Difference between revisions of "Bodiccea (Chapter 29)"

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(Created page with "{{Bodiccea nav}} A crowd of Hell Swarms met Bodiccea at the gates of the Kurast Bazaar. It's still weird how stabbing with a spear can hurt a bug swarm, but they'd be almost ...")
 
(Created redirect after moving content to Bodiccea (Act III) page)
 
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#REDIRECT [[Bodiccea (Act III)#Chapter 29]]
A crowd of Hell Swarms met Bodiccea at the gates of the Kurast Bazaar.  It's still weird how stabbing with a spear can hurt a bug swarm, but they'd be almost impossible to deal with otherwise.  Heather and Aphelia were far behind her, and taking their sweet time catching up.  As a matter of fact, as they meandered up to the battle, it looked like they were more interested in conversation than questing.  More than mildly irked, Bodiccea broke away from the fight and ran back to them, a few Hell Swarms trailing along behind her.
 
 
 
"Ladies?  Much as I hate to interrupt tea time, we're going into battle.  Could one or both of you perchance get the lead out and join me for some light monster killing, hm?"
 
 
 
Heather and Aphelia looked up, eyes dancing, and burst out in giggles without saying a word.  Bodiccea drew herself up to her full height, glared as best she could, and said, "Hello there, anybody home?  Remember the demons?  The quest?  Killing?  Looting?  These damn bug swarms Heather's so good at killing?"
 
 
 
"Miss B... " Heather tried to say through her laughing, "did you really get caught sneaking into the boy's baths?"
 
 
 
"No, no!" Aphelia laughed.  "Peeking in!"
 
 
 
Even as a Hell Swarm came up behind her and tried to crawl inside her armor, Bodiccea kept glaring.  Blushing bright red weakened the effect considerably; Aphelia hardly noticed as she went on.  "There were boys' and girls' baths for after calisthenics, and a wall in between.  In case the boys were looking over, they put palm sap on top of the wall, so it'd get on their fingers, you know?  None of the boys got sticky, but..."
 
 
 
"Heather?  Oh, Heather?  Could I trouble you for just a moment of your time to deal with these bugs, pretty please?"
 
 
 
Heather casually killed the swarm, somehow managing to pull her bowstring despite the giggles.  "Sounds like Miss B was kind of boy-crazy."
 
 
 
"Kind of?!  Lemme tell you about her at wrestling practice --"
 
 
 
"Aphie!" Bodiccea yelled, "I thought you were sent by the goddess to HELP, not sit around telling my friends stories about me!"
 
 
 
Heather stopped laughing. "We're friends?"
 
 
 
"Sure, we're friends," Bodiccea said, looking confused.  "When you're not embarrassing me or something."
 
 
 
Heather scratched her head.  "I didn't know we were friends."
 
 
 
"Heather!" Bodiccea said, now growing impatient.
 
 
 
Aphelia shook her head.  "You haven't changed a bit, Boddy."
 
 
 
"Look, you two!" Bodiccea hissed, eyes narrowing.  "I am the heroine here, so technically you two are supposed to be my servants.  Do I have to start giving orders?"
 
 
 
A frown slowly crept into Heather's features.  "Miss Bodiccea... are you having a really bad period or something?"
 
 
 
"NO!  I am TRYING to get us back to business!  We have to clear the bazaar, the sewers, and the temples today, so we need to get busy!"
 
 
 
"No, Bodiccea," Aphelia shook her head slowly.  "You're embarrassed and paranoid and it's turned you into a great big b!tch."
 
 
 
"Aphie!"
 
 
 
"Hey, I'm dead.  What do I care what you think?"
 
 
 
"Oh, yeah?  Well, I got you here, I can get rid of... hey!  I don't have unsummon!"
 
 
 
"Nope," Aphelia smiled.  "They figured you wouldn't need it."
 
 
 
"In that case, I'll just recast and get a different Valk!"
 
 
 
With a gesture from Bodiccea, Aphelia faded into mist.  Almost simultaneously, a flare of golden light and a metallic shriek heralded the arrival of... Aphelia.  "Nope, nice try."
 
 
 
"Oh, poop!  Let's try again."
 
 
 
"Sorry!  I'm the on --"  *SCREEAA!*  "--ly one who'll come."  *SCREEAA!*  "The others say you"  *SCREEAA!*  "need a lesson in humility."
 
 
 
Panting, Bodiccea stopped summoning, more because she was out of mana than anything else.  "I do... not!  I've got... nothing to be... humble about!  Wow, this is tiring."
 
 
 
"Um, Miss B?" Heather hesitantly began. "First, I'm sorry I laughed at the story about you."
 
 
 
Leaning on her knees, Bodiccea almost said something, then just nodded, still panting.
 
 
 
"Even though it was funny."
 
 
 
"Oh, it was hysterical!" Aphelia grinned.  "Later, we figured out you could throw a towel or something over the top of the wall and not get sticky fingers."
 
 
 
"Hey!" Bodiccea gasped, "you never told me!"
 
 
 
"Heck no!  We had to keep the boys safe from you somehow."
 
 
 
"Wah!  Spoil my fun, why don'tcha?"
 
 
 
"Uh-huh," Heather nodded, smiling a little again.  "Second, I guess you are my friend, kinda sorta.  We weren't teasing you to be mean."
 
 
 
"Oh, I know," Bodiccea said, getting her breath back.  "I just... I'm sorry.  I am being a big b!tch."
 
 
 
Heather nodded.  "Besides, the day's already half gone.  I don't think we can clear the bazaar, find Khalim's heart, and get the black book today."
 
 
 
"Eh... probably not."  Bodiccea smiled.  "Friends?"
 
 
 
Heather nodded.  "Sure!"
 
 
 
After they hugged, Bodiccea grinned at Aphelia.  "Since we're buds, that means I can tell you embarrassing stories about Aphie, huh?"
 
 
 
Heather snorted with laughter.  "If you want."
 
 
 
"You have embarrassing stories about me?" Aphelia raised an eyebrow.
 
 
 
"Unfortunately, no.  The Aphelia I remember was such a little goody-goody she never had the guts to do anything daring or fun."
 
 
 
"Darn," Aphelia said.  "What a shame.  Maybe that's why I went to heaven."
 
 
 
"Good girls go to heaven, bad girls go everywhere.  I know I'm going to Hell -- right after I kill Mephisto.  And I'll know I had fun getting there."
 
 
 
"Knock yourself out," Aphelia smirked.  "Get something with a little more coverage for the Barbarian highlands, though.  It's cold up there."
 
 
 
"That would be a good idea," Heather frowned.  "I am kind of wondering how come the bug swarms can't reach your skin.  I mean, you've got so much exposed..."
 
 
 
"What I'm wondering..." Bodiccea shook her hair out, "is why you and Fara and Akara and just about every woman we've ever met has gotten all bent out of shape over my look!  How I dress is my choice.  If I didn't know any better," Bodiccea looked down at Heather with a smile, "I'd say you were all jealous."
 
 
 
"Um..." Heather frowned, and shook her head silently.
 
 
 
"Aw, c'mon!  I'll bet there's some part of you, maybe a little tiny part, that wishes you had a bod like this and the guts to use it.  Am I right?"
 
 
 
After some thought, Heather finally said, "I'll admit, I wish I was taller.  Come on, Miss B!  I've heard you complaining about how you can't wear clothes you want, or how much your back hurts.  And I've seen the big creases your bra straps leave in your shoulders."
 
 
 
"Well... yeah, all right.  I like the attention --"
 
 
 
"You love the attention," Aphelia corrected her.
 
 
 
"I love the attention, but sometimes this is just a big pain in the ass."
 
 
 
"And I don't like attention the way you do," Heather added.
 
 
 
"All right, already!" Bodiccea shouted.  "The sun's gonna be gone in a few hours, let's at least clear the bazaar and find the super chests."
 
 
 
Heather and Aphelia both quietly stared at Bodiccea, at about their own eye level.
 
 
 
"What?"
 
 
 
"Nothing," Aphelia smiled.
 
 
 
"We need to get the waypoint too," Heather piped up, smiling too.
 
 
 
"Of course the waypoint.  ALWAYS the waypoint; they're more important than most of the quests.  Let's roll!"
 
 
 
After clearing the Hell Swarms out of the way, the three amigas entered the Kurast Bazaar.  A boss pack of Sextons met them almost immediately.  The leader had the Holy Shock aura, which was annoying for Heather; she'd gotten used to not getting hurt, and the occasional zaps tended to spoil her aim.  The old problem of Sextons healing each other was solved by resummoning Aphelia directly on top of the boss; she kept him occupied while Bodiccea and Heather whittled away his minions.  A few Zakarumites with the pack made so little trouble amidst the flash of spears and hum of arrows, Bodiccea really only noticed them afterwards while she was searching the bodies for loot.
 
 
 
Back on the docks, Bodiccea found a few new items in her stash, with a note:
 
 
 
 
 
"Congratulations on the big 3-0!  Here's a couple of amulets and a new belt to replace Sigon's.  You can get rid of the amulet you don't want -- I even know which one it'll be.  To tell the truth, it's only in there because the others wanted to make sure you saw it.
 
 
 
-- The Mule"
 
 
 
 
 
"Presents!" With a happy squeal, Bodiccea grabbed and brought it out a Maiden's Amulet of the Squid.  Her smile quickly fell.  "Oh.  My.  God."
 
 
 
Blinking, Heather looked at in confusion.  "Are those... tentacles?"
 
 
 
"OH.  MY.  GOD."
 
 
 
Even Aphelia was staring at it.  "What is it doing to the maiden?"
 
 
 
Shuddering, Bodiccea threw the amulet in the swamp.  "Yuck!  I think it's Japanese, they have a tentacle thing over there.  No, I'm taking it to Hratli's and having it melted down.  Or smashed.  Something.  I need a shower.  Wait here."
 
 
 
After retrieving the filthy thing with the point of her spear, Bodiccea carefully walked down to Hratli's.  In the meantime, Heather and Aphelia looked through the rest of the stuff.  "This must be the other amulet, and the belt.  It's a sash of some kind."
 
 
 
"Is the amulet obscene?"
 
 
 
"No, it's cool."  Heather looked closely at it.  "It's really cool.  Lots of fire resistance, +2 to Passive and Magic skills, mana leech... this is a nice amulet."
 
 
 
"That's good.  I'm kind of beyond all that stuff now."
 
 
 
"I'd heard that," Heather said.  "You come pre-equipped now, huh?"
 
 
 
"Yeah.  It's random, but at least we have gear."
 
 
 
"I know what you mean.  Back on the old days, we Rogues usually never made it as far as the monastery.  Pretty good for having to do it naked, I guess."
 
 
 
"Hi!" Bodiccea said.  "Mission accomplished.  Took a maul to it myself.  What's the rest of the stuff?"
 
 
 
"Got a really good amulet called Shadow Emblem, and a sash called... uh, String of Ears."
 
 
 
"Ew!  I'm not touching it."
 
 
 
"There's no ears on it," Aphelia said.
 
 
 
"Yeah," Heather confirmed.  "It's just really tough leather."
 
 
 
"Oh." Bodiccea looked over the sash.  "Oh, yeah!  This is one of those uber-1337 itamz everybody always talks about."
 
 
 
"For melee fighters, at least."
 
 
 
"Hush, Heather.  Bowazons just run away.  Actually, this should look better on me than Sigon's belt.  It'll go with the leathers better, especially if I tie it so it hangs low on one hip and crosses over my butt like... that!  Oooh, sexy.  I like.  I'll wear it!"
 
 
 
"Uh huh," Heather nodded quietly.
 
 
 
Aphelia shook her head.  "Nope, she hasn't changed a bit..."
 
 
 
The only other monster type in the bazaar was Thrashers, or "sitting ducks" for anyone with as many speed boosts as Bodiccea.  They found the waypoint quickly, and cleared the rest of the bazaar with little trouble.  Priests in Upper Kurast dropped a few Blizzards from the other side of the broad canal separating them, but the inconvenience was minor and the damage insignificant.  Once the level was mapped, including both temples and the sewer entrances, they went home to get some sleep.
 

Latest revision as of 19:46, 13 February 2017