SC ARPG Fills

Veer was still on shaky legs as they approached the observatory. The flight here had been harrowing, and while Backslide could hunker down under Veer’s head—wrapped around his neck like a scarf—to keep out of the wind and observe from there, Veer himself didn’t exactly have eyes he could close to get away from the fact that he was a single precipitous drop away from shattering on the ground. “I can’t believe you made me fly here,” he grumbled.

Backslide leaned over the top of Veer’s head to look around them. “Don’t be such a baby, there might be ghosts here.” He tapped his clawtips on the rim of Veer’s head, his noodly body squirming with excitement. “Hess wants to see a ghost, so we’re gonna bring him a ghost.”

“Do you have a plan for catching the ghost?”

“Make myself into a net, catch them, and shove them into your empty head,” he patted the glass, “and if that doesn’t work, we’ll figure something else out.”

Veer looked around at the once-white brick exterior of the observatory. It was crumbling and overgrown, absolutely covered in grime. “You could come up here with him instead,” he offered.

“Hess hates flying.”

“I hate flying!” Veer said indignantly.

Backslide snickered, doing a terrible job of hiding his amusement. “Just try the door.”

Veer huffed and curled a clawed hand around the doorknob. He gave it a try, and when it didn’t turn he pushed harder, rattling the knob. A hard shoulder to the door itself didn’t do more than shake the wooden panel in its frame. “Locked. Your turn.”

Backslide slithered off of Veer’s head and wound his way down his arm toward the doorknob. He reached the lock, ready to shove one of his malleable arms inside and try to undo the lock that way, only to find someone peering back at him through the tiny hole. “Hey!”

“I’ve told you miscreants to keep out,” an awful, jagged voice hissed out. “This observatory… it can be made beautiful again, I’ll make sure none of you vandals get in the way of that.”

Veer and Backslide looked at each other. They definitely hadn’t expected to meet anyone else up here. All the rumors said this place was thoroughly abandoned other than the supposed ghosts. Backslide looked through the keyhole. “Are you a ghost?”

“No,” the voice was curt and annoyed, “Now shoo!”

“Are there ghosts in there with you?” Backslide asked.

Veer sighed and lifted his arm, bringing Backslide back up and away from the door. “Leave him alone.”

“He called us miscreants! And vandals! We didn’t even come up here to break anything, even though we could!” he added, pointedly looking back at the keyhole where a single red eye peered through. “We’re being good citizens today.” That was kind of an important caveat. Veer was sure if they’d come up here with the intention of causing problems on purpose Backslide wouldn’t be offended by the name calling in the least. He tended to like being a source of trouble for other people.

Veer drummed his claws against the door. “Speaking of good citizens…” he rapped on the door. “Hey, I can see your eye, I know you’re still there.” The red eye peered up at him, shifting its glare away from Backslide. “This place is huge, you’re gonna clean it all up by yourself?”

The person on the other side of the door said nothing. Backslide slithered up and dropped down next to Veer’s head to whisper to him where the noise wouldn’t carry. “What are you doing?”

“Maybe we can help you out. It’s a big job but if you let us in,” he said pointedly, “you won’t have to do it alone.”

“Oh. Good plan.” Backslide draped himself over the top edge of Veer’s head to rejoin the conversation. “We’re four hands for the price of one. That’s a good deal! Plus I have special skills,” he added proudly.

“Skills other than being a leech,” Veer offered. Backslide flicked the outside of his head to make him flinch. “He’s like a living mop.”

Backslide puffed up a little—his mass bunching up to make him look rounder. “I’m better than a mop. You’ve got gross water and you’re just moving dirt around after the first few swipes when you’re mopping. I don’t have that problem! I eat the dirt.”

“Gross, but practical.” Veer kept watching the single glaring eye. It was impossible to tell from just that whether they were successfully talking their way through this locked door or not. “What do you say? Give us a try? If we’re in there with you, you know for sure we’re not vandalizing anything out here,” he pointed out.

There was a pause, then the eye disappeared from view. For a second Veer was sure they’d only talked the stranger into ignoring them, but then there was a heavy click from the lock and the door swung open a crack. “Great choice!” Backslide said excitedly. Veer pushed the door open enough to allow them through and stepped inside.