I am a nation, I am a million faces Formed together, made for elevation I am a soldier, I won't surrender Faith is like a fire that never burns to embers (Who's gonna stand up, who's gonna fight?) The voice of the unheard (Who's gonna break these chains and lies?) Love is the answer I gotta speak it, believe it, that's how I feel inside I can't, can't sit here quiet You can take my heart, you can take my breath
Holding his hand in hers, Truth couldn’t hide the worry on her face. “At least this time you’ll have someone to help you if you want it. We can work together to get you up to speed.....” she smiled, pulling his hand up to kiss his knuckles softly.
-=-=-=*=-=-=-
Krystina gave a soft chuckle and nodded, wiping her eyes before she leaned in to kiss his cheek. “You’re right... thank you,” she breathed, taking his hand in hers as she turned towards where the mass of other figures were gathered closest. There was something powerful drawing her towards that area.
A few steps in and there was a voice, deep and echoing.“Comecloserchildren.IthasbeenawhilesinceIlastsawoneofHaralda’sbloodjourneyhere.”The voice was warm and welcoming, yet there was an underlying sadness to it.“IfI’mnotmistaken,thelastwasyourbrother,yes?Hecamealone.Hasthechildlearnedtocontrolhiswrath?”
“He has, I think,” Krystina murmured as she grew ever closer. Through the thrawl of lost souls, she could see a gleaming opalescent mass. And suddenly the people parted, allowing her to see him- a great white dragon, chained down to the spot with chains twice as thick as she was wide. “I- who are you?”
“IamSkaprom.Oneofmanyforgottendeitiesofyourhomeland.Itwasoncemydutytoprotectthesoulswhohadpartedtothisworldfromours.Guidethemtothosewhocouldtakecareofthem.Now,Iamtrappedinthisrealmjustastheyare.Butyouarenothereformytale.Youareheretoseeifyoucangrowbeyondwhatyouare,yes?AscendtotheValkyr?” The dragon’s head shifted so he could look at her and Maso.
“.... yes....”
“Good.” The dragon grinned, large fangs showing briefly as he laughed to himself.“TheValkyrwereonceangels,youknow.GracedandProtectedbythegoddessoflight.Beforemybrothercorruptedthem.Itwasyourgrandmotherandherpartnerwhoconverted,inordertosavetheirfriends.Buttheycouldnotdoitalone.Itisyourjobtoassistthem.Asyourbrotherandyoursisterbothdid.”
-=-=-=*=-=-=-
Sky gave a softer smile and nodded, holding Shayde’s hand firmly in his own. “Right. You’re right. They’ll be fine so long as they’re together.” he breathed, smiling more as he curled into the other’s side.
“I wonder if she’ll be tasked the same as we were.... Wings of wrath. Wings of famine....” Aaricia breathed, keeping her gaze on Krystina’s unconscious face. The titles were a cruel joke at best. And a harsh reality at worst. Famine..... As if she’d wanted that gift. Cursed with what’d nearly killed her. And her brother- he was so sweet.... Yet..... no. she wouldn’t worry about it. It didn’t seem as if he’d been struggling with it at all. In fact, he seemed as if he’d returned to his old chipper self. That was good. If confusing....
-=-=-=*=-=-=-
“Having you here is a big help, actually.... I really just need to focus on the here and now of it all.....” Rissa breathed, smiling as she went on her toes to kiss him. This here. This between them was real. He was real. This wasn’t a memory. She had to get past those thoughts!
-=-=-=*=-=-=-
“I suppose there is a price that comes to knowledge, Kibum....” Aerith breathed, pulling his ponytail out of the way as he closed the book. “But I don’t mind being indebted to him, despite what you all say.” he added, glancing up only to chuckle at the conversation turning to love.
And then the fight broke out. “Oh fer ******** sake. It’s like we’re ten all over again!” He huffed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Standing, a trail of bright blue light seemed to wrap around him before snapping and popping in between the others as if to get their attention. “Can we not fight? You clearly disagree, but getting into a fight about it isn’t going to progress the situation, just regress it....." he mumbled, fingers wrapping around a specific pendant of the many on his neck. One that was much older than the others.
-=-=-=*=-=-=-
“If you go, I'll come with. I know how much it sucks being trapped somewhere, i’m not gonna leave someone else in that situation if I can help it,” Kansei chimed in, following Hei. There was something eating at the back of her head telling her she needed to keep an eye on her cousin, but she pushed it back. Kana was fine, she could handle herself.
There was a gust of sand from nowhere, ever so briefly, before suddenly Adra was standing in the room again, the tattoos on his skin an ashen grey and his eyes a faded copper. “I did mention all he had to do was ask for me and I would come.... Is it so wrong for someone who’s had his will beaten out of him to be selfish once in a while?” the demon shrugged and popped his neck. “So, how hard would it be to actually bust him out when we find him, assuming it’s gonna be armed to the teeth?” he asked, a cocky grin on his face. He’d torch the whole brotherhood if it meant getting Runealis back. Kid was like a third brother to him.
Kana blinked at Tex, only to jump when Sheik shouted. Shifting her gaze between the two for a bit, she wrapped her hand around Sheik’s a little tighter. What on earth could they be asking of her? Looking up at Trevor, her face scrunched up in confusion. Something in her stomach turned, becoming a knot. Why did this question- whatever it actually applied to- make them all so upset? What was she missing? Looking over at Serai, her confusion melted to worry. Whatever it was, it must have something to do with that.....
“I-I.... “ Gods, why was her mouth so dry? Her chest felt tighter just thinking about this. Was not giving an answer even an option? Could she do that? But- they’d said that would have even worse effects on things.... Squeezing his hand tighter, Kana let out the smallest whine. She wanted to help him, if at all she could.... But she didn’t want to make this so stressful for him..... “I have an answer, for myself. But is it really that fair for me to say it aloud when you’ve been so worried about the outcome?” she finally asked, ears flattening against her head as she felt that knot in her stomach tighten even harder. Biting harder on her lip, she pulled her legs up to her chest and tried to make herself as small as possible.
When you pry it from my cold, dead chest This is how we rise up Heavy as a hurricane, louder than a freight train This is how we rise up Heart is beating faster, feels like thunder Magic, static, call me a fanatic It's our world, they can never have it This is how we rise up It's our resistance, you can't resist us
Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2021 9:37 pm
Chaos 1ncarnate
Translations: * Romanian “Îmi pare atât de rău. Te rog să mă ierți.” = “I’m so sorry. Please forgive me.”
Giving Skylar a wry grin as he gave their entwined hands a small squeeze, Shayde made a slight nod. “Of course I’m right. I’m rarely ever wrong after all,” he purred as he gently brushed his fingers through the other’s fair hair. His next words, however, made his smile falter bit. “Nah. It was actually Hagen’s words simply reworded from me to you. He used to tell me when I was younger that we needed to have faith in the people we cherish when we can’t be with them, and they would somehow make it back to us. I used to get super anxious when our-his dad and a handful of others would leave on missions back then. This is just like then so let’s have faith they’ll come back to us, and that she’ll triumph this obstacle and bring the crybaby back with her.”
-=-=-=*=-=-=-
Smiling back at the elemental, Ephraim leaned down a little so their lips would meet. “I’m glad I can be of some assistance,” he purred lowly between kisses. He was sure she still had those nagging thoughts eating away at her, but he wasn’t expecting her to be able to just shut them off like one would a light switch. Even he had them creep out of the deepest depths of his mind now and then.
-=-=-=*=-=-=-
“Let’s do this. I don’t actually know what I’m allowed to intervene or help with, but I’m still gonna put my all into it.” That having been said, his sorrow pushed down into the very core of his being in order to be ignored for the time being, Watari walked along with Krystina. Unlike her in being drawn towards the crowd, his gaze followed figures that were distant from the voice that spoke up. Part of him had to wonder if he’d passed through this place once already, but he otherwise shook it off in order to pay attention to what was being said. Maybe his original death was something like this? At least he had been able to shake it off until the dragon mentioned the Valkyr being angels once in which he gave a low heh out of how awkward it was that he’d mentioned it when the male had his wings tucked against his spine at the moment due to being a prior angel. Even worse was the chatter of this goddess of light that made his stomach churn. He had Sheikah blood in his veins after all, and they were guardians of the light that lived in shadow - the protectors of the balance as Trevor would explain it. They also didn’t exactly live in any particular realm nor did they side with either the goddess of light nor the god of darkness. How awkward could this get?
“Um... Pardon the intrusion. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Skaprom,” the bi-colored haired male spoke up quickly albeit hesitantly as he made a slight bowing gesture. It was apparent that he had somewhat shifted back into his original humble yet timid behavior now that he’d pushed his sorrow aside for the moment and was standing before someone new. Of course, he ended up scratching the back of his head afterwards, but still. “Um... I’m sorry to intrude on your conversation, but with how the others spoke, there was talk of there being a chosen something-or-other allowed to be with her so I was allowed passage. Unfortunately, I don’t know what all that entails with what all might be in place that may hurt her or her chances in passing this trial. I don’t want to hurt the progress in her strengthening- ascension after all, but... Is there anything you can do to clarify the vagueness given by these... certain individuals?”
-=-=-=*=-=-=-
“Then make Tinkerbell send Peter Pan elsewhere ‘cause he’s the problem here from how I see it,” Clive growled before he ended up kicking one foot out from under Fedelta and landing a punch to the elf’s kidney. At noticing that what caught his arm after the aggressive motions was his harness, Clive made a slight grimace. “And that’s why I need my glasses. Sorry. You’ve gotta say something when you’re getting closer to me or I’m gonna hit you outta reflex ‘cause you’re in my blind spot. This is why I usually leave the close encounters to Sam, Cirdan, and Elrick.”
“I’m good... I think I am at least. By Andraste’s might, you could be mistaken as Lolth’s kin ‘cause you’ve got a lot of deadly precision even in your blind spots,” Fedelta hissed from where he’d face-planted into the ground. Standing back up, he held his hands up in mock surrender. “Alrighty. Now that you know it’s me, I’m gonna help put your harness back on and then hand you back your cloak. And were you just calling me Tinkerbell?”
“Just don’t make sudden movements or get all hands-y. The first will be reflexes whereas the latter is simply for the fact you got hands-y. And yes, I did. You’re the one with the faerie blood like Elrick thus I opted for the faerie of what I’d call him. I referred to him as Peter Pan ‘cause he’s got the green clothes, is younger than you, and is a self-absorbed d_ck. Tinkerbell has a feisty personality and does most of the work too so I felt it fit. Did it offend you?”
The stare he received, even if the kid could only see colors that made up his shape, made Fedelta frown for a moment only to slowly shake his head as he finished helping Clive get his harness back on. “I did at first, but your explanation makes it less so. Kibulÿm, go sit by the porch and start detoxing again. You took on a lot of that curse earlier and the crystals are creeping up your neck again,” he responded before shooing his brother with a brief wave of the hand, the elf stomping off with irritated mutters in elvish. After setting Clive’s cloak back in his hands, he cautiously moved away from the boy only to hop the remainder of the distance between him and Aerith rather swiftly. This then resulted in his catching his arm around the bluenette’s neck and pulling him nearer so he could drop his voice down several octaves. “I’m with Tybalt in saying he either hasn’t mentioned something or he’s simply unaware of it himself. The circle in the picture looks familiar, like Underdark Old Gods familiar. As a male, and a fighter classification of a male rather than an archmage, I wasn’t exactly privy to the exact details in the scriptures of the Old Gods from the Underdark. That was information that only circled around the Archmages, High Priestesses and Matron Mothers. It’s literally imprinted on his eyes like those stigma things in that Veda baby’s eyes except it literally expands across the sclera, iris, and pupil of both of his eyes only with slight differences in the design between the two as if it’s meant for different things. If it is Old God magic mixed into his genetic coding, it could potentially be the reason why the newer deity magic on his glasses doesn’t seem to be working like it’s supposed to. From what I do know, the Old Gods of the Underdark - the better ones mind you - have different skillsets than the newer ones thus making their magic incompatible with each other. Both could be gods of chaos, but the older ones have a better grasp on it than the newer ones. Lolth, for example, is an Old God that can enter this world through a vessel that is either a High Priestess or a Matron Mother. Andraste is a New God that’s oftentimes handing her worshippers her gifts to the Clerics and Mages of the Wood Elves in an attempt to keep Lolth at bay, but she can’t enter this plane through either a vessel nor an incarnation. I think that’s the same suspicion Tybalt has which is why he upped the favor debt without scaring the boy by mentioning it as a theory. What’s worse is that we don’t even know what the circles mean much less what they’re there for. My personal theory is he may have forced his parents into calling on the dark arts of an Old God by being disabled in some way, shape, or form. It’d probably relate to his ancestors that were also there; Talfin being farsighted and mute whilst Rhomnithe was deaf. Conclusion: his disabilities were being deaf and mute as well as farsighted which would leave him in a constant state of distress. It’d explain the three wise monkeys being there. What do you think?”
-=-=-=*=-=-=-
Giving the girl something of a chuckle, short and curt as it was, Lucian gently rubbed his thumb over her fingers simply to give her hand a gentle squeeze as she kissed his knuckles. “Oh believe me. I would love all of the help in the many worlds, realms, dimensions, and alternate realities just to get to the point that I can walk around on my own again instead of being that scared little puppy all over again. It’s like my brain’s entirely focused on what I’m seeing and trying to interpret it so nothing else is really working like it used to... Oh God. No. The horrors of getting a sense of sight now of all times. I’m done with it. I’ve seen all I ever want to see, and now I just want to be blind again before I see any of them,” he started off rather softly, a vague sense of calm with every word. Unfortunately, it seemed that something had just dawned on him and horror began sinking in. After sinking down into his chair with his hand over his forehead and eyes, a low whimpering sound could be heard from him making Trevor and Serai simultaneously cover the lower half of their face. “Just kill me now before Kortan finds me ‘cause my living Hell is now going to be so much worse.”
“Right. He was raised in an all-natural werewolf pack. Nothing’s ever private amongst them,” Serai smiled faintly albeit mostly in an attempt to steer away from the dark conversation of the future. Of course, her picking on Lucian only made him whimper that much more.
“Oh. I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes when he gets to reunite with his pack with this newfound sight. Ugh. Just knowing about you and dad grossed me out, and he’s got a large a** pack. I also don’t want to be in her shoes right now either ‘cause I wouldn’t want to have to make that decision. It’s just a whole lot of horrible. This really is quite a crappy day on all sides of the playing field. How do you think he’ll react? Lock himself up in a room again?” Trevor’s gaze shifted down to Sheik biting down on his thumbnail. It was obvious that he was trying to steel himself as fast as possible in order to not just break down at the table, and seemed to be doing quite a good job at too. It was only a matter of time though.
“I can’t really say. He might just become unresponsive for a few days, not unlike the first time that lasted several weeks. I mean, he’ll likely still fight and train since he did that for a while after he finally left his room, but he’ll likely do the silent stare thing if you try to talk to him. Then again, he could try to act like you and tuck it down as much as possible so as to keep her from excessively worrying about him,” she answered her eldest son before brushing a strawberry blonde hair out of Sheik’s face. “He still looks like a part of him just wants to break down and cry though so we’ll just have to wait and see.”
“Shut up. Just stop it. I don’t need you making her any more terrified about the answer she decides to go with. I know it has to be asked, but I’m still not ready for it. It’s just making it so much more concrete,” Sheik muttered lowly only to bite back down on his nail in anxious ridden anticipation.
“It’s precisely why I said what I did, Sheik. No amount of time you stall for in an attempt to steel yourself for that one yes or no is going to be enough. You know the outcomes, and one is just slightly better than the other. All you can really do is hope for the best outcome, but do expect the worst. You never get disappointed that way. Now we’re back to you. You’re going to have to answer it, dearie. This isn’t a topic you can tap dance around. Your only options are yes or no, no middle ground. Life’s not exactly fair so no it isn’t fair that you have to answer such a vague question when it freaks them out, but it’s not exactly our choice. It’s what has been preordained by powers even more grand than the laws of time and space, and neither option is truly going to have a good outcome. There’s just one that is slightly better than the other, thus it is dubbed as the lesser of two evils. Either way, it’s a tragedy, but the answer you give just helps decide what kind of tragedy it will be,“ Tex seemed to answer for the girl before turning his gaze back to the front yard albeit from the corner of his eye. Of course it’d stopped short and shifted to the opposite side where a small child wearing the mask of Anubis was seemingly snacking on animal crackers and a slightly older girl with several lavender streaks in her dark hair and the mask of Sekhmet stood. “Ah. It’s the defectors. He sent you? I see.”
“Anubis speaks. Fear not, children of time, for he shall walk in the Field of Reeds in wait of she, the one that brought him the most joy and the most sorrow. You shall answer as you may, and not fear the decision made. When the time comes, you shall hear him, and he will say unto you,” the girl spoke up after having given Texenius a single nod. As she came to a pause, a young male voice one would assume was the smaller child’s voice thick with the Romanian accent as could be recalled from the memories of the young Runealis, “Let Horus guide you to the Field of Reeds, and Amun stretch his light across your ka.”
Giving a second nod, she turned slightly and began leading the boy towards the door only to pause. “Set speaks. Call out to the jackal when it comes, and Anubis will send unto you the Gods of War. It is all Ra will give you, and the time given will be limited. May it bring you peace when the Duat calls for him.” That said, the two stepped through the door simply to vanish in a shimmery gold dust that disappeared before reaching anything solid.
“Well, that is curious. I’m curious about why they chose to send them this time and the twins at that time. I call them defectors because they somehow managed to defect from the laws of time and space, Serai, and have ended up the closest to Rune’s predicament save the revival factor. They can touch and alter things without excessively changing the future, and only do so under the Riddler’s orders. Sekhmet there refers to him as Set whilst Anubis mostly just kinda stands around beside her eating something. I’ve only seen him once by himself in my library, but he vanished without a word. Either way, I’m going to have to guess that something involved with this decision has an effect further down the line that will end up leading to something that will be catastrophic on most if not all playing fields. They give hints, leave subconscious thoughts you’ll only realize later on, and even take on small, menial tasks. From what I’ve observed, there are seven constants that enter and exit the larger picture as if on a whim: Sekhmet, Anubis, Loki, Hermóðr or Set according to Sekhmet, Hermès, Kratos, and Deimos. It’s uncertain as to what plane of existence and/or what stage of time they originated from too. And for once in my life, I’m actually jealous someone has figured out how to do something before me.” Giving a slight shrug, he turned back to face the front yard and where Adramalech was located. “I never said it was wrong, just that he’s hit a point where he actually has absolutely no other choice than to seek outside help. I merely mean that he’s selfish in the art of being selfless. His only desire has been to figure out who he is besides some random kid from Buscheta, Romania. He never asks for help with anything besides that, and he’s definitely never asked for it after you vanished shortly after you made him watch the closest thing to a family he’d ever experienced get decapitated and he almost gave you food poisoning. All else has been like a never-ending supply of side quests, and it’s all been for everyone else.”
“Oh. Kratos and Deimos were brothers in the God of War game series thus the reference to the set of twins, aside from whom I’m thinking Hermóðr and Hermès are, being the Gods of War.”
Scratching the back of his neck, Tex gave a tired sigh. Answering these questions was such a pain. “Yes, Trevor, that’s what they’re referring to when they said the Gods of War. And yes, Hermóðr and Hermès are the twins that’ve already been here ever so briefly to pass on an entirely vague message. Hermóðr is always the main messenger of vague comments or questions whilst Hermès chases him with her minor messages being delivered with equally vague comments or questions. Kratos and Deimos, however, are a set of very aggressive brothers that I’ve only seen twice - once to entice chaos whilst the other was amidst the throws of chaos cleaning house. They did most of the work with Vivaldi’s armies of... minions. You just didn’t get to see them in action like I did. Either way, there’s a lot of variables to consider in order to answer the question of how difficult the main objective would be. Right now all I currently have to work with is a schizophrenic predator, a memory recovering Sheikah, you - an adolescent bird that got taken hostage by a little girl suffering from grandiose delusions involving the dark arts, and a bunch of... children, puppies and kittens. If my predictions hold steady with a small portion of the guard detail, there’s going to be a very bloody fight in the yard between two high class predators - Heine and my elder brother, Eishirou. Heine, of course, will only get distracted and likely injured if you interfere with that situation so it’d be best for you to just stay out of it. Whilst that’s happening, I’ll be going through layers and layers, and even more layers, of barriers, resets, and magical warfare with my elder brother, Ashurao, and his twin apprentices, Senna and Fye. And then we get to the biggest thorn with far more jagged edges and hooks than you can’t even begin to imagine; Vedinya Ashanï aka Odessa. You should already be aware of it, but in case you’re oblivious or suffering from a mild case of retardation, she’s Seda’s elder sister and the daughter of the demon general Sedynn. Much like her father and brother, she’s sharper than a tack and extremely powerful. The explosive nature of their family is purely a hereditary, cataclysmic gene. Like me, she’s got the magic of the Ones Who Came Before, including but not limited to their version of blood magic, but not the seals I have to keep my magic limited and under the radar. Unlike your low class witch of a booty call, she’s not suffering from delusions of grandeur either. She’s not a girl you’d want to take lightly nor is her coven. She only takes in the best of the best or the ones with the potential to be the best of the best, and to them, the law of nature is first and foremost: survival of the fittest.”
“Right. She tried to kill Seda because he was only getting worse and they weren’t getting any closer to curing his illness. She did love him in the beginning, but she felt it was cruel to make him suffer because of some delusional hope that someone would eventually be able to heal him. She only developed the extreme anger towards him after their mother died, right?” Trevor tapped his fist lightly against his mother’s head as if recalling such information. He did get slapped for it, but seemed to pay it no mind. “Sidebar: simpler terms. You’re using ten cent words again and you used two different versions of just saying she’s not full of herself much less stupid enough to want what his ex-girlfriend wanted. I don’t want to be mean to Adra and just call Mara a booty call. It’s possible that there was a kind of attraction in the beginning, but then he found the crazy behind the mask just a smidge too late. People make mistakes, even high-tiered demons. Ma’s mistake was trying to control my every thought and action so I’d be like her and keep the Sheikah bloodline going for a little while longer.”
“More like giving you too much freedom. I kept your brother and sister on shorter leashes and they’re less crazy than you because of it.”
“No comment on the crazy train. And apologies for the so-called ten cent words. You would be correct though. After Aida Kostyk-Ashanï is said to have died of a broken heart, Vedinya became far more hostile towards Seda as she felt it was his fault that their family was broken like it is to this day. The sad part of the whole thing is that she hasn’t ever taken into account how he feels about it. Getting back on the topic you keep getting distracted on, however, there’s one other variable in my calculations for guard duty on Rune, and he’s an unpredictable one at that.”
“Koail?” Trevor’s brow furrowed at this thought. “He’d make it so we could come and go quickly, wouldn’t he?”
“Koail indeed. I can’t be sure what he’d do if he’s there due to the more personal nature of his relationship with Vedinya. She gave him something he’d never had before and so he was the most loyal member of her coven thus that vampiric name of Kÿnadríel that bounty hunters and the like still hunt to this day. Due to his bizarre behavior, no one takes him seriously when they should.”
“How do you know she gave him something he’d never had before? He doesn’t really talk about himself save for deflecting it with obnoxious questions and comments.”
“Because, like Rune, even he needs someone to talk to when feeling down or confused. Koail’s always felt conflicted about Vedinya, and I honestly cannot blame him. My Vedinya is Enaia, and Rune has Masao. We’re fond of them, but nothing ever seems to work in our favor when we’re put together. We’re like oil and water, both liquids yet never able to mix together as one entity.”
“So Koail may do what Odessa- Vedinya wants in his own bizarre way, and Rune and Masao only end up dying when they’re together. What’s your oil to Enaia’s water?”
“Doesn’t matter. We’re focusing on Rune’s current situation right now. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Other than Eishirou, Ashurao, Senna, Fye, Vedinya, and quite possibly Koail, there’s sure to be a small militarized force of the top tier elites and a few lesser elites from the Brotherhood since they’d need to take him down if he ever did attempt an escape on his own. Like I said, they attempted several times to reset him so he wouldn’t want to leave, and when it didn’t work, they had to throw everything but the kitchen sink at him to take him down. Keeping him there is a whole other ballgame considering his knack for being a deceptive little pain in the posterior.”
“Posterior? Who even uses that term anymore? If he’s a pain in the a**, just say he’s a pain in the a**. That’s so frickin’ unfair though.”
“It’s worse than how I raised my children to be prepared to go up against. Why didn’t you try to help him before he just up and disappeared? By the way, Tyvinda, you’re a pain in the a**.”
“You’re both being a pain in my a** by getting distracted by every little thing! I wasn’t able to help him beforehand because I have my own life troubles and then I was in a f_cking coma trying to recover from the aggressively defensive seal in his head giving me an overpowered backlash when I tried to get past it. It’s the same thing that happened to Leviticus when he tried to get inside his head just with the perks of physical lacerations meant to deter my prying eyes from whatever the hell he’s got locked behind it. By the time I woke up, he’d already gone and left a simple note that merely said Îmi pare atât de rău. Te rog să mă ierți. Koail informed me of his sudden and bizarre disappearance a day or so afterwards where I had discovered I was unable to get a read on him with the usual minor divinations. I tried big, and caught a flicker of his consciousness before Koail mule-kicked me back into my library and severed the link connecting my library with the door of a small apartment because Eishirou had popped up nearby. It’s how I know my brothers are involved in this. Koail didn’t try to stop him much less help because of Vedinya. He doesn’t get much wiggle room when he’s been placed back on coven grounds therefore he didn’t know what had happened between us nor that he’d been talking to me about leaving the Brotherhood entirely until after the deed was done. I didn’t think Rune would be dumb enough to run off like he did, but ever the selfishly selfless moron, he was trying to keep anyone else from getting dragged into it. I suspect one Wei Fong, or Xian Kian Feng as Tasso calls him, has a hand in this troublesome tale due to the bad terms Rune and him were on last I’d heard.”
“Ah. So he left the note. Uh... The same exact note was left with Leviticus when the walls between his memories and the memories of others had collapsed and he’d somehow made it back to Sheikah grounds.”
“I’d think you’d hate someone as much as Rune hated Xian when the guy literally stabs you in the back and then kicks you off a tower overhanging a cliff. And then he had the gall to say he’d done him a favor,” Leviticus snickered making Giosué follow it with one of his own. This earned them a raised brow, but they both simultaneously responded with the same two taps of their middle finger to the right side of their head in unison. “Memory thing from five centuries ago, I believe.”
“Something like that, yeah. There’s just so much to absorb that it’s ridiculous. I can now testify on your behalf that the struggle with the memory thing was completely justifiable and oh so real.”
“Absolutely ridiculous. That seal though. Ooh. It didn’t just break the walls, but disintegrated them and then brushed off what ash remained.”
“Damn. I didn’t find this seal you two keep talking about, but I found the library scene. And that’s because he returned him to you, Serai, and he was sorry for having hurt him with such a small, trivial question. It’s why he apologized and asked for forgiveness.”
“Yeah. That thing’s a b_tch so just be glad you never found it. The library scene, however, is distorted by the seal from what I can recall though. It’s like a piece of tape over wrinkled paper. There’s tiny little bubbles created by the wrinkles there which is basically that memory, and whomever put that seal there either didn’t know his head injury wasn’t fully healed to keep that bit from being seen or they didn’t have enough time to wait for it to fully heal which is why it comes out all choppy like it does. Some head wounds automatically cause amnesia as well so they could’ve thought he already wouldn’t remember facts about that time and was just trying to be certain he wouldn’t. Unfortunately, if we try to remove the tape from the paper, or the mysterious and strange seal from the memory in this case, we’re likely only gonna damage what we do have. Unless you can figure out what kind of seal it is and are capable of safely removing it, you’re not going to find out the one answer he wants so desperately. Personally, I think it’s the dark arts from the brighter side of grey... I also think Rune knew something was going to go wrong when he asked if I could take a look because he asked about my family and what I would like him to do if something did go wrong.”
“Mm. He definitely hesitated about it, and he was way too studious when he asked you those questions. He did exactly what you asked him to do down to the letter though.”
“That’s exactly how he explained their relationship to me. And I’m sure he did. After the incident with Al Mualim back in the twelfth century, he was always trying to look at the way he’d affect the distant future and he always used those words when he felt he did something selfish that oftentimes ended up hurting someone else. It’s really quite sad since he’s always been such a kindhearted man-child, but his whole life has been nothing besides one giant crap-fest.”
One down, two and a half to go! I'm happy to finally have these guys talking again. here's hoping I can keep it going now! Also- have an Adagio:
I am a nation, I am a million faces Formed together, made for elevation I am a soldier, I won't surrender Faith is like a fire that never burns to embers (Who's gonna stand up, who's gonna fight?) The voice of the unheard (Who's gonna break these chains and lies?) Love is the answer I gotta speak it, believe it, that's how I feel inside I can't, can't sit here quiet You can take my heart, you can take my breath
Sky gave a soft chuckle and nodded. “Right. I just worry about the state they’ll be in when they return. Skaprom, the demigod who runs the trials, can be a bit finicky. And he’s been known to change the terms of the trial on a whim...” He sighed, standing up to stretch his arms over his head.
“But when they get back, she’ll be stronger for it....” he smiled, looking up at his elder sister as they shared a thought. But would their relationship survive should Skaprom decide to toy with them?
-=-=-=*=-=-=-
“You help a lot,” Rissa hummed, kissing back before hiding herself in his chest. “Would it be entirely selfish of me to want us to just... step away for a bit? I think I might need a minute to really gather myself back up,” she mumbled, hugging him close. She was worried that any help she could offer right now would be rendered useless by how out of touch she still felt. She could feel her power more clearly than before, but with it came the problem of her past life’s memories bleeding into this one’s.
“I think right now I'd just do more damage than good if I tried to help the others....”
-=-=-=*=-=-=-
After his question, Skaprom turned his head to look at Maso, gazing through him into things unseen for a quiet moment. Finally he shifted under the weight of his chains and sighed. “Undernormalcircumstancesyouwouldbehereasbothcomradeinarmsandemotionalsupport,” he breathed, a chill wind coming off him as the chains around him rattled with his shifting. “However,Ithinkadifferenttrialisinorderforyoutwo.Yourjobnowisasithasbeen,sheikah.Keeptimemovingforward.Donotalterthatwhichhasalreadyhappened.Iwillsendyouback,thatyoumayfacewhathasalreadypassedbutyoudonotremember.Krystina,youwillbeunseenbyallbutone,butabletoaffecttheworldaroundyou.Becautiousofwhatyoudohere.Maso,youwillbeunseenentirely,foryourownsafety.” He murmured softly, a sad smile on his face.
Turning back to look at Krystina, he gave her a gentle smile and shifted his tail. “Youhavegreatskills,child,rememberthat.Andhavefaithinyourownjudgment.Youwillknowwhattodowhenthetimecomes,” he hummed, deep voice reverberating in the air around them.
Krystina stared a moment, fingers twitching at her sides as she looked between Maso and Skaprom. So... they weren’t going to have to fight anything.... That was... that was good. She was incredibly out of practice anyways. But what would they be doing in Maso’s past that would require her abilities?
-=-=-=*=-=-=-
Aeryth gave a snort and sighed softly. “Of course you chose those names for them,” he hummed, settling the necklace back in with the bunch. Looking back at the book and the two that were still on the page, he gave a slight murr before nodding to Fedelta. “If that’s the case.... I know who to ask....” he frowned, getting a pained look on his face.
Standing, he brushed himself off and made himself look more presentable, becoming the Proper Son once more. “I’m sorry I’m advance.” He breathed, shoving a hand back into his bag. What he pulled out was a simple white stone carved of a naked elf woman with a sword against a moon, and - with one last worried glance up at Fedelta- he activated it, causing the moon to glow from within. A light began to shine above it, flickering briefly as he waited for the connection to complete. Finally, a Drow with loud curly hair that poofed in every direction answered, Aeryth steeling himself for her reaction.
“Aery-kins? Is that you? It’s been soooo long! I’ve missed you sweetie!!!!” She purred, her voice shrill with excitement.
“H-hi Adagio. Look, I didn’t call for a chat, I called because I had some questions to ask you about the old gods and you’re the only one I trust to be honest about this sort of thing.”
“Mmmm alright~ but you know it comes at a price~”
“As does everything. Now, I’m helping someone get some answers as to why his magically enhanced glasses keep breaking and when I checked him out in my little book- don’t give me that face I know full well how you feel about this book but I don’t give a s**t, it gives me answers where other things might not-" the blue haired elf paused, frowning back at the priestess’s scowl. “Well... to the point..... Fedelta tho-““ohhh my Felly is there~?! Why didn’t you say so~? I’ll be over in a few seconds~” “wai- Adagio! Don- ughhh” Aeryth frowned, facepalming before turning back to look at Fedelta with a sigh. “I’m... I’m so sorry....”
Sure enough, there was a short fizzle in the air before a portal popped up beside Aeryth, making the mage stiffen before dodging out of the way as a rather stocky drow woman came barreling out of the portal to latch onto Fedelta with a head-splitting squeal.
“I already regret this”
-=-=-=*=-=-=-
Truth paused, staring at him for a moment before his words and Serai’s sank in. “oh.... Oh gods...” she mumbled, a hand covering her mouth. “Uh.... yeah.... I think they’re all gonna learn real quick-like that I won’t tolerate that. They may not like me for it, but there’s only one naked wolf i ever want to see and the rest are gonna get clothes pelted at their heads....” she sighed, only to blush as she realized what she’d said, hiding her own face behind her hands as a blush went up to her shoulders.
“B-besides.... They have no reason to know you got your sight.... Y-you can just... just pass it off as me not wanting to see things and stuff, right?” she mumbled, peeking between her fingers at him. “... even if you do tell them.... I can still be the scapegoat for that....”
-=-=-=*=-=-=-
Letting out a whimper at the chatter around her, Kana hugged her legs tighter against her chest, digging her nails into her pants until little crescents of red began pooling under them. She barely registered what Tex had said to her, as she tried to disappear into her tail. All of the tension in the air and the attention on her was beginning to make her want to disappear. She was sinking further into herself when the two kids appeared, their presence bringing her back to reality.
As they spoke, she slowly seemed to relax. She wasn’t really paying attention to the rest of the conversation in the room anymore- aware enough that doing so might send her back into that stupid spiral of wanting to disappear. Instead, she turned to Sheik and hugged him tightly, burying her face in the crook of his shoulder as she took in a breath. “I know this isn’t an easy thing for you to hear... But I did come to a decision despite it being so vague and foreboding.....” she breathed, hiding her face in his skin as she spoke. “I love you, I hope I've made that clear to you. So I want to help you in any way I can. So Yes. Whatever this is about... My answer is yes.” she whispered, pulling back to hold his hand as she wiped a few tears from her eyes. Whatever those kids had done had only lasted long enough for her to get the words out... And now she was back to worrying about him and how he would react.
Adra gave a low hum and let out a breath as he listened to their description of the prospective foes. “If you’ll allow it, i’d like to handle Xian. And possibly Vedinya. One of them i want to burn, the other I plan on sending to hell for a while,” he breathed, lighting a cigarette as he leaned in the arch of the doorway. “I suggest the faerie stays here, or she will absolutely get killed. Rune’s little toy tried and failed once already, once we’re on assassin turf it’ll just be that much easier....”
“I’m coming with. I don’t care if it’ll be more dangerous than before. I want to help.” Lianna frowned from her spot on the other side of the room, still hugging her sides tight.
“Yeah. and if you get killed he’s just going to hate himself. And what about the boy here? We succeed in this and suddenly you’ve got Rune and Hades both to figure out. I doubt they’ll be willing to do anything close to polygamy, so you’ve got to get a grasp on reality girly and pick one. My personal suggestion? Take the kid. He’s gonna need you once we sever the connection, and you can grow old with him instead of leaving my friend to watch you die, even if you are fae he’d still outlive you in the long run.”
“I already knew all that. But He’s also the one who helped us both. He gave me my voice, and him his hearing.... The least i can do is give him his freedom and let everything else fall where it may.”
“Just don’t get your hopes up about anything, that’s all i’m saying.”
When you pry it from my cold, dead chest This is how we rise up Heavy as a hurricane, louder than a freight train This is how we rise up Heart is beating faster, feels like thunder Magic, static, call me a fanatic It's our world, they can never have it This is how we rise up It's our resistance, you can't resist us
Shayde gave him a smile along with a slight nod of approval before he shifted his gaze towards the others. It was there, the obvious question of what besides strength would be gained in this trial, but he was doing his utmost not to let the question of what might be lost as well to creep it’s way in. Skylar had the same thing running through his head, he was sure, but he was trying to add some positivity back towards him. The brief thought of how the pessimistic views he held and the optimistic views of the other possibly having rubbed off on each other from their time together, however, made him shift his unused mask back up and over the red tint making its presence known on his face. Of course, he left little to no room between the gentle calm and the sudden bashfulness for it to have been excessively noticeable by also adding a good flick to the arm of the fairer male, but still. Then again, Sky would likely ask what the flick was for if not about the mask which he could only think to answer with it being that hyper-aggressive defense mechanism of his that he used to keep a distance from people for such a long time. Instead, however, he just softly muttered an apology in Arabic before staring at his feet shifting nervously under him.
-=-=-=*=-=-=-
Smiling at her, Ephraim gave a slight nod at her words. “Glad to hear that. It could possibly be considered that way by others, but I’m certain everyone would prefer that you did take some time to collect yourself first. Besides, if ya don’t recall, Shayde and I went into that weird self-preservation thing in the shadows for a bit so I’m sure you’d get off much easier than we ever will even if we didn’t actually have any control over it. I mean, we literally ditched y’all for a whole mini-war in the yard just to take a nap. Even if they did get offended by it, I’d still suggest taking a bit of time out for you. You really can’t help anyone else out if you’re in need of it yourself.” With a slight wave of dismissal at how the others might react to it, the male could only offer up a chuckle at her taking care of herself. It was true though. The shadow duo had simply abandoned the group without any real explanation whereas Rissa had a legitimate excuse for stepping away from the bigger picture for a little while.
“Do you think some fresh air might help calm you a bit? You are an elemental after all so I’d think being nearer to it would at least help with any stress and tension you’re feeling. Perhaps somewhere away from people altogether? And away from the stress that’s likely enroute with whatever it is that incubus has brought with him?”
-=-=-=*=-=-=-
Ooh. Maybe he shouldn’t have asked. Being stared at by the large creature was super intimidating. When he responded what would happen under normal circumstances, a shiver ran down his spine. He could already figure out that this wasn’t going to be a normal circumstance. And there it was. A lump managed to push its way into his throat and it suddenly felt like he couldn’t breathe, his face draining of color.
“What?” Wow. That sounded super far away. Was it possible to be outside of your body when you already were outside of your body? It certainly felt that way. It’s just... That wasn’t right. He expected a fight or something like it not confronting his past. Why did he need to confront it? It was in the past. It happened, and now it was over. Done, did. He was moving forwards already. Why not take a look at an altered version of Sheik’s future if this was centered around the death of something. Or Hagen! Why did it have to be his past?
And then a couple of questions hit him making his brow furrow ever so slightly. “You said she could affect things... Is that only in this realm or will it have happened then too? And is the change in this trial because she brought a half-Sheikah here?”
-=-=-=*=-=-=-
Okay. That was worrisome. They were now consulting each other outside of his hearing now making him not only blind to where they were save for their colors, but also deaf to what may be concerning. “You’re totally not starting to freak me out right now,” he muttered to himself.
Fedelta could only tip his head slightly in thought as to both who precisely Aerith knew that might be able to help with his thoughts on the subject that he’d apologize for. He’d certainly pissed off a bunch of archmages when he’d lived in the Underdark, and nearly all of the high priestesses and what matron mothers that were down there automatically thought that his only use was as a weapon against each other or fodder for slaughtering other houses. And then it clicked just as the voice spoke up, his hands flailing about frantically in a gesture for the other to avoid even mentioning him. Unfortunately, the other failed to understand it and did so anyways. As soon as she popped up, he’d automatically snapped straight to attention with a rather serious expression just for her to clamp down on him.
Instead of telling the bluenette that he hoped he felt regret so deep down it felt like he’d been forced to eat Fedelta’s sword, he just silently threatened him with his fist. Taking a breath, he turned his fist palm up towards Adagio though his gaze had automatically shifted away from her so as to avoid any disrespect. “My lady, High Priestess Adagio, I’m afraid I cannot honor your presence as I should with you holding me so close.”
“Wow. They all really do talk like it’s a privilege to be within a woman’s presence. It’s super creepy hearing someone besides Elrick talk to Mizriina like that,” Clive whistled as if impressed.
“Hush, surface dweller! I’m afraid, my lady, we are having some trouble I believe your vast intellect may be able to assist us with,” the half-breed continued with a slight twitch of his brow, his tone sharp when he told the boy to hush up. Stupid idiots around him. One tells a high priestess - not to mention this one in particular - he’s present, and the other mentions the high priestess of another house having someone on the surface. Dropping his voice several octaves so only she could hear him, he added, “It may be something involving her majesty, the Spider Queen, Lolth, or another of the deities in the Underdark, my lady.”
-=-=-=*=-=-=-
“That’s not really what he’s-“ Giosué started to respond before Serai cut in.
“He’s going to see the faces of the rabbits he grew up with, honey. It’s more of him getting the ability to create a mental image of what they did to create him rather than just the nudity.”
“Thanks, ma. Traumatize my daughter too. And you, Princess, need to slow down a bit. If I might suggest, you could possibly just try to avoid looking at them in general. Like Truth said, they don’t have to know you’ve got functioning eyesight for the moment, and they’d just shrug it off since you couldn’t see them beforehand anyways,” Trevor sighed lightly before offering up a smile. At hearing Kana’s answer, however, his gaze shifted between Sheik and Tex ever so briefly.
“You don’t understand. Kortan’s got a seventh sense about these things that practically picks up on it from a mile away. He probably already knows something’s different, and once he figures it out, he’ll intentionally be a d_ck and pick at it. He’s the brother that let me walk into bear traps for shits-n-giggles,” Lucian sighed heavily after lowering his hands back down. As if just registering Truth’s words, he cocked an eyebrow and turned his gaze towards her. Twiddling his thumbs in his lap, he gave her a shy smile. “I’m glad you’re the first person I’ve seen, and you’d be the only one I’d prefer to see too.”
“Ooh. That definitely had to be painful. Seriously, you two, y’all need to slow down a bit. Ya don’t gotta be a tortoise about it, but don’t be as fast as a hare either.”
Wrapping his arms around her when she hugged him, Sheik’s brow slightly furrowed as he bit down on his bottom lip. She’d already decided and the way she’d said it told him her answer first. He wasn’t going to go backwards and react the way he had the first time. He wasn’t a child anymore. As she finally said it aloud he merely nodded, and when she pulled back to hold his hand, he gripped it gently yet firmly then somewhat forced a smile.
“I know you do, and I love you too. You gave me the answer I believed you would also. I’m trying my best not to backtrack into my first reaction to it, and I do believe your love and support to be quite helpful in that department. I’m not sure how I should feel about those two kids’ message though. I mean, it kinda sounded ominous and yet somewhat comforting.” And with that he gave a brief chuckle. His brother, uncle and mother all exchanged a glance whereas Leviticus just glanced at each individual person in the room as if gauging their reactions for how he should feel about it. Or maybe it was translating what he did feel just wasn’t too well in showing it. He knew what the result would be, and he understood that Sheik was his son, but something just didn’t quite leave any specific feeling for him to settle as his own. He could only assume it was that he never really connected to him as he had Trevor and Sheila. Of course his brother glanced at him as if sending his thoughts making him shift his gaze towards the wall across the room instead.
Tex gave a soft sigh before crossing his arms over his chest. “If Xian does happen to be there, feel free to do as you please. Vedinya’s an iffy one seeing as Koail will likely defend her if he too is there. If you can get to her without hurting Koail, you may do so. I’d also insist, depressingly so, that you take Rune with you as well, Adra. If he so much as stays here, he’s more likely to end up back in their hands than not. I’ll be certain to attach a door to my library to a door in Hell in order to check in on him often too. As for you, girl, permission denied. Shocking as this may sound, Adra is entirely correct on his assessment of the situation, and I refuse to bring you along. Take our advice to heart as I’ll only say it once more: Back off from the giant man-child, little girl, and stick to the timid boy. It’d be kinder for you to let him forget about you than to make him remember you and then break his heart by dying later on. He’s suffered enough for those around him. That said, the group I have in mind for such an excursion will still be rather small,” he responded before finally standing up and feigning to brush himself off. Leaning his weight to one hip, he briefly raised a finger toward Iris. “I’m not gonna force your hand in joining this, Iris, but your involvement won’t really affect anything seeing as he’s not part of the time stream. If you feel you can and would like to do so, you may. I can make do with or without you, but I figured I’d still put the offer out there seeing as he’s helped you in his adventure filled with side quests whether he knows it or not. Just do try to mind your surroundings. The others I’ve chosen aside from Adra and myself that we’ll have the best chances of success with are Leviticus, Heine, Cirdan, Lurtz, Elrick, Clive, Kansei, Aerith, and quite possibly, Skylar. Leviticus was, obviously, not a part of the initial equation due to his memories being jumbled, and I might’ve opted for Giosué’s aid, but seeing as he’s collected himself, I figure he’d enjoy getting back into the flow of things. And though the last three aren’t necessarily prepared for such a fight themselves, I do believe they hold merit and will actually be productively useful. I’ll likely leave Elrick or Cirdan close enough to them in order to defend them from anything they can’t defend against that gets too close. The only problem is I’ll have to give Elrick back his swords.”
“What’s wrong with him wielding a blade or two,” Serai questioned making Tex sigh heavily. “Don’t sound so put out about it. And you’ve glanced out towards the little demon boy several times now making me wonder what that’s about.”
“It’s not that I’m put out about it. It’s more of something he doesn’t like to talk about or letting people know about him. He already has a pretty iffy reputation in his medical career as is,” the incubus answered before shifting his gaze towards the wall and clicking his jaw a few times. “Elrick... makes Lianna’s drow blood seem like a mischievous house cat that makes eye contact with you just before it swats a glass off of the countertop just so it can shatter into a million pieces when he wields a blade larger than a scalpel, and that’s saying something considering he’s just a male version of her. The difference between the two is that as a female, she’s simply classified as a high priestess like any other female not ruling an entire house of children and minions whereas he’s the direct descendant of a long-term matron mother - the head of a dark elf household if that wasn’t very clear - conditioned via... ritualistic experimentation of crossing a warrior, a high priestess and an archmage given a high tiered blessing from the Spider Queen herself. In stupid, it translates into; Elrick was chosen to be the Right Hand of Lolth, the Spider Queen, which is why he’s higher on the hierarchy than any male has ever been amidst their kind. I’ve personally had to restrain him with some pretty powerful magic in order to retrieve his swords and get his bloodlust to settle back down after a long and arduous sword fight between him and Cirdan. To the knowledge of the dark elves, he’s the rumored half-breed assassin of the First House of Menzobaenre, House Hu’nett, and the youngest son of Mizriina Hu’nett. It’s also why he’s so skilled at being a doctor.”
“Archmage and a high priestess? Then he should know, in drow terms mind you, why the boy’s glasses aren’t working.”
“He does, but I’ve forced him into silence via fae sworn oath ie his true name. The magic required for long-term effect on his glasses will only damage what he does have. It’s why I’m just going to state this bit of advice once: Aerith, don’t any of you dare say a word. You tell Clive anything about it and you will be dismembered then handed to Lolth on a silver platter upon which will be a note to read, Thinking of you. As fey, you can’t lie, but you can avoid the answer. Stall until the fireworks, sweets, and I’ll take care of the rest.”
“You’re chop full of threats aren’t you?”
“I don’t make threats. I give factual statements. These are things I will do, and I don’t have to justify the means to any of you. At least I’m nice enough to make you aware of my intent to do you harm if you cross me.”
“Rune would laugh it off. Ooh. The heck was that?” Tasso gave off a low chuckle at the response making the incubus nod as if agreeing to what he said. At the sudden cracking of the floor under Hayden, the shadow user made a slight jump whereas Tex narrowed his eyes at it.
“I believe Rune - the gentle, giant dumbass that he is - is attempting to make a break for it. It’s just a hypothesis, of course, but still. Either way, that would be my elder brother Ashurao’s doing. It would appear that he’s found out about the link between them so he’s trying to force my hand and reveal myself to him. He enforces the bleeding effect tenfold when he starts getting impatient so what you’re seeing here was a glimpse of Rune’s current physical condition there. The debate’s over now, kiddies. Let the big kids handle this one. Twinkle Toes, try to keep him settled down should he wake up whilst we’re dealing with the opposite end of this issue. Skylar, into the yard now please. You’re being called into action. Levi, if you could summon the others not here, it would be much appreciated. Adra, as irritating and - no offense to you - disgusting as it is for me, I need you in my personal space and I’ll briefly have to intrude upon yours. I am the son of a succubus after all, and I can siphon off the energy to locate Rune faster if I dive in deep to the demonic blood running through my veins. If we don’t do it now, the kid’s gonna crash like he did before the little backyard temper tantrum all over again. Ugh. I’m terrible at being an incubus if just the thought of kissing someone makes my stomach churn in the bad sort of way. I will apologize in advance if he gets all hands-y, and do understand that I take no joy in this whatsoever save for releasing a dear friend of mine from an eternity worse than Hell.” Turning on his heel, the incubus started back off into the yard with Leviticus following behind him. “You’re not coming, shadow brat, for the simple fact that Skylar is your Achilles heel. You’re not coming either, Mr. Kim. He sent you away with such fatal injuries to protect you, but here you are interfering with what he was protecting you from. At least stick around here long enough to make sure the Nightengale pack and the Sareila Clan don’t start a full on war in the yard against each other because he used the boy to protect the puppy’s elder sister from what you stumbled upon all those years ago.”
“He took my sister Mileina out? Why am I only just hearing of this now? My dad’s been pissed about that since we found her and has sworn to take the head of the one who did it.”
“It’s apparently something he took me out for too, Lulu. You know what it is he swiped from my head when he nearly killed me, don’t you?”
“But of course. I taught him how to do it too. Like I said, he has been a busy, busy bee with a never-ending supply of side quests. That was a fast summoning, Levi. Impressive as always. Clive, I’m going to need you over here. We’re hunting for a legend and you’re a master at ranged warfare for a boy that’s just put a toe in the whole joyride that is puberty. Aerith, I’m calling on you too. Fedelta can handle the high priestess there until I bring you back. Hei, as a natural predator, it’s about time to show a wannabe predator how it’s done.”
“It’s not that difficult for even an amateur stage magician. Recreating the barriers and reorganizing all of the memories in my head was a heck of lot harder than snatching multiple people from various locations to this one. He’s got all the pieces he required to locate him, gentlemen. It’s just seeing it through to the end.” Leviticus merely offered up a half-shrug before seemingly answering the unspoken question from the samurai and male fey. The third male that’d been summoned merely earned a gentle pat on top of the head by a gloved hand due to his lack of presence save for a flicker of something dark every once in a while. “And he’s still so quiet. Tex, is it still asleep?”
“Mm. It stirs every now and then, restless as ever, but it’s not excessively long and we’ve been able to settle it back down for the time being. He just hasn’t been given enough of the proper stimulus for it to awaken in my personal opinion, and part of me is glad about it. The other part just feels sorrow for him seeing as he’s been stuck in the role of a murder marionette toy soldier for a long time making him leave the imposing gloom of a black hole in your surroundings. For example, his appearance just chased off all of the wildlife that had been nearby. It did get out briefly when he was sixteen though and he spent quite a bit of time locked up in a cage in his parents’ cellar recovering from a sh_t ton of holy magic constantly being forced down his throat, metaphorically speaking. That’s not including the iron and silver spikes crossing over each other they’d used to pin him down throughout all of it.”
“Poor baby. Anything goes wrong, Vallyne, and we’ll be sure to get you out too. No one gets left behind.” It was obvious to those that knew him that something about what the other had said surprised him by the slight twitch of his hand, but he otherwise just gave a slight nod of the head in understanding.
“Uh yeah... Only his parents and Sierra call him that nowadays. Most everyone else just calls him Lurtz seeing as he does that twitch of the hand any time you use his real name as if he relates it to something bad kinda like a dog flinches away from a hand when it’s been abused so often. It’s really quite sad. Anyways, I will ask you to try not pushing your luck and end up backpedaling. Tic toc, people, we’re on the clock.”
