Just make sure nobody stops .
Ben wasnt given ti to ask what she was going to do before shed already crossed the boundary to the statue, leaving him to deal with the yelling staff whod co to stop her as he rushed over and held them back, trying to be as reasonable as he could given the circumstances.
Now, I know this probably doesnt look great, but theres definitely a good reason for this, He told the two hed grabbed in his arms, all while trying to keep an eye out for more as they scread at him. Theyd already drawn the eyes of the other visitors but that was always going to happen in a circumstance like that, Ben could only hope that none of them decided to join in on the chaos. The bigger the crowd that tried to push past him, the more hed have to do to hold them back.
His only option was to try to hope that Thera finished whatever it was she was doing quickly and after a minute it seed she had. The staff had stopped their yelling and thrashing while the visitors whod been looking were wearing expressions of either confusion or horror, giving Ben the leeway to look at what shed done before coming to the sa horrible understanding as she had.
In front of Thera was no longer a statue, but instead a man, one free of the petrification that had to have been placed on him hundreds of years ago as what happened all ca together.
Ben had wondered if the famous healer, an awakened life mage, who had supposedly created all of the statues surrounding them had been an earth mage as well and it seed the answer was a firm yes, granting them access to the spell theyd need to do such a thing with the implications of what that ant for every other statue in the room clear as Ben turned his thoughts upward, needing so higher powers to give their input as he scread into his head.
MYRIAD, HELORI, NARE, ANAILIA! ANYONE LISTENING ANSWER RIGHT NOW!
His god asked as the others made themselves known.
Nare added, with Anailia speaking up next.
Helori told her.
So not the ti guys. Take a look at where I am and then notice that every statue here is actually soone whos been petrified for a couple hundred years and let know what the hell to do about this!
The gods yelled in one voice before quickly talking amongst themselves and deciding that they needed to inform the others, leaving him alone with Myriad.
You know, I called all of you for advice, not to wait for you to figure it out yourself.
Shit, right.
Taking his gods advice, Ben dropped the two mbers of staff before rushing over to her as she tried to handle the very disoriented cyclops, looking like she was feeling deeply out of her elent.
But how could she not be? How was one supposed to tell soone that everyone they knew was likely long dead and that theyd been brought back in the middle of the worlds dreaded invasion? That shouldnt have been a job for anyone, let alone her.
Where am I? The cyclops asked in a panic. I was going out to dinner and then I I Whats happening?
Just try to calm down a little, Thera told him gently. Take a seat. Im a healer, youre okay but its just going to take so explaining-
Despite what she was telling him though, the worried look in her eyes was only making the man panic more, making him try to dash off before imdiately being caught in Bens arms.
Myriad, give permission to tell Thera to put him to sleep.
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His god said despite the laws about casually using mind spells on people and he connected to Thera to tell her exactly that which she did without argunt. While normally she would hesitate it was obvious that she felt out of her depth enough that having the gods give her an out was a welco opportunity, and with a quick exertion of mana the man fell in Bens arms.
All that leaves is everyone else around. Okay, Ill do sothing.
Gently placing him down, Ben turned to face the crowd of onlookers and yelled for their attention.
Alright, as youve all seen we have a bit of a complicated situation on our hands! As the apostle of Myriad and acting representative of the gods, Ill ask all guests to leave the gallery for the ti. As for the staff mbers, one of you go and pass that ssage along to the rest of the staff to lock up for the day and gather here!
The air of authority hed given himself by saying he was both an apostle and a representative of the gods seed to have helped since not one person tried to argue with him after. The visitors flooded out and seed happy to, not wanting to stay to deal with whatever was going to happen from there while the staff went to close the place down while gathering the rest, leaving a few monts where it was only going to be him, Thera, and the now unconscious cyclops alone in the room.
You okay? He asked his girlfriend the mont they had so privacy.
No, this is really too much.
I know, just do your best to relax. Ive told the gods I know and theyre talking to the others to figure out what to do from here. Just take a seat for now, Ill handle talking to everyone for the ti being, okay?
Okay, yeah, that sounds good. Thanks Ben.
No problem.
It wasnt long after that brief exchange that the staff ca back, all of them looking uncomfortably worried given whatever word had managed to spread around in that short ti.
Okay, first things first, which of you would be in charge here?
I am, An older man said, stepping forward and looking as nervous as the rest.
Okay, so Im not sure how clear it was to everyone but it looks like everything in this room probably wasnt sculpted but instead petrified. Obviously, this is a complicated issue that nobody could have expected and the gods are currently discussing it. Now, can anyone tell if this is the entire collection or do you have any more of the statues sowhere?
Theres about a dozen more in storage.
Jesus Christ.
Okay, does anyone know if any have ever been bought or stolen since they were first discovered?
I dont believe so, no.
Okay, good, Now for the big one. And have any of them been damaged and repaired?
Ben had no idea what would happen to any of them once they were unpetrified if theyd received any damage. Would scratches and chips translate to gouges and bleeding? What if an earth mage had repaired the damage or reattached an arm that had broken off? Would that properly unpetrify and if it did would that carry any long-term consequences?
To his small fortune, it seed the answer was a general no. While they couldnt be sure there weren't any scratches, in general the staff had made sure to treat the statues with extre care, believing them to be the hidden works of their citys greatest healer. At the very least, no limbs had broken off and been re-attached, at least as far as any of them were aware.
Which just ans weve gotta cross our fingers and hope nothing has been secretly damaged and repaired. Okay, this is probably fine.
His god chid in.
Its called optimism. Now hurry up and tell what were supposed to be doing here man. Like, should we even unpetrify them?
It was an obvious question in the end. All of them would be coming back to an objectively worse world, their friends, families, and livelihoods lost to them, with the worst part of all that theyd be coming back to face the second wave. Rather than deal with the horror of all of that, wouldnt it be kinder to leave them as they were and then worry about awakening them if the world was lucky enough to survive in the end?
It was sothing he thought was worth considering at least, but Myriad disagreed.
His god told him.
Ben let out a sigh.
Fine, Ill tell her, but shes putting every one of them to sleep and the gods can send soone over to act as a therapist when they wake up, she shouldnt have to deal with that.
Okay, thanks buddy.
Thera- He began, only for her to cut him off as she stood up.
Anailia just told . Dont worry, Ill get it done.
Im less worried about that than you.
Im a healer, this is the sort of thing I should be doing.
Despite what she said though, she didnt sound okay as she moved to the first statue to begin the mass unpretrification, with Ben moving to her side to provide the emotional support he could.
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