Fell Champions

Kir walked resolutely through the halls of Rua’s home, her Pact guiding her every step. She avoided being seen, which wasn’t difficult. Most houses anywhere near this size would have a decent staff, but this house was mostly empty. It’d always struck Kir as sad, and she’d wished there were more people in it to keep Rua company. Now she wished for it so someone could catch her in the act of what she was about to do.

But her instructions were clear. She was to bring Rua back to Pruana Isle, and do so quickly, and without angering Erathawk. Getting caught and thereby warning his potential enemies would anger him. The instructions also said not to delay. Getting caught or stopped for an interrogation or even an arrest would delay her from fulfilling her orders. 

There was no way out.

Some part of her would have preferred her father’s discipline over this. She couldn’t betray Rua. Not again. She’d almost broken her once. Doing this, it might be the thing that finally finished the job. 

Rua was still in the bedroom with Sami, the sounds of sex very much apparent, but they seemed like they were winding down, the louder moans of climax already sounded. Now it was just the affectionate cuddling and aftermath. 

Kir walked past the bedroom and made her way to the kitchen. There, she collected a plateful of food, a random assortment of fruit and meat and cheese from the kitchen’s coldbox, and then returned back to Rua’s room and timidly knocked.

There was a sudden silence, and then the sounds of motion. A moment later, Rua, still naked, opened the door, a scowl on her face which quickly melted away. 

“Kir,” she said. “Did you need something?”

She leaned forward as she said it, as if to give Kir a better view of her breasts. Which was ridiculous, because Kir didn’t like looking at women’s breasts. And the fact that she only looked at them briefly was because of the pose Rua had taken, and for no other reason.

“Uh. Yes. I brought food. Here. With me.” She held up the plate. “Food.”

“How very thoughtful of you,” Rua purred. “Why don’t you come in?”

“Uhm. Maybe when you have… clothes on?” Kir squeaked. 

Rua looked down, and pretended to notice she was nude for the first time. “Oh, you’ve seen me naked before, it’s fine.”

“I… I… Food?”

“Oh, just drag her in here already,” came Sami’s voice from somewhere in the darkness of the room. 

Rua grabbed Kir’s free wrist and yanked her into the room. Sami, who was just finished getting dressed, smirked, took a piece of fruit, and bit into it. Her face immediately screwed up, and she swallowed.

“That was… spicier than I was expecting,” she said, before taking another bite. “I’ll leave you two be.”

Part of Kir wanted to warn Sami. To tell her to stay. But that would be interfering with her orders. And her Pact wouldn’t let her say the words.

Hatred, directed at herself, at her Pact, at her father for putting her in this position, bubbled within her. She wanted nothing more than to die than be left alone with Rua. She didn’t want to have to do this, to be forced to take this action.

“Are you okay?” Rua asked, concern all over her face. “You’re breathing hard, and not in the ‘I’m in a room by myself with a naked woman’ way.”

“No. I’m not. I’m sorry, Rua. More sorry than you can know.” She sucked in a breath, steadying herself. She set the plate of food down on an end table. The Pact forced the words out of her, her own will railing against it, but unable to do a thing to stop it. “I order you to get dressed. Make your way to the Wayfaring station. Make sure no one sees you. Do not tell anyone you are leaving. If anyone does see you, just say you’re going to the market. Once at the Wayfaring station, have yourself transported to Pruana Isle, and surrender yourself to the soldiers there. Do not commit violence to anyone there. Do not attempt to escape.”

Kir let out a shaky breath, and her whole body trembled. Tears freely flowed through her eyes. She waited for Rua to say something. To yell at her. To condemn her. 

But instead, Rua’s lips formed into a thin line, and she nodded her head once, as if she’d been expecting this. She began to put on clothes, even taking the time to pick up a few extra minutes.

“Say something, Rua. Say that you hate me. Please.”

Rua didn’t answer, instead holding up one shirt that barely covered anything, and said, “Should I bring this one?”

“Bring… bring whatever you want.”

The lack of accusation made Kir feel even worse somehow. Her shoulders slumped, and she sat down on the edge of the bed, burying her face in her hands. And then she wept.

“Well, come on,” Rua said. “I’m ready.”

“Those… Those aren’t the orders. You have to go by yourself. I… I have to stay here.”

“What?” Kir didn’t need to see Rua to hear the betrayed realization in her voice.

“Go. Just go. Leave me, Rua. All I touch dies. And there’s nothing I can do to stop it. I already got one sister killed. Il-Su tried to kill another because of me. Leave before… before anything worse happens to you.”

Rua grabbed Kir’s wrists and forced her hands away from her eyes, forcing her to look. “You are not–”

“Go!” Kir said, mustering all her will behind it, forcing her Pact to convey the order.

Something faded from Rua’s eyes. Her expression slackened. It was like, for one moment, something had been extinguished from her. Rua let go of Kir and spun on her heel, leaving the room, not bothering to take the extra clothes with her.

Kir let out a strangled cry, and tried to move to stop her. But she couldn’t. Her Pact wouldn’t let her.

She wanted to collapse. To weep in a corner in the darkness. To properly feel sorry for herself. But her Pact wouldn’t let her do that either. If someone found her in this state, they’d ask questions. They’d know Rua had been sent away. They’d try to stop her before she got to the Wayfaring station.

Kir stood, stumbling out of the room. She didn’t know where she was headed, but she was soon walking past a room with Otter and Reyna, the two arguing about something.

It didn’t matter to her.

Reyna stopped yelling, asking her a question. Kir didn’t hear it. Nothing mattered.

Reyna grabbed Kir’s arm. She shook her off, still walking down the hallway, not able to focus on anything. Just the need to get away.

Her Pact left her with no freedom. No choices. She couldn’t even take the time to grieve the monster that she was. One who’d killed one sister, enslaved another, and would inevitably harm the third. 

Her mind worked at the problem, even numbed as it was. She couldn’t get anyone to stop Rua. At least, not until Rua made it to Pruana Isle, and by then, it would be too late. No rescue force would be able to save her. Not with Rua also actively under orders to prevent her from escaping. 

There was no way out.

Except…

Kir stopped for a moment, and realized there was one option left to her. One path. One choice. 

Her pace picked up. She left the mansion, and headed to the beach. Somewhere behind her, she heard Reyna yelling at her. There was something like concern in her voice, which didn’t make any sense. Kir barely knew Reyna, outside of using her as a spy on Juala in the past. 

Kir tuned it out. She summoned up her resolve, and made it to the beach by the docks. Not far from there was a large tower, grown from coral lumber. It was a twisting pattern of blues and whites. The colours of Mikovia. An odd coincidence, but it felt fitting. The tower was meant to be one of many watch stations throughout the Islands, ten stories tall, meant to watch the horizon for Criobani ships. They were empty now, the soldiers that normally manned them stationed elsewhere, likely getting ready for an offensive against Pruana Isle under Sureya’s orders. 

Kir entered the tower, and closed the door behind her. She barred it shut. Someone with the right tools or enough soul power would be able to get through it eventually, but by then it’d be too late.

Kir climbed the steps one by one, feeling the weight of each one as she did. Her legs felt heavy, but as she went up, they became lighter with every step. She should have done this sooner. Made this decision before things had gotten to this point. She’d always been such a coward. Not nearly as brave as either Rua or Juala. 

Behind her, she could hear someone slamming themselves against the door. It didn’t matter.

The trip to the roof didn’t take long. The ocean air came from just the right direction as it hit her, smelling crisp and refreshing, and not like the garbage stink you’d sometimes get depending on which way the breeze was blowing. 

Kir stood and looked at Ri Oa. She couldn’t see the Wayfaring station from where she was, but she knew Rua would’ve made it there by now. Would have transported herself to Pruana Isle and into the clutches of her father. 

In a way, it was freeing. Because now her orders were complete.

Kir looked over the edge of the tower. Even with soul power, a fall from this height would be good enough. Just to be sure, she looked around the edges, and saw a rocky outcropping below one side. That would make sure the job got done.

Some part of her wanted to romantically look out at the waves. She didn’t love them as Silayans did, but they were still pretty. But she didn’t deserve that sight. 

She sucked in one final breath - her last - and took a step towards the ledge.

A swirling black energy formed in front of her, and suddenly Reyna was there in front of her, falling forwards and into her, pushing Kir backwards and away from the ledge.

“Yipee!” a high-pitched voice cried. “We did it!”

Kir went down in a tangle with Reyna, and somehow ended up getting pinned under her weight. 

“What the blasted fables are you doing, you stupid woman?” Reyna yelled.

Kir’s face twisted in anger, and she tried to get out from underneath the pin. When she did, Reyna’s hand wound back for a slap, but stopped just inches from her face.

“Stupid Pact!” Reyna roared. “Yours is almost as fucking annoying as Rua’s. Fuck!”

Kir pushed Reyna away and scrambled back to her feet. Reyna recovered just as quickly, and put herself between Kir and the ledge she’d just been about to throw herself from.

“How did you get up here?” Kir asked. “Actually, never mind. I don’t care. Get out of the way.”

“What are you doing, you absolutely stupid bint?” Reyna said.

“I was ordered to send Rua to Pruana. I couldn’t stop myself. But if I do this, she can save herself. My Pact will no longer hold her if I’m dead.”

Reyna sighed. “Absolutely stupid decision. If that twerp needs rescuing, then we go to the fucking island and rescue her. Of course you’d run away from your problems just like she does.”

“This isn’t running, it’s…” Kir narrowed her eyes. Why was she engaging in this? She didn’t need to talk things over with Reyna. She didn’t know her, didn’t owe her anything resembling an explanation. She turned, and ran for a different edge of the tower, one that Reyna wasn’t blocking.

There was another flash of black energy, and then suddenly Reyna was there, falling on top of Kir from a foot above the ground. They both collapsed again.

“Stupid cock-gobbling bard!” Reyna swore. 

“We did it again!” came that high-pitched voice again.

Kir saw it this time, the source of the voice. A tiny winged person, maybe the size of a person’s hand. One that looked a lot like Juala.

Kir flinched at that. She didn’t need yet another reminder of her failures. 

“‘We’ didn’t do squat,” Reyna growled. “I’m the one doing the math on the fly to do the teleports. You’re barely assisting.”

The tiny Juala stuck her tongue out at Reyna, and then turned around and wiggled her barely-there ass at her. 

“Useless Spark,” Reyna growled. “We gonna do this all day, Kir? Because I can keep doing this.”

“What is this? A Pact? When did you get a Pact?”

“It’s… complicated.”

“And doesn’t matter. You need to let me do this. If I don’t do this, I’ll… I’ll never forgive myself.”

“Oh fuck off with that.” Reyna made as if to slap Kir upside the head, and her hand was stopped again. She made another frustrated noise. “We get Rua back, problem solved.”

“You don’t know that we can. And what’s more… if I don’t do this, Rua will never get her freedom back. She’ll always be enslaved to me. Always be compromised by my Pact. I made the decision to fight her. I provoked her, knowing what my Pact would do to her. I thought I’d be able to live with it. But I can’t. I’m weak. I’m rotten. And it’s not just Rua. Juala needs justice, too.”

Saying those words reframed what she was doing in her mind. She wasn’t ending her story. She was avenging the end of someone else’s. Kir stood taller, and walked to another ledge. Reyna swore and vanished, reappearing in front of Kir again, but this time Kir was expecting it.

Her fist flashed forward, taking Reyna solidly across the jaw. A shield of Tenacity protected her from the impact, and didn’t waver. That surprised Kir for a moment. As new as Reyna was to soul power, she shouldn’t have enough to be able to tank that kind of hit and not worry about a followup. 

Reyna’s arms wrapped around Kir in a hug, and she said, her voice desperate, “Don’t fucking do this.”

Kir twisted, and managed to break the hold. Reyna, unable to do anything that actively harmed Kir, lost the next exchange, and was kicked aside. Kir took two more steps towards the ledge, closing her eyes, and said, “For Juala.”

Reyna’s hand grabbed Kir’s ankle. Kir moved to kick it away, but then saw the desperation in Reyna’s eyes. The tears.

“You stupid fuck. Why do I always have to be the smart one.” Reyna sniffled. “I’m Juala, you stupid cunt.”

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