52. The Illusion of Constraint


    In theory, the Wayfarers had no reason to hesitate. There were locked doors that needed unlocking, and here was an object that ostensibly served just such a function.


    In reality, however, the whole situation had ‘TRAP’ written all over it in big bold letters.


    The key in question looked macabre enough on its own, slender yet lumpy, like a bunch of phalanges welded together. It was contained inside the splayed-out rib cage, the bizarre anatomy of which both invited and forbade, keeping in theme with the rest of the Ossuary.


    But perhaps most suspicious of all was simply the key’s placement—presented to the travelers at the end of a difficult fight, as if to shout: go ahead, here’s your reward!


    Serac liked to think of herself as a lot braver than when she’d first set forth on her journey. Even so, the pragmatist in her still raised objections from time to time, like it did now in response to the clear danger signs.


    “I mean,” Zacko was the first to break the uneasy silence, “I get how this looks, but again… do we really have a choice?”


    At this, Serac puffed out her chest in indignation, for her partner had hit upon the exact thing that bothered her most about the scenario.


    “See, this is why I’ve hated almost everything to do with Mr Bone Lord,” she groused. “Everywhere we turn to, there’s illusion of choice. Did we fight Hanuman because we wanted to help the children, or did we do it for Dashi’s lantern (which we didn’t even end up getting, by the way!)? Are we going after the Bone Lord to save Dashi, or is it simply that there’s nowhere else for us to go but up? And if we grab this key right now, are we taking a calculated risk, or are we simply doing what the Bone Lord wants us to do?”


    “I mean…” Zacko looked somewhat amused by the sudden rant. “Why can’t it be both? On all counts?”


    Serac snorted incredulously. She should’ve known better than to expect a Manusya to share her sentiments.


    Must be nice, living among family and friends instead of Jailers and torture devices. In a big bustling metropolis instead of the wastelands of hell. Zacko’s been spoiled for choice all his life, and that’s why he can’t understand how precious it is to have it at all.


    Of course, if Serac had spoken these thoughts aloud, the Manusya might’ve had the chance to offer up some counterpoints. On this occasion, only the voice in her head answered back.


    “I understand your frustrations, Wayfarer, but I don’t believe the situation is as dire as you make it out to be,” Trippy said in his friendly monotone. “The absence of choice in one juncture does not negate the choice you did make in another. There’s been numerous points on your journey where you could’ve failed to overcome the challenges or simply given up. The fact that you’re here at all is a choice and an achievement unto itself. And if this skeleton key does present its own set of challenges, how you overcome them will, again, be up to you. Depending on your actions, even this ‘constraint’ before you could be just another opportunity for you to express yourself.”


    Serac snorted again, though with a little less emphasis.


    It wasn’t that she didn’t agree with Trippy or even Zacko on some level, but she still couldn’t shake the feeling that nothing was truly ‘up to her’. The presence of that ‘third entity’ had really done a number on her, and until she could puzzle out where she herself fit in this jigsaw of souls, she’d never be sure that her choices were, indeed, hers.


    Unfortunately for Serac, the afterlife refused to give the game away all at once. She’d have to prise the answers out of its reluctant hands, piece by piece, until she had enough to put together a meaningful picture. And, for now at least, there really was nowhere else for her to go but up.


    “Made up your mind yet?” Zacko pressed, though gently at that. “Are we doing this or what?”


    “Yes,” Serac said promptly, emphasis all hers. “Let’s get this over with.”


    “Sounds good to me. Now, the more important question: you or me?”


    She knew what he meant, and she’d already committed to an answer before the question had been asked. Whether her choice or her constraint was the illusion, Serac could at least take ownership of one decision, which was to volunteer to grab the scary skeleton key.


    Yet, her bravery was tempered by a bit of pragmatism. Not knowing what was going to happen, she decided also to hedge her bets, reaching with her PULVERIZER left hand instead of the REVOLVER right.


    And good thing too. For as soon as Serac’s onyx claws touched the key, the container around it shut its ‘lid’.


    All twelve pairs of the splayed-out bones sprang at once and met in the middle, forming a ‘rib cage’ as the gods had intended. Their sharpened ends shot at speed into a very-much-suspecting Rakshasa, with some breaking off against PULVERIZER’s rocky surface and others skewering the fleshy parts of Serac’s arm.


    [71!]


    Maybe it was because she was ready for it, or maybe she just wanted to look the part while she took ownership of her ‘choice’. Whatever the case might be, Serac didn’t let out a single sound, instead watching the mutilation of her limb with a calmness that belied her pain.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    But some of her actions were inevitably out of her control. She might’ve managed to steel her nerves, but they were still, well, nerves. As soon as her arm received the bloody hug, muscles downstream acted on reflex, with her hand closing around the skeleton key in a tight fist.


    She then held this trembling fist for a brief yet painful while. She wasn’t quite ready to try and pull the key loose, not when the rib bones still held her within their clutches.


    Soon, however, it became clear that no further commitment was required on her part. For the Bone Lord’s trap had already deemed the exchange sufficient to release its reward.


    [Wayfarer Status Effect: OSSIFY]


    [Wayfarer Status Effect: LESSER BLEED]


    [TRIBULATION active (x3): current buff at 15%]


    The changes described by Pathsight happened all at once.


    The rib bones dissolved, with their dust then caking onto its new substrate as a tangible layer of solid pale-gray. By now, the phenomenon was unmistakable: one portion of Serac—namely her left upper limb—had become Huskbound.


    As if in confirmation of that fact, the [Ossify] gauge appeared again. Although, in this case, it wasn’t in an active state of ‘building up’. Instead, about a sixth of the bar had filled up permanently, ticking neither up nor down.


    The bad news didn’t end there. The bony covering failed to stanch Serac’s fresh wounds, with blood now seeping through and dripping from the minute cracks upon the Huskbound cast. It meant she got to see herself [Lesser Bleeding] for real, on top of the notifications from Pathsight:


    [1], [1], [1], …


    This by itself wasn’t much cause for alarm. Presently, the DoT was canceled out by the [Lesser Regen] from Froggy, which meant Serac wasn’t actually losing any HP. It did mean, however, that she could no longer heal just by standing around and shooting the shit with Zacko.


    Then came a final surprise, though it also doubled as the ‘reward’ the Wayfarers had bargained for. It came in the form of another Pathsighted message, one that became more prominent as Serac turned her attention to the ‘key’ in her hand.


    [Trinket acquired: THE FIRST PLEDGE]


    [Realm of Origin: NARAKA]


    [Trinket Description: Heavy is the head that wears the crown. While the trinket is equipped, the wearer falls under the Bone Lord’s watchful guidance, thereby gaining access to the East Wing of the Ossuary.]


    It was safe to say that no ‘acquisition’ had left Serac colder than this latest one. Then, the status changes that followed only added injury to insult.


    [Burden: 15/31 (Burdened) -> 22/31 (Heavy)]


    [Poise: 65 -> 50 (Penalty)]


    [Wayfarer Status Effect: HEAVY]


    [Wayfarer Status Effect: ENLISTED]


    [TRIBULATION active (x4): current buff at 20%]


    Welp. So much for bravery. All that ownership-taking had landed Serac with two new status effects.


    [Heavy], she readily recalled as one step up from [Burdened], meaning she now had an even bigger penalty to her Stamina expenditure and max Poise. It was also evident from the [Tribulation] stack that this didn’t count as a separate effect on its own.


    [Enlisted], however, was a little obscure and more than a little upsetting. She didn’t know what it meant exactly, but it clearly flew in the face of her earlier rant about freedom of choice. It also—rather disturbingly—reminded her of the skeleton soldiers that were presumably still formed up outside the Ossuary.


    “Apologies, Wayfarer. I’m no better-informed about this than you are. Along with [Ossify], this appears to be another status effect novel and unique to the Bone Lord’s influence.”


    Serac sighed but stopped short of raising more complaints. Because taking ownership of her choices also meant shouldering the consequences.


    At this point, there was nothing for it other than to accept the reward and move on. She tried to do just that, first by loosening her Huskbound fist and freeing up the key that was still held therein.


    It didn’t work. Or rather, she couldn’t work her hand at all, which was uncomfortably frozen in a tight fist. Then she tried to pull the key loose with her REVOLVER hand, also to no avail. Finally, Zacko gave it a go, and even a NINEFOLD master’s [Substance]-boosted brawn proved no match for a skeleton key’s adherence to its new home.


    The thing was stuck in there, real good.


    “Welp,” Serac observed with a shrug that belied the frustrations brewing in her heart, “I guess this is one way to wear a Trinket.”


    Now that she was saddled with this new burden, it was time to put it to work. The Wayfarers finally made their way up the hallway, back to the foyer from which they’d first entered.


    Naturally, the first thing to check was if [the First Pledge] actually did what was purported in its description. In this case, ‘the East Wing’ had referred to the ground level door on the left side of the entrance, which had since opened to reveal another dimly lit corridor.


    The next order of business was to see about going back to the Waystation for some resupply. Yet, as the pair headed down the entry staircase, they saw that the Ossuary had reconfigured itself in more ways than one. For the [Entrance] had barred its doors once more, denying the Wayfarer’s exit and their access to the lotus flower outside.


    The implication was clear for all to see. And, in truth, it made no difference to the reality that Serac had already accepted, along with the consequences of her choices. Namely, there was nowhere else for her to go but up.


    “I see what this is,” Zacko grumbled as the two of them trudged back up the stairs. “Four doors, now with two of them open. We’re gonna have to retrieve two more of those keys to unlock the rest. After that, hopefully, the Bone Lord will finally deign to meet us himself.”


    “No doubt,” Serac said, then stole an unhappy glance at her Huskbound arm and the ugly Trinket that poked out from the end, “but if there’s another key waiting for us in the East Wing, can we both agree that it’s your turn to grab it?”