Fell Champions

Downstairs was a mess. The kitchen had been lightly tossed, and there were bloodstains on the floor. The door to the sitting room had been kicked in. Inside, it looked like a bomb had gone off. A section of the floor had been ripped out, furniture was scattered in every direction. And the amount of blood looked enough to fill several bodies.

Sunny was nowhere to be found. Otter immediately tried their link, but only received a small headache for her efforts. Their link never worked correctly, given her origins as a Vexurian and how her mind had needed to be reconstructed using it. Otter knew she was alive, but not her state, or where she was. 

“There are no bodies,” Otter noted.

Rua, for her part, remained quiet, but there was a tension to her. She was like a coil that had been pressed down for too long, a gun that had been holstered, only now to be unbuckled and waiting for the draw. 

“It means someone cleaned up after,” Otter said. “Bad guys wouldn’t do that. I mean, they would if they wanted it to make it look like nothing had happened, but then they would’ve done a better job. This is half-finished.”

“We need to check the servants,” was all Rua said.

They explored the halls and various rooms of Rua’s home, and most of them were empty. It looked like everyone had cleared out. There were thankfully no other signs of violence. 

A few minutes of searching later, Rua swore to herself and began to head purposefully to one section of the house, no longer checking rooms. They exited the main building, and taking a walkway to a suspended bridge, crossed to another, much smaller building which was surrounded by fern-like trees which bore fruit. They enclosed the small home perfectly, cutting it off from view outside this one bridge. 

It was a cheery little thing, the colours bright but not as clashing as other parts of the city. The walls were painted with designs of colourful vines, swirling in an impossible maze. There were window gardens and the smell of some baked deliciousness blanketed the air. 

“What’s this?” Otter asked.

“Liaru, my master servant, lives here.”

“Oh. Think she’s in?”

“No. But her wife will be.”

Otter waited for her to elaborate, but Rua didn’t. She approached the door, covered her eyes with one hand, knocked twice with the other, and entered. A little unsure of herself, Otter followed.

The inside looked just as homey and artsy as the outside. The door opened into a small entryway which immediately gave way to a kitchen and dining area. The cabinets, tables, and chairs were all painted the same as the outside, and a woman with coppery hair busied herself about the room. She looked a little shocked at the sudden arrival.

“Seat Rua,” the woman stammered, looking about the room in a panic. “What brings you here?”

“”Kaya,” Rua said, her hand still over her eyes. “Are you presentable?”

“Oh, uhm, one moment.”

She crossed the room, picking up a piece of cloth that hung from a peg, and hurriedly wrapped it about her own eyes. Eyes, that Otter noted, were a shade of brilliant green. 

Both of them. She was Criobani.

What in the buttfuckery of Zeus was going on here?

The blindfold was a mesh, like lace but less fancy. The woman would be able to easily see out of it, but it would be difficult to tell what colour her eyes were while she wore it. Difficult, but not impossible. If you were close enough, and had good lighting, and actually were looking, you would be able to make them out. Probably. 

Kaya sat down at her dining table, and folded her hands in her lap, but she looked a nervous wreck. 

“Ready,” she said weakly.

Rua lowered her hand, nodded once, and then moved to the table and sat down across from her. Otter followed her lead, and was forced to sit in the awkward spot in the middle.

“So, Criobani on the Islands,” Otter remarked, unsure of what to say.

“I assure you, there aren’t any,” Rua said coolly. “Certainly none in this room.”

“But–”

“This is Kaya, the poor, blind wife of Liaru. That's why she wears the blindfold.”

“Right,” Otter said. Okay. So, they were all playing dumb. Cool. Otter could play dumb with the best of them. “I must’ve been seeing things. Poor lighting.”

“This is Otter,” Rua said. “She’s my pelanoa.”

“Oh. You finally got one,” Kaya said. “Liaru had mentioned that you brought guests, but–”

“What happened in my house, Kaya?”

Kaya looked clearly distressed. “I don’t know. I only heard small tidbits. Liaru told me as much as she could, but she was taken to see a doctor. She’d been stabbed. In the leg. Nothing serious. She is being tended to.”

“Stabbed. By. Whom.”

“Someone attacked the house. A man in black. I don’t know. I was here, in my home, where I belong. I don’t go out, you know that.”

Rua sucked in a breath. “Calm. I’m angry, Kaya. But I’m not angry at you. As always, the blind wife of my master servant has nothing to fear from me.”

Otter didn’t like the wording or the implication of that.

“It was… one man. A Salassian, Liaru said. No one she’d seen before. Male. He had knives. So many knives. Threw them all about, was going in and out of windows. Ran instead of giving poor Juala a proper fight.”

Oh no. That sounded familiar. That sounded very familiar.

Rua immediately looked at Otter, her eyes narrowing. “You just had a thought. You know who did this.”

That damned link. And damn Rua for always abusing it.

“Kwan Il-Su. Silence,” Otter said. “It sounds like him. Maybe. He’s, uh, one of the people from where I come from.”

“He killed Juala,” Kaya blurted.

Rua went still for a moment, like a statue. And then her face twisted into something ugly that was immediately suppressed. Otter checked into their link, and felt a maelstrom of emotion. Anger. Grief. Disbelief. Guilt. Happiness.

It was only a small part of her, but a piece of her had been glad at hearing the news. 

“Did he hurt anyone else?” Otter asked while Rua composed herself.

“I don’t know. Leilynn was here. But she came away uninjured. Apparently Juala’s bodyguard was hurt.”

“Where is everyone?”

“I don’t know. Some soldiers came to the house. Evacuated everyone. Took someone away in chains. I don’t know if it was him or not.”

“Do you know about Sunny?”

“Who’s Sunny?”

“Never mind. Thank you, Kaya. You’ve been a help.”

“Oh, you’re welcome, Mistress. Uhm, if you don’t mind my asking, Liaru’s been trying to get us on the Lists for some time now, but you know how Sureya is, and, I know this is a presumption, but–”

“We’ll discuss it another time,” Rua said, her tone ice.

Kaya seemed to shrink in her seat. “Of… of course.”

“We will discuss it, though. It’s just… not a good time.”

“Right. I’m sorry. I should have thought.”

Rua strode from the room, and Otter looked between her retreating form, and the forlorn Kaya. The whole thing felt awkward, like there were multiple conversations going on at once, and Otter could only pick up a few things from subtext. 

She wanted to apologize on behalf of Rua, but that also didn’t feel like her place. Not without context. 

“Your home is nice,” Otter said. “I’m new in town. Do you mind if I… come visit later? Talk?”

That perked Kaya right up. She smiled with her whole face, and had the kind you’d fight a dragon for. 

“Yes,” she blurted. “Please. I mean, yes, I would love company.”

Otter waved goodbye – would people from this world recognize that gesture? Probably not – and trotted after Rua, who was standing on the bridge, clutching the rope supports and breathing deeply. Through their link, Otter felt the same mixed tornado of emotions, but swirling about all the fiercer. 

Otter came up behind her, and hugged her from behind. “I’m sorry about your sister.”

Rua’s response was an angry snarled, “I’m sorry about this man you know. Il-Su.”

“We’ll bring him in. Arrest him? I don’t know how you handle things here. But I’ll help. I swear.”

“Arrest? No. He dies.”

Otter felt like she’d been punched, but swallowed, and said, “I… I guess that’s justice. If he did it.”

Rua turned, throwing her arms around Otter in kind, and squeezing tightly.

“I don’t… I don’t want you to have to hurt your friend,” she said, speaking into Otter’s chest. “We… we find out if he did it. But if he did, I can’t let him live.”

“I know. I can feel it. Feel you.” Otter concentrated on Rua’s grief, letting it sink into her, letting it become her own. She didn’t know Juala, beyond one short encounter, and a few bad stories. But for a moment, she felt the same pain Rua did. “If I have to choose between him and you, I choose you, every time.”

In front of her eyes, a window appeared, text lighting up directly in her face. Normally, she’d be excited, but it just felt like such poor timing. She wanted to shove it away, wanted to not hear from this stupid game that Holt had made of people’s lives. But ultimately, it was a tool, and Otter would use it.

Pact Ability Evolved

Thread of the Scourge

Cost: 1 Will

Strike or bind, confound your foes. Threads can now lengthen or shorten according to the user’s will at no additional cost. Threads are now more difficult to cut or break.

Otter dismissed it as soon as she read it. She’d focus more on it later, strategize how best to use the upgrade. It was the kind of thing she loved to do. But not now. This moment was just for Rua.

“Do we hunt him now?” Otter asked.

“No. No… first, we have to find out what happened in full. I think I know who came to the house after and cleared everyone out. I was hoping to put this off, but… we need to talk to my Aunt Sureya.”

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