#(and shrunk down the trident… for some reason)

[markerofthemidnight]

Heart, Mind and Soul but what if little bug men

(okay but why did I make wasp!soul kinda fruity tho?)

[its-queenofthesilence]

I Cannot Live Without My Soul! Part 2 of ?

Notes:

I may already be *checks notes* on chapter 5 of this thing.

Chapter 2: Two Lovers Turned to Friends

It’s euphoric really, watching them on the mp4. cameras, scattered to every corner of the Principal’s Office. They were like cornered rats, trying to save themselves from the cat but they didn’t even realize just how trapped they really were. Here, in the War Room the entire Principal’s Office and system was at his fingertips. He could control every aspect of the building, shutting down every door and vent to the outside. They were stuck.

This place would be their final resting place. They would die and it would be at his hands. But first, who to choose as his first victim? He had so many choices for playmates. The Guardian of course, his Arch-Rival since he first arrived in Mainframe. The uptight and honestly, boring Ms. Matrix who he enjoyed torturing, the Boy (or rather Boys, he still wasn’t sure what to do with the copy…) who thought himself better than Megabyte, as if he wasn’t just as much of a monster as the Virus. Oh the hypocrisy. And of course Mouse, who dared to not only betray him but he found out after returning to Mainframe, to be the one to send him to the web. And finally….

He would be honest, he knows little about her, and he can barely remember her name. AndrAIa or , at least he thinks it is. He honestly didn’t care enough to remember. He had no real quarry with her, aside from her choice of friends. But he knew how much the Boy loved her, and killing her first would bring him immense satisfaction in seeing the pain on the Boy's face when he confessed to her murder. Ah love, what an inferior notion he thought, eyes narrowing on his target. There were many reasons why viruses were superior to sprites, and this was one of them. Only fools believed in such fairytales. Besides, she had aided the Boy during their last fight, throwing her trident to him just as Megabyte had been about to delete him. That made him hate her just as much as the rest of them.

“Let me go! You’re going to be sorry, once Bob and Big Bro’ get here!”

Ah yes, the other Boy. Turning around from the console and the vidwindows, he could only raise an eyebrow as he watched the smaller, copy of Enzo Matrix struggle in the grasp of his father, desperate to get free. Some how, the adult version still managed to annoy him more than this one did. Perhaps because the copy had the excuse of still being a child with how he acted versus the adult male who acted like a pouty teenager even at 2.8.

“I highly doubt that, Boy. I have the entire Principal’s Office locked down and at my mercy. Your friends and that pathetic whore you call a sister are going to die. You might want to behave, otherwise you will be joining them.” he said, face inches away from the squirming preteen. Enzo shrunk in fear, going silent as Megabyte ran a clawed finger down his cheek, leaving a welt in its place.

“You will never get away with this virus. I know my Dot and she will come up with a way to defeat you.” 

Megabyte could only sigh, while he may control the suit that encased Welman Matrix, the squiggling null inside the suit was very much still of his own free will and mind, much to the thanks of his dear departed sister. Like his son, the bot had a mouth.

“Do you really believe that, Nibbles? You and I both know she has no chance. If it makes you feel better, I’ll leave her for last so you can watch me kill her in front of your very eyes. But I digress, I have a hunt to begin and I know just who to start with.”

Look right,

Turn,

Look Left,

Turn,

Look Straight

Repeat.

To AndrAIa, it was like a dance, her fingers tightly gripping her trident as if it were her only lifeline as she constantly scanned the three corridors, making sure Megabyte wasn't sneaking up on them while Mouse attempted to hack into the security system without success. It was a chaotic situation; just this morning she had been a bridesmaid in a wedding, and now she was being hunted like prey.

“Argh!” With an exasperated grunt, Mouse slammed her fist against the screen in frustration, causing AndrAIa to flinch at the loud noise. The perks of heightened hearing.

“Anything?” she called over her shoulder, eyes darting back and forth between corridors. 

“Sugah, the bastard has every inch of this place locked down. I can’t get a door open, let alone open a vid-window in this place.” the hacker retorted, as she tried once again to break through the security. AndrAIa sighed with frustration, lowering her trident for a moment to peer over her friends’ shoulder.

“What about the backdoor you put in place? Can’t you use the override codes to get in? Little Sparky and Phong are still in there, we need to save them.”

"Ah wish it were that easy, sugah, but this virus is one step ahead of us. He's changed all the codes, and disabled the emergency controls as well." Mouse shook her head in frustration.

AndrAIa felt her heart sink at those words. If Megabyte had already thought to change the codes, what chance did they have of reaching the others trapped inside? She gripped her trident tighter, her knuckles turning white.

"Then we have to find another way. Maybe there's an air vent or a service hatch we can use to sneak in. We can't just abandon them to Megabyte's mercy," she said, determination steeling her voice. She couldn't bear the thought of Enzo and Phong being at the mercy of that vile virus.

Mouse shook her head grimly. "I've scanned the livefeed schematics. Every entrance and exit is sealed up tighter than a drum. That slime-ball has this whole place on lockdown. We're trapped out here, sugar, and they're trapped in there with him."

"I'm afraid my dear, the hacker is correct." A deep, sinister voice echoed from behind them. AndrAIa whirled around, her trident raised defensively, to see Megabyte standing there, his glowing red pupils piercing into her. 

"Megabyte," she growled, her grip tightening on her weapon. "Let them go, this is between you and us."

The virus let out a chilling laugh. "Ah the Fish. I’m afraid not. This is no longer just about you and your little band of friends, you see. This is about the complete and utter destruction of Mainframe." He took a step forward, his clawed hand reaching out towards her. "And you, my dear, have been chosen to be first pawn I will eliminate. Congratulations, no no. I’m afraid we don’t have time for speeches."

AndrAIa bit her tongue as she ignored the facetious comment, body tense as Megabyte lunged towards her, his claws outstretched. Without hesitation, she swung her trident up to meet his attack, the metal prongs clanging against his razor-sharp talons. The virus gave a growl as they faced off.

‘Oh, Ah don't think so Sugah” Mouse yelled, pulling out her katana and wasting no time jumping into the fray to protect her friend. The virus snarled as the hacker rushed him, swiping at him with her katana. He side stepped as the hacker swung with precision he was all too familiar with, his tendrils still aching from where she cut them mere microminutes ago.

Megabyte snarled as he parried Mouse's attacks, his claws clashing against the hacker's katana. AndrAIa took the opportunity to lunge forward, her trident aimed at the virus's midsection, eyeing the scar that had been left there by her lover. But Megabyte was too quick - with a swift motion, he grabbed the trident's shaft and twisted it, throwing AndrAIa off balance.

"Nice try, my dear," he hissed, taking note of where she was attempting to hit, "but I'm afraid your little games won't work on me."

With a powerful shove, using her own trident against her, he sent AndrAIa stumbling backwards, her trident wrenched from her grasp. With a laugh he crushed it in his hands, throwing it to the side before jumping out of the way as Mouse pressed her attack, her blade a blur as she rained blows down on Megabyte. But the virus was nimble, dodging and parrying each strike with ease. He let out a mocking laugh as he toyed with the hacker.

AndrAIa hit the ground hard, the wind knocked out of her and dazed from being hit. Perfect. Right where he wanted her. With a laugh and a quick motion, he sidestepped the hacker lunging at him once more and with a quick punch, pommeled her in the stomach, sending her flying to the floor in agony.

It was a shame the Boy wasn’t around, he was going to enjoy this. As AndrAIa began to pull herself up from the floor of the Principal’s Office, that’s when he pounced, slamming her back into the ground as he pressed the full weight of his body against her, her hands pinned beneath one hand as he had his other raised, intent on driving his claws through her chest.

“And that’s when it happened, or so I’ve been told. I didn’t actually see it myself.”

Deep within her mind, a forgotten code lay dormant, waiting for this precise moment to awaken. And when that moment came, it spread through AndrAIa's body like a wildfire, igniting every inch of her data with a pulsating blue glow. The light pulsed in time with her heartbeat, filling her with a surge of power and energy. But just as quickly as it appeared, the pulsing turned into a solid radiance, radiating from every fiber of her being. A part of the light broke off, forming into a ball that traveled through her form until it reached the tips of her fingers, and exited out into the body of a bewildered Megabyte, who still held her pinned to the ground.

As Mouse pulled herself up, clutching her stomach, she couldn't help but stare in confusion as she watched the pair. What in the Net was happening? The virus seemed to recoil and pull back, trying to stop whatever was happening. But it was too late, the energy from the light surged into him, swirling through his veins until...like a beacon in the dark, he began to glow in unison with AndrAIa, their bodies pulsating in tandem.

Megabyte's snarl turned into a growl as he felt the intrusion of foreign code entering his body, slowly changing something within him. His mind raced with fear and uncertainty- What was she doing? What was this burning feeling in his chest? Why did he feel so happy?

The sudden burst of light that had engulfed them vanished just as quickly as it appeared, leaving no trace behind. In the aftermath, the room was now shrouded in a deafening silence, as Virus and Gamesprite stared at each other. AndrAIa on the floor, her eyes filled with fear and horror and Megabyte above her, hand outreached towards her with a look of… Mouse didn’t know. The look could only be equated to a sort of softness but that wasn’t right. Nothing about Megabyte screamed “soft.”

And yet, how else would Mouse describe that look? 

The Virus stared down at AndrAIa, the softness giving way to confusion and uncertainty. What just happened? The burning rage he felt towards her and the want to crush her beneath his hands had melted away, leaving behind a feeling of elation and content as she looked up at him with those big eyes of hers.

This wasn’t right. This feeling wasn’t right. 

He didn't understand it. As a virus, Megabyte had never experienced anything akin to this strange new sensation. He felt emotions of course; he wasn’t immune. He knew hatred, desire, greed, jealousy, amusement and elation (when he found a vintage wine or a particularly good book of course, nothing like this). This however was indiscernible and unparalleled to anything he had ever felt.. Looking at her made him feel like he was infecting a thousand binomes at once, giving a feeling of satisfaction and want he had never known he needed. It was….good. He wanted more, and that scared him.

A sob caught his attention, bringing him back from his thoughts. Tears were beginning to fall down her cheek. A new feeling filled him, even more despicable than the last. It was a feeling of regret mixed with the need to stop her crying. Watching her cry made his stomach twist and turn in ways he never knew possible. Was it his fault she was crying? He liked seeing suffering and pain, so why did this hurt?

Instinctually, he started to reach down, the need to cup her cheek and brush tears away overwhelming, but found himself doubling over as the hacker pommeled him in the stomach with the back of her katana, aggravating his old wound and causing him to pull away out of reflex. Mouse wasted no time and grabbed AndrAIa’s hand and pulled her up and away, deeper into the heart of the Principal’s Office away from Megabyte. 

The Virus watched them go, choosing or perhaps unable to follow after them. Though the hacker did not look back, she did, eyes wide with unshed tears and something he couldn’t place (longing?). He was left there stunned and rooted to the spot for what felt like an eternity until his brain caught up with the rest of him.

“What the FAQ just happened?”

Next | Previous | Beginning

[sanktnikolais]

Here Without You

A/N: I’m back for a moment to drop this sort of angst piece of god and goddesses au sort of. In which they are a bit like Poseidon and Athena but not really, I just needed the rivalry bc I’m trash <3 (it doesn’t make sense I know) 

Big thanks to @wafflesandkruge for giving me the idea. And for also going through and editing this long mess of words KJHASLFDJ ;-; 

Basically light/vague plot, only monologues and longing.

Summary: Cursed to live on earth as humans, Zoya has been finding Nikolai in every life he gets reincarnated. But every time they meet, it is always the same: he doesn't know her. He has no memory of her or anything about their past immortal life. And in every lifetime, she is slowly losing hope. For how long could she hold onto the thought of him remembering her again? Is her love enough?

Word count: 9629

How long does it take to fall out of love with someone who can't remember you? 

          If there was anything that Zoya learned after being stuck in a human body for so long was that nothing was ever permanent. All of it, whether it was a physical thing or an intangible emotion, disappeared in time. Such a harsh truth, she knew, but it was the truth. 

          For a long time, she had waited for it to disappear, or just fade if only for a bit. 

          But for over a millennium, her love for him remained. 

          Maybe that was what had driven her to stay away instead of finding him this time.  Because no matter how many times they met, or how many times their paths crossed, or how many lifetimes passed, the result would always be the same. 

          He would never remember her again. 

          It was only reasonable for her to stop hoping for the impossible to happen. 

---

Athens had been slightly cold that time of the year, even with the sun high up, which was a change since she last visited. 

          Zoya looked around. There were quite a number of tourists visiting today, bustling around the site and taking photos of the scenery. She almost chuckled at the silliness of it. If today had been some other time before, the sight would've been better when the temple was still intact. But looking up at it now, in its ruined state, only brought haunting memories of their last stand against their common enemy before everything fell apart around them. 

          Minnie? His voice echoed in her mind, along with the image of the worry and terror in his eyes as he knelt on the floor, trying to reach for her. What's wrong? 

          She shook her head, harshly shoving the memory away. But the sight of him vanishing after was already branded into her mind as if to remind her of her failure. 

          The coldness of the small piece of metal in her hand was enough to bring her back, and Zoya pressed it harder against her palm until it hurt. Better this pain than the one in the past.

          With a shaky breath, she made her way through the rubble of what once had been a divine place made by the people for the god of the seas. She remembered how much he appreciated the place, how much he took care of it during the old days they were still all in peace. 

          He grinned, the one that reached his eyes and made them bright. His arms were spread wide. “She’s a beauty, isn’t she?” he said, gesturing to his newly built temple. 

          She merely raised an eyebrow at him. “Mine is definitely better,” she countered with a sneer. “And besides, yours wouldn’t even be there if I hadn’t allowed it.” 

          “Guess I owe you my reputation, then?”

          “Obviously, so stop being a show off.”

          Then he winked, and she didn’t like the way it made her heart skip a beat. “Only for you, dear.”

          The memory faded. 

          It was then she realized that he never got to see what she had done to his temple. If he saw it now, what would he feel? 

          Nothing, her cruel mind said. He doesn't remember anymore. 

          "Am I really waiting for nothing?" she said bitterly, not minding the weird stares she got from a nearby group. 

          Zoya reached the entrance of the front hall. It faced the seas, a view which he had never grown tired of. And seeing it from here, she figured that she could never really blame him. 

          The cliff from where the temple was built gave a wide view of the sea, stretching as far as it could until the other end that could be seen was only the horizon. Its glow of a mix of green and blue blended well with the afternoon sky, and it gave her a sense of serenity. Even if for a bit. 

          The seas can help us find peace, dear, his voice echoed in her mind again, unwanted and welcome at the same time. I'm sure you would appreciate it more in time. 

          Don’t call me dear, she had said, but it didn’t have the poison and sharpness from when they were still rivals.

          Zoya felt a sad smile twitch on her lips. She did appreciate it, loved it even. An eternity with him before surely contributed to the love she had for the seas now. 

          But an eternity without him only made looking at them feel bittersweet. It was as if she could see him nearby, but could never reach for him nor be with him. 

          It was never fair.

          She shook the melancholic thoughts away. She hadn't come here to lament over the things that could never be again. 

          Zoya opened her palm to eye the small object. It was a trident keychain she had bought from one of the souvenir stores near the site's entrance, its gold color immediately catching her eye as she had passed by. 

          It had become a tradition for her to leave various things by his temple whenever she visited. Whether it was of the strangest things like a water lily from a nearby pond or something like this, she always left things that reminded her of him.

          It was only fair to remember him even if he didn't remember her. 

          "An offering to the most infuriating deity I knew," Zoya whispered, her voice breaking slightly despite the softness of her tone. Her eyes suddenly burned. She blinked rapidly, feeling a tear fall on her cheek. She reached up to wipe it away. Why now? She laughed bitterly. "I am still crying over you even after a millennium while you live and pass by without any memory of me."

          She looked down to her right, where a boulder was perched on a pillar by the entrance, gently placing the trident on the surface. If only it was as easy to leave your feelings behind just as she left things in his temple.

          "Sad and fascinating, isn't it?" 

          Zoya jolted in surprise, her hand knocking over the small trident before she could let it go completely. That voice—

          But it couldn't be. It shouldn't be. 

          The voice continued on. "To have such a vast structure built only for it to be destroyed later," it said, "it really is tragic." 

          It was coming from behind her. Her breath caught in her throat, and her heart was beating erratically in her chest. 

          It could be anyone else, her mind berated. Stop doing this to yourself. 

          But hearing his voice lifetime after lifetime, she would know it from anywhere. 

          It was him. 

          Zoya released a shuddering breath, finally turning around to face him. She had seen him be reincarnated far too many times for the past  two thousand years, had steeled herself from trying to run to him every time they met again. She had become better at making herself not care as the years passed. 

          What she could never get used to was the excruciating pain in her chest whenever she saw the person she had been longing to remember her appear in her path once more. 

          He still looked the same in every life, with his blond hair and hazel eyes, and that all-too-bright grin that she adored for thousands of years]. If she were to take a glance at him, it was as if nothing had changed. 

          But the lack of recognition and warmth in his eyes told a different story. 

          Were the Fates just that cruel to make their paths cross again and yet never last? 

          Her eyes stung again. 

          "I'm—" A look of worry bloomed on his face, and he held his hands up in apology. He winced. "I'm so sorry, I thought you could use some small talk. You look a bit sad earlier."

          Zoya wanted to laugh. He still talked too much in every timeline he got reborn in. "It's—it's fine." She waved a dismissive hand, wiping at her eyes for a moment. "Just had something in my eyes."

          If he wanted to say he wasn't convinced, he didn't bother to. He grinned and looked back up to the temple instead. "I'm really curious about this, though," he said as he approached the pillar to her left. 

          She drew in a sharp breath, wanting to step away and put as much distance as possible between them. But she stood her ground. She wasn't going to shy away from only that reason. 

          He touched the surface of the pillar and then pounded a fist on it twice. "The material looks sturdy enough to withstand a lot of calamities. But the damage looks far more than just that," he said, his eyebrows furrowing. Then he turned to her, hazel eyes curious. She found herself staring right back at them. "What do you think happened here?" 

          She raised an eyebrow at him. "If you're curious about it, why didn't you get one of the tour guides for your questions?" 

          Almost immediately, he grimaced, scratching the spot behind his ear. "I left my wallet back in the hotel I was at," he said, voice lowering with every word. "I only have enough spare cash for a bus ride back." 

          Zoya looked at him incredulously, and he obviously shrunk back slightly, the embarrassment still evident on his face. Still the idiot he is. 

          He sighed. "Well, at least I'd still be able to go back in a bus. I mean imagine walking back to your hotel in this kind of weather," he said, gesturing at the sky. "The sun god isn't merciful today." 

          She stared at him for another moment, and then she did one thing she hadn't done for a while. 

          She laughed. A genuine, loud one that surprised him, and even herself. Another moment passed, and then he was softly laughing along with her as well. If there were some things that remained unchanged, it was his blabbering mouth and idiocy in every life. It felt as if he was really here with her. 

          "Trust me, the sun god is more merciful than you think," Zoya said. If only Tolya can hear you now. "Give him a bit more credit." 

          "If he calms the blaze down for even a bit, then maybe." He shook his head with a chuckle. Then he patted the pillar. "I hope the god of the seas doesn't mind hearing me badmouthing his fellow deity."

          Whatever happiness she felt was short-lived and instantly faded at that, her heart clenching. She forced a smile on her face. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind." 

          "You sound like you know a lot about the gods." 

          I know a lot more. "I know my mythology."

          He raised a brow, an amused grin playing on his lips. "So does the mythology expert have a name?" 

          Zoya froze, and her thoughts stopped altogether. She had gone through this for as long as she could remember, and yet she still found herself stuttering every time. 

          "Minerva," she said before she could even think of it. Her mind panicked. It was her godly name. They had chosen their current names when they first answered to the humans a long time ago, and when they were damned to the mortal world, it had been the names they’d lived by ever since. 

          All the times she had met him, she gave a different one, while he said the same over and over. She didn't know why she told him her real name all of a sudden. 

          "A lovely name," he said, extending a hand out. "Nikolai." 

          She only hesitated for a moment before taking his hand. His skin was warm against hers, and she felt their connection throughout eons in that one touch. His eyebrows knitted together the moment their hands clasped together, but it was gone as soon as she blinked. She didn't know if she had just imagined it. 

          "Nice to meet you," she said. The words already felt hollow after repeating it for over a millennium. 

          Nikolai grinned. "Likewise." He let go of her hand before gazing up to the temple again. "So, I'm guessing it was destroyed from within. An explosion, perhaps? A divine explosion, if I may add. It's only plausible to think of that reason if we were to consider the mythology." He shrugged, looking totally satisfied with himself. "Correct me if I'm wrong, though, o' wise one."

          She didn't answer for a while. The question he asked was bringing back far too many buried memories of the dark era. Genya's unwanted deception. Harshaw's downfall. Alina’s sacrifice. 

          Nikolai’s doom. 

          It came back rushing to Zoya, and it took all she could to not break down. She clenched her hands to fists, willing the memories away. It wasn't the time to let them take over. Not that there ever was a right time.

          "Minerva?" 

          She broke out of her thoughts, turning back to Nikolai warily. There was a worried crease in his eyebrows as he looked at her. 

          "Are you alright?" he asked, concern evident in his tone. 

          "Yes, of course. I'm just trying to remember something," she replied. 

          "Ah, is the wise one starting to forget her mythology?" 

          Zoya tried to ignore the way the nickname prick at her heart. It was hitting too close to home. "I tend to forget things too, you dolt. Be glad I'm willing to answer your questions instead of leaving you hanging with your curiosity." 

          To both her surprise and expectation, Nikolai only laughed. He had never minded her sharp tongue and rough edges. Not even once. "Then do scold me for my wrong assumptions," he said.

          She huffed, but looked back up to the monument. "No need to ask for the worst," she said. "But you're actually quite right about that. It was destroyed from within, and not by a natural calamity." 

          "I knew it," he said triumphantly, his grin lightning up his face. "Though I'm quite surprised the sea god was allowed to be given a shrine in Athens. If my memory is right, didn't the goddess of Wisdom win that war?" He frowned. "I'm sensing there’s more than what was said in the books." 

          More than you'll remember from all your past lives, my love. Zoya recovered with a scoff. "The modern books are shit. Anything printed in them barely holds the truth." She wrinkled her nose. "I've been in far too many old libraries to know." 

          Nikolai raised an eyebrow. "Would you care to elaborate on the real history, then?" he said, eyes holding only genuine curiosity and no mocking. "I'm all ears." 

          "You're not going to let this go easily, aren't you?" 

          "Not after you intrigued me with your confidence about its truth." He paused, his expression suddenly turning somber as he looked around the ruins of the old temple. "It's strange but there's something about this place that draws me in, and I just want to know what it is."

          Zoya felt her chest clench as she looked at him sideways. This happened in every life; Nikolai would be reminded or be familiar with everything, but he never remembered. And she was always left to deal with the pain alone. 

          With a quiet sigh, she braced herself from the upcoming pain of trying to reminisce a memory of them together, even more so when it was the start of their eternity together. An eternity that was ended in a blink of an eye. 

          But she figured that she would still indulge him. Even if it was the last time. 

          "They were rivals," she started. "Archenemies if you want to call it that, always had each other by their throats. It started when the sea god tried to ransack the temple of the wisdom goddess with a great flood." 

          She'd never forget the rage she felt at that time when she caught him in act, and how that rage deepened when he reasoned out that it was the sky god who had forced him to do it. His reason turned out to be true, but since the sky god was untouchable, she retaliated by stealing and burying the sea god's trident way underground for at least a decade. 

          It had rained non-stop in Olympus that time, but the defeated look on his face as he lived without his prized weapon was worth it. 

          "The sea god is a huge idiot, you see, and the wisdom goddess dislikes that kind of person." Zoya wanted to laugh in the way she was narrating their history, but the thought of him not remembering any of it was disheartening. "But that's just the way he was."

          Nikolai chuckled. "Am I sensing bias?" he said, shaking his head. "Sounds like they had a pretty silly rivalry." 

          A smile twitched on her lips. "That's a nice way to put it," she replied. "One petty thing led to another, until they were both interested in becoming the patron of this city that the rivalry between them worsened. The sea god even went as far as challenging the wisdom goddess to a duel the night before they set to present themselves to the king of Athens, saying that she only got interested because he was interested.

          "It was actually half-true, and also because the wisdom goddess did not want to make things easier for him as he did with her for centuries." 

          "Please tell me they didn't go on with the duel," Nikolai said. 

          "Joke's on you. They did."

          "Damnit." Then he laughed. "Who came out the victor?"

          Zoya couldn't help but smile triumphantly. "The wisdom goddess, of course," she said. "She put him in his place that night and told him to forfeit his plans being the patron of the city." 

          "I'm sure he didn't come to present himself to the king the following day, then?" 

          "Another joke on you. You're underestimating the stubbornness of the sea god." She shook her head in disbelief, and it made Nikolai laugh a bit more. She raised an eyebrow to his way. He should really stop laughing at himself. "If there was something else constant in him other than his idiocy, it's his optimism and stubbornness. He still showed up the next day despite having lost the duel." 

          Nikolai chuckled. "Sounds a lot like me," he said. Zoya's breath hitched, but she ignored the tiny spark of hope starting to ignite again. Then with a shrug, he added, "Well, you know what they say. No guts, no glory."

          "The wisdom goddess literally almost gutted him but he still persevered, and she had to commend that, at least. She didn't bother wasting her time berating him when he showed up." She kicked away a rock near her foot. It toppled over the huge crack dividing the ground, a fissure she had created after seeing him crumble to nothing in front of her. She forced her eyes away. "Even now, I still don't know why she didn't." 

          "Out of respect, maybe?" he offered with a shrug, and Zoya considered it for a moment. Perhaps it was. "What happened after?" 

          "They were asked to offer a gift to the people that will prove useful for a long time. Of course, being as confident as he is, the sea god volunteered to go first. He struck the earth with his trident and a fountain of water came forth. But what he didn't know was that it could only produce saltwater. It was pretty much useless for the population. 

          "Then it was the wisdom goddess' turn. From there, she struck her spear on the ground and planted a branch that grew an olive tree. The king was more impressed with the wisdom goddess' gift, so he chose her to lay claim on this city." 

          Nikolai raised an eyebrow. "Ah, so that's what happened." He nodded in understanding. Then he frowned and glanced up at the temple, pointing a finger up to it. "Wait, that still doesn't explain how the sea god got his own temple in the city where his very own rival was the patron? I'm quite sure the sea god didn't accept his loss that easily." 

          "That's where you're wrong." Zoya followed his look up. "He peacefully conceded," she said. And it was the very first time you regarded and smiled at me without a hint of malice. "So she obliged his supporters' wish to build him a shrine near the sea. Thus the temple in this location."

          The smile that appeared on his lips was almost affectionate and soft, and she found herself smiling a bit sadly. "I guess despite the rivalry, they could still be forgiving with each other," Nikolai said. Then he turned to her. "What happened to them after that?" 

          "They—" Fell in love and had an eternity in front of them, she wanted to say but decided against it. She had told him enough truth. "—made a truce and agreed not to come after each other again. No other wars between them after."

          "Just like that?" 

          We've had a lot more than just that. He didn’t need to know how he became much different to her after that, his treatment around her becoming much better despite her initial hostility to his changed attitude towards her, or how he made his way to her heart without her even realizing that she'd let her walls down for him. 

          Nothing would make a difference.

          "More or less, yeah," she replied after a moment. 

          Nikolai still didn't look convinced when he turned back to her. "Not even on friendly terms?" 

          Zoya only shrugged. "There were no further things said in the old stories," she said. She didn't know why she was lying to him when he didn't even remember anything. "So we're left to our own assumptions on what possibly happened in the following years."

          A look of disappointment bloomed on his face. "I refuse to believe nothing happened else after that," he said firmly. "It's too….open. There must be something more."

          "It's quite disappointing, but it is reality. Sometimes that's just the way it is." 

          "Fair. I believe there's something more, but I guess I'll have to leave it open as well." He sighed, and then smiled ruefully. "The worst part of every story is having no ending."

          Zoya only smiled sadly as she turned away from the temple and faced the sea. Beside her, she felt Nikolai shift and do the same. The quiet stretched on, and nothing but the occasional sound of wind and the other tourists' voices could be heard. 

          It was at times like these that she appreciated the calmness that the view of the sea brought to her, and she was left to remember that what he told her about the seas was true. 

          Another wave of pain and longing washed over her, the stinging in her eyes returning. He was so, so close and yet she could never reach out to him and hold him close again. But she would be  content with having him near even without any memory of her rather than losing him forever. 

          "How about you?" His voice came after a long while, soft and soothing as the afternoon breeze. "Do you believe that there was nothing more for them than just their rivalry?" 

          Zoya didn't answer right away. It would be so easy to tell him the truth, to say that the two most opposite deities had overcome their differences and fallen in love against all odds. 

          But her exhausted heart was too afraid to open up with the truth when she knew that nothing would change if she told him. 

          "To be honest," she said, mustering up all her courage to keep her tone flat, "I don't know. Maybe there really wasn't."

          Nikolai nodded in understanding. "I suppose that's possible too," he said. "Guess we're of opposite minds, yeah?" 

          "We've always been," she whispered, and she was almost thankful for the shrill sound of his ringtone to cover up for her voice. 

          He immediately answered it, his becoming relieved. There were a few exchanges of words before he was ending the call. "My rental car is finally starting up again so I'll be able to head back to the hotel. I'm afraid I'll have to cut off our tour short," he said with obvious dismay. "Thank you very much for the knowledge and wisdom you have bestowed me today."

          Zoya was already starting to bid him goodbye, but her mind had begun pondering over his words and the ones from earlier. "I thought you said you were taking a bus back?" 

          "Oh. I, uh," Nikolai stuttered, scratching the spot behind his ear with a nervous chuckle. "I kind of made that up." Then he quickly added, "I'm so sorry about that but you looked like you needed a small talk or something, and it was the first excuse that came to my mind." He tried to smile, but it was pained enough to pass it off as a grimace instead. "Though it’s probably a good thing I hadn't hired a tour guide as I learned a lot more from you, I apologize for making an excuse up." 

          "You don't have to explain yourself, I did actually quite enjoy sharing too," she said, offering him a lopsided smile in return. "And also, thank you for being kind." 

          He grinned at that, his face lighting up. "Likewise." He tipped his head in a polite bow before extending a hand. "It is nice meeting you, Minerva." 

          Zoya tried to ignore the heaviness in her chest in the way he said her name. She put on a small smile. "Likewise, Nikolai." 

          He gave another smile before letting go of her hand and turning to leave. Only to stop after a few steps and face her again. Then he was pulling something out of his pocket. 

          "Well, a token of appreciation for your expertise on mythology," he said, handing her a small keychain. "And also for enduring my curious and talkative self."

          She opened her hand, and he placed the object to her palm. Her breath caught in her throat when she recognized it. 

          It was the miniature version of her shield. 

          "The wisdom goddess' shield," Nikolai said as he pulled his hand back. He offered her a soft smile. "It's only fitting for you to have it because you share the same level of wisdom as her." Then he gave another polite bow. "Farewell, o' wise one. Though I do hope to see you again some time."

          With a final grin, he finally turned and left. 

          Zoya stared at his retreating form until he disappeared among the crowd of tourists, feeling a lot heavier on her shoulders now that he had left. The keychain was still warm in her hand as she walked towards the cliff's edge, and away from the people that might possibly see her. 

          The weight of it all came crashing down at her. It felt surreal, a fever dream she couldn't get out of, and she was left reeling from the effect of what had just occurred. 

          Why today? Why here? 

          It was one thing to see him again. But in this place out of all the ones he could have met her? It was cruelty, a mocking from the Fates to show her that she was never free of her torment even when she already remembered, and he hadn't.

          She will never be free of it. 

          The burning in her eyes felt too much again. But this time, Zoya didn't do anything to stop the tears from falling.

---

What she hadn't expected was seeing him again later that night. 

          It wasn't new for her to stay late at the site, even after its closing time. If you were old friends with the manager of the place, you got quite a bit of special treatment. 

          You can stay for as long as you need to. The text message from Genya had been displayed on her screen for quite a while now. Just don't make yourself too sad. 

          Zoya huffed lightly. If that were easy to do, she would have done it a thousand years ago. But a lot of things were easier said than done. 

          The alcove she had been staying at was just several feet below the cliff's edge, particularly made for lounging a long time ago. But after years of neglect, what was once a finely made spot was now nothing more than a small opening carved from a trident's strike. The boulder that used to be big enough to hold two people had now crumbled to smaller rocks, and she was left to sit on the cold ground instead. 

          Nikolai had built the spot when they wanted to have a quiet time together without the prying eyes of mortals or any of their fellow deities nearby. She remembered nights when he would point out the constellations for her, and despite having all the knowledge about it, she let him talk and make up stories for each of them. Other times it would be still, neither of them talking and hands just clasped together, watching the waves on the seas surge and move to his bidding. 

          The memories hit her painfully. She longed to have those nights with him again, or even to just be with him, without having to worry about him slipping away from her. 

          But that seemed impossible now. 

          Her watch suddenly beeped, signaling that it was already one in the morning. But somehow, the sound was muffled amidst the memories in her head. She needed the calm, the quiet. A place where she could be in peace. And she knew just where that was. 

          Zoya stood up and dusted her pants off before making her way back up the cliff again. Slipping off her cardigan and shoes, she left them along with her phone and wallet by the row of rocks that served as the barrier for the edge. She made her way to the lower part of the ravine afterwards, where the drop was directly to the water on this vantage point. 

          If Genya were here, she would surely reprimand her from doing such a dangerous thing in the middle of the night. But Zoya usually did night dives during the times she visited here, as the seas brought the serenity she used to feel around him, and she was just desperate to have it again. And it wasn’t as if she could die.

          She closed her eyes and turned to the night sky, breathing in deeply as the wind picked up around her. Then, with a contented sigh, she broke into a run and jumped off the ledge. 

          The rush of air felt familiar in her ears as she plummeted to the sea, and a moment later, she was submerged under the surface. Underwater, it was quiet, the tranquility making it easier for the memories to come rushing to her mind. The coldness should have bitten at her skin the moment she sunk, but she didn’t feel anything. She closed her eyes. 

          Her mind chose to bring her back to one night on the beach, when he stopped the tides and held her close as they danced slowly under the stars. It was the very first time he had bared his real self to her, and the first time she had seen him past the confidence and the cruel persona he wore as one of the highest among the gods. 

She hadn't known how to react that time, and she found herself at loss for words. It was the moment she doubted herself. She was the goddess of wisdom who liked definitive odds and probabilities. She approached everything with caution and vigilance. And above all else, she was supposed to treat him as a rival. An enemy. An opponent of the other side. 

          But Zoya must have miscalculated, because she ended up going against everything she’d ever believed when she fell in love with him. 

          Her eyes stung, and her chest clenched. It wasn't from the lack of air. 

          Please, I'd do anything, she pleaded desperately to any other divine being that could hear her. Make him remember. Make him remember me.

          Something grabbed at her wrist, and her eyes shot open. A figure was trying to haul her up to the surface. She struggled for a moment, but whoever was pulling her had a strength of the currents and waves of the seas during a storm. 

          After a moment, they finally resurfaced. Zoya was gasping for air as they broke out of the water, immediately getting hold of the person's collar and turning them violently to her. 

          Whatever harsh things she was about to say were forgotten when the dim lights from above the cliff caught the face of the figure. 

          "Minerva, are you alright?" Nikolai asked, concern evident in his voice. What the hell was he doing here? His eyes searched her face. "Why did—no, never mind that. Let's get you out of the water first."

          She was still too shocked to move or answer, so she let him drag her to the sands on the far left side of the cliff. He did most of the swimming, as her body still refused to cooperate with her. It must have been a struggle for him, but he didn't show it. His movements were precise and powerful as if he had been doing it all his life. Though considering his real identity as the god of the seas, this was nothing to him. 

          They hit the sands after a short while, and it was then a bit of Zoya’s strength returned. She immediately pushed Nikolai away. 

          "Let go of me," she hissed, voice hoarse from being under the water for too long. 

          He stumbled, clearly not expecting the act, and he looked at her with obvious hurt in his eyes. 

          If it was some other time, she would have felt bad and tried to apologize. He didn't deserve this. He didn't deserve to be hurt. But she was exhausted and miserable and she didn't want to deal with anything at all. She let her emotions take over. 

          "How did you find me?" She gritted her teeth as she wobbled on her feet. "You aren't supposed to be here." 

          A look of disbelief appeared on his face. "A thank you would be nice," he said. "I just saved your life." 

          "Who said I needed saving?" she snapped. "Didn't you consider for a second that maybe I knew what I was doing?" She started towards the path leading back up to the temple, calling out to her shoulder, "You should mind your business." 

          "So you preferred to drown down there alone?" 

          I can't die, Zoya wanted to say, and she had to bite her tongue to keep herself from saying it. She chose to ignore him instead and continue up the upward path. The cold was starting to seep to her skin, making her shiver slightly. 

          She could hear his rushed footsteps behind her as he followed. "Minerva," he called out. "Look, I'm sorry." 

          Zoya ignored him. They were almost at the top of the cliff again. 

          "I didn't mean to upset you—please, Minnie."

          She abruptly stopped in her tracks, her eyes widening. Her thoughts stopped all together. Could it be? 

          Slowly, she turned to face him, her heart in her throat. "What did you just call me?"

          Nikolai seemed to realize what he had said, and he looked mortified. "I—I'm sorry, it just came to my mind." 

          Zoya wanted to laugh bitterly at herself. Of course, he still didn't remember. It was always only reminders of their former lives that came to him just to keep her hopes up. But it was all the same after. 

          "Leave before I report you for trespassing," she said curtly and continued up the path. Just stay away, she pleaded in her mind desperately, even though her heart wished for the opposite. But she couldn't take any more pain right now. Please. 

          Thankfully, she didn't hear him behind her after that, and she made her way back to where she left her things. But when she finally got there, the exhaustion caught up with her and she stumbled to the row of rocks. Her body was already shivering when she sat down, and she put a hand to her face. 

          Realization dawned at Zoya all of a sudden. Her harsh treatment of him wasn't necessary, and there was no one else to blame but herself for letting her emotions take over. And even if she wanted to apologize, she had already scared him off. 

          Something warm was draped around her shoulders, and the smell of the sea wafted to her nose. A choked sob made its way out of her mouth. Why hadn't he left yet? She had regarded him badly when his intention was solely to save her from drowning. She didn't deserve his kindness. 

          "I told you to leave," she said, moving her hand away from her face. But she didn't turn to him. "I warned you that I would report you, didn't I?"

          Nikolai laughed lightly. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him settle over one of the rocks in the row near her, though he still kept a considerable distance between them. 

          "If you wanted to report me," he said, "then you would have gone straight to security the moment you arrived up here." 

          Zoya huffed, but didn't say anything more. She hated that he was right about her. He could always see right through her, and it was the one thing that didn't change in him. 

          His voice came after a moment. "Did you really intend to stay underwater for that long?" 

          She didn’t answer right away, because she didn't know how. She hadn't even realized that she had been underwater for too long. "How did you get here, anyway? And why are you here?" she asked instead, effectively deflecting the subject. 

          Nikolai winced. It was obvious that he didn't have a clear answer to her question either. "I have my ways. And I can assure you my reason isn't for cruel purposes." 

          "Guess I won't report you, then," she said, and Nikolai smiled at that. 

          "I owe you my life, o' wise one," he said. 

          I couldn't even save you on time, Zoya thought bitterly. 

          A long silence came after, with the both of them facing the well-lit temple that glowed against the night sky. The wind picked up, and she shrugged the jacket tighter around her. She looked at Nikolai sideways, remembering that he had also been soaked to the bone when he jumped in after her. But there weren't any traces of him being cold, so she turned her attention back to the temple. 

          "I couldn't sleep," he said after a while. He took a small piece of gravel from the ground and tossed it over the cliff's edge. "It might be strange to hear this reason, but the story you told me this afternoon kept me up, and it drew me back here. Maybe I wasn't thinking straight. It wasn't as if coming back here would answer the questions in my head." He chuckled softly, shaking his head. "I was never a fan of open-ended stories."

          "They fell in love," Zoya said simply, averting her gaze from him and looking back up at the temple. She could practically feel his shocked expression directed her way. She figured that she owed him the whole truth at least, after treating him badly just earlier. 

          And for the last time she would be able to talk to him. 

          "I'm sorry, what?" 

          "You heard me." 

          Nikolai scoffed. "If this is some lie just to sate my thoughts, then I would prefer the cruel truth to hit me squarely in the face."

          "I'm not lying. I know it seems quite impossible if you look back at their history," she said. "But the ones that happened after were more important. The oldest scriptures said so. They fell in love and had an eternity ahead of them." And we had. We just didn't know it would end in the cruelest way, and you would be taken away from me. "It wasn't well-known to the public as the modern books stated that they stayed rivals throughout the rest of their immortal lives." 

          "How could two gods who literally fought over this city fall in love?" 

          "I don't know." And it was the truth. He really was her biggest uncertainty and miscalculation. But it was the one thing she didn't regret happening. A rueful smile appeared on her lips. "And yet they did. Against all odds." 

          Nikolai laughed lightly. "I can't believe it," he said, his tone bordering breathless and disbelieving. "Do you think they're still in love?" 

          The question felt like knives being stabbed into her heart. I've loved you for an eternity, she thought as she looked at him, to the face that never left her mind for a millennium. Does your love for me still exist, even if it lays forgotten in the deepest depths of your heart?

          Her eyes burned, and she looked away. "I hope," she said truthfully. "It would have been extraordinary." 

          "I would have to believe they still do," he said. "I mean, it's kind of amazing, isn't it? To love the same person for thousands of years." 

          Zoya felt another crack on her mask. "It is," she whispered. "A lot have tried gaining her attention, but no one can ever compare to him. She doesn't see anyone else." 

          Nikolai sighed contentedly. "They're lucky," he said. "To have a love like that, I mean. Those kinds are rare."

          "Have you ever been in love?" she suddenly asked. She hadn't meant to pry, but she wanted to know if he found someone else during his time. She blinked, realizing how intrusive the question was. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to." 

          "Ah, is the wise one a curious cat now?" He laughed when she gave him a glare. He raised his hands in mock surrender. "I'm joking." He turned back to the temple with a faraway look in his eyes. "But to answer your question, I don't think I have. At least not in the way the sea god and the wisdom goddess were."

          Zoya didn't know whether to feel relieved or sad at that. So she only nodded in understanding. 

          "I like to think that maybe I did, even just once. There had been a few people in the past." Nikolai smiled sadly. "But there's always something missing, you know? I could never tell what or why I am feeling that way. There's just this…hollowness I can't explain." He paused, his eyebrows furrowing. "Somehow coming to this place relieved me of some of the emptiness. I guess I should come back here more often." 

          A tear fell from her eye, and she quickly wiped it away before he could see it. Her heart was beating erratically in her chest, that tiny spark of hope that she thought was dimming had ignited once more. 

          This was exactly why she didn't want to meet him again. They would cross paths, and he would be reminded of something in their past life that made her heart believe that things could be what they once were. But they couldn’t. They never would. 

          Destined to meet, but never to last. 

          So she didn't let herself ponder over it. This had already happened so many times, and yet she always got hurt for expecting too much in the end.

          "How about you?" he asked, voice gentle. "Have you ever been in love?" 

          I have. And I still am. "Once." 

          A beat. "How was it?" 

          A curse and a blessing at the same time. She blinked her tears away and replied, "I still think about him everyday." 

          Nikolai hummed. "Lucky guy." 

          "He really is."

          "Can I ask what happened to him?" 

          Zoya let out a shaky breath. "He forgot about me." 

          "I would remember you," he said. 

          Then why didn't you? She covered up with a bitter laugh instead. "Easier said than done." 

          He didn't say anything else after that, and another wave of silence filled the air around them. Zoya appreciated the quiet, reminding her of the moments of peace in the past, and she felt a sad smile on her lips along the ache in her heart.

          She would remember this, even if it's painful for her. She didn’t know when she’d see him again. 

          If she would see him again. 

          Suddenly, a beam of light flashed to her face, and she raised a hand up to cover her eyes. "Miss Nazyalensky?" a voice asked. She immediately recognized it as Isaak's, Genya's head of security. "Are you alright?" 

          "Yes, it's me. I'm alright," she said, and the light disappeared. 

          The young guard's eyes shifted from her to someone past her shoulder. If he noticed their still-drenched state of dress, he didn't say anything. His eyes narrowed. "Who—" 

          "Don't worry, he's a friend," she said, glancing at him sideways. "He's just about to leave." 

          A look of disappointment flashed on his face, and Zoya silently apologized to him in her mind. It was the only way to make him go. Isaak was looking at him expectantly. 

          "Yes," Nikolai said, "I was just leaving." 

          She turned back to Isaak. "Be a dear and show him the way out, it's already dark."

          Isaak only nodded before turning to Nikolai. "This way, sir." 

          Nikolai sighed and stood up without further complaints, walking towards the young guard. But not before he looked back at her for the last time. He smiled softly. "It was actually good seeing you again," he said, and Zoya felt her heart break a little more with those words that held much more meaning to her. "Good night." 

          With that, he turned away to follow Isaak back to the entrance. Her feet were already moving before she even realized it. 

          "Wait," she said, and Nikolai stopped in his tracks. She made her way towards the temple's entrance, going over to the boulder by the pillar where she’d left the small keychain earlier. She found it on the floor, almost covered with rubble. But thankfully it was still there. She picked it up and turned back to him. 

          His eyes were expectant and curious when Zoya stopped in front of him, and she let her gaze linger to memorize his features to carry with her, as if she hadn't had all of him engraved in her heart and mind for thousands of years. 

          "Here." She handed the trident keychain to him. He took it reluctantly, a deep crease in his eyebrows evident as he stared at the object in his hand. "I left it this afternoon as an offering to him. But you might as well have it."

          Nikolai blinked, a grin appearing on his lips that brightened his face. "I hope the god of the seas doesn't mind."

          "Don't worry, I'm sure he won't." It's technically yours, anyway. "And it’ll be something to remember me by."

          "Even if you don't give me anything, you're not that easy to forget, Minerva," he said, and then he tipped his head forward in a polite bow. "Thank you."

          The look in his eyes was warm, and Zoya felt as if she was really looking at him. She desperately wanted to reach out to him and hold him close to her again. But she held back. "You're welcome," she said, stepping back before she did something she would regret later. She would not make this harder for herself. 

          With a final grin, Nikolai finally turned and followed Isaak. 

          And as she let him walk away from her for the umpteenth time in her life, she was left only with longing and the same pain she had been carrying for as long as she can remember. 

          I love you, she thought, hoping the winds would be kind enough to carry the words she had been wanting to tell him. This would be the last time. 

***

The memory of that night came back to her as Zoya stood by the entrance of his temple again more than a year later. She didn’t expect herself to be back here; she had vowed that she would stop hoping for the impossible. But it was never that easy to let go of something you’d been holding onto for a long time. 

          She had spent the better part of the year trying to convince herself that she could do it, that she could let him go. Sometimes she thought she did, as her thoughts about him didn't bring that much pain to her than before. But more times than not, she would still find herself crying at night, wanting nothing else than to have him with her again, asking any other deities to hear her plea and end their torment. 

          And yet it remained unanswered just like it had always been. 

          A strong breeze blew past the site, and Zoya shrugged the jacket tighter around her. It was almost the same as last year, albeit a bit colder, causing the temple to have less visitors than usual. The sun was starting to set in the west when she approached the cliff's edge, giving the sea an orange glow. 

          She smiled ruefully, suddenly realizing the depth of her decision. This view was going to be one of the sights she would have to give up if she ever stopped visiting here. And it was something she wasn't letting go. As much as she wanted to forget, his seas had been a constant part of her immortal life, providing her with peace that often slipped away from her, and it was the closest thing to him that she could be with. 

          The thought hit her like a ton of bricks, and Zoya wanted to laugh. She had been a fool to think that she could ever forget any of this, that she could forget him. 

          Because even after all her attempts to do so, he would always be the one on the other end of the red string tied around her wrist. 

          "It's not fair, you know? I'm still crying over you, and I'm so, so tired," she said to the sea, her voice quivering as she did. The stinging in her eyes came quickly this time, and she reached a hand up to wipe it away. A broken sob came out from her lips when she whispered, "It's not fair, Nikolai."

          She put a hand to her face as she continued to cry. There were times that her grief would overwhelm her to the point that she wouldn't have minded whether she was in public or not, and the pain in her chest was enough to break her. 

          This was one of those times and she had no control over it. 

          Zoya didn’t know how long she stayed there, crying her sorrows to the seas that could only do so much to comfort her, that she didn’t even notice the presence behind her until it spoke. 

          "When I first saw you here a year ago, you were just close to crying."

          Everything seemed to stop around her. Her thoughts halted and she brought her hand down from her face. 

          No, it's not real. 

          But she knew it was true. 

          Zoya turned to the direction of his voice, and there he was, basked in the glow of the sunset that made his eyes gleam much brighter than what she used to have engraved in her head. 

          Nikolai smiled softly. "It's been a while, Minerva." 

          She didn’t know why her mind suddenly started making up excuses, anything she could say to elude him before the pain became too much for her to bear. 

          "I'm sorry, do I know you?" It might have been the stupidest excuse she could think of, but it was all she had. A look of hurt flashed on his face. Walk away, Zoya. "You must have mistaken me for someone else." 

          She briskly walked past him, each step away from him feeling like daggers being driven to her chest. 

          Walk away, Zoya willed herself. 

          She could do it. She could walk away so she wouldn't have to suffer. She could do this, and do it again in the next life. 

          She could stay away from him. 

          But as she went further away from Nikolai, her mind narrowed to one thought. I can't do it. 

          It was then his voice came, gentle as the waves from the shore. "Are you really going to walk away this time, Zoya?"

          This made her stop abruptly on her tracks, her heart in her throat. A surge of wild hope ignited in her chest again. 

          No, he could've asked for it from the management, she thought. Isaak could have told him. 

          She had been waiting for a thousand years to hear it again, to hear the warmth in his voice whenever he said her name. But why wasn't she believing it? Why wasn't she turning to him? 

          Why only now? 

          Against her better judgment, Zoya finally faced him. Her vision blurred with another wave of unwanted tears. If this was some cruel trick to play on her—

          Nikolai must have noticed her look, because he gave her a reassuring smile. "The seas can help us find peace," he said as he approached her. Zoya could only look at him, her heart still not wanting to believe. But he continued, "And I would gladly stop the tides and currents if it meant giving you the serenity you desired."

          He stopped right in front of her, the gentle look in his eyes remaining the same. She looked back up at him, finding any traces of deceit in his hazel eyes, or anything that proved that he wasn't real. 

          But in them she only saw the warmth and love that he sent her way, the reflection of their memories worth for thousands of years, the one that the wisdom goddess didn't expect the sea god to give her. 

          "Hey," Nikolai said, his voice coming out in a broken whisper. His face crumpled when he brought a hand to her cheek. A quivering smile made its way to his lips as he said, "I'm sorry I'm late." 

          A sob tore from her throat as Zoya lunged at him, her arms wrapping around his neck tightly as if he would disappear again if she let go. 

          He's here. "You're back," she sobbed against his shoulder. "You're back."

          She felt his arms around her not a moment later, strong and warm and welcoming, the same way she remembered even after a long time.  The world could have burned down around them, and still Zoya wouldn't have cared, not when he was finally back to her. 

          "I remember," Nikolai was saying over and over, his voice shaking from crying. "I remember it all." He pulled away slightly, just enough to look in her eyes and see the relief reflected back in them. Tears fell freely from his eyes as he pressed his lips on her cheek— "So many lives, I've lived" —his lips went to the bridge of her nose— "So many times I've met you" —he moved to her eye— "And I didn't even know it was you that I was missing." 

          He pressed their foreheads together, his eyes closed tightly. He brought his hands up to the sides of her face. "You always found me," he whispered, "and when I remembered, I knew it was my time to find you." He reached for her hand, bringing it to his chest, and she felt the steady beat of his heart as if it had finally found peace and its home. "I love you. I loved you in every life. My mind could forget, but my heart and soul never did." 

          Zoya laughed, but it came as a broken sob instead. She reached her other hand up to his face, her touch still hesitant. Everything felt like a dream. She had been waiting for this moment for so long, and now that it was here, she wanted to make sure it was real. 

          But he was warm and his presence comforting, and he was looking at her the same way he did when he stopped the tides for her that one night on the beach. 

          More tears fell from her eyes. "I never thought I'd see you again. I've watched you slip away for a thousand years, and yet my love for you remained the same, if not stronger," she said, voice hoarse. "I missed you every single day." 

          Nikolai leaned into her hand, pressing a kiss on her palm, and then on her wrist. A few tears landed on her skin. "I love you. I'm here now." His lips moved to her forehead. "I love you."

          She clutched him closer to her. "I thought I lost you," she said. She closed her eyes as he moved to press a lingering kiss to her temple. Her voice broke when she repeated, "I thought I lost you."

          "I know, I'm sorry," he murmured against her skin. "But I'm here now. I'm not going anywhere." He pulled away to look in her eyes. "I'm not leaving you again." 

          And when he sealed his promise with a kiss, Zoya felt the thousands years' worth of pain and longing lift from her chest, replaced by the feeling of warmth and contentment, and finally, home. It would be another start for the both of them, as they had a lot of time to make up for. The road would be tedious, but they had each other. 

          Her love could last for another eternity.

***

A/N: I have a short, fluffy one of the same au in the works. Might post it soon. JASHFLJASF

[crystalninjaphoenix]

MerMay 2021 Day Twenty-Four The Circle

This was probably dangerous. Things could go very wrong very quickly. But Jackie thought it was worth the risk. Even though Marvin and Jameson had advised against it, he was sure that at least checking it out wouldn’t do any harm.

But as he approached his destination, he slowed down, noticing that something was off. There was...a boat. A small one, with a sleek design. Odd...this place was far away from human transportation lines. That was why he’d taken Jameson there a while ago so they could talk without risk of any humans spotting them. So he paused, and poked his head out from under the water, squinting at the boat in the distance. And that’s when he saw the symbol on the side. A blue circle, with a trident and a ring of fish around it drawn in silver.

“Shit,” Jackie whispered, ducking back under the surface and immediately swimming down to the bottom of the sea. Good news, this confirmed their theory. When Jameson and Jackie had been here, hanging out, the boat they’d seen had been part of this organization. TridentCorp. Bad news, they could easily spot him.

Luckily, the boat didn’t appear too big. So there probably weren’t too many of them. Jackie thought about it, then decided to do some more investigating. Just to confirm that there was only one boat.

This part of the sea had a series of rocky ridges rising out of the floor, an underwater mountain range. That was why the humans didn’t usually come here, in case they wrecked their boats on the rocks that poked out of the water. Jackie kept close to the slopes of the underwater range, eyes locked onto the boat that was nearby. As boats did, it had a chain dropped over the side, falling to the ground and attached to an anchor at the bottom, keeping them in place. They seemed to be close to that rock, the rock that Jackie and Jameson had spotted the first boat from. Probably keeping an eye on it? Jackie noted that mentally as he swam closer to said rock.

Wait a second. There was something up.

It was lucky that Jackie was keeping close to the ground, and not swimming out in the open water. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have seen the...rope? Was that what it was? It was about as thick as one, but made of metal. Or...was that metal? Maybe it was just dark gray plastic or rubber, humans were fond of using that. Black spheres were attached to it at regular intervals, weighing it down so it wouldn’t float to the surface.

Jackie stopped. What was that? Why was it here? It had to be connected to the TridentCorp boat, and on a related note, he was pretty sure it hadn’t been there last time Jameson and him were here. He backed up, then looked side to side. The weird rope extended to either side. Curiously, he swam to the left, following it as it traced a pattern across the sea floor. It was...going in a circle. A very big circle, to the point where he could barely see the curve in the rope, but still a circle. He realized this when he glanced up to get his bearings and noticed that the underwater peaks were now to his side, instead of him being on top of them, and the boat had shrunk into the distance. And he thought he realized what was happening, but finished the circle anyway. Yep, the rope was surrounding the rock.

Huh. Seriously, what was this for? Was it some sort of...monitoring device? Was TridentCorp keeping an eye on the rock, for some reason? If they were, they would only have one reason to do so...if they’d seen Jackie and Jameson that day, when their boat had gotten too close. They knew this was a spot merms frequented, and were looking to find more.

Okay...that was...bad. Probably. He should tell the others. But really, he couldn’t stop thinking about what the rope would do. A little voice in his head was urging him to touch it, but then he remembered how he’d touched the mesh back at the prison and set off an alarm, and he told that voice to shut up. He didn’t want the TridentCorp humans to know he was here.

Luckily, he didn’t have to touch it. A small group of fish was swimming around nearby, all of them silvery and rather big, though Jackie couldn’t identify them immediately. One of the fish broke off from the school and inched down towards the rope. After a moment, it gently touched the cable. Jackie held his breath...but nothing happened. And nothing happened when the fish lost interest and swam over the rope to rejoin its school. So...maybe it was just a marker.  Jackie hesitated, then, ready to swim the other way, hurried over the rope. More nothing. He swam back over. Even more nothing. It seemed harmless. But he still didn’t trust it. 

Jackie turned around, looking back towards the boat. It was some ways away from the edge of the circle created by the strange rope. Still pretty close, but definitely too far to see what was going on near the rope, especially through all the water. So maybe the rope was some kind of monitoring device? In that case, Jackie backed away even further, before slowly turning around and leaving.

He’d have to tell the others about this.

And on the boat, inside the single cabin, a human man looked up from some paperwork and over towards a monitor, which currently had some sort of alert flashing on it in red. “Hey, we got something,” he said.

“About time,” the other human man said, standing in the cabin doorway and staring out at sea thoughtfully.

The first man pulled a keyboard closer and pressed a button. The alert faded, and now the monitor showed the ocean floor. Numbers in the corner listed the date and time. The man pressed a few more keys, rewinding the footage. Until he saw something. “Oh. My fucking god.”

“What?” The second man walked over, and blinked in surprise at the footage playing. “Well, damn. That crazy doctor lady wasn’t actually crazy.”

“Well, call it in. That’s what we’re here for.”

The second man nodded, and took out a phone.

[silencedtechnophile]

==>Rescue the boy

silencedTechnophile Last Friday at 4:09 AM

Feferi stared down the security detail that had boarded Karkat's ship. She was big, towering over them, a full Presence that could fill a room all buy herself, dressed in loose transluscent fabric layered over a monocrystaline armor suit shaped like a bathing suit. She held her trident in her hands and they shrunk back from her. Karkat, near at hand was getting a few looks, back and forth between them. "You will escort me to the trails for the crown." She told them imperiously and without a trace of doubt that she would be obeyed- and they were well trained enough to fall over themselves in the face of an imperial tyrian giving them orders.

bulgeRotLast Friday at 4:27 AM

silencedTechnophile Last Friday at 5:16 AM

She winked at Karkat and swept up behind them, walking into the large ship she was going to command soon. Or at least. That was the hope. There was no telling how many of her caste mates were here yet, or what kind of trial she was walking into. All she could do was hold her head up high and carry herself with dignity.

And make certain there was a backup plan to get her beloved and karkat off of this bucket if she failed.

Most of them were more concerned with Karkat being a wanted criminal than with his capris and ridiculous sweater- but tyrians did what they wanted. It was a rule, and if you stood in their way you died.

bulgeRotLast Friday at 5:51 AM

This was it. Time to show up or shut up. The wink aimed in his direction was returned with a nod. And then, grumbled low enough that hopefully their makeshift escort wouldn’t hear, and fast enough that she might mistake the tension in his tone for annoyance: “Don’t do anything stupid, got it? I’ll resurrect your ass just to throttle you myself.”

Karkat took a few measured steps back after that, distancing himself enough to seem more like a guard and less like he was waiting to slip away. He aimed ugly looks at anyone who so much as looked at him, an effort to dissuade anyone from properly keeping an eye on them. Internally taking a breath and reasoning with himself that this would be nothing, he had seen worse, he was in the best place he had been in sweeps, he gave one last lingering look to the back of Feferi’s head before abruptly putting himself in reverse and hastily steering himself down a temporarily unoccupied corridor.

After that... Well, he was going to wing it more or less. The flagship was significantly larger than the one he commandeered, and likely laid out in a more intricate manner due to the increased number of troops and notable members of the fleet. So he took a quick inventory of his surroundings, decided he was already hopelessly and utterly lost, and started off toward the nearest door in sight.

silencedTechnophile Last Friday at 5:58 AM

Somewhere in the engine room a helmsman sharpened to alertness. He watched his matesprit make her way, with dignity and an escort toward the absolute madhouse that was her siblings fighting highlander style for the right to sit on the throne, she wasn't the first to arrive and she wouldnt be the last. He hadn't even known she was incarnated, and now all he had was greedily hoarded video images of her walking through that door, weapon in hand and wading into the fray.

..But he couldn't keep all of his attention and gut clenching nausea on her, no, she'd brought Karkat, and that was almost worse, he didn't know how well he fought now- he had fought his way free once after being caught but this was different. He watched Karkat begin to go down the hall- what was he looking for? Was he headed this way?

The helm casually slammed the door of someone who saw Karkat and started after him with a shout, and opened another door near Karkat. C'mon.

bulgeRotLast Friday at 6:17 AM

The heavy clanging of doors opening and closing was enough to have the hair on the back of his neck rising, especially combined with the cut off shout that came before. He whipped around automatically, doing a neat 360 before looking to the open door. Worst case scenario? An attempt at trapping him or cornering him, which would be an unfortunate delay but not a total game changer. Best case scenario? A bit of inside assistance. A nudge in the proper direction.

There isn’t time to weigh all the pros and cons, so Karkat took only a moment (maybe two) to consider before ducking through the opening. He wasn’t sure if it would close behind him, but in the event that it didn’t he kept moving. He was a notable fighter, certainly heads above when the others would have last seen him and with the bulk to back it up as well as the mouth, but not incapable of making mistakes or getting injured. So he immediately swiveled his head around to survey the area, knees bent in preparation to engage a hostile or take off in the direction of the metaphorical middle of the maze.

silencedTechnophile Last Friday at 6:25 AM

There were tables and chairs scattered through this space, it was fairly large, but there weren't many people here this time of day. Three trolls were talking and looked up as he entered. From there the startling shade of his red eyes looked more maroon, but he was out of uniform with weapons in hand. So they stood with a clatter of chairs tipping from being too hastily shoved back. Another door at the other side of the public room slid open.

bulgeRotLast Friday at 7:05 AM

Well, it could have been worse. Karkat took some comfort in that, despite knowing it was likely to get more difficult. Unfortunate, but entirely expected. There was no chance he was going to go horns first into stealing the most notable ship’s helmsman and not have to duke it out, okay. In fact, he briefly found himself relieved. Fighting had become a familiar thing over the sweeps, and he was never good at sneaking around or keeping his cartilage nub out of the mud.

Any further introspection there has a pin put in it quickly enough. Karkat let a crooked, toothy grin cross his features and raised one arm in a slight gesture of greeting. “Well pinch my ass and call me a human newborn, I was just inquirin’ about the welcome wagon.”

Trying to take advantage of them being somewhat caught off guard, he swiftly moved for the nearest table, raising one leg to plant a kick the side and send it skidding in their direction. From there he ducked and tried to edge a path to the side of the room, occasionally kicking pieces of furniture out of his way and hopefully into theirs.

silencedTechnophile Last Friday at 7:23 AM

He really should have worn the steel toed boots to this shindig He tried to kick the table, and sharp pain shot through his foot, the table wobbled and half collapsed in place, causing him to nearly fall- but he managed to catch himself.

His opponents weren't moving too fast themselve,s trying ot untangle themselves from the chairs they knocked over and get over to him through the table maze between them. They are not yet upon him, though none of them managed to face plant while they were tangled up in the fallen chairs.

bulgeRotLast Friday at 7:36 AM

So that didn't work quite as well as he had hoped. Any points for attempted style are immediately rescinded with my immediate pain in his foot. Platform boots? Sturdy, waterproof, assist with the height issues, comfortable, warm... But not protective. Karkat made a note of that for next time, absently deciding to purchase more combat worthy footwear even if it did take away from the overall look. It would be a necessary loss. Just like the feeling in his outermost toe, but he could address that later.

Karkat thanked Skaia for generating trolls that matched his levels of incompetence, trying to right himself. He looked past them to the door, trying to quickly decide if he could make a speedy move for the exit. In the end, he decided against it. It wasn't worth leaving himself exposed, or giving one of them the chance to step into a blind spot.

So he rolled his shoulders and made an impulsive move, one that could pay off or end with him further digging himself a grave of humiliation during serious situations. He took a few long strides forward, then tried to plant a foot on one of the tabletops to vault over and swing his sickles in a downward arch toward the nearest troll.

silencedTechnophile Last Friday at 7:47 AM

He never saw what hit him. Which was Karkat. Karkat hit him. With his sickles. The vault off the table went nearly perfectly, with the table falling as Karkat lept from it, and his sickles came down, slicing into him and giving him a beautiful ruby necklace. He fell back, clutching at his throat, unable to form even a weak defense.

His friends were stunned, and fumbled for their weapons out of their sylladexes, one of them managed to spill knives everywhere instead of summoning the single one he'd asked for, while the other was cursing and kicking the chair he was tangled up in away.

bulgeRotLast Friday at 8:16 AM

Even Karkat was a little surprised that worked out for him as well as it did. Later, he'll likely spare a few moments to appreciate the move. In the moment, a celebration was the last thing on his mind. While not totally dispatched, the other troll seemed to be at least unable to pose a threat. The other two had become significantly less imposing in their fumbling, as well.

The red blooded troll aimed a kick to the downed troll's skull for good measure, then turned on his heel to face the other two. He went for the one with a puddle of knives first, lunging toward him and swinging one sickle toward his abdomen and then ducking to try to bring the other one into his legs.

silencedTechnophile Last Friday at 8:24 AM

The down'd troll's head snapped back and he fell in a heap against their table, tipping it over. The troll with the knives twisted away, a bright line of green saturating his uniform, without breaking into the abdominal cavity. and he licked out at Karkat's head as the other troll went down and aimed a shot at his leg, catching him just under the chin- but doing little damage, though this head might ring for a moment as he got his balance back under him.

The last troll had finally sorted himself out and had drawn a gun in hand. The hot lasor fire burned a hole through the oversized sweater- but barely missed doing any real damage, and he can thank the sweater making the target uncertain for that.

bulgeRotLast Friday at 8:32 AM

The foot making contact under his chin knocked him back and he had to brace a hand on the floor to avoid losing his balance, leaving him in a very Twister-esque pose on the floor while the ringing in his ears settled and he reoriented himself to his surroundings. Heat across his skin alerted him to the other armed troll, a warning that he likely didn't have time to debate his options. All he knew was a gun was more dangerous than a knife, and long range had never been good to him.

Instinct took over immediately, and Karkat made a low ugly noise and swung one sickle wildly in the direction of the troll with the knives. Whether it made contact or not, he wasn't concerned. He temporarily abandoned the weapon in favor of making a dive for the troll with the gun. He threw all of his recently acquired bulk into it, less concerned with causing damage and more focused on getting him unstable and unarmed.

silencedTechnophile Last Friday at 8:37 AM

The sickle struck the troll in the leg , opening it up and making him fall to a knee in his pile of knives- which was, perhaps, not the best thing to fall into.

The gunman didn't stand a chance. He wasn't able to squeeze off another shot before he was on the floor beneath Karkat, head bouncing off the floor with a nasty wet noise.

bulgeRotLast Friday at 8:58 AM

Adrenaline fueled his movements, automatic reactions paired with a desire to not experience another death. He pushed his boots against the floor, abandoned his other sickle to increase his speed. He went for the gun, not sparing even a courtesy glance at his only remaining roadblock. It would be a waste of time and be of no help, especially if the other troll had decent enough skill with throwing those knives to cause him a more serious injury. He figured it was the only reasonable way to explain the sheer number of knives being carried around, unless he was prone to losing them which presented a whole other serious of questions.

If he made it to the gun without any serious hinderance, his reaction would be immediately. He would roll, to increase distance and make himself a harder target by moving, and stop on his back. Then plant his feet on the floor, sit up, and aim a good three shots consecutively at the other troll. If he was lucky, all that badgering and forced learning about guns and how to use them from Vati would for the first time prove to have been of some use.

silencedTechnophile Last Friday at 9:03 AM

The three shots veered wildly off target- who was having problems of his own, he went to throw a knife and slipped between the injured leg, the blood and the knives, and managed to slice himself up on his own knives, though he was not yet out of the threat zone- Bloody could probably get away from him if he didnt go back for his sickles.

bulgeRotLast Friday at 9:11 AM

Not going back for the sickles simply wasn’t an option. Stupid, sure, but Karkat had never quite been able to detach himself from the things and people the weapons were associated with. The various reasons would be too time consuming to list, but the heat of the moment makes the risk seem worth it.

Karkat had no idea how much ammo the weapon was packed with, but he tried to fire off another two shots while the other troll slipped in the blood and cutlery. If that failed, he would simply launch the weapon at him and make a mad dive to get up close and get enough leverage to land a few good hits.

silencedTechnophile Last Friday at 9:14 AM

The shots went wild, scorching a table top and splashing against a wall leaving a black mark in the paint. Knives was able to duck away from the weapon being thrown at him, and bring a hand up, to meet Karkat's dive with the sharp end of a blade.

bulgeRotLast Friday at 9:31 AM

An unfortunate development. All of it. Karkat was aware of metal moving through the flesh of his upper body with ease, and the warmth of blood sticking to his skin. He glanced down, back up to the other troll, down, and back up again. And then he pulled his expression into a sneer. This was a familiar experience, and definitely not pleasant, but whatever pain there was is overshadowed by offended and incredulous outrage.

“Are you fuckin’ kidding me?” He raised his voice with each word, careening forward to try to headbutt him. If that was successful, he would try to get a grip on the knife that injured him to turn it on its owner. “You seriously shoved this toothpick imitation of a weapon at me? Are you pan damaged?”

silencedTechnophile Last Friday at 9:37 AM

If Sollux, who was watching this whole thing, unable to move, unable to help or do anything but route traffic away from them, could hit his head against something, he would.

Karkat goes to head butt his opponent and finds himself firmly headbutted back, with much of the force of the blow taken on the other troll's horns, The knife was slippery and hard to grip , though he managed to work it out he wasnt able to turn it on his oppoment, who grabbed another knife from the entire pile he was sitting in and slashed at him with it.

bulgeRotLast Friday at 9:44 AM

Okay, okay. He’d admit he didn’t think that one through very well. Karkat reflected on that when he topped backwards and suffered a slash through his abdomen. That one made him pause, clenching his jaw and releasing his grip on the knife. The already bloody hand came to feel out the wound, judging the depth and overall size, and his free hand went on a search for the sickle he previously abandoned.

“What the fuck, man. This was a good sweater, I liked this sweater, this thing had value -“ He ranted roughly, the small amount of verbal filter he had typically entirely dissolved. As soon as he got his hand on his own weapon, he swung it up toward the other troll.

silencedTechnophile Last Friday at 9:51 AM

He didn't find his weapon, his hand slipped out from underneath him as he searched for it and he fell against the pile of knives this guy had hoarded in his strife deck. His death was quick, a knife dragged across his throat in a quick motion, spilling that imperial red blood all over the place. Knives shakily started getting to his feet. He needed to report to someone, He was absolutely sure on that, although he was a little fuzzy on who exactly. In the rig in the bowels of the engines of the ship a cry was torn from the throat of the helm. No. KK..

bulgeRotLast Friday at 10:05 AM

Death. Another familiar experience, and never a positive one. He only had a moment to reflect on his incoming demise, and then his throat was leaking blood and there was nothing. That was it. No bubbles, no life flashing before his eyes. It felt like a lifetime, but in reality couldn’t have been more than a minute. The major wounds stitched back together with a series of wet, nasty noises, and his eyes flashed with life.

No matter how many times it had happened, the coming back is always disorienting. Karkat was aware enough to realize he was working on a limited time frame, and would likely only have the element of surprise once. But... You know what they say about old barkfiends and new tricks. He coughed a wet breath out and forced himself to roll, making another attempt for his sickle to get the jump on the other troll.

silencedTechnophile Last Friday at 10:10 AM

It was a grotesque sound, and it got the knife fighter looking back at him, and then cussing and almost falling on his ass as a sickle sliced into his leg while he dodged back from it.- that leg was taking a lot of damage, although fortunately for him this was mostly superficial. What the actual fuck what the fuck "What the fuck"

bulgeRotLast Friday at 10:16 AM

“You are seriously pissing me off.” Karkat spat around the blood in his mouth, working to haul himself up a bit. “What the fuck is about right you ridiculously lucky cullbait.”

Considering he was still recovering from the whole dying thing, running wasn’t an appealing option. He made along swing at the troll, then pushed off from the floor to try to get some sort of distance settled between them to avoid another lackluster demise.

silencedTechnophile Last Friday at 10:19 AM

This time, with his last rushed and half assed swing, Karkat did what he'd been trying to: The troll didn't dodge in time, and the sickle bit into his neck and saw him falling back clutching it, and not long for this world, as the knight of blood scrambled away from him.

bulgeRotLast Friday at 10:32 AM

“That was stupid.” Was all Karkat could think to say, providing himself with the criticism and frowning. He looked around at the mess before hauling himself up. Then he retrieved his second sickle, giving the weapons a frown. “Really stupid, guys.”

Without taking more time to examine the state of his partially healed wounds, or giving a heartfelt parting word to his three new friends, he made for the exit. Hopefully he would have more luck if he ran into anyone else.

silencedTechnophile Last Friday at 10:38 AM

The door was still open for him- and it looked like it was taking him into an access area, for servitors and maintenance and the various riff raff who kept this ship running. He was taking him around, through service areas, instead of through the dining hall and residential areas. Ocassionally as he walked along he found someone furiously banging on a door from the other side and cussing the ship for not opening the portal for them. Sollux was keeping traffic away from him, steering everyone into other parts of the ship and restricting access to the areas that Karkat was in.

bulgeRotLast Friday at 10:57 AM

All things considered, Karkat definitely wasn’t going to question the lack of opposition or stop to pass a few snide comments through the sealed doorways. He simply kept moving, following the clearly laid out path set for him. Not that he had any other options, of course.

silencedTechnophile Last Friday at 11:02 AM

Sollux wasn't taking many chances with his direction impaired friend. It took a bit, because he had to cross the entire ship, and go up and down access ladders, but he kept him away from the open areas as much as possible.

Untill he finally reached the helm room.

The door clanked open for him, and the smell coming out of the place was both organic and full of antiseptic. The lights weren't on initially, two bright lights in the darkness standing out, one blue and one red- and other blinking and twinkling lights on the equipment.

It took a moment but Sollux brought the lights up in the room to reveal him entangled in biowire, hanging from it by the arms and engulfed to the waste, goggles obscuring his eyes.

"took you long enough." His voice was raspy, dusty, like it hadn't been used in a while for anything but screaming.

bulgeRotLast Friday at 8:15 PM

By the time he was getting close, he was also losing his patience. The halls looked the same and the access ladders never seemed to end. He’d dropped his sickles into his sylladex a while ago, upon realizing he might have more luck speeding his way through. Their exit would be a different story, probably, without an inside nudge of assistance.

Karkat didn’t even realize he had made it until the lights came up to expose their surroundings. He took a long gander at Sollux, lingering on the goggles and biowire. It wasn’t a pleasant sight, but he managed to put that on the backburner as he approached. Besides, it wasn’t like his stained red jumper and half knit together injuries were appealing either.

“Took the scenic route.” He grunted, stepping up to the other. This was probably a bad time to realize he didn’t know how to disconnect him. “Made a couple new allies along the way, yeah, traded stories.”

Tentative, Karkat came to a halt within arm’s reach. If they had more time he would lament on all of the changes between the two of them, and maybe take a beat to be self conscious about his own. But they don’t, so he doesn’t. Instead, he blew out a harsh breath and grimaced. “Let’s get this over with.”

silencedTechnophile Last Friday at 10:42 PM

Maybe within arms width of someone else, he might as well not have arms, and he wasn't looking to being sober. Well was, and wasn't. It was nice to be able to think, but pain wasn't his friend. Up close Karkat could see the unkept hair, the beard, could smell the reek of his body only occasionally washed down.

"You'll want two put me into maintenance mode" he lisped softly. "we're going to convince the computer the helm needs to be swapped out, so it will let go. - theres an escape pod just below us through that access over there. I can't see through these goggles, but they've been on so long I dont know if you can remove them."

It was amazing, astonishing that Karkat had asked the guy who was helm to come up with the bulk of his rescue plan, and Sollux had stepped up to the challenge where he could. There was no telling what would happen after he killed the Condesce but here they were.

bulgeRotLast Friday at 10:55 PM

"Escape pod. Ri-ght." Karkat held out the vowel, attempting to disconnect his gaze from the helmed troll. A tiny and paranoid piece of his pan seemed to be convinced he would look away and the scene would change, though, so even when he edged his way to the equipment he kept looking back at him. "We can deal with the goggles later, don't need to see to get forcefully ejected from the ship."

The whole thing was like a weird and oddly detailed dream. But Karkat did his best to listen and follow any provided intructions, for once unable to draw up some sort of snarky back-and-forth.

silencedTechnophile Last Friday at 11:03 PM

There was a moment that was probably startling and concerning for the docterror, when Sollux tweaked things from his end through the same access he'd adjusted his medication through, and cut all his vitals to flatline them, supressing the alarm to engineering.

He talked, in his lispy rasping voice, walking Karkat through a procedure he'd only been partially through when they had to replace some of the biowire, and he'd been out of it when he'd been installed---

A little alarm sounded inside the helming room but not outside of it as the biowire began to withdraw, slowly disconnecting and withdrawing from each place it was burrowed into his skin and down his spine.

He spent a moment burning the footage of Feferi fighting her siblings into his mind, before the cameras went dark and he became entirely blind. except for some vague coloured light filtering into his eyes through the goggles.

He'd never felt so small and alone, despite Karkat being right there. A moment ago he'd been powerful, a whole ship. and now he was trapped in this thin shaky body that couldnt support itself again yet. He was lucky, he was a god tier, his recovery would come more easily than for other people.

bulgeRotLast Saturday at 12:18 AM

The whole process was fascinating, or would be, if he could manage to block out the specific troll involved. Karkat tried - and failed - not to let his shoulders twitch when every noise startled him. Once he was sure Sollux wasn't actually flatlining, making this a huge waste of time, he returned to doing as he ws told.

When the alarm goes off, his head whipped around toward the entrance to ensure they weren't about to have another set of problems. Nothing. He looked to his companion and had to do a double-take at the sight of wires withdrawing and leaving the other lowblood unsupported. It took most of his willpower not to just freeze up there, like a deer in the headlights. Karkat forced his limbs into action again, short quick steps to the newly uninstalled helmsman.

"This ain't goin' to be comfortable." He informed him in a grunt, all reservations pushed aside due to their end goal here. "I'm haulin' your ass, and if you shock me or the like I will change my pan and turn us both into officials to prove a point." He waited, no more than a few moments, before carefully going to make contact with Sollux. He knew this would be awful for him, so he tried to keep his claws clear of tender areas and his grip light.

silencedTechnophile Last Saturday at 12:23 AM

"I'm not going two randomly shock you, you ass." he hissed his breath softly through his teeth at every jostle, as the chemicals that kept him floating and the pain distant were quickly wearing away without a constant surprise. "Its going two take them a minute to realize we're on auxilery power, I've locked as many doors and suppressed as many alarms as I could before I came out.

He was a limp noodle of a bag of flesh, easily maliable to however Karkat wanted to hold him. His limbs were.. not in good shape, but it was nothing some magical healing couldn't improve on.

bulgeRotLast Saturday at 12:41 AM

"Sure. I've heard that before." Well... he hadn't, but it was close enough. "Hold on to your liquid diet, cowboy."

Karkat didn't give him any more warning than that before bending at the waist and manhandling the other troll over his shoulders, like a fresh eveningmeal cull, with ease. He adjusted the long troll's limbs to allow him more movement, one hand keeping the immobile troll steady when he strode toward the acess. Maneuvering was trickier with his makeshift cargo, but less problematic than expected overall.

silencedTechnophile Last Saturday at 1:11 AM

Oof, here he goes, a sack of potatoes. This was more contact than he'd had in sweeps. It was weird, he wanted more, almost as much as he wanted a shower. It wasn't just that he was oozing from holes all over his body, it was the film of filth on his skin, and his long greasy hair. His eyes closed invisibly in the goggles. He was dizzy and at once feeling deprived of stimulation and over stimulated.

No one was coming yet, so far so good. Sollux was small, unlike trying to carry Feferi or Equius, he was easy to handle.

bulgeRotLast Saturday at 1:43 AM

Karkat was, if nothing else, used to bad smells. It came with the professsion he had chosen, but also with a fair share of past quadrantmates. Granted, none of them had been leaking various fluids or covered in literal layers of grime but... The comparison was good enough. It gave him something to think on in the lapse of conversation, a distraction from the situation at claw.

When they neared the end of the access, he made sure to pause and listen in the hopes of detecting any potential company. And then he moved into the next area, absently voicing his newest series of thoughts. "I hope you're good at schoolfeeding. I've never driven a thing in my unfortunate, extended lifespan."

silencedTechnophile Last Saturday at 1:46 AM

Back behind them, distantly someone began pounding on the door to the helmblock and working on prying the door open, shouting.

Sollux hung limply where he was being carried. "I'm going to have two be, although its going to be hard without being able to see anything. we're going to have to pry these goggles off. "

bulgeRotLast Saturday at 1:57 AM

"I'm sure I can manage that." The shorter troll gave a nod in place of a shrug, determined to ignore the shenanigans behind them. "Can't promise it'll be fun either way, though."

Once they reached the escape pod - he was fairly sure this was it, anyway - he carefully deposited the limp troll in one of the seats. There wasn't much time to waste with being gentle, and he figured giving any warning could cause Sollux to tense up (if he could, anyway) and make the process harder. So he leaned down into his face and tried to hook sharpened claws behind the googles to work them off.

silencedTechnophile Last Saturday at 2:02 AM

His breath hissed with a highpitched little pitiable sound of pain as the goggles came away leaving a wet raw welt where they'd rested against his skin for sweeps. Sollux blinked rapidly, tears in his eyes and trying to focus them. Fortunately light had managed to come through the lenses so he wasn't dealing with an intense light adjustment, but he was seeing with his own eyes for the first time in a long time. The filth built up around his eyes and on those lenses that obscured his vision was gross.

bulgeRotLast Saturday at 2:17 AM

The ugly noise made Karkat cringe, tossing the goggles as far from the immediate line of sight as possible. He made a note to find a salve for the welts when they were in a more secure spot. Then he quickly turned to the controls while his friend took time to adjust, partially to avoid the inevitable good look at the additions to how own features from the sweeps - mostly, though, he wanted to at least try to familiarize himself with the controls to make this less laughable as an attempt at a getaway.

silencedTechnophile Last Saturday at 2:21 AM

"I wish I could still see her" Sollux's voice was quiet, mostly to himself, fretting about things he couldn't help. Is shoulders were crying out after sweeps in the same position, moving again. He tried to lift a hand but it seemed so heaviy and pain lanced from the joint.

He took a breath. "-Okay lets get this launched, escape pods are designed two be easy two use in an emergency."

bulgeRotLast Saturday at 2:24 AM

Sollux's quiet admission made the other troll pause, unsure as to how to respond or if he should at all. "One thing at a time." Was all he ended up giving out, perusing the numerous buttons and switches, most of which did not have labels. "Easy to use my ass. It's of Alternian design, it's bound to be awful."

silencedTechnophile Last Saturday at 2:28 AM

Sollux rolled his eyes, not that Karkat could tell. Okay. He had this. Only one visual imput, no access to the thrusters, cut off from his network, but he had this. "Okay you need two-" And he started talking him through the launch, once it was launched they were going to want to get his ship to scoop them up, so they didnt float forever in space.

bulgeRotLast Saturday at 2:49 AM

It wasn't as bad as anticipated, Karkat was willing to admit it. Once he was done sputtering and started listening, getting the escape pod fired up was pretty basic. From there, with the help of Sollux, launching it was almost easy. He spared a glance at the other troll as they got the ball rolling, internally debating whether or not to be vocally impressed before he decided against it.

silencedTechnophile Last Saturday at 2:52 AM

Sollux watched the screen intently, chewing at his lip as warnings sounded, but they weren't able to stop the launch. The little pod sped off away from the big ship. "Okay - fuck is anyone on your ship to respond to us or do we need to do the docking from this end?"

bulgeRotLast Saturday at 3:30 AM

“Uh...” This isn’t something Karkat had properly considered, and the hesitation in his tone was paired with a stiff shrug. “Comms are up, yeah. One thing I did manage to fix. S’matter of if anyone is aware they should have an optical orb out for us. I’m kind of assuming Feferi took care of that, too.”

silencedTechnophile Last Saturday at 3:33 AM

"Okay open up a comm line two the ship, I .. don't know what Fef set up we weren't in communication, I havent been able two dial out since I kicked her out of an airlock." He closed his eyes.

bulgeRotLast Saturday at 3:43 AM

“What she set up is an oversized mobile bed and breakfast.” Karkat grumbled bit nodded and did as told, hunching his shoulders and fiddling with a few things as he waited for the familiar static to come through. He’d never actually made use of the comma himself, so he was kind of making it up as he went. “Uh... Assholes to base? Is that how this works? Like wriggler radio games?”

silencedTechnophile Last Saturday at 3:46 AM

It took a minute as they figured out where the hail was coming from, but eventually. "Roger, exactly like wriggler radio games. Whats the situation, over"

bulgeRotLast Saturday at 3:52 AM

“The situation? It’s, you know, kind of shitty, but that’s how things usually turn out when more than one of us morons gets involved. Suppose that’s kind of our thing. Shit Session. Uh. Over.” He paused, wrinkled his nose as he considered their injuries, and continued. “Piss pants is goin’ to need immediate attention, he’s leakin’ shit everywhere. I should have the necessary supplies to assist the healing process on board, but quite frankly we’re goin’ to need someone more informed on helming to provide any long term help, over.”

silencedTechnophile Last Saturday at 3:57 AM

Right now the very large problem and possibility is that hes going to get an infection, Sollux snorted at Karkat with his eyes closed and muttered some choice insults under his breath.

"we'll have to see what we can do-"

Sollux raised his voice. "We're in the pod that just launched can you bring her around and scoop us up?"

"Got it, uh, over."

bulgeRotLast Saturday at 4:11 AM

“They can just do that?” Karkat asked, and then aimed the same question to whoever they had caught on communication duty. “Hey, you can do that? The ship can scoop shit up and you panless wastes of artificial air didn’t think to just come grab the little escape pod turd the flagship just shit out? What the fuck?”

His surprise had him forgetting to say ‘over’ again, hands coming up to rub at his eyes tiredly. He was beginning to hate everyone on board his stolen ship. What came next was directed at Sollux, and accompanied by a heavy sigh.

“I trained as a doctoreaper, to kee it in simple terms.” Karkat informed him blandly. “The medical bay on ship is already prepared, you’re up shit creek ‘till I strap you in there.”

silencedTechnophile Last Saturday at 4:13 AM

"You're a mediculler? thats.. I never thought that was something you'd be interested in. thank fuck though"

"We're coming about now, we'll grab you." The bigger ship began coming about to come pencer grasp the little escape pod and make off with it. Feferi was well and truely on her own now.

bulgeRotLast Saturday at 4:21 AM

“It wasn’t.” He responded after a moment of uncomfortable pause. “But things change, we should know that as well as anyone. Turns out to be somethin’ I’m good at.”

The bigger ship was a welcome sight, but Karkat couldn’t help wanting to look back for the flagship. For Feferi. Sure, they had never been particularly close but... He had to stop the line of thinking before it went downhill. She was capable, he decided as they began their exit, and she knew what needed to be done. It was in her claws from there.

silencedTechnophile Last Saturday at 4:26 AM

"I'm glad you found something you're good at that you like doing, KK."

Sollux drew in a ragged little breath as they left the flagship behind. "-Powers grant we see her again." He hated Hated that she was being left behind, and he hadnt even gotten to see her, to feel her touch his hand again.

bulgeRotLast Saturday at 4:49 AM

That got a bark of a laugh out of him. He tried to smother it with a hand with little success. “Yeah. Thanks, Sollux. All it took was the majority of what would have been my natural lifespan.”

It was reassuring to know he wasn’t the only one not pleased with this plan of events. But he also knew it was necessary, and they had different reasons for the discomfort. “We will, I’m sure. Already threatened to revive and skin her if she didn’t come back and take her freak brigade off of my shoulders.” The ship jostled a bit, presumably as they were reeled in to the big ship. “Not worth focusing on now, regardless. Plenty to be done in her absence.”

silencedTechnophile Last Saturday at 4:53 AM

"Fucking good, if she loses she deserves it" He grumbled half heartedly. "- I'm really tired Karkat, I might fall asleep as soon as we're safe"(edited)

bulgeRotLast Saturday at 3:01 PM

“She does.” He gave an amused snort at the warning and turned to face him since he no longer needed to be rowing their boat. “Not shockin’. I didn’t think you’d last this long, quite frankly. We’re safe, hell, you were safe the click we got on board.”

silencedTechnophile Last Saturday at 3:05 PM

He blinked owlishly at karkat. "..'v you been hanging out with ED? you sound a little like him.." Sollux it was one dropped G its not that important. He was a little light headed. A lot light headed and he might be out soon.

bulgeRotLast Saturday at 5:08 PM

“Not ours. Dave is - was - a bit to blame for it too.” He had to stop himself from trying to explain, it was a long series of stories that would probably get very hard to follow very quickly. “You’re only goin’ to make yourself further exhausted attempting to entertain full questions and conversations, you know. Better off saving it for later, maybe you’ll even find yourself fully coherent wouldn’t that be a doozy.”

silencedTechnophile Last Saturday at 9:58 PM

"Dave? Mm." his eyes close. "My whole fucking body is screaming at me."

bulgeRotLast Saturday at 10:02 PM

“Yeah, Dave.” Karkat went uncharacteristically tight lipped at that, picking at the newly acquired holes in his clothing. “You’ll feel better when you wake.”

silencedTechnophile Last Saturday at 10:05 PM

"Shit I hope so" He almost asked about where Dave was, but something in Karkat's voice warned him off of it. "I'm gonna take.. the best shower. soon as I can move."

bulgeRotLast Saturday at 10:20 PM

“Got warm water on the ship, now. Lot of good soaps and shit, courtesy of a.... highblooded benefactor.” He snorted. “Shampoo, conditioner, all kinds of shit. Oils, but that might be a bit overwhelmin’ on the senses so soon.”

silencedTechnophile Last Saturday at 10:21 PM

"Shit KK do you actually bath now?" he teased him, tense and tired but trying for some normalcy. "..yeah I.. theres too much.. feeling, right now. " By now they were well docked and a button started beeping and flashing at Karkat. Sollux pried an eye open-" Gotta open the airlock."

bulgeRotLast Saturday at 10:48 PM

That earned another laugh. He had forgotten how awful his hygiene was in general, for sweeps. “Yeah. I did. Developed a lot of shockingly good habits, wouldn’t you know. Can’t wait to show everyone just how much I’ve developed into a functionin’ adult. I, uh.” He paused, a bit nervous, before he continued. “I’ve got a couple things that could assist with that, limit exposure in varying degrees while you adjust... Bit old, but suppose Equius would be good with tweaking to fit.”

Karkat hastily opened the airlock, automatically putting his back to a wall to face the friendly welcome wagon. He knew these were Feferi’s allies, and that Equius would likely be among them, but he still found himself dropping a single sickle from his sylladex into his dominant hand. Sweeps of growth would likely never dissolve the paranoia burned into his pan, a number of sources contributing to the edgy twitch of his muscles and hard set to his expression.

Unsurprisingly, the first person to enter - ducking through the still opening passing in a manner that was entirely hilarious given his hulking size - was Equius. Sweat made his long hair stick to his cheeks where it was refusing to stay pulled back, and his fists were clenching and unclenching in his anxiety. He and Karkat exchanged a look and a nod, a moment of understanding, before he approached his kismesis. Karkat stepped to present himself as a temporary blockade, to allow them a few moments. “I clod’nt have thought you could ever l-ook worse.” The other trolls had enough sense to hold off, looking between the three trolls. One large blueblood, crouched in front of his quadrantmate with his hands hovering to avoid accidentally causing a sore spot to worsen. One goldblood, slumped in front of the aforementioned large highblood. And one redblooded mutant, splattered with blue and purple blood, jumped torn to expose wounds that weren’t knitting together and a partially open cut across his throat wielding a recently used weapon.

“Abso-loo-tely smell worse than I hoofed for.”

silencedTechnophile Last Saturday at 10:52 PM

" It's a shitmas miracle" his lips quirked into a smile that was more of a grimace, not because if him, the pain was pretty bad, and his breath only cane more quickly and raggedly as they went. " What's that?" His eyes opened again, familiar and bright, though not as bright as might be hoped. Exhaustion and pain did that " nice two fucking see you too pony boy. I've been in the rig. What your excuse for smelling like a sweaty horse?" He was fine probably. God's it was good to see him even if he'd turned into a fucking giant. He wished he would touch him even with his body's rebellion.(edited)

bulgeRotLast Saturday at 11:18 PM

“Goggles with adjustable levels of opacity, if light turns out to be an issue. Auditory input interruptors, essentially the opposite of an aid. Gloves with detachable bits. Clothes with agreeable fabric and a fit that won’t feel suffocating. Have to adjusted for fit, of course. We aren’t nearly the same size.”

“That is entirely your fault.” Equius tried to sound mad, or even annoyed, but there was a wave of relief in his tone and posture that was hard to miss and entirely justified. “I had assumed...”

He trailed off, likely to figure out his wording. Karkat took that moment to step back, shooting one last warning look to the onlookers before putting his weapon again and shooing the larger troll out of his way. Equius protested, but didn’t force the smaller troll to let him continue.

“You can have your dramedy reunion later.” Karkat snipped, but the look in his eyes was apologetic. “I need to get started before he worsens, gets an infection. Our healin’ rates don’t typically work at the proper capacity, if his state declines he’s likely to face a more difficult healin’ process.” With that he gathered up the other troll again and, with Equius as his escort, made a path out. April 14, 2019

silencedTechnophile Yesterday at 12:36 AM

"Oh that sounds nice-" he told KK then wrinkled his nose at his kismesis and opened his mouth to say something back, trying to maintain and edge of annoyance, of banter and normalcy, but Karkat interupted, and he was a ragdoll being manhandled. He closed his eyes as pain flared in every joint and hole bored into him. and laid his head against the somewhat more built than he remembered troll.

"They've had me on immunosuppressents and industrial antibiotics for a while, KK." He murmured to him. He thought he ought to know. "the shitheads had to keep my body from attacking the biowire."

bulgeRotYesterday at 1:20 AM

“You c-oo-ld be moo-re careful.” Equius aimed this at Karkat, giving him a look over his shoulder. This was not an unusual sort of interaction for them, if the scoff and roll of the eyes from the more stout troll was any indication. From the way Sollux was hung over his shoulders, if he opened his eyes he would be able to see Equius turning an irritated frown toward him. “If you had not previously l-ooked enough to notice, they clod’nt feed coonside mannerisms to him.”

Karkat made a decidedly affronted noise, as the blueblood opened a door to reveal a considerably stocked and already set up medical block. Equius was right on their tail when he strode to the nearest already prepped resting plateau and (more mindful and gently this time) deposited Sollux. He was immediately dropping a box from his sylladex, filled with various supplies, and opening it to sanitize his hands and don a mask and gloves. A bit odd, considering the general state of himself and his own wounds and already being covered in the other’s fluids but... Habitual, familiar, exactly what Karkat needed to flip a switch. It was an obvious change, evident in his posture and even expression. This was what he was good at, what he knew, where he was probably always fated to fit.

“I’m goin to knock you out.” Karkat informed Sollux, for the first time looking him unflinchingly in the face without a single concern over his scarred face or their shared past. “And no, it ain’t optional. I’m not makin’ this harder on myself or more distressing for you -“ here he hooked a thumb toward Equius, hovering literally right over his shoulder, “- or the upscaled grey human Popeye motherfucker about to shit himself already.”

silencedTechnophile Yesterday at 4:57 AM

Sollux rolled his head looking at Karkat then Equius. "I'll be okay you overgrown pony show, I'm a god, remember?" He scoffed softly, then let his head rest with a small little bang,closing his eyes. "Fuck me up KK., I'm half way there already." He already half thought they should just kill him and see if they could force a reset but that was.. tricky, and not garunteed to work, plus traumatic.

bulgeRotYesterday at 9:55 PM

“My memory is impeccable, as it always has been.” Equius frowned at him, but relented and stepped away a bit. “When you acquire the shoes to stay awake -“

“Alright, no, that’s enough.” Karkat aimed a disgusted look at the taller troll and pulled out a needle filled with some sedative. He wasted no time in injecting it into the other troll, careful but sure. “Count up from zero to ten.” He instructed, though having concocted the substance himself he knew Sollux was unlikely to make it past five. “No funny shit either, or I’ll be forced to assume you suffered permanent mental damage and are unfit for continued service.” A bad joke, referencing their throneworld but... Funny for him, at least.

silencedTechnophile Yesterday at 11:39 PM

He opened his mouth to try to dredge up a retort from his addled brain- but then Karkat intervened and gave him an injection. The fog started spreading fast. "-sure" he lisped softly. "..one, two, three, four-" his eyes closed, heavily as unconsciousness embraced him and for a bit, gave him a relief from the pain.

[gasters-story]

Chapter 10

Word Count: 2,633

Two figures with serious faces walked through the lab slowly as they examined the rooms. They halted in the room of Vedran’s death, standing just above his dust and looking down at it.

“What do you believe happened, your highness?” One asks as the other’s, or the king’s, gaze does not change. He looks around at the fatalities. The souls of the humans were shattered long ago, making soul collecting impossible even if wanted to.

“I do not understand completely what happened Nomeus, but from what I was told, Vedran had a strong bond with Aster, or Wingdin as he calls him.” The king looks back down at the dust, kneeling to begin collecting it in a medium sized glass vial.

“Aster is his human name, no? He probably didn’t want it to cause anything confusing or bad. We did bring back a dead person, and maybe with loved ones.” Nomeus replies, putting his own thoughts in. The king stops and stares for a moment.

“Most likely.” He finally stated, then soon continues on with what he was saying and doing. “With Vedran’s dust here… I can’t say it was Aster’s fault for this.” He continues, finishing up cleaning the dust and putting a lid on the container. “The possibility of him being a rabid experiment seems too low for all this.” For a minute, things are silent.

“It does indeed, your highness.” Nomeus says after some thought. “Do you believe the humans have something to do with this? It may explain their strange behavior recently.” The king thinks for a moment.

“Maybe…” He picks up the dagger where Vedran’s dust use to be, getting up and turning to Nomeus. “Some kind of magic seems to have been used to kill the humans here but…”

“But all that killed Vedran seems to be that dagger.” Nomeus continues for him. “I think we can kind of guess what could have happened now.” The king nods, thinking for a moment.

“I… Doubt he would cause anyone harm, at least from what Vedran told me. He might as well be hiding amongst monsters, maybe even scared for his life.” He states, putting the dagger back down. “Nomeus, get the guard to clean this up. Then I need you to try to find Aster’s location. I feel the humans are up to something so I’m hoping you will protect him if anything happens?” Nomeus nods.

“Yes, your highness.” He pauses. “I… have a feeling I know where and who he is. He’s already in great care, but I’ll keep him from any humans. I’ll try to get him to admit who he is, but I’ll need something as a test he wouldn’t expect to be one.” The king thinks for a moment, staring at the vial of dust in his hand.

“If that is so, try bringing him to Vedran’s dust ceremony.” The king begins to recommend, handing the vial of dust to Nomeus, who takes it. “See if you can get a reaction out of him from it. Their bond should show as well then. Maybe you also just need to mention the name to get some reaction.” He takes one last look around, and Nomeus nods.

“Shall I tell Aksinya of her father’s death, or would you like me to send someone else?” Nomeus asks, looking at the dust vial.

“Whatever works for you. She probably already knows anyways. He pretty much disappeared till now. She probably made the guess. Confirmation is all she needs now.” The king explains, and Nomeus nods in response. After a few moments of silence, the two decide to leave…

Meanwhile, Gaster sat outside of the school, watching everyone train. Nomeus had been called away from the school the moment they got there. Gaster was told to leave them be, and a large, brown and white goat monster with some crown on his head too talked to Nomeus.

It wasn’t too long till they started to leave and the class had a substitute that Gaster didn’t really pay attention to. The goat, who Gaster had guessed was the king, had left another, and presumably his son, white goat monster who seemed to like talking to Toriel a lot. Gaster was completely distracted by writing in his journal to not notice the new kid was walking up him a bit later after talking to Toriel for a while.

“Heya! What are you doing all the way over here?” The voice made Gaster jump, looking up at the kid while he held the open journal tightly. The goat monster didn’t seem to notice him jump, and just smiled and offered a hand. “I’m Asgore! Asgore Dreemurr!”

Toriel walks up behind Asgore. When she speaks, both the boys look her way. “That’s Gaster. He doesn’t talk much, but he’s new, so you really can’t blame him.” Asgore pulls his hand back a bit. Gaster growls inaudibly, not liking being talked about like this, even with good intentions.

“Is that so? I don’t see any reason to be shy though! No one means any harm here!” He turns back to Gaster, offering his hand again. Gaster hesitates, but then slowly goes to shake his hand with his bandaged one, quickly pulling away after. Asgore stares for a moment, surprised. “You're… hurt?”

Gaster just sits there and nods, really wanting to go back to his journal. He fidgets with his hand, not liking the way this is going. “I’ll be fine. It was just… An a-accident. I can take care of myself.” Asgore seems a bit surprised as Gaster makes a face to show he’s not too pleased with the topic and stops making eye contact by looking at his journal again. Asgore was going to say something, but was cut off.

“Are ya making friends, young prince?” Nomeus said walking up with the king behind. Gaster looked up and then at Asgore. Prince…?

“Trying to! He’s shy according to Tori though! A challenge for me then!” The prince seemed enthusiastic about all this, making Gaster shrink a bit more into a ball he already kind of was with his knees up to write on without looking straight down. The king came over and kneeled down to talk to Gaster better, offering a hand.

“King Gorin, as you probably know. If he is trying to be friends with you, then so shall I.” Gaster wanted to hide. Disappear from the world for a small time. Be forgot by others for a short while. Be unknown to the world until he feels a bit more comfortable. He shakingly shakes Gorin’s hand, and the king smiles at him. He shoots his hand back as quick as he can.

The conversation would have lasted longer if Ouphre hadn’t showed up to say something to Gorin. “There’s commotion at the front of the town, your highness.” She kneels and bows her head. Gaster notices she’s wearing some kind of armor as well instead of her normal everyday clothes of jeans and some top. “The human leader wishes to speak with you.” Gorin’s face went serious as she said it. He gets up, facing her, and then speaks.

“Where the commotion is?” She nods her head. “Alright.” He begins to walk off around the school building, heading to where the commotion is. Both Nomeus and Ouphre follow, Nomeus explaining to the substitute before actually leaving the school grounds.

The two goats and even the skeleton watch curiously before Asgore perks up. “Let’s go check it out!” He suggests, turning to the group. Gaster tenses up, while Toriel seems to take a moment to think.

“It would be nice to know what’s happening, especially you as prince…” Toriel thinks out loud, only to nod her head a bit later. “I’ll go with you Gorey.” She gives a smile saying so, only for the pressure to go on Gaster as they turned to him, giving curious looks. He shrunk back a bit as reaction, but eventually nodded as he fiddled with his scarf to cover his mouth.

Asgore smiles yet again, and as Gaster gets up, they head off to find out what’s happening. Asgore has a skip in his step, while Toriel calmly follows behind, and Gaster doing so as well but a bit sheepishly and unsure.

The three found a crowd at the entrance of the town. Asgore looked around for his dad, and without hesitation disappeared in the crowd with Toriel somewhat behind. Gaster, however, hesitated but eventually made his way in, squeezing past all the monsters to the middle of the giant ‘C’ shaped group. At one end stood Gorin, most of the monsters huddle behind as Nomeus and Ouphre stood beside him, magic spears in hand to defend anyone if needed.

At the open and opposite end of the crowd stood Chatch, a smirk on his face just like before. He seemed confident for coming all the way with only one or two of his own guards that stood by his side to the main capital of the kingdom of monsters, bearers of magic that most humans feared. Gaster saw him look his way, seeming to chuckle but it was covered by the murmur and whispers of the crowd.

“What are you doing here Chatch?” Gorin soon asks with a stern look. Chatch’s own look doesn’t seem to falter even with the powerful looking monster in front of him.

“Business is all.” Chatch replies, and Gorin gives him a hard, questioning stare. Gaster shrinks back into the crowd a bit, only to find Asgore behind him. Asgore smiles at him and stays at Gaster’s side, Toriel coming up and stays next to Asgore. Gaster looks at them for a minute before looking back at the two leaders like everyone else here.

“What kind of business do you need? What is so important that you cause commotion here?” Gorin asks and gestures around to the crowd with his trident.

“You already should know what I want.” Chatch says, making Gorin give a confused look. “The experiment. It’s location. We feel like there was someone that did something to make him either disappear or escape, and even killed off the humans left in the lab so there was no witnesses from possible opposers. And we have evidence to point towards your side of the experiment.” Gasps set out across the crowd as Gaster began to feel uncomfortable as he shuffled around in place.

“Are you accusing foul play on me and my people?” Gorin’s face was a scowl as he growled, but even with this, Chatch’s face grows more happy it seems.

“In a way.” Was his only reply. “A monster named Vedran was told to have close ties with the experiment. They also happened to have both disappeared at the same time. We also saw only human deaths in the lab, showing a threat as us. We believe the experiment could even being hiding among you, as it wouldn’t be hard with the way the scientist thought he was, species wise.”

Gaster looked at the crowd to see a bright, yellow scaled lizard who looked upset, and almost in tears. He had his guess to who, and if it was he felt bad over it, slumping his shoulders in shame.

“We do not have a clue what happened to the experiment, but we do know Vedran was killed by what I saw at the lab earlier.“ While Gorin said that, Gaster looked at the lizard again, only to see her gasp and begin to cry.

A sudden guilt rushed over Gaster as he watched her hear the news for the first time. Some monsters around comforted her, mostly the ones who noticed. By now the crowd was more quiet for her cries to be heard. Everyone seem just as affected by the death as her, as some even cried with her. *Everyone cares for everyone here it seems…* “We do not have the experiment currently in known possession either way. Your accusation is false.” Chatch finally changed his look by his face going to a more neutral but slightly upset one.

“Right now you have no way to show what you have of him being supposedly killed true, so that also says yours can be instead.” He says, and Gorin squints a bit at Chatch. “We’ll make a deal. You give the experiment back, we’ll leave you alone and continue the experiment properly. You don’t… “ He looks at his own guards, smiling. “We’ll have to take it down the road of war I guess.” Everyone was shocked, even the king himself. Gaster held his chest and took a step back, his face horrified.

“That’s too much for some experiment that can be simply replicated!” Gorin argues, practically baffled by the route Chatch wanted.

“I see it more as a way for monsters to attack us, ruining our experiments with them and taking them for their own. It’s a personal and concerning attack to us.” Chatch explains. “Makes you all a threat.” Everyone was dumbstruck by Chatch’s view. The crowd took a few minutes to actually start murmuring again to each other, and for even Gorin to think of a reply.

That was the point Gaster had to leave. He ended up turning around and heading back to the school. He hid behind the back where practice happens, and pulled out his journal. He was going to write, but after a few moments he ended up tearing up to make his vision too blurry. Over the fact war might happen because he ran away, because he killed over someone who was like a father’s death, because he felt too emotional to control his anger he never really felt too much before. It felt like his fault, and upset him for those reasons.

He tried wiping away the tears but they kept flowing, and he just grew worse with the emotions. He never had a time he actually cried properly before. Vedran’s death was upsetting but it made him more numb than anything. He was passed out the day of it mostly so he couldn’t really mourn until he was at Nomeus’s place and already accepted the fact.

“Gaster, are you alright…?” a voice says while he tries to wipe the tears away. He looks up, not really wanting anyone to see him as a mess like that, but it’s obviously too late now. Asgore had said it and was standing just in front of him, looking concerned. Toriel looked upset as well, and came to Gaster’s side and kneeled down.

Gaster stays silent for a bit, trying and kind of succeeding at wiping his tears away. “Y-yeah I’m just fine…”

“If something is wrong we’re here to help you know.” Toriel says with a sad look. He takes a minute to think of and say something.

“I don’t- really want to burden anyone with what’s wrong if something is. I just- would like it to be left alone- just to not have anyone worry.” Gaster mumbles, making it almost not that audible.

“We… Understand…” Toriel says, looking down a bit. “If that is what you wish, we shall accept it, but just know we are here for you.” Asgore nods in agreement.

“T-thanks Toriel- and you too Asgore…” Gaster replies and the other two reply with a smile.

“Call me Tori if you want, it’s what my friends do.” Toriel says with a smile, and Gaster nods. He wasn’t sure if he would actually use it though.

After that, Asgore sat down by Gaster’s side and Toriel too, but it was silent until Nomeus showed up, who was clueless of what happened. The day continued somewhat normally, but Gaster wasn’t in a very great mood from it. The warning was stuck in his mind all day from then on…

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[Index]

[chuckling-chemist]

31 Days of Fanstuck Day 8: Careen: Paint The Roses

“Come on! We cannot falter in our work!”

Two columns of sepia skinks, armed with sepia buckets filled with sepia paints, marched down the sepia-checkered path and right past the sepia gazebo Careen stood inside. She was the only true splash of color in her land, The Land of Gazebos and Roses, and the whole land made sure she knew it. When she arrived, it was in her favorite pastel pink cupcake dress with a cute purple flower tucked into her hair. She -- and her hive too, as it never lost its color -- looked so vibrant and beautiful against all the browns it was almost hard to believe this was where she was destined to stay. The consorts, the very sepia skinks that passed earlier, called her their savior, the life to be breathed into the land, protector from the denizen who ruled and stalked these lands. She had apparently taken all the color away and hoarded it for herself, while still making the poor beasts who resided toil away and recolor everything.

Careen waited until they mostly passed by before walking behind them, following the skinks down the twisting path through the sepia hedges and oversized sepia mushrooms. They stopped at a pond all the way at the end of the path, dotted off with a gazebo that appeared to rest on the water. Around the pond were bushes and bushes of overgrown roses, as unkempt as they were…..sepia.

One of the skinks, the one shouting commands earlier, turned around to face the others. From seemingly out of nowhere, as it certainly didn’t come from that bucket of sepia paints, he pulled out several pairs of sepia shears. Careen hurriedly ducked behind one of the sepia hedges to avoid getting caught. She didn’t want the recognition for helping them. Not yet, anyway.

“Listen up! Hemera might be asleep right now, but that doesn’t stop our work. We have orders from her direct compatriots that our flower gardens are in disrepair and need fixed now! And you know what happens if we don’t do as she says!”

An uneasy silence fell over the skinks. It made Careen wonder what she did to them. She knew she herself never yelled at her servants. She was an heiress. She had people to do that.

If this Hemera-skink was waking up to yell at them herself, she needed someone to help her out. There’s no reason to stress herself out when you can recruit more trolls! Or, in this case, skinks.

“Alright! Let’s move out!”

All fourteen skinks set their buckets down in unison. One column whipped out similar shears as the ones the head skink pulled out. The other column pulled out paint brushes before grabbing their buckets once again to start the process of painting. The two groups split off onto opposite sides of the gazebo, painting and pruning at the same time. The head skink, meanwhile, set his shears aside to walk up to the gazebo itself and started to paint. Not that it did anything, of course. The paint was the same color as everything else.

She stood there, enraptured for who knows how long watching their futile efforts until the spritelog on her palmhusk dinged. It was her sprite, naturally, reminding her of her important and unique position as the sylph to help these people. Nay, she should. It was her duty.

Her sprite had a point. This was her land. Her destiny to bring the color back to the land.

Careen stepped out from behind the hedge, clearing her throat with as much delicacy as one could to get their attention. 

“Hello, my good consorts!”

The head consort looked up to the sound of the voice. When he caught the gaze of Careen standing upon the checkered path, he straightened up immediately to bow. “Ah! Miss Sylph. My apologies for catching us like this. What are you here for?”

She smiled kindly at him. “Well, you all looked like you needed help, and naturally it feels like a lending hand will make this job easier,” she said. “That’s my role, right? To help?”

“Your role is to bring the color back to the land,” he said plainly. 

“Well...yes.” Her smile faded. “I thought maybe you needed some help? Perhaps someone to supervise and assist? New paints with actual colors or--”

The head skink raced up with such speed, Careen stopped talking out of sheer surprise. In nearly the blink of an eye he was right next to the troll, standing tall up to her chest with a bucket and paintbrush in hand. He set the bucket down on the sepia path with a soft, muted noise. 

“Wonderful! You can get started on the painting team on the left side of the garden and help the painters,” he chirped. He held out the paintbrush for her to take, not stopping until she finally gingerly removed it from his hands.

Careen looked down doubtfully at the bucket of sepia paint. The same sepia tone as the gazebo, the grass, the path, the paintbrushes, the shears, the skinks and, most importantly, the roses. 

But then again, she was the Sylph. She had magical healing properties beyond the level of simple paints. 

Careen dipped her index finger curiously into the bucket of paint, holding it there as she waited to turn the appropriate color: red or pink or white or yellow. Rose colors.

It did nothing.

She pulled her finger up with a heavy sigh. Sepia paint dripped off her finger and onto the sepia path, ultimately changing nothing about the world around her. 

Then again, the paint was from this world. It’s only natural it wouldn’t be the correct color! Good Alternian paints were made from the blood and squashed remains of grubs. Who knows what this was made out of, but if she put in a little bit of actual blood from the outside world, it could change the color.

She pulled her Shrinkdent, a special version of her trident that could be shrunk down to minuscule size to double as a knife, albeit one mostly capable of piercing. Still, it was all she needed to prick her pinkie finger and squeeze out a single drop of blood. The pink dropped into the bucket, leaving a small drop that quickly disappeared amongst the brown and tan.

Careen scowled. This was useless!  

“Paint with this?” she asked. She pointed down at the bucket. The sepia paint on her finger dropped back in, continuing to dilute the mix. “This paint is the same as the roses!”

The skink looked down at the bucket, then over at the roses. “So they are,” he noted. His face fell for a brief second, but he perked back up when he pulled out another pair of shears for her. “That’s fine! You can help the pruning team. We’ll take care of the color.”

“No, no, no, no,” she said with a shake of her head. “Clearly what needs to happen is I need to mix you brand new paints. The way trolls do!” She clapped her hands together brightly. “You wait here, I’m going to mix you some real, lovely pink paints!”

She handed the shears back to the skink, patting his hands with a bright smile. As soon as she felt his fingers tighten around the tool, she turned back around to prance toward her hive. 

So engrossed in her new idea, she was gone before the head skink muttered, “We actually need….violet paints for these roses.”

[hazecat-blog]

Pathfinder Adventure p.4

previous –> next

Summary: In this session, our party manages to finish off the mini-dungeon we stumbled upon in the last session in approximately the correct order.

The party (decided I should include a list like this for reader reference, and so I can remember how to spell everyone’s name right)

Phoof (played by me) - blossoming treant bard Altaei Nacriex - mysterious (human?) ninja Elisi Urenie - fiery human monk Kaito - kitsune pirate barbarian Valeriy - aquatic elf water witch and adopted sibling to Ash Ashcaul - pirate kitsune magi June - androgynous mixed-blood half-orc spell-caster Noggan - weird rogue floating skull embedded with jewels Zakhar Nikolaev - human alchemist living in Sandpoint

Further on past the prison -- after crossing a rickety bridge -- the Heroes of Sandpoint found a small, abandoned torture chamber. The equipment was still there but had all rotted and rusted away. In a small side room, they found three doors with strange symbols on them as well as a few dozen scrolls ripped in half.

Zakhar and Phoof started sorting through the scrolls, but it started taking too much time and Elisi and Altaei opened the other door from the torture chamber to continue exploring while they did that. It led to a suspicious staircase built in a cleft in the rock by having wooden slats extend from either wall as stairs -- they were sure it was a trap that would dump them into the abyss. Altaei kept searching for traps at every step, but it never did.

When they got to the top, Phoof, having given up on the scrolls to join them, warned them she felt death within the room. They opened it and found a freezing chamber with wooden palettes covering a checkerboard of deep pits, from which moaning noises could be heard. This was even more obviously a trap, so they hesitated a while until Elisi and Altaei entered the room.

It was a trap! Or, well, an ambush. A three-armed mutant goblin dropped from the ceiling and attacked Elisi with an axe. He got in a couple of deep hacks, then retreated away to blow fire on the three of them! Altaei attempted to block the flames from Phoof's body, but the tips of Phoof's branches ended up singed. Elisi followed the goblin to punch him some more, while Altaei hung back and threw kunai. Kaito circled around to try to flank the goblin, while Val moved in with a trident, taking Elisi's place after she took another dangerous hit and had to pull back to drink some potions. Together, they took down the goblin and -- since he was quickly regenerating -- slid the lid off of one of the pits and chucked him to the bottom, where the ghouls started eating him to keep him from standing back up.

Meanwhile, another enemy -- that looked like a rotting zombie with a tattered robe and blank white eyes -- advanced on Altaei. They appeared to be blind and possibly deaf (since they were immune to Phoof's piercing screech), but it didn't seem to keep them from flailing around with their fists and occasionally connecting.They were tough -- hitting them was like hitting a pillar of wood -- but between all of them, they finally managed to take them down right around the time the trio from below (Zakhar, June, and Noggin's valet) finished with the scroll room and rejoined them.

The three of them had only found a couple of intact or even repairable scrolls. It seemed most of the scrolls had one-half missing. Behind the doors, they'd found various mutated creatures -- one with a giant head, one with a rib cage down to his pelvis and tiny legs, and one with three arms, like the goblin they'd just fought.

"Oh, by the way," Phoof said, "I'm pretty sure that goblin was one of the goblin lords I read about. The one supposedly hiding in an unknown cave?"

Kaito frowned. "Didn't he have a magic sword?"

Phoof nodded.

Kaito sighed. "Then I guess we have to fight whatever's in that pit."

That turned out to be easy enough -- Zakhar tossed a bomb in, killing the zombies, and Kaito was able to borrow Phoof's rope and slide down to strip the goblin of his weapons before he could wake -- assuming he was ever going to since the fire might have stopped his regeneration.

Sure enough, his sword was magical. No one in the party really used longswords as a primary weapon, so they agreed to sell it and split the proceeds. Kaito did claim a silver dagger for himself, to add to the bandolier he'd stolen from another goblin earlier.

While they healed up -- because several of them had taken a lot of damage in that fight -- Val wandered off (with Elisi close behind to keep an eye on her) to find her isopod familiar, who was missing. She found him back in the prison, flipped on his back. It wasn't clear how he'd gone missing in the first place, though.

At any rate, they eventually moved on. Past the Cold Zombie Storage, they found a short hallway leading to a scary room. It was plated with some weird red metal, and black lightning would periodically crawl up the walls and form strange glyphs that no one could read. Val gave Zakhar a comprehend languages spell, but he didn't want to touch the lightning.

He did want to read the book floating in the middle of the chamber, though. After an experiment with an empty vial, to verify that objects could be added and removed to the cache in the center of the room without incident, they retrieved the objects to examine them further. Phoof claimed a forked wand (that later turned out to be 'shocking grasp'), Zakhar the book (on the worship of Lamashtu, the god of madness and monsters) and a scroll, Kaito the bottle of wine (a nice vintage, but being in stasis probably meant it wasn't as aged as its bottling date would indicate), and June took the dead crow, for unknown reasons, but didn't want all the tasty maggots that came with it.

While they were futzing around with the chamber, the rest of the party headed through a side door to investigate a spiral staircase. It ended in a pile of collapsed rubble with some sort of weird scary glyphs that appeared, wrote out scary things in abyssal, and then disappeared. Phoof, in particular, got a very bad vibe just by being on the stairs while Noggin's valet was fascinated with the effect and had to be dragged away from it against his will.

Since that avenue was apparently played out, they decided to head up the other flight of stairs, west of the statue, and examine the pool flanked by human skulls. It was another ambush! But this time only by one skull-monster with creepy entrails, that didn't really get to do much before being sliced to bits by the party's combined efforts. Past the pool was another staircase, this one leading up, but also ending in a pile of rubble.

That left only one hallway to investigate, way back near where they'd broken into the strange complex, that they were starting to gather was a temple of Lamashtu. Following the tunnel quickly confirmed it, as they arrived at a shrine with a clear pool of water in an altar on one side of the room.

Kaito was interested in the water, which didn't smell safe to drink but did give off a sense of power. He called in Zakhar to identify it, but all he could tell was that it was a powerful, cursed transmutation effect.

"Maybe I should drink it? I could shapeshift back afterward, right?" Kaito suggested, not convincing himself. He and Zakhar took samples, though, to possibly use later. They also dipped the dead crow in the water to see if it would trigger the effect, but nothing happened.

"We should test on wolf," Zakhar suggested, referring to the goblin dog that June had tamed in the basement of the glassworks, which was still following him around.

"Noooo!" Elisi shouted. "I won't let you hurt wolfy! If you want to try it out so bad, you should drink it yourself."

"You should do it," Kaito added. "You're always drinking mutagens anyway, aren't you?"

Somehow, that convinced him, and Zakhar downed the vial... and then collapsed to the floor, screaming in agony, as his body twisted and mutated. Phoof screamed in horror with him as he transformed.

He didn't get an extra arm. He got an eye in the back of his head, although he lost one of his original eyes to compensate. He lost all his hair, one of his legs shrunk to half its normal length, and his body twisted 90% in the middle of his abdomen leaving him pointing sideways. Worst of all, he took a *huge* (-5) penalties to his INT and DEX, which were his primary stats.

GM: "I was looking at the effects, and when you said you were drinking it I was like 'noooo'!"

Kaito: "Okay, I don't want to drink it anymore."

Once the alchemist had recovered -- or at least, as much as he was going to -- they pushed open the heavy stone door and entered what looked like a temple chamber. There was a fountain in the middle with a ring of skulls on spikes, and the room was dimly lit by a shaft of yellow light emerging from another pool in the back of the room, up on a sort of stage 15 feet off the ground.

There was no sign of habitation, so the sneakier party members crept into the room quietly. Zakhar stomped in holding his sunrod without caring. But it was Elisi, who was the first to climb the stairs to the stage, who got the demon's attention.

Demon: "Who are you, who dares violate my sanctum?!"

While she waited for a response, Elisi turned to the rest of the party, behind her, and hissed out, "Psst! Guys! What's a sanctum?"

That was not the correct response. The demon flew up into the air and slashed her own forearms, dripping blood into the central pool, which spawned a quartet of ghoul-looking but not-ghoul sinspawn... and then the faint light from the pool flickered out as it used up the last of its power.

It was a fight against an enemy hovering 20' up in the air. Elisi started flinging sling bolts at it, and could at least hit it, while Kaito tossed the silver dagger and missed. Altaei suddenly hunched over and sprouted a pair of black feathered wings from his back, and flew up to duel the demon in a sneak attack.

It was a short duel. The demon could see through Altaei's invisibility and paralyzed him, dumping him into the pool below to drown. Phoof ran in to save her, but it was at the cost of being stuck in melee with the sinspawn and unable to do much. Thankfully, Phoof's natural armor protected her from most of their attacks, and Kaito and Zakhar joined her in fighting them off since they had no good way of hurting a flying creature. The bites from the sinspawn tried to infect Phoof with sinful thoughts, but Phoof's mind was too pure to be infected. Zakhar, on the other hand, received a bite that left him in a daze for one round. The other players asked what kind of things Zakhar was thinking about.

He said, science. Dirty science.

Meanwhile, June tried shooting the demon with scorching rays...it took a couple of tries to hit, and of course, she resisted fire. Still, he did enough to gain her attention, and she commanded him to leave.

Noggin's valet was up on the podium, searching for some place to hide to make sneak attacks with his bow. Since he couldn't find any he instead spent his time educating the party on the resistances of demons -- they resisted fire, cold, acid, normal weapons, magic weapons, and were immune to lightning and poison. To fight her effectively they'd need weapons of Cold Iron or Good. They did not have any such weapons available.

The other option was to hit her with bursts of massive damage to get through the DR, which was hard when she was flying...until Elisi remembered that she had a potion of Enlarge Person. That would make her ten feet tall, with a ten-foot reach...and the ceiling was 20 feet up. She wouldn't be able to escape.

She didn't *quite* take out the demon with one punch, but it was close. Altaei finally shook off the paralyses and flew back up to strike the finishing blow, after which it was simple to mop up (or in Elisi's case, stomp down) of the remaining sinspawn.

Elisi stared at Altei's wings. "Are you an angel?"

Kaito peered at her. "I think she might be a Tengu."

Elisi was confused. "Is that a kind of angel?"

Kaito shrugged. "Well, it's not a kind of demon."

Altaei refrained from commenting on their theories.

In the aftermath, they examined the fallen demon. She had a magic dagger (which they let Altaei keep) and Noggin's valet identified her as a Quasit -- like the quasit that had been helping the old priest's daughter transform herself. They were pretty sure she wasn't the daughter herself since she was a full demon and the daughter had been trying to finish the transformation, and also because she was in a weird cave temple and not at a place called 'Feathertop'.

They also found 1000 platinum pieces in the glowing yellow pool on the platform. It took some work to get them out since the pool was boiling hot, but mage hand and patience (and eventually, the use of Phoof's rake-like weapon and Kaito's buckler as a broom and dustpan) managed to fish them out.

They were rich! Well, okay, not that rich since it needed to be divided *nine ways*, but still. Much better off than before.

Time to shop! And to beg Zakhar to brew them potions to replace the ones they'd used up. And for Zakhar to beg the village priest to heal his transformation for a steep discount, since he couldn't afford to actually pay for it.

After the fight: GM: "Why didn't you use your rage? I had a magic trap set up for when you raged!"

Kaito (ooc): "Um... I only had a few rounds left and was saving it for when I had a chance to hit the demon, but I never actually got the chance?"

So, hooray for dumb luck. n.n