it's like you're my medicine

Hotaru

My head's a burial ground of your memory

Sunjata is not the only one capable of escaping the house undetected.

She knows he does it, though she says nothing. Though it only makes it fair when she takes his absence as the cover necessary to do so herself, slipping out the back door to meet Atlas who carries her forth into the cover of preternatural darkness. There is no real destination in mind. Though she longs to find a shrine to pray at - who it is she would pray to is still up in the air with her current feelings - only silence is guaranteed during LongNight, and Hotaru is not inclined to tempt any darker entities into answering.

Instead she lowers herself to lay over the crest of Atlas' neck, breathing in the smell of him mixed with saltwater as the cadence of his steps rocks her into a half-sleep. Rest has not come easy since Sunjata's attack had led to nightmares that caused her to stay awake to keep sentry during his fitful hours of slumber. A small price to pay to ensure his comfort. Were it not for her own exhaustion she would be inclined to be grateful, as the dwindling hours that remain only reinforce her desire to be awake and present with him.

Wherever Atlas has taken her, it's unfamiliar to her. The gurgle of water is different from the ocean, and when she lifts her head the smooth rock that greets her has odd depths to it that implies colors that are muted at best with no lights in the skies. Atlas pauses, huffing softly as the clicking of his hooves echoes oddly across the empty rock, and the pair stare out in unison watching the water crest and burble on whims neither can anticipate.

KIADA

ok, ok, i never had wings, only feathers

& i cried like a baby when they left me

She had told Chulane that when she got back they would go to Torchline. She hadn’t anticipated leaving beforehand, however, and ending up here if only to escape the Grounds. So of course she takes her quiet trek, little to nothing on her person and not realizing that she necessarily needed it. She fiddles with her shirt, torn and frayed on the edges from the venture in the Grounds.

And she stares, mostly at her reflection, before she’s looking up into the jungle beyond. She peers through it almost as if she could see the mountains of Halo. She can’t, but she pretends anyway.

Until there’s the sound of hooves approaching and the Harpy is immediately on guard, reaching for one last throwing knife hitched to her thigh, head snapping in the direction of the sound. The rainbow hues are tough to see in this dark of light but Kiada uses them as a guide anyway, following along them until she can see the body of a horse with someone atop it. But she doesn’t say anything, instead, the Harpy waits with her knife drawn, shadowed in the dark aside from a pale face.

& i bled every time somebody touched me

ok, ok, i wasn't beautiful, not even in golden light

does it really matter, anyway?

we all get swallowed eventually

Hotaru

My head's a burial ground of your memory

Atlas' senses are far superior to those of a human, whether because of his magical properties as a unicorn or the similarity to horses who live their lives attuned to any kind of creeping danger. As such, dark ears turn backwards to disappear inside his windswept mane, spine tensing and the sense of danger, danger, sharply reverberating through his bond with Hotaru. The woman doesn't hesitate, not with the threat of Shaju looming constantly on the horizon. It's dangerous with all this water around them, but she summons her lightning, confident in her own masterful control over the element.

The pressure of the air intensifies immediately as the area is illuminated in a flashing display of light. Careful to keep it from striking the soaked earth, somewhere between static electricity and lightning bolts which come to her call equally. Spinning, one leg lifts over Atlas' withers as she drops down to the earth, knees bending as she coils like a deadly cat beside her companion. The face that lights up in the darkness is far too familiar however, wiping the air from her lungs and temporarily plunging them back into darkness. The panic that ensues over losing sight of Kiada is gripping, and Hotaru runs for the figure with the afterimages of lightning still blinding her, terrified that if she hesitates the Harpy will disappear back into the void. "Kiada?!" her voice is strangled as it comes out, groping in the darkness for her niece, too blindsided and desperate to do much more.

KIADA

ok, ok, i never had wings, only feathers

& i cried like a baby when they left me

A part of her relishes in the fear she can tell the unicorn is in, the discomfort she brings to the creature simply by being near it. It doesn’t look like Zuriel, so she has no chance of assuming anything about this equine and it’s rider, not even as her gaze remains trained on the figure in the darkness, not as she watches the rider dismount and feels the energy in the air change. It isn’t much for her, not even as she blinks slowly when the lightning strikes.

She’s been made new again and this body doesn’t harbor the feeling and changes of the world outside. She feels fire and lightning when struck, but for this? This she feels nothing externally.

Until the sob breaks through the air and Kiada’s dropping her throwing knife in shock and surprise, frozen and rooted in place as Hotaru reaches forth and embraces her, and as if on instinct she wraps her arms around the Valkyrie back. “Hotaru?” She asks weakly, limply, unsure. Hotaru would feel the absence of a heartbeat, the coolness of her skin, so at odds from how she had once been.

But she is here, and she is alive.

& i bled every time somebody touched me

ok, ok, i wasn't beautiful, not even in golden light

does it really matter, anyway?

we all get swallowed eventually

Hotaru

My head's a burial ground of your memory

Steel against stone as the dagger drops helps Hotaru navigate the dark enough to throw her arms around Kiada, clinging tight. The physical differences are immediately obvious; temperate skin, no heartbeat. It doesn't matter one bit to the Valkyrie. It hadn't bothered her with Rexanna, it doesn't bother her now with Nate. All that matter is that Kiada is alive. Perhaps other people will not see her that way, but it's all Hotaru could ask for.

"I thought I lost you forever," she breathes as her body seems to finally come to terms with the physical existence of her niece once more, and then the tears come all at once. Silent as any mother's, refusing to burden Kiada with her grief, but her small frame trembles all the same as she presses Kiada close to her breast. One hand comes to cup Kiada's dark head, pressing a kiss against her crown with lips that tremble, wet with tears. "I've missed you more than words could ever say. I love you, my sweet. I'm so, so sorry I failed you." For it may not have been her grasping reach that had fallen short, but she had watched all the same as the girl had perished in the fires. So she clings all the tighter, because there's nowhere safer Hotaru can think to keep the girl than within her own arms.

KIADA

ok, ok, i never had wings, only feathers

& i cried like a baby when they left me

Stunned and taken aback, the Harpy suddenly clings to Hotaru, feeling the tears and letting the fear wash away out of her. She looks like shit compared to Hotaru in this moment, but none of that matters as she grasps onto her aunt and lets her eyes well with tears. Here she could break, here she could cry and sob her relief and nobody else would be none the wiser. “You’re okay.” She breathes, pulling away only when Hotaru kisses her head, though she remains in the woman’s arms.

“I came back.” She says softly, gently, letting a smile quirk on the corner of her lips. “I wasn’t done yet.” She imagines if anyone could understand that, it would be Hotaru. Both stubborn, fiery women — even if Kiada had lost her fire when she’d been reborn. “I love you too… it’s okay. I shouldn’t have flown above the lava.” She says quietly, before she’s diving in and nestling her head against her aunts chest again, burying herself away from the dark outside world.

“I’m back now… Going to Halo when LongNight is over. I got teleported to the Grounds.” She stumbles over her words, as gently as she can try to keep her mind in one solid line. It fails, constantly.

& i bled every time somebody touched me

ok, ok, i wasn't beautiful, not even in golden light

does it really matter, anyway?

we all get swallowed eventually

Hotaru

My head's a burial ground of your memory

At first it doesn’t register why Kiada would make note that Hotaru is okay, but considering the fact she hadn’t been alive to see the end of the trial, and then the Valkyrie had succumbed to her sickness, it dawns on her that they’ve both missed each other in the time between. There is nobody around to bear witness to their tearful reunion, no shame or embarrassment to be had as they wrap their arms around the other and hold tight. The girl’s smile cracks through Hotaru’s heart like a break in the clouds, letting in a light that has too long been absent. The Valkyrie reaches to cup Kiada’s cheek, thumb brushing away residual tears as she smiles, her own eyes still watery but unable to overshadow the radiant joy on her face. “That’s my girl,” she praises, pride swelling in her breast. Even death would not keep the likes of them down.

All the same she uses the hand on Kiada’s cheek to pinch the pale flesh between her thumb and finger, frowning slightly as she gives the girl’s head a little shake. “It was not your fault either.” Bitterly, she blames Amalia, though it could have happened to anyone. Hotaru has never taken well to her territory being infringed upon, and had silently despised the woman for taking on a maternal role for the Harpy. It was all too easy to lay the blame at her feet when she wasn’t close enough to the woman to award her the understanding and allowance of family.

“The Grounds? What were you doing there?” Though spoken in a mild tone, Kiada likely knows her aunt well enough to hear the danger hidden underneath, like a black raging current beneath thin ice. She doesn’t say anything else, unwilling to give Kiada any sort of leading statement that the girl can use to hide behind.

KIADA

ok, ok, i never had wings, only feathers

& i cried like a baby when they left me

The relief that spreads through her is received with a huff of a hiccup of laughter with Hotaru’s praise, remaining close to the woman she’s entangled with as her aunt’s hand brushes her cheek – pinching the skin there and shaking her head slightly. Kiada smiles through it anyway, even though she can’t feel any of it. And to be honest? She nods when Hotaru tells her it wasn’t her fault either – wanting to believe with all of her heart at the truthfulness of it.

Kiada doesn’t particularly blame anyone, not really. Perhaps Wessex a bit, having gone on that trek and dying and being forced to participate in the next fresh hell she’d just left. For now, however, Kiada remains easily on her feet, sucking down her emotions to explain it better. “All the Ascended had to fight the LongNight monsters.” She explains, a slight frown crossing her face. “Didn’t know about that until after we’d all had come back.” Her shoulders rise and fall in a shrug.

“I ended up in the Labyrinth… With Isla, Adam, and Nate.” She offers quietly with a slight frown – hoping that the woman was alright. “I blew through everything pretty quick but… Nate turned into a dragon and Isla turned into a manticore. They took care of most of it.” She offers, recollecting what had occurred in the Grounds to the best of her ability. Though she refrains from mentioning her spear of ice that had completely missed the target - something she was still eternally frustrated about.

& i bled every time somebody touched me

ok, ok, i wasn't beautiful, not even in golden light

does it really matter, anyway?

we all get swallowed eventually

Hotaru

My head's a burial ground of your memory

That smile has been so sorely missed, and even the new addition of fangs cannot dull her gratitude over impossibly being given the chance to see it again. It’s why the news - or rather confirmation, with the suspicions she’d had upon talking to Sunjata - infuriates her to new heights. It’s only mildly concealed at best, far too open with her niece to manage such impenetrable walls. Had Wessex not asked enough of Kiada already? Hotaru cares for the Queen, which awards her a level of hesitancy - who had demanded the presence of all the Ascended? Wessex or their creator? Either way, her anger has no real target or outlet. Kiada has returned safe, and so it now lays in the past.

More names she doesn’t know, except of course Nate. Immediately she is listening far more intently, terror gripping at her heart anew. Atlas touches her shoulder gently from where he stands guard behind her, trying to ease her worries. “Nate? Is he - did he make it out okay?” The trepidation in her tone is plainly obvious. “He was supposed to come straight home and I just came from there.” Which only makes her stomach sink farther, coming to that realization as she actively speaks it. Where in the world is her beloved? Why the delay?

KIADA

ok, ok, i never had wings, only feathers

& i cried like a baby when they left me

There’s hesitation in Hotaru’s tone and Kiada can’t help but to let her pale gaze sweep across her aunt, dark brows furrowing in confusion before she nods. “Yes, he brought Adam and I here.” She offers with a slight silt of her head, letting her gaze drift past her to the unicorn at her shoulder, before it returns to the Valkyrie and a frown pulls on her face.

“He didn’t make it back? He got to the portal with us and we all just went our separate ways. He was a bit messed up, but...” Not as messed up as Adam had been, but the other Ascended had managed to recover well enough as far as she knew. And she wasn’t from Torchline, she’d avoided the parties and the people to go out into the darkness were there wasn’t pain and terror from monsters.

And Hotaru had found her here.

& i bled every time somebody touched me

ok, ok, i wasn't beautiful, not even in golden light

does it really matter, anyway?

we all get swallowed eventually

Hotaru

My head's a burial ground of your memory

The confirmation is like a death knell that rings all the way down to her bones. Hotaru hasn't gotten this far in life by ignoring her gut instinct, and right now it's telling her that something is very wrong. Her heart is torn in two different directions - stay with Kiada who she has only just gotten back, or go find Nate who is injured if nothing else? It's an impossible conundrum, and though her eyes never leave Kiada's face she can't seem to focus her gaze with the thoughts rabbiting in her mind.

"Sunjata's father might be targeting him, I..." she is torn, unwilling to burden Kiada with further worries so soon after she has escaped the plight in the Hollowed Grounds. Grinding her teeth, Hotaru gives a short exhale, forcing her mind into some semblance of organization through the cloud of emotion that seeks to distract her. "Do you need any healing?" She focuses on this first, eyes scanning what she can see in the darkness with her useless human eyes. Prioritizing and planning out her next steps meticulously. First, she must take care of Kiada. Only then can she consider her next steps.

KIADA

ok, ok, i never had wings, only feathers

& i cried like a baby when they left me

The admission that Sunjata’s father was here and causing trouble has her lips frowning in distaste, though she harbors nothing toward Nate or Hotaru, there’s still that sense of dislike toward Sunjata and the rest of it. As for Hotaru choosing to remain with the doctor and the flood, well, Kiada has nothing to say to it. She only offers a nod of understanding, hopefully a soft squeeze paired with it.

Does she need healing though? She looks down at her clothes and runs a quick scan before she’s shaking her head. “No, I’m okay. I just need a clean pair of clothes and to go home.” She shrugs lightly, offering her aunt a softer smile. “Once Flowerbirth hits I’ll be going back to Halo. You have… A lot going on here though so I think you should probably focus on that.” Kiada would be fine at the end of the day. “Then you can come to Halo and meet Chulane after you see Deimos. I can tell him you’re back?” She offers tentatively, unsure how her aunt wishes to go about it.

& i bled every time somebody touched me

ok, ok, i wasn't beautiful, not even in golden light

does it really matter, anyway?

we all get swallowed eventually

Hotaru

My head's a burial ground of your memory

While grateful that Kiada has no injuries to tend to, Hotaru is overcome anew with the sense of uselessness that has plagued her ever since she'd awoken in the Wilds. It's a horrible feeling, one that grates and burns and churns in her belly at every turn. At every choice to exclude her or hide her away, every missed inside moment, every reminder that she is not so powerful as she once was. Every time she is mistaken as merely another player on the chessboard, a friend or acquaintance and not a lover.

The spiral is so sudden and consuming that the only way she can force herself out of it is by digging her teeth into the inside of her cheek until the flesh gives way, copper flooding across her tongue in acrid waves. "I won't be long if I can help it," she promises softly instead, swallowing down the blood so that Kiada doesn't see it on her teeth as she brushes the dark hair off her niece's forehead and leans up to press a gentle kiss there. Perhaps the girl will not feel it, but it will not stop Hotaru from doing it. "Let him know. I will find him, he can't hide from me for long." The joke pulls her lips at the corners, trying to embrace this moment while she can, knowing the minutes are falling away already and that she will have to watch Kiada walk away once more. Without her. "I love you, my ember. Be swift, the sun will rise soon. I will find you again." A promise she will see through no matter the consequences.

But first, there is business to be taken care of here in Torchline.

- FIN