#i drew his real face rq for that last drawing and like

[dungeonclown]

jor-juj . . . grap nip?

[thereisnoyellinginfantasycostco]

“All That Lives Must Die” Part 9

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5] [Part 6] [Part 7] [Part 8]

When Lup got the call from Taako, she could’ve cried from relief. While she knew that Kravitz could never let Taako die forever, Lup had thought herself into circles about what could’ve gone wrong. Thought about her never hearing from her brother again, him cutting her off because she killed him. Thought about her and her heart’s relationship being irreparable broken like his and Lucretia’s was. But nothing could be wrong when her brother (her twin her heart) sounds so normal and happy, happy to hear her to talk to her.

“Hey, Lu-Lu, almost all of the birds are here. We’re having a little get together shindig and well we can’t really have a Bird Party without all the birds now can we?” He laughed and she laughed with him. He wants her at her house, he wants her over and wants to talk with her.

“Right, okay. I just gotta finish up this one bounty for RQ and then I’ll be over to you and Kravitz’s, kay?” Lup twirled her scythe in her hand as she cut a portal to her next bounty.

“ ‘Kay. Can’t wait to see you.” The line went dead, leaving Lup with a feeling of unease that didn’t go away. There was a tone underlying his voice that set something off in her. Some genetic feature within her blood that thrummed with warning as she heard his words.

The feeling was still there when she was knocking on Taako’s door two days later, and only increased when the door opened.

Her brother was there, and he looked...normal. Healthy skin (not pale from death), ears flicked up (not down, not scared he’s not scared of her), and a bright smile. But there was something off with his face, as if everything was slightly to the left of where it should be.

But that’s ridiculous. Ridiculous and she needs to stop doubting her brother. If anything, he should be the one doubting her. She killed him, she hurt him so badly. Lup should definitely be grateful-

There was a thrumming in her blood again, a pulse of warning, of screaming in her ears that something was so very wrong.

Lup’s lips twisted as she pushed the pulse away, this was her brother after all. “Hey, Koko.” She opened her arms to embrace him in a hug.

He grinned at her, bright and perfect (wrong wrong wrong wrong), “Hey Lulu.” Taako moved forwards, wrapping his arms around her and hugging her close to his chest.

Over his shoulder, Lup looked into his house and more of the warning thrummed within her. Sitting inside, were two groups of people.

On one couch were Lucretia, Kravitz, and Angus. Each holding a cup of some tea who’s smell made her ears draw back in some primal instinct that tells her when things are so very very wrong. They were making small talk between each other, every so often trying to attract the others on the other couch to join them.

On the other couch, looking decidedly very uncomfortable, were Magnus and Merle. They didn’t hold tea cups, and didn’t really interact with anyone on the other couch. For this reason (no tea no wrongness), Lup decided to sit with them. They made room for her in the middle of them and she sat down.

Taako didn’t seem to notice the atmosphere, and merely clapped his hands together, “Fantastic, almost all the birds are here! Just one more to go!”

Lup looked around, and furrowed her brow, “We’re down two, Koko. Where’s Barry?”

“Yeah, Taako,” Magnus’s gruff voice held an edge to it, “Where’s Barry?”

With a flick of his hand, Taako dismissed them and took a seat in his chair, “Oh, he’s downstairs looking at some books Krav brought back from one of his bounties.”

“When you were talking to him, you said that it was a sciencey thing.” Magnus’s grip tightened on the arm of the sofa that they were sitting on.

“Right..right. They’re books on science, and they’re in a language Krav here can’t read, so I decided to let him try his hand at it. He’s probably...sucked into his work right now, but whatever. I’ll go get Jort man whenever Davenport gets here.”

“Why don’t you go get him now so his lover can talk to him?”

Lup scowled, and elbowed Magnus. Even with the wrongness that looking at Taako gives her, Lup felt tired of hearing Magnus needled her twin, “Calm down, Mags, I know Barry. If you rip him away from his work when he’s neck deep in it, he’ll be distracted all night.”

“Thank you, Lulu.” Taako grinned, and Lup had to avert her eyes from his face.

“Yeah, no problem, Koko.” Lup grinned, though it was weak.

Taako didn’t seem to notice as he reached for the teapot and a teacup, “Would you like a cup of tea?”

“No!” Lup shouted, her ears drawing back. A flush rose to her cheeks as she realized how weird she must’ve looked, “I mean, no. I’m fine right now, thanks for offering.” Gripping Magnus’s bicep (her hand couldn’t even go all the way around it), she tugged at him, “Hey, Mags, can I talk with you...in private?”

Magnus met her gaze and gave her a very slight nod, “Of course, I know just the place.” Rising to his feet, Magnus led her to Angus’s room.

Lup shut the door behind them, flicking her wrist to lock it, “What has happened to my brother?”

Magnus scratched at the back of his neck, “We don’t...know, exactly. The kid had a theory-”

“Angus? Which reminds me, what’s wrong with Lucy, Krav, and Ango?”

“Taako charmed them, we’re almost positive. I’m not sure how much you could see, but for Merle and I? Their eyes are tinted purple: Krav’s entire iris and pupil are solid purple and we think that’s because he’s been charmed the longest, Lucy’s, uhh, the white parts of her eyes are purple, and she got got last night. The kid’s...the kid’s the same as Lucy.” He sighed, dropping down onto Angus’s bed and making it groan with the unfamiliar weight.

“Taako...charmed them? Why would he do that?”

“We don’t know, but there’s some sort of corruption that’s been overtaking him since he came back to life.”

Lup’s face paled, and she gasped, covering her mouth with a hand, “Since he came back to life? That was almost a week ago, Burnsides!” The ends of her hair began to light up in her fury, “Why didn’t you tell me the second you knew.” She rushed forwards, grapping him by the collar of his shirt.

Magnus’s eyes went wide and he raised his hands in surrender, “Angus told us not to!”

“And you took the advice of a child?” Her elvish form was slowly losing it’s composure, and Magnus could see brief flashes of her skull.

“Yeah! We trust him! Look-” Magnus gently took Lup’s hands off of his collar, “We need to be objective about this.”

“Objective about what? About the fact that I could’ve seriously fucked up my own brother?”

“Lup don’t blame yourself. See, this is why we didn’t call you!” Magnus sighed, and was silent for a few moments as he reassembled his thoughts, “We need to be objective on how to save him…and what we’re saving him from.”

“You don’t even know?”

“I told you! The kid had a theory and he got got before he could tell us.”

Lup paced in the small child’s bedroom (small not only in the sense that it belongs to a tiny child, but because the poster lined wall and galaxy painted ceiling felt like they were boxing Lup in), ears downturned as she wrung her hands, “Shit...shit.” Her eyes were wide, small flames flickered in her irises as she kept pacing. Her paces got smaller and smaller until she was barely taking a step before turning. Her chest began to heave, pupils growing smaller as her ears raised only to flatten against her head.

“Lup.” Magnus’s voice was soft, but it was enough to startle Lup out of the spiral that she worked herself in. She looked up, eyes still wide. Lup’s teeth were still half bared in a snarl with her ears flat against the sides of her head, but some of the fire went out of her eyes, and Magnus took that as a cue to continue, “Lup, we’re going to save him. He’s Taako from TV!”

The nickname, familiar and not at the same time, drew a laugh from her. Muted and subdued though it was, he found it was another small victory. It was all about small victories with her, he had found over their century-long road trip through the planar system. A twist of the lip here, maybe a snort there, but there were always cues for him to continue, and cues for him to stop.

“He’s Taako, and he’s your brother, and my best friend...and whatever Merle thinks of him. And we’re not going to fucking abandon him.”

Lup’s grin turned slightly more forceful, slightly more wide, “You’re goddamn right, Mags. You’re goddamn right.” With that, she turned around. Her red cloak whirled around her, the very edges of it caught fire, and Magnus knew the cue. So he stopped.

When she entered the living room, the only cue she gave Merle that she was in on the truth was a glance out of the corner of her eye. This was completely disregarded by the way that Lup took her brother by the arm and said, “Hey, Koko. Can I talk to you in the kitchen for a quick second?”

He grinned, and nodded, pretending not to notice the flinch as he touched his twin’s elbow to lead her into the kitchen.

The last thing that the birds saw (the birds conscious enough to see it for real) was the flash of Lup’s red cloak and how she gripped the handle of her wand. Merle and Magnus shared a worried look, this wouldn’t end well.

[Part 10]