It couldn't be anymore beautiful

Maea

And from the dark

"...and then he actually answered, and it was like nothing I've ever experienced before. You wouldn't expect the god of death to be so kind, or warm - but he was all of that, and more. I can't even explain it." Walking down the path leading up to Frey's Breath, Maea regailed Liam with the miraculous encounter she'd had with Mort. Her entire being seemed filled with pent up energy and the way she spoke was animated, phrases accentuated with sweeping gestures. She kept turning around, walking backwards for a few paces so she could see him properly and every time a wide smile lit her up from within. "So that's why I need water, and to talk about what it's like to return from death, and... Liam, do you know how to guide lost souls? I knew someone who could, once, but that was on Ludo's behalf and I've no idea how to go about it." 
But if that was the only obstacle to reuniting with her companion, Maea would find a way. Someone had to know; there was no doubt in her mind that Mort wouldn't set her a task that was impossible to complete.

Something new will come on through
and rise again

Tryin' to wash away all the blood I've spilt
This lust is a burden that we both share

Liam walked along beside Maea - or he would have, if she didn't keep skipping ahead and walk in front of him, turning to walk backwards along the path to Frey's Breath. Despite the oppressive heat, Liam hadn't stopped smiling since her friend had told him her news. She deserved a turn of good luck, in his opinion, and he would do anything in his power to assist her in her quest.

"I'm afraid I'm not well-versed in guiding lost souls," he admitted as they walked. After all, hadn't he been a lost soul until not so very long ago? But it seemed silly to say that maybe Maea had already fulfilled this part of her quest by guiding him back to a place in the world after his self-imposed exile. "Did Mort mean souls that had passed, or could you guide someone who was living and lost? We all have souls, right?"

Two sinners can't atone from a lone prayer
Souls tied, intertwined by our pride and guilt

Liam

Maea

And from the dark

Pausing in her step long enough for Liam to catch up, she fell in to walk beside him. "Good question. I suppose the task is more about understanding the wisps, their nature – so, rather than performing the task itself, I might just try to surround myself with them, and... see what happens?" Whether it be guiding someone or leading them astray, surely she would discover something she hadn't known before.

"Are you doing alright?" she asked a moment later, looking closer at his face. "I know I asked you along, but you don't have to if you find this place uncomfortable..." The temperature was so comfortable to her that she sometimes forgot how it might be oppressive to others. The last thing she wanted was to cause him a heatstroke.

Something new will come on through
and rise again

Tryin' to wash away all the blood I've spilt
This lust is a burden that we both share

"If there's anything I can do..." he offered (not for the first time), wishing that he had something to say that could help Maea figure out this last task. It certainly seemed like the most challenging of what Mort had asked of her. He supposed that it was no small thing, to bring someone or something back from the dead, but even so, he couldn't begin to imagine what Mort might have meant by 'guiding lost souls' - nor could he determine exactly how one would go about understanding a wisp, but that was why it was Maea's quest and not his.

Maybe if he ever got a companion, he'd understand.

For now, though, he could focus on reassuring Maea. "I'm fine," he said with a smile. "It's well worth the trip." The springs, of course, had been quite pleasant last time they'd come, but so, too, was it worth it just to support his friend.

Two sinners can't atone from a lone prayer
Souls tied, intertwined by our pride and guilt

Liam

Maea

And from the dark

"...I'll let you know," she finished the sentence, smiling up at him. "You're already helping just by being here, though. I don't know who else to even talk to about these things." Hadama was weighed down by the burdens of leadership and his duty as a demigod, Talyson still picked up the pieces of what LongNight had done to his home and life, and while Thalassa might be willing to help Maea with quests, she couldn't see herself expressing her elation like this around the captain. It would feel... silly, maybe, in a way that didn't seem to apply around Liam.

Ahead of them the tunnel opened up. The small fires Maea had maintained for lighting the way were not nearly enough to light the entire system of pools, crannies and nooks, and the high ceiling was lost in darkness. The drip of water as steam coiled and condensed offered a musical backdrop to the serene vista; Maea only tore her eyes off it to give her companion a scrutinizing stare to make sure he wasn't being stoic to the point of collapsing, then nodded. "Alright. But if you do feel dizzy, please say something before you faint, alright? You're too big for me to carry." It was only half teasing, but she trusted him to be honest with her.

Hurrying on towards the hot spring, her tail whipped excitedly as she dug out a waterskin from the satchel. Kneeling by the edge to fill it up before they got in to soak, she waited impatiently as liquid trickled in through the mouthpiece, gradually bloating the skin.

Something new will come on through
and rise again

Tryin' to wash away all the blood I've spilt
This lust is a burden that we both share

As their friendship had grown, Liam had come to treasure the fact that Maea would trust him in such a way, and he knew that she would indeed ask if there was anything he could do. So, too, was he glad that she felt she could talk to him - because the reverse was certainly true, and if he could rely on her, he hoped that she could return the favor.

The cavern opened up to the springs, revealing a dimly lit collection of pools upon which floated various aquatic flora that were capable of withstanding the heat. Perhaps, if he visited frequently enough, Liam would begin to build up a resistance to the temperature, as well. In truth, the cave system leading to Frey's Breath was worse than the hot springs themselves, which were actually somewhat pleasant, and now that they'd arrived there, Liam could breathe a little easier - at least until it was time to return home.

The soldier held up a hand solemnly. "I promise," he said, his voice teasing and his eyes dancing. "I will not faint and leave you to drag me out by my feet." Although, frankly, the mental image was an amusing one, even if he had no intentions of seeing it come to fruition.

Liam followed Maea to the edge of the pool, careful to avoid the tail that whipped excitedly behind her. He settled into a crouch beside her, keeping watch over the cavern, content to sit in silence until her task was complete.

Two sinners can't atone from a lone prayer
Souls tied, intertwined by our pride and guilt

Liam

Maea

And from the dark

"It'll be by the feet or the hair," she quipped back, struggling hard to contain the laughter, "but it's your choice whether to go bald or not." Maea tried really hard to imagine him without the golden curls but fell short; even as she filled up the waterskin the thought kept making her shoulders quiver with suppressed mirth.

Once the skin had been sufficiently filled, she stoppered the dripping vessel and flicked water from her fingertips. Sitting back on her heels, för a quiet moment she simply absorbed the quiet serenity of the cavern, with its drifting haze and the clear, pristine water. When a whiff of something coppery reached her nose it wrinkled, drawn from her reveries. The blood pool sort of ruined the rare beauty in her eyes, its bubbling crimson an obscene contrast that stung the eyes.

"What do you make of that?" she asked Liam, pointing to the Ancient bath as she rose to put the precious water away.

Something new will come on through
and rise again

Tryin' to wash away all the blood I've spilt
This lust is a burden that we both share

Liam winced. Once in his youth, he'd cropped his golden curls short just to see if it would be easier to manage, and he'd hated the result. "Feet, please," he said with a laugh, thinking ruefully of the days when that was the most challenging thing he was faced with. He'd grown older and wiser in the time since, but life had also gotten far more complicated.

In any case, he waited while Maea finished filling the water skin, then followed her gaze to the Ancient bath. He hadn't really noticed the blood-filled pool on their last trip here, but now he considered a tactful response. "It's not my cup of tea," he admitted after a moment. "But it doesn't seem to be bothering anything, so..." In other words, don't push him in, please.

Two sinners can't atone from a lone prayer
Souls tied, intertwined by our pride and guilt

Liam

Maea

And from the dark

"Hmmm..." Lavender eyes lingered on the bubbling pit of crimson, expression unreadable. Cautiously, like it was something alive that might surge up to swallow her, Maea approached it as one compelled and desperately striving to resist. The scent - thick and coppery, almost electrical -  caused her nostrils to flare. As always with these things, it was the lack of visceral response that bothered her most. What should be revolting, appalling, terrifying in its alienness... was neither of those things.

"Do you get bothered by anything?" Glancing back over her shouder she smiled at Liam, fondly though not without a hint of exasperation. "I'll be feeling downright boring eventually if nothing ever shocks you..." Almost out of spite she poked a finger into the blood, expecting... what, she wasn't clear on. More than the subtle ripple worrying across the surface, that's for sure. It was hot, and viscous, and the way it coated her skin had her shuddering imperceptively, for all the wrong reasons.

Spooked, she turned her back on it and hurried back to the clear water, the clean air, and the very normal and very safe man that waited for her. Wiping her hands thoroughly on a kerchief she nodged her chin towards the spring. "Do you plan on getting in?"

Something new will come on through
and rise again

Tryin' to wash away all the blood I've spilt
This lust is a burden that we both share

The soldier considered the question, his gaze fixed for a moment on the pool of red. "Yes," he answered after a moment, offering a lopsided smile to Maea. "Not as much as when I was younger, though." After everything he'd been through, there was just so little that felt worthy of his ire. Nothing, he thought, could hurt him like the loss of his family, the desertion of his home, the years of solitude during which all he could do was think. It had instilled a certain moderation in him that he now found difficult to shake. If he'd seen the bloody pool years ago, he might have been disgusted, but now... now, it just felt like something that he could coexist with.

In any case, Liam turned to the springs and shucked off his shirt. "It seems like a waste not to," he said with a grin. "It's actually quite pleasant. Very relaxing." Slipping into the water, he leaned back against the edge of the springs with a sigh of relief. With more people visiting the Greatwood, he'd been able to spar more frequently in recent weeks than in the previous few years. It had worked muscles that he hadn't realized were so out of use, and the warm water was a balm to a few aches and pains that he hadn't quite recognized before now. Liam looked up at Maea. "Care to join me?"

Two sinners can't atone from a lone prayer
Souls tied, intertwined by our pride and guilt

Liam

Maea

And from the dark

Registering the broad shoulders and well toned muscles of his arms as Liam pulled off his shirt, Maea was perhaps a bit slow in averting her gaze to give him privacy. Still rubbing the bloody finger against her trousers she listened to the sloshing of water as he entered the hot spring, haunted by more than the lingering shivers going up and down her spine.
"Uh, sure," she replied to his offer, feeling anything but relaxed. Making sure to keep her own back turned as she changed into swimwear, she suddenly dreaded any kind of silence and kept talking just to fill it. "Like what? You can say that pool if you want to - it bothers me, and I'm an actual ancient."

Taking refuge in the water, Maea scanned the cave for any sign of lilies. It was habitual at this point, and also served as a wonderful excuse to look anywhere except at the soldier. The warm water did feel good, though as suspected she struggled to settle down. Her nose itched. Hair kept falling into her eyes. No matter how she twisted something was always off with the way she sat, and her arms kept floating up to the surface, bobbing stupidly with every breath. And stupid grinning faces kept intruding on her thoughts; Thalassa's talk of 'cues' she wasn't reading, and Flora's teasing about scribbling names in margins... Agh, there she went again, dwelling over nonsense for no reason.

Something new will come on through
and rise again

Tryin' to wash away all the blood I've spilt
This lust is a burden that we both share

The hot springs were relaxing, and Liam was content to enjoy them, looking away to give Maea a modicum of privacy. While he sat, he searched instead for any lilies that might crop up. He'd yet to have even a semblance of luck contributing to efforts against the Family, but that didn't mean he couldn't keep trying.

At Maea's question, the soldier contemplated for a moment in silence. "I always wanted a dragon," he admitted quietly, feeling a familiar flush of shame that he hadn't been deemed worthy of one. "Sometimes, when I'm around people that have them, I'm jealous." Koa and Zavien were two examples: men who might have been brothers-in-arms, if things had been different. He'd often wondered, in his past, what he must look like to be a Dragoon without a dragon. And though he wasn't the only one without, he still contemplated what it said about him that he had never found one.

He snuck a look at Maea, who had slipped into the water beside him. She shifted a few times in what seemed to be an uncomfortable way, and Liam grasped at that rather than continue to look at his own inadequacy. "Are you alright? You seem a little uncomfortable."

Two sinners can't atone from a lone prayer
Souls tied, intertwined by our pride and guilt

Liam

Maea

And from the dark

When she'd said 'bothered', Maea had probably meant something a bit stronger than jealousy. Like the mingled attraction and repulsion she felt towards the bloody pool, or the firm, fierce boundary she drew at cannibalism, bullying and, lately, the color purple. Tempted to laugh, a quick glance at Liam had her thinking better of it. "Yeah, I'm okay."

Sitting up, Maea scooted over so she could lift a dripping hand to pat him on the head. He was warmer than expected, and golden strands clung to her palm when she withdrew again. It had been an impulse, but the awkwardness afterwards was immediate. "You're probably the kindest person I've ever met," she informed him, not quite meeting his gaze. She was being serious but for a hint of a smile. "If it's any comfort, I get jealous too. Whenever I see people use magic I can't access, it reminds me of all the things I have lost." It had gotten easier once she learned to use the fire properly, but some things still stung. It could make her bitter at times.

Something new will come on through
and rise again

Tryin' to wash away all the blood I've spilt
This lust is a burden that we both share

Okay, so maybe Maea had meant something bigger than just a little jealousy, but honestly, there were very few external things that bothered Liam. Sure, there were the big ones: lying, cheating, inequity. But pools of blood and hunting habits and the kind of specific things that Liam took her question to mean... not so much. So instead he defaulted to the internal things that bothered him most, because they should be things that he could control, but couldn't. And maybe that was the crux of it after all - what bothered him most was his lack of control, primarily over his own, deeply buried issues.

But jealousy was easier to explain.

Fortunately, Maea seemed content to take that and run with it, and he chanced a glance in her direction when it became clear that she wasn't going to laugh or scoff. "I don't know if that's true, but I'm honored that you think so," he rumbled, a faint blush turning his cheeks a red that was easily dismissed as a flush from the heat. "What magic did you used to have?" he wanted to know, studying her. "If you've ever told me, I'm sorry to say I've forgotten."

Two sinners can't atone from a lone prayer
Souls tied, intertwined by our pride and guilt

Liam