Fell Champions

Otter didn’t even bother washing off the goblin blood that was covering her clothes, and it wasn’t because she was feeling lazy. Well, it wasn’t only because she was feeling lazy. What was even the point of washing clothes that would magically vanish when the duration of the skill that summoned them into being winked out? 

No, she didn’t clean it off because it sent out a statement. That she was perfectly willing and able to inflict violence. Oh sure, Rua had insisted there would be no fighting. But she said that a lot ever since they’d come to Ri Oa, and Otter was feeling in a punchy mood. 

She hoped Il-Su didn’t make the mistake of trying to contact her. She didn’t know how she’d react to him right about now. She loved the little idiot like a brother, but what he’d done had crossed several lines and then nuked said lines from orbit. 

Yeah, she was gonna punch him, at the very least. Right in his stupid face. And if Rua tried to kill him, well, she wasn’t going to stop her. 

She could feel that pit of pain in Rua, that absolute anguish over losing Juala. That echoing feeling of happiness that Juala was gone, and the lingering guilt for being happy as well. 

Otter had made a promise. She wasn’t sure about whether or not vengeance was good or bad for you. It really depended on what movies you watched, when it came to that. But she was sure of one thing. 

When the chips were down, all Il-Su did was lash out and hurt everyone around him. And when it came down to people you were stuck in a death game with, that wasn’t the kind of person you kept alive.

It felt weird to Otter, how easily she slipped into the mind of a killer. Was this who she was now? Or was it who she’d always been? Had that switch always been flicked to the ‘on’ position, where murder was okay, and she’d just been sublimating her behaviour through video games all these years? Or had pretending to be violent made her actually violent? 

Something brushed against her hand, and she looked down to see Rua lightly holding it. Otter took it more firmly into her own, and squeezed. Hand in hand they walked the streets of Ri Oa to Sureya’s home. 

The streets were a mix of chaos. People were screaming, shouting over the injustice of the murder of Juala by a Mikovian assassin. Many took to their homes, shuttering themselves in, but others began to move about in roving groups, armed and looking for a fight.

It was similar to many of the other buildings Otter had seen throughout Ri Oa – colourful, made from a porous coral-like material, and raised on stilts. Unlike many, this one had a thatched roof, lending it a more rustic vibe. 

They weren’t the only ones converging on Sureya’s house. A bunch of Mikovians were marching in formation towards it. They held shields at the ready in a defensive formation, but had their weapons sheathed. Silayan onlookers pointed to them, and many on the streets looked angry.

Rua hissed, “What is she doing here? She’s only going to make things worse.”

Otter spotted Kirhaela at the front, dressed in her white plate mail with its diamond-like icicles. It looked otherworldly and alien, too fanciful for the real world. Or, the world she was from. 

“What’s the play? I’ll back it, no matter what,” Otter said.

“No fighting.”

“You never let me have any fun.”

“We’d lose anyway.”

“Kir’s that scary?”

“Yes. I don’t know how we’d win against her.”

“What’s her Pact?”

“I told you. I don’t know how it works. She makes people follow her.”

“Okay, But you all make her sound terrifying. If that was all there was to it, Juala probably just would’ve had someone put an arrow at her from range, kill her before she even knew someone was there.”

“Someone tried that once. It’s the other part of her Pact we don’t understand. We know she has two abilities. The second is that she can’t seem to be hurt.”

“You mean she has really high Tenacity or something?”

“No. Someone once tried to knife her in a crowd. I was there. It was like the assassin just… couldn’t bring themselves to strike her. She challenged him to a duel on the spot, even gave him her own sword, and took off her armor. He was helpless against her. He couldn’t attack her.”

“Sounds OP. I call hacks.”

Rua gave her a look, that look she always gave whenever she used gamer slang. 

“Okay, so, she has some kind of mind control, and some kind of defensive ability related to it?” Otter tapped her lips as she thought. “I have an idea. But I need to think it through.”

Rua raised an eyebrow, as if to say, ‘You? Think?’

“Hey, I’ll have you know I am a gamer. I know what I am doing. Trust me, this is all Rock, Paper, Scissors, and in this case, I am the Paper Tiger to her Rock Lobster.”

“That made no sense at all.”

“Trust me.”

Rua gave her a weird smile. “I do.”

“Good. But we’re not fighting her, we’re therapizing her. Or something. I’m still not clear if she’s mentally ill or not.”

“Neither am I. Juala thought she was Pact-crazed, but… she might have just been using that as an excuse to pick a fight with her. She never could handle rejection well.”

Otter stumbled a step. “Wait. You mean to tell me that this whole conflict is over the fact that one of your sisters didn’t want to bang your other sister? Who you also want to bang?”

“I don’t know if I like the use of the word ‘bang’ as a euphemism for sex, but that is probably what started all of this, yes.”

Otter facepalmed. “You people need therapy in this world so fucking badly, and I am not at all qualified to properly introduce it.”

“Maybe we can get Sami to do it then?”

Otter stared at Rua and let out a snort of laughter. And then realized she was serious, and doubled over, unable to contain the sheer hilarity bubbling out of her.

“Whew, that was a good one, I needed that,” Otter said. “Okay, let’s go try to entangle your pseudo-incestuous love triangle with the totally-in-denial bi chick.” 

They strode through the crowd, still holding hands, and while Rua looked nervous, she pushed her way through the throng of people with greater and greater determination. Every step seemed more sure. It wasn’t courage, but more resignation. At what, Otter wasn’t sure, but she was going to be a supportive girlfriend no matter what. 

They intercepted Kir and her troop of soldiers before they reached Sureya’s house, Rua placing the two of them as a barricade to the ramp leading up to it. 

One of the Mikovian soldiers began to step forward, hand on weapon, but Kir gestured them back. 

“Sister,” she said, her tone neutral.

“Kirhaela.” Rua’s was just as stony.

“Me,” Otter said. Rua shot a look at her. “Sorry, I couldn’t help it. I’ll be quiet, I promise.”

Rua sighed, and then turned back to Kir. “There’s a dark rumor going on about you.”

Kir stiffened, her back going a little straighter. “So I’ve heard.”

“Is it true?”

“Someone under my command did kill Juala, yes.”

Rua squeezed Otter’s hand harder, and through the link there was a swirling mass of grief, anger, frustration, and most of all, love. 

“Why?”

“I didn’t come here to explain myself to you,” Kir said. “I need to speak with Sureya.”

“So you can kill her, too?”

Even bedecked in full armor, Otter could tell that one had hurt Kir. 

“I need to speak to her. About a threat to the Islands. It’s–”

“I don’t care. You need to speak with me first.”

“You can be angry with me later. I know Sureya has–”

“Talk to me! Take off that helmet and look me in the eye and talk to me!”

Kir paused, and it looked as if she were afraid. She raised her hands, her trembling hands, and brought them to her helmet. She pulled it off in one motion, tucking it under an arm.

Her face was a mass of bruises, that perfect skin of her now decorated with red and blue splotches that would be turning black and purple with time. 

“What happened?” Rua said, stepping closer to Kir. Otter gave a gentle tug on her hand to pull her back.

“Questioning orders,” Kir said. “Old Grey didn’t appreciate my input on some of his command decisions.”

“Your father did this?” Rua said, her voice angry.

“As was his right. He would have done the same to any subordinate officer who defied him.”

“Is this about Juala? Did Old Grey order it?”

“Who ordered it doesn’t matter,” Kir said. “My weapon was used. I am the guilty party.”

“No. If your father gave the order, then we seek justice from him. Then… then I don’t have to…”

“Burden of Shadows, little sister,” Kirhaela said. “You know your duty. You are the knife in the darkness. And I am the monster who killed Juala, regardless of who gave the order.”

“You’re not lying. You really believe that, don’t you?”

“With everything I have. It’s my fault this has happened.”

“You don’t owe him anything.”

“He is my commanding officer. If not for him, I never would’ve been assigned to the Islands. I never would’ve had you as a sister. I owe him everything.”

“And now you want me to kill you?”

“No. But it’s what you have to do. It’s what duty commands.”

Otter squeezed Rua’s hand before letting it go, and then stepping in front of her. “All right, as the only person here right now who actually has a dick, I think that’s enough dick-swinging for now.”

Kir blinked, which looked awkward and a little painful considering one of her eyes was swollen nearly shut. “You’re pelanoa?”

“I thought you knew. Listen, you’re hurting Rua, you claim to love her, so maybe knock it the fuck off. She’s not going to fight you, so quit trying to get her to.”

“Then if we’re not going to fight, I need to speak with Sureya. You’re welcome to accompany me. Make sure I don’t try anything.”

Otter glanced at Rua, who gave a small shrug.

“Fine. I guess we go see Auntie Sureya. Honestly, at this point, I want to see what the big deal is. It’s like everyone keeps talking about going to see her, and then we never do.”

Kir gave her a funny look, and Rua said, “Yes, she is somewhat insane, but you get used to it.”

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