Bro, I'm not an Undead!

After some pushback, with Elita asking Skullius to think about alternative solutions and to consider how he would leave Breaking Chasm #59 without Amanas, the two Void Users – Elita in particular – finally relented and agreed to take the Void rank vessel for themselves.

Relieved, Skullius stood and addressed the chattering Troops and Stars.

"Explore every nook and cranny of this place and report to each other everything you find. I'll be retreating to the Bosom for now, but I'll have Weaver and Araeyn join you. If anything remotely suspicious happens, inform them, and they'll tell me."

Two seconds and a spray of Ju`wtte later, Skullius vanished hurriedly, leaving the Troops, Stars, and Void Users stunned. They hadn't expected him to leave them so suddenly in this environment populated with enemies that saw them (all except Skullius himself) as no better than grains of sand. But then again, they supposed that if Skullius left so abruptly, it must have been because he didn't sense any immediate dangers.

Just as the Hybrid Warmoth had said, two Apostles marched out of a spot of Ju`wtte less than a minute later – a pale-faced creature with hollow sockets and a wizened, tall ice goblin with an unusual staff.

Here in the Breaking Chasm, the power of these two units trumped anything everyone in this living room could pull. That…was reassuring.

It must have been why the Troops, Stars, and Void Users began exploring freely.

That and the fact that shortly after Skullius left, all the items – from furniture to appliances – shrank down to match the average size of the mortals. It was a convenient attribute of Lucid Parlors, they all found.

After exploring all 43 bedrooms, 22 bathrooms, and 4 kitchens in the parlor, the Troops found that each room automatically shrunk to match whoever was in it, but the 'giants' took priority. The limits of mortality were probably only tolerated to a limited extent.

"Hold on," said Grim, standing by the front door shaped like a creature eating its own tail. "This place is like an artefact that's developed a consciousness, right? It's probably even more intricate." He squinted at the door. "Do you think it's spying on us right now? Is that why the boss left?"

"That's a possibility," said Baddan, "but I doubt it. Even if it turns out to be true, I think the real threat to our privacy is probably the steward and the Warlord."

Grim hummed thoughtfully to that.

Savast was relieving Yuyui of Kintar. Unlike the green-haired woman, who was practically shaking with excitement, eager to explore, he wasn't interested in that at all. He sat down with the motionless Kintar on a couch, studying her face.

Yuyui only spared them a twelve-second glance of pity before rushing to Grim, beaming.

"If this really is a living space with the ability to think and feel... do you think we could tickle it and make it laugh?"

Everyone close enough to hear paused and stared in a suspicious-of-Yuyui's-intelligence kind of way for a few seconds before going about their business. Even Grim was dumbfounded, but he didn't dismiss Yuyui's 'brilliant' thought.

"Only one way to find out."

He followed Yuyui to the wall adjacent to the door and watched as Yuyui tickled it with her fingers.

…

Ripples rushed through the floor, walls, and ceilings, making the entire parlor seem as though it were made of mud.

…Then a muffled, heaving voice resounded – the sort of laugh you'd hear from someone actively trying not to.

One by one, everyone gaped in shock while Yuyui donned the biggest, stupidest smile and chortled squeakily.

"I can't decide if that's creepy or cute," she said, continuing to tickle the Parlor.

"IT'S JUST CREEPY!" cried everyone (with the sole exception of Kintar, of course.)

"Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop!" shouted Gerriey as the floor rippled even more fiercely. Her face was turning green. "If this keeps up, I'm going to—"

Timmit immediately flew away from her while hissing, "DISGUSTING!" and landed near Ruge.

"I think I might also…" Ruge murmured, turning green, cheeks inflating and eyes bulging.

"Oh, for crying out loud!" the stork screamed. "YUYUI!"

Grim scoffed, giving a disapproving stare at Gerriey and Ruge.

"How are you guys getting pummeled sick by something like this with everything you've been able to endure so far?" he said.

Gerriey took a moment to swallow the vomit rising from her throat, sweating.

"I'm just… susceptible to motion sickness," she said before dropping to her knees, hoping that would help. It didn't.

"Me… too," said Ruge… and several other Troops.

Grim sighed and snapped his fingers repeatedly at Yuyui. Only then did the green-haired woman stop, but her excitement was far from melting away. She rushed towards the door to the Parlor, which immediately collapsed inward, making way.

"Where are you going?" Savast hissed.

Grim was already following closely behind Yuyui, wondering about her intentions too.

"Relax, I'm not going anywhere. I just want to see if the Lucid Parlor is sensitive from the outside too. Maybe that'll give us an idea about whether or not someone can manipulate it from the outside. Spying and such," said the Unlimited Star brightly.

"…That's kind of smart," said Baddan, dumbfounded.

"Hey, why the tone of surprise?" demanded Grim.

Expressing his reasoning in words was a tough ordeal. Baddan had expected Grim to know exactly what he meant, but after staring into his eyes, he didn't see a lick of recognition. That dumbfounded him even more. For the next few seconds, he had to defend himself against Grim.

Meanwhile, Yuyui peeked outside the Parlor. The first thing she saw when she turned to the right was the giant armoured figure waiting by the door. Her heart skipped a beat.

'Scary…'

Lucky for her, the guard couldn't care less about her. At least he didn't show any sign of it. Yuyui tiptoed outside the Parlor, knowing full well it wouldn't grant her any extra amount of stealth. Slowly, she moved towards the left wall and readied her fingers, a devious grin on her face.

DUM! DUM! DUM!

…!

The Unlimited Star jumped, terrified. She imagined the giant guard Subossais had left behind thumping towards her and turned swiftly, ready to use her Eye of Moving to dash back into the Parlor.

…But the guard was still stationed on the right side of the door, motionless.

Curiously, the loud, thumping noises were coming from beyond the hall, close to the staircase Yuyui and everyone else had passed earlier. A giant, rubber ball was bouncing down the steps. Yuyui had turned just in time to see it land in the hall and roll to a stop.

"Huh?" she stared, unsure what to think.

…But then a flaring pressure swept from the staircase and flooded through the hall.

Yuyui forgot to breathe.

The collection of Stellar members from earlier and their powers had forced her to become accustomed to the difference between the pressure of a Divine and that of a Deity. What flushed down towards her… was the latter.

Yuyui froze.

Rapid steps boomed from the staircase, and a giant figure appeared, racing after the rubber ball. When they reached it and picked it up, they exhaled a breath of relief before turning to climb up the stairs again.

…But not before stopping suddenly and staring at Yuyui.

It must have been because of the way her stare had intensified just now upon seeing the figure's likeness.

None of the Unlimited Stars would have reacted any differently to seeing the Deity, not after seeing the chubby stature, the stubby arms and legs, the baby fat in their cheeks.

It was a child, by all accounts. Even the curious, innocent stare said as much.

…But Yuyui panicked all the same.

"GRIIIIIIIIIIIM!"

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