[Leaving this open in case any chrysalised chaos beasts want to wake up and interrupt the family reunion - you may get your ass whooped tho. Set roughly two weeks after the seige]

Juggernaut had thought the time without his sisters would pass at an agonising crawl. He could not have imagine a life without their presence, physical or psychic - but Mother had kept them busy. Dontaceal also. He could not help but regard the creature with a petty suspicion. What had he done for them that Mother could not? The brief connection to the greater network had been a hurricane of similar thought, but none could come close to Mother's.

His emotional reaction had been strikingly similar to a child of a single parent who had just introduced their new partner. He'd warm up to the idea - eventually.

It was not to say Alcina and Bone's absence had not hurt - even as its injuries sealed over with new tissue, their loss had been a constant ache from within. It wondered if it had remembered how bleeding had felt from Bone's last moments. The grief felt like a damaged artery, always leaking.

It had spotted the glittering chrysalis amidst the sand, scuttling forth and settling by Alcina's side. his limbs tucked beneath him, he sat and waited for her return. His gaze settled on smaller things as he passed the time: The scuttling of a (smaller, inferior) crab on the sand, the circling of something winged from high above - he kept a pair of eyes on the rock outcroppings, in case the dragons would take offense to his presence. But even as his attention drifted, one eye remained fixed on where Alcina lay.

Mother would bring her back to him. Mother always repayed her debts.

@Alcina

Juggernaut's infinite patience would reward him, in time. It starts off barely audible above the crashing waves, the scratching. Of numerous little things biting at the stone, whether they be teeth or claws.

The Clearstone glistens under the cave lights, before it begins to tremble, as the scratching grows louder. It began to peel away in sheets, as pressure caused it to splinter away. And all at once, the chrysalis gave way, cracking in half with a thundering sound.

Freed, Juggernaut's beloved sister would tumble out, intact once again, splayed on the sand. A small mercy - the jaw that had been so unceremoniously torn from her had been reformed as if nothing had happened.

Alcina's quiet, processing all of the world suddenly coming back after it had receded what seemed like moments ago to her. She's in battle, right? Then why is she here on the floor, lying prone, a sitting duck?

She struggles to her feet, trying to get them planted under her. Why am I so weak? she laments, forgetting that she thought that loud enough for the others to hear. Looking around, there's... no one here. No chaos, no dragons, and hardly any order either... Just her beloved brother.

"...Brother, what... what happened?" she croaks, fanning her jaws open to get a better look at him. So many wounds that haven't finished healing, so many scars that have.

@Juggernaut

All attention is ripped from its surroundings with the sudden trembling of the hollow stone. Should he help? Would he hinder, even hurt, if he tried? All he knew to do was wait just a little longer, to have faith in his sister.

It winced at her sudden expulsion, unable to do anything to soften the fall. It can only loom over, studying her form for any residual flaws. She seem smaller than it remembered her, more fragile. Its guilt rocked through it in waves - if he had succeeded, he wouldn't have to worry like this. It was through his failure that she had been harmed so greatly.

Alcina struggled to her feet, and Juggernaut can only hope this unsteadyness was simply an effect of the hibernation. Now, to explain... "Do not strain - you are safe. Be gentle. He echoed Mother's calm, or attempted to. "We lost this cave. You were hurt badly, by the creature Vargas." The guilt was not addressed directly, but present in its tone.

"We won the war." The only reassurance it can offer. It chose not to mention the absence of Bone's chrysalis, or how brutally they had been beaten in that fight. "You must be exhausted. What do you require?"

@Alcina

She could sense her brother's guilt - he wasn't exactly hiding it. Shuffling forward, Alcina leans against one of Juggernaut's legs. Even with all the spikes, it's comforting, and helps her steady her tired legs.

Vargas, she mulls over. So her opponent had a name. She will remember him. She will show him his folly in believing in Chaos.

But victory had been claimed, if what Juggernaut said is true. And family would never hide anything. "Then we have honored Mother. We have preached her Order to the caves. They will all see, they cannot ignore us," she declares, trying her best to still seem strong despite everything.

Alcina does have to admit, she can't keep it up forever. She shifts again, trying to stretch one of her legs without falling over. "I... could use something to eat. I'm so hungry."

@Juggernaut

While it did not flinch at physical contact, feeling swirled at the sensation - it remained alien. Pleasant? Maybe. Neither of them could really manage a proper hug, not with the tools they had been given, and the practicality of the act was not lost on him: Alcina was weakened, and he was the closest supporting surface.

But it was... nice, he decided. To have his family at his side again.

Concern flickered through it again. It felt as though she had yet to leave the battle, with her words brave and her attitude bold: Both exhausting. "You should see Eridanus. I have not - but I've seen the echoes." Images sent down the line, which he reflected to her now - foggy like a dream. "When we visit, we will know it truly. I hope you will be with me." Half offer, half a vision shared.

Alcina was hungry, as it had expected. There was the logistics of the hunt that it had not yet confronted; Juggernaut was not built for stealth or given the speed to compensate. But they'd cross that bridge when they got to it. First was actually finding something to catch.

There was nothing large on land, but a flicker of smaller fish in the shallows caught a few of his eyes. "Fish?" He was not a picky eater himself, but he understood if his siblings could not stomach the things. While he enjoyed seafood, he got the sense it might be a niche taste.

@Alcina

Alcina shares in her brother's fondness to be with family again. She can sense his feelings, and some distant ones from her other siblings, welcoming her back into the fold.

The calming images of foggy webbing and all things Order do have their intended effect, and Alcina's thoughts loose their warlike edge. "I'd love to see it with you, brother," she tells him, nodding. To see all the work her other siblings had done first hand, with Juggernaut next to her, that would be divine.

Her gaze flicks to the water as Juggernaut speaks up again. The fish are small, but she's not picky herself either. Her jaws were made for meat, so any will do. That will do for now, she sends his way over the link, since it takes less exertion than speaking aloud.

Alcina pulls away from him, wobbling, before she manages to get her legs under her in the right way to sit down. That way her brother can move freely while he hunts.

@Juggernaut

The unique kind of ease in communication was present in all interactions with the Hive, but it found a unique sort in this moment. While all of them where his siblings, his truest family, he felt closer with his broodmates - Alcina in particular. They were different of course, with flesh comes diversity. He was gentler, passive, she was sharper, reactive; But they complimented each other in their variations. If they could not accommodate, they could at least understand.

Its mind flashed to Ace, and it decided that perhaps this bond was more incidental than it had assumed. Even blood could be difficult to relate to.

Its sister took a seat [the wobbling made it wince] and it scuttled to the ocean, the water lapping a quarter up its limbs. It took time for the fish to reacclimate, accept this bone white sentinel as part of the environment, unaware of the limb it held above the water's surface. When the time was right, it threw down its javelin, skewering a fish larger than anticipated. It moved back at a diagonal, its gait made awkward with the occupied leg.

With a shake, the fish slid gruesomely down its spear, landing with a muffled thud at Alcina's feet. Juggernaut awaited her approval.

@Alcina

Alcina appreciates Juggernaut being there for her, something he'd be able to sense over the link. Yes, she loves all of her family, but this brother of hers she feels especially close to. It was a mutual feeling between the two of them.

She quietly watches Juggernaut fish, patiently waiting. Trying to rush it will only scare the fish and make it take longer. So Alcina sits, yawning, her many jaws fanning wide.

"Impressive," she compliments the fellow drone, looking at the fish down at her feet. It is a little weird and slimy, but she's not picky, so she grabs it with her tongue and devours it greedily. Blood dripping from her mandibles, she rises back to her feet. "That should be enough for now. Thank you, brother."

@Juggernaut

The fish offered still felt like a measly compensation ['sorry you just died, here's a snack'], but there was little to give that could truly balance the injustice she'd suffered. So many had failed her on this beach.

Seeing her eat so eagerly brought him comfort at least. Her fierce will still burned beneath her weakened muscle, and that alone was confirmation enough that she'd recover. Juggernaut would be there to assist her, every step of the way.

"Your presence was missed greatly." He confessed in the words of a collective, unwilling to truly admit how much her chrysalis had destabilised him. His grief had been selfish, and there was no room for the self. "I can bring you home, unless you wish to remain longer."

@Alcina

Alcina tries not to let her doubts creep through the link, the idea that the reason why she fell was because she wasn't strong enough. That she should've done better.

"I can imagine," she tells Juggernaut, thinking about the deafening silence and loneliness. What a horrible way to live, alone, isn't it? At his question she looks around the beach, scattered fragments of chrysalises. Her gaze lingers on a large fanged piece of bone, threaded through with strands of glassy order.

"Yes, let's go. I'm sure the others would be glad to see me. This place..." Well, she doesn't need to say that, really.

@Juggernaut