The rebels went over what they could against the golds. Cutlery might outrun Haze or Mlion should they appear again. Haze had displayed short-range teleportation when she had ridiculed him as a lower sliver. Not to mention the rest of his magical abilities. So she would have to limit his vision and hide to truly get away.
Mlion hadn't shown off much. His tentacles gave him long reach so even if she had a head start he could grab her. Cutlery figured out the same plan. Blind people were bad at chasing. At the end that was all anyone could come up with. Smoke bombs were stockpiled in the armory. A few people with missions the golds might be at also got some more powerful flash bombs.
Back on her rooftop, Cutlery swirled the spherical bombs in her palm. Below her, the streets were still a thriving festival marketplace.
Baking, steaming, and bubbling foods caused children to wander from their guardians. Performers on hidden stilts walked over people with long strides. A rare mix of many species walked together on the same stones. Gone were the lines drawn by invisible hands that kept them separate. Cutlery knew from her two years as a pickpocket that many kids running about the street were doing the Temple's work as well.
No rebel activities were planned in her area. A few blocks behind her, Fish and Gill would be releasing an illegally captured jelly cube into the streets. They had found it when looking for escape routes. Now the oozing monster would fall upon an outdoor banquet hosted by Haze.
She heard the chaos erupt even from her distant roof. She paid it no mind, even on an official level that was outside her area. The two boys would be responsible for it protecting everyone from the monster.
No one on the street below heard the crash of wood and yelling that she did. Cutlery focused on watching a street performer who seemed to have some real magic. Namely, some legerdemain tricks with a long multi-colored scarf. Even with her slivered eyes, she could hardly trace where it was going and coming from.
The man started to float on his own as well. Cutlery frowned. Normally flying, even at a slow speed, was reserved for mid-slivers or higher. Surely this street performer was not a sliver of some kind.
Then he started to become blurry. Surely he didn't have invisibility too! The crowd cheered and waved as the man spun his arms slowly in the air like he was trying to carefully stop floating. Then his skin started to melt off.
-
A cube of mostly transparent air had joined the man on stage. They just happened to be completely engulfing him as well. From what she had learned of Fish and Gill's job, this was their jelly cube. A cube-shaped diaphanous monster.
The man inside the monster was being flesh smelted. Likely by "enzymic meat acid," Tool had called it. Tool had also given a gel to apply to their skin that would slow the melting should they be absorbed.
Cutlery did not have that gel. The commoners on the street didn't either. The performer definitely did not. His muscles were being revealed and he began to gruesomely unravel. Gore revealed the massive size of the ten-foot cube. Cutlery bolted from her rooftop and onto the one next. She would be able to damage it. The jellies were usually slow.
How could Fish and Gill let it get here? If she didn't contain it, it would eat the whole street! As she got above it, the clothes of the performer were sloughing out the back of the cube. People were clapping unsure as to what happened. A few parents covered their children's eyes and walked them away. The show had been a bit too gruesome for their age.
Then the cube lurched forward. Not unlike the tentacles, it went for the biggest batch of meat A group of some five men was leaning on each other, pink-faced with beer. They laughed as several banners got caught in the cube and floated in the transparent jelly in front of them. Cutlery leaped from above.
She pulled out a small shield from her bag and held it below her. Her rapier pointed down.
With a damp slap, she collided with the top of the cube. While it wasn't cobblestone, it wasn't water either. Her knee's buckled and clear gelatin flew in every direction. The shield bobbed on top of the cube.
The cube kept moving forward. Cutlery began stabbing it and pulled the rapier back out with some effort. A bumpy cylinder of the cube snapped up with her blade. Jerked the blade aside to cause the chunk to slide off. Looking down, the hole was already repaired. The shield sunk a little lower into the monster.
The men laughed at her antics and reached out to touch the thing she floated on. They yanked their hands back. Their finger sizzled with pink ends. The cube smashed into them with a final lurch forward. Cutlery fought for balance.
One man was slurped up with a soggy schlep of suction. The other two fell backward. After a second they fumbled and yanked their feet out of the cube. The bigger one outside the cube sat up and reached inside, with alcohol as a painkiller, and pulled on his friend, his arm began to lose hair. He hiccuped, giggled, then lost his grip. He fell on his butt.
-
Cutlery began a chain of thrusts on the top of the cube. Each time her blade stabbed it, the jelly would fill in and the shield would sink slightly. All three men managed to clear out after only losing one pair of pants and two pairs of boots to the cube's suction attacks.
Many items that had been dropped as people ran were now inside the cube. The shield wobbled but held under Cutlery. The cube's top edge started to wrap around the side of the shield. The rapier pulled back once more and thrust deep into the cube where it pierced a floating sucker. The cube quivered and Cutlery was sent crashing to the ground. A tide of debris and trailing liquid goo rushed outward.
The safely distanced crowd applauded Cutlery. Some recognize her from yesterday and yelled out to her. Picking herself up, she smiled and politely asked for the nearest well. A child pointed up the road to their right. Lines of slime rolled in waves off her.
The walk to and back from the well was mundane. While stares did come her way Cutlery soon found herself alone on her rooftop once more. Cutlery thought about where the cube had come from. If Fish and Gill's mission was anything like hers, they might have died while letting the cube loose. She would have to look for them back at the tower.
So with a little anxiety, she swapped with Jake and returned to the third sliver floor. There she found Fish and Gill snoring on each other in one of their rooms. Their door was wide open.
"They are fine!" Aeruthar yelled from behind her. The bulky elf always spoke loudly. Aeruthar clapped her shoulders and sucked in a huge breath of air to speak,
"It was quite grand! Their plan went off without a real hitch! You could say they won the lottery of luck! They released the cubes by accident," Aeruthar winked, " they couldn't tell there were four cubes in the dim space since they were all transparent! So imagine their surprise as the cubes went to the dining table and split up. Two started attacking the noble and slivered guests while the other two slid away into dark alleys! Much like their usual dim cavern homes yes!" Aeruthar said. His speech continued but Cutlery slowly slipped towards the door. The booming story continued as Cutelry fully committed and left.
Perhaps he was now speaking to the sleeping boys. Now free, Cutlery chowed down on some dinner and went over the plans for the next day. Day three waa- Woosh
A golden wave of light passed through the wall and rushed over the entire room, including Cutlery. Blinking at the wall, Cutlery paused. A few seconds of running later she was looking out the ballroom window at a distant beam of golden light across the mountains.
