Chapter 18- Tick tick tick tick...

[CW- This chapter contains mild body horror, feelings of unreality, and vomiting. Please take care of yourself while reading.]

Peggy’s heart thundered in her chest as she looked down at her foot on the runes. She swallowed hard and forced herself to keep some modicum of calm.

Fear would kill her.

Panic would kill her.

What wouldn’t kill her?

She glanced around the room. She couldn’t actually be sure about the answer to that question.

“... Fuck  it,” she whispered and opened the mind link to Mikael.

“Peggy? What the fuck is happening?” Mikael asked.

“Get Eli in the mind link thing,” Peggy replied.

“Wha-”

“There are runes on the floor,” she replied. “You saw the stuff I saw in my head, that came up because I stepped on some runes on the floor. Eli knows magic stuff, right?”

“... Yeah, they do…” Mikael said, and she could feel him starting to realise that she knew things. “Peggy, the mind link-”

“I know,” she replied. “We can talk about it later, when I’m not in danger.”

“... You’re right,” Mikael replied softly. “Let me get Eli involved.”

For a moment, Peggy didn’t feel any different. The fear thrummed through her, and she could see glowing spots of light appearing at the edge of the room.

“Come on, come on,” she whispered.

Then, she felt Eli in her mind, and her shoulders relaxed.

“Alright, I’m here, talk to me,” Eli said.

“Thank fuck. I stepped on these runes,” she said, looking down.

“Damn it…” Eli whispered as they looked at the runes through Peggy’s eyes. “That’s big magic. Even a good mage or cleric would have a hard time undoing that.”

“Well, I’m not really either,” Peggy replied.

“What do we do?” Mikael asked.

“Peggy, can you look around the room, show me the rest?” Eli asked. Peggy nodded, showing them both the rest of the chapel and the statue. She could feel Eli’s awe as they looked at the statue.

“Oh… Wow…” Eli whispered.

“Not the time,” Mikael growled.

“Sorry, sorry,” Eli replied. “Ok, keep an eye on those glowing lights. You’re going to have to be ready to make a move depending on what happens with them.”

“Make a move?! I could be blown to bits if I-”

“Do you trust me?” Eli said firmly. Peggy hesitated, then sighed.

“I do…” she replied.

“Then trust me. There will be a moment where you might have a split-second decision. It will 𝔣𝔢𝔢𝔩 𝔩𝔦𝔨𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲'𝔯𝔢 𝔦𝔫 𝔡𝔞𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔯, yₒᵤ ₘᵢgₕₜ ₛₑₑ ₛwₒᵣdₛ-”

“Eli, what the hell is happening to your voice?!” Peggy asked. Eli's voice distorted, the words becoming incomprehensible symbols in Peggy's mind.

“𐌐𐌄ᏵᏵ𐌙? 𐌐𐌄ᏵᏵ𐌙 Ꮤ𐋅𐌀𐌕'𐌔 ᏵꝊ𐌉𐌍Ᏽ Ꝋ𐌍?” Mikael asked. Peggy’s heart thudded in her chest.

“Mikael? Mikael, I can’t hear you well, you’re getting quieter or something!” Peggy replied, her palms starting to sweat.

“𐌍Ꝋ, 𐌍Ꝋ, 𐌍Ꝋ, 𐌔𐌕𐌀𐌙 Ꮤ𐌉𐌕𐋅 𐌵𐌔, 𐌐𐌄ᏵᏵ-”

Silence.

The mind link was shut off.

Peggy took a deep, shuddering breath. Before today, she would have been glad for the space and privacy. Now though?

She watched the lights, waiting to see what they turned into.

In the courtyard, she could hear Mikael trying to run in after Peggy. The sound of him vomiting echoed through the walls, making her wince.

The lights were slowly shifting shape, changing from blobs of light into defined, sharp shapes.

Movement caught her eye from the statue of the goddess.

The eye of the statue was flickering, like the light was wrong just over her right eye. It almost seemed like a migraine aura just in that one spot.

She looked back at the lights. They were shifting into swords, just like Eli had said they might.

Back to the statue, the aura was now flickering over the cheeks and the mouth. It made her feel sick to look at.

The swords were nearly fully formed now. They were somewhere between falchions and scimitars. Light, pale blue, etherial. They were in a neat semi-circle around Peggy and the statue.

Looking at the statue, it looked back at her. Not the statue itself. Something black, flickering, with bone white sclera and pupils that undulated and pulsed as it stared at her. The way the form was constantly shifting made her eyes hurt, and her ears ring. Whatever it was, it couldn't be the moon goddess... Could it?

“What are you?” she whispered.

“... Even the humans do not recognize me,” it said, twisting its head to the side slightly.

“Should we?” she whispered. She glanced at the swords. They were becoming more material and solid.

“I should hope so,” it said, turning its head almost all the way around before letting it turn back, rocking back into place.

“Why?” Peggy whispered.

“Because I deserve to be remembered,” it said, stepping out toward her.

“I don’t understand,” Peggy said.

“You will,” it replied, its voice hollow and rattling.

The thing raised its hand, and the swords twisted to point their sharp tips at her. She braced, and...