Rainfall and Festered Lands

-==New Scene: Outside the Portal Cavern, moments after the battle==-
The rain pours down from the heavens as if the aurora itself was broken. Prismic light shines in shattered glass against dozens of white feathers drift down to the site where Paulo violently descended. The ground is like a sticky clay made slick by the rainfall. Paulo's white clothes are caked in slickened earth where he lays several feet depressed into the ground. It creates a bowl of water that fills around him as a streak of lightning crashes. By the time the thunder rolls over to him, Gig is sitting on the edge of the crater.
"Looks like I win," Gig says as he kicks his legs like a child over the edge. His coalfire eyes drift to the pickaxe that is pushed right to the haft through the wizard's chest. Blood does not ooze out of Paulo, but a silken white light that the metal tool drinks in like a leech. Gig's eyes flick to Paulo's. The man's blue eyes gaze up. "Don't be like that," Gig crosses his arms over his chest, "no one likes a sore loser. And when it comes to losers, you are first in line." Paulo's blue eyes slide to the right as the water level reaches his ears. White hair flows out as the water catches it, swishing to the current of still rainwater. "It's funny," the man says, taking a labored breath.
"Looks aren't everything," Gig replies, leaning his body forward and providing a sharp toothed grin.
The wizard blinks slowly as if his eyes were leadened towards sleep. "I have a literal hole in my chest and you are the one with heartache," he continues.
Gig's grin recedes. The creases in his smile become flatline and the color in his eyes lose the playful dance to them. "I thought this would be more satisfying." He takes a rock and tosses it in the smallest lake beset by a sky of prismic starlight. "If you knew it was this boring you could have done it differently. Can you at least die faster?"
Paulo's blue eyes reach out for Gig's as the Devil looks off to the distance now. The white haired man says, "You had fun, didn't you?"
There is a pensive pause from the Devil, "Yes," he admits like a sheepish child. "I'm glad," Paulo replies, the water rising and causing him to slowly ascend like a rising sun.
"No," Gig says as he points at Paulo, "you don't get say those things you fucking martyr complex control freak high roading hypocritical..." He fails to complete the sentence.
Paulo's laugh is barely more than the huff of a few breaths. "Stopping things is my job. You can't tell me what not to do. You can only tell me other things I could do."
Gig cracks his knuckles against his cheek and cracks his neck immediately afterwards. "You're insufferable," Gig kicks his legs a little.
"I wish I could say that you'll only suffer me a while longer," Paulo says as he finally is able to look Gig in the eyes. The two talk with a look that could span days. The history they shared coming to a stormy sunset.
"Tell me the truth. Did it feel this way for you back then when you betrayed me?" Gig asks with a cold fire in his eyes now. Paulo doesn't look away. It takes him several moments to respond as the rain pelts his face. "Yes. It utterly destroyed me to have to stop you, Gig. And I did have to stop you... from yourself." There is another pause as the rain drips off of Gig's horns. Paulo continues, "None of the joy you felt would have been possible if you continued that path. I had to force you down another."
Gig squints his eyes, "You didn't have to do shit, old man."
"Ha," Paulo exhales, "I am who I am. Or, at least," he looks back to the sky in time to see the blur of a white owl flying over, "I will be for a while longer. In your own way, you were trying to save me. Thank you for that."
"Why would I save you? I just wanted to see what happened when Reap struck your immortal body. The result is very disappointing," Gig snorts.
"I can't die, Gig," Paulo reminds Gig, "I gave up that right so long ago. I wandered a sea of light as bright as the center of a star and my identity slowly was burned away. I thought that with the time I had left here that I was doing the right thing with the time I was given to me."
Gig picks up another rock and throws it at Paulo, it misses and plunks next to his head as the crater fills to the point where Gig's feet wade into it. "You gave it all up for a pretty face. Pathetic."
"Some things are worth saving, Gig," Paulo closes his eyes.
"Paulo?" Gig stands up suddenly, tense. "Paulo?!" The eyes open back up, "I'm not gone yet. Calm down."
Gig uproots a tree with a turn of his hand and throws it across the horizon like a javelin in anger. "Just fucking heal yourself. Stop fucking around you fucking fuck."
The water finally reaches the top of the crater, where Paulo floats there. "If I take this out, the light will spill forth and destroy this land," Paulo explains, "the positive plane is endless energy. No mortal hand should ever touch it. The fact I have any resemblance of my identity is a miracle." The man smiles, "And that's what Solus reminded me during my time with her. All of these people. Fighting for what they believe in. Surviving. Falling. Picking up the torch once again. The thing they had wasn't the perfect choices. Doors closed so only the perfect one was left open." He takes a deep breath in and exhales. "It was hope. They had hope, Gig, and they'll be just fine with or without us."
Gig says nothing as he extends a hand out, "Lets make a deal, Paulo."
"No," Paulo says, "I deny. You extend. This has to play out. It is the only door left. I've closed all others."
"Fuck the doors, break down the fucking wall you coward! You aggrandizing fuck. There are options and you aren't taking them. Stubborn ass," Gig yells. "When I pass on there is one thread left for me to pull on. To take this energy out into the stars where it cannot destroy this world I love so much," Paulo says as he puts one hand on the haft of the pickaxe. "I desire no other path."
"What about Solus," Gig shouts, "yeah? Think about the people you are leaving behind. Alexa. Be'lania. Pisces. Captios. Cassandre."
"Such a short list," Paulo grins like a Devil.
"... me," Gig finally admits, "think about me. Think about how you regret bringing me into this world. Think about how much it was a mistake to save me. Think all of those things, Paulo, if it means you stay here a while longer." He extends his hand out again, "take the deal." His confidence voice gives way to a certain powerlessness of the situation. Paulo's grin becomes a parental smile as he grips onto the pickaxe tighter. He looks to Gig and keeps eye contact with him as the weapon is drawn out, "I do not regret showing this world to you. I do not regret saving you in Freeport. I regret not telling you this sooner. You are worth saving, Gig. You are loved. This world we are in is terrible and beautiful both and... I am glad I was able to share it with you. But now... I must go on ahead. When you reach the stars, come find me. I'll keep the light burning for you."
The pickaxe is lifted from Paulo's chest as time stands still. Light erupts in a blinding pillar so hot it sears the clouds apart. Gig is reminded of a time before. Why did he look to the tragedy that day when the option for hope was there as well. He reaches for his enemy, his friend, his father, and his peer.
The flood of light stops.
There is silence.
Gig stands in a pool of water with a pickaxe in his hand and the peacefully still body of the only man who truly understood him floating with closed eyes and muted lips.
A bright light flashes at the entrance of the cave as a wave of raw energy rushes over the group in the cave. Tears fall from Captios' eyes as his spell ends. The look in his eyes exposes all the others need to know. "He's fucking gone guys. Paulo's gone." He staggers backwards until his back hits the cave wall, slipping to the ground. Suddenly he begins to panic, gasping for air. "Ozy hit him...Reap. Too much energy... He had to pass on..." The words come out in pieces as, for the second time in his life, Captios cannot find all the words he is looking for. "Gig tried... make a deal... save him... In the end... didn't even matter..."
A crash of lightening hits, and everyone seems to go still, the sound seemingyan omen, but of good? Or bad? Alexa's body is crumpled against the wall, trying to get support from anything she can to lessen the pain that emanates from her stomach. Why is it always her stomach? She closes her eyes, trying to focus on her surroundings to figure out what happened. She can't help but to feel Ford's presence nearby, as if he is sitting next to her, but just out of reach. Her eyes start to well up and she can't figure out why. "I did it Ford," she whispers "I protected her just like you would." She turns to where she can feel him and opens her eyes. Nothing. He's finally gotten good at hiding. She sees Captios as he seems to change his spell, changing the sense he is using. Around them is just quiet. A pit in Alexa's stomach appears that's more than her wound, she can't help but feel like something isn't right, and it has something to do with Paolo. Flashes of a conversation that doesn't fit in time go through her mind. In the eye of the hurricane there is quiet for just a moment, a bright flash, and then the chaos ensues. 'Paulo's gone.' There it is. The ominous feeling looming over the world. Captios continues to talk, but Alexa can't hear. A ringing goes through her ears her mind tries to process the information. The bookshelves are crashing in her mind. Wave upon wave crashes over her, turning her white hot, and then cold, in repetition. She doesn't know how to process what Captios said, but then a moment clears in her mind 'I'm sorry, and I forgive you.' a calm Paulo says to Ozy in an earlier time. "He knew." She looks to Captios, to Syn, to anyone to get her grounding back. "I think he knew all along, but I don't know what it means. Paulo can't die."
The cold icy floor presses against her back, bloody and aching, Syn lays there face up. Her chest rises with a heavy inhale, letting out a painful exhale while it collides against the cold air around her. Her body aches across every muscle, bruises forming at the surface of her skin in some places and blood trying to coagulate behind ruffed up clothing in others. It is painful, and there may just be a broken rib somewhere in that ribcage of hers.
Ty and Wilys had left them there in that icy cave as each member of the party tries to recover from the grueling fights previously. An understatement really, casters had expended most of their spells and Syn as their melee, completely exhausted, clinging on to the little strength that remains.
There is a flash of light from outside the cave and the silence that follows is unnerving and felt deep in the soul. The shout from Captios and then the painful replay from Alexa causes Syn’s head rolls to the side, looking out to the entrance of the cave as it continues to rain. “W-what?” a faint cough to follow before she rolls her head to the other side, bouncing eyes between both Alexa and Captios. “If he can’t die, where the hell did he go then?” Syn winces, closing her eyes for a moment. They slowly open as the cold ice presses against the side of her cheek, melting faintly by her infernal skin. “and where the fuck is Ozy?”
Captios turns to Syn and Alexa laying next to each other. His breathing has slowed back to normal, but the tears still drip from his tired eyes. "He said he needed to take the energy in his body away from this world, to the stars where it cannot destroy this land. I don't know what the means. All I know is when the flash of light occurred, I switched back to what I could see and what I saw was a lifeless body lying in a pool in a crater with reap nearby." Suddenly Captios stands up. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH" he screams upwards, a primal, emotional scream that reverbarates around the walls of the cavern. "Where's Ozy? I don't know. What I gather, he's the one responsible for that final blow that put down Paulo." Captios grips the book tighter in his right hand, as he looks back at Syn. "Paulo took a blow meant for you Syn. Ozy was about to kill you but Paulo changed reality to take that blow. He knew the whole time what would happen when he met up with us. He could have avoided it and he would still be alive today. But he chose to save you with his final great act." The words hold no malice, just pure Captios-style stream of conciousness. The words of someone too tired and wrecked to filter anything.
Syn closes her eyes for a moment, darkness behind tired eyes as she listens to Captios speak, then scream, as his voice echoes through out the chamber. Those blood red eyes slowly open again, rolling her head to the side to look directly at the wizard. “What the fuck are you going on about?” She lifts her head slightly, sending waves of pain through her body as she does so. “Ozy and Paulo left to deal with the dragons. Even if Paulo did something regarding me, we all know it wasn’t for my wellbeing. It was for some bullshit outcome he felt beneficial to Arhor’ha. Tsk.” She collapses back down against the icy floor. Besides, Alexa is right; he can’t die…….” She pauses, looking to Solus for a moment before bringing her gaze back onto the wizard. “So unless you know something we don’t, it’s best you don’t throw around scary words, or blame me for that matter. He made his choices, as did all of us here. Or am I wrong?”
Captios keeps his gaze on Syn. "Of course I know something you all don't. Is that even a question?” He lashes out. "I fucking remember everything. It's what I do. I remember Ty..." Captios looks at Alexa. He speaks now that Ty is gone from the cave. "I remember everything about him even though most people don't remember him at all. So yes, I there are probably things I know that you don’t." Captios starts to stomp around the cave, pointing at various places.
The tears are dry on his face now as he speaks. "I remember us following Syn, Ozy and Ty down here. Syn, you and Ty were getting fucked up by Ozy, and his weapon was digging into your shoulder, like with Del. I know that Alexa banished you to save your ass, but it wasn't a forever solution. You were going to come back and Ozy was going to attack you again. Ozy's eyes were pure black, like ink. I've never seen anything like it. He was a emotionless, almost a mindless machine, attacking Ty. Then Paulo rewrote reality to what you all remember. But if you all think hard, maybe you’ll realize there are inconsistencies with your memories. Because rewriting reality and the past isn’t perfect, even for someone like Paulo. If you pull on the weave to rewrite the past, then the weave has been affected by those changes so your present is different because the weave is different than if the new events happened organically.” Captios stops himself as he starts to explain the intricacies of reality magic. -- “Paulo isn’t dead, you guys are fucking right. Sorry that for once in my life I didn’t use the scientific term for whatever the hell he is. But he isn’t on Arhor’ha anymore. His exact quote was 'When I pass on there is one thread left for me to pull on. To take this energy out into the stars where it cannot destroy this world I love so much’”. Captios makes the quotation fingers, while speaking like Paulo. “And you can believe me or not, but I remember all his words. And Gig’s. Gig was with him at the end and knew this was the end of Paulo on the physical plane.”
“And yea Syn, maybe he didn’t give a shit about you, I don’t know. But he definitely gave a shit about her,” Captios points now to Solus, who sits in silence next to Syn and Alexa. “It seems that everything he did at the end was for you Solus. Maybe he saved Syn because he entrusted you two to each other? I don’t fucking know. I can quote you the the entire conversation if you really want me to but honestly, I’m tired and exhausted and… I’m fucking done.” Captios stops his tirade, as his energy fades from his body. He walks over to the wall of the cave, near the entrance, and collapses as he continues to stare blankly at the motley crew across the room.
During this time Solus has been quiet. There are times where it seems as if she wants to speak, but the words do not come out. She is situated by Alexa and is tending to her wounds in a less fantastic way than the flash healing the dragonborn did. The woman with her baggy jacket on is running her fingertips over the fine wounds on Alexa's torso. A faint white light pours out and draws out the pain of the injury as if an anesthetic. The pain is replaced by a warm sensation like wearing a shirt fresh from the dryer or taking a bite of a freshly baked loaf of bread. It is all she can do to remain calm as her lips move lightly. They shiver wordlessly of 'It cant be' and 'He cant die' and 'Its okay'. The shivering makes its way to her hands, which she hides under the thick white cloth of Paulo's jacket until they get steady.
Adrenaline, she would dismiss the sensation as. She is not exactly a fighter. Nova was one out of necessity for her lifestyle. Solus took a more peaceful route.
"It is a lot to process," Solus says with a voice as soft as a whisper. Her heads slides away from Alexa's wounds and towards Captios, "Its a lot to process, Captios." Louder and clear this time. "Please be patient with us," she continues with her voice evening out again. It is all over the place. Even her hair betrays her emotional state as it waves as if a breeze caught its way inside from the outside thunderstorm and caused it to drift like a snake of white light away from her. --- She clenches her fist in one hand as she grounds herself on a singular idea, "I can't accept that he is dead. Its just..." Solus shakes, "...impossible to comprehend right now. I traveled with him for many months when I was sick." Sick. Thats how she decides to consider that time. "It is like saying that the sun has gone out or all the stars in the sky have vanished. I can picture it but," the girl closes her eyes, "you can't rewrite the stars." A little sadness in that, there.
The eyes open back up. A little more like gelatin reflecting a burning sunset as her eyes water a bit. "Are you doing okay, Captios? You see more than us but you don't have to shoulder that burden alone." A hand rests on Alexa's shoulder as she turns to the other woman, "Right? We really pulled through for each other back there. We need to remember that feeling."
Captios stares at Solus with eyes that betray his sadness. “I’ll be fine.” Solus’ words seem to calm the energy of the room and soften his mood. “I know it’s stupid, and I know that I’ve spent less time with Paulo than most of you, but this one for some reason hits me like a sack of bricks. Paulo was like the big brother I never had. Or the wise grandfather. Something in between. I haven’t had any family since I my mom… I guess what gets me the most, is that as cheesy as this sounds, you guys are my family now. And when Ozy attacked you Syn, all I could do was watch. I wasn’t strong enough to protect her, or stop Ozy. Paulo was, but then I wasn’t strong enough to help him. Same as with my mom. I promise you that won’t happen again.” Long monologues from a short wizard.
Captios gets up slowly, wiping his eyes. “Thanks Solus, I needed that. You’re a genuinely good soul, I see why all these people have put their lives on the line for you. You can assuredly put me on that list now.” He starts looking towards the long, tunnel-like exit. "I have to get out of this fucking cave, I’m getting a bit claustrophobic. To be fair, I feel like we all should, it is still Byle’s lair. And if someone hasn’t removed Paulo’s body, that means it is still outside, and I’d like to retrieve it. How do you all feel about getting out of this hellhole?"
Listening to his party go through the stages of Grief; Rolf feels a bit sullen that he will never get to know Paulo the way the party does. Hearing each and every member react fills him with sadness. He wants to help, to make things better, but no words come out. He has no idea what to say to help. The feeling of uselessness causes a rising frustration. He, having just been through a tragedy, knows that no words spoken will help the pain. But that doesn't stop him from wishing to find the perfect thing to say to console the party.
Hearing Captios suggest a plan of action spurs Rolf to agree: "I think that's a great idea. Lets get his body and figure out where to go next. We are in the lair of a dragon after all. Though does anyone have any ideas what to do with the remains of this plant devil before we go?"
A moment of silence fills the room following Captios’ explanation, red eyes widen as she processes through her memories against the words he had said. That feeling of being in this place before, that Déjà vu did seem strange, but in the moment of it all, she had not thought too deeply on it. Syn leans up and grips at her rib again.
“He tried to kill me…” She mumbles. “Never had the right moment to mention that he was my brother. Ha.. I wonder if that would have changed anything.” She says it aloud. “If that is the truth and we did square off, it was long overdue. Though it seems I would have lost. Which means I am not as strong as I hoped and that there is a breaker out there stronger than I am…” She pauses, looking down at her bracers for a moment. “Why does that bother me?” A mental thought that slips out from her own lips for others to hear, it wasn’t meant to be said aloud.”
Her eyes shift to her beloved friend Solus, watching as her hair twirls and twists around her. The hurt is clear as day and there is another struggle in Syn’s heart on what to do, what to say. Syn shifts closer to both her and Alexa, gripping her side harder as with each move brings a piercing pain through her ribcage. “You know that applies to you as well.” Syn says, uncomfortably. “I uh, I am sorry this has happened but... we’ll figure things out because that is what this group does. We make do with what we got and what has happened. Seeing you hurt...” Another pause before she reaches her hand out to tug on the long jacket draped around her friend. “Well, it hurts me too. I wish I could take all the pain of this world away. Even if it means putting it on myself as well, whatever it takes.” Her head turns back to Captios. “I don’t want to be here either, we are all exhausted and hurting. I’m worried if we go out there and encounter something else, we’d be dead. We’d all die. Though I realize reaching Paulo’s body is important to a lot of you, so if that’s what you all decided on, I will do my best to fight if something does happen. Just know…” She grins contentedly. “I fucking hurt.”
Captios looks at Syn. "If you are hurting that badly, we'll never make it. Alexa can barely stand, and is too weak to bind with Nuru I think.” We’ll have to think of another way out. Before we do though, I need to do something. With Paulo gone, we can’t have this book falling into the wrong hands.” Captios puts his hand on the book Paulo gave him and thinks hard. How do I bind this book to someone? Create magical ownership. "Alexa, I’m going to give you a huge responsibility. I’m going to bind this book to you. And I don’t want you to let me unbind it unless I can tell you why I shouldn’t be allowed to unbind it. If you don’t want this burden, let me know. But you are the only person I know who cannot be corrupted."
"It does," Solus replies to Syn as she is reminded that she is not one who needs to shoulder the pain. "I just can't process it all right now," the silver haired woman admits. A hand draws the tresses back over one of her ears and then up over her horns. "Seeing it for myself will help, I think," the woman nods. There is a deep breath as a part of her echoes. It resonates. "Pain isn't bad," the tiefling continues in a soft voice, "it reminds us that we lived. That we existed." There is a pause. "Thats something Paulo once told me, at least. I'm starting to understand what he meant. That other part of me is still me." Suddenly she gives Syn a hug, even though the bruised and battered barbarian would do better with less physical words of encouragement. "It builds us as much as the light of hope does," she says. Pulling away the woman adds, "I chose to believe it has meaning, even if it hurts." It has to have meaning. Otherwise its just meaningless suffering.
Of a cruel world.
Who wants to believe in that? --- Not Pangur, that's who. As the party starts to come to terms with what leaving Byle's lair will entail, the blue-white floof pads out of the cave. Little dots of platinum light leave in his wake like the soft glow of a firefly. The storm still rages on, but they are in the heart of it as the light has seared a hole into the sky itself. Only mists of rain breeze through the wet, purified air.
Somewhere in Arhor'ha another blue-white floof leaves the side of a paladin as she does maintenance on her armor. Yet another disappears into the treeline where a hunter and her snow white wolf share a camp fire. The air high in the sky whips the floppy ears of another blue-white floof as it hops from the shoulder of an old dwarf that sails atop a silver dragon. With a look over its shoulder, the creature hops off to descend back down to the earth, leaving a trail of blueish motes of light behind it as it flies as gracefully as a bird back down.
It is not difficult to find the exact location of where Paulo and Gig are. Dozens, if not hundreds, of small blue-white catlike creatures are assembled there. They sit in the trees with softly glowing eyes of white and blue. They sit on the ground atop of rocks and earth with a teary gaze. They sing a soft, mournful hymn that carries across the wind.
As Captios places the book into Alexa’s pack, he feels Pangur leaving the cave. A wizard can always feel his familiar leaving. Yoyo, come back! Nothing. “Guys, Yoyo's gone out and I can’t seem to call him back to me. Something’s going on. We have to go out there. In my pain, I completely forgot about Yoyo. Damnit.” He sprints to the other side of the room before stopping at the exit. He hesitates. “Uh guys, last time I went somewhere by myself I almost died. Can we go out there together?"
Alexa props herself up, using Solus briefly as a brace. "I'll go with you." She takes a deep breath, the wound in her stomach cosmetically gone, but the pain still lingering. Focusing hard she pushes the pain back and locks it into a chest in her mind, stepping forward to walk with Captios
Seeing Alexa push herself more than he would like; Rolf adds: "I'll tag along too." Hoping to ensure that there would be no more bodies to retrieve. Though also being concious of their pride he adds on "Im curious to where that little floof ran off too".
"Thank you guys, I appreciate it." Captios puts his hand on Rolf's shoulder, then steadies himself under Alexa's arm, doing his best to support her, although he isn't exactly strong enough to so to. She's basically walking on her own. But it's the thought that counts. "Alexa, all I need you to do is point out where he is. He hasn't gone far. I'll run out and get him. Solus and Syn, if you guys want to join us, there is no rush. We'll bring Pangur back here and grab Paulo if the coast is clear. I'm not sure what's out there guys, but I need to get Yoyo back." The three adventurers creep along the edge of tunnel towards the opening on the other side.
"It's never a problem, Cap. It's what friends are for." Trying to lend as much strength he can to Alexa; it's the first time that he feels like the one who needs to protect Alexa and Cap. While drained of energy from the ritual to close the portal, Rolf is relatively well off. " Syn and Solus try and rest up. We will be back soon."
“Don’t tell me what to do.” The tiefling sneers at both the men of the party, placing her hand around the handle of wraeth and using it to lift herself up off the floor. She stands in silence for a moment, letting out a light exhale to ease the pain. “So long as I am breathing, I will fight. If it comes to that at least.” She steps forward, reaching out a hand to Solus to help her up off the floor. “Though technically, I’d also be fighting in Avernus so I suppose it doesn’t matter too much.” She lets out a faint snicker to herself at the thought. “I will help where I can, but someone else can lead the way.”
The whole exchange sets Solus off sideways. The pain and sadness is replaced by this feeling of insignificance. When Syn, hanging on by a thread, reaches to extend a hand she bats it away and stares daggers at Rolf and Captios. "I'm in better condition than all of you right now," as she stands up. "You," she practically screams, "don't get it." Her fists are clenched and her sweetness has turned fire as quickly as a candle burns a hand too close to it.
"Staying and waiting? Didn't you hear a thing I just said? I -need- to see this to process it and I don't need you hauling a body back here like he is a sack of potatos," she says, throwing a hand wide. Her hair flows behind her like whips at this point. "I don't need to rest. My heart feels like it being ripped apart. I feel if I don't do something about it I could rip a whole new portal to Avernus with my bare hands." The smart thing to do would be to breathe and to calm down. She isn't doing that. "You know what?" she heads out, furious, "Stay out of my way. YOU can wait here and I'll tell you how it went."
She stomp stomp stomp stomps out in a tantrum.
Seeing the tiefling rage, Rolf gets the feeling he needs to chose his words more carefully or he might end up splattered and nothing more then chunks.
"If you guys want to come, you can. You've taken so many blows Syn. So many blows for me. So many blows for us as a party. I know I couldn't have taken them. It's actually so impressive."
Not wanting to make her feel like he was only buttering her up; Rolf trys to say it as sincere as possible.
"I only wanted to let you rest. You've earned it. "
Looking toward Solus; her anguish is palpable. Frustration. Sorrow. Anger.
"I know how you feel Solus. I lost many people recently. So much left I wish I could say. Now I have no way to say it. Some I couldn't even give a last goodbeye to."
His voice starting to crack and emotion building up. But his face remains still. Unchanged. Statuesque. This isn't the time or place to grieve for those who aren't fresh to leave this world.
Seeing Solus stomp out, he hopes his next words will set her at ease.
"Solus, you are the one in the best condition. I couldn't think of anyone better to partner with Syn; especially if things went bad. We are on a battlefield and danger is always one step away..."
Pausing to think over his words a bit more....
"I am sorry. I'm new to this. You two are right. We shouldn't split up. Let's go recover Paulo together."
As Rolf apologizes, Solus stomps right past the trio of worn out adventurers making their way to the cave entrance. It is both an adorable and frightening representation of her anger. “Wait Solus, you’re right, we’re sorry! Wait up!” Captios yells as they speed up to catch the fiery woman. She’s walking fast, surprisingly fast for someone who started walking again about a month ago. He speaks softly to Alexa, “Alexa, I know I don’t have to tell you this but be on guard. Gig was outside before and might still be. The fact that Yoyo isn’t responding means something is either incredibly wrong or something significant is about to happen. The only other time he hasn’t responded to me at all was when we first met Paulo."
Her hand gets batted away and she draws it back, looking down at Solus until she rises on her own. Syn throws her hand up in a ‘Okay, I’m sorry gez.’ Kind of way, watching her storm off towards the exit of the cave. Her red eyes dart to the others momentarily. “You guys forget, we were practically held as slaves by Jacob Whyte. Some even sold off to lesser devils into Avernus. Have to excuse us if we are not big fans of being told what the fuck to do and how to feel.”
She shifts on the heel of her boot and makes a stride towards the exit, passing the others for a moment. “But we are all feeling a little pissed off right now, so lets go---” She sees Captios turn and dash to the exit to catch up with Solus. “Together…. And figure this mess out.”
As Captios slow jogs up the tunnel to catch up with Solus, he spies her at the top of the tunnel. She is standing there, completely still. “Solus, hold up, we didn’t mean to make it seem like we didn’t need you. We wanted to give you space if you needed it.” As he approaches her, he sees her staring out of the entrance with eyes wide. A mournful humming hits his ears at the same time. “What are you staring at… woah.” Captios puts his hand on Solus’ shoulder and takes a step back from the light permeating the tunnel opening. “Solus, I think we should wait a second before going out there.” He turns back to see the others approaching, Syn a bit ahead of the others at this point. Without making a noise, Captios widens his eyes and begins pointing at the entrance of the tunnel, mouthing “Guys, what the fuck is that?” to his comrades.
Syn makes her way to the top of the cave entrance, reaching both Captios and Solus with eyes wide, placing the end of Wraeth into the ground and leaning on the great club by its handle. “What….the…” She gazes across the rain-soaked fester lands at the hundreds, if not thousands of duplicate Pangurs, all humming a soft melody that fills her ears with sadness. Their faint glowing hue of blue from their bodies shimmers and lights the battle scorned land. “Didn’t know Pangur could do something like this…maybe he really is…dea—” She stops her sentence abruptly. “It’s pretty.” She corrects her words at the tail end, brushing some wet hair out of her face. “I couldn’t tell you why this is a thing though, common occurrence in Arhor’ha honestly. Pangur was tied to Paulo in some way, also couldn’t tell you why, but you also had Pangur with you as..what? A familiar yes? So I guess you are more tied to Paulo than you think.” She reaches a hand out past the cave entrance, letting the soft patter of rain hit across her infernal skin. “I think they will show you the way, both of you.”
The chorus of Pangurs offer a path of light and song to follow through the misty swampland. Solus leads ahead so that people can't see her face. She is so angry and sad at the same time that she is drawn to uncontrollable tears that she doesn't want anyone to see. The song isn't making it better. Its making it real. She doesn't want it to be real.
Gig hasn't been the king of 'reality' in any sense. Lies. Dirty deals. Violence. Anarchy. They are things that subvert reality in favor of another. The devil hovers up and out of the water. He stands on the surface as if the water was made of glass. The pickaxe remains in his hand by the time the first of the Seekers arrive. "You should know I am in a foul mood," Gig says, his soulfire voice framed up like one of the many layers of hell wherein even a sin would freeze over.
"Mmm," Solus shakes her fists at her side so much they tremble. "Mmm," she whines, as if having an internal battle with herself or charging up to do some sort of spirit bomb. "Fuck your mood, Gig! What in Avernus did you do to Paulo?" she screams. Very un-Solus-like. Very much not the 'winning side' as Gig slowly turns his head over his shoulder that adds so much danger in the area that even a shark would swim away in fear.
“Solus…” Red eyes glance to her friend with a moment of curiosity. Would Solus hurt the same way if I had died as well? Those red eyes return and settle on the Devil as he rises then steps down onto the surface of the water. “Foul mood huh? Welcome to the fucking club Gig.” She sneers. “We are here to figure out what the hell happened to Paulo, Ozy too for that matter.” She eyes him for a moment, it’s clear he is angry and it’s a side of the devil that Syn has not yet seen. The spitfire tiefling toys with the idea of stoking the embers. “It is nice to know you actually feel something. Gotta be honest, I’m shocked.”
Solus is able to remain quiet now. Her outburst isnt one of rage or anger. It is a short circuit mess of emotions that latch onto anything and everything just to find common ground. As the conversation finds a course, the woman is able to resort to staring at Gig. Anything to keep from looking at Paulo and process what is happening too quickly.
"You wound me," Gig says as a fine hand with long talons is placed to his chest and that beating 'heart' therein. Eyes squint more as each word comes out like venom in Syn's veins, "and you know first hand that wounding an infernal causes the worst of rebukes." The hand draws from his chest as a javelin of fire and magma is pulled from what appears to be a tear in the air. Two fingers draw up as the spear levels itself at Syn's chest, fire dripping down. There is a tense moment before the Devil sighs and shakes his head, "Its not as fun knowing Paulo isn't going to be there to save you again and again. Its like dancing and your partner is a corpse." He coins a Moriarty style, "Bo-ring."
Looking to the primal fire, Gig takes a chunk out of it and eats it like it was made of red velvet cake. "Do you know what feels like, Syn? Knowing killing you all would be boring? It is like the moon became a big ball of cheese and decided to marry an ocean of milk in a ceremony with velveteen mice." Looking at his spear-cake, the Devil speaks with his mouth full. Swallowing he burps brimstone. "Ya'll don't need answers, ya need Lathander, thats what," he says in the Arhor'ha mockery equivilent of 'Yall need Jesus'.
“You say that a lot.” She chuckles some, looking up at the devil. That laughter fades as a javelin is plucked from a void cut through time and space. It drips with burning hot colors of reds, oranges, and yellows as it shifts and points at her chest. A sharp inhale of air expecting him to send the javelin through her chest, till he shakes his head. A faint exhale. “Then what would be considered entertaining to you?” She looks up at him, then to the pick axe in his other hand. “That? If what Captios told us in the cave, that was in Paulo’s chest. Though, you are pissed off. Not the outcome you wanted after all?” She scoffs.
Oh ho. Gig scarfs down on lava-fire-spear-cake. "Captios told you that," the Devil says, licking the frosting off of his talon-like fingers one by one. Drips of the oranges and reds hit the ground cause them to sizzle with the water collected there. The air gets very still as his coalfire eyes slide from Syn over to Captios there. "And he shared this information with you so freely. Let you see it for yourself, perhaps? No? Just told you? This, pickaxe-in-a-chest Gig-is-angry narrative, mm? And you believe it?" He lets a laugh out there, "I am in a foul mood and you are being so easily deceived. That IS entertaining. Ahhh, I needed that. See Paulo? It -is- funny."
Paulo says nothing. He floats there silently.
Captios this whole time has been staring at Paulo, floating in the puddle in the middle of the crater. It took him back to finding his mother, dead on the floor of their home. Her face was eerily similar then to Paulo’s now. Pure calm in the expression, eyes open. Completely zoned out of the infernal conversation next to him, he suddenly snaps back to reality when he hears Gig say his name. “Huh? What did I say?” He sees Gig’s eyes piercing directly into his, and is immediately overcome with a sense of foreboding. Gig’s face betrays something evil in the works. To be completely honest, Captios is tired of all this shit the world has thrown at him. He says, in a firm voice, different than the Captios that encountered the wolves before. Maybe it will de-escalate the situation, maybe it won’t, but right now, honestly though, what does it matter. Gig is going to do whatever he wants and the world will keep spinning. “I didn’t see any of your conversation, I heard it. To be fair, both you and Paulo knew I was there. Either of you could have stopped me at any time. Yes I told them what I heard. I had to let it out. Seeing Paulo for a second like he was, remembering my mom, then hearing his last words. What the hell was I supposed to do?” All of a sudden, he starts getting very angry. Angry at the world, angry at Gig, angry at Paulo, angry at everyone. “Why the fuck is everyone so mean all the time. Lathander help me, Syn why would you aggravate Gig like that? Everyone is grieving, why would you instigate something. You know I got your back, but you want to poke him?” Captios is completely ignoring Gig now, focused purely on dressing down Syn.
“I can’t say if its true or not. I just know what I was told. Be it truth, half-truth, or a lie. It’s what was given. Hence why we are here. To confirm it.” Her eyes narrow on the Devil.
The rain still falls from the stormy sky, hitting small puddles held in spots between the muddy festered lands. “So yeah, actually I do—” Her head turns to find Captios in a rage of his very own. Angry and frustrated at the world. I don’t blame him she thinks to herself, until that rage is directed to her. She shifts on her boot, to face him. “What? You want me to send him condolences? You know who -that- is right?” She points up to Gig as she looks to Captios.
“I’m not going to stand here feeling bad about what happened because whats done is done. Paulo had his reasons. You really think Gig gives a fuck about us?” She looks up to him briefly as he eats his lava cake, dropping her head down to return to meet Captios once more. “I mean really, my words just fall on deaf ears anyway.” She lets out a sigh that triggers a sharp pain in her rib again. “I don’t know what to tell you Captios, world has not be kind to anyone here, being angry is kind of a default. So ask your questions, before I say something to get us all killed.”
"I'm not going to kill you," Gig says, cryptically. "You wouldn't be able to come back from the dead. Nor go to Avernus. Nor the Fugue Plane." He throws his cake on the ground, angry at all those calories he has to burn off now. "If you really want to piss me off, go kill yourselves."
The world seems quiet for Alexa. A world that is typically filled with highly tuned elements that she can pinpoint and decipher no longer exist. All she can see is a sea of Pangurs surrounding where Paulo lies in a puddle. Accustomed to a cold and emotionless state, it feels as if all of Alexa's existence is emotion, her body is struggling to contain it. As Syn starts to verbally attack Gig, and Captios attempts to diffuse, the world starts to come back into focus, appearing as a buzzing at first, and then she is smacked into the reality of their situation. Gig's words hit her hard. She looks to Gig, "We don't have the liberty of bickering about who did what. Regardless of fault, we have to fix this." She instinctly grabs to her bag, knowing the Ford is in there. She's terrified to even look in the bag. Not now, she can't take another blow. That will be a new thing that she may have to tackle. She is struggling so hard to get her brain into the right spot, to allow it to work and not let the emotional pain take over, all she can muster out after that is "How do we fix the imbalance?"
"Ford's dead, Alexa," Gig doesn't even answer her question to start. Those eyes of his burn a hole right through the woman's chest. Its his words that cut. They take razor sharp words and surgically flay her heart. "You can't come back. Neither can he. Forever." Eyes flick to Captios, who is rallying the group together, "Someone fucked up. But thats the beautiful thing about you assholes. You get to pick who you fuck up and when you fuck up." The Devil stretches his arms upwards. He warned he is in a foul mood and if he can't kill you, then he can make you wish you were dead. "You know why I -like- Syn, Alexa? Why she is my Bloodfire Knight and has a deal with me even though you think its such a bad idea? Because this crazy bitch does what she feels is right and doesn't think she can change a fucking thing."
The Devil throws his arms upwards, perhaps projecting as Paulo lies there and he couldn't do anything to stop the events from unfolding, "Whereas you think you can control it. Thats why -Paulo- likes you and Captios. I got news for you." His arms slowly lower as if the gravity of the situation is drawing it down, "You can't fix this. There is no 'next step' to check off. Find what you want to do before the world ends and go do it. This place will be ash and dust before much longer. Want to blame someone? Blame yourself or your god." His eyes drift past the group to where a white owl watches from a tree near a series of singing white floofens, "I know I do."
Being enthralled by the sea of Pangur has left Rolf a bit zoned out. After surveying the horde of Pangur; Rolf waits patiently and observers. They keep calling this man Gig....they couldn't be speaking so personal with the real Gig. Gig the great and wonderful baby eater. Gig the pirate king of Freeport. It couldn't be the same Gig that was a world shaping threat in Rolfs favorite TTRPG Fortresses and Fiends.
Trying to make sense of what's going on Rolf leans over to Captios and whispers "It seems like this man makes everyone angry. This isn't the real Gig right? Like the Gig from all the stories. He must be strong having left Paulo like that but this is just a homage to the real Gig."
The longer Rolf looks at Gig and Paulos' body the more unsettled Rolf is. Sweat visably pooling on his brow. What must have been seconds since he whispered his question starts to feel like an eternity. Either way this is a place of action; glancing at his compass spinning in every direction.
Before getting an answer from Captios Rolf adds in a hushed tone: "Either way let's keep our emotions in check. One slip up and we could lose someone very easily. Let's focus in getting Paulos' body and finding a way out of here with as little risk as possible."
Alexa is very calculated always, but Gig reading her like he's in her mind sets her off balance for just a moment. She wants to figure out her next move, but knows Gig is just getting what he wants. "I don't need you to like me Gig." She states with a sense of finality. There's too many emotions happening around her and inside her, she just wants to break down, but she refuses to do so in front of Gig. She tries channeling all that energy into trying to find where Ozy went, since now he appears even more out of control. Her efforts fail. She takes a deep breath and tries to recenter. "What I want to do is save as much of the world as I can before it crashes and burns."
Alexa’s entrance into the conversation allow Captios to collect his thoughts for a second. Talking to Gig is like trying to steer fire through a wooden chute. But his latest comments hit Captios. He turns turns to Rolf, “yeah, this is the Gig you’re thinking of. He’s well, Gig.”
Turning to Gig, Captios speaks, “Ash and dust you say? The world is going to end just like that?” He shakes his head. “Yea, we’re not just going to let that happen. This is our world too, Gig. And personally, I give too many shits about these guys to let them go out in flames, although Syn might actually enjoy that. And as long as we’ve got each other’s backs, I’ve got hope…” he pauses on that word, looking over to Paulo, “…that we’ll turn back whatever is trying to fuck with this world. Paulo believed in us, I know that. We fight for what we believe in. We survive. We fall. We pick up the torch once again.” His eyes fall on his comrades. "We've all been through shit that should have KOed us, and yet we are still here punching whatever gets in our way.”
Captios looks back at Gig, staring directly at him. For a second, Gig seems so un-devil-like. “What is going on with you? You told us we can’t fix this. Well unfortunately, only Celestials tell us what we can’t do. It’s your job to show us the alternatives. If one door closes, you tell us to break a hole in the wall. If the world is going to burn, you show us how to flood the damn place with the eastern seas. The world is going to turn to ash and dust? Tell us why and we’ll stop it. This is your team Gig, we’re who you’ve got to work with. So please, tell us what the hell is going on."
Alexa notes the white owl that Gig has been looking at, it seems familiar, she's definitely seen it before. "Are you insinuating that this isn't your doing Gig? Or that this wasn't what you wanted?" She pauses for a moment, letting Captios' words sink in. "I'm by your side Captios. If this world is going downhill, we will find a way to get it back up again. There has to be something, this world means too much to us, and I think it means more to you Gig than you'd like to admit. We can't let the world just die." She clutches at her bag, Gig's statements of Ford being dead ringing in her ears. She won't go down without a fight, that's what Ford would have done.
Syn leans heavily on Wraeth, watching and listening to the conversations to be had. Red eyes glisten to each of them before a sigh leaves her. “As much as I enjoy this lovey dubby shit that’s surfacing here, we have to figure out what the hell we plan on doing, how we even try to intervene in whatever mess this is and…” She trails off in thought for a moment, looking up towards Gig. “Who is willing to help us.”
Her head lowers, looking across the party. “There are things I personally am not finished with.” She states. “Jacob still breathes. We also know that’s a huge mess in of itself with whatever twisted bullshit he’s doing behind the scenes. Then there is whatever Gig over here is eluding to. Paulo isn’t here now to hold up our worlds, so its up to us to do so. It’s our world at stake, all our fights this far will be for nothing if everything around us turns to nothing. I’m not okay with that.” Her eyes flicker to Solus for a moment before they scan across the party once more. “Honestly it sounds like the biggest fight we’ll ever experience, assuming we succeed and you know.. not fall into oblivion. So I say, sign me the fuck up.” Her hand tightens around the handle of wraeth, bearing a toothy smirk.