{SE} No Earthly Good

Hotaru

This pride has left you blinded
or willfully confused

She'd asked Deimos out for this particular venture, though they often find themselves in the company of the other regardless of planning or pre-determinations. Hotaru is in far less layers than most would need for Halo in winter, but since re-establishing the Academy, the magic of the institution had infiltrated her bones and warded off a good portion of the chill.

Prepared, Hotaru has brought her own sled this time; a larger one, to hold wood not only for the spa, but for the Academy. Pulling it along easily while it's empty, the Valkyrie turns where Deimos strides beside her, and out of the calm and silence pulls an abrupt confession.

"Remi called Mort down a few weeks ago, so we could say goodbye to Enzo."

Because, at last, she finally has the small spark of life that inspires her for a bit of mischief, hoping to throw her brother off-center for the first time in over a year.

You thought that when you cried for justice, the target wasn't you

Deimos

Despite LongNight being weeks away, they could never quite help themselves in preparation – whether this stemmed from lessons from previous lives, the way monsters once infiltrated, and merely tried and true compulsions, lingering in the Hollowed Forest meant a much more measured means of snagging what the Citadel would need for the coming days.

Deimos brought his sled as well, a vessel accustomed to such outings, alongside his companions. Belial flew ahead, scouting for mischief, while Zuriel paraded alongside, picking her way through fallen limbs, and skittering out of the way whenever he snagged a piece of timber and tossed it within his sled.

Expecting either their residual silence, or some array of shenanigans, Hotaru’s statement caught him off guard. Head rearing upward from where he’d been staring down a portion of fallen, decrepit log, his eyes widened, brows arched, searching her face to see if she was rattling him just out of humor. But when his amulet didn’t depict any lie in the face of her statements, his mouth drew slightly agape, before shutting entirely. Uncertain even what to say for far more than a few moments, he let the silence pass into onslaughts of confusion and bewilderment, before finally settling something resembling his habitual curiosity and inquiry. “And…how did that go?”

it's not the waking, it's the rising
It's the fire it ignites

Hotaru

This pride has left you blinded
or willfully confused

The quiet is welcome, but admittedly Hotaru can't help her glee when - keenly watching Deimos' expression - she is able to catch him just as off guard as she had hoped. It fills a small hole, one of many, that she hadn't even known was empty and aching. Filled anew with mischief and childlike notions of winning and losing, an eternal scoreboard they'll take to their deaths.

Waiting, fulfilled and pleased with his astonishment but unwilling to quirk her lips lest he suspect she was lying, she only lets the smile free when it's clear he has come around to the idea. Turning back to the pathway before them, she smiles vaguely up at the sky. "It was...everything I didn't know I needed. He could have raged at us the entire time, and I would have taken it." Would have deserved it, in her eyes. All of them complicit in some way in his death.

"But he didn't. He was...oh, Deimos," and her voice chokes to a whisper, closing her eyes briefly as she recalls her son, radiant and glowing with health. "He was so at peace. Exasperated with us, but content. Healthier than I had ever seen him." And so beautiful because of it.

You thought that when you cried for justice, the target wasn't you

Deimos

Deimos had only ever heard brief stories of Mort from legends amidst tomes. His experience with the god’s counterpart, Vi, had been only slightly more, due to Amalia, Noah, and the blight circumstances. Curiosity compelled once the shock had worn off his edges, snorting away her preening disposition. “And how was Mort?”

Thereafter though, he listened. He could only briefly imagine the notions of seeing one’s children brought back to life, for closure, for grief, for love, as Kiada had returned from death itself – but the situation had been different. Where the Harpy had emerged as Ascended, clinging to another god, Enzo had been sanctioned forth out of war fringes and a family’s love. The questions contorted and coiled through his mind incessantly, but he stayed vigilant, especially as her voice dropped to a whisper. A clench and feathering of his jaw snagged, pondering if he’d upset her – only to hear the notions thereafter. “I am glad you got a chance to see him again.” Alive, well, whole, before the return into the world beyond.

it's not the waking, it's the rising
It's the fire it ignites

As you walk, your leg catches upon something causing you to stumble ever so slightly. Turning, you see a very thin strand of clear thread: The unmistakable webbing of a Crystal Spider. Though you cannot hear it, somewhere nearby the vibrations of the strand have already reached one of the spiders and soon, if you do not move along, it will be upon you.

---

You’ve encountered a Crystal Spider. This counts as a creature encounter for the purposes of levelling, but does not count as a Random Event for levelling or MP. There will be no further admin/re intervention. If you choose to follow this creature, you do so at your own risk, however, just having it in this thread is enough to satisfy your levelling requirements.

Crystal Spiders (uncommon) - Living within the Hollow Forest, these man-sized, eyeless arachnids have perfectly clear chitin allowing their last meal to be seen within. They spin thin filaments of webbing between the trees to alert them when creatures are passing through, waking them from their long hibernations to stalk their prey. They have long, slender legs, a thick abdomen, and fangs that release a paralyzing toxin that lasts for several minutes in an adult human. In the light of fires or lanterns, they are almost invisible.

Hotaru

This pride has left you blinded
or willfully confused

Mort was admittedly a secondary thought, not just during the reunion, but even in the retelling. Still, he had been a force of his own. One that still calms her when she wakes in the middle of the night, images of her children still printed behind her eyelids. Admittedly not what she'd expected in terms of fealty; Frey has always been her herald, so the sudden reliance on Mort's memory is unanticipated. "He was...magnetic. Radiant. With him nearby there was no grief, only acceptance. Peace. An overwhelming, all-fulfilling love." As if Vi had taken possession of Hotaru and filled her to the brim with the love he held for Mort. "Like the safest place you could imagine was made into reality." Which was why she had wanted to linger so in his presence, even before Enzo had stepped through that door.

Her smile deepens just enough for tiny dimples to appear in her cheeks, something she knows for a fact has not happened since before the war. "He knew just what to say. He always did." More silver tongued than anyone ever gave him credit for, accustomed to filling the gaps around Flora's headstrong nature. "He asked me to live, to try. And it was him I needed to hear it from the most to finally believe it. And I wouldn't have listened, if he wasn't so insistent on how upset he was to see us grieving - how happy he clearly is, waiting for us." Far more patiently than any of his family members still living, she suspects.

Distracted momentarily by a slight tug on her pantlegs, she pulls her eyes from the sky to look down at a tell-tale gossamer thread, and huffs a laugh. Oh, dear. Deimos was going to have a field day. "Did you trip it too?" she asks, gesturing towards the thread still clinging to her leggings.

You thought that when you cried for justice, the target wasn't you

Deimos

A level of relief flickered through his shoulders; for Ru, for Enzo, and for all the tellings of Mort to be true. Hearsay and blind faith might never have been enough for someone like Deimos; but the Valkyrie’s depictions snagged into nothing but the truth. That all the deceased in this land, save for the Ascended (and now he could only wonder where their souls went when the Voice fell), were to be treated well, content, and in peace, was more of a reassurance than they’d been given in some time. “So the stories were true,” ignited a small smile along his mouth, grateful of the knowledge shared.

Or that Enzo knew exactly how to heal his mother, even from beyond the mortal realm, made him wish he’d ever had the opportunity to meet the lad. “And not to rush your way there?” Came on maybe a hint of a snicker, a light tease, despite the depictions and topic at hand.

He would’ve persisted and continued, had the tug along her pants, and subsequently near his boots, been noticed. Only a slight moment of confusion hastened through his mind, before clarity struck – based on the guild members recent findings and hunters’ words. Zuriel snorted, reflecting his inner thoughts, while Belial remained above, completely oblivious. “Not for long,” a promised sanction of a growl – turning and twisting immediately towards the thread, and setting it ablaze with a molten inferno. A warning – and a conviction.

it's not the waking, it's the rising
It's the fire it ignites

Hotaru

This pride has left you blinded
or willfully confused

For someone so difficult to win the loyalty of, perhaps it's ironic that Hotaru is the one capable of all-or-nothing faith. Faith in the face of adversity and betrayal. Though Frey is her herald, for a moment in Mort's presence she had seen everything she'd ever wanted, ever needed. It had been a moving moment, even without her son's involvement, and though it has left her with many things to consider, the silence of peace has been just as close and faithful a companion. "More than true. I almost wonder what differences there would be if I could meet Vi. Many think of death as cruel, and Mort was the opposite. Rae's realm makes the most sense to me for the cycle of life, so I can't help but wonder." If perhaps Vi was the cruel one? After all, his champions had all been fiercely against the Ascended, the ones to buy into their lack of humanity. Hotaru is already hated by Safrin, what was one more chain of command upward?

It shouldn't be something so normal, to joke about such a dire topic, but for the two of them, it is par for the course. Her own huff of a laugh follows, a wry smile tugging at one corner of her mouth. "He said near exactly that." For good reason. Hotaru had not shared much of her lost children with Flora and Enzo, but enough vague hints for her sharp son to have taken note of her deepening tendencies to lose sight of the light in the wake of personal grief. Much as she still longs for it, Enzo's words alone are what bridle that urge, and she owes him for it. She knows she does.

True humor comes in the wake of darker inclinations, and Hotaru laughs more freely at Deimos' growled assurances. She stands there, amused and unaffected, as his most familiar and primordial element comes to the fore to race down the line of webbing to set ablaze the pernicious creature's guiding line that sought to entrap the wrong set of adventurers. "I wonder if it has enough directional sense to find its prey if the line is cut," she wonders aloud, unable to help it given how long she has been with the Guild herself. Part of her wishes to stay and witness its terrible failure upon happening across the Sword and the Valkyrie.

You thought that when you cried for justice, the target wasn't you

Deimos

Death in Caido seemed so different and juxta positioned from what they’d ever known in other worlds. Where his own demise had been shaped into nothingness from beyond, and he couldn’t recall or reflect upon a single thing, other souls could take shape, relive moments, see their family again. He might’ve once asked Kiada out of sheer curiosity, but then it had seemed like a cruel thing to do, to pick apart how she’d fallen into flames and then wonder about thereafter. His eyes tracked the motions of the spider’s line as it swiftly turned to embers, contemplating her words. “You could ask Noah,” though it seemed a rarity even for the demigod. The Sword didn’t have any nuances or experiences there either, save for the instances of blight and roses.

To hear that Enzo had mentioned not rushing either, gave something of an ease to the Warden’s heart. Maybe because he was tired of seeing his friend maimed and torn by each and every tragedy, by craving some instance of happiness for her that wasn’t constantly overshadowed by another dimming horizon. He made a mental note to continue keeping an eye on her – for he’d seen enough of her despair to know, to understand, moving forward hadn’t been easy, that purpose had been key, and perhaps this could be a way to stitch herself back together. Enzo must’ve seen it too, from somewhere beyond the pale. “Good,” he uttered, by way of a crooked smile, as the spider’s threads came down to naught but ashes.

And he waited a while, like any Monster Guild member, to see if something transpired thereafter. Eyes narrowed and speculative, his own massive form still and ready just the same, he pondered if the rumored arachnid would spiral through the haze and come down to greet them. When nothing happened, the monolith snorted, and began moving forward again. Zuriel was an echo of his motions, while Belial persisted from above, occasionally hooting and dodging canopy branches. “If it follows, then there will be meat to bring home.” A promise of bloodshed and ruin came along shrugged shoulders, but Ru would understand the necessity of demolition and desecration. “How is the Academy going? Evie told me Sah had taken to instruction well.”

it's not the waking, it's the rising
It's the fire it ignites

Hotaru

This pride has left you blinded
or willfully confused

Hotaru hadn't considered asking Noah, but it's an option she now turns over in her head at leisure. "I could, though I'm unsure how he'd contend with my more heretical opinions on Vi's herald if they came up." Deimos had had more time than Hotaru to grow close to Noah in the wake of the insurgence, when she had been stuck in the Greatwood with newborn infants and nightmares to weather alone. While she doesn't envy how they'd had to regroup and continue on in the Wilds alone, she is fickle enough to envy their camaraderie.

There is a slight curdle of discomfort - that, in a better person, would have been shame - as that envy withers in the face of Deimos' devotion. She cannot imagine how hard it must have been on his end, to see her at the end of her rope, unable to reach her in any way that mattered and only capable of providing enough love and oversight to keep her breathing another day. Surviving instead of living. Were she a more emotive person, she would tell him; instead, she pries open the bond just enough to have the echoes of her sisterly affection and appreciation washing over him, preferring that to words.

Almost disappointed when the goliath arachnid does not arrive, the Valkyrie hums the emotion out of her chest and turns to meet Deimos' stride. "Quite well, I've held a weekly class for theory and education prior to our first magical training that has been quite successful. Sah is a natural - a wonderful teacher, but equally willing to be instructed." As Headmistress that was a quality she found commendable, as he didn't chafe when handing the reigns back over to Hotaru when needed. "He has grown a lot in recent years, it is good to see." Maturity and levelheadedness that she wouldn't have expected to come so soon.

You thought that when you cried for justice, the target wasn't you

Deimos

Not one to diminish any deities (unless it was the Voice), because he’d learned lessons in Helovia, his brow arched at Ru’s statements, the corner of his mouth upturned in a vague smile. Somewhere between impish and guarded. “And would they come up?” A rhetorical question perhaps, but he figured the Valkyrie knew better in those regards. Right times and right moments, uncertain if any of those would align with certain subjects. Maybe a warning embedded and contorted in there too.

The affections pried open and left there amidst the bond gave him a pause, scrutinizing and searching them for a moment, mildly perplexed at the way they buried and entrenched into his bones. Whispers and fragments, lined in their appreciations; and for half a moment he almost wondered why, because he hadn’t been able to fix anything for her. But then he knew better, absorbing them with a snort, and brotherly adornments in return.

Sweeping strides matched, and he snagged at another bout of withered, tethered limbs, all conjoined together in a gnarled, twisted formation. Breaking and splintering them apart, he followed her answer – magical trainings, Sah’s growth, the way Halo was coming back together time and time again. Out of Talyson’s orbit, the mage seemed to thrive, in maturity and sagacity, and Deimos didn’t bother diving deeper into that thought. “We can always combine a hunt with some magical training one day, if you want,” as an idea and suggestion, uncertain what her strategies and curriculum would preside or provide over.

it's not the waking, it's the rising
It's the fire it ignites

Hotaru

This pride has left you blinded
or willfully confused

Hotaru rolls her shoulders in easy, uncomplicated carelessness. “They’re rather intertwined are they not? I see no point in intentionally concealing it, though I won’t offer it preemptively.” If Noah took offense, that would be his own battle to contend with. Hotaru finds that recently she is returning to old ways - not caring what people think of her or her various opinions and desires.

Bending to grab a few hardy pieces of wood for herself, the Valkyrie brightens in that subtle way she does, with loosened brows and a tiny smile on her lips. “A hunt? That would be a wonderful idea.” And so saying, she dumps the wood into the sled and continues on their aimless path, and begins to propose a few different creatures they could present to her students, picking Deimos’ mind freely as they walk.

- Fin!

You thought that when you cried for justice, the target wasn't you