Trigger warning: Slight body horror.
The journey to the cave was somber.
Usually, journeys were filled with light joking, playful shoves, and (of course) Maya and Gill sniping and shoving at each other.
Now, they weren't even doing that.
The plan was simple.
Well, in theory it sounded simple enough.
In practice it very quickly had gotten extremely confusing.
"Okay, so the October Children will travel to near enough the cavern that Hadrian can teleport there," Ivor was saying as patiently as he possibly could, aware that they were following a ticking clock, "along with Stella, Jack, Petra, and Radar."
Nurm was immediately signing furiously, amidst a chorus of protests. Harper and Isa were the only two silent ones- as their question of "why not Isa" had been explained earlier.
Ivor was right.
Losing another lord- with Romeo so close to dying...
Well, that would be a bit much to handle, to put it simply.
"- why does Hadrian have to go, he might turn on us-"
"- I'm capable of taking care of myself-"
"- no offense but Stella's useless-"
Ivor put his hand up, all of the complaints immediately ceasing. Frustration and worry hung in the air, heavy over people's heads, but none were willing to outright be rude to the lord.
"Okay, in order." Ivor pointed to Mevia. "Hadrian is going because I trust him and because there's no other way for us all to teleport there without gaining enough attention that we end up having to fight through and kill every single demon there, which could give Abrecan time and notice to escape."
He turned to Nurm, who had signed furiously but was obediently waiting. "You're not going because we need our cartographer safe- if you get lost or attacked, the October Children likely will have no guide to get there in time."
And Ivor turned to Petra, ignoring Stella's scowl in the redhead's direction. "And Stella is going because she is not useless, and she's the only one available out of the rest of the group."
Petra groaned. "Cassie'd be better."
Cassie grunted from where she was sitting. "I would, but you know my main expertise is traps. I could trap them, but I'm not as good in a scrap."
"And Stella is?"
"Stella's good at preventing fights. We're not trying to kill everyone within a thirty mile radius," Ivor cut in, exasperation finally tinging his voice. "Stealth and speed is the key here- or do you want Abrecan to get the hint that you're coming towards him and escape- possibly taking Jesse with him?"
Petra winced at his suddenly sharp tone, though her face was still set in something of a scowl.
Stella curtsied. "I doubt you'll really need my assistance- but it's better than risking one of the Hizelk lords or to be short on help," she said simply.
Of course, this wasn't exactly great for Petra (who grumbled something under her breath and glowered at the other demon), but even she had to admit being short-handed here was, to put it nicely, not ideal.
Nurm had been quietly guiding them using the mirror Romeo had given the group, having recovered it from the safe room in Yurin. The cartographer knew the terrain well- which, they had to grudgingly admit, was extremely helpful.
"Otherwise, you'd have smashed your nose on a rock by now," Maya had quipped to Gill a few hours prior, as they navigated some pebbly ground.
He'd almost knocked her down the mountain they were climbing at the time.
"Down."
Maya bristled at Gill's sudden, hushed order. "Excu-"
"Down." Gill grabbed the top of her head and gently shoved her to the ground, also dropping to the ground. The other two half-demons also dropped.
"Ow! The fuck-"
Gill pointed.
Three pairs of red eyes and a red blindfold followed his finger all the way to a small opening- it, frankly, looked like you could barely squeeze into it without immediately getting jammed in a too-small gap.
Then someone moved from within.
"I'm guessing those are sentry towers for this direction," Lukas murmured. "After all, these mountains create a natural defense for the cavern- it makes sense to put guards up to make sure nobody gets past this."
"Great. Now that we know the logic about it, can we figure out a way to get in?" Aiden snarled, though the group knew Aiden well enough at this point to know that he was frustrated with the obstacle and not with Lukas himself.
Gill frowned momentarily. "Well, I can at least throw them off-balance for a bit. Figuratively. Then we have enough time for another distraction, or something."
Maya's brow knit together. "Don't you have to actually walk for it to work?"
"I do. Lukas, could you cast some illusion magic?" Gill whispered, eyes sliding over to Lukas.
The blindfolded half-demon frowned slightly, a tiny crease forming between his brows.
"... I could, but it won't be strong. The levels of energy here are weak. I can maintain it for about three minutes before you'll be in full sight."
"It should be just enough to get them uneasy, then." Gill stood, Lukas immediately casting the spell with a hasty, muttered swear under his breath for the sudden motion.
Gill began to pace in place.
The lords- Ivor and Romeo, specifically- knew it was possible for the ancient lords to 'take over' half-demons.
After all, half-demons' magic was generally quite tame. It was rare- extremely so- for a half-demon to have 'special' magic, or abilities, that most demons had. And so, it made perfect sense (in theory) for a lord's spirit to give them that skill, but also preserve the spirit.
Well, what remained of it.
Petra had agreed to host Jorogumo, the Spider Lord. Lukas had agreed to host the lord who went by the name Demon Eye- which, to be honest, was a very stupid name when they were demons, but Demon Eye had been the lord to cause humans to develop a rumor that demons could compel you to do things by simply looking into your eyes.
And Gill...
Well, Gill had Betobeto.
Betobeto was one of the 'lamer' ancient lords- but as Gill had discovered, phantom footsteps- especially when they were directly behind you- could provide quite the distraction.
It was difficult to see the sentry station from here.
"They're starting to get uneasy," Lukas reported simply. "A lot of milling around. I think some are accusing each other of not locking the door."
Gill was about to ask how Lukas knew this.
Then he looked at the blindfold and realized it was a stupid question.
"... none of them are coming out into the open, though. And a few are doing their best to ignore the paranoia and just continue working."
Gill grimaced a little as he dropped back behind the rock outcropping they were crouching behind, but overall didn't seem irritated. "I figured it wouldn't be quite enough. There's too many to just jump in and kill all of them, though."
Maya tsked slightly. "Well, then it's my turn."
The three half-demons turned to look at her.
"Are you sure?" This was Gill, for once looking a little worried. "We don't know how many are in there."
Maya smiled.
"I'm sure."
"You really didn't need to come with me," Maya said.
Her voice was rather muffled behind the mask she'd put on. It was a simple one, and one Jesse would probably have called a surgical mask.
Aiden shrugged. "You're my teammate. Of course I will."
"Aww. You're a sweetie." The resulting pinch to Aiden's cheek had him swatting at her with a scowl and a friendly punch to the shoulder.
He tried not to betray how tense he was, but his shoulders were tight.
If he had any say in this, he would've told her to stop.
Of course, he didn't, and she probably would've whacked him full across the face for saying it, so he was somewhat glad he'd decided to keep his mouth closed.
The staircase was oddly empty- they'd probably expected to be able to see any intruders for coming.
Thank the lords for Lukas's illusion spell.
The sentry station was cramped, but the space was tall enough that Aiden could stand without banging his head on the stone ceiling.
(Now, he had no idea if Gill would fit in that space, but Gill was overly tall anyway.)
It didn't take long for the sentries, already looking around for the source of footsteps that only they could hear, to spot Maya.
Of course they would, she was just standing right in the doorway politely.
"Who the fuck are you?!" One of them yelled, already pointing a gun at her. It showed just how much training they'd been through to see Maya barely even bat her eyelashes.
"Am I pretty?"
Her voice was light, almost musical.
The sentries in the room- not too many, but about five total with a redstone contraption that Aiden would've bet money that it was some kind of alert system sat in the center of the room- all stared.
"... what?"
Maya tilted her head pleasantly. "Am I pretty?"
"Bitch, are you fucking serious? You can't just stand there and–"
"Am. I. Pretty?"
One of the sentries growled. "Sure! You're fucking pretty. Now get the fuck out of here before we put a bullet in your delicate little skull, missy."
Maya smiled.
Aiden couldn't see it, of course, since the mask obscured so much, but somehow her eyes expressed such excitement.
So clearly.
One hand came up.
Peeled back the mask.
It fell away to reveal slits from the corners of her mouth stretching up to her ears, in a grotesque, ghastly carved-out grin in her face, blood oozing from the cuts and creating ghastly rivulets of blood down her chin and every one of her sparkling, needlepoint teeth visible from where her cheeks had been carved open.
Her smile impossibly widened.
"Am I pretty now?"
Aiden would later wonder-
(watching Maya wield a pair of scissors that grew shinier and shinier and redder with every stab and slice and snip)
- what Gill's answer to Maya (or Kuchisake-onna, the lord Maya had accepted) would have been.
The now-free-to-use sentry station now had enough of a space to set up the teleportation area.
Maya and Gill had taken it upon themselves to call Hadrian and let him know that they were ready for his teleportation.
Actually, there was enough time that Hadrian needed to set it up (and get everyone there) that Maya took the opportunity to tidy up a large enough space to avoid concussions, bruises, or other injuries (besides stumbling on the floor itself and breaking your nose from faceplanting, but that would not be the fault of the crates and random food strewn everywhere.
Aiden was musing over what new flowers to buy for his garden when he spotted something that fell into his particular area of expertise.
And no, that did not involve his weapon.
"Is that a flower?" Lukas was sketching lightly, doodling little flowers. One of them was more detailed than the others- it was a little bunch of flowers.
The blonde half-demon had even taken the time to mix some purple ink together (was that berry juice?) and dot the drawing.
"What? Oh," Lukas tapped the drawing after following Aiden's gaze. "Jesse and I had a conversation about floriography the other day- you know, the language of flowers..."
Aiden nodded with understanding immediately. "Oh, sure. What kind of flowers did you discuss?"
Aiden squinted at the page for a moment.
"Jesse called these purple hyacinths."
"... human world flowers... yeah, that's these. I actually have a few in my garden." Aiden scratched at his cheek, absently noticing a faint scraping sort of sensation against his nails.
He was starting to grow out some stubble- it had been a while since he'd shaved, what with all the chaos of Romeo being poisoned and the keys being missing and all the travelling.
Gill leaned over to look at them. Maya, being shorter than him by a significant margin, had to half lean on his back in order to see the page, but for once he didn't shove at her or snipe.
"What's the meaning of purple hyacinths?" Gill asked.
Aiden crossed his arms, a frown creasing his brow. "Uhh... hm. It's been a while since I actually looked into human floriography."
He looked at Lukas.
Lukas bit his lip for a moment, gnawing on it absently. "I think Jesse said it means... 'please forgive me'."
A/N: Chapter done!
We're finally getting on rescuing Jesse.
If Jesse can be rescued.
idk man :3
Responses to reviews!
ariariariaria: bhwk;fda Thank you! I'm glad you liked it :D
Parakeetlover3: Hehe :3c / Possibly. We'll see :3 / Not necessarily. Souls can pass through the seal, but physical bodies can't. Think of it like a sieve- water (souls) can pass through, but physical objects have trouble passing through as well. Even though water goes through, you can't exactly put your hand through a sieve, which would indicate that it's broken.
TheAmberShadow: Hehe, I think PAMA would like that. / Understandable haha. / :3c / Hehehe / they're gonna have to get in line haha. / "well, you said i could quit :3" / Yeah, probably. / I mean, it is fairly public already (all records are available)- but, I mean, if you look at the pandemic, some people will flat-out ignore public information and believe it's a conspiracy anyway fdhks;a / Hehehe
Pretzel Pocket: Oof haha / :3
jessicanightmarewolf: Well, the seal's not been broken yet. Jesse's soul has to be consumed first. / :3
Happygoluckymegami: :3
Thank you, and that's all for now! See ya, so long, and g'bye!
x.X. A.L. X.x.