Hey!
He'd long since learned nothing in life was fair-
He frowns as he looks around the crude table Deez had so painstakingly carved out of rock.
-but these were just children.
Children rising to a challenge that would have people twice their age running in the opposite direction.
The Yu's were formidable before they made alliances with those who possess magic-
Something he was still puzzling over.
How?
What could the mortal possibly offer those with mystical abilities?
It was a perplexing thought, and a deeply disturbing one.
Dark witches working with each other was unheard of-
But dark witches bending to the wishes of a mere human, even one as formidable as Shan Yu, was preposterous.
And cause for concern.
Caution.
Care.
And an insurmountable amount of distress.
Add to that, Hades sudden interest and intervention-
It was a dangerous endeavor they were pursuing.
His eyes drift from one grave expression to another, each clearly aware of the stakes.
It pained him greatly-
The knowledge of what they were facing.
The battle they were about to engage in.
Pained and terrified him.
It was rare he lamented his age, he found great satisfaction in the wisdom he'd garnered through the ages-
But with affairs as they were-
He felt impotent.
Two hundred years prior, he would have been able to dismantle the entirety of their current predicament-
Showed these children-
No.
He needed to stop that.
As much as he loathed it-
Agonized over it-
Not a single member of this table was a child.
Born to a world of darkness and evil.
Even the most benign of them had lost their innocence long before his interference-
Something he'd never be able to forgive himself for.
How they managed to maintain their warmth and compassion in such a cold, cruel environment was nothing short of astonishing.
That in and of itself would have been enough for his growing admiration, and had earned his unyielding respect.
He looks down as a stack of papers is passed to him, the written reports of Beam, James, Harry, T, and Faustina.
A knot, like a serpent attempting to eat itself, makes him nauseous as his eyes travel down a list of names Faustina remembered seeing at the Howler.
What fate had befallen his students?
"Oh."
He looks up in time to see Harry sitting up straight after leaning in towards Faustina.
"We be havin' the Core's blades. You an' James can be takin' yer pick o' those 'til Gil an' Deez be settin' ya up."
"Aye," James nod, "it'd be nice ta know we have some o' that luck ya put in yer weapons."
His lips twitch as Gil's cheeks darken.
"Couldn't do it without Treasure."
"Duh, you need a forge." Deez smiles before she swats his chest, "but don't use me to take away from yourself."
"Guess we know what you two will be doin' for the next few days." Uma nods as she shifts the papers in front of her before she pulls out a map, "Beam, do you know anyone who knows anything about the Isle, outside of town?"
Beam points to Faustina. "Beside's them?"
"Aye. I need as many eyes as I can get."
"Most o' us kept to the streets, not the wild, where plants can get you dead."
"That's fair." Deez sighs, "some of those plants can even give me a rash."
"Yep, don't regret that decision." Beam nods.
Faustina turns to Deez, "Hide and seek."
"Yeah?" Deez questions before her eyes widen, "oh. Right. I can help with that too."
"The fuck is hide and seek gotta do with it?"
"Besides my personal hell?" Gil grumbles.
"Was it really that bad?" Deez pouts, "we got the cove out of it."
Gil sighs, "and you and T running all over the damned Isle."
"Which, as terrifying as it was at the time, is super helpful now." Uma points out.
"Dope." Beam nods, "but why?"
"Well, taking a page from T's book here. At some point he got tired of all of us gettin' mad about hide and seek, so he divided the Isle into quadrants-" Uma turns the map in front of her around so the rest of the table can read it, "it made finding Deez easier if we needed to get a message to her, so I'm thinking it will make finding the Yu's easier too."
"Ah, yes." He nods, "that would be helpful indeed, and narrows down where your party will be in case they too need to be found."
"Exactly." Uma nods, "easier and safer."
Harry's brow furrows before he taps the map, "I know ya be workin' on somethin' already, but what 'bout ah magic that can be showin' Uma the notebook locations on the map too?"
"It is very doable, and an exceptional idea." He smiles, "but it will take me some time and quite a bit of energy."
"Even if you were to make it at your former home?" Faustina inquires softly.
His brow furrows.
Curious sug-
Oh.
Clever girl.
"I would have more focus' there." He strokes his beard.
And the ability to call upon the dark magic he refused to use around any on the ship.
"It would speed the process considerably."
"Kat an' I could be takin' him, after all that mess with the Howler there's a few hideys I'd like to check." Beam offers.
"James?" Uma looks at James expectantly.
"Aye, o' course Cap'n." James turns to Beam, "if ya don't be mindin' a tag along."
"Fuck no, more the merrier an' all that shit." Beam snorts. "Make all o' us feel better too."
Once more, Faustina turns to Harry.
Harry grins, "Aye, I can be doin' that." He turns to Uma, "can ya be putin' me down for teachin'? There be ah few who could be benefitin' from weapons lessons."
Beam raises his hand, "I'd be down to jump on that."
"Aye," James grins. "Be addin' me too."
Uma nods as she scribbles it down. "Then it sounds like we all have our jobs, until the truth rusty and the map are finished."
He looks around the table, noting the change of spirit now that they had a direction to proceed in.
"If that's the case, I do believe there's no time like the present to begin."
He looks down at the half filled cup with an unfamiliar, repulsive, murky concoction in front of him and smirks.
Challenge accepted.
He grasps the glass.
It felt like forever since the last time they played this game.
He closes his eyes, trying not to think as he tosses it back, gagging as the thick foul tasting liquid coats his tongue, the texture making him choke.
Swallow it.
He grabs the table as he forces it down, stomping as it slowly slithers down the back of his throat.
"Fuck," He breathes out heavily as he clenches the fabric over his chest, his other fist slamming against the table.
How do you feel?
Jesus-fucking-Christ, woman, it hasn't even hit my stomach yet. But, just so we're on the same fucking page-Thin. It. Fucking. Down.
Ah, I was worried about that, but didn't want to dilute the solution until I knew I had a working base.
He nods.
Gonna fill me in on what I missed? Or are you going to be a passive-aggressive bitch again?
Undecided.
He snorts.
Checks.
He shakes his head before he exits the lab cavern.
Where are you going, exactly?
To figure out where everyone-
He lets out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding, feeling himself stand taller as warmth pours like water down his spine.
Huh.
He rolls his shoulders curiously, unable to remember the last time they'd moved so freely.
With such ease.
In fact-
Several pops sounds as he jerks his head to the side, and a groan of pleasure passes his lips.
-everything felt different.
Weightless almost.
When was the last time he'd felt this good?
Fuck, had he ever felt like this?
He plops to the ground, crossing his legs as he props his chin against the elbow resting on his knee.
T?
It was weird.
Like a part of him was missing.
An important part.
A part he wasn't sure he missed.
But, needed? Maybe?
Huh.
T?
What?
You've been staring at the wall for well over ten minutes, ignoring me.
Had he?
Weird.
He looks up thoughtfully only to tip and laugh when his back hits the ground.
"T?" A pale hand waves in front of his face.
Huh.
He'd never noticed how oddly beautiful the soft blue lines that crisscrossed under her skin were.
"T?"
He grabs her hand and pulls it closer to his face.
"Are you okay?"
"It would be really easy to inject you with something if you weren't walking concrete."
"Okay. I'm suddenly very glad to be a demi," her pale blue eyes crinkle, "do you think about drugging me often?"
"Only when you're not listening."
"So never then?"
He snorts, "wrong listen."
"Ah," Deez settles beside him, her fingers curling around his palm, "you mean when I don't agree with you."
"Exactly." He nods firmly as he studies their hands. "You're lucky you're a demi being this tiny. Well, I guess I'm lucky. It would've sucked having to kill everyone who tried to take you for bein' Senior's kid."
Deez snorts, "don't worry. He reminded me all the time that I wouldn't exist if I wasn't a demi. So-" she shakes her head before she sighs and looks away, "no worries."
"What a stupid fucking thing to rub in your face. It's dope as fuck, you have powers. I wish I could set shit on fire. Everything would burn."
"And that's why we've always been glad you can't."
He shrugs, "it's cool, that's what accelerants are for."
Deez frowns as she looks him over, "seriously, are you okay?"
"Am I ever?"
"Fair, but um, your normal not okay," she holds one hand out, palm up, "and this not okay" she gestures at him with her other hand, "seem like, veeeery different."
"Tch, yeah, this one doesn't make me want to hurt myself."
"Oh?" Her eyes widen as she tilts her head to the side, letting her faded blue hair slip to hang in front of her shoulder, "well that, that sounds better."
He nods, "feels better too." He leans back leisurely.
"So, what's different?" She leans closer and lightly sniffs.
"Doesn't have a name yet." He chuckles.
"Or a scent. And you're not hurt, at least not bleedin-" she pauses and blinks, "what doesn't have a name?"
His nose scrunches, "the nastiest shit she's had me drink-" His eyes narrow, "okay third nastiest. Still feel all my limbs, though, so I ain't complainin'." He shivers, "that one always sucks."
Her eyes widen in understanding, "Faustina made another potion thingy?" She asks in a whisper before she looks around the hall they were in, "and you tested it?"
"Duh. It was in front of me."
"Okay, up you go-" Deez smiles tightly as she stands and easily pulls him up with her, "you can't be out here."
He laughs, "it's so fucking freaky when you do that shit. You're like half my size. I love it. We should shoot you out of the cannon and see how much damage you do. Right at your dad's face."
She snorts, "Yeah, as fun as that sounds, I suggest keeping that one to yourself." She pulls his arm over her shoulder and starts walking.
"People are pretty lame, it's not like you wouldn't eat the damage."
"I think it's more of a visual thing for them."
"Tch, it's fine, they just like babying you cause you're adorable."
"I am apparently adorable," she rolls her eyes, "despite my best efforts to be terrifying."
He pats her head. "The attempts make it cuter."
"Noted, less attempt, more terror."
"You should try actually letting your flames hurt people when they piss you off. Not sayin' ash 'em, just you know, enough to blister a bit."
"You would have loved seeing the way Junior looked at me when I lit up." The chuckle quickly dies as her smile drops.
"Junior is a twat." He scowls, "and a fucking retard. Fuck 'im, stupid prick. You should'ah toasted his balls." He furrows his brows, "which I don't have. Cause I'm made up.'
"You're not made up." Deez tilts her head to look at him with a scrunched nose, "you're just T in a girl's body."
He snorts, "cause that makes it better."
"I'm serious. You can't be made up if you feel different from Faustina."
"Thank god for that, I'd take being an idiot over a cunt any day."
"You're not an idiot, either."
"I tackled you full nuclear."
"But did you get dead?"
"Not for a lack of caring."
He frowns when Deez slows.
"It was fun though. No blade's ever going to match that double-edged opportunity."
"T-" Deez bites her lip before she shakes her head and continues walking him into the lab, "you don't- Do you still feel like that? Wanting to get dead?"
"I have moments," he shrugs.
"Well-" Deez frowns as she picks him up and sets him on the edge of one of the tables before she crosses her arms over her chest, "you're not allowed to get dead. You're not allowed to leave me."
He scoffs, "you're four-foot nothing an' as scary as a pillow, you can't tell me what to do."
Her eyebrows raise before she drops her fists to her hips, "Oh no? I can't? Aren't you my follower?"
"Stalker."
"No, you're one of my followers. I'm a demi-goddess. And I say you can't get dead."
He snorts, "I do need you, so I guess that's fair."
"I need you too."
"Tch, no you-"
"Shut up!" She snaps as she stomps her foot, "I do need you."
He laughs, "you're adorable when you're all worked up like this."
She narrows her eyes, "I'm not adorable. I'm reprimanding you. And also covering for you, so, yeah. You're welcome."
"You are always the funnest to play with. Everyone else has always got a stick shoved up their ass. If shit's gonna happen, it's gonna happen. Might as well have fun with it."
Deez crosses her arms over her chest again, "hopefully it'll be like that again."
"I'll probably be dead before that happens."
"Will you cut that out. You're not allowed to get dead. I order it."
A howl of laughter leaves him, "you're just like him."
"Like who?"
"Your dad, like, when are people going to figure out-"
Deez blinks at him, her face unreadable.
And suddenly a sound, like the crack of Uma's whip, sounds near his ear.
And then pain sears the side of his face.
He holds a hand to his heated cheek, "well, that was a long time coming." He chuckles as he hawks out blood stained spit.
"I-" Deez stares at him in horror, one hand pressed against her lips as the hand that slapped him hovers between them.
"You? C'mon Deez, I ain't a mind reader."
"I didn't mean to-" Deez takes a step away, "I'm sorry-"
"Oh seriously? You're upset about a smack? It's not like you sent my head flying. Calm the fuck down."
"You're bleeding, you jerk."
"I don't care. I'm surprised you don't do it more often."
"I care! I don't want to hurt you."
"But I don't care, and everyone needs an outlet."
Deez shakes her head, so violently, her hair flies wildly and lands in her face. "You are not a punching outlet."
"Clearly, it's taken you like, what, forever to finally hit me like that."
"Because the last time I hit you, I made your shoulder dislocate."
He snickers, "hindsight, that was awesome."
She slowly shakes her head, "you're- That's just-No. Not cool."
"I didn't say cool, I said awesome. I was super stoked about the potential of Book Club and I got away with it too. Win all around."
"Book Club, win. Hitting you? Not a win." Deez shakes her head again before she tilts her ear towards the central hall.
He rolls his eyes, "yeah, yeah. I get it. You've always been lame that way."
"Shhhh." Deez puts a finger to her lips before she points up, "Gil's looking for me, and I'm assuming you don't want him to see you like this."
"See me like what?"
"Ummmm, let's just say you don't and you trust me."
"Kay," He shrugs, "you're the dot connector. Can't argue that logic."
She walks backwards to the door, "can you tell Faustina that, whatever this is, it's a little scary?"
"Really?" He furrows his brows, "I'm lovin' it. Best I've felt in forever."
"Uh-huh." She nods as she looks over her shoulder again, "just, stay here, okay?"
"No promises. I get bored easy."
She grimaces, "I'll keep an ear out for you."
"You have control of your hearing?"
"It's easy to hear everything in a cave if you take a moment to breathe and listen."
"Don't even know why I asked." He shakes his head, "you can do, like, almost everything."
She smiles tightly, "except get us all out of here."
"Hey man, you got the core out. I thought we'd all die here. I mean, we probably still will. But they won't. Don't shit on yourself. More than I ever thought would come of your writing. Even made buddy-buddy with Dragon Tamer."
The smile slowly softens, turning genuine, "I did, didn't I."
He nods, "or at least garnered another stalker. He looks the type. Fuckin' creep keepin' all your tablets in their own library. He could at least mix other shit with it, make it less obvious."
Deez snorts, "I think it's kind of cool to be one of his favorite writers."
"Sure, you fucking do." He rolls his eyes, "but it's a pain in my ass. Now I have another person to worry about poppin' in and snatchin' your very snatch-able ass." He scowls, "you know, you could at least try to get fat or something, if you ain't gonna burn the pricks you fucking bird."
"I doubt you have to worry about the Prince of Auradon popping-" Deez blinks, "popping here." her eyes glaze over, as if she were looking at something behind him.
He turns in confusion to stare at the shelves of stone holding the glass instruments, before turning back to her.
"Can you see through shit now? Cause that just ain't fuckin' fair."
"Popping! Oh my father! Popping! T, you're a genius!"
"Hardly," He scoffs, "I just protect them-" but she was right in his face, her hands cupping his cheeks and pulling him down before her lips are on his.
"Personal space." He states against them.
"You're a genius!" She grins before kissing him again, "that's just- Thank you!"
"I can help without contact, you know. This is hella awkward."
"Shut up and let me love you!" She laughs, but drops her hands from his face as she backs up, "sorry. Just-Wow. You, you stay. I gotta go talk to Yensid. Thank you!"
"You goin' to tell me what I did, so I don't do it again?"
"Yeah right," Deez snorts, "if this works, everyone will thank you." She giggles again before she runs from the lab.
Well, that was fascinating.
What was?
That whole interaction. How are you feeling?
He snorts, the fuck you care?
Experiment, remember?
Oh, yeah. What the fuck was is this shit? I'm loving it.
I'd rather not say.
He rolls his eyes, if that didn't check, he wasn't sure what did.
She readjusts her grip on her scythe as she skirts a pile of rubble.
She was so scared.
So excited.
And nervous.
She wipes her palm against her waist before she turns back and waves the all clear.
Just down this alley and around the corner was Yensid's house.
And so far, she hadn't heard a single person.
It was as if the Isle had become a ghost town.
Where were all the adults?
She smiles as Gil braces against the wall beside her, "almost there." She whispers encouragingly.
When she'd insisted on going ahead to spot trouble, he'd insisted on carrying the wrapped staff, and more materials.
Which, when combined with the hammer he was carrying as a weapon, made for a lot of weight.
"This is weird, right? How empty everything is?"
She bites her lip, "I was thinking that too. I know this part of town wasn't usually all that busy since no one really trusted Yensid, but it's still weird that no one is out. Or even in the buildings."
"Good," He nods, "was worried I'd spent too much time 'round T."
"I'm not sure that's a bad thing," She tightens her grip.
His eyes narrow, "what was that?"
"What?" She asks as she looks around.
There was no way he'd heard something and she'd missed it.
"That twitchy thing, you've done it every time I've mentioned his name. What'd he do now?"
"Oh." She sighs, "he was just being T, ya know."
"So, T being T always makes you twitch, and I've only just noticed it?"
"Um, no." She purses her lips before she holds up a finger, "well, sometimes. Especially near water."
He frowns suspiciously, "uh huh." He shakes his head, "I'll figure it out eventually."
"That I worry about everyone? You've already figured that out."
"More specifically, what he did to make you worry like this."
"I-" She bites her lip, "I think everyone is, just, taking all this pressure differently."
Gil's frown deepens as he turns to look in the direction of the cove, before he turns back and sighs. "Oh. That's what you're worried about."
She nods before she pushes off the wall, "ready? Last run."
He nods.
She takes a deep breath, holding it as she listens carefully for any sign of life around them.
But it was just as deathly quiet as it had been the last twenty times she'd checked.
"All clear, come on."
She falls into step with him, letting him set the pace as they race across the empty roadway and straight to the door.
It was so strange to see the place again.
It was completely undamaged, standing in the middle of ruin like a preserved memory of different times.
An ode to the past.
She lightly raps her knuckles against the door as Gil pulls out the enchanted stone to open it.
Faustina explained before they left that it would be a good idea to warn Yensid of their arrival instead of simply storming in.
That was an interesting conversation.
She kept waiting for Faustina to say something about the way T had been acting, but after staring at each other, the other girl stated that if they didn't say anything, then no one was a liar.
She'd been only too happy to jump on that, for now at least.
The bruise on the side of Faustina's face was a bad enough reminder that she'd lost her temper.
But seriously?
Her father?
Low blow.
The moment the door unlocks, Gil shoves the stone in his pocket and ushers her in ahead of him.
Yensid smiles from his chair at the table as Gil closes the door behind them, "I saw you two coming." He announces as he taps the map in front of him, "Uma will be very pleased, I believe."
Having a map that let her know exactly where everyone was?
"I think you mean ecstatic." She smiles as she lays her scythe on the ground in front of the door, "it only took a day?"
Yensid nods, "well, in this case my enchantment of the map was a build up on the enchantments on the notebooks and the bangle that can track them. So, while there was some work to fully bind all the enchantments together, it was far simpler in terms of energy expenditure."
"Can I see?" Gil asks as he joins him by the table.
"Of course," Yensid gestures to the map, "I figured color coding the names might assist in remembering who is who at a glance."
"Thank sea Gods," Gil breathes in relief.
She leans against Gil's back once he slides into a chair, grinning at the pink and orange dots now huddled with Yensid's yellow one, while Beam's gray dot and a blue dot were moving towards the beach where the ship was waiting with Uma's teal dot and a black dot. Harry's deep red dot was clearly at the cove with Faustina's blue. And then there was a vibrant yellow dot pacing back and forth on the map.
At her father's temple.
She nods in agreement as she looks over the map again, frowning when she realizes the dot with Beam and the dot at the cove were the same color, "is that," she points to the two dots, "right? They're the same color."
Yensid's blue eyes flicker with amusement, "quite astute of you to notice. It would seem the two favor the same color."
Her brow furrows as she looks back at the map.
But why would Harry's eye color be James favorite?
It made sense with Faustina, she loved looking into Harry's eyes.
But-
Her eyes widen before she looks away.
Oh.
James's favorite color wasn't Harry's eyes.
It was another Hook.
Damn. She'd been trying to figure that out for forever. No wonder they'd kept it a secret.
"That's weird," Gil frowns, "there's no way James' favorite color is Harry's eyes too."
"Weird. But I mean, there's only so many colors, right?"
Gil eyes her with interest, "what'd ya figure out?"
"Something I'm not supposed to know," she pouts, "as usual."
"Well, yeah, but what is it? I want to know."
"But then we'd both know something we're not supposed to know." She huffs, "and trust me, it's so not worth it when you're always getting in trouble because of it."
He stares at her for a moment before he nods his head, "yeah, no. That doesn't look fun."
"Thank you." She sighs in relief before she claps her hands against Gil's back excitedly, "you gonna show him?"
"Yeah," Gil sighs before he holds out the staff for Yensid, "we wanted to make it cooler, but this seemed smarter. We hope it can help."
She knew how hard it was for Gil to hand it over this fast. They'd made so many plans and wanted to put so much more into it, but Faustina and Uma made an excellent point.
They were really leaning on Yensid for his magic, and the more they could do to help him, the more tools he could get, the better.
Yensid sits up curiously as he accepts the staff, plucking at the string keeping the cloth secure before it slides to the floor.
"Oh my." Yensid slowly turns the staff in his hands, his eyes darting between the different stones embedded in the delicate glass web around the large orb of her flames, "this is-" one hand slides down the smoothly sanded driftwood wrapped with more strands of glass and small carvings, "this is exquisite. I can see so much of both of your work and magical imprint woven beautifully in this."
She leans into Gil as she rubs his shoulders, "Faustina helped us pick out the stones. She gave us a list if you want to see it. Uma managed to drag the driftwood to the cove even with the currents being crazy because of the storm. And Harry had the idea to make a grip out of my glass."
Yensid's eyes twinkle as he looks between them, "a gift from the whole family then," He smiles, "Storm-Forged will certainly be treating me well."
"Ooh," she smiles at the name as she hip checks Gil lightly, "and you were worried it wasn't cool."
"What?" Gil pouts, "with a name like Storm-Forged it should be cooler. Guess I wish I was faster in more than jus' runnin'."
"I assure you, this staff is perfect. Just holding it is refreshing. I can feel the vibration of pure magic. You might believe it to look more simple than you desired, but I can feel how much energy and attention you crafted into this, Gil, and I am in your debt for that. For this marvelous gift."
Gil blushes as he pulls her to his side, "it'll help you then?"
"Most assuredly, as it already is." Yensid stands with it braced in front of him, one hand on the glass grip, the other resting on the light orb cresting the top, "this will do far more than nicely."
Gil sighs in relief, "good."
"And if the intricacy bothers you after we finish up everything else, we'll make another one." She offers as she gently pats Gil's face.
"That!" Gil quickly cheers up.
Yensid chuckles. "Dear boy, if you make another one, I will have to dub it another equally worthy name."
Gil frowns, "but Storm-Forged should look more storm, forged."
"Hmm, indeed?" Yensid smiles as the air around him begins to vibrate pleasantly, like a soft, rolling thunder, before her fire in the staff shifts to silver and becomes obscured with dark clouds.
It swirls gently in the orb, until her flame strikes the glass wall like lightning, lighting up the cloud like a thunderstorm.
"Yes!" Gil stifles a victorious fist pump. "I can sleep good with that."
"And look, now we're all connected together in creating it." She smiles.
Gil's eyes light up, "Yeah. We've never come together over anything like this, it feels pretty great to know we all put a piece of ourselves into it."
"And I now own a one of a kind Book Club original."
"Actually, yeah," she grins as she looks from Yensid to Gil, "you do. We started planning this back before Carlos left."
A kind smile crosses Yensid's lips, "then it is truly a spectacular gift indeed."
Gil grins, "if it weren't for you, T would'ah hit a dead end." He pauses, "or at least a lot more accidents."
"There'd have been a lot of them too," she adds with a sigh.
Even with the books, they'd had a lot of near misses.
"As true as that might be, I believe the four of you would have managed to figure it out. I just expedited the process." Yensid offers, "but I will happily reap the benefits of the knowledge my books were able to impart." He chuckles, "and appreciate the experiences that endeared me to T along this path."
"Actually, there's a lot of things that wouldn't have happened," she drops her gaze to her hands, "if it weren't for you being here. A lot of good things. So, thank you."
She looks up when he squeezes her shoulder, "my only regret in that endeavor was that I didn't do more, though I appreciate your generous words. It makes this old man's heart lighter."
She nods, finding speech difficult as each moment in her life that was better because of him flashes through her mind.
Each moment he made better for her friends and family.
Do more?
How could he possibly think there was more he could have done?
She clears her throat before she looks down at the map, "Faustina warned us that the way you're working right now might be dangerous if you're interrupted."
"Unfortunately, she is not wrong." Yensid frowns, "at the current moment, it is for the best."
She purses her lips, "are you okay?"
He smiles, "I appreciate your concern, but I am quite alright. It just helps me focus, so I don't overexert myself. The magic I can utilize at the ship is sparse. I dare not waste it."
She frowns as she nods.
Something about this felt off, but she couldn't put her finger on it.
She didn't understand the way magic worked well enough, and she trusted Yensid wholeheartedly; so while it niggled in her mind, she didn't reach for it.
If there was something he was keeping from them, it was for a reason.
She could, and would, respect that. She wasn't sure how many more surprises she could handle at the moment, anyways.
She looks up to find him watching her keenly, as if waiting for her to connect dots that would out him.
"Is it okay for us to take the map to Uma now?" She asks, quickly changing the subject as she jumps out of Gil's lap.
"Of course." He nods as he rolls up the map and ties it shut with twine.
"She's gonna be so happy to get this." She grins as Gil takes the tub.
Gil nods, "I think it'll help her calm a bit, too."
"The burden of her and Beam's positions are quite heavy to bear. I can only hope this alleviates some of it."
Heavy was a mild way of saying it.
Crushing.
That's what it felt like every time she watched Uma pouring over her lists.
Like all the air rushing from her lungs as wave after wave pounded her into the rocks.
"Yeah, us too." Gil nods as he wraps an arm around her and tucks her into his side. "Guess we should let you get to it then." He grins, "Uma's been bitin' at the hook for this anyways." He waves the map.
"Um-"
She closes her eyes.
Did she really need to do this right now?
Yensid was already stretched so thin with all the magical items he was helping them with.
"Yes my Dear?" Yensid prompts gently.
"I, I know you're busy now. But," her gaze drops to her feet, "when you have time? Can I talk to you?"
"I would love nothing more. I miss our sharing of tea and conversations."
"Me too," she smiles as she looks up, "thank you."
"Of course." Yensid returns her smile. "Please do travel safely." His eyes shift between the two, "not that I'm overly concerned with it being the two of you." He chuckles.
Gil grins, "we'll be safe."
She chuckles as she slips out from under Gil's arm and skips over to her scythe, "we didn't run into anyone on our way here, and now that I have this," she plants the handle like a staff in front of her.
"Now that does strike quite the image." He continues to chuckle. "And a quite delightful one at that."
"You should see it when she lights it up."
Yensid's eyes twinkle, "of that I have little doubt."
OMG!
We actually made a positive, productive chapter!
I know, I know, with how shit has been going for these kids I'm shook too.
We sprinkled in as many as these types of scenes as we could, but at the end of the day, this is equivalent to like an apocalypse to them in so many fucking ways.
And not gonna lie- In a couple of drafts it was a lot more drab and disheartening with a side of why the fuck are we writing this, we don't even want to read this, it's so depressing and shit.
No thank you.
So, what'd ya think of Storm Forged?
Think the description did it justice?
And the fuck T?
What the fuck did Tina have you drink? *shakes head* the fuck is wrong with you? Who does that?
Thank god it was D who stumbled upon his loopy ass. Anyone else would've had a shit fit.
So what do you think the drink is supposed to do?
And, yeah that about wraps up Twisted Reflections for tonight-
Later gators *smacks forehead* fuck I hate myself, but it came out so, eh?
Much love
-Twisted