Challenge #01628-D167: Honey Trap

When stepping into a Gods domain, enter as the supplicant or as something greater than a God. Never as a conqueror, Gods take a deep and personal delight in casting down challenges to their authority. -- RecklessPrudence

We apologise for the inconvenience, said the words in her head. We must quarantine you from reality as you know it.

After ten years of bouncing from reality to reality, the being who called herself Shayde had to wonder what these superior powers were up to. She opened her eyes and saw white. White fog on white ground against white architecture and blazing white skies. She squinted against the glare.

Shayde placed her palm on the white ground and tried to push herself up. It looked like cotton wool, but it felt... sticky. And weirdly warm. And unpleasantly moist. Some of it was soaking through her clothing. It was a struggle to sit up, and when she did, for a brief fraction of a second, the moisture on her clothing looked like a red so dark it could almost be black. But then she blinked and more white invaded her vision. It looked like white paint. But there was something wrong about it.

A vision in white samite was waiting near an alabaster arch. Serene and beautiful in levels that only Hollywood or angels could accomplish. And all Shayde could think of was a squirming mass of millipedes that had come together to make a human shape. "Welcome," said the creature. "Welcome to Elysium. We had to bring you here so you could have your... extraneous abilities removed. We do apologise for the inconvenience."

It was difficult to read this being. Something kept stopping her from seeing the Truth. After ten years of non-stop True Lights, it was strange seeing the world with regular light. Her limbs felt weak. "I feel like I need a bath," she muttered. The air smelled like burning tyres and rotting offal for just a second, and then it was back to honey and baking pastries.

"We can cleanse you easier than that," smiled the creature. It waved what looked like a hand and the... liquid... removed itself from her body. "We will see to your comfort, our hero. You deserve a time to rest."

"What I deserve is what I'm owed," said Shayde. "You promised ye'd send me back where I came from. Ye promised."

"In time, yes. What has changed you... is difficult to remove. Even for Gods." For a mere instant, the creature was a midden heap squirming with maggots, and then the alabaster skin and samite returned.

Shayde wobbled on her feet. It was almost as if gravity were five times what she was used to. She stumbled and used a pillar for support. A pillar made of spinal bones with dripping ichor as its mortar. She startled away, only to behold clean marble polished to a mirror shine. "What's goin' on wi' this place?"

"I do not understand the question," said the creature. "Come. You will adjust to your environment in time. You may grasp my robe if you feel unsteady."

And since she did, she did. Reaching out to use the trailing diaphanous drapery as a handy hand-hold. Only to touch the greasy shroud of a saponified corpse.

This time, she didn't flinch. Didn't fight. Her senses were trying to tell her something. Something beyond her initial comprehension, so they were using images she could understand. Sensations of... badness. Toxicity.

"Come," said the creature. "Sit in this throne. We can heal you there."

For an instant, she saw the Electric Chair. The host of beings around it were decaying things. Punky wood. A mess of maggots. A mulch heap. Straight up dung. A body made entirely of mouldy fruit.

Of course. They were all rotten liars. They could fool her conscious mind, but her unconscious was always there in the background. And making puns.

"No thanks," she said. "I'll be able to tune in'tae this reality soon enough. I jus' need a breather."

The lead creature joined the circle of creatures, and another stepped away. This one appeared to be fine, sculpted man-flesh in beautifully-fitting garments, but the flashes of truth made him a moving monument of maggots, worms, and venomous wriggling things. "Then, perhaps, you could refresh yourself. You hunger and thirst, do you not?"

The sumptuous table of bejewelled temptation in food form briefly took on the look of Lady Favisham's wedding feast. Only with more crawling insects and a few dead and rotting rats into the mix.

"I'll be fine. I don't want to impose on ye. You jus' focus on the whole thing where yer puttin' me back to normal. I think I'll take a stroll. See th' sights."

For an instant, all those crawling bugs were on fire. "As you wish. Do not linger too long. We will have a solution soon."

"Oh, I don't plan on doin' anythin' like that..." she smiled. And walked nonchalantly away.

As soon as she turned a couple of corners, Shayde was setting the land speed record for the nonchalant walk. Running wouldn't do any good in the long run. This was Their place. Not hers. They had the home team advantage. But distance gave her space to think.

There were only two ways to face the Gods. As a supplicant... or an equal. And since they were trying to kill her as a supplicant...

She leaned against a wall made out of hairballs and dog doings. Closed her eyes and breathed in the foul smoke of burning people. Concentrated on the feel of this dimension. Great green globs of greasy, grimy, gopher guts...

She was going to be sick, by the time this was all over, but she had to have some form of leverage to deal with them. And they were done with her, right now. And just like last Christmas' puppy thrown into the canal... they were going to get rid of her.

Shayde opened her eyes. Rotten. This entire place was rotten. Buildings made out of leviathan bones, none stripped of flesh, just allowed to rot. The ground was bloodied bowels and effluvia. Trees made of tortured bodies. Architecture with no function, made entirely out of misery.

And one of Them came. No longer a being of beauty. They shone, but they shone in colours that hurt the eye. They moved unnaturally, like a meat puppet pulled along by someone with a palsy. "Come. We have a solution. We can fix you."

Like fixing a horse race. And just as corrupt.

Absolute power had corrupted all of these beings. She had to hold on to her growing power for just the length of time that it took to kick their collective asses and escape. With power came temptation. And if she dared give in... she might as well be one of Them.

Not on her watch.

All she needed was just enough to have the power to dictate to Them. And get home. Not a speck more.

[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / kchungtw]

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