Clockwork Castle

Once they were in the gardens Fidel seemed to work it out. He relaxed, disguising it as giving up as he hung his head. Or maybe he wasn't disguising it as anything. Megara couldn't tell.

Either way, Megara looked around. No other guards, no servants, no one to see them. She hid a smirk with her bowed head.

Suddenly, she threw her weight backward and made quick work of the guard, cutting the wires in its neck with the knife she'd hidden away under the uniform. She then looked over to see that Fidel's captor was entangled in grass, the stuff appearing to have grown straight up between its paneling and into every cog, wire, and piston that it needed to function.

She blinked. So he can do that, apparently. She had to stop underestimating the abilities of the mer.

I was going to try offering some help - which would have been a welcome distraction from the king's now indignant, angry requests to be let go - but it looked like Megara and Fidel both had it covered.

I gave a little stretch.

Being in a human body again felt good. I had missed all of the sensations while stuck as my robotic self.

"So now what?" I asked.

Megara shrugged, "Well, we could get him in restraints while you're in control, then switch you back to your body so we can finish this," she offered.

"Sounds like a plan to me," I agreed. I started to look around for some kind of restraint, only to realize that there was one little flaw with Megara's plan.

"...My body's not here," I realized. I glanced between the two. Hm. Megara or Fidel? Megara was used to it, but Fidel wouldn't have her injuries and was my gender. "Fidel, can I hop into yours until we can get to mine?"

Fidel opened his mouth to respond when Megara interrupted, "No, we need him to use his little plant trick for the restraints, and since the king will be struggling, he'll need full control to maintain it. Full offense Skull, but I don't think you can handle learning complex nature magic in under ten seconds," she sighed, closed her eyes, already regretting her next words, "You can use mine for now, just don't walk on my bad leg, you moron."

She was going to regret that, but right now they didn't really have many options. She suspected Skull would protest to her stabbing the king while he was inside.

"Bold of you to assume that I can't handle something like that," I replied without missing a beat, already heading over to her. "But I guess your body is alright. Just give me the word, and I'll hop from the king's to yours."

Megara rolled her eyes and gestured to Fidel. He got her meaning and raised his hands. The grass at the king's feet shot up, wrapping around him in twisted cords that choked the circulation from his limbs and secured them in place.

Megara stood back for a minute, knowing full well that Skull had to be incredibly uncomfortable right about now, before glancing at Fidel. His hands were shaking, not alarmingly so, but enough to show the strain. His grimace confirmed it.

She sighed and took out her knife. She stood in front of the king and pressed the blade to his neck, then put her hand on his shoulder to make sure that Skull could take over, "Alright," she said.

I took a deep breath.

And then I was looking at the king's body through Megara's eyes, holding the blade right up against his neck. The king's face contorted into a look I couldn't quite describe - terror, anger, confusion? Whatever emotions were present all blended together.

"Hi," I said, giving him a downright evil smile with Megara's lips. "I'm the one who was controlling you just a few minutes ago. I'd give some kind of introduction, but that's not going to matter soon."

I paused.

"Do you want the honors, or should I cut his throat?" I asked. The king looked over at Fidel - seeming to assume that he was the one I was talking to - but I was actually talking to Megara. I wanted for a mental reply from her. It was clearly difficult for Fidel to keep up those grass cords, but I could wait as long as I had to.

"Go ahead," Megara responded, "There's plenty of blood on my hands as is."

She watched the king's face. He didn't seem capable of forming words. Maybe that was because of shock, horror, or whatever else he was feeling at the moment, but she suspected it was the slowly thickening cord of grass tightening around his throat. She imagined it wasn't fun trying to talk without breathing. Actually, she didn't really have to imagine. It hurt like hell.

I slit his throat.

There was no pause. There was no moment of hesitation. There was no moral dilemma, no doubts - nothing. I just did what I had to do. I didn't even feel guilty about it. I might have, once, but I wasn't any kind of hero no matter what the queen insisted.

The king died in Fidel's magical grasp.

I glanced down at Megara's hands.

"Well," I said, "it looks like you weren't able to getting the blood on them, after all."

Fidel's magic subsided and the king fell to the ground, still wrapped in the magical cords.

"Yeah..." Megara responded, trailing off before she remembered that she wasn't the only one in her head, "Now could you hurry up and get back to your body? You really don't know how to stand on an injured leg."

He did. It didn't really hurt that bad, but she felt like complaining.

"Then we need to find Kirux," I said - I didn't even give the king's body a second look. "I left my body hidden outside of the castle. If we're going to get to it, we're going to need to find him first."

"Right," said Megara, "Well, you're in control, lead the way."

Fidel nodded, "Where do you think he is?" he asked, still trembling from the extended use of his magic.

"Where'd you leave him?" I asked. "I'm not the one who saw him last."

"He went to the front gates, but I guess he could be anywhere now what with his corridors of darkness of whatever," she answered, a little annoyed.