Like Starlight and Wine (A Baldur's Gate 3 Astarion x Tav Fanfic)

17. First Attempt At Healing

"Well... do you know anything about mind flayers?" I ask bluntly.

Nettie watches me with suspicion. "...Why are you asking?"

"There's no good way of putting this. We... uh... have tadpoles in our heads."

"Tadpoles?!" she exclaims. "Mind flayer tadpoles?"

"You know of them? Can you help us?"

"I-" she stutters with uncertainty wavering in her voice. Something is off. "I'll do what I can. Come, follow me. I might be able to help."

We follow Nettie as she leads us into another room behind this one. It looks like a library of sorts or a study. More like a research center. The walls are lined with books and stone tablets. On one table there is a journal, beakers, bottles and jars full of specimines. And next to that is another stone slab nearby, long like a bed. And laying on that bed is a corpse. A dead drow.

"This one had the same problem as you," she says, motioning to the drow. "Attacked us int he woods together with some goblins. Tadpole crawled out of his head soon after."

"Is everyone being captured by mind flayers these days?" I ponder. "Didn't think this was a common experience."

"Rather too common as of late," Nettie replies with a sigh. "At least, that's what Master Halsin suspected. Still, we have options..."

Her voice trails as she turns to the table behind her, the one with all the instruments and bottles. I see her preparing something, but with her back turned toward me I can't tell what it is. When she turns back around, she's holding a long, thorny branch in her hand.

"Alright," she says. "Let's see what we can do."

"What's that plant?" I ask, eying it suspiciously. "Will it help?"

She shifts her weight uncomfortably, her eyes avoiding mine. Something is wrong.

"It might," she says. "But first things first. Tell me about your symptoms - have you noticed anything strange happening?"

"It 'might?' I keep her on topic. "What aren't you telling me?"

"I'm telling you everything you need to know. Believe me on that. I want to help you, but I can't unless you work with me. So: has anything unusual happened to you."

"Well... none of the usual symptoms of ceremorphisis so far. But... I can merge my mind with anyone else that's infected."

Nettie's eyes grow wide. "Victims can identify each other? Not that the other's know they're victims, of course. How'd you pick up the parasite? Halsin was desperate to find where all this was happening."

"On a mind flayer ship," I explain. "We were kidnapped and infected."

"A mind flayer ship?" Nettie is even more surprised. "But Master Halsin was sure-" her words break off there, lost in another train of thought. "...Look, you've been straight with me, so I'll be straight with you. You're dangerous. If you transform here, we're all dead. But you seem like a good soul. You deserve a chance to save yourself." She reaches behind herself and produces an ornate bottle with a sickly green glow. "This is a vial of wyvern poison. Swear to me you'll swallow it if you feel any symptoms."

I eye the bottle with a piercing gaze. "I thought you could cure me? What about that branch of yours?"

"The thorn?" She asks, gesturing to the barbed needle in her hand. "Coated in a fatal toxin. It was a last resort, in case I couldn't trust you. I don't have a cure. Only a way out. I'm sorry for misleading you, but I had to be sure you weren't a threat before It old you everything. Now, do I have your word or not?"

I don't want to accept the bottle - I don't want to swear to her. But she's not giving me much of a way out.

"All right," I sigh. "Hand it over."

"Swear it."

"Fine..." I lie. "I swear."

And as I take the bottle of poison from her, Nettie says, "I hope it doesn't come to that but... thank you. You know, I've spent my life treating folk and never once saw a mind flayer infection. Then suddenly there's dozens of you -- maybe more. Master Halsin and I were tracking them, studying them, trying to figure out what the hells was going on. Because you should all be changing - there should be a small army of mind flayers out there! But you're not. Weird powers aside, you seem perfectly normal."

"What do you mean 'should' be changing?" I ask, an uneasy feeling settling over me.

"Mind flayers reproduce by infecting someone with their parasite," she explains. "Seven gruesome days later, the victim transforms and a new mind flayer is born. The thing in your skull, though? It's different to anything in our jrecords. It's one of their worms, for sure, but this one gives you powers - telepathic connections. And it doesn't turn you into one of them. Not yet, anyhow."

"So that's... good news?"

"Could be," she replies doubtfully. "But there's a lot we don't know. Infected - folks like you - have been converging on an old temple of Selune, and I've no idea why. When Master Halsin heard the adventurers were heading that way, he saw a chance to get answers. Joined on the spot. Whatever he found there, he didn't make it back."

"So? Go and get him?" I suggest.

"I've sent birds to find him," she replies. "But the place is rotten with goblins. And if my birds can't get close, what chance do I have? You, though? You're one of them - technically speaking, I mean. They won't kill someone carrying their parasite. If you can find Halsin and get him out of there, we can discover what he learned. And perhaps he can save your life. How's that sound?"

I take in a deep sigh. This is all a lot... and it seems that a lot of people want Halsin back. And since this little venture to see Nettie has failed, there seems to be a new prospect that Halsin could help us with our parasite problem. It seems I'm running out of choices. "All right," I agree. "I'll find Halsin."

"Thank you," Nettie replies gratefully. "It would mean everything to the grove. To me. I wish I could tell you what happened out there, but those adventurers were the only witnesses. And they're long gone. All I can say for sure is that they all went to the old temple of Selune and Master Halsin didn't make it back. Good luck out there. And if things start to go bad - remember the vial. Remember your oath."