"Look, II'm telliing you, there's somethiing comiing! IIt's goiing two come toniight and iit's goiing two kiill us all, II just know!"
"tun4, b4by, 1t w4s just 4 n1ghtm4r3," Latula soothed, but her attempts to console him went unnoticed.
"No! Why won't any of you beliieve me? Heiir of Doom, remember? II think II would know when there's doom coming! Latula, please!"
Mituna looked to his moirail in desperation, "Kurloz?"
Despite Kurloz' recent inability to speak, the hesitation in his eyes was all the proof Mituna needed.
"Fiine! IIf you won't beliieve me, II'll prove iit!" he snapped, before storming out of the door. Kurloz hesitated for a moment before following.
Latula seems to collapse in on herself as the voice of a tired royal drifted from the hallway.
"Buoy's off his swaychair, if you ask me."
"no on3 4sk3d you, m33n4h!" Latula cut in, increasingly hysterical. "h3's not cr4zy, h3's th3 most r4d dud3 1 know. 1'm sur3 h3 just n33ds Kurloz to h3lp br1ng h1m round, m4k3 h1m s33 th4t th3r3's no d4ng3r. th3r3 1s no d4ng3r, r1ght? 1 m34n, 1t's 4 tot4lly lud1crous story, but wh4t 1f h3 w4s r1ght? 4nd h3's out th3r3 4ll on h1s own..."
")(ey, Pyrope, quit worrying your fins off. He's fine."
Mituna was lonely. Nobody believed him. Not even Kurloz, or Latula, who he thought he could trust. Both his moirail and his matesprit thought he was crazy. Maybe they were right... Maybe there was no doom, that it was just a nightmare, a side effect of vision twofold, not a warning. He didn't really know what the Heir did, after all. There was so much they didn't know about their own game.
He'd almost convinced himself, when a shadow passed across his body. Looking up, Mituna was faced with an enormous writhing mass of darkness, which seemed to be growing. It appeared as if it was eating the darkness around it, and the more it took in, the more tangible it became. Soon those tendrils would be real. Real and deadly.
He knew this would happen! He knew it, and no one believed him! Why did they never believe him? Well, it was too late for that now. Something had to be done. Mituna felt himself rise into the air, as he unleashed the full extent of his psionics on the monster.
Kurloz needed to find Mituna. Needed to help him believe that they cared for him, that they did have his best interests at heart. But where was he? There was no sign of him anywhere, he could have run off in any direction.
Suddenly, Kurloz saw flashes of blue and red to the north. Mituna was right. Hoping he wasn't too late, he raced towards the sight.
The sight that greeted Kurloz shocked him, even after all they'd seen. Mituna was facing a beast that seemed to be made purely of darkness, though for an intangible being, it was putting up quite the fight. But the darkness was receding, Mituna was winning! At least, that's what Kurloz thought. He was still some distance away. Mituna was yelling at the top of his lungs, pushing himself harder and harder. Was that... was that blood?
No, Mituna! What are you doing! Kurloz wanted to scream at him to stop, that he was overexerting himself, but he could say nothing.
Mituna's psionic power only grew, but soon he was covered in his own blood. It was only when every last fragment, every trace of the creature had been eradicated, that Mituna finally gave in. The psionic blast stopped. Kurloz ran to his friend, to see if he was alright, only to watch him drop from the sky.
By the time Kurloz reached his moirail, Mituna was barely moving. If it weren't for the periodic flashes of red and blue energy that contorted his body with psionic spasms, Kurloz would say he wasn't moving at all. Was he... was he even breathing?
Latula was just about to go search for the two of them herself, when she heard footsteps outside. Relieved, she rushed out to meet them - only to find Kurloz carrying an unconscious Mituna, whose mustard blood was dripping from his eyes, mouth and nose.
"M1TUN4! NO!" Latula's scream was heart wrenching. She practically pulled him from Kurloz' arms, cradling him in her own.
"tun4, b4by, 1t's gonn4 b3 ok4y, y34h? 1t's 4ll gonn4 b3 ok4y... you'r3 gonn4 b3 f1n3, r1ght? r1ght?!" Her questions became more and more hysterical as Mituna stayed unresponsive.
"wh4t h4pp3n3d? kurloz?! T3LL M3!"
"He saved us all." Kurloz signed. "But I think he burnt himself out."
At this, Latula once again broke into sobs. She turned to Aranea.
"c4n you h34l h1m? s3rk3t, pl34s3!"
"I can try. 8ut I don't know how successful I'll 8e. I've never tried to heal anything on this scale 8efore."
"just try. pl34s3, just try." Latula was out of tears, silently shaking over Mituna's body. Aranea gestured to him, and Latula kissed his forehead before gently relinquishing her grip on him.
Aranea placed her hands on either side of his head. She closed her eyes and concentrated. Latula couldn't tell what she was doing, but she had to hope it was enough. Aranea was a sylph of light. They could heal anything, couldn't they?
Seconds stretched into hours, and minutes became sweeps as Latula waited for Aranea to finish her work, all the time wondering if there was any chance her Mituna could be returned to her.
After what seemed like eternity itself, Aranea removed her hands, and placed Mituna gently on the ground.
"w3ll? wh4t's wrong, w1ll h3 b3 ok4y now?"
"I don't know, Latula. I just don't know. 8ut I've done the 8est I can. All we can do now is w8 and see if he w8kes up."
Those next few hours were torture for them all. Mituna remained unconscious, but his condition only worsened. Twice he stopped breathing entirely. It was almost daylight by the time he opened his eyes.
"m1tun4? oh my gog, 1 thought you'd n3v3r w4k3 up!"
"L4...7UL4?"
"...y34h, tun4, 1t's m3."
"WH475 H4P3NG1N? L47UL74...?"
"tun4, why 4r3 you talk1ng l1k3 th4t? pl34s3, tun4, you'r3 sc4r1ng m3!"
"7UL4..."
"y34h, tun4, 1'm h3r3. 1'm not l34v1ng you. now... c4n you r3m3mb3r wh4t h4pp3n3d?
"7UL4...WH47 H4PP3DN? 7H3R3...W45H 4 7H1NG... 1 7TH1NK... 7UL4 1 D0N7 KN0W!"
"h3y, 1t's ok4y tun4, you'll g3t th3r3."
"1M 50RRY"
"no, tun4, th3r3's noth1ng to b3 sorry for. w3'r3 th3 on3s who should b3 4polog1z1ng... oh gog, wh4t h4v3 1 don3 to you?"
Latula once again broke into tears. She cradled Mituna close, as if he would be alright again if she never let go.
He allowed himself to be rocked back and forth, not saying a word. The world was confusing and he didn't know what had happened, but he knew Latula. He knew Latula was there, and if he was with Latula, nothing could go wrong. The world would be alright again, as long as she never let go.