Lady Parhelion pushed up the sleeve of her gown as the Drifters drew quiet and rested on the raging train. Puckered skin and scars poked out from just past the hem of the sleeve, though the hand was still the most damaged out of all the skin. Three years of practicing the damned harp left her fingers calloused and raw, tough to move and perpetually bleeding. Preston’s hands had been torn up from all his writings last she’d seen him, but at least he’d taken the time to wrap bandages across them. She’d tried that once. It didn’t work.
What was fascinating, though, was the fish scale sitting in the depth of her palm. It sat just below the skin, and its presence seemed to make the pain just a bit lighter. Shame it would have to be removed. The Nine don’t get patrons, cause the patrons can’t get the Nine. Rules are rules, however inconvenient. With all the madness caused by the gods though, was it truly such an outlandish request anymore? Don’t let yourself be taken a god. That used to be simple to do.
But of course, distractions had to be run, and this distraction involved escorting a young moon goddess to her people. There’d be glory and honor and everything between. Friends, some old some new, and a hero’s helping of wealth and power. Anything you could ever want.
The knowledge of a Sphinx, the forge of a master blacksmith, a key to open any lock.
Lady Parhelion continued her playing with ease, heart cracking within her chest. There was nothing to know, nothing to find, no friend here to lend aid.
There was simply the wolf and her enemy. All this noise, simply that. There was no past, there is no present. On days like this, she doubted there’d be anything after either.
Smile, practice, wait.
- ------ The pirate queen sat on the rock sil of her quarters, peering out into the setting sun as her healer stopped by.
“Alpha,” the healer said, dropping to her knees. “Come on now, get down here.”
Tai paused a moment, but shakily pushed off from her perch and settled alongside the healer, stretched out onto the woven map.
“Arm.”
Tai extended her arm over to rest in the healer’s lap. It was truly ridiculous how much energy moving took her. Laying down felt blissful, and her eyes felt far too heavy from the motion. Her arm, gently handled by the young woman, felt heavier than her entire body. This weight was far too much, worse than hunger, worse than exhaustion.
But, life went on. She’d been a walking corpse before, and she’d made it through that. She lost her leg to a false god’s alter, and she kept walking. Starving in jail, beaten in jail, insanity, burns… there was little torture left that a mortal coil could offer.
The real fear came when the starspawn had snapped her spine back in Japan. Lady Parhelion had suggested she puppet a Drifter like before, rather than attend in the flesh, and she’d undoubtedly saved Tai life. Those horrible last moments of the woman’s life were etched in Tai’s mind though: the numbing pain, the confusion, the betrayal. That was the second vessel that the Drifters had gotten killed, but it was the first one she let go before it died. The woman’s last few moments were indescribable. The trauma on rebound paralyzed her own body, and the severed connection left her too weak to recover.
So day after day… this. The pirate queen, residing to her quarters. Unmoving. Unable to move.
No contact with the Nine. No updates. Silence, without the ability to speak.
But Tai hadn’t failed, at least not entirely. Lady Parhelion was protecting the Drifters, and Preston was hard at work with the Heart of Dalot. They’d made it this far. Tai had done her part, and now it was an acceptable time to rest. The sword of the north would fight from now on, giving the others the respite they need.
And Tai rested on her mat, keeping her breath steady as the healer continued her work.
“You’re leaving tonight again, aren’t you?” the healer whispered.
Tai cracked a smile. “I won’t set foot outside this room.”
“I didn’t ask that.”
There was plenty of work to be done, but sometimes the better option is to rest. Sometimes, the best option was to compromise.
Remembering old times had never been Preston’s strong suit. For all his life, it was just being on the run, from place to place. The only respite he’d had in those earlier years had been up at the Northern Keep. War wasn’t a pleasant existence by any means, but there was safety in being on the winning side. Preston missed that now.
Slipping out the door of the Drifter’s residence, Preston slunk into the streets of Dalot. Progress was slow between streets, at least until he remembered there was no danger in these parts. He could walk freely wherever he chose. Hell, he’d even likely be worshiped by these people.
But that ill feeling still resided in Preston’s chest, like an ache. Was he safe? Lady sure wasn’t. His family sure as hell wasn’t. But he’d been without those people long enough when he was younger. Or… had he?
Maybe he wasn’t so much of a loner as he thought. There’d always been someone watching his back. His mother, the druids, big brother, and now Lady. There hadn’t been much of a time where he was alone.
Except for now.
Preston headed out into the forest. More tests would have to be run with the Heart of Dalot. It was getting closer to complete though. He’d stepped up the testing to controlled bursts, and nothing went disastrously wrong. Six months of work, solitary and confined.
But that was his choice. Things were only going to work if he followed orders. Lady would take care of the hard part, she always did.
It has been nearly six months since Sawyer and Yez had seen each other, but Sawyer wasn’t even a bit surprised to find the girl lounging on his bed as he came home for the evening. She was stretched out in the dorm-like area, scratching Lucy under the chin.
“You got a cat?”
Sawyer shook his head. “No. Leave her alone.”
“I’m just petting the cat, jeez.” Yez sighed, continuing her work as the cat began to nudge its head repeatedly into her hand. Yez just giggled. “You missed me so much you got a cat.”
“No.” Sawyer responded again.
“Is that all you’re going to say to me?”
Sawyer didn’t respond. Instead just staring down the two cats lounging about.
“…and they say YOU’RE the charming one. Alright, what’s on your mind, bro?”
“Draw your weapon if you’re going to try to kill me. I’ve got a meeting at six,” Sawyer grumbled, placing a hand on his hip. His gun was out of ammunition, but Yez didn’t know that. In fact, Sawyer probably had a decent chance at winning this duel again considering how many secret weapons were around the dorm. The most notable of which, of course, being the cat Yez kept cooing over.
“Maybe I’ll kill you afterwards, but I just got word from the Gold Master that we’ve got new work.”
“New work?”
Felicia scratched Lucy’s ears fervently. “Yep! Back in the North. No more running around realm to realm like he wanted before.”
“This wasn’t us running around realm to realm like the Gold Master wanted,” Sawyer hissed. “This was about helping the Nine! Lady Parhelion is still out there and she-“
“Blahhhhhhh come on. You should be happy! It’s not like we were REALLY gonna help the Nine again…” Yez suddenly froze, a sinister grin beneath her mask as she turned towards Sawyer, “Unless…. Were you genuine about helping them out?”
“We’re part of the Nine,” Sawyer argued, “we should-“
“And why? Why were we part of the Nine? Oh right! Because Parhelion and her little platoon of demons scared the bejesus out of us all. Now we know who the bigger fish are out in the world, and none too soon. Lady Parhelion’s gonna get herself killed, Preston’s gonna be sad and go run off, and Tai will probably get killed long before we have to kill her.”
“What is your deal,” Sawyer said, crouching by the side of the bed to be eyelevel with Yez. “How can you be so cruel. What about Kida? What about Shan? You’re just going to leave them to die?”
“No, I’m sparing them a life living in fear,” Yez said, shifting her mask aside to reveal the destroyed face beneath. “They’re mostly dead already. When Lady Parhelion dies, they’ll split and I’ll kill them off. This way, it doesn’t have to be personal. Better choose to ignore their cries for help then to save them and kill them later. Unless you think your method is humane?”
Sawyer glared at Yez. “Get out of here.”
“Fine.”
Yez skipped to her feet, pushing open the dorm door. She paused partway out into the hallway though, leaning back onto the door’s frame.
“Oh! But go ahead, ask what happens if Lady Parhelion lives through it all.”
“What happens if Lady Parhelion lives,” Sawyer growled.
Yez gave him a big smile, then sprinted down the hallway. Sawyer squinted out into the hall for a moment, before sitting back down on the bed.
“I hate it when she smiles,” Sawyer grumbled, fussing with Lucy’s ears. “It’s never anything good.”