Ar'Kendrithyst

Tiny twinkling stars accented the deep blue of the night sky, while the half-light of pink Hell, the Silver Star, and white Celes loomed above, shining down upon Ar’Kendrithyst, their light empowering the red-violet crystal of the Dead City to glow half as bright as the sun.

Jane stood upon the fourth tallest tower of kendrithyst in the Dead City; the tallest peak near to the Gardens, her eight legs holding her secure to the crystal underneath. A strong wind blew across her spider body, catching on her sharp hairs, telling her, along with her sensitive feet, everything of the sky and land around her that her eight eyes could not. It was a quiet, still night, the shadows were asleep, slowly swirling inside the kendrithyst.

But outside of the kendrithyst, outside of Jane's senses, the shadows and the Shades that cast them were wide awake, and very busy.

Several [Scry] eyes floated near Jane, maybe to take in her perspective as the audience, maybe to put her on edge; Jane didn’t know. They weren’t really watching her. They were watching the procession down below, at the edge of the green, vibrant Gardens.

The Gardens was a palatial estate in the south east part of the Dead City, where some Shade or even the Dark Dragon himself, had cut and stacked and dumped the natural crystal towers of the city, into flat, wide land, only to then bring in dirt and vines and other such sundries to equip the estate with the space necessary to support plant life. From that destructive beginning, and generations upon generations of Shades like Planter, the Gardens had been raised into what it was today:

Glowing blue water pumped up from below to flow across the green land in falls and ponds, under dainty crystal bridges and beside walking paths. Water lilies grew where the blue ran deep. Green grasses flourished everywhere. Glowing fungi grew in artful arrangements on trees and in soil here and there. Hundred meter tall many-branched trees grew around glowing spikes of crystal, themselves glowing amber in the cracks of their bark; their branches dripping with bioluminescent green leaves and magnolia-sized flowers in every color of the rainbow. Glowing ferns grew across the Garden like splashes of green on a forest floor, while roses of brightest pink nestled in the hearts of bloodthorn vines. Everything had been arranged in a precise growth pattern around glass greenhouses and the larger trees, leaving wide walking paths through the whole of the Garden, and ample space for the main attractions.

The Gardens was home to some of the rarest monstrous and medicinal plants on Veird. Tulips which made pregnancy assured and easy. Wide-Cap fungi that increased the health, both HP and natural, of everyone who breathed the spores. Dewy grass that gathered and secreted Water Essence, along with other monstrous plants that each gathered essences of their own.

But there was no animal life. The Gardens was a place of plants, and their Tenders.

Shades of the Gardens have always had a myriad of ways to keep the Garden lush and full of tempting prizes to lure adventurers into Ar’Kendrithyst. Some used animals, some used slaves. Planter used high-tier summoned creatures; his Tenders. When one of them failed in a task, Planter would personally murder and compost the failure himself.

The Tenders were living beings created with a high tier summoning magic, each of them with souls and levels, and each of them, without exception, further created minions of their own loyal to themselves, to Planter, and to the daily, methodical, careful cultivation of the Garden.

Planter stood at the top of the hierarchy of the Garden, with his army of fanatical followers always prepared for war. He had prepared well for today, though you would never know it, if you were just looking at the Garden from above. It looked as peaceful and idyllic as normal; the Tenders and their Ilk weren’t even out tonight.

Which was the biggest giveaway that the Garden was poised for combat from all sides.

But there was a much more subtle preparation committed here than the absence of gardeners. Command Center spoke into Jane’s mind about the differences from what the Garden had looked like two months ago, and everything had changed; practically all of the rarer, mythical plants, had all been removed. The Onyx Rain tree was gone. The Sword-Spike grass was not growing where it should have been. The Sweeping Angel mushrooms, the Doldrums Point, the Hornshredder; all of the parasitic and horrible fungi traps had been removed. Tonight’s Garden, lit up from every angle by the remaining plants inside, the kendrithyst towers outside, and even the occasional spotlightward that had been trained onto nothing, was kinda empty.

Jane moved a little, tapping forward across the top of the kendrithyst tower, to look down.

Not too far below, Yetta, Cyril, Dorthy, Basil, and Allan, stood upon the main bridge leading into the Garden, each of them brimming with power; this was their show and they were ready. Jane had gotten them this far. The rest was up to them.

Jane would watch for a little while though, because someone was coming up on Jane, and making their presence very well known before they actually appeared.

Tap tap tap, came the eight-legged vibrations of the crystal under Jane’s feet.

According to Command Center, Tania Webwalker rode a four-meter wide white spider, that was tapping up the back of Jane’s kendrithyst tower, taking no measure to hide itself or its Shade rider from Jane, or anyone else. Several Shade [Scry] eyes turned to watch her ascend.

Jane was ready to take off in an instant if necessary, but Killzone spoke into her mind, telling her that this could be a good thing; Tania was approaching without obvious anger. Jane tried to believe him, as a white spider much bigger than her, and ten times the size of its Shade rider, drew near.

Jane turned toward the Shade, just as long, hairy white legs of her mount crested the ridge of kendrithyst. The red glow of the crystal turned the monster and its rider into a blood-soaked horror; Tania smiled wickedly, exacerbating her terrible image as a decadent queen of the spiders.

More [Scry] eyes appeared around Jane.

Tania spoke, “Greetings! My little not-my spider. How does the evening find you?”

Jane tried, “Benevolent, Tania.”

“And you do it so well, too!” Tania smirked. “Would you care to have a private chat?”

Jane said nothing. She made sure her escape routes were unblocked; they were. Killzone vetted that no one was sneaking up on her from some other direction, but that didn’t mean that she was completely in the clear. She did not like the look of the white spider, though. It was massive, and absolutely laced with magic, with two massive front eyes, larger than the rest, pointed directly at Jane, like it was sizing her up as a meal.

Maybe it was.

“No tricks! No danger from me or any of my lovelies, to you.” Tania added, “In fact! I will guard you with my very life, while we are having our conversation. No harm shall befall you while my many, many eyes are watching.”

Jane felt the wind shift. Something was different, but she couldn’t place it.

‘What’s going on there, Jane?’ Killzone sent.

‘Something feels off in the air.’

Killzone sent, ‘Agree to her terms, then look behind you, back at the Garden.’

Jane went still. She said, “We can chat right here.”

Tania laughed, riding high upon her white spider. “Lovely!”

The air shattered, briefly.

And then someone dumped lead sand all over her head.

There was a monumental moment of panic, because Jane, Tania, and the white spider, were not on the kendrithyst tower overlooking the Garden.

Jane hissed, then—

“Don’t take that tone with me, young lady!” Tania teased. “It’s just a little change of scenery; you’re still safe.”

Jane casually looked around, trying not to freak out. She was in a large violet cavern the size of an Ar’Kendrithyst city block. Spires of brighter crystal, hundreds of meters long, spiked up from the ground, touching a mishmash of crystal spikes that dropped from the ceiling. And all over every part of the entire violet space, were spiderwebs; shadows upon the light, dotted with thousands upon thousands of reflective black eyes, from spiders of every size. Jane was in the heart of Tania’s territory; one of the many dark spaces in the city from which no one ever returned.

“What do you want, Tania?”

“Oh do try to keep up! I won’t kill you, or even harm you.” Tania slipped off of her white spider, onto the webs of her domain. The white spider silently moved aside, but did not retreat; it stayed to watch. “I just find it so damn tiring to keep up the game in front of all those eyes. I was never meant for the stage, like Fallopolis.”

[Telepathy], [Conjure Armor], and Jane's [Absorption Ward], were all gone. But [Hunter’s Instincts] told Jane quite a lot about where she was, and she did not like it one bit. She started to brush away the lead—

“Leave it there, please.” Tania said, “If you remove the antirhine, keeping my word will prove very difficult.”

Jane stopped cleaning herself. She said, “What do you want, Tania?”

Tania frowned at her, then threw her hands up and down toward Jane, saying, “You ate Befami!” She paused. "At least I think it was Befami." She threw a hand wide, exclaiming, “They eat each other all the time, but I have to give some semblance of propriety when everyone is always watching.” Tania conjured a simple solid chair with armrests, and sat down. “Before we go any further, I need you to understand that you killing and eating Befami is a monumentally big deal to me, but you’re doing so well with their form, that I can’t help but admire everything you do. You’re really quite good at being a spider, Jane.”

Jane remained silent.

Tania asked, “Do you know what is happening in Ar’Kendrithyst, right now?”

Jane would have gasped if she had human lungs. Had Tania really just called the City ‘Ar’Kendrithyst’?

Jane tried to keep up, saying, “Yes. You Shades are challenging the Champion to—”

“Yetta is completely unimportant.” Tania said, “Don’t get me wrong; her presence is important, but she is not. Planter is going to die by the end of the night, because he is both an idiot and an overachiever, and we are all going to help Yetta accomplish her goal. Because, what is important, is that more Shades die. We’ve culled seven Shades, today.”

Jane remained silent.

“Eight Shades, really. You killed one of us, too.”

Jane remained silent, [Hunter’s Instincts] flaring hard. Being in a room of webs made feeling for vibrations in the air and in the ground the easiest thing Jane had ever done; nothing seemed to be sneaking up on her. A [Teleport Lock] held in the air, but if she had to, she could [Shadowalk] away.

Maybe.

Jane tried to cut a terrifying conversation short, “What is your goal, Tania?”

Tania seemed to brighten, her skin flushing darker in the violet light. She said, “I want to tell you a little story. It’s not that long, so listen up.

“One day, an incani man named Bulgan fell into my webs, and he said such nice things that I had to let him go. That was the beginning of a working relationship. You see? I want to kill every human on Veird. Not you, and I guess not every human, if we’re being completely honest, here. But the sentiment still holds.”

Tania removed the white webwork over her hair, revealing a hairless scalp, and tiny horns. She cast a white lightward into the air. She wasn’t human, but she wasn’t incani either. Her skin was the barest shade of purple.

She said, “I’m a half, or a demi, as they say. There’s a lot of trauma there, but I’m mostly over it when it comes to talking to specific people who have done me no wrong.” She added, “Just so you know, you have done me wrong, but you’ve done it so well, I can’t feel bad about it. You and I? We’re neutral right now, with just a hint of fondness for yesteryear.

“Anyway. Kill all humans, and all that. Bulgan tickled my fancy, so we began a working relationship. He told me when humans came into Ar’Kendrithyst, I went and murdered those humans. We got closer. We had a relationship. I’m actually the one who transformed him into a Shade. It was an easy process for him; he had so much hate in his heart that remaining himself afterward was... was mostly easy.

“But there’s a complication. And I don’t mean how disastrous his attack on Frontier went, or how he got poor Befami there turned into a weapon to use against us. Those are part of this tragedy, but not the root cause. This complication came from a much deeper source.

“You see...” Tania leaned forward in her chair, saying, “Someone sang a very nice song to Melemizargo, a little over two months ago. Melemizargo’s [Familiar] caught wind of people bearing his scent, but then those people evaded the spiky little pet. Purodhalia came to me, practically crying, that he couldn’t find and protect the people his master had sent to him.” She frowned. She said, “Honestly, this was the only reason that I didn’t immediately send my best at you; that I didn’t go for the kill after you ate Befami. That I continue to allow you to live. But that’s me getting ahead of myself.” She added, “And that’s all changed with how wonderful you’ve taken to your spider form, anyway. So: back to the story:”

Jane would have been sweating buckets if she had the capability. As a spider, she just stayed very, very still.

Tania sat back in her chair, and continued, “You’re both planar. Your father has invented new magic. You both came out of the desert. It doesn’t take a genius to put all these parts together. Unfortunately, for Bulgan, he was working with half the information. He got some information from his sources in Kal’Duresh and immediately went after you two, well before I had the chance to talk to him, and even after that whole fiasco, and after he fully embraced Shadehood, and after he got the correct information, he continued to go after you.” Tania sighed.

She continued, “And so we come to today’s events, regarding the Champion.

“Bulgan has displayed a remarkable lack of the cunning and deadly man he was before he became a Shade. Filled with power, he immediately failed to kill Frontier. There have been other incidents, but you don’t need to know about those. There are a dozen Shades like this, all throughout our little community. We're all tainted by a little insanity, actually. This is because Melemizargo is insane, and the power we draw from him is tainted with his madness.

“But he has shown more sanity in his observation of you and your father than he has shown in hundreds and hundreds of years.

“So the goal, dear Jane, of me and all the other Shades of the Spire, is to kill all of those who cannot be saved, like poor, idiot Rutile—” Tania spat out, incensed, “Who decided to renege on his agreement with you! Really now! ‘We’ll go again’? Keep on doing the same thing, waiting for you to make a mistake in the fight? Increasing the challenge past what he set forth, just so he would inevitably win? That undermines everything we Shades stand for! Lying and cheating destroys our credibility as actual threats to the world! Everything else he did was fine and his skill in golemcrafting was magnificent, but we won’t abide liars.”

To Jane’s [Eyes of Magic], Tania lit from within, a thousand dozen streamers of intent, attaching her to every single spider in her entire nest, and likely everywhere else in the entirety of Ar’Kendrithyst. She was a demi, a child of human and incani, but Jane would have called her a demigod; a spark of divine fire lit her from within, casting shadows upon the rest of the world. Jane recognized that form of divine fire; she had seen something very similar to it all day long, burning inside of Yetta.

Tania was Melemizargo's Champion.

Tania sat upon her ordinary throne, and said, “With Planter dead by the Champion of an enemy god, Melemizargo will show, and with his new lease on sanity, he will empower all of his most loyal to utmost glory.” She added, “Our entire plan is quite simple, when you look at it from our perspective.”

“… Why are you telling me this?”

Tania smiled, saying, “Because I have absolutely no idea where you and your father fit into this impossible knot of intrigue! How did you get here? Why are you here? Your father invented a new school of magic, darling Jane!” She added, “You seem to be pretty shit at magic, though. Even worse than normal non-Arcanaeum adventurers.” She stared. “Why is that?”

“… why do you refer to this city as Ar’Kendrithyst?”

Tania paused, then laughed. “I did? Didn’t I?” She smirked, saying, “I talk to a lot of people about a lot of topics.” She nodded. “Thank you for reminding me of this shortcoming. I would do well to meet my Maker with the proper words upon my lips.”

“May I go, now?”

Tania smiled, and spoke with a blood-thirsty gleam in her eye, “Is this conversation over, then?”

“Of course not.”

Tania muttered, “Shucks.”

Jane started cleaning the lead sand from her body, saying, “This conversation will never end, but there will be lulls.”

Tania laughed loud, dropping the itchy [Teleport Lock], saying, "Lulls mean a change in approach, from both of us, but I agree to this arrangement."

Jane needed to get gone—

Everything shook; the ground, the air, the very threads of magic weaving through reality, vibrated once, like some fundamental part of the manasphere had altered. Jane furiously cleaned the lead off of her body.

Command Center reconnected to Jane’s mind. Five voices shouted at her, asking where the fuck she was, and why they fuck did she go dark for five hours.

Killzone took sudden precedence in her mind, saying, ‘Get to the Garden, right now, soldier!’

“Five hours gone!” Jane rapidly cleaned herself, preparing to [Teleport], saying, “What did you do!”

“Just a little sleep spell! Not harmful at all. It works so well on my spiders, so of course it works on you.” Tania spoke, her words plunging ice into Jane’s heart. “And I couldn’t tell you our plans while you had any hope at all to stop what was happening, could I? That would just be stupi—”

Jane [Shadowalk]ed briefly, shedding the rest of the lead on her body, ripping away hundreds of HP, before she vanished in a blip of bright blue.

- - - -

Under the light of an early morning, Jane appeared on the same tower of kendrithyst that she had left. She rapidly recast her [Absorption Ward] at half strength, along with [Conjure Armor], draining 1600 of her mana; hopefully that would be enough for what was to come.

She tried to take in everything her eight eyes saw, as fast as she could, while Killzone yelled in her mind what he needed her to do.

The Garden was a pyre and a desolation. Billowing heat rose into the sky from multiple fires. Trees had been cast down by vast, cutting magics. The air was twisted into ripped distortions here and there. Tentacled bodies littered the land. And in the center, a hundred meter tall statue to depravity had been lifted from everything available. Kendrithyst, tentacled bodies, vines, trees, and magic, all of that, and four living humans, had been twisted into the shape of a person praying to some unseen force in the sky.

Yetta, Cyril, Dorthy, and Basil, formed the head, the heart, and the hands of the statue, their bodies likely twisted into their current living-corpse shapes by the seven Shades that hung in the air around their creation; singing in a coven around their victims, around the statue, hands raised to the sky in the same shape as the statue, power calling to power.

Strange words and deep vibrations thrummed through the manasphere, an ode to the hidden.

Jane set aside the horror of the moment, and got to work. [Teleport Lock] hung heavy all around her; she would need to [Shadowalk] to rescue Yetta and her people, which was the reason everyone speaking into her mind was very mad at her. She was only one of two people with [Shadowalk] able to respond to this situation. The other one was Killzone.

Bright flashes and distant explosions rocked the Dead City on the other side of the Garden; that would be Killzone. He was trying to rescue Yetta and stop the ceremony all at once, but now he was just creating a distraction for Jane.

But it was too late.

The sky shifted.

A single second had passed since Jane landed on the tower near the Garden. She was already too late. The song of the Shades transformed into laughter, as the seven floating Shades each dispersed away from the statue.

Jane moved, [Shadowalk]ing across the entire distance, landing onto the center of the statue, directly on top of Yetta, able to reach her and Cyril, but not Dorthy or Basil. Yetta was the face of the statue, her arms wrapped in the stone and vines behind her, her eyes wide open, staring at a darkness blossoming above that grew in size and strength with the rising sun.

Yetta recognized Jane. She touched Jane’s mind, saying, ‘Yes’.

Cyril linked to Jane in the same instant, saying, ‘Go.’

She grabbed at Yetta and tugged on Cyril, [Shadowalk]ing them out of the vines covering their bodies, ripping away their flesh that was already a part of the statue.

A few Shades laughed louder; a few others mocked that Jane was too late.

Jane moved further away, faster and faster, until the itch of the [Teleport Lock] was gone.

In a blip of blue, Jane dumped Yetta and Cyril into intensive care, and blipped again into the break room. She telekinetically grabbed two mana potions and drank them right down, before blipping back to the Dead City.

Jane was rushing back to the Garden, back into the [Teleport Lock], when the sky finally ripped open.

High above the Garden, dark claws pulled apart the sunlight coming over the edge of Ar’Kendrithyst’s walls. A rip and a tug pulled the rent in Reality wide.

Jane watched what was happening, but she was also headed straight for the statue. Somewhere in all of that, Dorthy and Basil had connected to Jane’s mind, through Yetta’s insistence. They knew to prepare for pain; they waited for Jane.

Jane landed on top of Basil and Dorthy, each of their bodies mutated into twisting hands raised to the sky, as Melemizargo made his entrance.

Time stopped.

Jane stood above Dorthy and Basil, cupped in hands made of out of the adventurers, between the dark god floating above, and the people she was trying to save. Jane couldn’t move. Nothing moved. The air was still, and the laughter of Shades was silent. [Telepathy] connected to no one; or maybe it did, and no one was speaking, or able to.

With eight eyes, and able to see mana, Jane saw more than she ever wanted to.

Melemizargo was a gravity upon the manasphere. Fully black, but glowing with bright white mana, the Dark Dragon was a contradiction. He was also the only dragon Jane had ever seen, in all of her studies of the Adventurer’s Guildhouse Armory, that was four legged, with a long tail, a snakelike neck, and giant wings, four times the size of his body. Horns twisted up from behind his head, while dark whiskers fluttered long beside a maw filled with glowing white teeth that Jane deeply remembered fully open and ready to swallow her, her father, and her car, all at once, only two months ago.

The Dark Dragon was the only moving thing in sight, and he was moving toward Jane, his long wings spread wide like an eagle just before snatching a fish from a lake. Jane had never imagined herself a fish, but here she was, about to die to a legendary, magnificent monster.

Jane took in the sight of it all: Melemizargo’s huge wings, the shadows licking off of his dark scales, his gleaming white eyes and his long whip of a tail...

The Shades were all horrific monsters, and the Dark Dragon was, too, by extension and fact, but, as Jane watched her approaching death, she admitted that sometimes there was beauty in horror. A sword flashing through an enemy, to save a family. A bullet ripping through a chest, to prevent a bombing. A death to give a life. Every world was based on horrific calculus, and right now, that equation was adding up to Jane finally biting off more than she could chew.

Melemizargo silently landed in front of the statue, and the statue was still smaller than the dragon.

He looked at Jane, with eyes of brilliant white. He was about to say something, but he paused. He tilted his head this way and that to get a better look at her. His fangs came out, and Jane, frozen in time, could do nothing but scream in her own mind, as he opened his mouth completely, his fangs bright enough with magic to rival the sun; his maw wide enough to swallow a school bus. But he did not eat her.

Melemizargo took just the tiniest nibble out of one of her legs. He didn’t pierce far; just a drop of her spider blood dimmed the white glow of one of his massive fangs, but the barest touch of his three-meter long fangs sent her to 1 HP, 1 mana, and ripped away her entire personal [Ward] and blue [Conjure Armor]. He licked the blood off of his fangs, with a long, straight tongue. He paused.

He pulled away and closed his mouth. He spoke,

“You are not one of Tania’s! Have we met?”

Jane felt her body loosen. All her magic was denied to her; the Script would not respond to Jane’s command; she could not [Shadowalk] away. But she could move again. So she fully turned toward the Dark Dragon.

She said, “Yes. We have met.”

“But I don’t know any spiders. I gave them to Tania; they're hers. But you're not hers. You’re not Tania, are you? Who are you?”

“… If you would permit me the use of [Polymorph], I could turn back and tell you.”

Melemizargo shook his head. “You may revert your shape if you are able, but there will be zero easy magic in my presence.” He started talking louder, angry, “The Script has made you all so soft—”

“Then please forgive me! I have only been on Veird for two months, and almost every attempt of mine to do magic, Script or otherwise, has failed! Miserably.”

Jane had absolutely no fucking clue where this conversation was going, or why it was going where it was going, but when dealing with an insane god, being demure, thoughtful, and repentant, was probably the best course of action.

Melemizargo nodded, his massive head shifting the air with his movements, his wings beating once, then relaxing, folding in to stay beside his body, as he sat down upon the destroyed Garden. His head still loomed over Jane; if she was a hundred meters above the Garden floor, his head was at a hundred and five.

He spoke with the voice of a teacher; easy and understanding, “Script magic has its place, but that place is not in the Summoning.” He chided, “You should have mastered this skill before today, youngling. Why are you in center stage?” He said, “With all the harmonies laid bare, and all the Twists flattened, even the lowliest person can rise to greatness in the Script, but the Script is a stepping stone. You must rise above! You have obviously [Polymorph]ed into this spider, so [Polymorph] back, without using the Script. You must simply find the harmony of your previous form, and sing that Reality through your soul.”

“… May I try something that will not leave me a gibbering mess if I fail? I am rather good at [Shadowalk], as well?”

Melemizargo laughed, and the world shook. “Yes. You may try this instead.”

Jane had been [Shadowalk]ing for days now.

… Not the most auspicious start to attempting to please a dark god thousands of years old, but it was better than accidentally putting her brain outside of her body. Messing up with [Shadowalk] would probably just cut off a limb, or four.

… How to even start, though?

“Let me help.” Melemizargo said, “This is the harmony you are looking for.”

Melemizargo hummed, and something clicked inside of Jane as the manasphere responded to the Dark Dragon's gentle song. The shadows of the city, even locked in this [Time Stop] between the Dark God and Jane, grew like grass under the sun. Darkness flowed into the sky, and Jane felt the darkness inside of her grow to match.

Jane had felt the melody coming out of Melemizargo, every time she stepped into the shadows. But with this new display, she felt Reality and the Manasphere like never before, like her entire being was made of shadows, like her soul and all of her connection to magic was resonating with Melemizargo’s gentle tune.

In for a penny, in for a pound.

Jane joined the song, vibrating her soul and her magic like she never knew she could.

Suddenly, she was [Shadowalk]ing, her spider legs disappearing into the shadows under her feet; sinking into the deformed bodies of Basil and Dorthy.

And just like that, Jane remembered where she was, and what she was doing. She stepped up and out of the shadows, up and out of Dorthy and Basil, stilling her soul; her magic. “I think I got it now. I will have to work on the rest later. That was most informative.”

Melemizargo smiled wide, showing countless fangs. He flicked his wings wide—

He went utterly still.

“I remember you, now! Yes! You were with that nice man that sang me a song in the Underworld! How is he doing these days? What is your relationship to him?”

Jane went still, but said, “He is doing well. I talk to him every night; he’s my father.”

“Your father! That’s wonderful! He’s added such a nice variety to this stagnant Script.” Melemizargo flapped his wings, hovering into the sky without moving the air. “Keep working on your magic, Jane. I’m sure you’ll get a claw into it sooner or later. I didn’t start learning spells until I was thirty five years old. Rather old for a dragon, but that’s how it is, sometimes.” He gazed off into the sunrise above, saying, “Speaking of fathers and daughters, I wonder how Rozeta is doing?” He looked down to Jane. “Have you heard anything about her? We don’t talk as much as I would like.”

“… They call her the Ever-Moving, so I think she’s rather busy.”

Melemizargo laughed a bit, shaking the world, then said, “She is, isn’t she!” He looked down. He frowned. “This garden is such a mess.” He pulsed.

The Garden of Ar’Kendrithyst returned to the glory of last month, with tall trees and well kept streams and lakes. Grasses regrew, as fungi began to glow in the early morning twilight. Moisture layered the air in fog and life, as Melemizargo breathed out across the land, a breath of pure magic, that soaked into the soil, growing and repairing everything it touched.

The statue of inhumanity under Jane remained under her, Basil and Dorthy still frozen in time, along with the rest of the world, but the vines and crystal and growths of the statue turned green and vibrant, mossing over the cruelty of the Shades; a layer of fluffy jade.

“Take care, then!”

Melemizargo slipped through a rent in Reality.

Time resumed.

Everything happened really fast.

Basil and Dorthy both screamed in pain under Jane’s feet and fangs.

The Shades resumed their laughter, but that cut out almost as fast as it came back. They knew something was wrong.

Jane’s HP was at 9, but her MP was… also at 9. She had not been meditating while talking to Melemizargo; she tried, but she couldn’t. As the Script returned to Jane, she immediately began meditating as she slapped Favored Spell onto [Shadowalk] —which looked a bit different, but now was not the time for that— while at the same time grabbing Dorthy and Basil and yanking them along with her into the shadows, down and away, fast as she could go, faster. Faster.

Suddenly, Jane stood upon the red bridge, next to the sandy courtyard right outside of Forward Base, with Basil and Dorthy in her spidery legs, both of them horrifically deformed and dying. Forward Base had been emptied for the Champion’s quest; no one knew how bad it would get. No one was there when Jane arrived.

Jane sent to Killzone, to Liquid, to anyone who could listen, telling them she needed assistance and mana potions at Forward Base, right now.

Killzone responded, ‘What the FUCK DID YOU DO!’ as he popped into the air beside Jane. He grabbed Dorthy and Basil. In two more blips, Killzone was gone then back again, tossing two mana potions onto the ground, saying “Debrief! Now!”

On zero mana and very little HP, Jane caught the mana potions and tipped them into her spider mouth. Swallowing, she said, “Tania put me to sleep as a spider, because that’s a thing she can do to spiders. I woke up after whatever happened—” Jane looked at the Kill and Exterminate Quest; Planter’s name was gone. “—After they killed Planter and were put in that statue? Then Melemizargo came down—”

“And you took an opportunity from us.” Fallopolis floated in the sky over the red bridge, asking, “What did you get for it, Jane?”

Fallopolis and Tania floated in the sky, over the red bridge leading from the Crack to Forward Base. As they floated, waiting for an answer, an [Avatar of Melemizargo] crawled out of a far tower; a giant of shadow and air, dimming the light all around. Another Avatar stood up to the left of Forward Base, while another stood to the right. Jane and Killzone were completely surrounded. Killzone stepped to stand beside Jane, his eyes locked on the Shades in front and the Avatars all around; watching everything all around him, just like Jane.

Another Shade floated above the top of Forward Base, behind Jane and Killzone, wearing full-length, fully concealing black hooded robes. Jane didn’t know that one. Killzone glanced at the third Shade, and went still for a brief moment.

Killzone said, “You’re all encroaching on my territory. Leave, or I will force you to leave.”

“I won’t speak for all of us—” Fallopolis said, “But this Champion ordeal is over, the day’s events are done, and I will leave, but only after Jane tells me what she got from my god.”

Jane tried to think if she got anything—

[Shadowalk]?

Greater Shadowalk, instant, long range, 10 MP per second + Variable ~{Favored Spell}~

You are the everlasting night.

Oh yeah. [Shadowalk]'s blue box had majorly changed, but more than that, it felt different. Jane felt the spell inside of her Status, inside of her soul, like it was a muscle long neglected but finally working again. [Shadowalk] vibrated, and as Jane matched herself to those vibrations the spell slipped over her body like a fine moisturizer. It was a funny comparison, but after going without moisturizers and shampoos for two months, using [Shadowalk] now was like feeling good in her skin. Reallygood. Her mana was already coming back from the potions Killzone had given her, so she [Polymorph]ed back into her self—

She came back to her human self, losing half of her senses, but feeling even better than how she felt as a spider. [Conjure Armor] replaced her clothes, and with her human eyes, she saw what her channeling of [Shadowalk] looked like to everyone else around her.

As her soul sang of the hidden, the dark, and the other side of sight, the shadows inside the crystals of the Dead City danced to life under her inner song, all around Jane, and her [Conjure Armor] turned midnight blue. Jane looked at herself, cutting off [Greater Shadowalk] wondering if something was really, really wrong with her body, or her magic, or her self. She didn't know. She looked up at the Shades.

Tania laughed, vanishing in a shattering of shadows, followed quickly by all the rest, except Fallopolis.

The grandmotherly Shade smiled upon Jane, saying, “She's groOOwing up so faAAst!”

Then she turned with a giggle and floated away, toward the Crack, toward the sunlight, laughing as she went.

One by one, the Avatars of the Dark God retreated into the kendrithyst towers, like shadows melting. Sometime when Jane wasn’t looking, the hooded Shade had vanished.

With the sky above turning a brighter shade of blue, Jane felt like something had gone right, but also terribly wrong. She picked at the hem of her [Conjure Armor], poking at the darkness in the color of her magic; it didn’t go away. Jane flashed out a brief [Greater Shadowalk], and the shadows of her armor only darkened. She relaxed her magic back inside of herself, and the color stayed. Maybe her magic was just dark blue, now. Maybe… Maybe something really bad had happened when she talked to Melemizargo, but she didn’t feel any different than normal.

How would she know, anyway? She would know if she had been changed, wouldn’t she?

Killzone said, “Your eyes aren’t black and white; you’re not a full Shade.”

Jane looked to Killzone and felt her blood run cold, then warm. Quietly, she said, “Good,” the word gutting out of her like viscera yanked out of a fish.

Killzone sighed, his posture relaxing. “Do you have enough mana to send some images of what you saw? To give a better, full debriefing?”

“Not… really… I’m at a few hundred.”

Jane looked up, at the sun peeking into the city, spilling through the Crack in the wall to catch upon the red crystal road, and the towers all around her. A wind picked up, flowing into the Crack, carrying with it the scent of the Crystal Forest.

She asked, "Is it… Over?”

“For today. Yes.”

Jane breathed, trying to relax.

She asked, “What’s the final count for rescues? Is Yetta's team okay?”

“Two hundred and four people saved from dungeons. Permits into the city will be paused for a while, though we won’t deny people entry. Even with all this excitement, the Shades will still want more.” Killzone said, “Allan killed himself in the battle with Planter; activating some final magic to kill the Shade. It worked. They tried some other stuff beforehand; that did not work.” Killzone looked to the air. “Basil and Dorthy are dead.”

Jane felt a tear fall. She didn’t speak for several moments, because her voice was sure to break. She liked Dorthy. She was starting to like Basil. When she could, she said, “It could have been worse.”

Killzone agreed. “A lot worse.”

“Tania told me...” Jane said, “They were killing each other to...”

“To summon Melemizargo. We understood that… way too late. Silverite says that the last time Melemizargo was summoned, it took the deaths of fifty Shades. She's thinking now that the number needed is probably proprotional to the number of Shades alive."

Jane asked, “How did Yetta and… How did they end up in that statue?”

“That was Gora, Treant, Skyhook, and Rodel, all working together, while all the rest either watched, or sang.” Killzone frowned. “I’ve never felt so powerless to stop them before.”

Jane dried her tears, and said, “I would like to request some time off to go hunt certain monsters for [Polymorph], and to complete my Class. I’ve heard that unicorns have this ability called [Aura of Freedom], that would negate many of the controlling effects employed by Shades, and I would prefer to have this ability before resuming my duties. Tania can put spiders to sleep, so I have no doubt that she can do worse.”

Killzone smiled, faintly. “Granted. Provisionally. After we know the new lay of the land. It might take a week. Or maybe just a day.” Killzone added, “Hunting unicorns is crazy dangerous, Jane. Was Tania putting you to sleep the first time you experienced that sort of mind magic?”

“Yes.”

“Unicorns are entirely mind magic. It gets a lot worse than a sleep spell.” Killzone added, “And I’m sure you’re right about Tania having stronger stuff to use against spiders. Now that I'm thinking... I'm going to have to take you off duty for a while. Or at least forbid you from using your spider form inside the city.”

“She’s Melemizargo’s Champion, you know?”

Killzone looked across the city, saying, “Yes. We know.”

Jane nodded, watching the sun through the Crack. She turned to Killzone, her voice a heavy thing to get working correctly. “I’m not becoming a Shade, am I?”

Killzone shook his head, saying, “If all it took to become a Shade was to meet Melemizargo and have a nice chat with that monster, then Veird would fall to chaos and death in a matter of moments.” He explained, “No one accidentally becomes a Shade. Not even Dark Mages are in danger of becoming Shades, though there is a bit of a stigma against them. No; becoming a Shade is a process, which starts with the guided implantation of a rad upon your heart, a time of struggling to emerge victorious against insanity, and culminating in another Shade personally assisting in your resurrection. It is not something that happens in one sunrise.”

Jane felt calmer.

He looked to Jane. “You don’t have a rad inside of you. I’m not worried.”

“Is there a way to change the color of my magic back?”

“Not without a great deal of effort and psychic mutilation. Just chalk it up to today’s trauma.” Killzone said, “No one would doubt such a thing. I bet a lot of people's magic will look different after today.”

Jane nodded, slowly. “What now?”

“Now, we go back to Command Center.”

In a blip of black, Killzone vanished from atop the red crystal bridge to Forward Base.

In a blip of midnight blue, Jane followed.

A gentle cheer and the clapping of several pairs of hands echoed across the Dead City, in front of Forward Base, along with calls of 'good show' and 'I can't wait till next time'.

- - - -

Jane stepped inside Yetta and Cyril’s semi-private recovery room. Sunlight streamed in from the window across two beds, one of them empty, the other splattered with blood and a deformed Cyril. Yetta was gently breaking his bones back into position, under the careful eyes of a doctor.

Yetta had recovered all on her own as soon as she was out of Shade control; she was a Regenerator. Healing from horrific mutilation was par for the course, for those of her Class. She wouldn’t die unless she was killed and burned to death, or she chose to turn off her Class abilities.

Cyril was not so lucky. His body had been twisted around the exposed heart of the statue. [Greater Treat Wounds] healed fast and well, but some traumas ran deeper than others, especially those of the magical kind. Only time would tell if he would ever willingly return to the battlefield. Many people who Jane and the Army had rescued today would never again venture out into the world to fight monsters.

Crack!

Yetta held Cyril’s freshly broken arm into the proper position, while tears ran down Cyril’s face. She said soft words to the pale man, while the doctor applied gentle magics to Cyril’s arm.

“Enough— Enough—” Cyril whispered, gulping, begging. “Give me a— a minute. Some time.”

“We gotta keep going, Cyril.” Yetta said, “Gotta straighten your left leg, now. We can regrow the right one, later.”

Yetta had asked for Jane, but Jane did not want to be here for this. She stayed, though. Yetta had asked for her, so Jane stayed.

Cyril said, “Is Jane here, yet? Is that her?” Cyril looked right, staring at Jane with wild eyes. “I can’t really see.”

The doctor said, “We can excise your eyes and the worms therein when your bones are in position and the [Regeneration] won’t do more harm than good.”

Jane looked to Yetta.

Yetta looked to Jane, her eyes full of sorrow. “Yes, Cyril. Jane is here now.”

“Thank you.” Cyril said, “We went in there expecting to die. Allan—” He choked, but brightened as he said, “Allan was a good man. He gave his life— None of us expected to live through this. Thank you. I just… I just don’t want you thinking bad of Allan. He did all that knowing he was going to die. Thank you for… For rescuing us. Even though you couldn’t get Basil and Dorthy— It’s okay. Basil and Dorthy are in a better place.” He chuckled, then sobbed, then stilled, to say, “They might still help us with what comes next, right, Yetta? They would have chosen to become angels, wouldn't they?”

Tears fell from Yetta’s eyes. She shook her head. “No. They might have talked like that, but they were both always a one-and-done kinda people.”

“Ah.” Cyril lost what little brightness he had. “Ah...”

Yetta looked up to Jane. “He has to sleep while the recovery magic works, but he wanted to speak to you before that. He's done talking now. Thank you for coming. I would talk to you later. Please.”

Jane nodded. She turned, and walked out of the door.

Cyril breathed, and said, “Keep going, Doc. Yetta. I’m ready.”

- - - -

Jane had a detailed and descriptive personal debriefing via Killzone. It was not a fun experience, but it was necessary. She told the truth, about everything that had happened inside Ar’Kendrithyst. Killzone asked for clarifications here and there, but mostly, he accepted what Jane said at face value.

There was no truthstone in the room… Or at least not one that Jane could see.

An hour after that, there was another debriefing.

Jane met Killzone and Silverite in a stone conference room with no windows, and little furniture.

A green truthstone sat on the table in front of them.

“Please have a seat, Team Leader,” Silverite said. “This shouldn’t take long.”

The truthstone glowed green.

Jane took a seat.

Silverite asked, “Are you positioned to become a Shade?”

“I hope not, and not to my knowledge.”

Green.

Silverite asked, “Do you wish to continue to be a part of Spur’s Army?”

“Yes.” Jane said, “I do.”

Green.

“Why?”

“Because I like rescuing people from danger. It’s what I was born to do, and I enjoy it.”

Green.

“Is today the first time you have met Melemizargo?”

“No.” Jane said, “I’ve met him before in the Underworld, probably same as you, but likely under vastly different circumstances. And just so you know: I never sought him out. Every time, he has just appeared, and every time it has been unwanted.”

Killzone smirked at the green truthstone.

Silverite frowned. She said, “That is enough. Thank you, Team Leader Flatt.”

Jane looked from the black orcol wrought, to the silver dragonkin wrought. Neither Killzone or Silverite looked like they had anything else to say. So Jane stood up, and walked out.

Killzone said, as she reached the door, “You’ve got tomorrow off, if you want it off. Otherwise we’re all back at Forward Base in the morning.”

Jane turned back briefly, to say, “I'll be there."

- - - -

Jane collapsed into bed.

She woke up just in time for dinner, and because she heard a knock on the front door. A quick [Cleanse], [Conjure Armor], and [Shadowalk], put her in her foyer, in front her door. People were on the other side. People she had rescued.

Jane didn’t move.

“I can hear you breathing in there,” said a woman.

Jane chuckled.

A man said, “Let’s go get drunk! Our treat, as thanks for saving our lives!”

“… Sure. Just… give me a moment.” Tears had fallen, but Jane brushed them away. “I’ll be right back.”

Jane rushed to her room and put on real clothes; something that couldn’t be dispelled by some annoying drunkard. In two minutes, she was back by the door. She paused.

She opened the door.

“Good evening, madam!” A 30 year-old human man with orange hair spoke with a flourish, “You might not remember me, but you rescued me from Fallopolis.” His legs and arms were skinny under his average looking tunic and pants. He pulled back the sleeve of his shirt, smiling, saying, “I swear, I used to be a lot more muscular and better looking than this. Gimme a month of that good old orcol cooking, and I’ll be a sight to see.”

Jane giggled.

The orcol woman with the man, and likely the same age, was similarly skinny, but about eight feet tall and dark green. “We got bank accounts, and I want to get wasted. Know any good food joints around here, my savior?”

Jane held back her emotions. She couldn’t speak through the lump in her throat.

“It’s a joke!” The woman said, “We’ve both rescued lots of idiot adventurers in our lives.”

“But we never thought we’d end up being the idiots.”

Jane smiled, saying, “Sure. I know just the place.”

- - - -

Spur was loud with news of the Champion killing Planter, and drunk off of the successful quest. Divine Scans revealed 0 Daydroppers in Ar'Kendrithyst, or anywhere else for 2500 kilometers. Rescued people and volunteer Army personnel partied in the city, right alongside other, normal adventurers. In the bars and the streets, in the restaurants and in the guildhalls both Mage and Adventurer, people swapped stories of their time under the power of the Shades, and of the brave people who pulled them out of the darkness.

Jane drank and ate alongside new friends; some she had rescued, and some she had worked alongside.

Most people spoke of how they were never going back in there, of the horrors they had seen, but also of the treasures hidden in the kendrithyst. They spoke of ten meter tall crystals of gold, under the watchful eyes of the Shade of the Lake. Of enchanted items for plus-hundred Strength, and plus-hundred Vitality, used to keep prisoners alive while the Toymaker played with their insides. Of groves of rare plants, both monstrous and medicinal, scattered all throughout the city, now that Planter was dead and Treant had claimed his spot as Shade of the Garden. Of essences dripping from grasses, and Wide-Cap shrooms boosting the health and Strength of anyone who breathed the spores; just sitting right out in the open. Of the Shades remaking the city into something deeper, something darker. Of how the Champion had killed ten Shades and torn a bloody swath through the crystal streets.

That last one was a lie that Jane could not stand.

Jane cleared what she would do next, before she actually went and did it; soldiers were generally forbidden from speaking of what took place inside Ar’Kendrithyst. Killzone came back with an affirmative; Jane was authorized to spread truthful information with regard to who killed the Shades, and why, but nothing else.

So Jane shouted down the liars and the fabricators. The Shades had killed their own in order to start a Great Purge, or something worse! Jane quickly realized she shouted the truth into deaf ears; people were drunk. Tongues wagged at her, explaining how she didn’t know anything at all.

One particularly offensive dude called Jane a lying soldier out to keep the wealth for herself. That guy lost several teeth, and would have lost a lot more if the guards and the other nearby soldiers hadn't stopped Jane.

But rumors had a way of spreading, and ears opened wider for beautiful lies, than for harsh truths.

People were openly speaking about how they should kill all the Shades, and take their treasures for themselves. Jane watched, as even her own companions for the night spoke with greed in their voices, and hope for shiny, beautiful things in their hearts. She left those two idiots to their own devices. She couldn’t watch people regurgitate lies at each other.

“Where are you getting this information?” Jane asked another pair of rescued liars, after she cooled down enough to not punch someone.

“From the mouths of the Shades themselves,” they said, drinking beer.

“What was their wording, exactly?” Jane demanded.

“ 'The Champion got so much blood everywhere! How are we ever going to resist the rest of the Adventurers!' ” They repeated, drunkenly. “I’m telling you! The Shades are ripe for the picking!”

Jane left before things turned bloody. Several other fellow soldiers left with her, all of them tired of blind fools.

Jane went straight to Silverite, who was working overtime in the Courthouse.

“You know what they’re saying, right?” Jane asked.

Silverite spoke with disgust at the world, “I am fully aware of these baseless rumors spreading in my city, and believe me, there will be no unauthorized entry in to Ar’Kendrithyst. That is about all I can do, but it is not nothing.” She spoke seriously, “This is the good outcome, Jane. Even when the Shades lose, they set up the board for the next time around. There are already Shadelings the entire world over, spreading rumors of Yetta’s ‘easy time’ conquering the Dead City.” Silverite said, “You did very well in there; might have even prevented a Great Purge, or whatever other dark thing they were planning. I doubt it was as nice and clean as ‘they’re not insane anymore’, which is what I’m gathering from the [Witness]es we’ve employed to verify what you said in your debriefing.”

“What were they planning, do you think?”

“We’ll never know.” Silverite added, "But if you find out, please tell me."

Jane knew where she had to go next.

- - - -

Yetta sat to the side of Cyril’s hospital bed, reading a book under a small lightward. Cyril looked whole again, but deeply skinny, and paler than before. Yetta set her book aside as Jane appeared in the doorway, and brought a finger to her lips; shushing.

Jane pointed down the hallway, toward the break room. She left and went to the break room and started making tea. Yetta joined her in the breakroom after several minutes. Jane poured tea for both of them. They sat together at a table in the back of the room; they were the only ones there.

“So,” Jane started.

“So,” Yetta continued.

Jane sipped her tea. Yetta did the same.

Jane said, “They’re holding you up as a savior.”

Yetta spat, “And you want me to tell them we couldn’t have done it without you?”

Jane shook her head. “No. I want you to tell them that the Shades culled their own in order to trigger the arrival of Melemizargo. They used the necessity of a Kill and Exterminate Quest to force you to play their game. That it was not an easy time, and that a lot of good people died, because the Shades are genocidal megalomaniacs with too much power and too much time on their hands.”

Yetta frowned. She wiped her face. She said, “I lost three of my— My best friends, today. I cannot have a conversation regarding political tactics right now. I need you to tell me… Why they died. How come you could not save them, too?”

Yetta was holding back floodgates of her own. Jane almost lost it, herself, but she held it together. It was easier to be stronger around other people.

Jane said, “I’m sorry. I can’t answer that question, because I don’t know.”

Yetta’s hands shook a little as she sipped her tea. She set the cup down, and waited.

Jane said, “What... happened back there?”

Yetta breathed. She said, “Planter splattered me across the sidewalk as an opening move, so I missed the first five minutes.” She loosened, and words began to pour out of her. “I have almost 20,000 HP. Planter’s spell was not a crit. It was just a pure hit for two hundred thousand Force damage. I had [Defend] up and it was only one hit, but I only survived because I’m a Regenerator. Everyone else managed to evade his subsequent attacks. Allan—” She said, “Allan had really good Mana Sense. Cyril, too. But nothing like Allan. He saw the attack once, and was able to tell when it would come again. Allan is the only reason we had any hope of winning; we won because of him.

“Planter might have started off as an orcol, but he immediately went into his [Avatar of Melemizargo] and became a tentacled monstrosity. Limbs like trees, with the length to reach halfway across the entire Garden in one attack. He tore up his Garden to kill us. Dorthy did her Juggernaut thing and bounced his most obvious attacks right back at him. Basil was on minion duty; Allan was on minion duty, too, but sweeping up the smaller targets was Basil’s forte. Planter had a lot of minions, but we ventured down to Nergal and got Basil a Flare Snake expecting minions. Do you know about Flare Snakes? They’re these really big snakes that flash-ash everything they touch. It worked well; Tenders and the smaller wretches were literally falling apart as Basil zipped around the battlefield.”

Yetta got a far off, happy look in her eyes, as tears fell, as she talked of her friends.

“Cyril— Warder. Just so you know. He threw 10,000 point [Ward]s on each of us. His [Ward]s regenerate really fast, too. Scion of Focus… Dorthy was a Scion of Strength. Allan was a Scion of Willpower, though he often lamented that he should have picked Focus. Basil was a Scion of Focus." Yetta laughed, once. "Basil and Cyril would always rag on Allan...”

She went silent.

Jane asked, “But the Daydroppers have only been out for 17 days, or something?”

Yetta smiled, saying, “We’ve known each other for a lot longer than that. Allan was a neighborhood kid who went to the Tower and got himself a ‘right ‘n poper edu-ma-cation’.” She laughed. “Allan came back home to say ‘hi’ to his momma a few years ago. One thing led to another and he joined up with the four of us, forming a nice adventuring party. We’ve been killing monsters around the world for years. When we were kids, Cyril would escape from his gilded tower to come play wyrms and knights with us in the dirt and the fields. Dorthy was the one who got us out of trouble; Basil was the one who got us into trouble. Always deep into the shit, with Basil. He wasn’t a Polymage; he just liked everyone to think he was. He was actually a Seeker. He never told us what he was looking for; always said he’d know it if he found it.”

Yetta breathed. She said, “Anyway. Planter’s minions were taken care of. Planter himself was between an anvil and a hammer; Dorthy on one side, me on the other. Allan raining destruction from on high— Battlemage. Very good at killing; only got stronger as a fight drew on.” She said, “And we killed him. There were no real surprises past the first splatter; once Allan’s Mana Sense got ramped up and he could tell us every spell before it happened. And then… Allan killed Planter, and the rest of us helped.” She laughed. “The rest of us even managed to stop the watching Shades from striking the final blow. They got no credit. Each of us got between 18 and 20 percent; they got nothing. They’re not going to qualify for the Kill and Exterminate Quest, at all.” She sighed. “Then… they all attacked at once. A few as Avatars… A few as themselves. And we ended up in that statue.”

Yetta stopped talking.

Jane filled the silence with her own story, “I was stolen away by Tania. She has mind magic over shadowspiders, greater than anyone in the Army knew. They drilled me pretty damn hard on what to expect from her, and from being a spider inside Ar’Kendrithyst...” Jane said, “Tania only woke me up to taunt me, saying that I couldn’t do anything because their summoning was complete. But… I could. I saw you down there and I rushed to save you two, first. When I came back… Melemizargo interrupted me from saving Dorthy and Basil. I’m sorry for your loss.”

Yetta’s eyes were wide, staring at her tea, as she listened. She sipped her tea.

Jane added sugar to her own tea, then had a sip.

Yetta slowly came back to herself, and said, “Thank you… for saving Cyril and I.”

“Thank you for not killing me right at the start of this whole horrific ordeal.”

Yetta laughed loud. “That was just… unfair of me. Sorry.”

“The whole thing was unfair, Yetta. None of it was your fault.”

Yetta sighed, long and low. After a moment, she said, “When I accepted this Championship… It was a group decision. We all knew that there was a very high chance something like this was going to happen. We didn't expect Shades, but... But when Atunir came to me, Odaali was already dead; there was no one to name in our Final Affairs. Everyone we knew was gone. All of us were hungry for vengeance and all of the people on the quest were known terrorists that we had no problem killing. Everything just… sort of happened very fast. And it’s not over yet. The vengeance is still there, but its a quieter thing, now that my— my family is down to just… to just Cyril and I.”

Jane nodded. Her tea had gone cold already, but a tiny bit of [Prestidigitation] warmed it right back up.

Yetta asked, “So how was Melemizargo? I think I would have shit myself.”

Jane smirked. “I probably dropped some spider thread, for sure.”

Yetta scrunched her face, exclaiming, “You met the dark god as a dark spider?”

“Believe me, it wasn’t intentional.” Jane explained, “Apparently Tania Webwalker is Melemizargo’s Champion. And she has the spiders, and Mel is a bit confused and one thing led to another and I ended up talking out of my ass to save my skin, I guess? I’m not even sure. But Silverite said that this was a win, and she would know, so I’m going to take the win.”

Yetta stared at her tea. She cast a bit of [Prestidigitation] fire into the cup, warming the tea to steaming. She almost took a sip, but then she set her cup down, and said, “I need something stronger than this.”

Jane smiled. “I’ll get the alcohol and we can keep talking about a lot of things, because I’m probably going to come with you to Odaali. If I can; if you'll have me.”

Yetta smiled, then softly said, “Okay.”

Jane blipped home, grabbed the good alcohol she had kept stashed in the back of the cold room, and blipped back to Yetta.

Yetta was sobbing into her tea.

Jane set out some shots on the table in front of Yetta while Yetta cried. Yetta briefly came back to herself, did three shots, then went back to crying. For a little while, there were a lot of emotions; most of them sad, but some of them happy and full of laughter. Somewhere in the middle of that, Cyril woke up. Jane and Yetta were already smashed. Cyril promptly joined them in drinking their emotions.

It wasn’t very healthy to drown emotions, Jane reflected somewhere in the middle of the night, but it was nice.

“Healthy?” Cyril shot, “We could all die tomorrow and I’m not drunk enough to handle that.”

“That's fair.”

Yetta stumbled to the door, saying, “Let’s go fuck up a bar.”

Cyril laughed. “You sound like Basil.”

Yetta said, “Well someone’s gotta be an irresponsible idiot! Might as well be me!”

Jane would later reflect that the night after Planter’s death, bar hopping with Yetta and Cyril, was full of pain and strong emotions, but it was also one of the best bar crawls she had ever been on. And the company was pretty great, too.

They got a lot of free drinks.

and

They punched so many idiots.

- - - -

When the soldiers of Spur's Army would later return to Forward Base the next day, they would find bouquets of roses and other flowers laying on the red road. After a quick check in with the proper people, fireballs would rain down on the bouquets, incinerating roses, orchids, succulents, and lots, and lots, of parasites.