[Quest] The Black City - Part III

As the water drained, Attikias hung on tight- even as the Kraken was dead. He was going to get this knife to work. It must have- it was in as it was dying, so it should be good.

He breathed out a blurble of relief, pulling his weapon out with a mist of blood. Light had snapped on, and he winced, covering his eyes with one hand and letting himself adjust to the new brightness of the room. She was holding something- Artio? She was- oh no. His shoulders dropped and he glanced aside, leaving Farina to the tender moment.

Patty's voice startled him. Jumping, he twisted to see the creature, staring at him. He hadn't helped, like he'd hoped, but-- ah, well. The past was the past, he supposed, but Attikias still felt just a tiny bit bitter about it. He shook his head, and swam for the new surface of the water, taking in a deep breath of new air.

Ah, that was so much better. He flexed his lungs once more as he got used to it, hissing out and shutting his eyes. Finally. They'd completed their quest, and they could go home.

The mention of Farina's reward worried him. Mutation..? He knew of its process, but he'd never had it happen to him- in fact, he never really wanted to go back into his chrysalis, even if he came out better than before. And- wouldn't its magic- if he was reshaping- try and take his clothes? He wasn't certain on it, and frowned as he thought about it. He'd cross that bridge when he got to it, he supposed.

Still treading water, Attikias spun in place to look for Carja, and- ah! There was Ascent. Diving back in, Attikias came close to the two dragons, watching Ascent. Carja had been burned... 'It's direct ice-- we need some kind of buffer.' He glanced to Ascent and placed his hand on the ball of ice, holding it away for a moment. 'If Farina means to mutate us, too, the chrysalis'll heal it. C'mon, Carja- it won't be long.'

Swimming further closer, Attikias tried to take one of Carja's talons and lead her to Farina, waving Ascent and the rest of the Elenyas over to follow. 'Hunter, Astéri- you too.'

Carja was in shock by the time her daughter and Attikias arrived, allowing herself to be pulled towards the cloud, sluggishly batting her tail.

”'S'okay...”, she mumbled, reaching out with a mangled hand to touch Ascent's head, ”It's gonna be fine... D-don't worry.”

She wheezed softly, broken ribs protesting with every breath. She was beaten and broken, barely able to even swish her tail back and forth. The cold armor she wore was melting ever so slowly, making the water around her cold. She bumped her head against Attikias and chuffed softly, eyelids drooping.

”That was super cool... when you stabbed it in the eye,” she mumbled, struggling to stay awake, growing weaker and weaker as the seconds passed.

”... Gonna sleep now,” she slurred, falling forward into the cloud of illness, the lights going out.

Her chrysalis came upon her swiftly, wrapping around her like a warm blanket, her tail the last thing to disappear. Within the egg, she slept, hopefully healing up in there. Only time would tell.

Existence for the remainder of the battle had been pain. His fever still ran high, brain slow-cooked by building pressure. He heard but could not see, the meager light he had been able to perceive blotted out by the expanding spots that dominated his vision. Back brutally slammed into the spikes he had been near blindly darting for, cold seeped into his spine, but its influence did little to banish the heat that the raging sickness had infused flesh and bone with. Even suspended in the water, Fahl could feel the sensation of something leaking over scales; whether blood or icemelt, he could not tell.

In his position, body weak and battered, the screams that bounced around him—of fear and rage, gurgling in the abyss—he yearned to add his own to the cacophony but found his mind too tired to contribute. Shame was all he had now, and that could not be shared.

Don't be dumb, he'd been told, so the iguana had tried to temper his eagerness and take precautions whenever he could. Be fast, he'd told himself, so long hours of practice had become routine before he had ever set foot inside Fornax again. Yet where was he? Useless and tossed aside, his magic writhing within, desperate for release, but him physically and mentally too exhausted to make use of it.

His disgust only deepened upon Farina's arrival. This was how this Master discovered them: on their last legs and in the midst of those being snapped apart as well, the entire operation soon to be toppled. What a lackluster impression they must have made. How could he dare address someone so powerful when he'd been knocked from the fight with the ease dust could be brushed off a shoulder?

So he sulked, head hung low as discontent drowned him. Air replaced water, and yet no action was taken besides clinging to the ice spike he'd collided with to avoid a sudden fall. The best a failure could do was continue living and nothing more.

Though the light that bathed the room registered as flecks swimming in shadow, the gift offered shone in the darkness even without his senses at full strength. Claws loosened, and Fahl slid into the water below to accept it, despite the reward seeming far from deserved. After all, who'd fought to the bitter end? As much as he'd desired to, not him. Nevertheless, he strode forward with chin lifted by false confidence, awareness dim to the cloud that advanced upon everyone.

"Master Farina, I—"

While sight remained impaired, eyes widened at the wedge driven into his throat. No matter how hard lungs pushed, words refused to come. Jaws stiffened and could not close. Something hard and slick crawled over the roof of his mouth and plastered down his tongue. His gasp lasted a second as nostrils no longer drew in fresh air. Then the light extinguished.

White stone dragged him into unconsciousness, his last thought a silent scream.

Ascent wrung their hands together even as Carja assured them she'd be okay. She didn't look okay at all, and while Attikias' reassurances were all well and good, they'd never actually witnessed a chrysalis themselves. Fatally wounded prey animals never hatched from a rock egg all healed; they were simply eaten. How could they trust that their mom would be okay? How was it even possible that a stone could heal her?

But it was too late to do anything themselves. Carja was already falling into her chrysalis, and Ascent really didn't know what was going on or how Master Farina was offering this gift, but... would it be rude to refuse? Probably? Uncertain glances around them revealed that everyone else was falling into their rock eggs as the cloud engulfed them, and while Carja had gone to 'sleep' quite willingly, the thrashing alligator and the choking iguana were no small sources of alarm. Would it hurt? They didn't want to hurt?

But even as Ascent fretted, the disease within was intensifying. Their eyes could hardly focus, and they could feel their blood pounding in their skull with fever. Maybe... they had no choice. Maybe they'd already been engulfed....

There was some familiarity to this. Death of a monster, destruction in trial- Farina, watching over them. The valkhound's head twisted to regard her, the beast treading underwater, taking in the tender moment.

Its six nostrils flared at the 'gift'. It did not need a gift. Hissing under its breath, it broke from the ground to swim alongside the Guardian, unafraid to latch onto the Oilstone chrysalis and curl its hooked talons over its surface. It checked the surface of it- no scratches, nothing new, and it nudged some more foliage by its surface. It would remain safe- and it would be safe, now.

There was something else, though. Using the chrysalis to launch off of, the valkhound aimed for the kraken, staring emotionlessly to it. It was not a clean kill- it was its Master's work, but it was still dead. Grinding its teeth, it reached for its head to snap off part of the beak, a part of a tip big enough to hold in one claw. This would be good.

And so, it returned the the chrysalis, placing the beak-part in a small stash of other rewards, little bits of unidentifiable bone that the valkhound seemed proud to own. Yes, here, it made its nest, and it latched back onto the chrysalis. Milk-white eyes turned to the Guardian, and it nodded quietly- it was this one's guardian. It would not fight, now, as its duty was complete, and so it must remain.

It was over. Cerilaine squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, shaking her head- the disease was getting to her mind, and she could feel her veins pounding across her body. She could barely recognize Farina coming to the rescue, barely hearing the conversation in the back of her mind as she forced herself to calm down.

When she opened her eyes again, there was a cloud of something, and so many of them chrysalizing. Gift-? The snow leopard shook her head, pushing back slightly- she didn't need a gift. She didn't need this. She came here from responsibility, from payment- not this.

She hovered for a long moment.

They all were being urged, and she shot a glance to outside the palace. Indigo..? Hesitant, she was split- reward, and her, and she frowned as her claws tensed. Would this gift be good, perhaps? Would it help her stay underwater? Remain with Indigo, for longer? Setting her jaw, Cerilaine shook her head before shoving forward, aiming directly for the cloud of disease.

This better be worth it.

Soon enough, she choked on nothing, the miasma catching up to her. Oh, her vision swam more, and she shut her eyes again, groaning. Of course it'd be more disease-- but, she didn't have time to think of it, as her gem grew to envelop her, trapping her within.