Disclaimer: I hereby disclaim all rights to all characters (save for those of my own creation) during this massacre… especially for the one who is so prone to boredom.

~保護者~

"Bloodbath"

~保護者~

It was with a mixed sense of exhaustion and trepidation that Jet headed where Saethrim had told him Black Doom was. I have no idea what sort of state he'll be in, he reflected, his thoughts on the aforementioned being. I don't have the prior knowledge necessary to determine what behaviors he might display normally versus what might be abnormal for him. And if he attacks, I don't think I can do much to fend him off.

At least he could take some comfort in the fact that this version of him was a clone. The real him was back on New Babylon. Previously, his real self had been with Wave. Now he had succumbed to the need for rest. That was why he'd made a clone to begin with. He needed to be in two places at once, so this was the obvious solution. It had sapped most of his remaining energy, though.

He arrived on the indicated planet and was immediately tense. Bodies lay all around him. They looked like they'd been torn apart by a large, wild animal. Given this world's proximity to the Black Arms's territory, that was certainly possible. It was strange, though. Hadn't worlds this close to the hive been uninhabited for many millions of years by now? Hadn't they been the ones to cause this abandonment to begin with?

Kneeling by the large group of bodies, he examined their attire and scattered supplies. Explorers…? How did they get way out here? And why would they have bothered to try? He had no way of getting answers to his own questions. These strangers were dead. Their race wasn't one he was familiar with, which meant asking people from their home planet was currently impossible.

Jet stood and slowly gazed about the area. There was distinctive black blood mixed with all the crimson on the ground, and the sight of it made him frown. Nareish's doing. I'm sure of it. Saethrim doesn't seem to have found him in this spot, meaning Black Doom was injured even before Saethrim showed up. That must be why she had a barrier up around the hive… so she could hurt him however much she wanted without interference. But… why?

He once again had no way of getting answers. Not until he found Black Doom, at any rate. It was entirely possible that the being in question would have at least some idea as to what her intentions had been. For now, though, Jet had to focus on just locating him. The best way to do that was to follow the blood, since Black Doom was thoroughly hiding his energies.

A long and increasingly concerning bloodtrail led him to the sight of a brutal and prolonged attack. Black Doom seemed to have caused nearly as much damage (despite his condition) to the area as Saethrim had. However, he clearly hadn't been the victor this time. So much blood… How is he alive? Much less awake? Eyeing the individual in question, he dug through his limited knowledge of the Black Arms and soon recalled a detail that at least explained one thing. Right. They seldom lose consciousness for very long periods of time. Shadow is the same way.

Walking any closer than this was bound to result in an attack. Jet stopped where he was, moving only his eyes so that he could properly take in Black Doom's condition. For some reason, he looked like a hedgehog very similar to Shadow, albeit with somewhat different coloring. In spite of his appearance, he was sitting like a four-legged animal would. There was no clothing to be found (not that there was much to see and Jet wasn't looking). His eyes were… dull, yet alert. His ears were standing straight up and every muscle was visibly tense. He was very, very ready to resume fighting in his own defense if need be.

However, his body wouldn't have been able to handle it if a new fight broke out now. Jet's chest and throat both felt painfully tight as he examined Black Doom's wounds. He's been tortured. That much was apparent straight away. There was evidence of all kinds of things that Jet himself had once gone through. Black Doom had been burned, whipped, branded, beaten, stabbed, sliced, and more. It made Jet sick. He wanted to puke.

A member of the Black Arms race or not, Black Doom really shouldn't have been conscious. He was breathing hard despite being still, and Jet could hear how much of a struggle each breath was despite the distance separating them. But that wasn't all. Even though pureblooded Black Arms weren't affected by temperatures, Jet noticed something. You're shivering. Is it trauma, a fever, or both? Survival instincts seemed to be the sole thing keeping Black Doom going right now. Which meant he had to be handled with even more care than Jet had previously bargained for.

Based on what he could see, Black Doom wasn't thinking much like a person right now, if at all. This situation was a bit precarious. He was going to have to be incredibly careful. Moving very slowly, he lowered his stance until he was seated on the ground. Yellow eyes watched him with no secret amount of distrust and hostility, but thankfully no attack came. So far so good. Now Jet just needed to know if the other man could currently understand him. The simplest method would be to ask. "Can you understand me?"

Nothing. No response. Those eyes continued to stare unflinchingly at him. Somehow, though, Jet got the sense that he had been understood to a large extent. It made sense. Even long before he gained traits more like a "person" than a pure "animal", he was always an immensely intelligent being. That was part of what made him so uniquely dangerous. Even the ancient Immortals avoided him. "You encountered Saethrim, didn't you?"

Now that earned a reaction. Black Doom's upper lip instantly curled and he let out a snarl. It was an understandable response. "Easy," Jet murmured, trying to calm things back down. "He isn't here. If you can smell him on me like you think I can, it's because I was with him a short bit ago. He isn't corrupted anymore."

Black Doom unexpectedly snorted and turned his head away, his eyes dark with thoughts and emotions he didn't seem inclined to give vent to. That was probably in Jet's best interest at the moment. Still, there was no denying that the hawk remained under close observation. As such, he decided against moving at all. "You should be able to smell Ghune, too," he said. Yellow eyes slanted his way again. "She took Saethrim down by drinking an Immortal's blood. For the record, it wasn't mine. She did damage to herself during the fight, but Saethrim didn't hurt her."

He was promptly growled at again. The exact reason why wasn't clear, but Jet had a guess. Ghune seemed to care a lot about him. That probably goes both ways. "I can take you to her," he offered, "and bring someone who can help heal you both." Although Black Doom didn't appear too keen on that last idea, he did seem interested in the first part. Jet decided to take a risk and promptly teleported them both to A'latria.

They arrived within the castle and, for now, that was fine. Any damage done from Black Doom's blood could be fixed later. The Void had already made a proper mess of the place, anyway. He focused more on Black Doom's reaction to the sudden change in scenery. Black Doom recoiled somewhat, plainly alarmed, but his emotions quickly shifted back to where they'd been before and his eyes regained their dull look, darkness, and almost painful degree of hyper-alertness. But, if nothing else, at least he wasn't lashing out for now.

Jet took another risk and slowly stood. Careful not to move any closer to Black Doom than he already was, he went around the tense alien and made his way to where Ghune currently was within his home. Ghune needed checking on, too, especially since she didn't seem to have even noticed their arrival. Once he located her, he did what he'd done with Black Doom and didn't venture too close. He took a moment to quickly assess her condition. He needed to know so that he knew how much Privilege to grant the being he planned to bring here to help these two.

The woman's mouth was coated in blood, and Saethrim's assumption about her state after the fight appeared to be true, seeing as she was slouched against a wall near a puddle of muddled red. She was conscious, though, and looked to them both tiredly. In an instant, she was on her feet and carefully approaching Black Doom. Black Doom growled softly at her and edged away, pressing himself into a corner. Jet watched him and Ghune closely. Not good. Gonna need to give more than I would have liked. Don't know if I have the strength for it. Frowning, he vanished to go collect the person he had in mind.

"Black Doom, it's me," Ghune murmured softly, lowering herself down to a knee with her hand extended in his direction. "Ghune. You're safe here with me." Although there was recognition in his eyes, he didn't come any closer. None of the tension left his body. He stopped growling, but that was all. "Please try to relax. I don't know what they've done to you, but it's okay here."

He didn't reply to her, nor was there much time for him to have done so. Jet soon reappeared with Zenith in tow. The latter was brimming with both Privilege and confusion, but that confusion was abated upon seeing the condition Ghune and Black Doom were both in. Zenith sighed. "I wish you would have explained before simply dragging me here." He floated over to Ghune and began healing her with his Darkness. "Be still for a moment. You are deeply unwell."

Ghune bared her fangs for a moment in his direction before settling down. "You are… Zenith," the woman murmured, vaguely confused. "Why are you here? I thought you to be dormant."

"Not for some time now," Zenith answered. "Eona and I are both awake and doing what we can."

She nodded slowly to this, flexing her fingers for a moment. "I may… need to leave soon. I do not know how long I can remain in control of myself."

Zenith glanced at Black Doom, not that his pure white eyes of glowing energy revealed that at all. "It may be wise to remain here. Or at least to try and take this one with you."

"I know," Ghune murmured. "But… if I take him somewhere, it may well turn into us haphazardly murdering others."

"Then take him someplace isolated," Zenith said. "Somewhere that will allow both of you to calm down, and where he will not feel the need to blindly lash out. I trust you to have the presence of mind to prevent yourself from doing the same."

She was quiet before ultimately nodding. "I will certainly do my best. I have done well so far…"

"Indeed you have." Zenith retracted his Darkness from her now that the majority of her wounds were healed. The rest were minor enough that she could heal on her own. "I must try my hand at healing him now. I ask that you do not let him strike at me. I do not believe he is especially in control of himself right now."

"I can try," Ghune replied. "He does not seem especially keen on listening to me at this moment." This prompted Black Doom to level her with a sort of glare, whose intended meaning wasn't especially clear. But it was clear that he was understanding the conversation just fine, if nothing else.

Jet spoke up finally. "You're the best person to try, Ghune," he murmured. "Frankly, I'm surprised I didn't get attacked doing what I did earlier. But he knows you. He trusts you. You're most likely to succeed."

"I said I would try," Ghune replied, narrowing her gaze the tiniest bit. "I can only guarantee that much." With this said, she looked to Black Doom and raised an eyebrow at him, blinking slowly in his direction. Her nonverbal communication was responded to much more readily than anything verbal she had tried earlier. He blinked slowly back at her, a tiny degree of tension leaving him shortly afterward.

Despite distinctly not liking displaying her more animalistic traits, Ghune extended her head a bit closer, sniffing as she took a few crawling steps closer. "Black Doom…" No verbal reply was made, but those bright yellow eyes watched her intently. When she was a little closer than she'd been before, he sniffed at her as well. Careful to give him plenty of time, Ghune returned this, taking the chance to get a proper smell of him. Fuck. He smells horrendous. He's been through so much…

When he relaxed enough that Zenith saw an opportunity, the former being of Darkness began to very slowly start healing Black Doom's most minor wounds. Black Doom's gaze shot to Zenith and he tensed back up, but crucial no immediate aggression was shown beyond the curling of his upper lip. He soon lowered his lip again with an almost wary glance at Ghune. She demanded his attention with a sniffing snort, raising her head a little to gain his attention so he could see that she was relaxed. "It's okay," she murmured. "I promise."

He curled his lip again, glanced meaningfully at Zenith, and then looked back at her. The disbelief he was trying to communicate showed plainly enough, especially when Zenith began gradually working on more serious wounds. Taking another chance, Ghune moved just a touch closer, pressing her head softly up against Black Doom. It took several moments, but eventually he lowered his ears and nudged her head with his own. With his focus now firmly on her, Zenith went ahead and sped up his work for the sakes of all involved. Ghune let herself relax a bit more, eyes closed. Black Doom being willing to even remotely relax was pleasing.

Before long, Zenith and Ghune's mutual efforts paid off. "I'm finished," Zenith declared quietly while withdrawing his Darkness. He motioned for Jet to take the Privilege back, which was promptly done. "Your friend here will likely still be exhausted for some time, the same as you, but you will both be fine."

"Good," Ghune murmured gently.

Zenith vanished in an instant, and Jet spoke again. "I can help take you wherever it is you want to go," he murmured, "or you can stay here. Frankly, I don't care if this place gets more wrecked. It's a trash heap already as it is."

"For me to go somewhere, I need to be able to safely feed without being attacked," Ghune mumbled, finally pulling back from Black Doom. "If I am in danger, it may well trigger a frenzy."

"Tell me where you want to go," Jet said. "I know too little about you and your people to safely offer suggestions."

"Have you heard of Teyvat?" Ghune asked gently.

Being as well-traveled as he was, Jet was immediately able to nod. "Yes, I have."

"I… know a few people there. I may well be able to secure Black Doom shelter and myself a meal without anyone dying in the process," Ghune explained. "Assuming Black Doom doesn't lash out at any unfamiliar people in the process."

That's an unfortunate possibility. "I can send you both there. If need be, I can accompany you until you are certain that he will not be violent."

"I do not wish to drag you along," Ghune mumbled, huffing as she moved to stand. "Your family has done enough for me and my people."

Jet shook his head. "That we have helped you does not mean we cannot or will not help you further," he told her. "But if you would prefer I stay behind, I will." Rather than risk an abrupt teleport like he'd done earlier (he genuinely was surprised he hadn't been attacked for it), he opened a portal for the pair to walk through.

Ghune extended a hand in his direction, motioning for him to follow as she looked to Black Doom. "Come with me, please. I have something to do… and I will not leave you on your own again." Black Doom hesitated for a long moment before shifting into his most frequent form and slowly walking over to her. Jet pushed off of the wall he'd been leaning against and simply walked through the portal without waiting for them. Ghune quietly walked on through, glancing back to make sure Black Doom was following. He watched her for a moment, then stepped through the portal.

Sighing to herself, Ghune followed suit. Today had already been such a long day...

~保護者~

Sothan was elated that his sister's partner had been found. After so many years of uncertainty and pain within their small family, finally Xin had been returned to them. Sure it had happened in a rather unconventional way, but what mattered was that he was safe. There were a multitude of questions Sothan wanted to ask, but for now he decided to tread lightly. He needs time to allow the rest of his memories to settle, along with his emotions.

The group got situated in a sort of living room area Sothan had made for Li to play in long, long ago. It was modestly furnished, sporting little more than a couple couches, a couple chairs, and some drawers that had once held some of his nephew's toys. Xin took a seat on one of the couches. Once he was settled, Sothan left to go make a quick pot of tea. Both Xin and Yuma had always loved rare and exotic teas. There was nothing like that stored in this place's kitchen any longer, but something basic would suffice for now. Vampires have incredible noses. I have no idea how acute his senses are now. I don't want to overwhelm him.

The tea was finished and served before long. Xin somewhat distractedly took the cup he was offered, but was nevertheless just as polite as usual. Just as normal was him covering up his natural accent and changing his pronunciation of words around mixed company. That is, a mixture of company that was used to his manner of talking and could easily understand, and those who weren't used to it and might not. In this situation, Novei was the only one who fell into the latter category. "Thank you. I appreciate it."

Sothan nodded and sat down across from him. This left the spot next to Xin open for Li if he wanted to take it. "It's good to see you, old friend," the former god murmured. "You've been dearly missed."

"No kidding," Li added. "I… well, I thought you were dead like everyone else was."

"I thought I was dead, too, to tell you the truth," Xin admitted. "That is, I thought I was going to die when that vampire dragged me off. I'm glad it didn't come to that, but… I'm sorry it took so long for me to find my way back here."

Li shook his head. "Don't apologize. It's not your fault that it all happened. I'm just glad you're back." Xin gave him a small smile.

Things briefly grew quiet. Sothan decided to voice a question. "When you first arrived here," he began, "you asked how I knew your 'real' name. What did you mean by that?"

Xin stared solemnly into his tea before letting out a sigh. "I was always… haunted by the things I couldn't remember," he said in a soft voice. "I don't know why my name stuck with me, only that it did. It was just… a constant shadow that hung over me. A reminder that I had forgotten things, perhaps many things, and could do nothing about it. Eventually, I took on a vampiric name. A nickname, that is. I used it around others, rather than my true name."

A bit of a scoff came from Novei. "Honestly, sounds like a shitty situation you were slapped into. Probably best to not think about that sort of thing too much, eh?"

"Hard not to think about it when you're living it," Xin shrugged. "But… I'm not asking for pity. I was just answering the question I was asked."

"No pity to give," Novei replied. "Figured you'd prefer to not think about it all." Xin shrugged a little and finally took a sip of his tea.

"If I may," Sothan said, "what name did you go by all this time?"

"Akol," Xin answered. "It's the only name other vampires know me as." The one exception to that was his recently deceased partner, but… he tried not to think about that. It hurt too much. Everything was still too fresh and raw.

Li frowned a little at the feeling of those emotions, deciding not to question it for the time being. "Well… who did you make friends with? I know we're not the most sociable people, but you usually find people to be around."

"I suppose that's true," Xin agreed, forcing a smile. "I don't suppose anyone here has ever heard of Ghune or her… unusual friend Ryint?"

"I've met Ghune," Li said easily. "Really strong vampire. Leads a lot of them. Came to me looking to learn about making weapons."

That's right… you were training to become the god of this forge. Xin decided to ask about that in a bit. "Don't ask me how, but I managed to make some sort of a good impression on her," he shrugged. "I would consider her a friend. She certainly seems to take the same stance. But I mostly am only close to her, her friend Ryint, and one other. I did not spend much time befriending people."

"I can say they're good friends to have," Li answered. "Never met someone with the same conviction as Ghune, and… Ryint's unique. They seem like lovely people."

Novei watched the two, eyes narrowing. Two women that made a good impression on Li? I don't like that. Why have I never heard of them?

"Well, 'lovely' may not be the best term," Xin cautioned in a somewhat light tone. "And Ghune may or may not approve of it. But they are good people in my eyes. Very good."

Li smiled brightly. "Glad to hear you had some friends, at the least."

"Indeed," Sothan agreed. "And you seem to have acquired a new sense of style as well. Your robes are quite different from the dress shirts and slacks you used to wear."

Xin huffed. Some amusement managed to break through his solemness. "Yes, well, these robes are much better to fight in. As you may recall, I didn't used to have any powers. Combat wasn't something I had to worry about."

"Makes sense," Li said, shrugging a little. "Though, I do have to say that it's a little odd for me to see you in that as opposed to what I remember."

"I wear my usual type of clothes when just at home," Xin further explained. "But I still hate getting my shirts stained, just like I used to. I don't like wearing them in situations where they may become ruined."

Li chuckled a little, nodding. "Makes total sense, yeah."

"And for the record," Xin told his son in jest, "I will take none of your old teasing about my desire for cleanliness. Absolutely none of it."

"Wasn't planning on saying anything," Li replied, looking away with a smile. "Not yet."

"You'd better not," Xin said. "Else I may have to sick my new friends after you."

Sothan smiled to himself, his heart warming. It's so good to see you both together again.

"I doubt Ghune would ever do anything to me," Li laughed, smiling. "The one I'd worry about is Ryint, though-"

"Who the fuck are they?" Novei suddenly demanded, silencing Li in the process. "Since you think so fucking well of them, Li."

Oh, dear, Sothan immediately thought. This may not end well for you, bud. But… I don't think her jealousy is truly warranted.

Li blinked in Novei's direction. "Oh, well, Ghune is queen of the vampires and Ryint is a close friend of hers-"

Novei silenced him with an intense glare. "And you think that well of them?"

"You know," Sothan calmly interjected while Xin looked on in confusion, "that it is possible to think well of people in a purely platonic sense, correct? A good example of that would be in the case of friendship, or with family."

Li nodded. "Yeah, they're just people I've met before. Never really spoken to them beyond them visiting the forge." She still didn't really like the thought, but let it go and simply curled up on the couch, content to sleep for now.

Xin reached over and gave his son's shoulder a squeeze. With an amused twinkle in his eye, he mouthed the word, "Careful."

He managed a small chuckle and nodded, looking on worriedly to Novei. She's been a bit more aggressive than usual the past couple days. I hope she's alright.

After taking a long drink of his tea, Xin asked, "Is she your partner, Li?"

"Yeah," Li replied gently. "Been hanging around with her for quite some time. Helped protect me after things went… upside down here."

"And you're happy?" his father further asked, taking the exact same stance Sothan had when asking the very same question not two days before. So long as my boy's happy, that's what matters.

Li nodded. "Yeah, though I'm worried about her. I've been able to teach her a lot over the years, and she's usually pretty mellow. Just recently she started getting kind of… well… aggressive."

"Well, once she wakes from her nap, having a private conversation with her may be worthwhile," Xin said. "She may appreciate the opportunity to air her grievances without an audience."

"Assuming she's asleep now," Li said, watching Novei carefully. He knew better than to think she was actually sleeping. It wasn't uncommon for her to pretend.

"Well, my point still stands. Few people like to have private conversations in front of others, much less people who are strangers to them." Xin finished his tea and set the cup and saucer aside. "But it's up to you. Just a suggestion."

Li nodded a little. "I will. She matters a lot to me, really, and I want to make sure she's okay."

"Understandably."

When Xin grew very quiet at that, Sothan decided to take a chance and carefully broach a subject that he had been avoiding this whole time. It seemed relevant to the subject of love and partners somehow… and that had Sothan worried. "There's great sadness in your eyes," he murmured. Now more than ever, he was trying to be exceedingly gentle. "What happened?" This time, no immediate answer came.

Eventually, Xin swallowed thickly several times. He even had to blink several times to keep his eyes dry. One of the two reasons for that was revealed right away. The other reason took a bit more explaining. "I didn't… remember Yuma," he said, voice just barely above a whisper. There was a mixture of guilt and pain in his eyes that he again blinked away. "It still took a very, very long time to grow close to another but… I eventually did. We were… We were happy. Nareish took that away not three days ago. All the others she killed were revived, but not him. She wouldn't allow it. Most likely to hurt Ghune and Ryint since I'm their friend and we tend to get upset on one another's behalves. She doesn't care enough about me alone to bother hurting me without a larger motive like that."

He's trying to just be factual, but his pain couldn't be more obvious. That alone had Sothan regretting his question. It was true that speaking about grief was better than holding it in, but even so… His grief is so recent that he may not have been ready for this yet.

Li blinked once and shifted a little to get closer to Xin, wrapping an arm softly around his father's shoulders. "I understand what you mean, kinda. It's… hard to wrap your head around things like that."

Xin let out a shaky breath and wrapped an arm around Li as well. "It is," he murmured. His accent had been creeping back in, and before long his pronunciation of words shifted back to his usual way of talking. "I wish I could have done something, but… I canny work miracles, can I? Doesnae make it any easier, though, just knowing I couldnae have changed anything."

"Just try to relax, okay? We're all here, together. When you feel up to it, we can make sure you get back to Ryint and Ghune. I'm sure that would be pleasant, and they likely will want to hear about this," Li said, trying to shift the topic so Xin didn't have to think about it so deeply.

"Ghune might be tempted to let Nareish finish me off if I don't tell her soon," Xin sighed. "Jist her way of being protective of a lad, I suppose."

Li chuckled a little. "She seems like the type to be a bit 'hostile'. Probably doesn't know much better sometimes."

"I canny work miracles regarding her, either," Xin grumbled. "Other vampires canny say I never tried it, however."

"What about Ryint, then? Figure she might be more agreeable," Li replied.

"Might be possible with her," Xin agreed with another, smaller sigh. "Assuming she's there to be found. She likes to go off on her own quite a lot, same as me."

Li tilted his head. "Really, now? Never figured you'd be much the traveling sort."

Privately, Sothan had to agree. He always was a bit of a homebody, back then.

Xin thought about this. "Ah, right. I dinnae used to be, I suppose. But I've grown to rather like it. Fen and I… we were almost never home, in truth." It felt strange using his partner's real name (or at least the shortened version of it) instead of the nickname "Utal", but Xin didn't spend too much time thinking about it. He didn't think Fenwyn would have minded in this situation.

"Well, I suppose that's an interesting change, but not an unwelcome one. You like traveling now, then?" Li asked after a moment.

"I do," Xin admitted. "I spend most of my time doing just that."

"And studying magic, it would seem," Sothan smiled. "Discovered a new talent, have we?"

At this, Xin managed a slight smile. "Aye, I suppose you could say that."

"Well, maybe I should try and find somewhere you've never been, then," Li said gently. "Might be a good thing for us?"

"Aye," Xin said again. "Exploring things with family for a change would be welcome."

Li unexpectedly let out a sort of growling noise, grinning a bit. "Awesome. I'll think on it and see if I can figure out a good place sometime soon."

"I look forward to it," Xin murmured, giving his son a small squeeze before finally removing his arm. "In the meantime, I should step outside and attempt to make contact with Ghune before she decides it necessary to lay siege to various regions in her search. I would rather she not break things again."

Sothan let out a nervous chuckle. "Yes, especially not here. I just fixed this place up."

Li nodded to this, smiling over to Xin. "Make sure they know you're okay and that things are fine."

"I will." Xin stood and idly cast a spell that cleaned his cup, using nothing more than a flick of a finger. Then he said to his son, "I'll be back soon. Promise." With that, he headed outside.

Hope so. Let's not let it be like what happened with everyone else. Not letting that thought be voiced, Li simply nodded again. "See you again soon."

Once Xin was outside and the door was shut behind him, Sothan turned his attention fully onto Li. "Doing alright, bud? This day turned into an… unexpected rollercoaster."

Li rubbed the back of his head a little bit, ultimately just nodding for several seconds. "It's… a lot to take in. You're back from the dead, dad's back from… well, the life he was thrust into. The only thing missing is ma'."

That sent a pang through Sothan at the mere thought. His missed his sister terribly, but he couldn't even imagine how much more Li missed her. Losing a mother… I can't imagine what that's like. And I will never personally understand it. I can't. None of us original deities can. "Listen… I've been hearing rumors." He frowned a little in thought before continuing. "Rumors of other revivals, that is. Seems Eona may have something to do with how I'm alive again, and apparently I'm not the only one. Might be possible to talk to her about Yuma… maybe."

"I don't wanna drag her into this war," Li said, turning his head away as tears welled in his eyes. "I lost you all once. I thought I'd lost you forever, but I sure as hell will not ask for someone to be brought into this shit." His tone had shifted, a vague anger entering his voice veiled behind pain. "Maybe once it's all over, but not now. If something happened…"

This, Sothan understood. He understood completely. "I know," he murmured, blinking tears out of his own eyes. "I'll stand by that choice, Li."

Li's breath became a little shaky for a moment before ultimately nodding again. "Thank you."

"You don't need to thank me, bud." Sothan stood and walked over to Li. He ruffled his nephew's hair as he often did and offered a small smile. "Why don't you stay in here with Novei for now?" he murmured. "Even if you don't sleep, it might be good to rest yourself a bit."

A small smile broke onto the younger wolf's face. "I can try to get some rest, yeah."

"Good. I'll keep an eye on things while you do." Sothan removed his hand, gave Li a small smile of his own, and then quietly left the room. After all, he didn't want to wake Novei if she really was asleep.

Li moved a bit closer to Novei, setting a hand on her side before letting out a soft sigh of relief. She is asleep. Still… you've got me worried, Novei. I hope you're alright…

~保護者~

Locke was finished at Farenhel for now. He and Tessa had parted ways, each seeking a means to cheer themselves up. As much as he would have liked to see Kaden now that the guy was finally himself again, he strongly suspected his old friend needed some time and space. Probably a lot of it, all things considered. He didn't try to impose himself upon the hedgehog, instead following through with his original intention of seeking out Analia. They were long past due for a visit.

Everything was as it should be, he was relieved to note. She was sitting up on a couch in a tiny sitting room on Nier's world, thumbing through a book like the avid reader he remembered her to be. Her hair was brushed and her clothes were clean and tidy. She was completely clean and uninjured. She was just tired, which was likely why she'd returned here. It was safe for her to rest in this place. And the smile she aimed his way when he walked in to join her…

Well, that was just how he remembered, too.

How could anyone resist smiling right back? He certainly couldn't, not when he was so happy to see one of his oldest and dearest friends alive and well after so many years. All the years he had spent searching and fearing and hoping had been worth it just to see her doing so well again. His only wish was that they had gotten to this point sooner.

far, far sooner...

~保護者~

Laralei and T'alo were thankfully fine.

That should have been what Kath was focusing on, but it wasn't. In reliving so many of his own memories and experiencing again how he'd once felt for Laralei, he had had a moment of clarity. He'd been forced to move on from her long ago, to let go of the idea that they'd be together forever like they'd once so firmly believed. While that was never not going to hurt, and while a part of him still mourned what had once been, he realized that he was developing an uncharacteristically quick interest in someone else.

His "crush" on Calypso had been slow to develop and quick to fade - though she remained a truly dear friend and always would, just the same as Laralei. It just wasn't meant to be, so to speak. She herself had believed as much and said so. He'd had to agree with her assessment. But things with Yareis already felt… different. More like the draw he'd once undeniably had toward Laralei. And he wasn't sure what to do about that, exactly.

Logic dictated that he should probably speak to her about it… though he wasn't sure how well that would go on his end. Talking to people wasn't exactly his forte. He tended to leave that to others whenever possible. Since now wasn't one of those instances where he could reasonably expect to do that, he resigned himself to at least making a genuine effort and started trying to sense where she was. If her aura was anywhere near the planet, he'd be able to sense her.

The mountaintop they had once spent time together on was where she was now, likely relishing the cold weather. Once he'd determined this, Kath teleported to where she was and walked over to her. He took a seat close to her, but with enough space between them to be polite. "How long have you been out here by yourself?"

"Mm," Yareis hummed, opening her eyes to look at the hawk. "Not sure. Been in and out of sleep, kinda. Not really focused on the passage of time."

That sounded like her, from what Kath knew. "I see." His response was distracted. He was more focused on his reason for seeking her out to begin with. How do I approach this?

Yareis blinked once at him, frowning a little in his direction. "You have something to say…?" It was more a guess than anything, since she was needing to try and decipher what that change in tone meant.

Kath clicked his tongue. He'd hoped she wouldn't pay enough attention to notice quite so quickly, but it seemed he wouldn't be that lucky this time around. He ran his fingers through his bangs. It was an idle action he occasionally caught himself doing when nervous, and it messed them up a bit. "Forgive my difficulty with this," he eventually said as a sort of preface. "I am not overly accustomed to speaking my mind about anything unrelated to logic and facts." He let himself pause there, trying to gather his thoughts a bit further, then continued. "I have been… told by several people that you harbor feelings of some kind."

She paused and looked away from him, attempting to hide the blush that came across her face. To be so blatantly called out was somewhat uncomfortable, and at the same time… liberating? She didn't have to try and bring it up on her own, at least. "Yes," she answered stiffly, shifting without really noticing it. "I… I do. It is part of why I can be found on New Babylon so often. I am not… familiar with the feelings, however."

"I am only somewhat familiar with them," Kath told her. "But my point is more that your feelings are not… unrequited."

Now she refused to look at him. Yareis flushed and was fidgety. "O-oh. I did… not expect to hear that from you."

"And I did not expect to have cause to say it," he admitted. "But I made the realization earlier, and it seemed only fair that you know."

Yareis nodded a little at this, twiddling her thumbs because she simply didn't know what to say. "I- thanks."

Things grew quiet on Kath's end for a while before he said, "Things are calm enough for now that we can go see the wolf packs if you still want to."

"Yes," she answered without a second thought, turning to face him finally. "I'd love to."

Kath stood and offered her a hand. "Alright." Yareis was quick to stand, only hesitating for a moment to reach out and take his hand. Without further ado, he teleported away to the wolf packs. That would be a welcome distraction from all of this awkwardness.

~保護者~

With Saethrim no longer corrupted already, Nareish once again had ample time on her hands and very little to do with it. Very little unless, of course, she carried out a little idea she'd had earlier in the day. It had been quite some time since she had last unleashed a large amount of carnage. She even had a list of targets already in mind.

Oh, this would be fun.

Dropping in on New Babylon was her first order of business. There, she found an albatross with a rather pesky magical item. The defensive magic in his staff would prove most troublesome even for many of her mid-tier soldiers. She made quick work of snapping it in half like the twig it was and then simply using her own energy to slice his throat. He bled out before he even knew what was happening.

That kill was, of course, rather boring. She didn't expect the next one to be any more entertaining. Appearing inside, she grabbed the young queen out of her office chair via a hand on the girl's throat. "Saraya, was it?" Nareish drawled. "Or was it Syrin? Syra? I'm afraid I never bothered to keep track of all your silly little nicknames. But I do know that, with you, the last of Jet's modern-day descendants will be dead. I wonder how he will react to that."

Clenching her fingers tighter together, she snapped the teenager's neck and promptly dropped her onto the ground. At the same time, she did the same time to a recently revived inventor sleeping in a nearby room (she believed the girl's name was Tammy, not that she cared). All in all, all three attacks had taken under a minute to complete. She vanished without ever letting anyone sense her presence, much less find the time to react to what she had just done.

Nareish was finished on Babylon for now, though she had every intention of paying some of its residents a visit again very soon. In the meantime, she teleported herself to Mobius and, more specifically, into the highlands. She wasn't after a chameleon for once, though. I believe I have a yokai to piss off… And I have no use for most children.

She strode into the home where the half-yokai had been staying lately with some no-name chameleon girl that she didn't currently care about. Recently deafened anew as he was, he didn't hear her sudden arrival. He smelled it, but didn't react fast enough. Neither of them did. They were slammed violently through the nearest wall with a wave of her hand, leaving them both barely conscious somewhere outside due to the energies they'd been struck with.

That left her with the now-wailing ball of irritation that the cat had been so jealously defending up until that point. She grabbed the kit by the scruff, regarding it with some measure of disdain. "I would say that reversing your age like this to protect you from some measly illness was a poor idea, but… It isn't as though being any older would have saved you, regardless." She threw the kit in the same direction as her father while using the same amount of force. While he and the chameleon had lived, the same couldn't be said for his precious child. The girl died on impact.

It was a trivial matter to travel many miles across the planet once she'd finished there. She appeared within the home of the wimpy fox inventors that had so vexed Gerald in the last days of his life. But it wasn't them she was after. Instead, she was after the people present who she believed were most incapable of contributing to a worthwhile battle against her - as well as the one person whose death would most hurt a certain pesky sun deity. She'd heard all their names once or twice before. Kym, Ava, Knuckles, and Kayde. They all died where they stood, their bodies exploding into pieces from the inside. None of their allies had a chance to react.

For the moment, that was all the business she had with this annoying little space rock. Nareish vanished again. This time, she reappeared on a Therian moon. The very same one she'd had her soldiers raid a while back in pursuit of a woman whose magic had proven to be quite useful. It was time to pay her a visit again. Naturally, Nareish took quite a lot of pleasure out of the look of terror that washed over her target's face. "Hello again, Calypso."

Calypso was frozen. With Saethrim already heading back to find his student, the woman was alone and couldn't find a shred of confidence. There was no doubt in Nareish's mind that the Therian was remembering her torture, and that pleased her all over again. Rather than knock her unconscious and spare her from this pain, Nareish opted to simply stride right past the statue of a woman and raise a hand. The explosion she unleashed tore apart the hut where they stood and, more importantly, ended the life of Calypso's son. Calypso realized what had happened in an instant and fell to her knees, already in shock. Nareish was gone long before any tears could be shed.

Finding Jet's grown children was easy enough. All three of them could potentially have put up a decent enough fight, but they would prove far more useful to her in death. As such, she tracked them down for no other reason than to kill them. They were in space, traveling at a leisurely pace toward New Babylon. Clearly they believed that things had been calm enough lately that they didn't have to rush. Their deaths were their own fault for letting their guard down. Swiftly releaving them of their heads ended their lives within seconds.

Even pretending Jet wouldn't have cared about any of the other deaths, this would certainly push him over the edge. If anything, absolutely anything, could fully thrust him onto the Void-influenced path she wanted him to take, it would be this. Which, of course, meant that killing these three would help Nareish quite a lot in getting what she desired from him.

One last stop, and then I will have plenty to sit back and watch for a while. With that thought in mind, Nareish appeared within the realms of death. Kaden and Zareil were immediately pinned to whatever wall each of them happened to be nearest to. Both were put into a strangle-hold by her energies, which coiled around their throats. She squeezed much tighter on Kaden's, given how much more easily he would otherwise be able to escape than his little demonic partner. Already, he was putting up a valiant (if pointless) struggle.

"Don't close your eyes," she purred to her captives, a smile on her face. "I want you to see this so that you may fully appreciate the gravity of what I am about to do." More energy gathered, this time around the three children that had huddled themselves in the corner. It slammed them into the ground once, then dropped them and formed into a blade. All three of them were bisected in an instant. Nareish dropped their stunned parents next, listening to them cough and pant for just a moment before again taking her leave. Her work here was done, and she couldn't have been happier about it.

If they thought that simply biding their time bolstering their ranks with more and more allies would be enough to save them, then they were sorely mistaken.

~保護者~

8,382 words this time. Many thanks as always to Blazing Winds for all of his help and support. Though this one was shorter and quite dark, I nonetheless hope you enjoyed. Posted (at about 2:25 p.m.) 11-07-22.