Artanis was busy going over the most recent battle reports, and acutely feeling each Protoss warrior lost, when he received the alert.
Hierarch! We are detecting a Nydus worm on the surface of Halkeginia! The urgent voice of a Protoss bridge crew member reached out to him.
Do we have its location? Artanis asked, psionically, as he was making his way through the ship's gleaming, golden halls to the bridge.
In a moment, Hierarch, the voice replied. It is located near our primary Halkeginian Nexus point. At the place Terrans call "Tarbes", the voice informed him. Artanis thought for a moment of all the other information he would need before finalizing his response to the situation.
Where are Executor Louise, Akhundelar Siesta, and Prelate Zeratul? Artanis asked.
Checking… Executor Louise is located near the forming Nydus breach. As is a psionic signature similar to Akhundelar Siesta's, but we cannot confirm. Prelate Zeratul is located nearest the breach as he is located at the Nexus point.
Artanis now had all the information he needed.
Deploy whatever available troops aboard to the surface immediately.
Hierarch, there is a dearth of such warriors, given our current conflict with the UED and the abandonment by Alarak.
As I said, deploy whoever is available. I shall contact the Prelate for further instructions.
By your will, Hierarch.
Zeratul, old friend, can you hear me? Artanis reached out to Zeratul.
Indeed, we are scrambling what few troops we have to deal with the emerging Nydus. Though, this tactic seems familiar. It reeks of UED distraction, Zeratul surmised.
A wise observation, my friend. I am deploying additional warriors to your Nexus point. Hold the line until they arrive, and dispatch them to Executor Louise's location immediately.
By your word, Hierarch, Zeratul confirmed. Something still did not sit right with Artanis. What did his brother from the bridge crew mean when he said that there was a "remarkably similar" psionic signature to Siesta? He trusted his friend, but he felt he would need to see the Akhundelar himself to confirm.
Back on the surface, Zeratul had rallied what few Zealots (Protoss warriors adorned in gleaming golden armor and crystals akin to the appearance of the Spear of Adun that also had psionically-manifested blue blades erupting from what looked like metal bracers on their wrists), Stalkers (blue quadrupedal spider-like mechanical shells with what looked like a head poking out the front just above the legs), and Adepts (feminine-looking Protoss warriors similar to Zealots but bearing a single shield-like device that launched psionic energy blasts and wearing what looked like a white and gold armored skirt) he could and began making for the rumbling, emerging, fleshy form of the Nydus worm, attacking whatever parts they could reach.
Shortly after their attacks had begun, flashes of light erupted from near the Pylon, a massive, floating crystal surrounded by orbiting golden metal rings, and more warriors manifested.
Meanwhile, in the Sasaki household, a rumbling was felt throughout the house causing the children to scramble to get under the table.
"Don't panic! Remember to cover your heads!" Lucy and Takeo each reminded everyone present. Tiffa found herself out of luck, considering her size, and opted to cower in a corner covering her head with her hands.
Nydus worm, detected! Louise could hear a Protoss voice she did not recognize in her head, causing her to pause and look confused. Siesta noticed this and looked to her as she took them both under the now-cramped dining room table.
What is it? Siesta asked her, psionically.
Something about a worm? Louise replied, the tone of her thoughts unsure.
Executor Louise! A Nydus worm is a harbinger of Zerg forces to come! Zeratul informed to the now-horrified Louise. Warriors have been made available to you from the Spear of Adun. What are your orders? Louise was beginning to feel panic build within her, and it clouded her ability to respond. Sweat was forming upon her brow and the back of her neck and her chest began to tighten. This stopped, however, when Siesta placed a hand upon hers and gave her a small, reassuring smile. Louise's emotions, upon making eye contact with her wife, immediately fell under her control as she closed her eyes to reach out for her troops.
Warriors! To me! Louise summoned the Protoss.
With honor! The voice of an Adept answered in the affirmative within her head.
Siesta and Louise left the tepid safety of the table behind as they got up to go face their enemy, whoever that may be. Before doing so, however, they turned to Agnes and Tiffa.
"Tif'narak, Agnes, are you ready to fight?" Louise asked them both with a surprising amount of confidence and authority emanating from such a petite figure.
Agnes immediately had the fire of her warrior's spirit come alight within her eyes, and Tiffa, surprisingly, gathered herself and stood, her face now having no hints of her former anxiety and terror. Louise did raise her eyebrows at this. Her opinion of the elf had improved vastly in that very moment as she saw Tiffa prepare her warp scythe with no hesitation.
"Yes!" both Tiffa and Agnes confirmed in harmonized unison as the four of them went to go outside. Before they did, however, a certain concerned beeping and whining was heard from the pink-eyed golden form of Khaydarin. Louise patted them on the head reassuringly.
"You're not meant for direct conflict, Khaydarin, and I promise that, this time? We're both coming back. Protect the Sasakis, okay?" Louise gently ordered. Khaydarin responded with a kind of disappointed, mechanical whine before turning to patrol before the huddled family. "Everyone, don't worry. We'll be right back," Louise gave the family a determined smile as she drew her wand from her stocking and stepped outside.
Once there, they were immediately met with a hail of icicle spikes, which everyone was able to dive out of the way from, but destroyed the front door of the Sasaki house. Siesta, seeing this, immediately scowled as she whipped her head around at who to direct her fury at.
"Not bad, degenerates!" a familiar, mocking voice rang out with a chuckle. Siesta's fury was now hitting a boiling point as she put the pieces together as to what was happening. Jumping to her feet, she ignited her psi blade and whipped her head around for him.
Saito.
The man who had done such unspeakable things to Juliette. And violated her sleeping moments with tormenting visions for months. Before she could find him, however, they were assaulted by another round of icicles, this time seeming to target her, specifically. Luckily, she was able to muster the psionics to dodge once again, but she could already start to feel her body becoming weary.
As Siesta was struggling with an unknown assailant she could not see, Tiffa and Agnes were beset by monstrous, quadruped beasts with dripping fangs and claw-tipped appendages that could be called "arms" coming from their backs. Zerglings. Agnes raised the pistol she had stolen from the Ghost she incapacitated long ago and fired a clean shot through the first one's head. The other, however, was moving in a serpentine motion. Agnes could not find another shot.
As the beast leapt at her, a flash of red energy bisected the creature down the middle, causing each side to fly past her own sides. Before her, Tiffa was standing, her ignited red warp scythe in her hands. She turned to give a smirk to Agnes, which Agnes returned with a hint of praise for her savior. There was no time to relax, however, as yet more Zerglings were upon them. Agnes opted for her sword and Tiffa struck an aggressive stance, ready to strike.
While everyone else was wrapped up in their fights, Louise was keeping her eyes out for their attackers. A Zergling, sensing her distraction, began to charge at her but, before it could strike. Louise instinctively raised her hands and the creature froze in place with what looked like a green, staticky barrier.
Yes! I think I got the hang of this! Louise giddily thought, having manifested her second successful, and life saving, void prison before drawing her wand she ever stored in her stocking and pointing it at the Zergling.
"Explosion!" she shouted, blasting the stunned Zergling apart without consideration of where its chunks would end up. Her face was overcome with a disgusted frown as she looked over her now-ruined blouse and skirt.
The family Sasaki was huddling close, trying their best not to be targets of the chaos outside. Juliette, among them, and as she fearfully clung to Lucy, heard a familiar voice in her head.
Juliette! Come to mama! The voice of one of her since-passed mothers called out to her from, what felt like, outside. Juliette's grip began to loosen on Lucy, who did not notice as she was focused on her other children and the din of the conflict outside.
Come out here! It's okay… I'm okay now. Let's go home to your other mama. She remembered this voice. Attached to the mother she had with the hair that matched hers. The comfort of this familiar tone was immediately drawing her in as she turned to leave the family.
"Wait! Juliette! Stay with us!" Lucy hissed as she tried to reach out for the hypnotized child, who avoided her hand and began to run to the back door. "Juliette!" Lucy almost yelled as she crawled to try and keep up with her.
Before Juliette reached the back door, it had opened, revealing a cloak-wearing figure that had some kind of glow emanating from under their hood. The figure held out a hand to Juliette, who, to her, looked exactly like her mother she was sure was gone. Her heart was racing with joy. She was going to be with her mother again. Once she had taken the hand, however, the illusion dropped, as did her heart, as she looked in horror at the face of her former captor. Saito.
"Welcome back, Penny, your father misses you," Saito sneered at her.
The darkness hid his facial features, so none could see the smirk upon his face. Juliette screamed as she tried to pull away, with Lucy and the other children immediately jumping up to come after the kidnapping Saito. Before they could, however, Saito jumped back, Juliette in one of his arms, wagging a taunting finger at them as he did.
A single, small-bear-sized monstrosity walked before him, growling at the Sasaki family.
"I'll be taking my leave now." Saito announced in his smug tone as he jumped up and away into the night.
The leftover Zergling, however, was snarling and drooling as it stalked the terrified mother Sasaki and her children. Khaydarin quickly positioned itself between it and the family, giving what sounded like an aggressive buzzing tone as its eye turned a dark pink that bordered on red. The Zergling, at first, stepped back at this new threat, but after quickly deducing the threat level as miniscule, it crouched down to ready itself.
Just as it leapt to strike, however, Takeo jumped up as best he could with one leg, and smacked the Zergling into the kitchen table with his crutch, splintering it on impact. While it reeled from this attack, the children, Khaydarin, and Lucy were upon it, gathering anything they could get their hands on (broken wood, utensils, sharp pieces of plates) and incessantly attacked the ailing Zergling. Takeo himself joined in once he had limped his way over, taking a few good swings with his crutch. Once it had stopped moving, even twitching, the family finally stopped, all breathing heavily from exhaustion. When the adrenaline wore off, they all felt a creeping sense of guilt at not being able to protect their newest family member.
"We have to go get her!"
"How? That guy obviously has magic! What can we do?"
"We can't just not try!"
"She's family! We can't just-"
"I know!" Takeo shouted at his chattering children. It was uncharacteristic of him to raise his voice at them like this, and they all looked up at him with a fear they had never felt before. Seeing this, Takeo sighed and looked at them apologetically.
"I know… She's family too. And we don't leave each other behind, but we gotta trust your sisters and their friends. For now, let's keep each other safe." Khaydarin seemed to beep in the affirmative, and Takeo gave the little golden ball a small smile as he reached out to pet it. "I'll tell Louise you did good, buddy."
Siesta, meanwhile, was feeling for their attackers, which was taking a heavy toll on her psionic energy. She leapt up to the rooftops, doing her best to slash away at incoming ice projectiles as she did. Her luck turned, however, when she missed one and, as it looked as though she were about to be impaled by it, it glanced off a barrier that flashed around her.
The necklace! She thought to herself, making sure to note that she owed Karax a big thanks for the crystal-infused necklace she wore that let her passively project a psionic shield.
Following that, she tried to focus on landing on the rooftop beneath her, doing so only with partial success as she faltered. It seemed perhaps the necklace was not entirely helpful as it was also causing a drain on her psionics. She then turned her attention to her surroundings, now having a good view of them from a high vantage point, and saw the familiar hook-ended staff of a hooded figure that had turned their attention to her. She reached out, unsure of who this could be.
Tabitha? Is that you? Siesta sent, psionically. She was not used to sending her thoughts to those other than Louise or Zeratul. The figure hesitated as they were about to wave their staff at her once more, which Siesta took as an opportunity to jump towards them. Once she was closer, she reached into the figure's mind. She could feel feelings of hesitance, regret, and fear. They were all, however, suppressed by a much more overwhelming feeling of conviction.
Please just surrender… Siesta could hear the figure think. There was no doubt. This was Tabitha. Raising their staff aggressively at her to launch yet another attack. Siesta was in denial for a moment, until she saw the icy projectiles manifest once more and realized this was, indeed, happening.
Desperate, she decided to gamble.
"Tabitha! Stop! Why are you doing this?" Siesta shouted as loud as she could so that Louise might possibly hear her. The figure she knew was Tabitha lowered her hood, revealing the truth. Her already expressionless face was now on a level of stoic Siesta had never seen before.
"Out of the way," Tabitha said in a low, commanding tone as she pointed her staff at Siesta once more.
"Tabitha!" Louise cried out as she began running towards the two. This, once again, distracted Tabitha. Siesta took the opportunity to move and destroy her staff with her psi blade.
Tabitha, however, was paying attention, and deftly moved out of the way before haphazardly launching more icicles at Siesta and, now that she was behind her, Louise. Siesta did her best to strike down as many projectiles as she could, feeling a few fly past her and at least a few glance off her shield, which she could feel break. She winced at this, but it seemed she was successful in holding her ground. Tabitha, however, looked uncharacteristically aghast as she looked past Siesta.
Siesta, at first confused, turned around and saw Louise, standing, eyes wide and body frozen in horror in shock as an icicle was lodged directly in her stomach.
"LOUISE!" Siesta screamed as she immediately ran to catch her collapsing wife. "Nononononono…" Siesta pleaded as she held Louise close. "What have you done…" Siesta snarled as she turned to Tabitha, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" Siesta's furious scream seemed to impact Tabitha, and Siesta could see tears forming in her eyes at the pain of realization of what she just did.
Siesta could not act on her fury, however, as Louise's breathing had become ragged. "No, darling, please, don't. Just stay calm, we're gonna help you, I promise," Siesta tried her best to comfort and reassure both herself and her gravely wounded wife as she kissed her forehead and could feel her burning anger at both Tabitha and her own powerlessness manifest itself in hot tears that stained her wife's face and bloodied blouse.
Treacherous Tabitha… Zeratul's voice rang out. Tabitha and Siesta both looked up to him on a nearby roof.
He stood, uncloaked, and his green warp scythe ignited.
Regardless of your reasons for this… I cannot let this go unanswered. Zeratul's form disappeared in a puff of shadows. Tabitha, reacting quickly, summoned fierce winds around her, causing the reappearing Zeratul to lose his footing just long enough for Tabitha to… disappear. No one present was sure what magic she had manifested for that little trick, but it was irrelevant. All that mattered now was the ailing pinkette in Siesta's arms.
Louise, on her end, could not even feel it. Not painfully, anyways. She felt a weight in her stomach. She felt the warm blood pooling both there and in her mouth. She felt Siesta's desperate tears upon her and her embrace. But the pain was oddly absent. Her vision was growing darker. Was this it for her? To be killed by her own friend?
Saito, meanwhile, was erupting in mocking laughter at them, now finally making his appearance on another rooftop. And in his arms-
"Juliette!" Siesta cried out as she saw the desperately struggling little girl.
"Well! This went better than expected! Time to go, I guess," Saito gave a small salute. As Zeratul was about to blink up and stop him, Siesta, instead, stopped Zeratul, shaking her head.
"I don't think you can kill him faster than he'd do something to her…" Siesta gravely admitted.
"No! No! Let me go! Mama Louise! Mama Siesta!" Zeratul and Siesta could hear her desperately crying out. Siesta gritted her teeth, feeling enraged at her powerlessness.
"LET. ME. GO!" To everyone's shock, something happened that no one present could have predicted. It felt like all the noise in the world dropped out, followed by what sounded like a massive explosion with no light or fire. Siesta could see Saito thrown over them and beyond the rooftops of the houses behind them, screaming as he did. Then she turned to Zeratul, who nodded at her in immediate understanding.
Zeratul blinked up to the now-caved-in rooftop that Saito and Juliette were upon. He could acutely feel the child's presence, as she was emanating massive psionic energy almost akin to the psi emitter that had been implanted in her months ago. Zeratul carefully dug through the debris of the attic that she had fallen into to reveal the blue-haired little girl, unconscious, and covered in cuts and bruises from the debris. He gingerly picked her up, feeling shocked at how tiny and weightless this creature felt, and carefully descended the ruined building.
The scar from the psionic explosion had left a hole all the way down the side of this house, and the family inside trembled with fear upon seeing Zeratul, who paid them no heed as he went to return Juliette to the Sasakis, praying that they were alright.
Tiffa and Agnes, meanwhile, had just slain the last of the Zerglings together and were heaving heavy breaths.
"Not bad, elf," Agnes said in a playfully-backhanded way to Tiffa.
"Not bad, yourself, human," Tiffa responded with the same back-handed playfulness as she finally realized her legs felt like jelly and sat upon the dirt and grass that was before the Sasaki's destroyed front door. They began to see more Zerglings gathering around them, and attempted to raise themselves to fight once more. It proved unnecessary, however, as a psionic energy blast came from behind them and obliterated one of the approaching Zerglings.
Forward! A feminine Protoss voice rang in Agnes' and TIffa's heads as they saw an Adept, flanked by several Zealots, come in to deftly clean up the last Zerglings. The two breathed sighs of relief as they let themselves fall back to the ground, seated. They did not have long to rest, however, as they now saw Zeratul approaching, with the unconscious Juliette in his arms. Both Agnes and Tiffa gave horrified gasps as they ran up to look at her.
"Is she alright?!" Agnes asked, panic in her voice.
Indeed, Honorable Agnes, Zeratul confirmed, she has expended much psionic power and is in need of rest.
Agnes and Tiffa breathed sighs of relief at this, with Agnes reaching out to take Juliette from Zeratul, who gladly handed her over. Agnes walked into the Sasaki home through the hole that had been put into their house earlier where the front door used to be, stepping over debris as she did. When the Sasakis beheld her, a limp Juliette in her arms, they were initially horrified but, upon seeing Agnes' reassuring face, all sighed in relief.
"Thank goodness…" Agnes heard Takeo say as he approached the unconscious child and put his forehead to hers, stroking her hair as he did.
"What about-?"
"Siesta is fine, as well. Though…." Agnes' voice trailed off as her tone became grave. Lucy and Takeo's eyes widened with horror as they went, quick as they could, out into the night. Once there, they saw their sobbing daughter, holding their new daughter-in-law in her arms, limp and bloodied.
Saito, meanwhile, was hurriedly limping away from the scene of his crimes, infuriated at his failure. He clung to the trees of the forest that surrounded the village, clutching his gut.
Those damn bitches… Saito thought to himself as he slumped against one of the trees and opened his cloak, revealing his slender, muscled frame that was highlighted by his tight leather top with a deep v-neck of mesh. It was torn, however, at the lower left of his gut, where a piece of wood was lodged in it. Hissing as he did, he went to try and take it out, finding the pain too great for him to even attempt it. They're going to pay for this…
Saito, my beautiful dog of a familiar, how goes the mission? Saito heard his master's smug, vain tone in his head as the runes on his head glowed. He hesitated for a moment, dreading what punishment would befall him if he admitted the truth. I asked you a question, dog. The runes began to burn him as penance for his delayed compliance, and he grunted in pain.
Unsuccessful, my beloved master, Saito hoped the extra compliment would stay his master's wrath, if only a little.
Unfortunate, the voice answered, disappointed as the runes on Saito's head glowed and burned with greater intensity, causing him to cry out in pain.
Tabitha! Saito tried to reach out to his master, causing the pain to cease. Once he had taken a moment to recover, he continued. Tabitha disabled the Void Mage. So the mission wasn't a total loss. Saito informed, hoping to spare himself more pain. And let Tabitha off the hook.
I see. Still, the parameters of her mission were unfulfilled. So we will be going ahead with our plan. Mistakes must have consequences, after all, his master plainly informed as Saito immediately felt the connection to him severed. Saito scowled into the darkness and pounded his fist into the ground in frustration just as Tabitha made their presence seen before him, glaring at him. Saito did his best to put on his smug front as he looked at them.
"Hey," Saito began with a pained, shaky breath, "You're a square-class mage, right? Know any healing magic?" Saito asked, pointing to the wood lodged in his lower right side. Tabitha continued to glare at him without budging, causing Saito to frown at them. "Don't forget… he still owns you." Tabitha bared their clenched teeth at him as they approached, dropping to their knees as they straddled him.
"Owns you, too," Tabitha bit back as they, without warning, grabbed and yanked the piece of wood out recklessly, causing Saito to cry out in pain before Tabitha directed their staff and their free hand at the wound and, drawing from the moisture of the air and plants nearby, very quickly and messily closed it. A garish, obvious scar was left behind, which Saito scowled at. However, ultimately, he let out a breath of relief as he looked up at Tabitha.
Once he beheld their glaring face, he felt an acute stroke of guilt and gave a sigh. Of guilt.
"He knows," Saito informed them, causing Tabitha to immediately widen their eyes in realization of what he meant. "You need to go. Now." Saito cast his gaze down and away from Tabitha, whose scowl had dropped and face was now adorned with concern.
They knew what he risked by telling them this.
Without thinking, they planted a small kiss on Saito's cheek, and got up, giving a loud whistle as they did. In a few moments, Sylphid appeared, the beating of her wings causing a whirlwind of dust and debris that they needed to shield their eyes from. As they mounted their familiar, they took one last look at Saito, who was still deliberately keeping his gaze away from them.
Thank you, they thought. Tabitha knew he could hear it. They spurred Sylphid into the night sky, heading directly for Gallia. Please be okay, mother.