Jalerom heard a scuttling sound outside of his door before it slammed open so he didn't jump at the sudden intrusion. He did, however, raise an eyebrow at the visitor scampering over on all fours to his bed and climbing onto it.
"Hana?" he asked the young tiefling, "is everything all right? Did you need Fae?"
"No, I wanted to talk to you," she said bluntly, holding her teddy bear that he had heard her call Hubert to her chest. "If I talk to Faerthurin, she may give me another bath. She scrubs really hard. And the shame-poop stuff she put in my hair is weird."
Jalerom bit back a chuckle at the girl's train of thought and turned his chair around from the desk to face her. "Well, okay, what did you want to talk about? I'm an open book for you, Hana."
"Did Arkoth really kill you?" she asked. Bluntness seemed to be par for the course for her, but Jalerom was surprised nonetheless.
"How did you—?"
"When you punched Arkoth's armor, I heard you say, 'This is for killing me,' or something like that," she cut him off and stared at him with her bright yellow eyes. "But you're alive. Did he really kill you or was that some sort of… what do you call it… metaphor?"
Jalerom leaned his head over the top of the seatback and sighed, "Yes, he did. I did actually die. But Oin and Faerthurin revived me." Hana seemed to soak that information in for a moment before she placed Hubert in the strap on her chest so she wouldn't have to hold him.
"Where did you go?" Jalerom picked his head back up and looked at her, startled again.
"What?"
"Where did you go? Baator? I know there are other places to go, but I don't know what they are," she repeated, and Jalerom stared at the ceiling for a moment. Where… had he gone?
"I'm not sure," he answered honestly, "I wasn't there long, just long enough to play a game with Asmodeus and for him to give me a bit of… advice, if you can call it that."
At the mention of the King of Hell's name, Hana frowned. Her face had gone from curiously confused to disbelievingly sour in a millisecond, and it was not lost on Jalerom. But he didn't know how exactly to fix that.
"You talked with Asmodeus?" she asked, a hint of poorly disguised bitterness seeping into her tone, and Jalerom nodded.
"Yes. He had come to save my friends in the arena when your mo—Simula had unleashed demons into the mortal plane. Then he came to see me wherever I was after I died, and we played a game of what I thought was chess, but… you may know how he is. He plays a game of his own devising and by his own rules," he replied, and Hana seemed to accept at least the last statement as truth. He could tell, though, that she had trouble believing that the Fallen Angel had talked to him of all people.
She stared at him, seeming to size him up, then blurted out, "What's an a'mael?" Jalerom let out a full smile at that one.
"It's Fae's name for me. It means 'beloved one', if my elvish is right," he replied, internally snickering. She had looked so serious, almost angry, when she had asked the question and he was trying very hard not to laugh at her. But the answer didn't seem to gel with her as she frowned harder and asked, "What's a beloved one?"
How do I explain love to a 13-year-old from Hell? He mentally panicked, not knowing what her point of references would be, but then he got an idea.
"Do you know about the Lord of Avernus, Bel?" he asked, and her angry look turned into one of pure confusion again.
"Yes. Arkoth actually respects him a little. He said that Bel was the only archdevil he'd never try to kill because he's good at his job," Hana revealed, and Jalerom nodded. He had kind of liked the Devil General and his wife, Zariel, and had empathized with the reasoning behind the task that he had set for them.
"So do you know about his wife, Zariel?" Hana nodded again.
"She gets mad at Tiamat a lot. Some of the devils on Minauros whisper that they fled to another level because they didn't want to be around when they fought," she said, and Jalerom nodded. He wouldn't want to be around when the two of them fought over Bel either.
"Well, a beloved one is how Bel sees Zariel and how she sees him back. They love each other very much, they would die for one another, and they want to spend eternity together. They would be each other's a'maels," he explained, and her expression settled into one of silent pondering. A few moments passed before she hopped off the bed and, without a word, scurried out of the room, the door slamming behind her as she kicked it.
Arkoth sure had a lot on his plate with that one, Jalerom thought to himself as he continued cleaning Quickstrike, but he did all right. At least her suspicions are well-placed.
Shiloh perked his head up and Rose took that as a cue to listen carefully. She heard the scraping of claws on the wood of the manor and knew who was at her door before Hana barged in and leaped onto the chair near her desk.
"Hello, Hana," she said politely, but didn't continue. Hana didn't seem to mind as she fixed her eyes on Rose. She said nothing for a good long while, and Rose was perfectly fine with that as she lay on her bed idly petting Shiloh's head. This was perhaps one of the longest times she had spent with Hana since they had collected her in Minauros, and Rose didn't really mind. Hana's wellbeing had been important to Jeminya, therefore it was important to her, but she didn't know what to make of a child brought up by Arkoth Wormwood other than what she had seen.
As if she could read her mind, Hana interrupted her thoughts by asking, "Do you trust Arkoth?" and Rose mulled over the question for a moment.
"I trust him more than I used to, but that is not saying much. He spent most of the time we knew him hunting us down for Simula and collaborating with her in her plans. That included torture and using you for evil," Rose said, feeling fairly satisfied with the answer. Hana's eyebrow raised.
"Using me for evil?" she asked, "But Arkoth is—"
"I know he's trying to be good now, Hana," Rose said gently, "but he wasn't always that way. When your mother was pregnant with you, they used your mind to spy on our group and keep tabs on us. Arkoth listened to everything we said while your mother traveled with us, and we never knew. He melded two dragons together because he knew we were in the Dragonlands and wanted to mess with us."
Rose knew Hana didn't really believe her, and she could see why. The Arkoth that she had spent her whole life with was a bumbling idiot but he wasn't completely evil as he had been. He was still powerful, but he used his power to protect and raise her while hunting for ways to kill archdevils. All the stories that Rose could tell Hana may be the truth, but Hana would never believe that truth because her Arkoth Wormwood was so very different than Rose and the party's Arkoth Wormwood. In Rose's opinion, that was far better, but she was not going to hide Arkoth's past from his daughter.
She shook her head. That oaf never told her he was her father and now she won't even believe that, she thought, though again she could see why. For one, without a body, it was a little hard to imagine that he could have children once Hana understood where babies came from. But secondly, Arkoth didn't treat her like most of the fathers in Baator treated their daughters. He treated her with (his own brand of) love and care, while fathers like Asmodeus, Belial, and Dispater controlled their daughters' movements and treated them with suspicion. It probably made more sense that the care with which Arkoth showed Hana was different than the father-daughter relationships she had seen.
Not that it really mattered to Rose. It was interesting to watch, granted, but saving Jeminya came first. Thus, the little tiefling scowling in front of her did not ruffle her at all. Hana's scowling did not stop when she asked, "So you do trust him?"
"I trust him more than I don't," Rose said as honestly as she could without making it too complicated. "Arkoth has an uphill battle with us, but he's made great strides. I won't be voting for kicking him out of the party, if that's what you're getting at. Nor would I vote to have you leave either."
Hana's face softened ever so slightly and she turned her focus on Shiloh. She reached out a hand and the dog stretched his neck out to meet her hand and get pets, which Hana turned out to be very good at. She found a sweet spot behind his ears fairly quickly, and Rose just let her have fun. Everyone needed a dog like Shiloh every once in a while, and Hana had been deprived her whole life.
Without much fanfare, Hana stopped scratching Shiloh (at which he let out a small whimper), nodded to Rose, and left the room, her tail bouncing along behind her. Rose shrugged; she hadn't expected a long conversation anyways.
The door to Ivan's room burst open, and the little gnome gave a yelp and leaped up onto his bed at the sound. Realizing that it was only Hana, though, he smiled widely and sat down.
"Hi, Hana!" he chirped as she crawled into the room and, realizing that the chair was way too small for her, crawled under the bed with her tail peeking out. Ivan laid on the bed and put his face near hers where she hid and he could see her eyes very clearly in the dark under the bed. "Whatcha doing?" he asked.
"I have questions for you," she said without hesitation.
"Why don't you come out, then?"
"I like it here," she replied stubbornly, and Ivan let it go.
"What can I do for you?" he asked, bouncing his toes on the mattress as he lay on his stomach.
She didn't get the chance to reply before Amber burst into the room and barked at Ivan, "I heard you yell, are you okay?" Ivan nodded brightly and pointed below the bed.
"Hana came to visit and she just surprised me is all," he answered, pointing at Hana's tail flicking back and forth beneath the covers at the foot of his mattress. Amber visibly relaxed.
"All right, as long as you're okay," she said and turned to go.
"Wait. I have questions for you too," Hana said, and Amber turned back hesitantly.
"Like what?" the currently-humanoid dragon asked.
"Do you hate my mother because she's evil?" the girl asked simply, and Amber froze, unsure of how to answer. Ivan, however, confidently walked over to Amber, dragged her by the hand to the bed, sat her down, and took a seat on the small desk chair.
"I don't hate anyone, Hana," he said towards the gap, "But yes, I would say that I do not like your mother because of that. I would have to say it. She hurt thousands, killed hundreds, some we knew very well."
When his statement was met with silence, Ivan continued, "When we were in the dragonlands, the Ward—Arkoth merged two newlywed dragons together against their will. He was told to do so by Simula using magic she had developed. It was her plan. And I remember the look of anguish in their eyes when they realized what had happened. I played at their wedding, I knew they loved each other and were in so much pain, but it took a long time for us to be able to get them back to how they were before. Fae spent months trying to figure out Simula's notes. So… I don't hate her. But I don't like her either. She has caused a lot of pain."
Hana seemed to consider that, then poked her tail into the side of Amber's leg. "What about you?"
"Yes," Amber spat easily, "She is the reason for everything we've been through. Getting captured and put in the arena, the Balor killing Jeminya, the dragons, the war, the demons, all of it! She has hurt too many for too long! And that's why… It was because she was cruel and hurt so many people that we had planned on raising you ourselves, Hana."
Hana's head popped out from under the bed. "What?"
"We were going to try to raise you ourselves!" Ivan echoed, "When you were born, we wanted to see if we could take care of you instead of Simula. Your aunt Jeminya was a little worried about how she'd treat you, given how she treated others."
Hana's head slowly ducked back under the bed. Amber leaned down to look at her and the child's yellow eyes were bright and shiny. The dragon's expression softened a little at the sight and she said gently, "We wanted to make sure you were safe, Hana. We've all been waiting to meet you. Just… we weren't expecting you to be so big when we did."
The protruding tail stiffened, and the little voice from under the bed asked curiously, "You didn't know I was here, then. How did you think you would see me?" Ivan and Amber both straightened up and looked at each other for a moment.
"We weren't sure. We didn't even know you'd survived your mother's spell. And we didn't know where exactly your soul would wind up because of how small you were," Ivan said tactfully. "If we had known you were alive, we would have come sooner."
"Immediately. Jeminya would have begged us to come get you," Amber confirmed.
A silence fell over the three of them as Hana absorbed the new answers. Ivan smiled over at Amber, who he could tell was worried, and hopped over onto the bed next to her. He laid his head against her arm and tried to tell her telepathically that he was here and that he didn't want her to be sad. If he allowed his more negative thoughts to assert dominance for a moment, he would be more worried about Hana than he was, but he realized that it was a lot to take in and everything would work out as it should.
Amber, on the other hand, didn't know what to do. Jeminya meant the world to her, and Hana had meant a great deal to Jeminya. But the child underneath the bed was very little like Jeminya, not by willful choice but by unfortunate circumstance. She didn't know what to say to the little tiefling other than to tell her that she was, in fact, wanted and that what they said was the truth. At the same time, though, she could see why Hana wasn't readily leaping into anyone's arms and crying "I've found my family!"; Hell had changed all of them in such a short time, and the conditions had molded her into a very cunning yet socially unaware and untrusting teen.
"Are you going to hurt Arkoth?" Hana piped up, and Ivan quickly shook his head.
"It is against my vows to hurt anyone," Ivan said, "and I take those vows to Pelor very seriously." Amber, however, remained silent, but Hana seemed thankfully distracted.
"Who's Pelor?" she asked.
"Pelor is god of the sun, and he is the deity I follow," he replied happily, "I've met him a few times too! He's a nice grandpa kind of person. Well, a nice gruff grandpa kind."
Hana fell quiet again for another moment, then asked, "What's the sun?" Ivan's eyes widened, and he nearly fell off the seat. Both he and Amber spent the next few minutes trying to explain the sun and how day and night works in the mortal realm to a confused but receptive tiefling, and after the explanation she crawled out from under the bed and exited the room, slamming the door closed with a flick of her tail.
Ivan chuckled, "She's a cute little thing, isn't she, Amby?" and Amber nodded, though her head was still swirling with the answer to Hana's question.
Am I going to hurt Arkoth? Amber pondered, If he gives me a reason to, you bet your tail I will.
Oin did not stir when his door burst open. He was sitting on his bed, sans his heavier armor, and reading a book with a dual-colored mask on the cover, and he continued to do so when Hana barged in and leapt up onto the bed by his feet. He shifted his eyes upward to see the squatting child staring at him, the bear strapped to her chest detracting a bit from her intimidating gaze. Quietly, he finished the paragraph he was reading, closed the book, put it on the desk beside his bed, folded his arms over his chest, and met the child's eyes.
Neither spoke, which Oin liked. He had an inkling of why she had come to visit him as he had heard Amber tear out of her room to help Ivan earlier, and he had heard Ivan's door slam shut, but he wasn't completely sure. So he continued to stare into the bright yellow eyes of the tiefling in front of him, waiting for her to make the first move.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the apparition of Reiyn peek in through the door and motion for him to go ahead and speak. He groaned mentally; he was surrounded by pushy children and he was not accustomed to it at all. Decades alone with Olidammara was not the same as dealing with children, no matter how similar their mentalities.
"Why were you talking with my mother?" Hana asked. At least she was more direct than his deity ever had been. Oin paused to gather his thoughts.
"I wished to see how much she was aware of her place in the grand scheme of things," he answered slowly. "Simula's 'boredom' and the acts following may be part of a grander plan. I simply wanted to know how much she knew."
"And did you?" she asked, but Oin did not respond this time. Hana pursed her lips, and he could tell she was trying to figure him out.
Oin felt that Hana need not know everything. She had plenty of time to learn. And she didn't need to get mixed up in his affairs more than she absolutely needed to; it could be too dangerous. He would protect her like he did the others in the party. He owed that much to Jeminya.
Not that he would ever say any of this out loud. Unless…
He looked over to the image of Reiyn, still spying on them from the doorway and smiling at them. The last time he had confided in anyone so personally was when he had admitted his fear of rejection to the young half-elf, and even though those fears never came to fruition as the others stubbornly refused to abandon him, he was hesitant to involve anyone else again.
Oin looked back over at the girl perched on his bed, staring him down. She looked exceptionally like Jeminya and yet exceptionally different. (He refused to acknowledge any similarity to Simula out of deference to the rightful queen.) Her face was small and delicate like her aunt's, but there were scars on her cheeks and forehead. Her eyes were a different color, but they were similarly large and inquisitive. She had thin, fine hands, but they were calloused, and her nails were long, thick, and pointed like claws. And Hana had definitely inherited her aunt's stubbornness if this current staring contest was any indication.
After several minutes, Hana asked another question. "I know nearly everyone hates my mother. What about Jeminya? What do you think of her? What is she like?"
"Foolishly stubborn," Oin replied without a hint of hesitation, "but for reasons of charity and good-heartedness rather than abject stupidity. She was never one to turn away from someone in need. It cost her dearly many times, once with her life." Hana's eyebrow raised; she didn't believe him, he could tell.
"She died?"
"Yes. A Balor killed her while she was rescuing Amber. And we wished her back to life with a wishing well," Oin replied. "She also tried to face down another Balor alone to defend the King of Dwarves as well as gave up her chance for her soul to be purified so Simula could have the chance first. Nobility is one of her finest qualities, if also rather foolhardy."
Hana frowned. "You make it sound like you think she's stupid."
Oin gazed out the door at Reiyn; the apparition seemed to be chuckling but mouthed the words "go on," to him. Oin sighed, "On the contrary. She possesses qualities that, if my situation were different, I would wish to possess myself. But knowing what I know, I realize that they do her more harm than good. It does not make her stupid. It makes her who she is. And if she were anyone else, she would have cast me out long ago. I am… grateful to her."
Hana stopped frowning and her posture seemed to relax. He could tell that she was still mistrustful – wisely so – but he of all people knew that it would take time and evidence for that to be erased. However, she seemed satisfied with the answers her interrogation got her and she hopped off the bed. She caught a glimpse of Reiyn moving his head out of the way to hide that he had been peeking, and she turned her face around to ask Oin, "Is he your son? The one outside your door?"
Oin inhaled slowly and let out the breath just as deliberately. "No. He is the son of another of our party, long gone."
"Did he die too?"
"Not to my knowledge, no." Hana turned her whole body to him and looked, for the first time, concerned.
"Everyone else here feels the most comfortable with family. But… the person you feel most comfortable with is the son of your old ally?" she asked, "Why?"
The dwarf practically sunk into himself, holding his arms across his chest even more tightly. Nosy child your sister had, Jeminya, he thought. The soft giggling from the hallway indicated that at least the apparition was enjoying her questioning, and he grumbled, "That child never left me alone. No matter what, he would always come find me. He would offer me cookies or cakes or muffins or a story. He even made me a good luck charm. He would incessantly jabber on about his friends or his father and ask questions. He… had faith in me."
Hana chimed in, "That sounds annoying to me, bothering you all the time like that."
"Then you have never felt truly alone, child. Count yourself blessed," the dwarf intoned as he reached for his book and continued reading. Hana exited the room and he noticed in his peripheral vision that she was looking Reiyn up and down. The boy smiled and asked Hana, "Isn't Oin the best?"
Hana answered, "He's not so bad, I suppose," and Reiyn beamed proudly, closing the door behind her. Oin had to fight the urge to roll his eyes, but in his heart of hearts, he was ever so mildly pleased.
A small thump on the door caused Ravvas to turn his head from what he was reading at his desk. He had half expected the tiefling child to barge into his room next if the crashing down the hall had been any indication. But instead, just the soft bump on the door, and then nothing.
Curious, Ravvas rose and walked over to the door. He opened it. No tiefling teenager. Just a shocked looking half-elf child across the hall in front of the dwarf's room and – to his undisguised shock – a silently laughing Zelniss, bent completely over and shaking with mirth. The apparition unfolded himself, wiped a tear from his eye, and pointed to the door Ravvas had opened.
"What is it?" Ravvas asked, and Zelniss just began to chuckle again, so Ravvas looked to where he pointed.
The child had spit on his door.
Hana scampered back down the hall after having effectively expressing her opinion of Ravvas and rounded the corner.
"Hello, brown-haired assassin lady," she said as she hopped past Jalerom's attendant. "Hello, Faerthurin's elf lady," she greeted Yrlissa and skidded down the hall to her room, deftly maneuvering her way past Rose's spirit and the empty space where her mother used to stand. She carefully opened her door and tip-toed her way into the room so as not to alert Arkoth that she'd been out and about. She hadn't done anything wrong, she thought, but she wasn't sure if asking the others those questions had been something he'd agree with her doing. Still, she had felt it necessary.
I'm stuck with them for however long, she reasoned, snuggling into her little blanket nest on the floor, because Arkoth said so. She pulled Hubert out from his carrying strap and hugged him close.
I never thought I'd miss Minauros.