CHAPTER 1

THE MISSION

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"Stay put, little one. We're just going out for a while."

Atticus smiled down at the small toddler. Big violet eyes blinked up at him, tears shining in the light. The child whimpered and pulled on his cloak insistently as they stood at the entrance to the private Officers' dorms.

He laughed, "We always go on missions, why is this one any different?"

The kid gulped, small hands bunching up his cloak anxiously, "Leav'n.."

His rosy cheeks were puffed up in indignation – even after nearly 2 years into this assignment, Atticus still didn't know how the little child got more endearing by the second.

He smiled softly, crouching down and carding gloved fingers through their soft blonde hair, "Sweetheart, there's no need to worry about us. We'll be fine. And," he gave them a little nudge, "once we get back, we can have as many sugar-coated teeth as you'd like!"

He glanced back and forth in a show of secrecy before whispering in the child's ear.

"Just don't let Nept' see."

The kid smiled wide and giggled, tooth gap on full display. Atticus gave a long coo in his mind and reached his arms out to scoop up the small child. They burst out laughing, light and airy, before winding their arms back around his neck and squeezing.

He pressed a small face into Atticus' shoulder. "Prom'se?"

Atticus smiled and pulled him back, giving a soft kiss to his forehead, "I promise."

"Now," he stood up and tucked the toddler under his arm, smiling wider at the kid's delighted squeals as he walked over to their small pillow-swamped bed. He pulled the covers back and tucked him under them, fluffing the pillows and pushing back his bangs.

He gave a playfully annoyed glare at the one piece at the front that wouldn't smooth down, but left it as-is. He looked back down at the kid, "Get some sleep, we'll be right here when you wake up."

The child smiled back as his eyes began to drift shut, "Mmkay…"

Atticus gave one last pat to his head and a small smile, before he got up and, after making sure the young grimwalker was as comfortable as possible, switched the light off and left.

Neptune tapped at the wooden desk with his fingers, up and down, up and down in a rhythm as he waited for his transmission to be answered. The blue orb swirled with colour as he waited, blowing an exaggerated raspberry when the call was declined. He huffed and tapped the green button, letting his head flop on the desk as the ringing started again.

His fingers drummed harder as the seconds ticked by.

"Hello?"

His head jerked up, eyes focusing in on the blurry image of his sibling. He playfully rolled his eyes at them.

"Finally! I've been calling for ages!"

Raine chuckled, an apologetic smile on their face.

"Yes, I saw that. I'm sorry I didn't answer earlier, I was just doing some paperwork."

Neptune huffed again, a grin threatening to take over as he pointed at the orb accusingly.

"So, paperwork is more important than your beloved brother?"

"Now, you know it isn't like that! Besides," they placed something down on a surface he couldn't see, "I'd much rather talk to you than write a report on someone who tried to steal a flute."

"A flute?" Neptune tried to grapple for an answer in his head, blinking in confusion, "Why?"

Raine shrugged, "It was a nice flute, I suppose."

"Okay, but, why not go for… I don't know, snails?"

"I can't believe someone in the Emperor's Coven just suggested stealing. That's low, Nep'."

Neptune shrugged and leaned back, "Hey, just because I'm a good guy doesn't mean I don't know how to steal right."

Raine laughed, running a hand through their hair and ruffling the short teal strands.

"Right, of course. Well, was there any particular reason you called?"

Neptune's smile faded a bit. He cleared his throat, shuffling closer in his seat so he could lean into the transmission.

"Uh, the mission I was telling you about is today. Y'know, the one with the," he waved his hand in the air, "Time Pools."

Raine nodded, "Right, I remember. Be careful, okay?"

He nodded back, "I will, I will. Just, uh… I know how dangerous these things are and- and I just wanted to say, if anything does happen, I love you, okay?"

The silence stretched, seconds ticking by as he watched Raine's face, seeing the tears in their eyes. Guilt ate at his stomach, but he needed to say that. He knew how emotional their sibling could be when it came to things like this, and, as he felt his eyes tear up as well, he knew how much he hated seeing people cry.

Raine let out the smallest sob, "I love you too, Neptune. Just… promise me. Promise nothing will happen."

He smiled, or tried for one. It wobbled at the sides of his mouth and threatened to be the crack that started a flood of tears.

"'Course, I promise, Raine."

They smiled back, "Then I can't wait to talk to you again."

"Right, so long as you actually pick up."

They let out a bark of laughter, setting off Neptune's own fit of giggles after it. Raine wiped away their tears, trying to muffle their sniffles into their sleeve, "No promises."

He laughed again, reaching up to hover his finger over the end button, "Bye, Raine."

"Bye, Neptune."

Their face swirled away in a cloud of blue, right in time for the door to his left to open and close. He looked over and smiled when he made eye contact with his roommate, Atticus.

"Hey, 'you ready to go? Hunter's out like a light, so we shouldn't have to worry."

Neptune nodded, "Yeah, 'just got finished speaking with Raine, so I'm fine."

Atticus nodded back, "Right then, let's get going."

He stood up from his chair to walk with Atticus, swiping their masks along the way and opening the door for the other.

Atticus waved a playful hand at him, "Such a gentleman."

He laughed, shoving them through the doorway instead.

"Whatever."

The door clicked shut and they both stood in the hallway, adjusting their masks in place before continuing on their way. Atticus leaned over and nudged Neptune with their elbow.

"Hey, maybe I should call Darius too, and just complain the whole time. I know he wouldn't dare hang up on me like last time, so it'll be even better."

Neptune chuckled, "Maybe you should give him a break, he is busy with Coven stuff too, y'know?"

Atticus clicked his tongue, "Fine, you make a good point. He's safe… for now."

"Welp, I tried. Sorry, Darius."

The hallway filled with laughter as they went through twists and turns, over archways and through tunnels, before the atmosphere dissolved away and they composed themselves for the mission. With a final shove to each other's chests, they pushed the docking bay doors open and walked in.

The Boiling Isles was quiet tonight. A strange occurrence, considering the type of folk that lived in Bonesborough. The wind blew gently through the leaves and made the short grass ripple, acid waves crashing in the distance.

Atticus smiled under his mask, breathing in the soothing cold air as they marched across the hills. It had been a while since he and Neptune were out on a mission – their task with managing the new Grimwalker had proven to be harder than expected, especially considering that he had to wake up at odd hours of the night in order to calm and feed the kid.

But after a year or two of doing it, they had managed. It wasn't easy – not by a long shot – but it was worth it.

Well, at least they got something out of it. The other day, the Grimwalker had pointed vaguely at Atticus and Neptune from where they had been doing paperwork and said, "Lov'," which was nice.

Neptune's hooked mask angled slightly toward him before a small chuckle sounded from inside the pale thing. Atticus caught a glimpse of a smiling brown eye before they kept marching, scouts following along behind them. Normally, they would be batting jokes between each other and playing with their palismen, but they couldn't today; not with their company. Mellowa, however, he'd let roam free and follow them from the trees - she never liked his pockets; and he knew Neptune had Boot tucked away in his cloak.

Honestly, they weren't sure what… exactly they were looking for. When Belos had designated them to go on this mission, he had called them, 'windows to the past,' and essentially told Atticus and Neptune to shove off and research it themselves - which they had.

Vague and mildly irritating - but this was Emperor Belos, the guy who could speak to the Titan. How were they meant to deny someone like that?

The pools seemed to be incredibly finicky, only opening for short periods of time and never opening in the same spot. It was horrible to track, and there was hardly any writing about it.

But, according to Atticus and (mostly) Neptune's calculations, the window would be opening for a short period just ahead of them. Their mission was to find the pool, record its behaviour and how long it's open, and report back to Belos.

Easy-peasy.

Almost insultingly so.

"Do you hear that?" Neptune said, snapping Atticus out of his thoughts. He cocked his head and pulled down his hood so that his pointed ears were exposed better, listening to the sounds around him as he freed his dirty-blonde mullet from where it lay.

Rustling trees, horsefrogs crooning in the distance, waves crashing…

Ah. There it was. The faint hiss of quicksand.

Atticus looked down at his feet and swiftly noted the little insects moving the way they'd come, as well as the subtle shift of soil moving ahead.

"Be careful and stay back," he called to the scouts, who murmured amongst themselves. A shrill voice cut through, complaining about something or other. Atticus ignored it.

Yeah, he and Neptune could probably do this task themselves, but the assistant to the Emperor had directed that they take 'those blasted misfits' for some proper training, thanks to Neptune's stunt with his enchanted guitar.

"Well, sir, I think it's only fair that I come along to keep you both safe."

Groaning inwardly, Atticus turned to face the Scout - a short girl, barely out of schooling. She had been a thorn in his side the past few weeks, ever since discovering that she was coming along for the mission. She seemed to think that she could order her superiors around, which was likely the reason why she was even on this trip.

"No. Stay back and search the perimeter. If the ground gets too unstable, fall back to a safe distance or get back on the airship. The other Officer and I will go ahead."

He let out a silent, long-suffering sigh and signalled for Neptune to move forward, the two marching as the Scouts rustled through the underbrush.

Their footsteps got smaller as the sand moved faster, rustling louder and louder until the two were standing near the edge of what seemed to be a swirling quicksand pool, sucking in various plants and a couple of fairies.

"Oh, Titan," Neptune breathed from beside him as the pair stared down at the portal in awe and mild hesitation. A flash of blue light shone across his mask.

"This is dangerous. We should tell the scouts to get back to the ship; it doesn't matter that the mission won't pass, we can't-"

"I think the mission will pass, sirs."

This time, Atticus didn't restrain his frustrated groan as he turned around to see the scout that had spoken - the same infuriating one from earlier.

"You shouldn't be here," he snapped, taking a step towards her, "You should be with the other scouts, searching the perim-"

The little demon scoffed at him before walking forward a few feet.

"Searching the perimeter?" She repeated mockingly, "I'm not going to do that with all those freaks. Those - those things - belong in the Conformatorium, not in anything like the Emperor's Coven. They are nothing but mindless buffoons!"

Atticus was about to retaliate, but stumbled backward as the pool gave a threatening crackle. The scout didn't seem fazed, clearing her throat as she held her hands behind her back idly.

"Tell me, Officer, how do you actually plan on getting the information Lord Belos requires? Simply search and hope? Pray to the Titan your research is going somewhere?"

Atticus shook his head and practically growled out his next sentence.

"Scout, this is no way to address an Officer! Return to the ship immediately or else-!"

Her head swivelled to look at him, raising her hand quicker than the two could react and summoning sharpened green roots to point, poised, at their heads.

Neptune cursed under his breath.

She regarded the two, then scoffed. "My officers, at my will with a few words and a well-timed attack."

"Pathetic," she spat.

Atticus heard a faint growl from his left, sparing a glance to see Mellowa crouched to attack. He held up a subtle hand at her – a command to stay put. She complied, but her tail was swishing back and forth with obvious disapproval.

He made a note to give the cat-moth extra snacks when they got back.

The Scout advanced another few steps and took off her hooked mask with a flourish, revealing a face half-covered by a large blue hand. Her visible yellow eye blinked up at Atticus – and all of a sudden she seemed more menacing, the light of the moon warping her shadow into a tall, stretching monster.

"You do know what happens when your superiors die on a mission?"

Neptune's voice shook a bit from his right as he spoke up - Atticus didn't dare even glance away from the little Scout.

"Someone gets promoted."

Kikimora - was that her name? - nodded, her visible eye boring into his violet-ringed ones.

"So, if you two are mercilessly killed as I tried desperately to save you, then I get promoted. I get the credit. And you-" She laughed, high and loud and full of malice.

"You both get removed from the picture!"

"Simple," She took a step to her left, towards Neptune.

"Easy," His breath hitched as they both took a step back, towards the whirlpool.

"Bye-bye!"

With a flick of her hand, Atticus and Neptune were shoved by a flash of magic and fell backwards into the unstable time pool. Blue lightning crackled around them and struck out at them, barely grazing their skin before they fell deeper and deeper.

The last they saw was the Scout, laughing and covering her face back up, and Mellowa jumping across the portal to try and dive after them. She didn't get the chance before the opening dissolved away into the distance.

He could see the other Officer panicking, turning around blindly to latch onto Atticus just so they stayed together. The other blinked, working his arms from where they had been snapped to his sides and wrapping them around Neptune's slender form.

Atticus held on tight, but still cast glances this way and that, yelling out for his palisman. He could barely hear his own voice over the time pool.

The two twisted and turned, falling through time periods faster than one could say, 'hello!' Glimpses blurred together, colours became one and time warped further and further as they fell.

Neptune gasped as an idea came to him. An idiotic idea.

He grunted, pulling Boot - his palisman - from his pocket. They yipped, turning into a staff in his hands.

Atticus looked at him as if he was crazy. He barely heard a "What are you doing?!" over the crackle of the pool as they barrelled in an unknown direction.

Neptune huffed, aiming Boot in the direction he suspected was down. His eyes slid shut as he concentrated before channelling a large surge of magic outwards. The teal light shot out, the force sending them rocketing in the opposite direction - up.

Everything blurred once more. They shot through the ages, flying up and up, the pool eventually spitting them back out onto the grassy forest floor.

Neptune grunted as he rolled across the dirt, smearing patches of his outfit in an ugly brown and green mix. He clutched Boots' staff handle close to his body as they rolled, and let out a long groan as he came to a stop. Blinking his blurry eyes out, his scattered mind searched for a glimpse of his friend.

He didn't get one, not before the darkness and nausea pulled him under, and his eyes slid shut.

—

(Mellowa was originally named Raid Shadow Legends.)

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