#general khu'tihua

[cosmosoracle]

Everything that followed my first few minutes awake had me swinging between my worry about the future and the realization that I was safe for now. Cila came forward to properly tend to Zinnya and my wounds with her healing magic, while the others started to discuss about what was going to be next: in a way or another, all the Generals got convinced, therefore it was official that Outsea would have soon gone at war with the Vitalia.

While we were still at the Fountain, I finally got my chance to check the map that Rasmia gifted me the last time we visited her mansion - a map of the Lake of Mists and Veils with a big red circle. It signaled the movements of the monster through the waters. It had arrived at Egede, a city built right on the shores of the lake, with an important harbor and frequent connections with the underwater communities. Imagining what that monster may have been causing at the moment to those poor people broke my heart, and it also scared me to no end, because Tora and my people were also supposed to be heading west. I contacted him in a hurry, the short message had to be enough.

"What do you mean it's Lia!?" This was the first reaction I got from him hearing my words all of a sudden; the panic of the moment was just so easily broken, and that retort almost stole me a chuckle despite it all. He was fine. There was a break after that, during which I imagined him trying to look around to see where my voice could have come from, but then he tried to follow my instruction and made his answer as easy as he managed.

"We're fine, we found refuge in a cave. The entrance is small enough to stop the monster from reaching-" and the spell was cut short. He was still the same anxious boy I left behind, but he had indeed been smart. What a relief...

Alara deemed it a right moment to propose a change of location. Since I was the one who had it worse, she offered to me first to be carried to the Council by her, and then others joined me - with Zinnya being the most excited about it. Normally I would have declined out of respect and also to enjoy the freedom of swimming that I so missed in the past months, but in that moment I couldn't be more willing and grateful. I lightly curled up in her hold as Lumen also returned on my shoulder, and I observed Outsea as our team and the Generals crossed it.

People were slowly returning to their everyday life. After Roktor storming through and not being seen or heard again, the streets were just returning to get populated, and their eyes were all on us as we passed by. It must have been a rare sight, to have all the high charges moving together like that, not to mention that they were with us visitors.

Alara, the Master of the Depths, was one of the less present ones in the city, only second to Roktor, for her massive size and affinity to the abysses. Her octopus features spread widely behind her and propelled her forward in beats, dark and in contrast with her lilac skin and light blue hair, and her deep red eyes pointed straight at her objective. I and Zinnya often locked eyes with someone from below. I smiled weakly at them, while Zinnya even waved at some. The High Priestess of Gozreh also looked down from Alara's shoulder when we swam above her church, where Crocky was probably waiting, temporarily in the care of someone else. Her posture was graceful and her wide garments flowed beautifully with the waters, the light blue borders shining against her purple gown and dark skin.

All around us, the remaining Generals and Hoyt all kept up with the pace, each of them moving in their own style. Hoyt was controlled and precise, with his training to move in the shadows on the surface easily blending into swift and silent strokes. Khu'Tihua, the shark Captain of the Guards, pushed herself forward especially relying on her strong arms with the long blue ponytail swaying behind her left and right like a fin - completely opposed to our rogue. General Opak was much more elegant compared to them instead, with slower movements that followed the currents and his long coat that seemed to flow through them as if he was one with the water - as one would espect from a follower of the Empress of the Torrent. Lastly, the athletic and agile leader of the Hunters suddenly darted forward, his pink hair being the only detail easily distinguishable as he reached the palace before us. We had already witnessed Quho's impressive speed multiple times, but it was always amazing to watch, really.

And so here we all are now, around a platform that offered enough space to everyone, in a palace that still held its majesty despite being rarely used.

~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~

Our contribution to the reunion with the Generals is fundamental. Zinnya had prepared more potions for sharing the memories in the morning, so now all of the leaders are aware of what I had to face back then in the lake, and at least a vague idea of what its targets must be suffering as we speak. I see the disgust and horror in Cila and Opak's expressions, cold awareness in Alara's, but even a hint of excitement in Quho's. Clearly, he just added the Vitalia to his list of targets and future trophies. While on one hand that comforts me because it confirms his will to contribute, it also makes me nervous, because I'm afraid of him getting hurt if he rushes in too carelessly to get his prize. My eyes wander to the wide scar he's got on his side. Hormun inflicted that deep wound the moment we entered the cave to save Zinnya and Hoyt from the abysses. I was able to heal it, but it remains as a nasty reminder anyway.

We keep discussing about a possible plan to attack the monster, and I share all of my knowledge about it and about the other blood aberrations we already found in Bodie's Haunt. They rely on contact with other beings to heal their wounds, and collective attacks being their specialty as both offense and defense. When I am asked about more specific informations, I gather my courage and take off my mangled armor, carving the symbol of Zegarek on its inside to witness the death of its previous owner.

A shiver runs down my spine as I live personally the destruction that Larya tried to protect me from, but I stay focused and describe all of what I see along with the vision. "The chief is trying to reorganize our forces to stop the monster from reaching who couldn't make it out of Jaha in time. They're...futile attempts. The limbs reach everyone one by one, even those that try to run for their lives and cannot face death head on. But the one who wore this armor grabs his spear and charges in with a group of other brave ones, raging. They sink their blades in its flesh, but..." I gasp. "I can't see anything anymore... everything is red, I can barely recognize the silhouettes of my comrades, I hear them coughing. The soldier starts... bleeding out..."

I watch the rest of the scene alone, until my eyes stop shining in white and the light leaves my irises like fire being snuffed out. I blink a few times, and focus again on the calm present, on everyone around me as I look at their faces until I recognize them one by one. I need one more moment, but when I speak again, my voice is deep and steady. "The ones invested by this cloud either start bleeding or can't stop their wounds from doing so. All of this blood is absorbed again as a mean to heal, and it was fast. Too fast..."

Opak reaches out and taps my shoulder. I can read his empathy. I wonder if he also feels guilty for having turned his back on me when I asked for help the very first night we arrived in Outsea. I performed with some other artists in one of the taverns above the surface, and when I was invited to his table, we spoke about anything else but this because of how quickly and irrevocably he dismissed my requests... "I'm really sorry you have to go through all of this."

I look over to him and narrow my eyes, forcing a tired smile. "If my efforts will lead to no one else experiencing such cursed pain... so be it. I'm ready to do so for as long as it takes." I have to make sure he knows I hold no grudges against him for anything. I'll need to go and visit him later at the Fountain. Maybe he will be able to help me with something, and hopefully his involvement may relieve him a little, too.

The confrontations end soon after: all that is left to discuss is when this is going to happen - "We have some business to take care of away from Outsea by the end of this month, but if our strengths are enough and the right occasion arises once we're done, we'll be right back to fight by your side"; how to communicate - Alara suggests sending informations over to her, who is able to contact every other General right away, as she demonstrated various times already; recommending each other to keep in touch through us two, so that we can keep studying the kind of menace that the Vitalia may become to all of us and be prepared. Once that's settled, one by one, the Generals bid us goodbye and each of them returns to their own duty, leaving us alone.

We are also ready to return to the Sweet Eel. We've still got things to talk about, just between the three of us.

[cosmosoracle]

It's cold. Everything is cold and hurts, with the wounds still burning with whatever amount of acid is still lingering on my skin. And yet, my gills beat with a renewed spark of life as the water passes through, and I blink my eyes, one more time. I don't immediately feel aware of my surroundings, and my eyes take a little bit to focus on what I find in front of me. Something is licking my face, and I feel a hold on my hand...

My fingers close around Zinnya's weakly, while I move my free arm to pat the creature on his head, instinctively trying to reassure him: I'm fine. But am I? I feel as far from fine as I can be. No, that's definitely the wrong thing, but I achieved something much more than that regardlessly.

My body slowly lights up again, my bioluminescence shining through as my oracular curse returns to take over my body. My eyes glow bright as well, and all of me tends to float up, so much so that I would have to start swimming almost constantly to stay in place. I feel weak; I can't keep up with that well. But the witch hugs me as soon as she processes that I'm awake, and I just return the sincere show of affection, confirming my condition in a whisper.

"I am alive."

"Yes, yes you are!"

"But at what cost." I keep my eyes closed for now as Hoyt joins in the conversation with a bitter voice, but I don't feel any anger nor ill intent specifically towards me. On the contrary, he remains close as well, and so does Opak - and so do the other Generals a few moments later: Khu'Tihua, Cila and Quho all reach us in a hurry, frantically asking for details.

"When we heard that Roktor was involved, we tried to come as fast as we could," the High Priestess explains fast as she values the situation. I am barely conscious and still covered in slashes and bites, and while Zinnya is in better shape, her wounds and extreme pallor clearly tell about how close she was to succumbing too. All the back and forth between them, all the voices bring me further in to the world of the living, and I also start realizing things a little more awarely from over Zinnya's shoulder.

"Their determination was as reckless as it was impressive," Opak tries to give a comprehensive summary about how the fight went. General Khu'Tihua, the woman with shark features that leads the city guards, seems especially surprised among the others. "He didn't get even scratched, and he earned the respect and the favor of the Champion of the River."

"It was pure luck," Hoyt aggressively tries to cut things short, but despite his argument, the ones who knew Roktor for much longer than us insist, and Quho is the one who has the last say before General Alara also gets to the Fountain: "However you managed to do it, be proud of your achievement."

"I was told that Roktor made it here," the majestic Master of the Depths looms over us, resting her long tentacles. She is sitting over the crystal that we retrieved from the Myroga's den, which constantly feeds her power through the ley lines. She visibly increased in size as well; she must have had some sort of reaction to it like I did, when my own tentacles grew and I earned a better control over their movements. "Is everyone fine?"

There is an exchange of looks between everyone, and I especially feel their eyes on me. "I am alive," I simply say again, as if trying to convince myself still; "Now we all are," Zinnya adds. Alara observes us for a few seconds without a word, examining us herself; then some tension seems to leave her body as she speaks. "Good."

But... are we good, really? Suddenly, some of the worries I left behind in the afterlife come back like an electric surge; I jolt in Zinnya's arms, temporarily breaking free and reaching for the back of my neck with a hand. "We're not protected anymore-- we're not protected anymore!!"

"Calm down," Zinnya immediately hushes me and pulls me back in her arms. Despite the agitation, I have no strength to put up any sort of resistance. Nor I really want to; being held is comforting, and the Gods know how much I need some comfort right now. "We will discuss about that later. While you were gone, a few things happened, but we managed to buy you some time."

"Was it... you...? But the Man in Red left, and the friend over here--" but she interrupts me again. Of course, with the Generals all around, it's going to be much better to discuss behind closed doors. I forget myself; I'm so shaken by everything that happened that I was about to spill everything on the spot, but it's probably best if the others don't get too involved in this. Besides, they also seem to have quite some other things to discuss. While Zinnya calms me down, Khu'Tihua elbows Alara, giving a poor attempt at murmuring.

"Hey. Looks like we're going to war."

Alara turns to her, and also catches Opak nodding in confirmation. She narrows her eyes. "Oh. Very well then."

Between Zinnya's reassuring words and this brief exchange, I find myself hugging the witch once more, stronger than I did so far - or at least, as much as my wounds and weakness allow me to. I feel my eyes itching as my tears start to flow out uncontrollably, finally for real. I look over at Hoyt as well, soon realizing that he's the only one unharmed. He managed to stay safe even if I was out, even if he wasted his syringe on me. I can't hold it in anymore.

"So you made it..."

"Yes! And you made it with us, too. It worked, Lia!"

Zinnya easily compensates my lack of enthusiasm as I realize that my sacrifice would have been worth something even if I didn't come back. And yet, that's not what I'm most happy for at the moment.

"I'm infinitely grateful to you, for everything you did... but above all, I'm so glad you two are fine!!"

[cosmosoracle]

"I don't like your style, but you were able to escape from me only by using your strength. Now that's something I recognize." Evangelia's body is floating not too far from the battlefield, thrown out together with a (somehow alive) very desperate Lumen. Zinnya has been awakened by Hoyt, and she's been sent away to take care of the corpse, so that they can keep hoping to bring her back one more time and Hoyt can talk to the General alone.

When things got to their darkest points, with Evangelia having been eaten alive and Zinnya floating unconscious in front of the titan, Hoyt turned invisible. He could have done anything to just take care of his own business and leave this place he hates, but instead he remained and kept avoiding hit after hit after hit. When he was grabbed, he forced his way out of the claws. Only when he moved a little farther away Roktor began to talk again, with a much more controlled voice: "Don't throw away all the work you've done. Don't run away." And Hoyt swam back to the General; following the oracle's example, he dropped the concealment only when he was right in front of his face.

"You have my attention. Speak."

Hoyt takes a breath.

For the entirety of their stay in Outsea, Hoyt never really expressed much interest for Lia's troubles in her lake. He faked participation with General Khu'Tihua when Lia wasn't able to convince her alone, turning the tables; he fully gave agency to Lia when decisions had to be taken, without questioning her will unless he was asked for it; he chose to have her go out of Hormun's den and deal with General Alara to solve the situation when he and Zinnya would have remained stuck there. But now that the rest of the party is down? He really doesn't have any external reason to stay and support the cause. He could have left; he could have just turned his back on them and all of this situation. But he doesn't.

"The creature that the girl was talking about has almost cleared the entirety of a lake; like she was saying, it is a serious threat, and it could reach this same river. I also deem it necessary to have it be dealt with when the time comes, and I consider it to be a worthy opponent for you." Roktor lets the words sink in, then smirks while looking down at his hand - the one that was about to crush Hoyt if he didn't escape.

"Very few people can claim to stand above me, or to have been able to wound a King. Your opinion is heard." He turns to Opak. His tone is much steadier, much less angry, but absolutely just as ferocious as before. "The Generals will go at war with this monster," he states. "And if I deem it fun enough to join, I will also fight when the time comes."

With that said, he turns back to Hoyt, who respectfully bows his head. A tingling sensation spreads through him whole: while Evangelia's dream was about the Vitalia and Zinnya's was about an unknown creature, Hoyt's was about him losing a challenge against a King, with consequent mockery and betrayal by everyone the assassin had around - everyone he cared about, in a way or another. But the dream has been denied. Hoyt has won.

Roktor starts walking along the streets of the city. Hoyt watches him go, only to raise his voice one more time with his last thoughts to offer.

"The memories of the girl can be shared, so that you can see the creature as well. Do you want to?"

Roktor turns one last time, only slowing down his pace for a second. "I don't need to know my enemy. They'll just have to be sorry if they get to face me."

[cosmosoracle]

"Zinnya's mood went from zero when she found out that Enais broke the chief hag's cauldron into unfixable pieces to hero when she found a talking scroll named Ivent who can't wait to be part of an adventure, while Hoyt keeps hating seasalt water that makes his metal hand cranky..."

"But I'm so glad they're by my side. They both helped me so when the time came. I should really be a little more forward when it comes to asking for help, but now Quho gave us such a big hand in trying to find General Roktor, and everyone's contribution to the confrontation with General Khu'Tihua may have actually given us a chance to get her approval as well!"

"We'll just have to wait for today, that's the perfect chance for some sightseeing and for performing at the Sinking Hole... I'm not missing that this time!"

[cosmosoracle]

How was the latest adventures? ((session))

"Heheh, silly me thought that after finding such a threat in the deeper areas of Outsea things could be a little calmer by dealing with the other generals... but there's still a long way to go."

"I'll give you a very short premise of the situation right now: we decided we're going to stay around a week in Outsea to find some help for my lake, and we found out that three people from there did reach the city. The six rulers of the capital, the generals of Outsea, aren't fully aware of the situation, but if I really want them to do anything, they need to be convinced one by one."

"So far, we spoke to Opak, the priest of the Empress of the River, and he refuses to put the city through more troubles than it already suffered for the civil war in the past years. Cila, the priestess of Gozreh, is the one taking care of the two surviving children instead, and she's the one that suggested us to go find the others. We convinced Alara, the guardian of the depths, by finding the ley lines cave for her, and we fought with her and Quho to obtain the stones and get out of there alive."

"Now, Quho, the hunter chief, is tied to Outsea by a deal with a group of Sea hags that are supposedly protecting the city from a charcoal skinned man who threatened to destroy the balance of the currents of the river, and we're trying to free the city from both the threats. General Khu'Tihua, the captain of the guards, and general Roktor, the Champion of the River, are still to be found, and this day is the third day."

"We began by exploring the territory of the hags, which claimed three shipwrecks that are right outside of the cave the man should be in... we found five, one of which seems to be stronger than the others. Knowing a little bit about hags from Suuntra, Quho's witch wife, we decided to swim right past them and go through the cave. They noticed us, but they didn't follow - they seemed busy."

"What we found at the end of the tunnel is a sunken city instead, not just a refuge. Only few buildings seem to be still up, holding the ceiling that already crashed down on most of the place. It seems built by non-aquatic creatures, but doors and windows are clearly to be crossed by swimming, for there are no actual streets or steps or anything of the sort..."

"We already found a River drake darting through the outside houses. I'm not really sure about how to proceed: Hoyt insists I take decisions, like he was the one leading when we explored Bodie's Haunt in the Protectorate, while Zinnya poses the weirdest doubts and suggestions to act. I... don't feel ready to lead them. And I feel responsible for their lives right now, more than ever - not to mention that if anything goes wrong, Outsea may also pay the price for it. I prefer to vote together. He's the expert when it comes to stealthing and spying, so I think he should go ahead, just like we did back then."

"And what about the man, assuming he's already there...? Maybe I'd like to speak to him first... but... from what we know, he's someone that won't care about rules, and he already rejected to reason with Quho himself three years before this... what chances do I have...?"