#mosee

Mosee was stunned. Pain, confusion, fear, and sadness kept her immobile. With a high pitched scream, Mentine gave the charge one final push before releasing the energy beam onto her mother.

When Mosee opened her eyes, she was still alive. The massive robot was looking down with surprise. The one lying on the ground, however, was not Mosee.

It was Leramor.

“Boss!” Mosee knelt down, her eyes welling up again. “Boss, I’m so sorry. It’s going to be okay.” She tried healing him with her magic, but couldn’t make it happen.

“Hey, it’s fine. You did your job.” Leramor looked up at her with a weak smile. He was burnt badly, and his chest was slowly opening up to show green light. 

Naishin ran over and scooped him up. “I will care for him. You have to keep the others alive.” She grunted and darted into the inn with Leramor in her arms, dripping both green and red blood along the way. Mosee looked back to the street as Benli emerged in his normal form from the building he had crashed into. 

Albatross rose, wiping the blood from his mouth. “You have to get it together, Mosee. I know how difficult it can be to believe in the Light when the world around you goes dark. My own personal light died just days ago with my wife.” He gripped his axe. “When it all gets dark, the Light is all you can see. Don’t deny it now. Look around and find your Light now, or all of these people will have their own extinguished.”

Mosee stared at him as he talked, then looked around. There were people looking on with fear and concern, but her eyes focused on one woman. An Orc woman, guarding the orphans of the city. She looked as they cried, fearing for their lives. All at once, her hands and eyes erupted in a bright, flowing light.

“Get in there, boys!” Mosee threw a shield to Albatross and a heal to Benli. The two men grinned at each other and darted in for battle.

It was still difficult for Mosee to persevere, but she did. She kept an eye on the two as they hacked and slashed at the robot suit’s legs, without much success. 

Benli transformed out of his bear form and snorted, dodging another swing of the syringe. “This isn’t working,” he called out. “We need another plan.”

“Mommy, these men are bullying me!” Mentine screamed. “Do something!”

Mosee squinted as she watched Mentine’s attack patterns. She seemed to only be attacking with her arms, besides the occasional kick. Her legs were unarmed.

“Boys!” She yelled, stopping her heals. “Her only weapons are her arms! Break those off, and she can’t attack.”

Albatross roared his confirmation, trying to go for another leap off of her knee. She saw this coming and stepped back, causing him to roll behind. He looked up at her from the ground and rolled again as she tried to stomp on him. She laughed like a kid on a playground, stomping down while he rolled back and forth. 

Benli flew in, tackling her from behind. She stumbled, leaning forward towards Albatross. He leaped up and slashed with the axe, successfully breaking off her syringe arm. As it hit the ground it shattered and spilled the synthetic fel blood onto the ground.

“Don’t step in that!” Mosee called. “It’s not stable, and will kill you!” Albatross jumped back out of its path, running around and avoiding it. Mentine was screaming, waving the small nub around in the air.

“You meanies! I’ll get you!” She began firing off small beams from her cannon, until she was knocked down by a dual tackle from Benli and Albatross. She landed on her shoulder, shattering it and disconnecting the cannon. The core on her chest cracked and started leaking the synthetic blood on the ground.

“We’ve got to finish this.” Benli growled at Albatross, turning back to his Tauren form. “Go get Mosee, so she won’t have to see this.”

Albatross nodded and ran over to her, standing between her and the scene as she turned around with sadness.

“I’m sorry about this, Mentine.” Benli looked into the cracked dome where her head was. She looked terrified and erratic. “I don’t want to do this, but I have to.”

Mentine began crying, the amplification in her voice turning off. “Uncle Benli, please, no.” Her sobs intensified. “Please, Uncle, I don’t want to die. I didn’t mean to.”

Benli let the quiet tears fall from his eyes. “I know you didn’t mean to. But we have to make sure you don’t do it again.” He held his hands up and began charging nature energy. “Please, don’t fight anymore.”

She screamed. “No, please! Uncle, don’t do this! Please, I’ll be good! I’ll be a good girl!”

Benli closed his eyes, unable to take it. Mosee began sobbing and Albatross put a hand on her shoulder in consolation. The Tauren lifted his hands into the air, preparing to release the energy bolt.

“Wait!” A hand grabbed Benli’s wrist. He stopped his charging and looked down.

It was the same Orc woman that Mosee had noticed.

“Don’t do this. Look at her.” The woman motioned down to the crying girl. “She couldn’t hurt anyone if she wanted to. You beat her, you won!” She jerked her arm back, looking at Benli with anger. “A child would never do this of their own accord.”

Benli stared into her eyes, stunned. “You saw all of that, right? Everything that just happened?”

The woman slapped him on the face. “Of course I saw it! I’m not blind! But clearly, I can see better than you.” She motioned down to the core. “Ever since that thing drained, her aggression left. Whatever that was, it was controlling her.” She stepped back to avoid the fel blood and suddenly, Benli noticed.

Albatross and Mosee both stepped back and looked at them. The woman was right.

Mentine’s sobs quieted. “T-thank you, miss.” She lifted her intact shoulder to wipe her eyes but remembered she had no arms left. Her crying got louder again.

“Quiet, child.” The Orc knelt down, reaching in through one of the holes and wiping the tears from her cheeks. “You’re going to be okay.”

Mosee ran over, squeezing in between Benli and the woman. “I can’t believe it’s really you.” She was now crying again, smiling in between sobs. “I can’t believe my baby girl is alive. Let’s get you out of there.”

As she started putting her arms in, she noticed something. There was a metal ring around where Mentine’s neck should be. Her crying stopped and her face looked like stone.

“Mentine...” She leaned back. “Is... is all of you...”

Mentine turned her head to her mother. “There’s nothing else, mommy. This is me.” She lifted the nub again. “I told you. I am Fel Titan Beta.” 

Mosee sobbed again, and Benli scooped her up and let her cry into his shoulder. “He took my little girl!” She was screaming, torn between sadness and rage. “He took her!”

“Mommy, look. I can do cool things now.” Mentine tried using the nub to lift herself up, but struggled. The orc and Albatross both went to her aid, helping pick her up. Mosee turned her head to her tall, robot daughter.

Mentine smiled and pulled her arm nub in, replacing it with a skeletal robotic arm. It sparked a bit, obviously incomplete, then turned its palm up and waved at her. Mosee smiled, wiping her tears and hopping down out of Benli’s grip.

“That’s more like my little girl.” She ran over and hugged her leg. Mentine bent over just a bit and placed her skeletal hand on her mother’s back.

“Who are you, by the way.” Benli looked at the woman and smiled. He placed a hand on his hip. 

The Orc woman turned to him and let a small smile of her own spread across her lips. 

“I am En’roma.”

“Mommmmyyyy....” The robot searched around, lighting the streets ablaze with a green flame. “Mommy, why won’t you come see me?”

Leramor and Naishin both ran out of the inn’s front door, staring on with horror. As Mosee dashed forward to confront the robot, Albatross reached forward and scooped her up again.

“Let me GO!” Mosee struggled and fought as the tears escaped her eyes. “That’s my daughter, you son of a bitch! That is my little girl over there!”

“Mosee!” Benli shouted, shapeshifting back to his normal form. “You know damn well that whatever is left of Mentine in there is a threat. She will kill you as soon as you get close!”

Albatross tightened his grip. “He’s right, and you know it. We can’t lose you here, so stop now!”

She struggled a bit longer, before hanging her head in defeat. The tears stopped, revealing a look of silent sadness. 

Albatross put her down, reaching to his back and gripping his axe. “We can do this as painlessly as possible for her. But I need you to use your magic to shield me. I can’t do it without your help.”

Mosee closed her eyes and sighed as the robot lumbered its way over. Her hands rose to the air, a faint yellow light swirling around. Right as she released, however, the light vanished.

Everyone looked to her with concerned faces.

“I...” She dropped her head again. “I can’t do it. I just can’t believe in the Light right now.”

The hand of a blood elf wrapped her shoulder. Leramor looked down to her with a kind smile. “Sit this one out.” He nodded at Albatross. “I’ve got this.”

Albatross looked at him first with surprise, then determination. A small smile even broke across his face- it was just like the old days.

Without any further hesitation, he charged. Leramor followed suit and tossed a shield of Light his way. Quickly Benli transformed back into his bear form, running behind with Naishin at his heels.

“You’re not my mommy.” Mentine stopped in her tracks and lifted her cannon arm, charging then firing a quick green beam of energy. The heroes were able to dodge, but barely.

“Mommy can’t play right now.” Benli roared, throwing his bear shoulder into the robot’s leg. She stumbled, but caught herself.

“I don’t want to see you Uncle, I want to see mommy.” She swatted at him with the syringe arm, nearly hitting. “Mommy, don’t you love me?”

Mosee watched on with pain in her eyes, trying not to speak up.

Albatross took a massive leap and managed to land on Mentine’s knee. He forced himself up once more and swung his axe for the closed dome above her head. It hit, and cracked the glass. Mentine screamed, jerking backwards and stepping on Benli’s back.

“I’ve got you, friend!” Leramor ran in his direction and threw a ball of light at him, alleviating his pain. 

Benli offered no response other than a nod, before going back to work. He shapeshifted into his cat form and clawed his way at Mentine’s robot ankle, trying to break off her foot.

Albatross was hanging onto the ridge of the robot’s face by only fingers. He tried lifting himself up, but was spotted. 

“Get off of me!” Mentine lifted the cannon arm and fired a beam at Albatross, point blank. He was sent flying back burnt and skidded the ground to land by Mosee.

Mosee looked down at him with concern. She turned her face back to her daughter and stepped forward.

“Mentine, stop! This is not how I raised you!”

At once, Mentine looked over at her. She kicked back Benli into a building and walked until she was only a few yards from her mother.

“Daddy said Mentine died. I am Fel Titan Beta.” She pointed the cannon at her mother’s face. “And you are going to pay for leaving.”

It was unlike her to be sleeping when the sun was up, but her mind felt like a stone as she woke. Mosee put her feet on the floor, shuffling over to the vanity desk. She eased herself in the chair, pushing back her makeup tools and opening the top drawer. Despite the fact that this was an inn, her belongings were scattered throughout the room as if it was her own home. 

From the drawer she produced a small box. Upon opening the lid, it was filled with folded papers and notes. She looked at each of them and plucked one out, smiling as she opened it. It was a note of some kind, but it was in no way legible. It was done with crayon, various colors, and appeared to be nonsensical scribbles. 

When that note was folded back, Mosee reached in and grabbed a slightly larger note. When she opened it, her smile faded a bit. It was a crayon drawing of what appeared to be a small family. One small green figure, with blue scribbles on top. This one had a smiling face and was holding the hands with a slightly taller figure, also smiling but with black hair that sat like a ball on top of her head. The other figure was standing next to the both of them, frowning. 

It took everything for Mosee to not tear the paper where the last one stood. She frowned, folding it up and sticking it back in the box. 

The last one she took was small. The paper seemed to be newer than the others. When she opened it up, her eyes welled with tears. Inside the paper was the words, "I love you mommy," with a crudely drawn heart. With tears in her eyes, Mosee grabbed a pencil and started writing the best she could underneath it. "I love you too." 

The tears fell down her cheeks, as she folded the paper up and placed it back. She buried her head in her folded arms, now crying audibly. "I miss you," she mumbled. She tried to quiet her sobs to no avail.

"I miss you every single day." 

Mosee turned to him, her face as serious as he had ever seen it. “The only people that can help us are behind this door. We’re going to go in there and make a friendly face. We were fortunate that our request for admission was granted so kindly, so we will not waste their time.” She walked over and wiggled a finger to bring call him down. Albatross frowned and leaned over, while she fixed the top button of his vest.

As she was straightening his clothes, one of the doors opened. Benli was walking inside, and was immediately met closely by a server.

“Excuse me, sir.” The server was a tall, thin black-haired blood elf. His face showed that he had little patience and his pay could be heard jingling in his pockets. “I’m going to need the password for this evening.” He crinkled his nose as he looked at the bull before him.

Benli frowned and scratched his arm, before leaning forward and whispering into the man’s ear. As he pulled away, the server turned his nose up. “Right then. Find a seat, our host will meet with you shortly.” 

The tauren chuckled, satisfied with his work. He motioned to the other two, and they followed him inside, walking to the center of the room to find a seat.

For some reason, all of the tables were empty. Benli and Mosee looked around nervously.

“Where is everybody...?” Mosee muttered under her breath, stepping forward a bit more.

Albatross felt uneasy. Something was fishy here. He reached a hand to his back, quickly remembering his axe was at the blacksmith’s place.

Right as he began pulling his hand back, however, he felt a familiar handle slide into place. He turned around quickly, gripping that handle and preparing to strike whatever was behind. When he turned, his glare met the eyes of a lady elf that looked strangely familiar.

“I’m glad you all made it. I apologize for your weapon being taken with your armor- that was a mistake on our part. And for that, we will be paying for your stay tonight.” She smiled at the three, for some reason more so at Albatross. “All of your battle gear is being buffed and shined now. It will be on your beds by the time you leave this event.” 

Mosee opened her mouth, but Albatross spoke first. “What the fel event is this, anyway?”

The goblin frowned, frustrated. After she explicitly told him to keep his mouth shut, he pulls this!

The woman chuckled musically, stepping forward and putting a small, gentle hand on his chin. He didn’t like it. She leaned forward, looking into his eyes flirtatiously. “You’d best listen to what your friend advised, Paladin. I don’t know who you are but I can tell you my contractor won’t take kindly to rudeness.”

Albatross was fuming. He jerked his head from her grip, loudly dropping his axe to the ground. As the sound cracked through the room, another voice cut through the air.

“Hey now, what’s going on here?” Albatross raised an eyebrow, recognizing the voice. “Now I said make them comfortable! And who is that you’re- Albatross!”

The paladin turned around, seeing exactly who he thought it was- Leramor Lightsong.

“There you are. A place like this is a bit out of my price range, I know! Aren’t you surprised? I stumbled upon a benefactor to cover these expenses but we won’t cover that.” He walked over, smiling and sticking a hand out for a handshake- which Albatross took. Standing at the door he entered from was an armor-clad figure, looming and still as a statue. Albatross stared at them, unsure of what to think.

Leramor turned around briefly then returned to his friend. “Oh, are you worried about her? No, don’t be concerned. Naishin is a good friend. And a damn good soldier.” He grinned, calling over the server. “A bottle of champagne, please.”

Albatross lifted the axe and threw it over his shoulder, careful to not hit the elf behind him. “What are we doing here, Lightsong? I’ve already told you, I’m not signing a contract.”

Leramor’s smile faded. “This isn’t about a contract, Albatross. This is about the cult.”

Benli put his hands on both of the paladins’ shoulders. “Let us have a seat, please. We have much to discuss.”

With his smile returning, Leramor nodded. “Yes, we certainly do.”

She took the pins out and turned around, facing her mirror again. “You both look nice enough. Albatross, would you mind at least- screw it, stay still.” She climbed on the countertop and started brushing his beard with her hairbrush. He resisted, squirming and frowning as deeply as he could, but she didn’t stop. “You need to look as neat as possible for this. I’m upset enough you didn’t have a suit on you when we found you. Who the fel walks around in armor, anyway?”

Their tauren companion snorted. “You do remember who he is, don’t you?”

Mosee frowned at him. “Yes, I do, but... Wait, you haven’t said a word since we met?” Her eyes narrowed at Albatross. “What’s wrong with you, anyway? Everyone told us ‘yeah, he’s tough, but he’s a really nice guy. Always kid,’ blah blah blah.”

Albatross pulled away from her grip, turning away from the both of them. He had just met these two, and they were prying him already? They had some nerve. Not answering his inquiries, then asking their own... He sighed, deciding to answer. “My wife passed just four days ago. Socializing hasn’t been on my itinerary”

Mosee’s tiny green hands covered her mouth and her eyes teared up a bit. Benli hung his head, stepping forward and planting a hand on Albatross’ shoulder. His typical booming voice hushed. “I’m sorry for your loss, friend.”

The elf’s instinct was to retaliate against the ‘friend’ title, but he held it back. These two had saved his life, and been kind so far. He knew them very little but knew they didn’t deserve any lashing out by him; and it wasn’t in his character.

“I follow the Light with one hundred percent of my being. It’s been a challenge with the light of my life being put out.” He straightened his posture, turning around and shedding the hand on his shoulder. “Now tell me what we’re doing here. I won’t go anywhere else without information.”

Mosee wiped the tears from her eyes and sat on the counter. “Look, Albatross. You’re getting into something really deep here.” She went back to the task of doing her hair. “To be honest, I don’t know everything about it. Our place in that cult was originally a recon mission. All we were supposed to do was appear, gather information, then disappear. When we discovered you were their target,” She sighed, messing up and having to start over on her left side. “Anyway. When we found out you were their target, it became a rescue mission. We had only a day to get ourselves put on the Olive Flame’s kidnap team and make sure we could be there. If we hadn’t, you’d be either dead or much worse.”

Albatross squinted at her, not happy with her assumption.

She tilted her head, frowning. “Those two mages in charge of the team were monsters. They had been infused with fel blood and had a bloodthirst worse than Benli’s feral instinct.” Benli snorted at her. “They had the tools to sedate you long enough to go through with their procedure. You remember the demon, Vilhan?”

Albatross gave her a nod, looking down at a cut on his arm. That demon was truly a monster.

“Well, that was their plan for you.” Mosee was done with her hair, and was applying eyeliner. “Your blood was going to be drained and replaced with a fel-infused blood-like substance that Wixin and his team developed. At first, it was an error in their infusion that caused a rapid increase in growth rate and a substantial loss of self-control. A lot of people were killed. They were able to replace the loss in control with an overwhelming submission.” She put down her eyeliner, done, and applied a bright purple lipstick. “We probably could have controlled Vilhan ourselves, but he needed to be taken down before anyone else died.”

Benli was now standing in the doorway, tapping his hoof impatiently. “Are you done with your rambling, little one? We’ve kept them waiting long enough.”

She threw a make-up brush at him, which he picked up and sniffed then shoved in his pocket. Albatross extended a hand out, helping her down and heading to the door.

“Whatever you do,” Mosee dropped her voice to a whisper. “Keep your mouth shut.”