The Lesbians Die at the End

Red waves lap at the side of a ship. The ship is long, and narrow, boasting carved, painted heads at its prow. The heads are all shaped like strange demons, tongues out and eyes staring about wildly. A lone woman, six feet tall and pale skin, stands at the front of the ship. Long, dark orange hair trails down her back, locked tightly in knots. Her name is Alias, and she is a warrior of sorts. She gazes down at the heads carved into the prow. The ship lifts and sinks, lifts and sinks with the red waves. Alias looks up from the heads and stares out. A sun is setting in the distance. It is one of two, but the other has already set. It will be a short night, followed by a short day.
There is nothing in the distance but the red sea, so Alias turns away. It is almost night. Soon she will be able to see Mino. The warrior crosses the deck. It is empty, save a few deck-hands tightening ropes and smoking chunga. Alias descends a steep latter down into the lower deck. Once there, she weaves past idle sailors. They are waiting for short night, for that is when the sea-shaking begins. They will be busy as the red waves grow.
Alias settles in the rear of the ship, among coiled rope. A lone hammock, hers, swings above her as the ship rocks. The wood creaks around her, but after a week at sea Alias is used to it. She rests her head back against the hull and stares at the ceiling. Time passes, and then she hears the soft patter of footfalls. She looks down to see Mino standing a few feet away.
Alias has known Mino for four days now. Mino is a petite girl, but close to Alias’s age. She has tanned skin and long, black hair adorned in gold rings. The rings of her master. Mino is a servant girl to the noble riding in the ship. Alias is a hired guard. Of sorts. Mino sits down a few feet away from Alias, folding her legs underneath her.
“Hello,” Mino says, smiling. Alias returns the smile. It is the first time Mino has smiled. Slaves are never to show emotion.
“Hello,” Alias says. She always has trouble after this part. What is she to talk about, other than how deeply she fancies the flower in front of her?
“How are you?” Mino says. She scoots a little closer. “Did your day go well?”
“It did,” Alias says. The warrior fishes around in a bag resting nearby, and produces a wine gourd. She loosens the cork and takes a long drink before passing it to Mino.
“Oh,” Mino says, holding up her hand. “No, but thank you. If the master smelled wine on me he’d throw me overboard,”
“Perhaps then you could stay by me,” Alias says. “Instead of running away after an hour,”
Mino puts a hand to her face, trying to stifle a smile. “You know I must,”
>Dammit! That wicked servant has possessed a nearby sailor, and is now making his way to the back of the ship where Alias and Mino are! Your powers are limited
>Raise the sea-shaking early, rocking the boat
>Rattle a series of kegs near Alias and Mino
>Attract a flock of sea-bears

>>1712880
>>Attract a flock of sea-bears

>Ha! Ahem, I mean, it worked!

"Incoming!"
Alias and Mino's heads snap upwards, where the voice drifted down.
"Incoming, port side! Sea-bears!"
"Hurry," Alias says, standing and grabbing Mino's hand. "Go back to your master," The warrior helps the servant stand, then grabs a spear leaning against the hull. She brushes past Mino and walks along the lower deck. The sailors are all scrambling to their feet, except for the possessed one who is still walking towards Alias and Mino.
"Move!" Alias says to the sailor, motioning with her spear. The sailor does not, drawing a knife instead.
"Oh!" Mino says, peering out from behind Alias. The warrior flips her spear and uses the butt to smack the sailor on the side of the head. He crumples to the ground. "What was that?" Mino says, staring at the sailor as she follows Alias.
"Who knows," Alias says. "Sea bears appear and the whole ship loses its mind,"
"What are sea bears?" Mino says, waiting at the bottom of the ladder as Alias ascends.
"Big brutes that like to interfere with ship's rudders." Alias says. She gets to the top then reaches back into the ship. She grasps Mino's hand and helps the girl up. "Now go, into the cabin,"
Mino nods and runs lightly across the deck. Alias takes her spear and heads to the sides. Other sailors are there as well, holding harpoons.
"There!" A sailor yells, pointing at the red waves. Two other sailors throw their harpoons. Once catches a sea-bear, the other glances off the water.
>Damn that servant, he's possessed a sea bear! When angered, they can sail high into the air, and it would be doom if it landed on deck. You have a few options
>Possess a rival sea bear, duke it out
>Raise the sea-shaking early, rock the red ocean
>Summon a behemoth of the depths

>>1712905
>Summon a behemoth of the depths

The red sea bubbles, the waves risings.
"It's the sea-shaking!" A sailor yells as the crew grips the ropes.
"No!" Another yells. "It's....it's.."
The sailors gaze in reverent horror as a domed globe rises from the ocean. It resembles a marble skull, or perhaps a perfect sphere. The waves catch the ship, carrying it miles and miles over the ocean. The sailors watch as the behemoth grows more and more distant. When the ship finally settles, everyone looks around at each other.
Had this been on land, there would have been cheering. But sailors know better then to tempt fate. They begin about their task, as the short night has begun, and the real sea rising will soon begin.
Alias makes her way aft and waits outside the cabin with two other burly looking men. Presently the door opens, and a noble adorned in fine robes pokes his head out.
"Everything alright?" He says, his voice low and musky.
The guards nod, Alias included. She peers inside the cabin. It is adorned in tapestries and gold. She makes eye contact with Mino. The servant stands against a wall pouring a glass, and pauses to give a small wave. The noble goes back inside and shuts the door.
>Dammit! The servant has possessed both guards. They turn on Alias, drawing knives.
>Draw the noble back out
>Attract the ship's captain
>Inspire the fiddler to start up a tune

>>1712932

>Inspire the fiddler to start up a tune

>>1712932
>Draw the noble back out

I did both, and I will tell you the results in about five of your hours. The God is taking myself, as well as the wicked pet and many others, on a boat ride through the world. It should be pleasant, and a brief resprite for Alias and Mino

>>1712932
>>Draw the noble back out

>>1712932
>>Dammit! The servant has possessed both guards. They turn on Alias, drawing knives.

Just let them die, you're drawing out their suffering.

>>1712932
>>Dammit! The servant has possessed both guards. They turn on Alias, drawing knives.

The noble pokes his head out just as one of the guards lunges with his knife. Alias hears him gurgle, then a sickening thump as his body hits the deck. At that moment the fiddler starts up a knee-tapping shanty. He plays, bobbing and weaving with his fiddle as Alias takes her spear and fends off both guards with the knives. Both men lunge at her, using practiced but lurching motions to swipe at her face. The fiddler continues and several crewmen jump in to try and seperate the guards. Alias sticks one in the gut, the other is wrested to the ground by the crew. The fiddler finishes with a flourish as Alias knocks the the disposed guard in the head with her spear butt. The captain emerges from the cabin.
"What in depths has happened?!" he yells. His crew simply stares back at him. Alias steps forward.
"These men here, hired from the port city of Balt, slew their noble charge in a fit of madness," she says, motioning with her spear at the bodies.
"Or perhaps it was an assassination!" One of the crew pipes up.
"Dammit all!" The captain yells, approaching the bodies. He points at the unconscious guard. "Put that one in the brig, toss the other bodies overboard and scrub this deck!" The captain looks at Alias. "I trust you didn't have anything to do with this?"
Alias shakes her head. "On my honor as a Marstsn, I did not"
"Well I hope honor pays for a room and food," the captain says. "Because your employer is fish food now"
Alias seems to think for a moment, then shifts her spear to the other hand. "And what will be done with servants?"
"All his belongings will go to the ship, to pay for passage" the captain evaluates Alias for a moment. "You may take something to pay for your service as Well, just don't get greed-"
"The servant girl Minos!" Alias hurts out. The captain looks at her confused. "The servant girl," Alias repeats. "Give me her and I am payed."
"Well alright then," the captain says. "Take her, we'll be at port in three hours"
He leaves for below deck, and Alias practically bursts through the doors of the cabin. The servant girls inside let out yelps of suprise. Alias holds up a hand. "Sorry, sorry," she says. She scans the girls, but Mino calls out to her first.
"Alias!"
The warrior rushes over to her, awkwardly stopping short of The beautiful girl.
"Mino," Alias says. "Your master is dead,"
"I know," Mino says, adopting a somewhat forlorn look. "We saw him fall from in here"
"Come with me at the next port," Alias says.
"What?" Mino says. She almost laughs, then stops. "I have just met you, how could I?"
"What else do servants do when their masters have died?"
"I'm," Mino says. "Not sure"
"Then come with me, we'll run to the nearest city away from the coast and look for honest work"
Mino stares at Alias for a long, drawn out moment. Finally she nods. "Okay, I'll come with you"

>five hours later
The ship is at port, in the City of Trimon. Alias and Mino make ready to leave the ship as the crew throws ropes onto the mooring.

But ah, that wicked servant has possessed the captain of the guard in Trimon! He heads towards the ship with a mob of guards!

>have the mob accidentally trample a Bondagga child
>have the black widows start the Lantern Festival early
>resummon the behemoth

>>1713860
>>have the mob trample the lesbians

>Dammit all!

Alias and Mino stand on the deck, peering out at Trimom. Tall buildings, their strange orange spires poking up into the air, dominate the horizon.
"It's beautiful," Mino says, gripping the rail.
"Had you traveled much with your old master?" Alias says, leaning on her spear.
"No, just to Pan Hemut for the red pilgrimage," Mino says, almost faintly. She turns to Alias. "You are a Dream Walker, surely you have seen the world?"
"All of the Gold Peninsula, and the Long Plains when they were fighting for a new chief,"
"Then this is the farthest east you've gone too," Mino says. She begins walking off the ship, turning back towards Alias. "Come let's discover it together," She says, smiling.
A moment later a mob of guards comes out from behind a building. Their eyes are wild and the weapons flailing about. Mino turns.
"Wha-" She says, right before she is trampled by the first wave.
"MINO!" Alias screams, leaping into the guards. She breaks her spear against the first two, and then starts punching. She finds Mino, dragging her up by the waist. But the guards are still coming.
>I can hear the servant laughing! This has most certainly backfired, but I need to save them, they can't die to a foolish, evil creature like that servant!
>Summon Bondagga Blind Ones
>Have the Black Widows parade the Lantern Parade onto the docks
>Wake up Fillatrygos, the Sleeping, Irritable Fool-Slayer Philosopher

>>1714207
>>The mob finishes the job

Let the lesbians have their fun in the afterlife

It is....gruesome.

>The servant is rolling on the floor and laughing. It is an unpleasant sight.

Alias and Mino watch their bodies get trampled by the mob. The guards are going around and around like a large festival parade.
"Is...." Mino says, looking down at her body. "Is that us?"
Alias is simply staring. She tries to work her mouth, but no sound comes. Finally she just crosses her arms, tucking her head into her shoulder.
"Alias?" Mino says, putting a faint arm to her. "It's okay, everyone dies,"
"I just," Alias said. "I don't know. I just felt we had more time together. I thought this was the start of something,"
"Well," Mino says, looking around. Floating, the city sprawls out under the girls. The orange spire poke up towards them. "This sure looks like the start of something to me,"
"Are you a Marstsn," Alias says, almost numbly.
"My master was a Kettahamadin," Mino says.
"Then you're not going to like what happens next,"
A three headed goat, as large as a dragon, materializes in front of the floating girls. Its fur is aflame, and birds are taking off from its back.
"Oh my," Mino says, staring up at it. "Is this your god?"
"N-no," Alias says, staring in awe. "I don't know what this is,"

>Oh goodness...I'm a bit out of my league now as a passive observer, and I'm not really sure what you all are capable of.

>Invoke the Gorgon-Eyed, Triple-Headed Goddess Hecate, Queen of Witches and Crossroads
>Sing the Song that Brings the Dragon
>Speak the Third Name of God

>>1714313
>>Speak the Third Name of God

>I...I'm completely entranced. The servant has stopped laughing and is now watching as well. My host is staring off at the wall, where a harp is being played.

The Third Name of God is Death. The Three-Headed Goat brays, its voice causing the earth to tremble below. The girls put hands to their ears, but find it does nothing. The Goat dissolves, bits of fur falling to the city below. As it lands it turns to nothing. The only thing left is the echo of the mighty bray. The girls float wide-eyed, at a loss for words.
A great, winged man appears. He is encircled by a series of flaming rings. "WHAT" He says, his voice echoing throughout the land. "THE GREAT SHEPHERD ACASTUS IS DEAD. HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE" He stars down at the girls, his eyes glowing and growing. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE/WITNESSED"
Alias does not speak, to terrified. Mino clears her throat. "Well, we died," She says, pointing down at the city. "And then we floated up here and the goat came,"
"ACASTUS,"
"Acastus yes," Mino says. "He appeared, and then we heard a word, but not really a word. And then the goat," She pauses, then motions vaguely. "Broke?"
The man stares down at the pair for a long time. Finally he speaks. "I HAVE MUCH TO ATTEND TO IN THE FOUR WORLDS. I CANNOT TERRY. YOU WILL TAKE ACUSTUS'S PLACE, UNTIL I CAN RETURN TO ADDRESS THIS,"
"Oh," Mino says faintly.
The man appears before the girls. He places a finger to both their foreheads. Alias screams. Mino simply closes her eyes. The man disappears.
Alias stares around in terror. She is on the verge of hyperventilating, though she cannot in her present form. Mino also looks around, including at her hands and arms.
"Wha-" Alias says, gripping her head. "What is happening?"
"Look!" Mino says. Strange white mists are floating up from the city. They come to a stop underneath the girls. They seem to churn like the waves, then finally solidify into the vague shape of men and women.
"Are you the shepherds?" The white mists say.
"The what?!" Alias says.
"The shepherds. The ones who take us to the second world."
"Well," Mino says, peering down at the mists. "We might be,"

>Strange black shapes are congregating below in the city. They're running into each other, combining and growing larger. The white mists start shaking as the black shapes grow up towards them.

>Three Feathers. Three Birds. A Stone and a Stream
>It is time for winter
>Open all the holes

>>1714443
>>It is time for winter

A fierce wind shrieks through the air. The climbing black towers collapse, and Alias, Mino and the white mists are blown sideways. Snow blankets the ground, and the white mists lands like soft comets. Alias and Mino spin through the air, coming to a stop overhead.
"I feel it," Alias gasps. "The tether, it is becoming frayed,"
"The what?" Mino says, steadying herself in the air and brushing her hair away from her eyes.
"I d-don't know," Alias says. She puts her hands to her head. "This is too much Mino. I need it to stop,"
"Well," Mino says, looking around. "I've never seen all this white stuff before,"
"Snow," Alias says. She's still gripping her head. "It's snow, water that gets cold,"
"Oh," Mino says.
"Uh, excuse us shepherds," A voice says.
Mino and Alias look down, where the white mists have gathered.
"We're cold," One of the mists says. As it speaks, great, snow covered trees sprout up from the ground, growing taller and taller until they tower like mountains in the sky.
"Ha," Alias says, gazing up at the trees. "Haha, of course. A forest,"
"This is odd," Mino says, grinning. She looks over at Alias and sees the former warrior pulling at her locks manically, and her grin disappears. She floats over to her, placing a ghostly arm to her shoulder. "It's going to be okay Alias." Mino looks around, at the giant trees, at the white mists. "We're going to get through this,"
"We're cold," The mists says again. "We're cold,"
Mino looks at the ground and spots giant pieces of timber. She sails down, and tries to grasp them. Her hands float effortlessly through. "Ah!" Mino says. "If only we could start a fire,"
"FIRE!" Alias suddenly screams, as if taken by a fit. A small flame appears above the wood.
"Alias!" Mino says, clapping. "You started a fire!"
Alias is panting, her eyes bulging. "I...I can't feel my legs,"
"Oh?" Mino says, floating up to her. "Well we don't seem to need them much anymore, so I suppose that's okay,"
The white mists have gathered around the fire, and now bob in a satisfied rhythm. The trees suddenly shake, white snow falling down like deadly blankets. The shaking stops, and a large wolf stands before the girls. He is easily as large as the three-headed goat, and horns grow from his head.
"I am the Leshi," He says, he voice oddly quiet. "And these are my woods. You have made fire here without my permission,"
Alias grips Mino's arm. Mino looks to Alias, then to where the former warrior stares. All around, under all the trees, large, beastly monsters have appeared. Their eyes glow in the shadows of the branches.
"Now," The wolf creature says. "Now you all suffer

>What can I even say? I know nothing, I do not know the rules of this other-world, or what can be done. The servant and I watch side by side.

>Issue the Challenge of Dominion
>Sing the Song of Spring
>These Rivers Run Red

>>1714612
>>These Rivers Run Red

>>1714612
>>Issue the Challenge of Dominion

>>1714612
>These Rivers Run Red

Alias and Mino are walking across a calm, red lake. The lake stretches off in every direction, for as far as the eyes can see. The forest is still there, the giant, mountain size trees growing up out of the red water.
Behind the pair of girls is a procession of white mist. There are about twenty in all, although every once in a while a new mist wanders out from behind a tree and joins. The Leshi is gone, it and its strange creatures disappeared when a torrent of red water surged through the forest.
"Are you sure we should keep heading this direction?" Alias asks. In her hand is a staff. Both she and Mino found them. The two staffs were sticking straight as an arrow out of the water, as if held up by a string. Both girls felt compelled to pluck the staffs, and now the strange wooden objects flower and produce ivy that curls around their arms.
"I'm sure," Mino says. "Can't you hear it? The singing?"
"No," Alias says, her head dipping. "I'm not sure what I can hear, what is real,"
"Hey hey," Mino sides up to Alias and taps her staff to the former warrior's. "We have to keep our spirits up, remember? Everytime you grow sad, the mists don't like it,"
"The dead," Alias says.
"What?"
"They're the dead," Alias says. She runs her staff along the surface of the red lake. The group walks on top of it, without disturbing a single drop. Alias staff however, causes several ripples.
"So they're spirits, like how the Pishna believe?"
"Maybe," Alias says, shrugging. "None of this makes sense,"
"Well surely it can't be a dream," Mino says. She does a single twirl, her staff whisking through the air. "It's too strange,"
"True enough," Alias says.
"Shepherds," One of the mists says. It points a long, ghostly limb at a tree. The shepherds look up. Beyond the tree is a wide, open valley, free of the red lake. The hills rise up, barren save for scattered stone structures. Waiting by the treeline is a about ten white mists, and a giant, fat woman made of clay.
"Hellooooooo," The clay giant says, waving a hand.
"Hello!" Mino says, waving back.
"Mino," Alias says, in a tone that implied caution. Alias holds up a hand to the mists behind her, then walks over to the clay woman. "I am Alias, and my companion is Mino," She calls out. "Whom do I address?"
"I am FREEDA!" The woman says, throwing up both arms. "I am trying to leave this forest, as are these funny little whisps of men and women," The clay giant points at the mists. The white shapes are starting to float towards Alias.
"Shepherd," They call. "Take us shepherd, take us to the second world,"
"Alright everyone halt!" Alias says, throwing up her staff. The mists pause. "Clay woman," She says, pointing her staff. "Can you tell us for certain, are we all dead?"
"Oh most certainly!" The woman says, clapping her hands. The sound is strange, muffled. "You have passed from the first world to the lands inbetween! The second is ahead, but strange things have been happening. The paths are gone!"

"And," The clay woman says, putting a finger to her chin. "Strange creatures roam these lands. Who can say what is happening, but there is change in the air!"
"And that way?" Mino says, pointing at the hills. "Lies the second world?" The clay woman nods, a smile on her face. "Then let's go!" Mino says, marching across the surface of the red lake. The mists begin to follow.
"Ho ho ho!" The woman says, laughing. She throws up a hand, then motions at the sky. "But you can't leave the forest yet! Come, come both of you and peer out of these woods,"
Alias and Mino walk over to where Freeda sits. The clay woman ushers them on, the puts up a hand. She puts a finger to her lips, then motions with her eyes towards the sky. Alias and Mino peer out of the forest and up into the sky.
"Oh," Mino says. "What are those?"
In the sky, circling just outside the treeline, are a series of broken and gnarled ships. Big ships, small ships, some with all their masts and some with none. From each ship hangs a hundred chains, and on the end of the chains are bodies.
"That my dears," Freeda says. "Is the dread pirate Omana. And the sight of just one of these delightful little mists will send him sailing down here to pluck us full of spears and chains,"
"They're moving!" Alias shouts, pointing up.
The ships are indeed moving. One by one they peel away from the parade and hurtle down towards the treeline.
"Oh dear," Freeda says. "We are most assuredly doomed to a life on the end of a chain."

>I am just a spectator now, as is the servant. I can be of no help, though perhaps you all still have some abilities

>Sing the Old King of the Moon's favorite song
>Two cats and a bird, one is in the tree. Blood begets blood, and nothing is free
>Awaken the hills

>>1716104
>>Awaken the hills