowly shook her head. "It's messed up but I guess we should get used to the unconventional. We won't be attending to anything normal..."

  "You are right." Irene sighed with a nod and pointed at the pod. "It's cursed."

  "Well, anything more than that? " Hestia chuckled. "Every single thing that appeared is cursed. Just how bad did that crazy golem want to enslave you, Amber?"

  "Too much..." The First Empress of Arcadia replied with an unamused voice and pointed at the cylinder. "Is it safe to touch now?"

  "Yes." Hestia and Irene replied in unison. After a moment Irene grinned at Amber. "Whatever that curse was supposed to do, it was aimed specifically at you."

  "What a joy..." Amber sighed and looked at Blackbeard. "Admiral? I'm afraid that I have to ask you for a favour."

  "Since I am not a beautiful Empress of Arcadia, that curse should be useless against me." He grinned and inspected the cylinder from up close.

  After a few awkward moments and after a few more people joined him to figure out how to open that thing, they managed to lower the metal shield. Inside, was a fairly young Elven man who seemed asleep.

  "That's that guy." Hestia pointed to the man suspended in the pod. "That's Vanush Na'laar or whatever. It was his soul I detected in the golem."

  "Oh, just wonderful! Now I will have to listen to the flesh version of his advances!" Amber angrily threw her arms into the air. "No, nope, no-um. Admiral, once you figure out how to open that pod, you will arrest that man and put him in the brig on Dauntless. No! Not Dauntless. Assassin! I don't want to ever see him."

  "Well... This bridge is fairly high and Johnny, here, is nicknamed Clumsy, not without a reason if I may say, so I could task the Private with escorting the prisoner." Blackbeard offered with a wide grin among the chuckles of his soldiers.

  He probably was joking but Amber seriously considered his offer for a moment. It was apparent that she hesitated but, ultimately, she sighed and slowly shook her head in denial. "We need to question him before any execution would be in order. For the hybridization experiments, his head will roll without the need for adding an unfortunate accident to the titles of Private Johnny."

  "Aye, Your Highness!" Blackbeard saluted with a grin but Amber still was uneasy.

  ???

  After that, time passed fairly swiftly. The day was spent nervously waiting for reports and trying to make sense of the few scattered notes or interpretations of the huge murals they found. The only downside was that Vanush Na'laar was still in his pod despite all attempts made by the Arcadians. Even the help of Vishnu, who tried everything in his power to open the glass cylinder, was for nought. This only confirmed Amber's belief that City Core was still lurking somewhere in the shadows. The efforts to get him out of it lasted long after the Empresses retreated for the evening rest. Back on Dauntless, Theon had soothing news for them which greatly improved their moods.

  "Our missiles reached the bugs in the best moment. They tried to regroup after a failed attempt to destroy Galahad's outposts. We crushed hundreds of thousands of them with minimal losses and Galahad pushed forward. Vestargo was utterly unprepared for the sudden change in our tactics and we secured a fairly good route through the marsh." Theon's illusion said with a smile that widened into a wide and vicious grin. "There is something nearby. A Dungeon."

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  "One of Vestargo's vassals?" Tia asked and rubbed her chin.

  "Most probably. There are some ape-based monsters among the bugs so it's a fairly safe bet." He nodded and looked at the absentminded Half-Elf. "Everything is ok, Amber?"

  "Far from it, to be honest..." She rubbed her face with a sigh. "We can't find the control chamber of the Workshop and I'm sure that obnoxious Guardian is hiding somewhere."

  "I'm sorry, my Dear." Theon nodded with understanding. "But I'm sure you will deal with it. You all will."

  Amber looked at her sisters who were sitting around her. They had rearranged their bedroom and their new bed looked far more promising. With a short nod, Amber smiled.

  "I'm glad you are here with me, Hestia, Aoi, Mia, and Tia. I couldn't have done it, so far, without you."

  "It's obvious that we should be here, Amber." Mia waved her hand with a cheerful smile while the rest of them simply chuckled. "We are sisters, after all."

  "Don't push yourselves and take your time. Haste is a bad advisor." Theon warned them. "We managed to buy you more time so use it wisely, my Beauties."

  "Thank you, Theon." Amber smiled with love.

  They chatted for about half an hour before they all felt too tired and ended the call.

  ???

  Amber woke up with a racing heart and the feeling that something was off. She was woozy and a cold wind sent shivers down her body.

  "Gods... Who opened the window?" She asked with a yawn but no one answered her.

  As she rubbed her eyes, she realised that her hands were coarse and dry. She focused her gaze on her hands and her heart almost skipped a beat. She was dirty; her hands were full of calluses and small cuts. Amber was wearing a worn-out, simple dress made of a thick linen sack that irritated her skin but provided warmth. Her long hair was full of leaves and dust with some strands almost glued unpleasantly together. In growing horror, she looked around to discover that she was in a forest, one of the fairly safe hideouts she always used in the past. She was horribly hungry - something she had forgotten about how terrible the feeling was. On top of that, she was thirsty and her mouth was so dry that it was painful to swallow. She took a deep breath to calm herself and closed her eyes. That must have been a trick. A trap that was playing with her mind by suggestions and illusions.

  She calmly raised her hand in front of her and tried to release a magic pulse that would shatter this illusion but to no avail. Mindful of Hestia's warning, Amber closed her eyes and remained calm. She couldn't trust her senses anymore and looking for confirmation of the World's Words would lead straight to the madness and questioning her memories. It was exactly what an enemy who managed to capture her would want to achieve. Amber knew that her real body was safe... Safe on... Stored... No. No... She angrily shook her head and gritted her teeth. She opened her eyes and slowly stood up. She heard water flowing nearby and decided to wash her hands and maybe drink it if it looked safe. Amber smiled flatly upon further inspection of her attire and tried to not laugh. Her first guess about her dress was a total miss. It wasn't made of an old sack but it was woven. A few strands of bleached-out colourful stripes indicated it was once a fairly elegant attire. Under the nearby tree was a backpack and a short sword in a leather scabbard.

  She curiously looked inside the bag and almost laughed upon finding Arcadian field rations and a canteen full of water. Everything was wrong in this place and she was confident that she would navigate her way out of this illusion. She totally disregarded the backpack and its contents but put the sword on her belt. Slowly, she snuck towards the stream and watched it for nearly half an hour. During that time she didn't notice a single animal or a monster approaching the watering hole. Whoever was responsible for the illusion had no idea about forest life or that stream was toxic. Either way, it wasn't worth risking drinking. Navigation through the forest wasn't hard. For twelve years it was second nature and, even now, she was doing it instinctively. Even though she didn't notice it at first, the eerie silence of the forest was odd. It wasn't like there were no sounds but they weren't what she expected to hear in a forest. No birds sung from a distance or the creaking of wood in the wind. She decided to get out of the forest but also wanted to make whoever tried to mess with her regret it.

  The longer she walked the more hungry she became but she had to keep walking. The fact she couldn't use her magic was surprising but there were a few ways one might cause that. Judging by the sun, it was an early afternoon and she almost laughed when she found the rucksack she abandoned earlier in the day in the bushes. She shrugged, looked through it again, and found a few more useful things like a rope and a cape. She took them and decided to rest in the large, old oak tree nearby. She climbed it with ease and, this time, she couldn't stop her laughter. Since the day she married Theon, Amber hadn't climbed trees- an activity she quite liked doing. She had been so fixated on the things she should and shouldn't do, she had nearly abandoned things she enjoyed. With a trained movement Amber made a makeshift hammock between the mighty branches with the rope and the cloak. She lay in the bedding and tried to understand the purpose of this illusion.

  It wasn't as though she had, somehow, been reverted to a time before she met Theon. Of course, there were some attempts at making such inferences but they failed miserably. Her clothes were nothing like what she wore for the last year but those would have been unimaginably expensive for her past self. A weapon, not to mention a leather rucksack with all that equipment, would keep her set for the entire winter, back then. She might have even chosen to live in a forest full-time with such gear. Whoever prepared this illusion was utterly unfamiliar with the hardships of life outdoors. She felt tired and considered whether she should take a nap. The hunger she felt wasn't real and it was dangerous to surrender to urges in an illusion especially when you were thirsty or hungry. Amber was glad that she paid attention when Hestia had explained the differences between various illusions and she almost managed to determine the nature of her prison. It wasn't just an illusion because that wouldn't block her skills. And yet...

  And yet...

  She woke up the next morning, angry at herself that she fell asleep. She had almost managed to figure out what kind of... What kind of... What? Her eyes went wide in horror when she realised that the place she was in was deteriorating her memories. Illusion! She suddenly remembered as she packed her rope and put on the cloak. She swiftly and lightly descended from the tree canopy and continued her march forward. As she moved, her thoughts became more clear and she calmed down. The predicament she was in was serious but at least she knew what it was. It wasn’t just an illusion but a mindscape. The entity that trapped her in this prison was fairly powerful and she was fairly sure of their identity. She sighed upon seeing the forest abruptly ending, giving place to the familiar buildings.

  "Vanush..." She pinched the bridge of her nose and almost turned around.

  "I'm surprised that you can resist me for so long." His annoyed voice came from everywhere.

  "Oh, please..." Amber stepped forward into the city. "Closing me in your mindscape was an interesting move, but I'm not a na?ve girl. I am Empress Amber va'Theon, the First Queen of Avalon, the Elemental Archsorceress, the Merciful Lady, and the Protector of the Helpless."

  "You are not! You are poor and strayed in the dark and scary forest!" He growled angrily.

  "Hahahaha." She burst into laughter. "You know nothing about being poor or even how a forest can be scary. That place you showed me? It was a fucking picnic compared to what I have seen before. The gear you gave me? A year ago I would consider it a luxury. You know nothing about me, Vanush and that is why you will ultimately fail."

  She started running. If she was right, finding and defeating Vanush would let her leave this place.

  Thank you all for reading.

  I wish you all a great day and as always I wait for your comments.

  A big thanks to who edited the chapter!

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