Deception (Adventure with Cthulhu cont.)
Well, she appeared again. She was not alone this time, however. She was accompanied by a being of water, which stood about 5 feet. I didn't like this bit of foreshadowing. Now, I don't hate water, but we really don't get along well. I don't go swimming, I don't go to the beach, I've never been on a boat, I don't even like taking baths. If she wanted to take me to the elemental plane of water, there was going to be a problem. She sensed my apprehension, and spoke to me for the first time, telepathically. She told me that she would make sure I could breathe perfectly, and that she would be there so I shouldn't worry. I told her that I wanted to do something else, but she just said that I needed to learn how to swim. I told her that I had already tried, and it didn't work out, and she said that she knew, but she was a much better teacher. I could see I had no choice in the matter, so I told her that I just wanted to get it over with. We went to the non-reality place again, and she made some motions with her hands and spoke some strange words, and the elemental started glowing. It then started to move towards me, and as it got closer, I felt a great energy form between us, which kept getting stronger, until the creature touched me, at which point I began to aborb part of it. The glowing passed into my body, and then the elemental became nothing more than a puddle. The next thing I knew, I was surrounded by water. I looked around, and there was nothing but water as far as I could see in all directions. Although I could breathe, I began to panic. I didn't want to be here, I didn't want to swim, I didn't care if she was a god, I had to get out of this place. I grabbed her and looked right into her eyes. I tried to speak, but it was not possible. Even less control for me. This added to the panic. I began flailing around, trying to swim, to get somewhere that would lead me away from this place, or at least give me something to stand on and air to breathe until I could calm down. There was nothing. I cannot put into words how truly terrifying this was. She grabbed me, and would not let me go. I tried to get free, but I couldn't. I closed my eyes and tried to imagine I was somewhere else. But I found that feeling the water all around me made it impossible the picture myself anywhere I wanted to be. All of a sudden, I began to calm down. My thoughts changed to a different location. It was a room. A room with three sections. On one side, there were dark beings, with nasty-looking weapons. On the other, valiant knights in gleaming armor. I was in the middle. In front of me, there was a baby on a pedestal. The baby had an energy about it, it was special. One being from each side stepped toward the baby, and each tried to pick it up, but couldn't. Then I tried and was successful. "That was predictable." I remember thinking. The dark being spoke first. "Give me that child, and I will reward you well. Money, power, whatever you want." "Don't do it. That baby will grow up to be the most powerful being that ever lived. Let me have it, and we will protect it from harm." the knight said.
"Know this: you will forever be my enemy if you ally yourself with them." threatened the dark one. I gave the baby to the knight without a thought, and then I opened my eyes. Cthulhu was there. I was still in the water. She studied me for a second, then she frowned. And then she was gone. The charm was gone. I was alone. I was stuck. The panic came back, and was much worse. I tried to remember how to swim. I did manage to recall moving my legs in a scissor-like way would help keep me afloat, which was useless in this situation. But I did it anyway. I began moving. Ah yes, this WAS swimming. But which direction was I moving? I think this was the worst thing about being there, having no "up". I kept myself moving in the same direction, and found nothing. No life forms of any kind. I thought this was unusual. After going on like this for quite a while, I finally saw something. It was moving toward me. I stopped. What was it? As it got closer, I could see it was humanoid. It had grayish skin, and a pointy face. It also had a deadly looking knife. At this point death was at least a way out of this hell, so I just stayed there. When this person finally reached me, he did not attack me. He grabbed my shoulder, and brought me through a portal back home. I was so relieved. Until he started talking. "You have been fooled." he said, "That was no god that you were with." I asked him who it was. "I don't know her name, but she is a new breed of illithid. One that can change shape." "What in the hell would it want with me?" I asked. "These new ones like to play with their prey before eating them." I told him that my mother always told me that was rude. He didn't think it was funny. I asked him what that whole baby thing was about and he told me that it was a representation of my loyalties, it seems that she saw something within me that could be exploited, if I had chosen to side with her. But I chose the good side, so she had left me to die. I wanted to know what she saw, and he said that I could become powerful if I worked very hard at it. I wasn't special, but could have been useful. We kept talking, and it seems that there is a big war brewing between the Illithid and pretty much everyone else. I also discovered that I hadn't danced with "Cthulhu", nor had I been to a party. It was all an illusion. Now, I haven't been a big fan of playing with people's minds since my ex-girlfriend dumped me, so I told him I wanted to help fight the evil octopi people. He said he would contact me later and we would begin training. I asked what kind of training and he told me I needed to develop a defense against their mind-influencing effects. He told me he'd be watching out for me and then left. I must say despite everything that was going on I was a bit relieved. At least I'm not trapped in a relationship I can't get out of. That would really suck.
Never mind the rest of all that weirdness, that quote just made me grin.
