Bodiccea (Chapter 47)

Template:Bodiccea nav Well before midnight, Heather quietly pushed open the bedroom door. Bodiccea was dozing, but woke up when she entered. "Hi, Heather."

"Hi." Now no longer bothering to keep quiet, Heather went over to her bed and dropped her gear. "Hope I didn't wake you up."

"Don't worry about it. How was the date?"

Heather sighed. "Fine, I guess. At least before Khaleel's friends figured out where we were hiding."

"Uh-oh. Did they walk in on you?"

"No. They just showed up and kept teasing him about being whipped and stuff. The thing is, he wouldn't tell them that wasn't true."

"Of course not," Bodiccea smirked. "If a guy has to tell his buds he's not whipped, that means he's whipped."

"It was only our second date! Even if I wanted to, how could I?"

"Aw, c'mon, Heather! They were just teasing."

"It was mean. I don't think he should hang around with them anymore."

After a short pause, laughter rang out in the small room. "WHOOP! WHOOP! Warning! Warning! Beginning of relationship in progress! Relationship is imminent! All hands brace for impact! We repeat, RELATIONSHIP IS IMMINENT!"

"What?! Miss B, come on!"

"It's true!" Bodiccea giggled. "I've seen it happen. One of the first signs of a relationship starting is when she disapproves of his Neanderthal friends and tries to get him to lose them."

Heather sighed in exasperation, and grumbled, "I am not trying to get him to leave his old friends. It's just that they're such jerks, and when they're around, sometimes they make him act like a jerk too."

"What, did he yell at you or something?"

"No, he never would. But when I asked him why he was friends with them, he got all defensive and said I was trying to tell him who he could be friends with."

"Yeah, well. Heather, guys can't be gentlemen all the time. It's really kind of a strain for them. Sometimes, they have to go out with their friends and act like animals. It's like that thing they have about asking for directions."

"But Khaleel's different! You could tell how mad it made him when Kasim and Klatu were saying those things."

"Come on, Heather! That just means he's got a pair. You get a little mad when I tease you. Not mad enough, knowing what a b!tch I am."

"Well..." She frowned, then shook her head dismissively. "I can deal with it, but Khaleel is kind of sensitive. I don't think his 'friends' give him enough respect."

"Well, duh; he's an act III merc. Heather, he'll be fine. Nobody's THAT sensitive. He'll just get in a fight with them or something, then feel all masculine and it'll be ok."

The thought of that made Heather uncomfortable. "He shouldn't have to do that."

"Heather, I think guys like fighting with each other. After, they go out and get drunk together; it's kind of a bonding thing."

"Why? I mean, they're mad enough at each other to fight about it..."

Bodiccea shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe it's a relief to be bad for a while. If I was a guy and I had to be a gentleman all the time, I'd freak."

Heather laughed. "If you turned into a guy, I'd freak too."

"Ew! Heather!"

Grinning wider, she added, "I'm also not sure if I should be getting relationship advice from somebody like you."

"Oh!" Laughing, Bodiccea threw a pillow at her. "Uncalled for!"

Heather giggled. "Maybe I should talk to Reg..."

"She hasn't been in a permanent thing in, like, 300 years. Look, how about you just sleep on it? It's late, and we've got a long slog ahead of us in the morning."

"Ok. G'night, Miss B."

As the early light filtered down through layer upon layer of clear blue ice, Bodiccea's bunch hit the Glacial Trail once more. Frozen Terrors, Death Slashers, and the friggin' Reanimated Horde met them, and were conquered. The trail caves weren't very big. Bodiccea reached level 44 from killing a boss Abominable pack, and maxed out Fend. Bonesaw Breaker's golden chest o' joy didn't have much stuff in it. And an Evil Urn spat out a fire enchanted Frozen Terror. It was obviously very confused, and didn't put up much of a fight.

Back in Harrogath, Bodiccea noticed a little dialogue balloon with an exclamation point in it floating over Qual-Kehk's head. "Oop! Almost forgot. Hi there!"

"Every time I hear of you, warrior, your deeds become more legendary."

"Wow," Bodiccea grinned, "I'm a legend in my own mind."

That earned a faint smile. "Take heed: you are approaching the very summit of Mount Arreat. I have never dared venture there."

"Maybe if you asked Anya for directions?" she said, radiating innocence.

The smile disappeared. "It is sacred -- our most holy place. The legends say it is guarded by the Ancient Ones, who block the path of all who are unworthy."

"Unless they have the magic thingy Nihlathak gave Baal. You gotta wonder why he had it instead of Aust. He was the big chief, right?"

Qual-Kehk nodded curtly. "Your reputation here does not matter... It will be the Ancients who determine your worthiness. Good luck."

"Luck's got nothing to do with it. Ba-bye!"

As they walked away, Regulix said, "You do not speak with Qual-Kehk very much."

"No. He's kind of boring. Anya's ok. Hey, Heather, have you been thinking about Khaleel any more?"

"Yeah. I want to help him, but I'm not sure how."

"Hmm," Bodiccea thought for a minute. "I dunno either."

"Do you know his thoughts on the matter?" Regulix asked.

Bodiccea gave her a funny look. "Do you even know what we're talking about?"

Regulix smiled. "No. But if he is involved, and you do not know his mind, whatever it is you are trying to accomplish cannot succeed."

They both stared at her for a minute, then Heather nodded. "That makes sense."

"I guess it does," Bodiccea scratched her head. "So how do we figure out what's on his mind?"

"Consider asking him."

Bodiccea snorted with laughter. "Yeah, right! He'll just grunt something about Heather wanting to talk about 'feelings' and how boring it is."

Regulix nodded wistfully. "Yes, that does happen. But consider it."

"I'll try it," Heather smiled.

Bodiccea shrugged. "Sure. It's gotta work sometime."

Down in the Drifter Caverns, they were beset with Snow Drifters and Vile Temptresses. They were vile -- lime green with orange? Yikes. Bodiccea put every last one of them out of their misery pronto. The first Evil Urn produced a Temptress who died so quickly, Bodiccea never got a chance to see what her mods were. The second urn produced a lone champion. She was awesome: all in purple from head to toe, and she actually made it work. Too bad she died before Bodiccea could ask what her secret was.

Once the caves were empty, they headed onto the Frozen Tundra. They had one peaceful moment in the whole place, while looting the little Baba camp by the edge of the cliff. From that moment on, Bodiccea was scampering up and down the ice floe after Imps, Imps, and more Imps, with a few Crush Beasts for extra annoyance. Maybe putting a few points into a bow or javelin skill to deal with Imps wouldn't be a bad idea. They encountered three boss Imps before they even found the first wall, and, incidentally, the Infernal Pit.

There weren't any minotaurs in the pit, just Blood Bosses, Ice Spawn, and still more Imps. Fortunately, this being a mini-hell, Bodiccea could sit back to let Heather snipe across the flames. There were a few problems with exploding slaves, but nothing Heather and Regulix couldn't handle. The golden chest 'o joy had a lot of gems and two jewels, neither of them worth very much.

A knot of normal Crush Beasts occupied the center of the first wall, but nothing serious happened there, or in the second wall. Bodiccea reached level 45, and wasn't sure what to do with the skill point. "You ought to improve your Valkyrie skill," Regulix suggested.

"But then I'd lose you!" Bodiccea pouted. "And I don't know who'll come after you."

"Her name is known to you."

"I don't care," she said. "And I don't care if you think she's better than you. I'll save the skill point. Maybe I'll start working on the lightning skills later."

Regulix smiled faintly, but seemed grateful. "As you wish."

"I do wish it," Bodiccea stuck her tongue out at her. "So there. Hey! I wonder if The Mule left Ravenfrost?" She scampered over to her stash and looked inside. "Whoa! Two rings, chain gloves, and boots!"

"What are the rings?" Heather asked.

"Ravenfrost, and Dwarf Star! I've got Cannot Be Frozen, cold absorb, and fire absorb! I wonder if we've got Thundergod's Vigor lying around too?"

"I don't believe so," Regulix said. "What of the other items?"

"They're blue," Bodiccea frowned. "Oh. Lancer's Chain Gloves of Readiness. +3 to spear skills is sweet. I think I can lose 20% attack speed for that. I know I've got life leech to spare. The boots are Sapphire Light Plated Boots of Speed. Not bad."

Heather nodded. "You could do worse. They'll match your armor better, too."

"Yeah." She sat down on the stash to change out of Sigon's gear -- but as she took the gauntlets off, her armor vanished. "Eeep!"

"What happened?"

"AAARRGH! Dammit, dammit! Reg, your armor needs a strength of 101! Without Sigon's gloves, I've only got a strength of 100!"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Regulix said. "Strength bonuses from items work differently now, it seems. What shall we do?"

Bodiccea put Sigon's gloves and boots back on. "We get our asses back out there and kill until I gain another level. Shouldn't take too long, we've got the whole Ancient's Way and the Icy Cellar to go yet. C'mon!"

The waypoint was right behind the second wall, and behind it, the end of the tundra. After massacring the champion Imp pack, they entered The Ancients' Way. Far from living up to that lofty title, the place was a standard ice cave, with Moon Lords, Frozen Scourges, and Death Sock Puncturers. It was getting quite late and Bodiccea really wanted that level, so they took most of the caves at a run. She ran straight into the middle of Death Slasher packs, recklessly charged Moon Lords, and ran circles around Frozen Scourges saying "neener neener neener!" just for the heck of it. It was brutal.

Down in the Icy Cellar, they found Stygian Harlots (no familiar faces), Prowling Dead (more like stumbling, if you ask me) and Frozen Abyss, which is a heck of a strange name for a yeti-type monster. Maybe the Blizzard guys were running out of names. A lone pack of champion sock puncturers -- Death Brigadiers -- confirmed it: the well of nomenclature had run a bit dry back at Blizzard HQ. Snapchip was no challenge at all with Cannot Be Frozen on, but the kill still left Bodiccea short of the next level.

There was only one option left: an experience run. Eldritch and Shenk were right where they'd left them, and by a third of the way down the Bloody Foothills, Bodiccea had her level and the new equipment was in place. She didn't know if they would be a real improvement over Sigon's stuff, but +3 to your main attack skill never hurts. Now, it was time to sleep. The Ancient's Way waypoint wasn't too far from the Arreat Summit entrance. The Ancients awaited her pleasure, but they could damn well wait until morning.