[RE] be your

& to a place i come where nothing shines

A pair of fists beat against the door.

"OPEN THE DOOR! Get Deimos! It’s Kiada and Jigano! Please!" But then the pounding stops, and an eerie silence descends.

---

What do you do?

Table coding by Sky

not heroes any longer - we are tragedies of firelight and flesh

unholy sacraments of blood and broken bodies

The monolith had been waiting, waiting, waiting, the entire time Kiada had been on her mission, protective intervals and marrow branching him off into either pacing by doors, windows, or meandering along the hearth, attempting to find opportunities of distraction. But they never lasted for long, and his mind would run rampant over possibilities and potential; either for a proud moment where Kiada had been victorious (a Pyrrhic tangibility – slaying the one she loved?), and then the other, more barbaric inclinations. Deimos chose not to sway deep into those, so it wouldn’t suffocate, stagnate, drown in his chest – the number of losses, the weight of despair, always striving, always struggling, to go beyond its scorching touch. Some days it was easy. The latter hadn’t been.

But then there were the howls, the screams, the pounding of the door, get Deimos; and had it been some siren song uttered by monsters he would’ve been shackled and tethered to the snares immediately, racing towards the threshold, hands on the door, opening without a semblance of hesitation. Zuriel marched over at his insistence too, hovering along the apertures, ready, willing, and able to utilize her efforts if necessary.

what use have we for feeble hymns of wasted faith;

for sordid songs of glory?

DEIMOS

black hearts, the wicked never rest. i curse the day i let you in

so tell me dear,

They are at the doorstep, hands beating against the wood briefly, a shout for Deimos, for the one who might understand, who might help, who might open the door for them when others may not. A silent prayer is given to Ludo for the strength to figure out how exactly to go about finishing this quest, or if it may have to wait until the following LongNight. But if she waits? Can she face Ludo again? To pray and speak with it when she had failed?

When had she become so weak?

The doors open and Auni darts in with the staff, and Kiada follows suit, not caring where Jigano is for the moment — because Deimos is there, and her eyes well up further with tears. And she looks an absolute mess, armor he had made coated in a black tar, the side of her face is too, there’s blood that has dried along her temple, and tear tracks that have washed away the grime in their slow descent.

She looks like she’s won, when she’s done everything but.

And the Harpy seeks the arms of the Reaper, immediately, weapons clattering to the floor in her relief and anger, frustration and pain. She knows nothing else.

can your heart still break?

if it's already stopped breathing?

KIADA

Bribes and better weapons, aid and succor, they would need them all before this quest was done. They had gained a moment's respite, at least. A chance to heal and remake plans with the new information they had gathered. It hadn't been the resounding victory they might have wished, but it wasn't complete failure either. They were alive and able to try again.

Jigano sang to the luxere outside the Hall to calm and coax them close again while Kiada called for Deimos. He leaned heavily on the spear that had punched through his thigh and then served as his walking staff to hobble back to the guild on, but he had kept a grim watch all around them in the glow of his lantern and Auni's horns until the door was open and then he slipped within, closing it firmly behind and locking it as he turned to face the rather full foyer. Kiada and Deimos in an embrace, Zuriel near at hand to heal the young woman's wounds, left little space, but this was a pause, not the end of the journey, and Jigano hobbled further inside, eyes scanning for someone who could help him.

The journey back had given him time to think, and to ponder what he had learned from Sam of the failed attempt to talk to the monsters before. Obviously removing implanted upgrades from the bookmaker and Rexanna was out of the question, but the hover board...

" Remi ?" He called, hurt and weary but determined still. They had suffered a setback but not a defeat, and he wasn't ready to give up just yet. "Isla?"

AmaLiA

Safrin's shield

It is through sheer good fortune that they arrive when they do, the qilin, human, demigod, and fae arriving in a motley group surrounded by fish and undead luxere. It is just as Jigano and Kiada slip inside that Amalia comes in eyesight of the door; mentally she calls to the others, asking that the door be kept open and urging her companions within.

The relief that floods her upon seeing Kiada and Jigano safe is nearly overwhelming, flooding through the attuned bond to any who can feel it. As she enters the room she goes first to Kiada, not even hesitating as she throws her head over Deimos' arm, joining in the fierce embrace, her long tail snaking out to contribute to the hug. You're safe, she murmurs into the girl's mind, a low rumble of joy leaving her chest. Thank Vi, you... you're safe.

At last, reluctantly, the qilin pulls away, letting Deimos tend to Kiada while her attention turns to Jigano. What happened? she questions the bard softly, extending her soft nose toward the pale man, pausing just short of touching his face. Did you- did you succeed?

& once again I shall kiss the sky

Amalia might have felt relief, but Jigano felt a sharp pang of worry at seeing her and Peter coming in from behind them, from out in the darkness. Had they gone looking for the bard and Harpy? Or had it been some other task that sent them out? In the end it didn't matter, because whatever she had been doing she had come back safe. He watched her join the family gathering of Deimos and Kiada and had turned away, glad but hurting, too. If Rory had been here...

But he wasn't, and the bard hobbled further into the Hall, seeking Remi and Isla before a qilin maneuvered in front of him sooner than he had expected. Part of him wanted to lean forward and press his face against her muzzle, and it was a very large part, but though he had scraped off as much as he could there was still some of the dark tar on his skin and hair, and he couldn't bear to see the cursed stuff mar Amalia's beautiful hide. Not in this celestial shape, at least.

He leaned heavily on the staff-turned-walking-stick and looked away from her inquisitive eyes, shaking his head in silent negation. Wounded, covered in tar, with a hole in his leg... not 'are you okay' or 'do you need help' or 'I'm glad you made it back' but 'did you succeed.' What did the rest matter, when he had failed Kiada, and by extension those who loved her?

"We were overwhelmed. I couldn't protect her and attack the monster that held Ru'in's soul... It flew, but we couldn't reach it, and the other monsters around us continued to chip away at us while we did little more than annoy it. It only let us go because Kiada made a bargain with it. An impossible bargain, but it gives us another chance, at least. This year... or next." There was defeat in his voice, a weary guilt with an edge of anger at his own helplessness. He had been useless in the end, able to neither protect Kiada nor to fight for Ru'in's freedom.