"...Hoplite, I'm not a marine." Lance told him insistently, "Listen to my words, look at me, my ears. I'm an elf."
"Just a minor mutation soldier." Hoplite replied, "If you keep speaking like that, I may have to report you for a medical examination. After our mission here is concluded, of course."
Lance sighed, shaking her head as she drew her knees to her chest. It was freezing down here in this strange spiraling cavern… If she only had her cloak she'd not be shaking like a leaf. Hoplite's base was situated right next to a massive steel door with the symbol of a spiral etched into its surface. She felt horribly uneasy looking at it, imagining great horrors hiding just behind it. Hoplite seemed unconcerned with it, having stated that this was his 'base'.
Well, Lance wasn't going to play into his delusions. She wasn't sure what happened to him, but going along with Hoplite might only drive him deeper into this madness. What had caused this? Had the vampires done something to his mind? If so, how was it possible that he had escaped? It wasn't likely, the Phalanx suit was right by the door, in pieces beside his weaponry. He'd managed to break out of wherever he'd been, so whatever caused this mental snap must have happened in this cave. Did the door, or whatever lay beyond it, be the cause for his state?
She struggled to think of anything else, unless he'd done it on his own. The last time he'd had a mental break was back on the Fiendbridge, after his encounter with the Dragon of The East, Legolanthas. The Dragon had claimed that Hoplite bore the blood of a Dragon, and if that were true… based on what she knew about him, that would shatter him if he found out it were real. The fact that he could now use Foundation was proof enough that he at the very least bore the blood of Zodd.
She peeked up at him, seeing that he was busying himself with disassembling his shotgun before quickly reassembling it. What was unsettling wasn't just the constant repetition of this, but the fact that Hoplite was humming a tune. It was gentle, barely audible, but it was definitely there. His once bald head, now topped with white fuzz, bobbed nigh imperceptibly with the tune.
"...What's that song?" Lance asked after a moment.
Hoplite froze, turning to look at her with a furrowed brow, "What song?"
"You were humming to yourself." Lance told him, hands clutching her elbows as she remembered what he'd done to Michael last time he'd gone mad.
Hoplite blinked before his gaze became distant, his emotions shifting to a sort of… longing. She shivered as she stood, slowly so as to not startle Hoplite, before approaching him, one step at a time until she was just a few paces from where he sat. That distant stare didn't change, he was off in his own little world at the moment.
"Hoplite?" She asked him.
"Hmm?" He asked, blinking, "Sorry private, just thinking about the mission."
Shame filled his eyes then, as well as regret. The mania returned as he resumed his work on his constant disassembly. Why was he doing that? This had to be the twelfth time in a row he'd rebuilt his weapon. Did it perhaps bring him a sort of comfort? She'd seen dozens of people do similarly repetitive actions, particularly those who were in stressful situations. Could this constant re-assembly be that?
"So, what is your mission, exactly?" Lance asked, crossing her arms over one another as she shivered.
"Rendezvous with the rest of our squad before withdrawing from the battlefield. We'll need reinforcements if we want to remove the Final Kind forces here, so we'll get in contact with command after we escape." Hoplite told her simply as his hands worked on the gun, not breaking eye contact as he did so.
"Alright, I agree that is what we should do, but I don't think you'll be able to get in contact with your command." She told him cautiously.
She needed to keep a read on his emotional state so she'd know if she needed to run or not. Confusion filled his eyes then.
"What do you mean?" He asked, "Private, The Sparrow is up in orbit over this planet. We just need to radio in once we reach the surface."
"But when you got here, Hoplite, you told me that everyone onboard had evacuated." Lance reasoned, "The Ternans are all down here on our world at the moment, not in the Sparrow."
Hoplite shook his head, "No they aren't, otherwise we'd have more troops with us right now. They sent me and three privates down here to scout the surface, you being one of them. The Final Kind captured the other two."
Lance took a deep breath, "Hoplite, how did we meet?"
He froze, golden eyes going wide as uncertainty filled them, "I- you-" He shut his eyes as he thought, "You're from the-"
"The?" She asked, drawing out the word.
"I found you stranded in the woods, private." He nodded, seemingly to himself, "We got surrounded by the victims of a new Final Kind bioweapon."
She shook her head, "The Fiends, Hoplite."
"That's the designation given by command." He nodded, "You need to get back on track soldier, we're in enemy territory."
She drew her lips to a line, "What happened to you?"
He didn't reply, instead re-assembling his shotgun before standing, approaching the steel door before pushing it open. Lance followed behind, peeking in to see a shriveled corpse in the center of a large chamber. What in the hells?
"Sir, I've retrieved private Lance from captivity." Hoplite told the body, straightening his back.
"Damn you boy, I've told you already I'm not a part of your military." A raspy old voice complained, seeming to come from the body, "Do you even know who I am? I am Lithia, the Spiral Queen!"
Lance took an involuntary step back as she saw the things lids opened, revealing purple spiralling eyes. By the Pillars, could this be the real Lithia of legend!? Before she could process things further, she noted another figure standing toward the back of the room… It was no other than Nolvi!
They met one another's gaze, Nolvi's eyes matching the Spiral Queen's exactly. Lance read apprehension in the young woman's gaze, but that was nothing compared to what she herself felt. Nolvi was a Spiral Queen too? Not only that, it was more than likely that she was also a Pillar-Born, like Twindil and the others. This is where she disappeared to; was she summoned by Lithia to this place? She took another step back at seeing her, primal fear bringing her legs to shaking. A Pillar-Born Spiral Queen, a nightmare given human form.
"I need new tech sir." Hoplite told Lithia flatly.
"Well come in then. Sit over there." Lithia complained. Surprisingly, Hoplite complied with the order, moving to sit before the steel throne. "Let's see… I will teach you how to feed yourself with the Golden Flame-"
"Grandmother, you've already taught him that." Nolvi spoke up, looking away from Lance, "As well as the invisibility."
"Ah… right, he's such a quick learner, strong arms too." Lithia mused happily, "If only I were a younger woman."
Nolvi's face twisted up in obvious disgust, but Hoplite didn't seem to care, "I need to maneuver quietly through the enemy base."
"Sound Suppression is from the House of Dandenlona, build that House then focus on the air around your body, use Foundation to push the air away from you." Lithia instructed, suddenly sounding very coherent, "This will create a vacuum around yourself, make sure to keep a thin layer of air on your skin so your eyeballs don't fall out. You won't be completely quiet but you'll be basically impossible to hear to mortal ears."
"Affirmative." Hoplite replied before lapsing into silence.
Nolvi locked eyes with Lance again, her gaze now showing concern, "Lance, I'm glad you're safe."
Lance struggled to form words, "What- What happened to you?"
She sighed, "Visiting my Grandmother, so to speak. Listen, you may fear me now, but please hear me. I'm sure you realized by now, but Hoplite isn't doing well."
Lance nodded, her gaze shifting to the man's scarred back.
"Please come in, what I tell you should be kept silent, else Grandmother will have to restrain him again." Nolvi urged, waving for Lance to enter.
Her legs refused to move any closer to the monsters inhabiting the chamber.
"Damn elves." Lithia muttered, "Don't be afraid, I don't bite."
"Grandmother, you don't have teeth." Nolvi replied, wringing her hands nervously.
"It's a saying you dolt." Lithia shot back, indignant, "If she will not come in here, you go out there." Lithia ordered.
"Yes Grandmother…" Nolvi said meekly, moving past Hoplite.
Lance gasped, taking a dozen steps back away from the girl until her back was pressed up against the stone wall of the cave.
"I'm not going to hurt you." Nolvi assured, "Please don't act this way."
"Are you Pillar-Born?" Lance let out quickly.
Nolvi's eyes conveyed shock once again, "I suppose… well, I suppose you must have found out. Yes, I am the daughter of Dandenlona. I'm sorry but let's not speak of that now, we need to focus on Hoplite."
Her skin went cold, her back pressing firmly against the cold stone. She could try and kill the godling quickly with her chains, lop off her head with the blades before she could attack- No, no that wasn't an option. Nolvi was a Spiral Queen, just a glance would be enough to kill Lance, especially now that her eyes had evolved.
"Back on the Fiendbridge," Nolvi began, speaking quickly, "you were able to bring him back from the precipice of madness. I think that right now, he needs you, more than ever." She sighed, "He discovered something about himself that Grandmother believes he wants to keep hidden, a truth too painful for him to acknowledge."
"...What happened?" Lance asked, concern and curiosity momentarily overriding her fear.
"He bears the blood of a Dragon, it's beyond any doubts now Lance, Legolanthas was speaking the truth. Hoplite trying to use Foundation was initially just a way to prove he was fully Outworlder… Once he found out he was able to use magic, it broke him. He's been like this ever since." She finished, gently shaking her head, "Grandmother and I have tried to tell him the truth of things, but he either doesn't listen or he becomes irate; he's even tried to attack Grandmother once, though that didn't end well for him."
"How am I supposed to help him?" Lance asked, "Things were different back on the bridge, that had been a temporary madness that had come over him… if I tell him the truth, he may want to kill me, I won't be able to stop him if he tries to do that."
"Grandmother and I will offer you our protection, just do whatever feels right, but please bring him back to reality. My friends need rescuing and he's the only man capable of doing that right now… but he needs his wits about him to do that." She said, glancing back at Hoplite.
He was still just sitting before the throne, humming to himself again in that same tune. Lance bit her cheek as she thought on the best way to approach him. What would be the right method of returning him to rightness? Maybe if she talked about their journey here that could help? Or perhaps asking him questions about where he was from? It was a start… She wasn't looking forward to sharing a room with Lithia and Nolvi, an evil figure from myth and a destructive demigod would make the process difficult, mostly for her.
But Hoplite was her friend, and he needed her help.