Chapter 11: Cool Kids, Cold Case – Part 1: The End
"I swear to god," Ragh wept. "I swear to god, whatever you guys need, I'll do whatever you want." Gorgug let go and shimmied his way out from under Ragh. The half-orc stood and sniffled, roughly wiping his nose with either forearm. For a moment, they stood and watched him try to control the snot threatening to stream out of his nose.
"First things first," Fig said, pausing as Ragh's sniffing threatening to drown her out. "I need you to – I need you to…" She looked over at Adaine, face creased as if Fig wanted the diviner to remind her what she was about to say.
"Say it," Adaine urged. Machaira looked at her questioningly. What were they talking about?"
"Kneel before Gorgug and tell him he's a big strong man." Fig ordered the older student. Machaira glanced at Adaine. The wizard was grinning, glee shining in her eyes.
"What?" Kristen whispered.
"What is happening?" Fabian asked.
"Seems unnecessary," Riz muttered. Machaira shared their misgivings. As much as she wanted to see Ragh put in his place and, more importantly, give Gorgug a much-deserved ego boost, the social castration made her uncomfortable. Machaira wondered what Adaine and Fig would want to force her to do when they found out about the tabaxi's past. Ragh collapsed to one knee, eyes fixed on Gorgug's shin.
"You're a fucking big strong man, dude," Ragh gasped out between barely contained sobs. Fig's face was positively radiant. "You're a big strong man. You took me out, dude. Fucking took me out, dude. Fuck." Gorgug winced.
"Does that feel good?" Fig asked, putting a hand on Gorgug's arm. "I can call him off."
"It doesn't feel good, honestly," Gorgug admitted.
"Never mind," Fig told Ragh. "Sorry, I thought that would be therapeutic."
"Coulda just asked him to apologize," Riz suggested.
"I appreciate that though," Gorgug murmured.
"Since it feels like we're done here could you quit that for us?" Fabian requested of Fig.
"Apologize to Machaira." Adaine interjected quickly. Fig, Ragh, Fabian and Machaira looked at the elf. "Apologize for attacking her. And for breaking her tail." Ragh snuffled, loudly sucking mucus back up his nostrils as he shuffled to face the tabaxi, still on his knees.
"I'm sorry," he sniveled. "I'm sorry I jumped you. Fucking beat the shit out of me. Little rogue girl, fucking ripped me. I didn't even know I broke your cat tail. Fucking ripped me." Machaira shifted and glanced over at Adaine. The elf stared at Machaira, eyes already dimming from hope to dismay at the rogue's clear unease.
"Thank you, Ragh," Machaira said quickly, ears swiveling down. "And, thank you, Adaine, but I'm not very comfortable with this either. I really appreciate you, though," she added quickly, reaching out and touching her friend's shoulder. "I, that was a, a sweet gesture, thanks." Her ears fully flattened, Machaira whisked her tail against the ground. Adaine smiled timidly, flushed with embarrassment.
"Can we stop this now?" Fabian asked.
"Alright," Fig relented. Ragh stood. Machaira moved to stand closer to Adaine, tail swishing out to briefly wrap around her calf before whipping away. The elf's smile flashed a bit brighter before she looked away, tucking a strand of hair behind her pointed ear. Machaira coughed into her hand to hide her own awkwardness and refocused on Ragh.
"What happened?" Riz asked.
"We have a lot of questions for him, right?" Kristen ignored Riz in favor of polling the others. Fig took out a flask and started passing it around.
"No, that has Friends spell cast on it," Adaine reminded Fig with a giggle.
"No, no, no, it's a new one," the tiefling promised.
"Oh, you cleaned it out?" Adaine asked.
"I got it from the hospital," the bard told them, unscrewing the top and taking a swig. The powerful smell of dwarven vodka reached Machaira's nose. Gorgug took a sip, smacked his lips, shuddered, and passed it to Adaine. Adaine tried some and coughed, shivering as the fierce liquid took hold. The high elf blinked, smiled, and straightened. It seemed that vodka agreed with her because Adaine took a second swallow. The wizard went to offer Machaira the flask, but her hand froze halfway.
"Do you want some?" She asked. "I know that you said you don't drink anymore, but this is kind of a big night for us." The tabaxi met Adaine's hopeful, nervous gaze as she proffered the stolen flask and smiled, chuckling a bit. Gods, that was a tempting offer. She reached out and wrapped her hand around Adaine's over the flask, giving her a squeeze before she took the liquor.
"Mmmm, I definitely want to," Machaira sighed, nearly moaning. "But I'm a bit of a lightweight, and, well, ah – "
"Affectionate?" Fig asked, smirking.
"Very," Machaira replied with feeling, ducking her head and passing the drink to an uncomfortable Fabian.
"I'm sure we can handle it," Fig assumed. "Right, Adaine?" Fig flexed her eyebrows suggestively. The other girl turned beet red and gaped. Machaira was about to laugh when noticed Adaine's gaze flickering between Machaira's scars and her eyes. Ugly. The word circled through her mind like a dog pack pacing around a treed panther. Machaira managed not to flinch and faced Ragh, suddenly wishing she had taken a shot of vodka to warm her up.
"Ragh, have a drink with us," Riz invited when the alcohol made it to him. Fabian laughed.
"You guys are fucking freshmen," Ragh exclaimed. "What the fuck?"
"Yeah, we're cool freshmen," Adaine retorted. "We've been telling you." Adaine took the flask and downed another mouthful to prove her point.
"I guess so," Ragh admitted. "You fucking just killed Coach Daybreak." The half-orc's voice was numb.
"Yeah but he was trying to kill us," Adaine reminded him, handing the flask back to Riz. Machaira smirked. Confident Adaine ruled.
"Speaking of which – "
"What was he trying to do?" Riz interrupted Fig. "He had this ball. He wanted to – do you really want the apocalypse, Ragh?"
"What?"
"I know you like the coach, but he was trying to destroy the world." Riz reiterated.
"No way, dude," Ragh brushed off the comment. "What are you talking about?"
"He was trying to throw us – " Gorgug began.
"What do you think about that freaking dark portal?" Riz asked, interrupting Gorgug.
"What I think was happening, dude?" Ragh repeated the question, frowning like he rarely had his opinion considered. "Dude, coach was like, 'Ragh, we're going, dude.' And I was like, 'yes!' And then I fucking got in the van, and then he fucking… We went to this big… it was like a house with no beds and so many chairs and, like, benches and stuff."
"Was it in a bank?" Fig asked.
"I think it's a church," Fabian corrected, turning to Ragh. "You're talking about a church?" Ragh peered at him, frowning blankly. "You've never been to a church before?"
"Fuck, Ragh," Riz said, grinning.
"Do you know what a church is?" Fabian asked.
"It's a church," Adaine confirmed.
"Dude, fuck off," Ragh yelled. "Dude, fuck off my back!"
"Okay, okay, alright," Riz relented.
"Fuck off his back," Fig teased Fabian.
"Okay, fine, I'll fuck off his back," Fabian acquiesced. Adaine giggled.
"You went to this house with no beds then just benches," Riz spoke over them.
"Bench house," Kristen supplied.
"This bench house," Riz agreed, gesturing to Ragh. "What happened at the bench house?"
"So, the bench house," Ragh recalled. "He went, and he, like, took a scroll. And he did a thing where the stone got, like, fucking sad or whatever." Fabian and Adaine both grinned.
"And you were able to pull it out by hand?" Kristen interrupted, miming the action.
"Fucking yes," Ragh exclaimed, copying the motion of pulling towards himself. "He said, 'Ragh, flip out,' and I flipped out. I fucking got it out of the wall, dude."
"Was Porter there?" Fig asked.
"Huh?"
"Was Porter there?" The tiefling repeated. "The teacher, the barbarian teacher."
"You are obsessed with this teacher, and he has nothing to do with anything." Adaine informed Fig, smiling with amusement and exasperation.
"I'll catch him," The bard promised. "I'll catch him yet." Adaine giggled.
"Look, Ragh, I have a question, okay," Kristen stepped in. "To start from the beginning, remember that day when, I think either you shoved into me and threw my bible or someone else did but you were around. Do you remember that?"
"First day of school," Gorgug supplied.
"Yeah, the first day of school," Kristen remembered.
"First day of school," Ragh muttered. "Oh, I fucking took The Ball, and I fucking dunked The Ball."
"You did," Riz confirmed.
"It was very cool," Kristen agreed. Riz laughed. "Look, but about the bible."
"You also dunked a bible," Riz cut in. "Do you remember the second half of the day?"
"Yeah!" Kristen and Ragh said simultaneously.
"Yeah, I fucking chucked your book into the fucking kitchen, dude," Ragh reminded her.
"Yeah, my book of Helio, you did, that was great," Kristen recapped quickly. "Did you do anything to the book first, or did you just take the book out of my hands and throw what you took?"
"Fucking smack and grab," Ragh hooted, miming the action. "Three points!"
"I hate you more each moment," Kristen calmly alerted him.
"Okay, but what – " Riz began.
"I was, but I didn't, I regret doing that." Ragh sputtered over Riz.
"Huh?" Kristen mused. Fabian and Adaine exchanged skeptical looks.
"Did someone tell you to do that?" Riz asked.
"No, no one told me to do it," Ragh said with feeling. "I regret it because coach fucking chewed my ass out. He was like, 'What were you doing? Why did you do that' And I was like, 'She bore false witness, Coach! I was trying to make you…'" Ragh choked, balling his fists.
"Oh, so Coach was really mad that you did that?" Kristen checked.
"He was so pissed," Ragh confirmed, eyes wide. "And he was like, 'You have no idea of the forces you're meddling with.' And I was like, 'I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I love…'" Ragh choked up a second time, staring at the ground.
"You love the coach, Ragh?" Riz asked, grinning.
"Fuck you, dude," Ragh cried, clocking Riz in the face. The goblin managed to duck and avoid the worst of the punch but still staggered.
"You kinda earned that one," Machaira said mildly, drawing her saber.
"I will tell everyone that you shit your pants," Fig threatened. Gorgug got up behind Ragh and started trying to force him down.
"Get off me, dude," Ragh shouted, arms flailing as he tried to stop Gorgug from holding them. "Get off me, dude. You guys talking about my coach." Fig walked up to the wrestling half-orcs without fear.
"What did I tell you?" She whispered. Ragh met her stony gaze and faltered, arms falling limply to his sides. Gorgug took that moment to secure his headlock.
"Sorry," he muttered. "Sorry, it's just people, I, I'm sorry, I, I, fuck – "
"Ragh, I'm sorry," Riz apologized, playing the bigger man in an ironic twist that was not lost on Machaira.
"It's just when people say that I have feelings, it's, like, fuck you, I never do!" Ragh snuffled, maintaining his staring contest with the ground. Machaira sheathed her saber. Adaine frowned, spiteful glee dying into sympathy.
"Ragh, here's – "
"You should just cry," Fig interrupted Adaine.
"Here's an idea I think that you should take," Adaine swept on.
"Cry, let yourself cry right now," Fig spoke over the elf again.
"Cry," Gorgug insisted.
"Let yourself cry," Fig repeated.
"Cry." Gorgug more ordered than suggested.
"Don't bully him," Riz told the half-orc.
"Cry, do it," Gorgug demanded.
"Hey," Adaine reached out and grabbed his arm when Gorgug went to choke Ragh.
"Crying feels really good," Fig said more calmly. Ragh screamed. Spheres of water formed in his eyes. Ragh squinched his face and pushed the tears back in.
"This is bullying," Riz restated.
"He hit you," Gorgug countered. Kristen activated her Thaumaturgy, producing distant, choral music. Fig created a minor illusion of a puppy cleaning a kitten. Machaira smirked and chuckled, falling sideway to lean against Adaine before straightening. Ragh quivered in place, staring at the illusion.
"Oh fuck," he whispered. "Oh fuck. They're natural enemies, but they're just helping each other." Fig laughed. Ragh more screamed than cried, face turning brick red.
"Is he barking?" Kristen asked. Adaine smirked again. Machaira's whiskers twitched. What on earth was she watching?
"Is this what you wanted?" Fabian asked Fig. Huge droplets with weird, backed up gunk from his tear ducts sludged down his face. Adaine and Gorgug gagged. Riz and Fig laughed.
"What's happening?" Ragh asked. "You fucking hit me, dude; I'm bleeding. Ahhhhhrrrrr, I'm bleeding out of my eyes."
"Yeah, it's not blood, it's just tears. It was water." Kristen told him.
"It's not blood, Ragh," Riz backed Kristen.
"It feels good to cry," Fig protested.
"I'm a big man. I'm a big man." Ragh muttered under his breath.
"Men cry," Kristen told him.
"Like if you didn't jerk off for a while you would need to sometimes," Fig explained.
"That's how you explain crying?" Machaira asked. "Jerking off?" Fig snickered. Adaine tried to hide a smirk.
"I fucking jerk off," Ragh assured them.
"Your eyes are jerking off right now," Kristen summarized for him.
"Is that true?" Ragh asked hopefully.
"Yeah, you're cumming, good for you," Kristen said without enthusiasm.
"Oh yeah, dude, fuck, I'm so good at sex I fucking cum out of my eyes when I feel this way," Ragh half-sobbed half-bragged.
"Are we helping or hurting him?" Kristen asked.
"Both," Machaira answered.
"What are you guys doing here?" Riz questioned.
"This is not what we wanted." Fabian announced, equally confused.
"I don't know, he hit you," Gorgug circled back. Fig doubled over in silent laughter.
"This is dark," Adaine declared.
"Adaine, what did you want to say?" Riz held his hand out toward the wizard.
"I…" The high elf paused, trying to remember her earlier suggestion. "Think you need to go and work on your emotions, and, like, maybe you can just go take a druid class or something. Like, plant some trees or some shit." She spread her hands, lips curling into a hybrid of nervous frown and amused smirk. She made that expression a lot, and it was always cute.
"Fuck," Ragh sighed. "Plant trees, more like fuck pussy."
"You're not cool, okay?" Gorgug yelled. Adaine's face devolved into pity. Ragh started freaking out again.
"Ragh, what else did you and coach do?" Riz asked, distracting the barbarian. "And don't just talk about sports. What did you guys do that was like the pulling the doorway out of the, uh, house with no beds? AKA, a church, for future reference." Ragh thought for a second.
"Uh, oh, there was some shit, like, he told me, like, if Zayn, you know that fucking weird kid?" They hummed affirmations. "If Zayn ever, like, asked for help, or I was, like, supposed to keep an eye on him if he ever, like, went to a teacher or looked like he was getting friendly with people, I was supposed to fucking kick his ass. Like, keep him alone, like – "
"Did you ever go to his apartment?" Riz interrupted.
"Zayn?" Ragh frowned.
"Yeah."
"No dude, that guy fucking sucks," Ragh claimed. "He's lame." Riz, Adaine, and Machaira exchanged glances. Rogues and wizards valued insight more than any other class. Ragh had almost no ability to deceive. Silently, they reached the same conclusion: this guy was dumb muscle. He had no idea what he was involved with.
"Hey, do you know where Coach lived?" Adaine inquired. "Have you ever been to Coach's house?"
"Dude, all the time, dude." Ragh got pumped again. "Coach would, like, get me over there, and we'd, like, just drink a fucking bunch of punch, and we'd talk about sports and stuff."
"Yeah, bring us," Fig suggested. "Let's go."
"Yeah, let's go," Adaine agreed.
"I want punch, let's go," Kristen added.
"No one to stop us," Machaira pointed out. Fabian groaned.
"Wait, okay, we can go," Gorgug decided. "I just had one more question: was there ever anyone besides Coach, like, telling you to do stuff?" Ragh started thinking.
"Specifically dressed like a scarecrow," Fabian offered.
"Or a Porter," Fig added under her breath.
"Okay, look, it's not Porter," Kristen mumbled.
"It's definitely not Porter," Adaine promised.
"Porter actually seems like a decent teacher," Machaira voiced. "The only reason we ever suspected him is that he wasn't surprised to see a bunch of dead people on campus, and, honestly, after the three weeks we've been here, I wouldn't be either."
"I mean, fair," Fabian offered with a shrug. Adaine laughed a bit and shoulder bumped Machaira. Fig grinned despite herself, and Riz groaned in reluctant agreement. Machaira whipped her tail against Adaine's back but didn't hold her.
"That's a weird thing to ask," Ragh mused.
"Why?" Gorgug pressed.
"Because, like, Coach was the fucking boss, and he didn't take shit from anybody… but the day after the shit happened, with that corn in the cafeteria… he looked more fucked up and scared than I've ever seen him. Like, he looked shook, and I was like, 'Coach, everything okay?' And he told me to hit the showers, and I was like, 'It's breakfast,' and I was like, 'I shouldn't do that – '"
"You just took a shower?" Gorgug asked.
"He would tell me to take a shower sometimes," Ragh tossed out conversationally. Adaine pursed her lips together in a concealed smile.
"How often were you taking showers?" Gorgug swept on.
"I take like four showers, five showers a day," Ragh guessed.
"It's one of his phrases," Fabian explained. "He told me to take a shower after tryouts, and I was like, 'Why would I take a shower?'"
"But you actually took the showers?" Gorgug inquired.
"Dude," Ragh began, yelling over his shoulder at the other barbarian. "When Coach says fucking jump, I say, 'Please!'"
"That's definitely the saying," Kristen agreed.
"Is Coach, like, your dad?" Riz asked. "Or, like – "
"What did you say dude?" Ragh whispered, staring at Riz like the greatest gift on earth lay just within reach. "Did you know that? Did someone tell that to you? Did someone tell you that?"
"What?" Gorgug murmured.
"Is Coach your dad?" Kristen asked, eyes huge. Machaira almost wailed in frustration at their cleric. All the time she'd spent with Gorgug and she couldn't figure out what was going on?
"Did someone say that Coach is my dad?" Ragh looked to all of them before refocusing on Riz. "I always thought Coach was my dad, and, like, so if you heard anything – "
"I don't think Coach is your dad," Riz clarified. "I was wondering if he was like a father figure to you – "
"I know what it's like not to know," Gorgug interrupted Riz for a change. "Not to fully understand who your dad is and think that specifically the Coach was your dad." Adaine began to laugh, refined mask cracking. Machaira reached out and pawed at Gorgug's arm.
"Although," Fig began.
"Been there," Gorgug told Ragh.
"Yeah, I mean, he's been there," Riz snickered. Ragh swept his hands out to quiet everybody even though he was still freaking out. He twisted his head around to see up the side of Gorgug's face and meet the half-orc's eyes.
"Dude, you don't know who your dad is?" Ragh murmured.
"Not my real dad," Gorgug replied, shaking his head.
"Dude, I don't know, I don't know who my dad is either."
"Yeah, I mean, it's hard, right?" Gorgug muttered. Ragh kissed Gorgug on the cheek. "Oh. Okay." Adaine's grin was on the verge of fully breaking free. Fig stared with huge eyes. Kristen frowned like she had missed something. Riz started to laugh. Machaira chuffed and shook herself, amused. Odds were nothing would become of this, but Gorgug's reaction was going to be funny for a long time.
"Alright, that feels like a sign that we should depart," Fabian suggested. They all laughed.
"I kinda want to ride this out," Kristen disagreed. The laughter redoubled.
"Yeah, I'm here for it," Fig seconded.
"I just…" Ragh stuttered, realizing what he'd done.
"I have so many questions, and some of them are being answered right now," Kristen giggled. The rest of them laughed along, happy that her weird new horniness wasn't being turned on them for a change.
"You just, you get me, dude," Ragh muttered.
"Okay." Gorgug repeated quietly.
"I'm sorry," Ragh said more firmly. "Fuck, dude, I was out of line, dude. And honestly, Owlbears would be fucking lucky to have you dude because you fucking ran the field, dude, and I fucked up. I'm sorry, dude." Gorgug nodded.
"I have one more question," Fig piped up. "We weren't at school today: how's Penelope doing?"
"Penelope?" Ragh's head swung back and forth. "She's alright, I guess. She, like, she's so fucking weird because, fuck, like, Dayne is so cool. And he's constantly hanging out with fucking, like, Penelope, you know what I mean? It's, like, okay, she can't play bloodrush, so what's going on?"
"Do you ever – " Kristen began,
"Cool, great intel," Fig ran over the cleric quickly. "Great intel, thanks."
"Do you ever think about – have you ever had any dreams about him?" Kristen spoke louder to be heard over Fig.
"Dayne?"
"Yeah."
"Tons, dude," Ragh confirmed.
"Yeah, like what happens?" Kristen asked, looking at Ragh the same way she had looked at Fig's rat.
"I had a dream where he was, like, a unitaur, you know, like a unicorn/centaur, right, where he would have the legs of a horse and then it was his body. And centaurs don't wear shirts."
"Yeah of course," Kristen agreed, not even blinking as she watched Ragh.
"And then a phallic horn?" Fig guessed, putting her hand over her head. Fabian's face was a mask of exhaustion.
"And then he had a horn," Ragh agreed. "And he was like, 'Ragh, I know where our dad is, and you need to get on my back.'" Adaine and Machaira exchanged uncomfortable sideways glances. While implicit sexual fantasies did not make the rogue awkward, Ragh's animal fetish dream about another senior was not something she needed to be privy to. Gorgug just frowned at Ragh like he didn't fully understand what was going on.
"Do you think Dayne is your brother?" Fig asked.
"He said it, and I got super sad, but I didn't understand why," Ragh elaborated. Riz smiled the way he always did when their party detoured off the deep end. "And then I got on his back, and we just rode for, like, forever, just forever."
"How were you holding on to, like, so that you wouldn't fall off?" Kristen inquired. Machaira pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Uh, I was just normal, like, horse, but I had my hands wrapped around his, like, front part, you know, like, human torso. And I had to, like, be kinda back – scooched back because I was, I was naked, so I didn't have, so, like, my cock was getting hit by the horse body." Adaine snorted, face rippling between awkwardness and humor. She slipped behind Machaira and subtly began the motions of a message spell. After a moment, Ragh stiffened, cocking his ear to some sound the rest of them couldn't hear, and started swinging his fists out around him. Gorgug, still holding him from behind, was out of the line of fire, but everyone else took a healthy step back.
"Whoa," Kristen exclaimed.
"Hey, hey, guy, maybe I should – "
"Shut up, dude!" Ragh shouted over Gorgug, face turning red. "Who said it?"
"Huh?" Fig asked.
"I feel like maybe I shouldn't just be holding him like this," Gorgug admitted from his headlock.
"I disagree," Machaira countered. "I think that just came in handy."
"I mean, it's fine," Kristen waved aside.
"This feels like it's going rather fine, if I do say so." Fabian sassed.
"Ragh, I think you just need to take some time, and you just need to think about some stuff," Riz stepped in. "I think you're gonna be a lot happier of a person if you just kind of…" He made a vague hand gesture that could have meant anything.
"Truly, go see Jawbone tomorrow," Fabian urged.
"Great idea," Machaira agreed.
"Go see Jawbone!" Riz parroted.
"Yeah, see Jawbone," Adaine backed with feeling, grinning hugely at the idea. "Jawbone is, seriously dude – "
"You should talk about this dream to Jawbone," Riz interrupted.
"Yeah," Fig seconded.
"The fucking werewolf dude?" Ragh asked, confused. They all made noises of affirmation.
"Yeah, he's pretty cool," Gorgug claimed.
"Yeah, he's pretty rad, right?" Riz added.
"I guess…" Ragh muttered.
"He does a lot of drugs," Fabian tempted. Ragh's eyebrows flew up.
"Word?"
"Ah, yes," Fabian assured the barbarian.
"Dude, Jawbone sounds sick," Ragh relented. "I'll fucking talk to Jawbone." Everyone murmured approval once more.
"I think you're gonna be a much happier person," Riz repeated. Ragh started blustering.
"Alright, whatever, fucking losers. Thank you so much for talking to me." He rushed the last part out in a vulnerable undertone. Gorgug let go of him.
"You're not a bad guy, Ragh," Riz told him.
"Yeah, you're a good guy," Kristen agreed.
"Ragh, we're glad we brought you back to life," Fig said. Ragh immediately burst into tears. The berserker kept his face motionless, but rivers of water rolled down his face without intervals.
"Oh," Kristen noticed.
"No one's ever said that to me before," Ragh whispered. Privately, Machaira wondered how many people had killed him and brought him back to life period.
"We're really proud of you, Ragh," Riz told him. "You showed good hustle out there, man." Ragh hiccupped a bit.
"If anyone talks shit about you guys around me, I'm gonna fucking kill them, alright?" Ragh breathed. Various murmurs of caution or assent drifted from the party. "I'm gonna eat their asshole, dude." Ragh promised more loudly.
"No, you don't have to," Riz protested.
"Great," Fig happily countered.
"Keep an eye out for us," Gorgug requested.
"Just one more time, if somebody tries to, like, dunk me, just stop it, you know?" Riz backtracked.
"Anyone tries to fuck with you, I'm gonna fucking get the fuck in there," Ragh managed around his hiccups.
"And, like, maybe just, like, listen to some chilling music?" Adaine suggested.
"What?"
"I think we got you," Gorgug said, sparing Ragh the necessity of answering.
"Wait, will you tell us where Coach's house is?" Fig requested.
"Ragh, hit the showers," Riz laughed.
"Before you hit the showers – " Fig called, but Ragh was already sprinting for the showers, arms pumping as he tried to pour on speed. Everyone started laughing.
"Did we find out where Coach's house was?" Fig asked
"I don't think so," Riz admitted
"Don't you want to snoop through Coach's house?" Fig inquired
"I definitely do," Adaine declared adamantly.
"Ragh, where does Coach live?" Riz hollered after the half-orc.
"He lives down the street, man," Ragh's distant voice filtered over. "He lives over by the old Church of Sol!"
"Cool, thanks man," Riz snickered.
"Thank you," Fig and Adaine yelled after him. They all left for Coach Daybreak's house, which was disturbingly close to the woods where Machaira lived. On their way over, Adaine dropped to the back of the group to talk to Machaira.
"Hey, you okay?" She asked. "You were pretty quiet back there. I mean, you're normally pretty quiet but, like, you were really quiet. Is everything okay?" Machaira offered Adaine a smile, knowing that she couldn't quite hide her worry. She'd reached her goal with surprising alacrity; Daybreak was dead, leaving no excuse to hide her past from her friends. But there was a fearful, half-baked hope inside her that whispered her friends might not need to know. If they never asked, she'd never have to tell. A silly thought, but the tabaxi clung to it.
"I'm okay," she lied. "I just have a lot on my mind. This whole adventure feels like it's coming to a close. It's kind of huge."
"Yeah, but isn't that a good thing?" Adaine asked. "No more almost dying, no more looking over our shoulders or wondering who around us is a secret enemy, finding those missing girls – won't it be a relief to get it behind us, maybe just, you know, hang out like normal people for a while?"
"Yeah, it's a good thing," Machaira agreed. "It's just a lot. I'll be glad to put it behind me, but I'm really glad I got involved."
"Why?"
"I got to know you because of it," Machaira answered simply, looking ahead to the others a few paces further down the sidewalk. Every one of them was important to her. "You and the rest of our party. This is the first real group of friends I've had. Because of this crazy fucked up conspiracy, I got to meet some of the most incredible people who have ever touched my life." She turned to fully meet Adaine's gaze as she said the last part, the only member of her party who had really put time and effort into the scout. The high elf blinked, a little daunted and flustered but plenty happy. Machaira smiled, and Adaine smiled back, tucking a strand of hair around her ear.
"I'm glad I met you, too," Adaine admitted quietly. "I won't miss getting shot at and shit, but I'm really happy you're my friend." Adaine's left hand clenched and unclenched at her side. Machaira moved her right hand closer, fingers brushing Adaine's. The wizard immediately seized her hand, face blushing scarlet around her grin. Machaira chuffed, maneuvering to interlock their fingers and give Adaine a tight squeeze. The other girl almost jumped trying to shoulder bump her. Despite Machaira's smaller stature, her stride merely paused as the tabaxi absorbed the impact, nudging Adaine back more carefully. She met the high elf's blue eyes and poured warmth into her gaze, wanting Adaine to know just how much she valued her. Her friends weren't demanding any secrets yet, and Machaira was determined to make confident Adaine regular Adaine while she still had the time.
"So tell me, what did you have in mind now that we're 'normal people'?" Machaira teased lightly. Adaine's blush crept down her cheeks over her jaw.
"I don't know," she complained. "Just, hanging out together without wondering which teacher is trying to kill us or whatever." Machaira barked out a laugh.
"Sounds like a plan," she chirruped, butting Adaine's shoulder with her head. The high elf giggled but separated as they reached Daybreak's apartment. Machaira was glad they had their moment before they reached the apartment because Daybreak's residency was overflowing with insane cultist/dungeon-esc paraphernalia, including spikes of every shape and size, self-flagellating tools, torture equipment, and dozens upon dozens of fiendish objects. Machaira snarled in disgust and swatted a totem of Yeenoghu onto the floor. The paper trail was, if anything, more incredible. Coach Daybreak seemed to be the brains of the Harvestmen. Riz found a book with the names of everyone involved in the Harvestmen, including the names of several police officers he knew, though nobody who outranked his mom. Adaine sorted through piles of research about Hell Mouths and perditional contradoxy, both inside of people and via portals. The difficult part wasn't finding incriminating evidence; it was trying to take stock of it all.
"Motherfucker, where is Porter?" Fig demanded, riffling through papers with reckless abandon.
"No else thought that."
"It was just that one time he wasn't surprised."
"He's just – he's not even a human."
"Jesus."
"He just wasn't rattled," Riz laughed.
"He's made of rock," Adaine added.
"He fucks," Fig protested.
"He likes you, too, right?" Kristen asked.
"I'll suss out where he's – " Fig began.
"He really liked you and wanted to take you under his wing," Kristen swept on.
"Yeah, isn't he your favorite teacher?" Adaine added.
"He seemed nice," Riz admitted.
"He is nice," Machaira assured them. "He subbed in on our fighter's class one time, and he's actually a really good teacher.
"He is," Fabian agreed.
"Your dad is a demon," Riz reminded Fig.
"Devil," Machaira corrected. There was a big difference they were all ignoring. Fig eventually knuckled under.
"So, I guess we'll call my mom?" Riz proposed.
"The Ball, it sounds about right," Fabian agreed.
"I guess we'll call my mom," Riz muttered again, taking out his crystal.
"Wait, we're gonna – oh, we're gonna call your mom," Fig cut herself off. "I think we should go through the list of people, and we should go knocking on their doors, and I can intimidate them."
"That's insane. They're adults." Adaine calmly informed her.
"Adults in an extremist cult who ordered the murder of students," Machaira added.
"Yeah, there's a ton of them," Riz backed the girls.
"Yeah, and I'm a powerful young lady," Fig asserted.
"A powerful young lady who'd be arrested," Machaira added.
"I think we call The Ball's mother," Fabian voted.
"Wait," Adaine sopped Riz, eyes glowing with a detect magic spell. "I found something." The wizard moved to the back of the apartment and showed them an arcane lock on a secret compartment. Upon breaking it, she unearthed a juicy stash of personal information: Daybreak's whereabouts; the funding and blackmailing of Zayn Darkshadow; correspondences with Zayn about contacting Johnny Spells; and financial documents that revealed Daybreak to be almost entirely broke despite a salary of 400K gold pieces, frequently deposited into a trust fund at KVX Bank. Riz and Gorgug came to the same conclusion that someone on the school board also had to be in on this to justify paying the coach of a high school such an exorbitant salary.
"Trust fund doesn't have a name attached to it," Adaine announced. "It's some weird legalese thing I can't make heads or tails of."
"Let's break into the bank," Fig suggested. "Clearly this thing that he was depositing in is, probably, like, the trust fund is probably financing the Harvestmen."
"It could be one of their accounts, yeah," Kristen agreed.
"Could be that he has a secret kid," Adaine proposed. "Or something to do with Zayn Darkshadow."
"A half-orc secret kid?" Machaira joked.
"Well, why do you have a trust fund?" Adaine demanded, putting her hands palms up. "Like, why does one have a trust fund? It's, like, a thing for your kids, right?" Machaira shrugged. She'd never used a bank.
"Is it his trust fund or a trust fund that he has access to?" Gorgug spoke over the four other responses. "Like it could be accumulative – "
"But it's a trust fund," Adaine stressed.
"There's other uses for a trust fund besides kids," Fabian said. "He could be leaving money for anyone." After a few more minutes of bickering, during which Machaira found a statue of Baphomet and slowly pushed it to the ground where it belonged, the party agreed to call Sklonda Gukgak. The detective rolled up in front of the apartment a few minutes later and looked over at Riz, flabbergasted.
"Kiddo, what the hell's going on?" Despite how serious the goblin was, Machaira could see through the mask of a professional to the concern beneath. Riz smiled a bit, but kept glancing nervously at the ground as he answered.
"So, there were some dark goings on at the school, but we got to the bottom of it. Uh, it seems like, have you heard of the Harvestmen?" Sklonda frowned.
"Yeah, they're a cult."
"Right, I think Coach Daybreak was like the brains of the operation." Sklonda looked around at the stacks of papers and material they had assembled in front of her, some on the ground and some held out for her to inspect.
"Where is Coach Daybreak right now?" She asked.
"He's super dead."
"He killed himself." Riz and Fig replied simultaneously. Sklonda looked from one to the other, frowning suspiciously.
"You don't have to – we killed him," Riz clarified for his mom. "He tried to kill us." Machaira was a little shocked at the level of trust between the two goblines. But then, her party had repeatedly shown her that she knew nothing about healthy parental relationships.
"He shot himself from the back of the head," Gorgug tried to maintain Fig's lie.
"Oh, we should get to lie," Fig protested, holding up her index finger. "You lie to my dad, but I can't lie to your mom?" Adaine narrowed her eyes over a carefully concealed frown.
"My mom's cool," Riz countered.
"Alright, alright, alright, alright" Sklonda waved her hands back and forth at them. "All you children have to come downtown. You have to come downtown." Kristen and Fabian started to protest. Machaira forced her hackles to stay flat.
"No, but there are bad cops," Riz rushed. "There are dirty cops." One of the cops in the squad car whipped around to look over at them as Riz spoke. "There's evidence. People who – nobody who outranks you." Riz handed the list to his mother, who grabbed it out of his hands and looked over it.
"I trust a demon over a cop," Fig whispered.
"Seriously, you of all people should know that your father is a devil," Machaira rebuked. "Call him a demon – tell him there's no difference. He will be so hurt."
"You tried to take off his hand," Fig protested.
"I also helped him eat again," the scout reminded her.
"Yeah, thanks again, that was super cool," Fig said, losing all hostility.
"Sweetie," Sklonda cut them off, staring at Riz. "This checks out. Go wait in the car. We're gonna take care of this." She smiled at her son.
"Yes ma'am," Riz agreed, nerves fading to meek relief now that his mother wasn't angry. The other rogue began to walk to the car. "See, my mom rules."
"All of us?" Kristen asked. Sklonda didn't answer, gaze fixed on the pages her son had given her. Right then, Machaira knew that this woman was on the warpath. She wasn't sure who exactly would be the detective's prey, but the tabaxi was happy not to be in her line of fire at the moment.
"You're not my dad," Gorgug told her.
"What's that?"
"You're not my dad." He repeated simply. Sklonda stared at him for a moment. Her eyes wandered to the ground, as if trying to remember something. She started to speak but shut her mouth after the first breath. "You're clearly not my dad."
"Mom, I'm so sorry," Riz laughed. "I don't…"
"I don't – " Sklonda started.
"You've got a lot on your plate," Riz interrupted. "We're gonna go wait in the car."
"I know we were all wondering," Gorgug assured them.
"The fact that he acknowledged that you are NOT his dad is a big improvement," Machaira explained to a very confused Sklonda. "Honestly, this is progress." Adaine was consumed by a giggle fit.
"We do have something to talk about." Fig announced. They stared her, but Fig didn't elaborate right away.
"I just want you to know, um, before you take me downtown, I actually have diplomatic immunity," Adaine told Sklonda, coming out of her giggles.
"Oh. The six of you need to come downtown with me." Sklonda corrected, gesturing to the people on either side of Adaine.
"I'll go," the wizard moderated. "But – "
"We won't place you under arrest," Sklonda promised, waving a hand at Adaine.
"No, I'll just come with my friends," Adaine rushed, gesturing to the full party. She stepped up against Machaira's side as she said this, fingertips reaching out to brush the base of her tail. While part of Machaira wanted to make a joke about feeling her ass, she instead gave Adaine what she wanted and wrapped the elf in her tail without comment.
"I have diplomatic immunity, too," Fig declared.
"No you don't," Sklonda shot her down.
"I do," Fig argued. "I bet I do."
"What country are you from?" Sklonda asked. Shit. Machaira stiffened. The police would want information on citizenship, parental status, and a half-dozen other things Machaira hadn't needed to attend Aguefort. Now her friends would find out about her past after Machaira was locked up for wandering into Solace without a visa. Adaine felt her reaction and looked over at her in alarm. "Oop, there it is." Sklonda said to Fig.
"What's wrong?" Adaine asked as they were loaded into a cruiser. The cops were careful not to touch Adaine but gave Machaira an extra shove to keep moving. "Hey!" The elf protested, but the rogue stayed quiet. Machaira unwound her tail from Adaine as they sat down but squeezed her hand. She met the high elf's confused gaze steadily. Machaira slowly butted her head against Adaine and pulled away, back straight, eyes forward. She took the elf's hand when offered and laid her tail over their laps for Adaine to fiddle with, but she knew what was coming.
They were given some benches in the police station to sit at for a while, outside but next to a holding cell. Someone brought them fast food. Machaira picked at it for a bit before giving it to Riz. Fabian followed suit, much to the goblin's glee. A few minutes later they were questioned and had their statements taken. A few minutes after that someone brought them bottled water, which Machaira sucked down in silence. The shadows of the cell to her right felt like an omen. Adaine studied her in concern but didn't say anything, perhaps waiting until they were alone like she normally did. After a little over an hour Sklonda came back and gave them back their weapons and gear, including their crystals.
"Now, policy dictates that you call your parents or guardians from one of our crystals," she warned them, passing out a police-issued crystal. "So everyone make your phone call, and you can leave when your legal guardian comes to sign off for you." Machaira stared at her lap as everyone made their calls, only half absorbing the white noise of parents exclaiming over their children's situation. Finally, she was the only one left. Sklonda held out the crystal to her. "Alright, kiddo, just call your parents, and that's that."
"I don't know their number." Machaira admitted, looking up to meet the detective's surprised eyes.
"Can't you look it up on your crystal?"
"Their number isn't in my crystal. I haven't seen them in seven years." Sklonda tightened her mouth. Machaira hated the trace of pity that made it through her mask.
"Then call whoever has legal guardianship over you," the goblin amended.
"No one has legal guardianship over me." Machaira kept her voice calm, but every instinct was screaming at her to run. Her scars itched, twinging with phantoms pains. Her ears felt hot as her friends stared at her.
"Kiddo, I'm not sure I understand," Sklonda said.
"Aguefort doesn't require a guardian's permission to enroll," Machaira told her. "It also doesn't require background checks, proof of citizenship, or money, provided you put enough scholarships together."
"Machaira, what are you saying?" Riz asked.
"What's going on?" Kristen demanded.
"The fuck is wrong with this school?" Fabian wondered.
"Machaira, talk to me," Adaine pleaded. "What's going on?" Machaira closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She turned to meet Adaine's gaze squarely. She didn't want to do this. But she had to.
"I was born in the tropical nation Tybal Terra," she said. "I haven't seen my parents since I was eight. I have no legal guardian. I take care of myself." She looked over at an astounded Sklonda, who was almost eye level with her when the tabaxi was sitting. "There is no one for me to call to come get me. I am an illegal immigrant in the nation of Solace." Kristen, Riz, and Fig all started yelling. Riz stared at her, stunned, but also a little validated, like he'd finally pieced something together. Gorgug just frowned, like he didn't fully understand what was happening. Adaine's eyes were wide, a thousand emotions running through them. Machaira faced Sklonda resolutely.
"Why didn't you say anything?" Adaine asked eventually. The others had all been plying questions and making demands, but this was the voice Machaira had been waiting for. Even without seeing her, the hurt in the elf's voice cut Machaira like a knife.
"Because I'm not brave like you," she reminded the wizard, closing her eyes. "Because I'm afraid to see the look in your eyes right now." Somehow, the tabaxi kept her voice calm. She touched the bracelet on her wrist, offering this trial to Bast.
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Kristen repeated.
"Seriously," Fabian added.
"Okay, I think you owe us an explanation," Riz agreed.
"Kiddo, enough," Sklonda turned on them, voice hard.
"No, they're right," the scout conceded. "You've trusted me with your lives, and I haven't been honest with you."
"So, there's just, no one?" Adaine asked. "What, how, why, what even is this home you've been going to every night?"
"I have a camp in the woods." Machaira responded simply. She didn't need to see Adaine to know that the wizard was taken aback. "I'll tell you everything, soon. I promise. Just not here, in the police station. Which reminds me," Machaira opening her eyes and meeting Sklonda's gaze, resigned. "What happens now?"
"I…" Sklonda took a deep breath and held up a hand. "Give me a second to figure this out. Just, stay, sit here for the moment, okay?" Machaira nodded and rested her cheeks on her hands, muzzle pointed at the floor. There was a scuff mark on the tiles. She wondered how long she'd be able to stare at it.
"Mom, what – "
"Sweetie," Sklonda cut Riz off before he could begin. "Just, let me handle this, okay?" The detective walked away. The rest of her party stammered questions over each other, but Adaine stayed quiet. Machaira noticed that her tail was on the floor. The high elf wasn't in a hurry to pick it up, and Machaira certainly wasn't going to offer it. The tabaxi let them yell at her. She deserved it. One by one, her party members left with their parents. Gorgug's adopted gnomes cried furiously as they led their son away, clinging to his arms and legs. Gilear was concerned in an elven-aloofness, yogurt-stained way, but at least it was different yogurt. Bill Seacaster swaggered through the precinct, laughing up a storm at his son's revenge kill. Kristen and her parents talked over each other so much that no one could get a question through, but tensions were high all around. Finally, Adaine's mother and father strode briskly through the station, pale elven skin dusted red. Adaine stood stiffly as they approached.
"I never thought that I would have a daughter that would go to prison," the tall male elf, presumably Adaine's father, began. "This is disgraceful, Adaine, even for you."
"I wasn't arrested," Adaine corrected her father. "I helped to catch a dangerous extremist who was trying to bring about the apocalypse, and I came here to give testimony."
"You have diplomatic immunity, or did you forget?" Adaine's mother whispered, glancing back and forth as if looking for the first person who would come and shame them for Adaine's behavior.
"Mr. and Mrs. Abernant," Sklonda said behind them in a perfect professional cop voice. "Your daughter has performed the city of Elmville, and indeed the world at large, a very valiant service. She was not placed under arrest but came here of her own accord, as I mentioned earlier."
"So you chose to humiliate us?" Adaine's father spoke at Adaine and did not look at Sklonda. "Did you even stop to think about how it looks to have an Abernant come to this place at all?" Adaine tried to protest, but her voice had started to fail, words falling into a mousey rasp.
"Enough." Her mother cut off these hoarse whispers. Neither parent yelled or cursed. They kept their voices hushed, bodies stiff. They didn't fully express the emotion that their scent carried but restricted themselves to bitter disappointment. Their behavior was as much an act for Adaine as it was for observers.
"We will discuss this further when we get home," Adaine's father said. Adaine flinched, and something broke in Machaira. Machaira felt like a glass vial had cracked and released a poison within her, just like the puzzle box from the trap-springing workshop. Years of built up hatred burned within her, and the tabaxi rose from her seat.
"You stupid, blind reptiles," she growled, every word rippling through the room like a low roll of thunder. Adaine's father turned to her in askance.
"I beg your – "
"You have no idea what kind of person your daughter is," Machaira snarled over him, voice deepening until it shook dust from the ceiling. The rogue was vaguely aware of cops stopping in their tracks. The click of safeties sounded but didn't register. "Adaine saved the fucking world, and all you can think about is how you're embarrassed to claim her as your kid? Do you even hear yourself? Just in the last month Adaine Abernant has stood her ground against the powers of Hell, dangerous gangs, magic-immune golems, and violent extremists. Adaine is strong and kind and funny and smarter than anyone else I've ever met. She's already top of every class, and she did all of it without you. At what point are you going to take your noses out of your bleached assholes and look at your own daughter for the incredible person she is?" Adaine's father started to speak, but Machaira rolled over him. The elf had nothing to say that she wanted to hear.
"Adaine is everything you could have wanted, but you're so determined to see her as an inconvenience that you can't understand that. She took on a dangerous mission when others either could not or would not, and she came here tonight to see it through to the end. If you think that's an embarrassment, then you don't deserve to call her your daughter." The elves stared at her in stunned fury for a moment, and some feverish part of Machaira's brain wanted them to cast a spell so that she could get her teeth in their skulls.
"I'm sorry, and you are?" Adaine's father inquired in a tight, imperious tone, staring at her down his aquiline nose as so many others had.
"She's my friend," Adaine spoke up. Her voice was as tight as her father's but angry instead of condescending. "This is my friend, Machaira." For a moment, the tabaxi in question maintained eye contact with the older elf, positive her ears were deceiving her. When she finally turned to look, Adaine was smiling fiercely at her. "And we're going to see this mission through to the end." As she said it, a bit of uncertainty entered the diviner's gaze, like she needed Machaira to answer part of that for her.
"Yes," Machaira promised. "We will." Adaine smiled, but the joy was marred by doubt and fear, like she didn't know what to do with the scout any more. Her parents furiously whispered at her to follow them, and Adaine reluctantly did so. She kept her head down and did not look back at the tabaxi. Machaira sighed and sat down, staring up at Sklonda tiredly, ears, whiskers, and tail drooping now that she had nothing to fight. "So, what's the verdict?" Sklonda, who had been studying the tabaxi with something close to respect up until that point, sighed heavily.
"Mom, you can't put her in jail," Riz protested. "She just – "
"I know, sweetheart," the detective interrupted, holding a hand up to her son. "Look, Machaira, you're not protected under the law by the charter of Solace because you lack citizenship. Legally, I should arrest you for any number of reasons." The scout nodded dully. "However, we have a habit at the precinct of looking the other way where Aguefort students are involved. You go to that school to learn how to become vigilante outlaws in a world that, unfortunately, needs such people to protect it. So I'm going to let you go this time." Machaira stared at the officer. She blinked twice. Nope, that was definitely a real cop and not her imagination. "You're free to go." Sklonda reiterated.
"Thank you," Machaira said slowly, taking a deep breath. "And thank you, Riz." She turned to her fellow rogue, who had stood up on his chair when taking Machaira's defense.
"You're my friend, too," Riz replied, and in that moment Machaira was certain the goblin wasn't just saying that to maintain her usefulness. Sklonda must have sensed the uncharacteristic sentiment as well because the older goblin smiled warmly at her son. Machaira's lips quirked up. "But I still want answers. We need to be able to trust you."
"You're right," Machaira admitted, cutting off Sklonda's response. "I owe you an explanation. All of you." Machaira stood and started to walk away, hands in her jacket pockets. "See you later, The Ball." As she left the station, Machaira realized that she now had to wait to explain everything to her friends while they knew enough to still be alarmed and angry. The sensation of being trapped stole over her. Machaira grabbed her bracelet, stumbling through Elmville and into the Far Haven Woods.
When she finally collapsed on a log next to her cold fire-pit, the forest was empty around her. She had done that, killing or scaring all life away from her camp. Machaira sharpened her claws, more to work out excess distress ripping at the log than for true grooming purposes. After a cold bath in the stream, she crouched at the bottom of the blanket pile where she could almost pretend the weight of the fabric over her held some protective value. She kept glancing at her crystal, but Adaine didn't call. Some part of Machaira hoped that meant that her friend had been able to deal with her family without incident, but she knew Adaine had to be hurting. Machaira wanted to call, to let her know that she wasn't alone, but the elf would want to know why Machaira had kept such a big secret from her. And that wasn't a conversation they could have over crystal. So Machaira sat alone in her tent and waited for her party to tell her where they would meet next. Machaira rested her notched jaw on her hands, preparing herself to lose her friends for good.
She received a text from Aguefort the next morning explaining that the school would be closed as they complied with a police investigation following Coach Daybreak's death. This suited Machaira just fine since she had intended to skip anyway. She spent the day as she had the night: falling in and out of a restless doze, crouched with her limbs under her body, crystal in front of her nose. The blink dog walked through her camp, snuffling at the fire pit for scraps. Machaira lifted a lip in silent complaint but couldn't find the energy to actually do anything.
At around four in the afternoon, Kristen sent out a text in their group chat saying that Sklonda had raided the Applebees' home based on the evidence they turned in. For a minute, Machaira stared at the screen as questions and condolences rolled in. She sighed. Machaira slunk out of the cover of the blankets and shook herself. The tabaxi dressed and left her camp, heading over to Elm Valley. When she arrived at the Appleebees' residence, Sklonda and a team of police were wrapping up. A dwarven cop was taking note of some angry comments from Kristen's parents. The three Applebees sons were clustered behind their parents, eyes wide with fear and incomprehension. Kristen stood a little ways away next to Fig.
"Machaira?" The cleric exclaimed as the tabaxi walked over. "What are you doing here?"
"Same thing Fig is, I suppose," the scout answered. Her voice sounded rough even to her ears. She reached out and pulled Kristen into a firm hug. Kristen was forced to lean forward to meet her, Machaira's greater strength unbalancing the redhead. But she embraced the rogue fiercely all the same.
"Thanks," Kristen muttered.
"Of course," Machaira replied. She caught Fig's eye over the human's shoulder. The bard smiled warmly back, her expression a little too knowing. Fig probably shared some of Machaira's resentment toward the cleric, but they knew what was important. "So, what's going on?" The tabaxi asked, pushing Kristen back by the forearms.
"My parents were cleared of wrongdoing," Kristen heaved, wiping at her face. "They weren't doing anything illegal, but they were involved enough to know what was going on." The cops started packing up. Sklonda walked over and told them that they were all welcome to come over to dinner tomorrow night. She hoped to have more to tell them by then. The teens thanked her and watched as the police pulled away, lights flashing but sirens off, on their way to the next home. The Applebees watched them for a second before walking inside. Kristen looked to the other girls for direction. Fig nodded encouragingly. The cleric squared her shoulders and headed in, leaving the door open behind her.
The rogue and bard exchanged glances before following. Fig and Machaira stayed close to the doorway, watching as Kristen stood across from her parents against the back wall of the living room. Her brothers were retreating down the hall behind the cleric, dragging their feet and stealing looks at their elders as they went. When the door clicked shut out of view, Kristen's mother crossed her arms and sighed.
"Well, I ah, guess your new friends, uh, know which side their bread's buttered on, huh Kristen?" She spared a glare for the tiefling and tabaxi that had entered her home but maintained focus on Kristen. Kristen stared back at her mother, gaze wide as she absorbed her presence. Looking around the house, Helioc icons dominated every surface from wall art to blankets. The only face almost as prominent was Kristen's. Machaira wondered if Kristen was seeing her parents for the first time without the filter of their shared religion, or vice versa.
"I don't know what the fuck that means," the cleric told her. "Mom, what were you doing with the Harvestmen?"
"It's hard for humans here, alright, in Solace," Mrs. Applebees began in a tired, bitter voice.
"Oh, victim," Kristen summarized, narrowing her eyes. "You are always pretending to be a victim, mom. I don't wanna talk to you. I – "
"Hey, hey, don't talk to your mother that way, young lady." Her father chastised. Kristen rolled her eyes.
"Okay, fine. I just have a question." Kristen pressed her hands together as if praying. "Why did Coach Daybreak want to make me a Hell Mouth?" Kristen's parents pursed their lips and shook their heads before she could finish, arms crossed in preemptive denial. "He was gonna sacrifice me since I was somehow already promised to god, which is something I didn't ask for." The cleric rolled her eyes again.
"Nope, nope, he did not, he did not," Kristen's father rejected the idea immediately.
"Yes he did," Kristen insisted.
"He did not."
"He absolutely did."
"Prove it, prove it," her parents demanded, faces set in anger. Machaira and Fig exchanged dumbfounded looks. Ragh hadn't been this thick.
"I can, there's a lot of proof," Kristen told them.
"I don't… know about that," her mother argued.
"Yeah, that could fill a book," Kristen sneered. "Mom, you're dumb." Kristen's father thumped his leg with a hand.
"Well you know what, because you seem to have a whole new family, Kristen, maybe you can go stay with them, huh?" He bellowed.
"You know what, family's a loose word, dad," Kristen shot back. "A lot of different people can become your family. You know what, all I want are answers. And I was – I'm your kid. I feel like I should be able to get answers from you." Her parents clenched their jaws and looked between the floor and each other. Their expressions were tight with disapproval and anger but not remorse. Kristen cast light on her On the Subject of World Religions. "THIS is where I've been finding some answers," the cleric announced, eyes stretched wide for effect.
"You get that out of our house right now!" They screeched, pointing at Kristen's book.
"What is even in it, you idiots?" Kristen ridiculed them. Her parents leapt over the sofa and scrambled to the far side of the room. Each of them grabbed a polearm off a weapon rack and brandished it at Kristen, warding her back.
"What the hell is in that book?" Her father whispered furiously.
"You live a fear-based life, goodbye," Kristen whispered back dramatically. She turned, ran from her house, and slammed the door, leaving Machaira and Fig inside her parents. For an awkward moment, the scout wondered if she'd have to fight these crazed paladins to get out before the door reopened and Kristen walked back in. "I need to grab my things." She declared. Kristen walked toward the hall, and her mother swiped at her.
"You just tried to walk out, so go," she yelled. "Get out of our house right this instant."
"I will once I pack my suitcase," Kristen snapped back, trying to take another step forward. She held her book at them, and although the older Applebees recoiled from its light, they did not let her pass.
"You're not our daughter," her father snapped. "You just said as much. So go on, get out." Kristen stumbled away, expression blank with distress. Fig ran up and put an arm around Kristen's shoulders, which did nothing to ease her parents' fear. The cleric barely noticed the tiefling. Kristen clearly meant what she had said but hadn't thought it through. She looked… lost, unsure of which way to turn. Machaira growled throatily, rattling the shutters and shaking dust from the ceiling.
"You're right, she's not your daughter." Everyone in the room turned to look at Machaira as she spoke. The tabaxi swept past Kristen and Fig, grabbing a picture of little child Kristen off of a shrine as she stalked toward the fanatics. Kristen's parents directed their polearms at her, but any fear of injury was swallowed in a protective rage. Kristen was her least favorite member of the group. The redhead casually insulted her on a daily basis and regularly reminded her of how inferior the rogue was to the rest of them without even trying. But she had the biggest heart in Elmville, and when confronted with the brutality of their cult, her parents had chosen ignorance and hate over their own daughter. For the short time they were still party members, Machaira would not let them hurt Kristen.
"She's not your daughter because you don't see her that way. I doubt if you ever did. Tell me, when Pastor Amelia or whoever announced that your firstborn was chosen by Helio, did you ever think of her as anything else? How long as she been 'Kristen the Chosen' or 'Kristen the Faithful' and not Kristen the person? Are you so spiteful toward her because you have nothing else to stand for, and if she can deny Helio, then what the hell have you been doing your whole life?"
Halfway through that last sentence, Mrs. Applebees slashed her across the chest. Machaira welcomed the hot sting of pain and the warm flow of blood over her chest. It confirmed her idea that this was a fight: a fight for Kristen. Fighting she could handle. Machaira met their wild stares unflinchingly and held up the crystal-framed picture of a tiny Kristen, gap-toothed grin and spread arms reaching for the photographer.
"You can yell and fight and pray all you want, but you drove your daughter out of your home when you forgot who she was. By her own decision or yours, Kristen is leaving because you couldn't see the girl for the blessing." Machaira shoved the picture at Mrs. Applebees, who grabbed it clumsily. She turned to Kristen. "Take us to your room. We're helping you pack." Kristen nodded, stupefied, and edged around her parents. The paladins glared at them, but Machaira's speech seemed to have taken some of the fight out of them.
This felt eerily similar to her blowup with the Abernant family earlier, but Machaira could feel the key differences. She did not care for Kristen the way she did Adaine, nor did she think the cleric would have continual problems with her family. As hard a path as Kristen had to tread, it would only get easier. And Machaira was not nearly as worried about how the cleric would fare after she left than she was for the wizard. Nor was she nearly as afraid of Kristen as she was of Adaine.
Fig offered Kristen a place with her and her stepfather Gilear at their place in Strongtower Luxury Apartments, which Kristen eagerly accepted. All three girls backed a bag of clothes, toiletries, and mementos for Kristen. As an afterthought, Machaira grabbed a large stuffed corn off of the cleric's bed and added it to her bag. Kristen's brothers waved as she left but did not say goodbye. Her parents slammed the door shut the moment they stepped outside. By the time they made it to Strongtower, Kristen was joking and planning late night vending machines raids with Riz and Fig, but Machaira knew the reality of it all would set in eventually. She said her goodbyes and started down the stairs, placing a hand on the railing more for the sensation of cold metal against her palm than for balance.
"Hey," Fig called out, jogging down the stairs toward her. "Where are you going?"
"Home," Machaira replied, stopping and turning around to look up at the tiefling.
"To your camp in the woods?" Fig clarified. Machaira flinched, ears flicking, but didn't break eye contact. "Why don't you stay? Kristen needs us."
"She needs you," the tabaxi corrected. "And Riz is over there stealing from the vending machine for her now."
"She's going to need all of us," Fig shot back. "Come one, stay with us. It'll be fun." Machaira deadpanned. "You can't run from your friends forever." Fig rebuked, dropping all pretenses.
"No, just until tomorrow," Machaira told her dully. "So I only have to do this once." Fig stared at her. Machaira couldn't stand the pity in her eyes. She hated the hurt there even more.
"Adaine is really upset," Fig said quietly. "She isn't the only one." Fig's gaze hurt to look at. It hurt even worse to know that Adaine already didn't trust her enough to speak to her directly, even though the rogue had expected as much. She wondered if Adaine had called Fig last night when Machaira hadn't stepped up. She hoped so.
"I know. And I'm sorry." Machaira replied. "I'll explain everything tomorrow."
"Promise?" The other girl used the word more as a challenge than a question.
"I promise," Machaira told her, shoulders dropping as she turned and walked away. When she was almost home, her crystal buzzed with a text.
7:49 p.m. Gorgug Thistlespring: U OK?
7:50 p.m. Machaira Mekhit: Yeah.
7:51 p.m. Gorgug Thistlespring: U sure?
7:54 p.m. Machaira Mekhit: Guess I'll find out tomorrow.
This was followed by a frowny face and an emoji Machaira's crystal didn't support, which in turn was followed by the word 'heart'. Machaira smiled. It was impossible not to love the sweet half-orc. She was going to miss him.
7:57 p.m. Machaira Mekhit: Thanks. See you tomorrow.
Machaira took a breath, feeling just a little bit fortified. The rogue hadn't eaten since yesterday morning, but she wasn't the least bit hungry. So the tabaxi once more bathed and huddled up inside her tent, limbs tucked under her body in a crouch that let her doze without falling fully asleep. The blink dog hung around her camp again that night. It had detected the change in her scent from dominant predator to defeated girl, but it didn't work up the courage to attack just yet. Machaira knew she should have run it off, established herself in some way, but she didn't have the energy to care.
The next day rolled around. Machaira didn't know if they had school or not. It had stopped mattering to her. Riz sent her a text reminding her that they were having dinner at his apartment at seven. Kristen and Fig, who were always late to everything, lived down the hall, so she had no reason to assume that they wouldn't be there. Machaira lay in her nest until about three in the afternoon. She crawled out from her shelter and walked down to the stream again. She needed to do something normal, something mundane, before doing this, just to cushion how huge everything felt. Her scars felt more prominent than they usually did, rough against her hands.
Machaira felt like she was on death row during the walk to Strongtower. Machaira had no idea what she was going to say to them. Planning had never been her strong suite. But all too soon she was standing outside the door to Riz's apartment. She checked her crystal. 7:04 p.m. She took a deep breath. Her scars itched. The knob turned easily in her hand. Her friends were all gathered around a little wooden table in a kitchen area to the left side of the room. For a moment, she could pretend that nothing was wrong and just enjoy seeing them happy. Then they noticed her arrival. The banter and joking stopped. Smiles slipped into more serious expressions. Machaira forced herself to close the door behind her. She couldn't be tempted to run from this. The tabaxi took a few steps into the room and removed her hands from her jacket pockets. She took a deep breath.
"Hey," she greeted. No one said 'hi' in return. Her tail flicked on the floor between her legs. No turning back now.
"I think I owe you guys an explanation."