[God Quest] Things didn't kill me but I don't feel stronger

REMI

the bastion

& i feel like i'm naked in front of the crowd
'Cause these words are my diary, screaming out loud

The shoreline near the Northaven stretches out in front of him, a quiet expanse of sand and sea under a sky shifting from dusk to night. The waves murmur against the shore, a steady rhythm beneath the restless thrum of Remi’s own heartbeat. He stands at the water’s edge, the tide lapping at his boots, the scent of salt and brine thick in the air.

It should feel like relief; instead, all the Bastion can sense is dread.

The weight of his completed tasks lingers on his shoulders, but it isn’t the exhaustion he’s used to—it’s something sharp and electric. The nearness of what he’s sought, the possibility of having what he came for, tightens around his ribs like a vice. He's so close, and yet the possibility of it all going wrong has him holding his breath.

His hands flex at his sides, curling and uncurling as if around a thread of hope so fragile he’s almost afraid to acknowledge it. But Mort had said that Vi might grant him a rose, and if there is anything Remi still trusts in this world, it is Mort. So he lets out a slow breath, lets the tension in his shoulders ease as much as he can. Then, pressing his palm against his chest, just over his heart, he closes his eyes and prays.

"Mort"

The name is a whisper against the wind, carried out to the tide.

I have done everything you asked. If Vi will grant me the rose… please. I need it.

His fingers tighten against his sternum, his breath shallow but steady. Because it isn’t just about needing it. It’s about Ronin, about their family, about making sure that this doesn’t become another loss carved into the story of their lives. Having lived without Ronin once and away from him for seasons, Remi knows without a doubt that he can't take much more of the violet space that's built up between them, whether Ronin knows it or not.

---

Remi is turning in his quest from I believe that we were supposed to find this

Remi has been given a quest! He must act in Vi's image until such time as his quest is completed by:

1. Doing a selfless deed
tell her to find me an acre of land Gives Maea the Guardian's Treehouse, which is his last tether to the GW.
2. Tending a grave
[SE] Worn-out places Places flowers on the graves at the Temple in SB
3. Protecting something/someone
acta non verba Protects Fox from a void attack in the GW
4. Collecting soil from the Greatwood
I’m stranded and barej

& i know that you'll use them, however you want to

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

i have died everyday waiting for you

The air warmed, golden light bleeding into the dusk, wrapping around Remi like the quiet hum of a familiar lullaby. And then, as naturally as the tide itself, Mort stepped onto the shoreline, barefoot, curls tousled by the salt-laced wind. He smiled as he always did—boyish, bright, endlessly kind—but there was something solemn in his gaze, something knowing. In his hands, delicate yet unwavering, he held a rose. It was not just any rose, but Vi’s rose—pale as first light, the edges of its petals kissed with the softest flush of gold.

"You’ve done all that I asked," Mort murmured, his voice gentle but steady as he stepped closer. "And Vi has given his answer."

He lifted the rose slightly, letting the weight of the moment settle between them before tilting his head. "You already know what must be done," he continued, his fingers brushing the petals before turning the bloom just enough to reveal the thorns along its stem. "Like with the Blight, Ronin must be pricked by one of these." His gaze flickered over Remi’s face, taking in every trace of tension, of exhaustion, of hope too fragile to hold comfortably.

"This will heal him," Mort promised, voice quiet but firm. "But it will not erase everything that has come before. He will still remember. He will still be changed by what has happened." His dimples deepened as his smile turned bittersweet. "You know better than anyone—healing isn’t the same as forgetting."

Carefully, reverently, Mort extended the rose toward Remi, the golden light around them shifting like something alive.

REMI

the bastion

& i feel like i'm naked in front of the crowd
'Cause these words are my diary, screaming out loud

The moment Mort extends the rose, Remi's heart stutters. His breath catches somewhere between his chest and throat, tangled in anticipation and dread, hope and grief, all at once. He reaches out with a reverence reserved only for this—this miracle, fragile and fierce—carefully taking the delicate flower into his hands.

"Thank you," he whispers, and though it's hardly adequate, it carries the weight of all his desperation, gratitude, and love. His gaze lifts briefly to Mort's gentle, knowing eyes, offering silent appreciation, understanding, and respect, before the restlessness stirring beneath his ribs propels him into action once again.

Turning swiftly, Remi moves back toward the houseboat, urgency gripping his chest. His heartbeat is loud in his ears, a sharp rhythm against the distant murmur of waves. The rose is cradled protectively against his chest, a bloom as delicate as his hopes; as powerful as his love for Ronin.

The houseboat door yields under his hand, and he steps inside, gaze immediately scanning the space. He doesn't hesitate, doesn't pause, his voice quiet yet filled with barely contained urgency as he calls, "Ronin?" Because now, finally, they can heal—even if scars remain.

& i know that you'll use them, however you want to

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

gratuitous violence; unnecessary, satisfying, heartbreaking

"Remi?" Ronin calls back to his husband in a sing-song voice, even if it's still a little muted compared to the usual mischief and vibrance that would lace through the tone. Standing with his sback to the Bastion, Ronin is barefoot in a loose linen shirt, his dark hair messy at the back in a way that suggests he's not long gotten up from a nap. Reaching automatically for another mug to fill with the tea he's just brewed, he turns from the counter to smile towards Remi - only for the expression to fall abruptly away from his face at the sight of the rose in his hands.

"...I thought we agreed that there was no need for this," he says softly, the barest hint of a warning in his voice that's usually reserved for rowdy Torchers making silly decisions. He doesn't move - doesn't back away or towards the other man - but almost without his knowledge, three bolts of fiery radiance ignite in a halo around his shoulders, locked and loaded and ready to fire.

RONIN

REMI

the bastion

& i feel like i'm naked in front of the crowd
'Cause these words are my diary, screaming out loud

Remi stops mid-step, his pulse quickening not just at the sight of the starbolts hovering dangerously at Ronin’s shoulders, but at the hollow look in his husband’s eyes—the abrupt shift from quiet comfort to cold warning. He’s seen that look before, knows it intimately from battles they’ve fought together, and from battles they've fought against each other in long ago once upon a times. It lodges something sharp and tight in his chest that he finds almost impossible to breathe around.

His fingers tighten carefully around the rose’s stem, mindful of its fragile petals. Slowly, he raises his other hand, palm out, in a quiet gesture meant to calm, though his gaze never leaves Ronin’s face. "That's what you wanted," he acknowledges softly, steadying his voice despite the tension radiating from the Knight. "But it will only take a second. Just one little prick from the thorn, Ronin, and then—"

Remi swallows, stepping carefully forward even though every instinct screams at him to move cautiously. "—then we can set this whole thing aside. Never speak of it again, if that’s what you want." He pauses then, trying to find the man he loves behind the wary, distant expression. "Please," he murmurs quietly, his voice gentling further. Gods knew neither of them would be happy having to do this the hard way.

& i know that you'll use them, however you want to

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

gratuitous violence; unnecessary, satisfying, heartbreaking

Later - providing this goes the way Remi hopes - Ronin will apologise, and apologise again for what happens next. He might never stop apologising, in fact, because gods know he wouldn't so much as lay a finger on his husband in any other context. But like a key fitting in a lock, as the Bastion makes his intentions all too clear, Dahlia's words whisper through his mind.

If anyone tries to cure you? Kill them outright.

There is no way but the hard way after that, and though Ronin can't back up any further against the counter, he can absolutely stop Remi from coming any closer. The three firebolts quiver for only a fraction of a second before the Knight lets them loose; he aims one towards Remi's shoulder to distract, to disarm, to dazzle. The other two, though, he aims right for his chest where the rose remains cradled, intent on destroying it entirely.

RONIN

Ronin's attack misses.

---

Remi HP: 1545/1545
Ronin HP: 900/900

REMI

the bastion

& i feel like i'm naked in front of the crowd
'Cause these words are my diary, screaming out loud

The starbolts ignite, brilliant and fierce; Remi twists out of the way with reflexes honed by lifetimes of near-death experiences, ducking low as splintered wood rains down around him, the door of their houseboat torn open in smouldering holes that spill light onto the chaos unfolding within. The damage to their home barely registers; the only thought in Remi’s mind now is survival, though not his own.

Breathing fast, eyes brightening with an intensity that's both fierce and heartbreakingly distant, Remi’s humanity slips fractionally to the side, letting predatory instinct fill in the gaps. He doesn’t think about the man before him as his husband—doesn’t think about how his own heart fractures with every hostile move Ronin makes.

With a surge of power, two tentacles erupt from his sides, dark and sinuous, coiling through the broken air of their ruined houseboat toward the Knight. They seek to grapple Ronin tightly—not to hurt, but to hold—to immobilize him long enough to finish this. To end the nightmare they're both trapped in. "Ronin," he growls, voice deeper, rougher, though he doesn’t expect a response. "I’m sorry—but this is happening whether you want it or not."

& i know that you'll use them, however you want to

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Remi's grapple is successful

---

Remi HP: 1545/1545
Ronin HP: 900/900

RONIN

the white knight

light is easy to love.

Ronin does respond - just not with words, exactly. Growling a sound more suited to a draconic throat than one still fully human, he attempts so twist himself out of the way of Remi's grapple. But whether it's the confined space, the sinuous tentacles or sheer dumb luck (ding dong), he's caught in their snare, and his husband - not that he sees him as such right now - is much closer with that rose than he'd particularly like.

Snapping teeth that are suddenly fanged and sharp, he struggles only for a moment or so before simply... stopping in his tracks, falling quiet and still in the other man's grip.

"What were you saying?" Ronin - a second Ronin - says from behind Remi, where the suddenly open doorway (er, hole) is.

---

Ronin uses:

Magic: Once More With Feeling (FEAT) | Twice per combat (e.g. KQs, PQ+s, PVP) Ronin may use two actions in one turn.
Type: Light | Rank: Mastered 

Magic: Astral Projection | Ronin can project a version of himself into another location. He can see, hear and speak in this space, and he can affect it physically, including combat situations. If the astral projection is damaged, it can no longer physically affect the space. He may only project as far as the sub-boards adjacent to his physical location - and only if he has previously visited the board.
Type: Light | Rank: Mastered 

Magic: Now You See Me | Ronin may switch places with his astral projection (when summoned). Requires a 1 post cool down.
Type: Light | Rank: Mastered

show me your darkness.

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

REMI

the bastion

& i feel like i'm naked in front of the crowd
'Cause these words are my diary, screaming out loud

Remi's blood runs cold as Ronin suddenly goes limp in his grasp, though it's the voice behind him, casually conversational yet deadly, that sends a true pulse of dread down his spine. He pivots instantly, kraken-tentacles still holding onto astral!Ronin, as his gaze locks onto the second Knight in the ruined doorway. A shiver of frustrated sorrow rolls through him, jaw tightening with sudden realization. Of course. Ronin had always been too clever by half.

"You're making this harder than it needs to be," Remi replies unhappily before tensing one of his tentacles hard enough around Ronin's projection to hopefully render it physically inert. "And as much as we both normally enjoy that—" Releasing Ronin's projection, Remi's tentacles lash toward Ronin once again.

"It doesn't have to be like this."

& i know that you'll use them, however you want to

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Remi's grapple misses.

---

Remi HP: 1545/1545
Ronin HP: 900/900

gratuitous violence; unnecessary, satisfying, heartbreaking

"It can be over as soon as you drop that rose in the ocean," Ronin tells his husband with the sort of calm reserved for giving out death sentences, even as the corners of his eyes crease just a little to feel his projection crushed back into incorporeality beneath the weight of Remi's tentacles. Tentacles that come whipping at him again only a moment later, but the Knight isn't sticking around this time to be snagged by them.

Leaping back through the hole in the houseboat where their front door had once been, pale, leathery wings spread from his shoulders, beating hard to lift him into the air. At the same time, three more firebolts are tossed in the Bastion's direction, squarely aimed on the departing image of him but equally uncaring as to whether they bring the houseboat down upon him instead. Anything to prevent him from getting airborne to follow.

---

Magic: Radiant Firebolts | Ronin may summon radiant energy as a fiery projectile. Control is excellent, and multiple projectiles may be created at once. (In quests or other combat situations requiring dice rolling, only 3 firebolts may be created per post). Range: 60ft
Type: Light | Rank: Mastered

RONIN

Ronin's starbolts hit.

---

Remi HP: 1350/1545
Ronin HP: 900/900