Here is the list for October this year. Write something short (or long) and tag it with #fictober20 in the first five tags. Let’s see your creativity!
“no, come back!”
“that’s the easy part”
“you did this?”
“that didn’t stop you before”
“unacceptable, try again”
“that was impressive”
“yes I did, what about it?”
“I’m not doing that again”
“will you look at this?”
“all I ever wanted”
“I told you so”
“watch me”
“I missed this”
“you better leave now”
“not interested, thank you”
“I never wanted anything else”
“give me a minute or an hour”
“you don’t see it?”
“I can’t do this anymore”
“did I ask?”
“this, this makes it all worth it”
“and neither should you”
“do we have to?”
“are you kidding me?”
“sometimes you can even see”
“how about you trust me for once?”
“give me that”
“do I have to do everything here?”
“back up!”
“just say it”
“I trust you”
This event is open to all fanfiction and original fiction.
Start October the First. You do not have to do the prompts in order. Tag your posts with #fictober20. Please state if your entry is original fiction or fanfiction and what fandom at the top. State common warnings and triggers at the top and tag accordingly. I reserve the right to not reblog fics that I find inappropriate. I will reblog things here on @fictober-event, follow this blog to see all the entries.
sorry i’ve been quiet lately! i do have a fic ready to go but, like, it’s angst? and the absolute last thing anyone needs right now is angst i think.
i was also working on a long fic that incorporated elements of dnd-racism and even before all of this started i was like “if i do this i better make super clear in the author’s notes that this is not an allegory or stand in for real life racism and i better make sure it never gets too real” but now i’m like wow the world does NOT need this story right now lmfao
anyway. hope everyone is hanging in there and being safe, but also being very loud. go out there and sign petitions, make donations, and if you are able to physically protest mask up and be aware!
The crew disembarked from the Starblaster, wary. The last two cycles had been extremely difficult.
It seemed like a normal planet—forests and mountains, lakes and little towns they could see from the ship.
They walked for a few miles to the nearest settlement, hoping the folks who lived there would be amicable.
In the distance, they could hear something that sounded like dogs barking.
Magnus crossed his fingers to wish very hard.
“Planet of dogs, planet of dogs, planet of dogs,” Magnus chanted quietly.
“Never stop dreaming,” Taako quipped.
Magnus always wished for a planet of dogs. It never seemed to happen, but the crew encouraged him—after all, it wasn’t statistically impossible.
Lucretia stopped in her tracks and drew her wand.
“Something’s coming,” she warned.
Magnus wrapped his hand around the handle of his axe.
A rustling came from nearby bushes, along with a mysterious whimpering and panting which grew louder and louder.
The team tensed, their weapons readied.
Three puppies tumbled out of the bush, playfully nipping at each other.
Magnus let go of his axe.
“Yes,” he whispered.
The puppies—which ran on four legs but wore clothes, two in overalls and one in a dress—saw the crew and charged forward, barking.
“Yes!” Magnus exclaimed.
The dogs leapt up, and Magnus allowed them to knock him over.
“YES!” Magnus yelled as puppies licked his face and trampled him.
“Well, shit,” Taako said, lowering his wand.
“Need help, buddy?” Barry asked.
“If this is how I go,” Magnus began with tears in his eyes. “This is how I go.”
One of the overall-clad puppies sat on Magnus’s chest wagging its tail happily until it did something no one expected.
It opened its mouth and spoke.
“Hewwo!” The puppy howled.
Taako raised his wand again, gritting his teeth.
“Absolutely not,” he said with derision.
Lup put her hand on her brother’s wand and lowered it down.
“Holy shit, they can talk!” Davenport said.
The dress-wearing dog yapped and sprinted over to the captain, jumping up at him until he conceded to pick it up so it could lick his face.
The third dog ran around in circles, jumping up and smelling each of the IPRE crew while shooting off questions.
“What are you! Where did you come from! You smell weird! Where are your tails! Why is your fur only on the top of your head!”
“Uh—” Barry began as the dog began to bite and tug at the cuffs of his jeans. "You’ve never seen anything that looks like us before, huh?”
“Noooooo!” The little dog howled. “But we’ve never left Puppy Town before...maybe Mom and Dad have?”
Lucretia couldn’t help but smile, scratching underneath the chin of the rambunctious pup.
“Did you say Puppy Town?” Magnus squealed.
“That’s our village!” The puppy on his chest answered happily. “Are you new to town?”
“If they’re not from Puppy Town they must be from Rover Ridge!” One exclaimed.
“No, no, I bet they’re from Barkborough!”
“I can’t,” Taako breathed.
“Barkborough?!” A puppy exclaimed. “What’s it like in the big city? What brings you to Puppytown?”
“Uh—” The captain began, but he was cut off by a deep howl sounding off in the distance.
“Dad’s calling us,” said the dog on Magnus’s chest before leaping off of him. “Let’s go.”
“I dunno,” the dress-wearing dog started. “Maybe we should have him come here instead. So he can smell these guys.”
“Good idea, Bits,” an overall-clad dog answered. It then sat back and threw its head into the sky with a squeaky “Awooooo!”
The two other puppies joined in the howling.
Magnus sat back up, grinning from ear to ear.
“Wipe that smile off your face,” Taako said. “They’re calling for backup.”
“They’re dogs,” Magnus asserted with exasperation.
“That’s exactly what they want you to think,” he retorted.
Magnus gently pulled up the floppy ears of the puppy closest to him and looked up at Taako expectantly.
“What else would you call this?!” he asked.
“A trap,” Taako said.
“An adorable trap,” Lup added with a shrug.
The deep howl grew closer and closer as the crew bantered. Davenport subtly raised his wand towards the sound, just to be safe.
The puppies ceased their call, then all three began to bound towards a large oak tree.
From behind the tree stepped a full-grown adult dog, walking on two legs and wearing a tweed suit and cap. He was a tricolor hound, and as he appeared he stopped howling. The puppies jumped up at him, sniffing and licking him. He gave each one a good sniff before suddenly locking directly on to the crew. He pointed at them, and stared without blinking.
“Dad!” A puppy exclaimed. “Meet our new friends!”
“Friends?” Dad dog repeated, still staring the crew down.
“Yes, we sniffed them and they gave us scratches and rubs,” Another puppy said. “And now we’re best friends.”
Dad dog relaxed. “Oh,” he said. “I see. Hello!”
Davenport lowered his wand somewhat awkwardly. “Uh, hi,” he said. The dog, on his hind legs, was a solid foot taller than the gnomish captain.
Magnus jumped back up to his feet and exclaimed, “Hail and well met, Dad Dog!”
“Oh, please,” he replied. “Dad Dog was my father. My name is Barkley.”
“We’re gonna die,” Taako whispered. His sister shushed him.
Barkley approached Magnus, his tail wagging behind him. “And these are my pups: Peanutbutter, Kibbles, and Bits.”
The kids yapped happily before continuing to romp and play with each other.
Barkley sniffed around Magnus, who knelt down so Barkley could get a solid lick across his face.
Magnus began to ugly cry.
“Hey Mags, want me to kill you so you can die happy?” Taako offered. “I’ll do it.”
“I don’t know what you folks are,” Barkley said thoughtfully. “But I think I love you already? Come on back to the village, you must be hungry. Come on. Come on!”
Barkley beckoned as he began walking, two of his pups playfully following behind him. Peanutbutter tugged at the cuffs of Magnus’s pants, so Magnus followed too.
The rest of the crew hung back, exchanging wary glances.
“Fifty GP says this is a trap,” Lup said. “Like, for real.”
“A talking dog named his kids Kibbles and Bits?” Taako mused. “Yeah, this is absolutely a trap.”
“...I do like dogs,” Barry noted.
“Natch, everyone loves dogs, dogs are great,” Lup said. “But what are the odds?”
“We’ve seen plenty of impossible things before,” Davenport pointed out.
Merle was already going after Magnus. “Y’all are a bunch of ninnies,” he remarked. “The IPRE will face off against an all-consuming living Hunger but not investigate some fantasy-Beatrix-Potter-ass dogs?”
“I didn’t say we shouldn’t investigate,” Lup clarified, following suit. “I mean worst case scenario, Barry and I lich it up. I’m just saying it's suspicious.”
Lucretia sighed and followed Magnus and Merle without further comment. Barry and Lup trailed along.
Taako lingered back before rolling his eyes. “I am not spending this cycle baking dog treats,” he said. “I want it on the record now.”
--------------
They approached the village and saw a large wooden sign, decorated with colorful paw prints that read:
“Welcome to Puppy Town!”
“We’re here!” Barkley announced. “Feel free to have a good sniff around. Our cottage is that one with the chimney smoking over there,” he pointed to a quaint house. “You’re more than welcome to come to dinner later, but if you’re hungry now the Barkery is right down the street.”
“The Barkery,” Taako repeated, monotone.
“Yes!” Barkley said. “You know, where you get treats and kibble and bread?”
“If I die here,” Magnus cried. “Just let it happen.”
The town was peaceful, and the crew was investigated by just about every dog they passed. There were many questions, and even more sniffing and petting.
Over the next few months, they learned a lot about the dogfolk. They had magic and classes. Instead of races, they had “breeds” and certain breeds had certain traits. There were beagle wizards, shiba barbarians, pit bull clerics. It fascinated the crew. It was a very research-heavy cycle.
Young puppies walked on all fours, and began to transition to being bipedal in their teenaged years. Adult dogs mostly walked on their hind legs, but would run with all four if the need arose.
There were no gerblins or imps here, but there were pesky squirrels. Barkley was absolutely vexed by these pestersome creatures, but to the crew…they were just literal squirrels that stole the occasional cherry pie from a windowsill.
Lup and Taako were disappointed to learn that there wasn’t too much to say in the way of cooking and baking here. Luckily the food wasn’t gross or too weird, but there were no new recipes to be learned. The dogfolk’s diets were fairly similar to humans, save for the biscuits, mostly eating bread and meat and fruit—though they were very adamant that no grapes were allowed in Puppy Town.
It was mostly a relaxing cycle, a welcomed reprieve after multiple trying years. They went on walks, studied a few cantrips that were unique to this world, gave belly rubs, and played.
Fisher stayed inside of the Starblaster, however, as Lucretia was worried the dogs would try to eat him.
The IPRE were hailed as heroes after they managed to teach a few of the more competent wizard dogs the Silence spell—something that was previously undiscovered on this plane. It proved very useful during a thunderstorm a few months in.
About halfway through the year, while on a brief break from searching for the Light, it was brought straight to them.
Magnus was in the town square, whittling away at a stick while a few younger dogs watched with watery mouths.
An adult dog charged forward on all fours, his clothes dirty and slightly tattered. In his mouth he carried a familiar glow.
He brought it forward to Magnus, tail wagging furiously.
Magnus reached out and the dog placed the Light of Creation in his hand. It was covered in slobber.
“Holy shit, you found the Light!” Magnus exclaimed.
The dog looked up at him expectantly, sitting back on his hind legs.
“Thank you so much,” Magnus said. “Uh...who’s a good boy?”
His tail thumped hard against the ground.
“I am!” The dog said. He paused thoughtfully and his tail slowly stopped wagging. “Please throw?”
“I’m dead,” Taako said. He began walking back to the ship.
“Oh!” Magnus smiled awkwardly. “Well, we...we kinda need this one, buddy, but—here—”
Magnus picked up a stick.
The dog jumped up, ready to run.
With a hearty throw Magnus yelled, “Go fetch!”
----------------------------
After they’d secured the Light, Barry and Lup had a few new lab partners.
A yellow lab, a brown lab, and a black lab.
It was only fair to let the dogfolk study the Light too. After all, they would survive the Hunger. Perhaps with the Light they could make their own scientific advances, and learn and grow as a species.
The crew did explain the Hunger/Light/IPRE situation to the dogfolk in hopes of making things easier on them, but only the smartest among them really understood. Still, Magnus gave some combat training to as many dogs as he could, aiming to protect them. The plan was to get out as soon as the Hunger showed up, hoping that the Hunger would do minimal damage before following them away from the plane. But just in case any of the dogfolk needed to defend themselves, Magnus helped them build their strength. One particularly feisty Pomeranian barbarian attended every session.
-------------------------
One night late in the cycle, Lucretia was interviewing an elderly Irish Wolfhound. It was dark out, but he wanted to go for a walk. They strolled by the lake and Lucretia asked various history questions, wanting a firsthand account, when suddenly he stopped. The reflection of something on the lake had caught his eye. He followed the reflection and looked up into the sky, at the full moon.
He began to howl.
Lucretia smiled and documented the incident with amusement before she started to hear howling call from all over the village, from dogs small and large.
“Why do you howl at the moon?” She asked sweetly once the old dog had ceased.
He suddenly looked very serious.
“We dogfolk are of the sun,” he said. “The catfolk are of the moon. Now—most folks say there’s no such thing as cats. And maybe not, here. But you said yourself: there were dogs back on your home planet. So who’s to say there aren’t cats?”
Lucretia held back the urge to inform him.
“Cats may lay in the sun. And dogs may howl at the moon. We may dream of and admire the moon, but we may never touch it. We howl to remind ourselves of this. Every full moon, we sing its praises. But we can never, never touch the moon.”
“…But your scientists are studying space travel. Laika just got her dogtorate in astrophysics, she wants to be a cosmonaut. What would happen if they explored the moon?” Lucretia questioned.
“The apocalypse.”
“Huh?” she blinked.
The wolfhound nodded, sorrowful.
“Lucretia,” he addressed. “You are an inter-planar traveler. But this is a universal constant. No matter how much we howl, no matter how far into space we go. Whatever you do, wherever you go: dogs must never touch the moon. Promise me you’ll do your part to uphold this.”
“Right,” she promised, grim. “No dogs on the moon.”
-----------------------
The end of the cycle approached, and the IPRE was greeted with a sea of puppy-dog eyes as they boarded the Starblaster for the last time. The crew had explained what was going to happen multiple times—there was nothing more they could say.
Magnus had wanted to stay back and help the dogs fight, but both the rest of the crew and some of the leaders of the dogfolk said it would be harder for the dogs to understand what was going on if Magnus stayed behind and then suddenly disappeared when the Light took him.
So when the grass turned the telltale shades of gray and the sky grew darker and darker, the crew said their goodbyes and prayed that Puppy Town would be spared.
As soon as the bond engine allowed, the Starblaster took off. And, as they’d hoped, the Hunger hadn’t even hit the ground yet—and they followed the ship without so much as touching Puppy Town.
For once, the crew was absolutely certain: they had saved an entire plane, and not even one creature in it was harmed.
“Yeah, yeah,” Magnus dismissed, instinctively reaching for an injury that was no longer there.
“For all you complain about my healing,” Merle began. “Sure sounds like you miss it when it’s gone!”
“Your healing is very helpful, Merle,” Magnus said. “But you know what would be really helpful? If our cleric could stay alive for five minutes.”
“Alright, alright, enough,” Davenport said. “I’m gonna get us to a safe spot, then we can recap and get the lay of the land. Looks...relatively normal? Then again, so did the last one...”
The Starblaster landed in a forest clearing a safe distance from a nearby village. They’d have some exploring to do later.
They filled Taako, Merle, and Magnus in on everything that had happened after they died while Lup busied herself in the kitchen, starting to prep a meal.
Taako had expected Lup to be a little bit...clingier.
Not that his feelings were hurt, but—she cared, didn’t she?
He noticed immediately that Barry was less shy about touching his sister. She asked Barry for help in the kitchen since Taako was deep in the recap, and Barry put a hand on her shoulder—for no particular reason! Taako wasn’t sure how to react. After all, things were getting...inevitable.
Well, Barry Bluejeans was a really good guy.
“Taako, if you’re caught up, come help me,” Lup called. “I’ve been cooking for five months.”
“Our friends haven’t had a decent meal for five months?” Taako feigned shock. “Tragic. Move it, goofus, I’ll make the sauce.”
Lup stepped out of the way while Taako sifted through the spice cabinet.
He had just gotten his hands on the oregano when he felt Lup wrap her arms tight around him, her face buried in the back of his shoulder.
Yeah—this was more of what he was expecting.
Something about the tightness told him he couldn’t joke about it yet, so instead he turned himself around and returned her embrace. He could tell from her breathing that she was fighting back tears.
He placed a hand on the back of her head and held her close, then he locked eyes with Barry, who was watching them with uncertainty from a few feet away. Taako gave him a nod of acknowledgement before returning his focus back to comforting his sister.
That night, the four who had survived the last cycle decided they were too stir crazy—not having been able to leave the ship much towards the end of the year—and wanted to camp outside.
Taako couldn’t have been less interested, but he couldn’t say no to Lup right now.
The rest of the crew slept on bedrolls around a bonfire, while the twins sat together far enough apart from the others so as not to be heard.
That night, after everyone else had gone to bed, Lup and Taako sat back to back with their legs crossed and folded. It was a position they often took when they kept watch—they could trance and watch over the others at the same time.
The twins rested in silence for an hour, listening to the sound of the fire crackling and popping. Taako was starting to wonder if he should say something, since Lup clearly had things on her mind—but she wound up speaking before he could think of how to start.
“Taako,” Lup addressed quietly. “That sucked.”
He opened his eyes and frowned, turning his head slightly so he could see at least part of her face out of the corner of his eye.
“I didn’t have much choice in the matter, Lulu,” he responded under his breath.
“I know that,” she whispered. “I just. That was. The most horrifying thing I’ve ever seen. And...I missed you, so much.”
“Well,” he started. “I’m here now. I know this whole situation is hell, in a way, but at least when we die we...y’know. Get better. Sorry. It must have been rough without me. Cause I’m so amazing and cool.”
Lup ignored his quip, which he took as a signal that she did indeed have a rough time and wasn’t in the mood for jokes.
“We’re gonna get out of this, Taako,” Lup said. “We are. One way or another.”
Taako moved his hands from his knees and folded them together in his lap.
“I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately,” Taako began cautiously. “Lup...are you sure that’s what you want?”
“What?”
“I mean, I get it,” Taako said. “All these planes are getting their shit wrecked. And we’ve been through some shit, yeah, but...come on, Lup, you can’t tell me you haven’t thought about it. How long we’ve been at this?”
Lup didn’t answer, so Taako continued.
“Think about it...thirty years. We haven’t aged because of the resets. But if we weren’t caught in these cycles...Barry, Mags, and Lucretia would be old. They’d be half way through their lives—they could be grandparents. And we...we really wouldn’t have aged at all. Thirty years is nothing to us, but it’s a third of a human life. At least.”
“I know. I think about that all the time. But...all this destruction? It’s not worth it. It’s not fair,” Lup balled her hands into fists. “I’m grateful for the extra time we’ve had with Barry, and Lucretia and Magnus, but...I’m so tired, Taako. Aren’t you?”
“Of course,” Taako responded. “It’s just...if we do get out of this, what’s gonna happen? What if our ages, or our injuries catch up to us? What if you have to watch Barry get old, while you don’t change at all?”
Lup was taken aback. “Wh—What does that have to do with—why Barry?”
“Don’t play dumb, dingus,” he said. “It doesn’t suit you.”
Elven-human relationships back home were often viewed as inherently tragic. To the elf, their human was gone in the blink of an eye.
“All I’m saying is...I know this is hard, but in a way...we’re lucky,” Taako mused. “We’ve got something most folks would kill for. Time. And unlimited second chances. We shouldn’t waste them, or wish them away when things go a little south.”
Lup thought for a moment, then let out a bitter laugh. “Hah, yeah. See if you can keep up that point of view next time I beef it.”
“Oh, you know that’s not gonna happen, bubbeleh,” he remarked with a smile. “I mean, I’ll give it a shot, but—lets both try not to die, huh?”
“I’m glad you’re back,” she said.
He felt her reach for his hand. He rolled his eyes. After all, he’d seen her and all of his friends die more than once. But he bit back his snark and tried to be sympathetic—she had never been without him, after all—and locked his fingers into hers.
His urge for snark won out.
“Nerd,” he commented.
“Shut uuuuuup,” she retorted.
That night, Lup rested better than she had in months.
Barry showered, then went to bed himself—if only for a few hours. When he woke up, everyone was still asleep.
Given the hour, it was mildly concerning.
He checked on Davenport again, who did look better: less pale, resting easier.
He even popped in to Lucretia’s room, opening her door as noiselessly as possible. She was sleeping on top of her still-made bed, with the lights on in her room. He checked to make sure she was breathing, then shut the lights.
Then he hesitantly opened Lup’s door.
She was lying far to the side of her bed, eyes closed in meditation.
She had left room on her bed for someone to climb in and lay next to her.
His heart swelled, wondering for a moment if that space was meant for him—but remembered the few times Lup and Taako had been separated on missions, or when he had checked in on them while they tranced. They always left space for each other, instinctually, just in case one needed the other.
Still, he let his imagination run wild for a moment. He thought about being bold and climbing into the bed. After all, she had offered. And in her semi-conscious trance she certainly knew by now that he was here, yet she didn’t say anything.
No. It wasn’t right. If she was being affectionate it was because she needed comfort. She just lost her brother. She wasn’t in a good state of mind…it wouldn’t be right.
He closed the door.
Barry made breakfast.
It wasn’t great, but everyone needed to eat. Lup needed to eat.
He returned to her room and was about to knock on the door to tell her to come eat with everyone, but something was off.
A bit early to use a spell slot, but Barry Detected that Lup’s room had been Silenced.
He chewed on his lip, then shoved his hands into his jean pockets in defeat. It wouldn’t be right to barge in. He would have to just come back in ten minutes. Hopefully everything was alright. Barry sighed, and went back to the kitchen.
Lup was screaming. Tears streamed down her face. She tore things apart as she shouted at the top of her lungs.
When she had finished her meditation, she sat and thought about the previous day’s events a little more clearly.
Taako was gone.
Gone in a flash, and she was powerless to stop it.
And her grief made her powerless to fight back. Powerless to protect her friends.
She ripped pages out of an old notebook and burned them.
She threw things against the wall, she punched a pillow over and over and over again until she was worn out, her arms trembling. Her injuries throbbed against their wrappings in protest of her exertion.
She was going to find those drow.
And she was going to make them wish they had never laid eyes on her brother.
Lup didn’t bother cleaning up. She opened her door and swiftly closed it behind her, then noticed Barry standing in the hall with a tray of food.
She softened at the sight of him.
“Oh! H-hey, I, uh...” he stumbled awkwardly. “I brought you some breakfast? I know you probably don’t think you’re hungry, so, uh, I kept it light.”
He was right, she definitely didn’t feel hungry.
But, she hadn’t eaten since before they went out yesterday.
“Lucretia and Dav are up,” Barry said. “But you can eat in your room if you want some space.”
Lup quickly shuffled away from her door as if the mess behind it would disappear if no one else noticed it.
“Nah,” she said. “I’ll come out with you guys.”
So she joined the others in the kitchen and forced herself to pick at the food on her plate. It was just two eggs, sunny side up, with a little toast and coffee. Once she started eating she realized how hungry she was, so she finished everything on her plate—though she ate slowly, staring off into space as she did so.
Lucretia peeled an apple for her and put the slices on her plate, which Lup snacked on in a daze, tuning out the conversation around her.
In spite of her haze, she did take note before she retreated back to her disaster of a cabin that Davenport was walking with a crutch, his entire torso wrapped in bandages under his unbuttoned IPRE jacket. His movements were slow; when he stood up and walked he seemed to be in pain.
It hurt her to see him in such a state. She vaguely thought about asking Taako to help her make their captain's favorite dish--then balled her hands into fists and quickly went back to her room.
Lup was fairly withdrawn for a few days. The crew gave her some space, but after a while they collectively decided that Lup would have enough alone time while the others slept. So during the day, Lup had nearly constant companionship.
At night, she would prep food. Then when it was finally time for her to rest, she would instinctively leave space for Taako.
Barry tried to fill that space, in spirit, during the day.
And on more than one occasion, Lup invited him to fill that space at night.
Still, she was much more aloof than normal—which was completely understandable—and Barry witnessed two separate occasions where she turned around to make a comment or quip to her brother and froze when no one was there.
Not unlike how Taako was when Lup died, Lup became relatively snarkier in general and was much more prone to irritation.
What concerned Barry the most, though, was her behavior out in the field.
Without Lup, Taako became more cautious—seldom leaving the ship, reluctant to go on any adventures.
Without Taako, Lup—already a reckless person to begin with—needlessly threw herself into danger without a second thought.
The remaining four crew members tried to stay safe on the ship as often as possible. Davenport, unable to move properly, did not leave the Starblaster again for the rest of the cycle.
So when they did need to leave the ship, they would only send two—and Lup insisted that she should go every time.
Nearly two months later, she and Barry were out on the planet’s surface when they encountered another vengeful drow. Barry swiftly pulled out his wand, ready to Teleport—but Lup had different plans.
He watched in stunned dismay as she charged the drow head on with a branch she picked up off the ground, swinging it into his face and leaving herself wide open to a Magic Missile-style curse that sent her flying backwards.
Barry rushed to her side to help her up, but not without comment.
“Why—Lup, what the hell? Why didn’t you just cast something?” He asked.
“I left my wand on the ship,” she admitted.
“Wha—okay, say something next time?” Barry urged, exasperated. “Let’s get out of here, we’ll never beat him if you can’t ca—Lup! Stop!”
Lup chucked a rock at the drow.
Without another word, Barry seized her and cast Teleport.
They resurfaced back on the deck of the Starblaster, with Lup leaning back on the floor and Barry over her on his hands and knees.
He sat back on his ankles and put his hands on her shoulders, gripping them lightly.
“Are you trying to get yourself killed?!” Barry demanded in frustration.
Lup wasn’t one to show embarrassment, but she showed something close to it now as her eyes darted away from Barry.
He paused, dropping the tension in his shoulders as he unraveled the realization forming in his mind. He let go of her, the irritation on his face giving way to pain.
Barry wasn’t convinced. He pulled her into a hug and just held her for a few moments before she wormed her way out of his arms.
“Dude,” she said. “It was a mistake. I said I was sorry. Let me get my wand so we can go back out there.”
He looked embarrassed for a moment, but half a second later he narrowed his eyes in chagrin, his mouth half open.
“Go—go back?! Lup, we’re not going back there,” Barry asserted. “Not when we know there are drow.”
“I’m not afraid of the drow,” Lup declared under her breath.
“Well you should be!” Barry retorted. “We are not going back. If anything happens to us, you think it’d be fair to leave Creesh and Dav by themselves for the rest of the cycle?! Capn’port’s having a hard enough time as it is.”
He waited for her to speak, but she didn’t. So he went on, “And also? We shouldn’t die when we don’t have to! You can’t ask me to watch you throw your life away for a stupid revenge scheme.”
“I wasn’t—that’s not—” Lup stammered.
“Sometimes you’re worse than Magnus,” Barry shook his head. “There is no reason to fight these guys. We wanted to study them, it’s clear that is not going to happen. They’ve already taken out three of us—if all seven of us get killed, it’s over for real. And I don’t know about you, but this is not a plane I’d like to perma-die on.”
“I get it, Bluejeans,” Lup asserted, her palms up in surrender. “Let’s go inside.”
Barry put his foot down the next time Lup volunteered to go out. Luckily, she didn’t argue.
The rest of the cycle was uneventful. They never found the Light of Creation. Barry felt guilty about that—after all, some of the drow had been relatively personable to them, and it wasn’t the whole civilization’s fault that a handful of folks had completely decimated the plane’s only hope.
Overthinking was pointless, though. They’d done this many times and would have to do it many times more. There had been and would be many more deserving planes that the IPRE would fail to save.
When the Hunger came, the Starblaster and its crew left with few regrets.
As soon as they were back on the ship, however, the captain collapsed to his hands and knees.
“Woah—Davenport?” Lucretia exclaimed, lowering herself down next to him. “Captain?”
There was a sizable arcane scorch mark, a hole with singed edges on the back of his IPRE jacket—how had they not noticed? It took up about half of their captain’s back. His eyes were closed in pain, his forehead beaded with sweat.
“Shit—Lup, I need to—” Barry stammered.
Lup stepped away from him and was able to get herself over to a couch.
He crouched down next to Davenport and examined the wound, a hand placed gently on his shoulder.
“Holy shit, Cap’n,” Barry mused. It was a severe burn that had scalded Davenport’s skin, and the magical factor of it seemed to have siphoned away his energy. “One more hit and you’d have been done.”
“I know,” he muttered, sucking in a breath at the pain. “That’s why—I knew we had to get out of there.”
“Where’s that potion?” Lucretia asked, reaching for Davenport’s bag.
“No—I just need to sleep,” he said.
“No way, Dav,” Barry countered. “It’s some kind of curse. This is gonna keep draining you if we don’t heal it. It’s necrotic, it could kill you.”
Almost on cue, something about the wound changed—it throbbed once and stretched out.
And with that, Davenport fell forward, unconscious.
Barry caught him before his head hit the ground, and held him so he was sitting half way up while Lucretia found and uncorked the potion.
“It’s alright, Cap’n,” he assured. “You did a good job today. We’re safe now.”
Lucretia gently poured the potion between Davenport’s lips, and Barry felt the captain’s charred skin change under his hand. The cursed wound was no longer actively dealing damage; it began to scab over.
“Do you think he needs another one?” Lucretia questioned.
“Hmm...not sure. Let me clean this out and get some ointment and bandages on it and then we’ll see,” Barry decided.
He scooped the captain up in his arms—something Davenport would absolutely loathe, a perceived blow to his dignity—but what else could Barry do? Leave him on the floor?
He carried him to his quarters, Lucretia following behind and making a pit stop in the medical bay to grab bandages and ointments.
Barry laid him out on his bed, back facing up. He took the supplies from Lucretia and began to dress Davenport’s wounds.
“I’m going to help Lup,” Lucretia said, picking up a salve and roll of bandages and hurrying out of the room.
“Don’t forget about yourself!” Barry called in response as she rushed down the hall.
Magic bloomed around the captain’s injuries, which grew shallower by the minute. Salves and potions were only going to get this one so far—he needed a real healer, but that was impossible here. Davenport was likely going to be physically damaged for the rest of the cycle.
He began to stir.
“Hey, Cap’nport,” Barry addressed quietly. “Still in pain?”
“N-no,” he lied. “Sorry. I tried to hold on, but—”
“No, no, you did a great job, Dav,” Barry assured. “Must have taken a lot of willpower to walk all the way back here. But you got us all home safe.”
“Not all of us,” Davenport grumbled in response, burying his face in his pillow.
Barry exhaled, and worked more ointment into the injury as gently as he could. Davenport cringed at his touch.
“You couldn’t have done anything for Taako,” he replied. “Given the circumstances, I think getting four of us out of there was the best possible outcome. Without your illusion, that would have been a lot worse. Remember that.”
Davenport made a quiet sound of disagreement that was weak enough to let Barry know he was drifting off.
“Get some sleep, buddy,” Barry said.
“Make sure you...” Davenport started, his eyelids falling shut, his words slurred together and nearly inaudible. “Don’t have a...concussion...”
Barry’s eyes narrowed as he strained to make out what he meant, but a throbbing pain in the back of his head beat the reminder into him. Fuck—he was in pain, too.
“I’ll take care of it,” Barry promised softly. He gently ruffled Davenport’s hair. “You just focus on recovering. Sleep.”
Barry continued dressing the captain’s wounds as he eased into the soft measured breaths of sleep.
When he finished, he cleaned up and left the room, flicking off the light and soundlessly closing the door behind him.
He rubbed at the back of his head and hissed when he hit a tender spot. What could he even do for a concussion without a cleric? Potions were his only option, but while they weren’t exactly in short supply this cycle, they were only about half way through and getting more was not going to be a cakewalk.
He made his way back to the common area, and saw Lucretia dressing her own injury next to Lup, who was lying still with her eyes closed on the couch, tearstains on her cheeks.
“Is Lup—” Barry began.
“Trancing,” Lup whispered without opening her eyes, cutting him off.
He breathed a sigh of relief and moved closer to Lucretia.
“How’s our captain?” Lucretia asked in hushed tones as she wrapped up her shoulder.
“Really, really bad,” Barry admitted regrettably. “He’ll pull through but he’s gonna have permanent damage—well, I mean, he’s not going to heal right and his back is gonna be screwed up until the reset.”
“Shit,” Lucretia breathed, shaking her head. “I can’t believe we didn’t notice. He seemed so in control, it didn’t even cross my mind that he’d been injured.”
“I know,” he replied as he sat on the couch in between the two of them. “But...we were distracted. Don’t beat yourself up. How are you feeling?”
“Alright,” she said. “I was able to shield myself from the worst spells...once Taako went down I knew not to mess around.”
Her eyes flashed to Lup, who looked grim in her trance.
“How about you?” she continued. “You got knocked out for a minute. Are you alright?”
Barry took a second to assess. He was definitely a little dizzy, and more than a little sore. His whole chest ached from the spell that had sent him flying. He ran a hand over the impact site, only barely touching it through the fabric of his t-shirt. It stung a lot, but he didn’t feel any open wounds.
“I think I’m alri—oh!” Barry was cut off by Lup, who was now propped up and lifting up his shirt. “Ah! L-Lup?!”
“Hold still,” she demanded.
He tried not to focus on the sensation of her hands on his stomach, but couldn’t help but notice she was shaking like a leaf.
“Lup,” he repeated, quieter.
Her face changed from stoic to afraid as she examined his chest, and Lucretia grimaced as she got sight of it as well.
“Can you breathe alright, Barry?” Lucretia asked.
“Huh? Y-yeah, why?”
Lup hesitated before grazing her fingertips over his chest. It sent an electric shock through him, but not quite the way he thought it would.
It hurt.
It hurt and a wave of something swept over him, making him feel faint. Darkness shot over his field over vision, but he fought at it until it cleared.
And his face must have betrayed his attempt to keep his cool, because Lup looked horrified and Lucretia instantaneously jumped up and grabbed a healing potion from the table behind her.
“I—I really don’t think I need—”
“It’s like what Davenport has,” Lucretia described, her brow pulled together in concern. “A little different.”
He was unconvinced, but Lup looked like she was on the verge of tears again. So he chose not to argue.
He drank the potion down without further protest. It had notes of juniper and lime, and overall tasted much better than healing potions tended to. Its saccharine flavor lingered on his tongue as he felt its magic work itself through his body.
The throbbing at the back of his head and neck faded away, the intense burning on his chest cooled down.
The two women before him seemed to relax somewhat, and Lup’s trembling hand pulled his shirt back down. She didn’t, however, release the fabric. She clung to his t-shirt, staring down at his stomach but really just dissociating. He started to reach out to her, but Lucretia spoke.
“You should be fine so long as you get a good night’s sleep,” she said. “Make sure you do that. You too, Lup—I know it’s hard, but get some rest.”
“Huh? Oh...sure.”
Lucretia stood up, and Barry noticed she seemed unstable.
“I’m sorry,” she admitted with regret. “I want to be with you right now but one of their spells had an exhaustion effect and…I’m going to pass out if I stay awake.”
“Are you alright?” Barry asked again, mildly alarmed.
“I’m fine,” she reassured. “But I do...need to sleep. Right now. I’m sorry. Please...hang in there, Lup.”
“Go to bed, Cretia,” Lup bid without looking at her. “Love you.”
Lucretia blinked in surprise before giving a sad smile, tears in her eyes.
“I love you too. We’re gonna get you through this.”
She wiped her eyes and went off towards her room without another word.
Barry brought his attention back to Lup, who still had a death grip on his shirt.
He reached out and held the back of her head with one hand and placed the other on her shoulder.
“Lup?” he prompted gently.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “Everyone got hurt while I was...I shouldn’t have let myself fall apart there. You and Dav could have been killed too.”
On the “too”, her voice cracked. Her face crumpled as she fought back tears.
“It’s okay, Lup,” he said. “It’s not your fault. They were just too strong for us.”
“If I had kept it together, I could have—”
“No, it was too much. It would have been too much for anyone. Really, Lup, it’s okay.”
“I have to get stronger,” she said through a clenched jaw. “Gods, I still have most of my spell slots. I could have done something. Anything. I could have protected him. I can’t believe he...right in front of me. Gods. Taako.”
There was no reasoning with her at this point. He rubbed her back and pulled her a little closer.
“Let it out, Lup,” he encouraged, caressing her face. “It’s okay.”
She broke. She buried her face in his chest and he heard her draw a watery, ragged breath. She released her grip on the hem of his shirt and brought her arms so that they were pressed between their bodies, folded up against her chest as if to keep her emotions from pouring out of her heart too quickly.
Lup sobbed against Barry’s chest, and he held her close while softly stroking her hair.
It was the least he could do. After all, Lup had comforted him many times.
“I didn’t...I didn’t get to help him at all,” she stammered through tears. “Or, or...the first time I died he held me, he stayed with me. He was there for me. I thought...I thought it would be the same. I knew it was gonna happen eventually. We’re caught in these cycles—I just thought—it all happened so fast, I couldn’t—”
“Breathe,” Barry soothed, his voice low. “I know. It was really fast. But...that’s a good thing, Lup. He probably didn’t feel anything. I bet when the Light brings him back next cycle, it’s gonna be just like the last time you two died and he’s not even going to know he was gone. He’s gonna pop back into reality, look around and wonder how the hell he got back on the ship. And you’re gonna be there right next to him to welcome him back.”
Lup sniffled and nodded her head against him.
They stayed like that for hours, with Barry occasionally getting up to get water or offer her some fruit, which she turned down. He left twice to check on Davenport, who showed no change. But every time he came back to the couch, Lup nestled in close to him.
She was inconsolable. Barry wasn’t sure what to do. He had to let her grieve, but she also desperately needed to rest—which was going to be difficult to do while she was sobbing.
Taako would know what to do.
And now Barry was crying again too, though he tried to hide it from her.
All he could do was hold her as she cried it out, and hope that eventually she would tire herself out and fall into a trance.
And he could listen to her, when she occasionally broke through her tears to ramble about something that wasn’t her fault.
Unlike Taako, Lup did not keep her true feelings hidden. She spoke about her emotions openly and honestly. She was unafraid to be vulnerable—at least in front of Barry, it seemed.
The sun set, and hours went by.
“It’s getting late,” Lup pointed out. “You should probably go to sleep.”
Barry frowned, disinclined.
“I’ll stay up with you,” he offered. “Honestly I don’t think I could sleep after all that anyway. Unless you, uh...unless you want some space. I mean—do you want me to go?”
“No,” Lup said. “Please. Don’t go.”
Barry fought to keep his composure.
“I just mean...you can sleep here if you want to,” she said. "With me."
Barry lost the fight to keep his composure.
Lup ignored his bright red cheeks and continued, “I’m sorry, I’m gonna try to trance, I...I’m tired.”
Utter defeat weighed heavy in her voice, and Barry swallowed his nerves to comfort her.
“You had an unfathomably rough day,” he said softly. “Rest. It’s okay.”
“You’ll stay?” She asked quietly, not looking at him.
“...Y-yeah. ‘Course.”
Barry stretched his arm over and reached to switch off the light, then settled back onto the couch. He awkwardly slid down so that he was lying with his arms around Lup.
She laid her head against his chest and allowed the quiet rhythm of his heartbeat to guide her into meditation.
If circumstances were different, Barry would be over the moon.
But now that Lup was silent, and the rest of the ship was at a tranquil lull, the disturbing scene of that day’s battle played out in his head again. He swallowed hard, sucking in a quivering breath as he tried to push away the image of Taako’s lightless eyes.
He closed his eyes in hopes of quelling his emotions. He didn’t want to start crying again and disturb Lup, who desperately needed to rest.
He didn’t intend to fall asleep—in fact, he tried to fight it. But the fact was his body needed to recover, whether he liked it or not.
The first rays of daylight shined through the common area windows.
To Barry’s surprise, Lup was still curled up against him. Her eyes were open, however, staring out with a faraway look.
Whenever Barry had fallen asleep in the same area where Lup or Taako tranced, they almost invariably were out and about by the time he woke up. This time, it seemed as if Lup hadn’t moved all night.
“You must have been exhausted,” Barry noted softly.
“I didn’t trance much,” Lup muttered.
She reached up and cupped Barry’s cheek in her hand. He held his breath, and she wiped a tear away with her thumb. He blinked in surprise. He didn’t realize he had been crying—but he felt so heavy, it made sense.
“You were crying all night,” Lup said quietly.
“Oh—gee, I’m sorry,” Barry stammered in response. The absolute last thing he wanted was to make Lup console him when she herself was stricken with grief. “Did I keep you up?”
“No, babe, don’t apologize,” she answered. “I was just...you know. But I got some rest. And...it was nice. Having you here.”
Gods, he loved her so much. He swallowed hard and wished the circumstances were different.
“Any time,” he said, hushed.
She put her head back on his chest, then drew in a long, shaky breath and let it out slowly.
They stayed there for a while. Barry smoothed her hair while going over the previous day yet again in his mind. If he had acted a little faster, been more aware of his surroundings—if they had just run—things would have gone differently.
If Merle hadn’t been killed, Magnus and Taako would both still be here.
“Babe,” Lup began cautiously. “I’m gonna go back to my room. Lucretia’s gonna wake up soon.”
Barry nodded, and understood the subtext—don’t want anyone getting the wrong idea.
“Okay,” he replied. “Try to actually rest?”
She hesitated for a moment, her fingers still intertwined with his.
“You can come with me. If you want,” she offered.
He just about died, and wondered if he could handle platonically (or otherwise, he dare not even imagine) cuddling with Lup on her bed.
He looked into her tired, swollen eyes, then remembered her bandaged arms and bruised body. She really needed to rest. And whether Barry’s crying had kept her up all night or not, he could bet it wasn’t particularly easy to meditate or restful for her body to be scrunched up with him all night.
And in terms of Capn’port and Lucretia, the implications of Barry coming out of Lup’s room later on would be much worse than finding them together on the couch.
“I, uh—” he started reluctantly. “You’re still pretty beat up, Lup. Why don’t you get a real meditation in, and I’ll come check on you later?”
Luckily, Lup didn’t seem too dejected. She nodded and unlocked her fingers from his. As she sat up, her spine popped—proving Barry’s theory.
“Oof,” she groaned, stretching out.
“Yeah,” he half laughed. “That’s what I was afraid of. Y’alright?”
“Yeah, I’m—” she winced and sucked in a short gasp, her hand shooting to the injury on her side.
His smile dropped and he sat up, concerned.
“M’fine,” she assured, taking a second to breathe. “I just...forgot that was there.”
“I’ll walk you back to your room,” Barry decided.
“I’m okay,” she insisted.
Still, Barry followed her once she stood up and began walking towards her cabin. She avoided looking at the kitchen, and once she passed Taako’s room, she folded her arms across her chest.
“Man,” she said, teary-eyed. “This...heh, this sucks. Can’t believe I—we—have to go through the rest of the cycle without him.”
He wrapped one arm around her and gave a gentle squeeze.
“We’ll get you through this,” Barry promised. “And he’ll be back before you know it.”
“Yeah,” she sniffed. “Thanks, Barry. See you later.”
“Goodnight,” he bid softly.
“It’s morning,” she corrected. “But, yeah. Later.”
She stepped into her room and slowly closed the door behind her.
The first time Taako died, Lup died too. An explosion took both of them at the same time, instantly, without any suffering, and together. And as morbid as it was—Barry was almost thankful for that. Taako had been a mess the first time Lup died, so Barry was grateful that Lup could put off that pain a little bit longer.
The second time Taako died, he and Lup were both killed by the Hunger in the last moments of a cycle.
But the third time Taako died was a different story.
They were in a particularly dangerous plane inhabited by a civilization of people similar to the drow they had back home, though they were much, much taller than the drow the IPRE was familiar with—and they freely walked the surface of this planet, not needing to reside in the darkness underground. And while some of the drow here were amicable, most were distrustful. And some were...aggressive.
Merle and Magnus had both been killed a few months before while attempting to communicate with the drow. They were completely destroyed. Barry and Taako had found their bodies, and Barry could not get the image out of his head. Taako was beyond reluctant to speak to any of the drow after that, even if they had been friendly to him before.
He had only been coaxed along today because everyone else was going. The plan wasn’t to seek out or talk to any of the drow, but they did still want to study the plane and its inhabitants—plus, they figured out that the Light was most likely in this area.
Of course, things rarely ever go as planned—and they were now in a heated battle with three drow who seemed to be immensely powerful arcanists.
Spells were being thrown left and right from both sides, but it quickly became clear that these drow were capable of incredibly high level magic that the IPRE had never even heard of—neither back home nor on their thirty-odd year journey.
One spell brought things to a screeching halt for the twins.
One of the drow shot out a massive electrified black magical charge—without a wand—which Taako had no time to react against. It hit him square in the chest, and he was dead before he hit the ground.
“T-Taako?!” Lup yelped.
He collapsed to his knees and then fell to his side without a word.
“No,” Lup pled breathlessly. “No, no, no, no...”
She ran over to him, only narrowly avoiding a hit from a spell that flew by as she passed.
The captain shut himself up when he saw Lup approaching Taako. As soon as Davenport saw Taako’s motionless body, he knew. And Lup knew, too.
But she would not accept it.
“Taako?” She asked softly, her voice cracking. “Please. Please. Not like this.”
She turned him over on his back and hovered her fingers over the gruesome wound in his chest, hesitant to touch. Instead she moved her hand to the side of his neck, as if she were moving through tar. She pressed her fingers against his pulse point for a few moments before all the color drained from her face.
“No,” she whimpered. “No.”
The battle raged on around her as she clung desperately to her brother’s IPRE jacket, horrified.
Barry began to tremble as he realized what had just happened, but he couldn’t unpack that right now—he had to keep fighting so they wouldn’t lose anyone else.
And that was evidently a definite possibility now, he thought as another curse just narrowly missed Lup, who was too focused on her brother to notice.
He was about to spring into action when Lucretia beat him to it. She leapt in front of Lup and threw up a shield, competent as always in spite of her apparent panic.
She did not finish her sentence as a powerful blast dissolved her shield and an arrow shot into her shoulder.
Lucretia dropped to one knee with a shout, grasping at the arrow.
Barry grit his teeth and pivoted, firing off Blight at one of the drow and completely decimating it—but he barely had time to register his victory, as when he turned back to help Lucretia he was suddenly knocked back with an incredible force and thrown against the cobblestone of a nearby building—and for a moment everything went blank.
“...arry? Get up, Barry, come on!”
Davenport was tugging fruitlessly at his arm, his eyes wide in terror.
“Shit...” Barry cursed, reaching for the back of his head as his vision cleared. “Fuck, are the drow dead?”
“No, I—I’m making a call,” Davenport said. “I’ve got em caught in an illusion. We’re gonna run. Now, right now. Can you walk?”
“Y-yeah, I’m fine,” Barry said as he brought himself to his feet. His head throbbed, and his vision spun slightly as he rose.
“We just can’t risk losing anyone else,” Davenport explained in a panic. “Quickly—the illusion’s not going to last long—girls, we gotta go.”
The captain had turned back towards Lucretia, now back on her feet, and Lup—who was doubled over in anguish by Taako’s body.
Barry tensed and forced himself to move forward, following Capn’port in a daze.
As he surveyed the scene he began to realize that one of his best friends had just been massacred in front of him. It was something that never really got easier—tears welled up in his eyes as the weight of that grief grew more apparent.
He couldn’t let himself fall apart here—not yet, their enemy was slumped on the ground with clouded eyes fixated intently into empty space, and Barry knew the gnomish illusion would be short lived. Given how powerful these drow were, it must have been sheer dumb luck that the illusion worked at all. Plus, there was still Lup.
Barry, Davenport, and Lucretia had all seen Taako die once before.
But Lup had not. And as close as they all were, it would be ludicrous to pretend that Lup and Taako’s bond was not different.
“I—I can’t leave him,” Lup stammered.
“I’m so sorry Lup,” Davenport breathed. “I know how hard this is. I wish I could give you some more time but it’s not safe here, we have to go.”
Lucretia nervously looked back and forth between Lup and the stunned drow. She shook her head, then wove her good arm under one of Lup’s and tried to hoist her up and away from Taako.
“No!”
“Lup, I’m sorry but we can’t win,” Lucretia said as Lup fought against her.
“No, no! That’s—my—brother!”
“He’s gone, Lup,” Davenport said flatly. They did not have time for this. “There’s nothing you can do for him, we have to go! You’ll see him next cycle.”
Barry saw one of the drow twitch out of the corner of his eye. He felt awful, but they didn’t have much choice here. He joined Lucretia and pulled Lup away.
“No—please—”
Lup let out a short yelp of pain and suddenly was leaning heavily into Barry. He braced for her, then quickly scanned for any major wounds.
There was a huge gash on her left side—had she caught a sword there? Or did something arcane slice her? Barry cursed and rearranged so that Lup’s arm was free, which she immediately brought up to the injury. She took a few ragged breaths and steadied herself against Barry, then acquiesced and allowed him and Lucretia to guide her away.
Once the other three were far enough away, Davenport cast Mold Earth and buried the body, fearing for what the drow might be able to do with it.
He ran to catch up, pulling a potion out of his pack.
“Lup,” he addressed. “That’s bad. Take this.”
“No,” she grumbled, dazed. “We’ll need it later.”
“You need it now,” Davenport insisted. Barry noticed there was something off about their captain that he couldn’t quite place—distraction? Perhaps Taako’s death really upset him. “I’m not playing this game. Take the potion.”
Lup begrudgingly drank it down, pausing while its effects worked their way through her wounds. The gash in her side shrunk, and while her condition was still less than ideal—the bleeding stopped, and she was no longer leaning on Barry for support as she walked.
They hurried as quickly as they could, given their conditions, back to the Starblaster as Davenport and Lucretia both cast wards behind them to throw off their enemy in case they’d been followed.
---
This fic will have four chapters; come read it on AO3! The cute Blupjeans stuff will be in the next chapter.
It wasn’t long after the Hunger was finally defeated and the celebration and clean-up began when Taako suddenly grabbed his head and collapsed.
“Taako?!” Lup gasped as Kravitz caught him.
“Hey,” Kravitz exclaimed in surprise. “Taako? Are you alright?”
Taako didn’t answer, so Kravitz carefully lowered him down and had his boyfriend lay with his head in his lap.
Taako, Lup, Barry, and Kravitz had been walking around surveying the damage, and talking to anyone who stopped them. A passerby had asked them about their home plane, and Lup mentioned how she and Taako spent time together on their grandfather’s farm for a few years—and Taako flinched, stopping dead in his tracks for a moment before playing it off like a joke. Lup knew that something was up, though. He was acting oddly, speaking slowly, as if he had to wrangle each word from his mind. Only a few minutes after this behavior started, he dropped.
Lup floated closer, her spectral form lowering down near her brother. “Is he hurt?”
“Well yes, but...” Kravitz trailed off. “I don’t think that’s what this is.”
Lup reached out to touch Taako’s forehead, but her incorporeal hand phased right through it.
She pulled back, her form flickering slightly.
Kravitz watched her with distrust as Barry got her attention.
“It’s alright, Lup,” Barry consoled. “I think it’s just from Fisher. He had to fight so he didn’t really have time to process everything. Wouldn’t be surprised if Mags, Merle, and Capn’port are out too.”
Lup pulled herself together before responding, “Nah, Dav’s right over there.”
Barry followed the direction of Lup’s skeletal finger and saw Davenport, watching distantly with his hands in his pockets.
She motioned for him to come closer and called out, “Hey, Captain! Holding up?”
He walked forward somewhat sheepishly, but knelt down by Taako and the others.
“Taako just passed the fuck out,” Lup said. “Out of nowhere. Barry thinks it’s from the voidfish. Are you doing okay?”
“Okay is...subjective,” Davenport shook his head with a half-hearted laugh. “I mean...physically, yeah, I’m totally fine. I’m just...glad to be back.”
“Me too,” Lup agreed quietly.
“Glad to have both of you back,” Barry smiled and put a hand on Davenport’s shoulder. “But really, Cap, it was hell the first few times I got my memories back—how ya feeling?”
“I’m...furious,” Davenport said under his breath. “I get she did what she had to do but...yeah, I feel betrayed. I guess that’s a later problem, though.”
Barry pulled him into a hug. Tears pricked Davenport’s eyes, but he kept it together.
“My memories are back and we’re safe. That’s all that matters,” he said. “But the voidfish affected me way differently than Taako. I’m not surprised he’s out.”
“I’m worried,” Lup said. “How come it knocked Taako out, but not you? You got the worst of it.”
“For me...it was kind of like being charmed. But...just, forever. My memories were just gone, there was nothing there. But Taako’s memories were re-written,” Davenport explained wearily. “His brain has a lot to resolve. Let him rest. He’ll be okay.”
He stood up and brushed the dirt off of his knees.
“I’m gonna find Merle and Magnus,” Davenport said. “They should be fine, but better check on ‘em.”
He left, and Lup noticed Kravitz gently stroking Taako’s hair. She watched him for a little while.
“So...Kravitz,” she addressed awkwardly. “You, uh...gonna reap us?”
He looked away from her, absent-mindedly petting his boyfriend.
“Not, uh...well, not today, at least,” he replied. “I’ll have to speak with the Raven Queen, but...I mean we all just heard the Story, so...no promises, but I think we can probably strike a deal.”
“Well, good,” Lup said, relieved. “Glad we get to enjoy our victory, even for a little bit.”
“Besides,” Kravitz added. “I don’t think Taako would appreciate losing you again.”
Lup nodded and reached out for Taako again, her hand going through him.
“Gah. I...really wish I could hug him right now,” she said.
“When he’s up, I’ll do it for you,” Barry promised.
Barry then thoughtfully reached out and held Taako’s hand.
“I missed him,” he said. “It was...really hard trying to guide them along and not being able to...talk, like we used to, or be myself at all. Shit. Sorry. I know you had it a lot worse.”
“No, babe, it’s not a competition,” Lup assured. “It was hard enough just being able to hear them. I can’t imagine what it was like to be there right in front of them, not being able to get through.”
“I’m so sorry, Lup,” Barry’s voice cracked. “I can’t believe I didn’t figure it out. It only took Taako a few minutes to realize you were in there once he got his memories back. In retrospect...it was so obvious.”
“Taako had clues,” Lup explained. “I literally spelled my name out for him. He got a magic bracelet that let me talk to him. That’s why he figured it out so fast. Besides, he wouldn’t have listened to you anyway. You wanna talk about retrospect? I shouldn’t have made an umbrella that eats magic energy!”
Taako’s brow furrowed, his closed eyes twitched. He seemed distressed.
Kravitz uttered a few tender words and rubbed a thumb across Taako’s cheek.
“Think I should move him?” Kravitz asked. “No one’s coming by, but...we’re in the middle of the road.”
“Yeah, def. Just by that building, for now,” Lup responded.
There was a nearly completely wrecked brick building that had probably been a house before today just a few feet off the road, on top of a nice grassy patch. Only two of its walls still stood, the rest in ruin.
Kravitz scooped Taako up in his arms and carried him over to it, Barry and Lup trailing behind him.
Lup smiled, though no one could see it. She was so happy that her brother had finally found the real deal. She had tried not to listen too much when they went on dates—not wanting to eavesdrop—but they seemed pretty happy together. And now Lup could see with her own eyes how much Kravitz cared about Taako.
Barry sat in the grass near Kravitz and Taako, but Lup hovered as she heard the sound of approaching footsteps on the dirt path.
She turned to see Merle approaching with a healing potion.
“Merle!” She called happily.
He stopped and smiled at her with heartfelt sincerity. “It’s real good to have you back, Lup. You too, Barry.”
“Did Capn’port send you over here?” Lup asked.
“Sure did,” he replied. “He’s helpin’ Ango with something. I only have one spell left, though. I’ve been healing folks nonstop with this nonsense. Let’s see what I can do.”
He was visibly worn out. His wounds had been healed but he looked like he needed a hundred-year nap. He sat down by the others and took a breath before breaking out his Extreme Teen Bible.
“We’re physically healed already,” Merle said. “So let me try this. And if nothing happens I’ll give him a potion.”
With that, Merle cast Calm Emotions.
“Give it a minute,” Merle said as he moved so that he was sitting with his back against the brick wall. He closed his eyes, and no one objected.
“Luuuuuuup! Baaarry!”
Magnus’s voice called from afar.
“Stay here, babe?” Lup told Barry. “I’ll bring him over.”
“Y-yeah. Sure,” Barry said, reluctant. “Don’t, uh...don’t be gone too long.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
Lup left, and it wasn’t long before Taako began to stir. His eyelids opened slowly, with difficulty.
“Hello, love,” Kravitz greeted softly.
Taako smiled sweetly in response, but made no effort to move.
“How are you feeling?” Kravitz asked.
“Kinda weird,” Taako said. “Did you put an enchantment on me?”
“I did,” Merle said.
“Merle...?” Taako mumbled.
“Taako, listen,” Barry said. “The spell only lasts a minute. Your memories are all jumbled up. Adrenaline got you to this point, but Lucretia wasn’t kidding when she said the strain could kill you. Try not to remember everything too fast. Why don’t you trance for a little bit so your mind can start to work it out?”
“Uh...okay, yeah. Sure.”
Taako closed his eyes again, the enchantment blocking out the desire to argue.
“How are you getting along, Merle?” Barry asked.
Merle shrugged. “With the memories? Not too bad. Pretty torn up I forgot you guys, and John...but...I dunno, just gotta keep on keepin’ on. Like we always have.”
The three talked for a little while, discussing more details of the battle they just went through and catching up.
Taako had only been trancing for about three minutes before he shot upright, panicked.
“Where’s Lup?!” He demanded with wide eyes.
“She just went to get Magnus,” Kravitz comforted. “Should be back any minute.”
He tucked a piece of hair behind his ear and looked down briefly before noticing the pair of folded, denim-clad legs next to him.
Taako locked eyes with Barry and put a hand on his shoulder, so relieved to be with him.
Barry grinned, eyes teary, and pulled him into a tight embrace, which Taako returned. They had already hugged a few times since the battle, but they had twelve years to make up for.
They pulled apart only when they heard Magnus calling out to them once again, closer this time. Lup travelled alongside him.
Magnus, like everyone else, looked worse for wear. His clothes were torn and stained with blood, dark circles were carved under his eyes.
He nearly tackled Barry and Taako down into the grass in joy, then he himself flopped over with his back on the ground.
“I’m tempted to take a nap right here,” he said.
“I feel ya, but you need a real bed,” Merle advised. “Wait until we get ho—uh.” He rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly looking askance.
Taako and Magnus realized now, too.
They didn’t have a home.
“I’m not...” Taako began. “I’m definitely not going back to the Bureau of Balance. I mean, maybe to like, pick up my shit or whatever, but...and I’m sure Barry’s not gonna want to chill there, either.”
“Yeah, no,” Barry said. “I...I forgive Lucretia, I guess, but...no.”
“We could go back to the Starblaster,” Merle offered.
“What, a hundred years wasn’t enough?” Magnus said.
“Yeah, I don’t...particularly want that, either.” Taako mumbled, grabbing his head again. “Ow, fuck.”
They didn’t have any other options. Taako never had a home on this planet. His stagecoach was gone. Raven’s Roost was destroyed. And Merle abandoned his home years ago. Barry lived in a cave. Kravitz didn’t exactly have a place the others could crash in, either.
They grew somber as the realization sunk in.
“Well...I vote we take a nap right here, and find an inn later.” Magnus suggested. “Everyone knows we just saved...everything, I’m sure we can find a place.”
“Sounds good to me,” Merle agreed as he reclined down onto the grass.
The others rearranged, so that Barry, Taako, and Kravitz were all leaning against the brick wall. Taako rested his head on Kravitz’s shoulder. Lup appeared to be sitting as well, next to Barry.
Taako closed his eyes and tried to rest, but after a few minutes of everyone just being together in silence, Kravitz noticed Taako’s hands were balled into trembling fists in his lap.
“Taako?” He prompted delicately.
Taako sat up straighter, and spoke through a clenched jaw.
“I know I should be happy,” He started. “It’s all over now. We won. But...god, that was fucked? I carried my fucking sister around in an umbrella for two years. I saw your fucking corpse and didn’t know. I killed Barry! I killed Barry and then we saw him again in Phandolin and then—ha, what the fuck?”
“I asked you to kill me, Taako,” Barry reminded. “And I’m sorry, it wasn’t fair of me to do that but I panicked. And if you didn’t, who knows where we’d all be right now. Lucretia would have cut off this plane with her shield.”
“The Temporal Chalice...it showed me my memories and I knew they were wrong,” he buried his face in his hands. “Agh, fuck, fuck. I knew something was missing.”
“Easy, Taako,” Lup soothed. “Not too fast. I’m here now. We’re all together again.”
They sat unobtrusively for a few moments. Kravitz pressed a kiss to the top of Taako’s head.
“Merle has kids,” Taako noted. “Mags...you got married.”
Magnus deflated slightly, still lying on the ground.
“Yeah,” he sighed. “Yeah...I sure did.”
“We should have been there,” Taako said bitterly. “For all of it.”
Magnus was quiet for a moment, deep in thought.
“Shit,” he mumbled, sitting up. “I can’t remember who...fuck. I can’t remember who killed her. Who destroyed Raven’s Roost.”
“Governor Kalen.”
Magnus looked up at Taako in confusion.
“Your voice just...not like Fisher’s static but I didn’t hear whatever you just said. You just cut out.”
Taako frowned.
“Don’t worry about it, bud,” Merle said. “Well take care of it for you. Someday.”
“For sure,” Taako added, staring off into space.
After a few moments, Magnus leaned back again. “Okay, for real,” he said. “I’m taking a nap. Wake me up at the next apocalypse.”
“Night, buddy,” Barry said.
“I’ve gotta get back to my kids soon, but,” Merle started, curling up and closing his eyes. “Eh, they can wait twenty minutes.”
Even Kravitz’s eyelids were getting heavy. He had a lot of souls to collect today—and he should really get back to that, but right now Taako needed him. Plus, he too was so, so tired.
Taako leaned back into his chest, and Kravitz wrapped his arms around him before closing his eyes himself.
Taako’s fatigue was starting to overcome him again, but he fought against it to look up at his sister.
“Lulu?” He asked.
“Yeah?”
“...Don’t leave. You too, Barold.”
“Never,” Lup reassured.
“Get some rest, Taako, it’s okay,” Barry said. “We’re not going anywhere.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Taako grumbled, his eyes dropping shut. “You rest up, too. Saving all realities really...takes it out of you.”
Barry gazed lovingly at Lup, a warm and weary smile on his face.
“Really might just blow myself up,” he whispered thoughtfully, attempting to caress her cheek, or at least where her cheek would be.
“Not today, babe,” Lup replied sympathetically. “We’ll figure it out. For now, you be my hands. And Taako’s right—I’m out of spell slots and you must be exhausted.”
“I love you,” he said.
“I love you too, Barry,” she answered. “So, so much.”
Taako, without opening his eyes, batted his hand around Barry before landing on his arm and gently pulling it back so that it was draped over Taako’s knees.
Decades ago, IPRE piles were not uncommon. Things were so different now, but it was so nice to have this normalcy back—even if it wasn’t quite the same group of people, and even with Lup being without a body.
Lup settled so that her form was in front of Barry and Taako, in between them and Magnus. She watched Barry for a while, his body relaxing into sleep, the sound of his slow and measured breaths soothing her. Once she was certain everyone else was out, she, too, allowed herself to ease into meditation.
They could finally, finally rest. It had been such a long time coming. There was no fear of a lurking hidden enemy, no pressure of a time limit. They could all just—be.
Two three months ago I started working on this floral irpe (plus angus and Kravitz) pic because in my head I was like “I love drawing flowers!” Cut to now, where I still love drawing flowers, but slightly less because this was way more laborious than I thought.
This took forever to post because writing the descriptions required more braincells than I had to spare. Biggest shoutout to @dualityandsuch for giving me a hella helpful list of flowers and their meanings! You’re the real mvp!
Not all the flowers listed are featured, but I think I got the bulk of them. Flower meanings and Outfit descriptions under the cut!
“We’re fucked. Need help. Regroup. Dungeon in cave about one mile north of meeting place. Very dangerous enemies, be careful. Literally gonna die. Please hurry.”
Barry stopped dead in his tracks as he received Lup’s message. He cursed, which prompted Davenport to halt and look up at him apprehensively.
The crew of the IPRE had split up on a mission—rarely a good idea. Barry with Davenport, Magnus with Merle and Lucretia, and Taako with Lup. They had gotten word about a group of very high level warlocks and wizards who had been messing around with some kind of powerful force. The team had gone out in search of the group in hopes that the ‘force’ was the Light of Creation. However, upon reaching the area that they had received intel on, they found there were three separate leads as to the mysterious group’s whereabouts.
Thankfully, those three areas were not very far from each other.
Barry quickly replied to Lup.
“Should be there in thirty minutes. Hold on until then.”
“What’s going on?” Davenport pressed.
“Lup and Taako are in trouble,” Barry explained, pivoting as he spoke to walk in the opposite direction. “We’ve got to head back, quickly.”
They took off, and after about fifteen minutes of running they ran into Lucretia, Merle, and Magnus.
Barry was disheartened to see that in the hour or so they had been split up, Lucretia and Magnus had been injured.
“We ran into one of the warlocks,” Magnus explained. “We didn’t fight. We took one hit and knew we couldn’t win. Lucretia put up a good shield and we ran.”
“Shit,” Barry grumbled. “That strong, huh?”
“All the more reason to get to the twins,” Davenport said. “If Lup says they’re in danger, it must be really bad. Let’s hurry.”
After another ten minutes of running, they found the cave Lup and Taako had been sent to investigate. They searched the perimeter for the entrance, anxious to get to their friends.
Barry heard Davenport utter the incantation for Detect Creature.
“There’s some kind of ward coating this place,” Davenport said. “We won’t be able to find them with magic.”
They turned a corner and saw two openings in the rock structure—two separate tunnels leading downward.
“Shit, there are two entrances,” Magnus griped.
“We have to split up again,” Davenport ordered. “We’ll take the right. Send us a message if you find them; we’ll do the same.”
The captain had not even finished his sentence before Magnus rushed into the left tunnel. Lucretia shook her head and followed him, with Merle in pursuit.
Barry and Davenport moved forward, swiftly and quietly, traversing the dungeon that had been built into the cave. There were plenty of doors and locks, but for now they stayed on the path of what seemed to be a hallway. Barry held out his hand and the soft yellow light of prestidigitation helped him to get a better look at his dimly lit surroundings.
The walls were graffitied with runes and necromancy sigils, very high level spells and arcane coding. Barry would have been absolutely thrilled by it all if he didn’t know his friends were in serious danger—and seeing these powerful writings only augmented his fear of Lup and Taako’s potential fates.
“I’ve tried Sending both of them a message,” Davenport said. “I haven’t heard back from either of them.”
That wasn’t a great sign. Messages from another person’s Sending spell could be answered without expending a spell slot. An ignored message usually indicated unconsciousness or worse.
Barry picked up the pace; running now as quietly as he could—though he figured if the enemy was still in the dungeon, they almost certainly knew by now that they had visitors.
They had to act quickly. Judging by the markings on the walls, this group was quite possibly too high a level for any of the IPRE to handle. Perhaps if the whole crew worked together, they could hold their own—but it would depend on how many arcanists the enemy group had.
Barry skidded to a halt, Davenport bumping into him as they turned a corner.
“Taako! Shit, Lup!” Barry exclaimed.
Taako was guarding Lup, who was lying motionless and bleeding out on the floor. Barry prayed she was just unconscious. Taako, too, was severely injured and only just barely managing to keep himself halfway up. He sat on his knees, nearly doubled over with one eye closed in pain—his wand pointed outward towards Barry and Davenport.
As soon as Taako saw Barry’s face, he lowered his wand in vague recognition.
Barry rushed forward and lowered himself down by them, with Davenport following suit.
“Can you walk?” Davenport questioned.
Barry examined Lup—she was still breathing, thank all the gods—but very much unconscious and injured to the point that Barry was afraid to try to move her at all. Her IPRE robe was folded under her head. Barry ripped a piece of cloth off of his shirt and pressed it against one of her wounds, trying to stop the bleeding.
Taako murmured something in between breaths, but Barry couldn’t quite make out what it was.
“I don’t wanna move her, Dav,” Barry said. “This isn’t the safest spot but I’m gonna Send a message to Merle and tell him to head over here.”
“Save your spell slots,” Davenport countered. “I’ll do it. Your magic packs more of a punch than mine. Hey, Taako—it’s okay now, we’re here. Lie down and save your strength, we’ve got you.”
Taako again whispered something barely audible, and Barry turned to get a better look at him.
It was miraculous that he was still conscious. His injuries were just about the same as Lup’s—Barry guessed that Lup had simply been hit first and had more time to bleed out. What stood out, however, was something about Taako’s eye. It was hard to tell in the low lighting, and Barry’s eyesight wasn’t that great to begin with, but Taako’s eye seemed to almost be clouded over.
Taako’s breathing was ragged, and his body faltered slightly as he tried to speak again. He struggled to push himself up more as he looked at Barry, perturbed, and quietly said something in between harsh breaths that Barry could not understand.
“Boe de nestad.”
“Lie down, Taako, it’s okay,” Davenport soothed, a hand on his shoulder. “Rest.”
Taako began to cough and doubled over in pain. One hand covered his mouth, and the other gripped at a wound near his heart that Barry hadn’t even noticed. Barry froze in fear as Taako coughed out blood. Davenport rubbed his back, his face creased with worry, and tried to gently guide him down—but Taako weakly batted his hand away.
“Nîdh, nîdh…” Taako coughed a few more times and tried to catch his breath. “Prestad. Lup.”
“I can’t understand him at all,” Barry said, looking to Davenport. “Think he’s delirious?”
“He’s mumbling, I can’t quite make it out, but,” Davenport spoke slowly, trying to think. “I think he’s speaking Elvish.”
“Huh?” Barry was taken aback.
“De…nathathog,” Taako whispered.
“In fifteen years, I’ve literally never heard either of them speak Elvish before,” Barry shook his head. “What the hell’s going on?”
“I’ve heard them use it when the rest of us weren’t around a couple of times,” Davenport shrugged. “He must not be thinking straight. Taako, Ú-bedin edhellen, we don’t speak Elvish. Can you try Common?”
Taako deflated. He looked up at Davenport and blinked, searching his face with exasperation.
“Shit,” Barry cursed. “You don’t speak Elvish either?”
“Not really. Just a few phrases. Lucretia does, though,” Davenport noted. “And actually I think Magnus does, too.”
Barry reluctantly let go of Lup, and motioned for Davenport to switch with him. He obliged, putting pressure on one of Lup’s injuries while Barry drew in closer to Taako.
“C’mon, Taako,” Barry comforted, guiding Taako’s body downward.
“Man—” Taako coughed, covering his mouth wincing as he did so. Blood trickled from his mouth down his chin, and his exhaustion began to overcome him. “Nîdh…man cerig? Lup…prestad…”
Barry had Taako lying down with his head in his lap, against Taako’s apparent protests.
“Lup’s gonna be okay, Taako,” Barry consoled softly. “Merle’s coming. He’ll be here in a few minutes, they weren’t too far behind us. Try to relax, you’re hurt.”
Taako seemed at least to understand “Merle” and the name’s implications. He looked somewhat relieved, though still disturbed by something he could not seem to communicate. He struggled to keep his eyes open, and now that Barry was closer he could tell there was definitely something strange about them.
“Dav, his eyes are all clouded,” Barry said. “Any ideas?”
Davenport looked over apprehensively. “Shit,” he started. “Hope he wasn’t blinded by something.”
Barry ripped off another piece of cloth and put pressure on the wound in Taako’s chest. Taako’s ragged breathing grew weaker, and his eyelids fell shut.
Before Taako passed out he spoke again, almost inaudibly: “Prestad.”
Barry swallowed hard, his heart racing with anxiety. Normally he would be begging Taako to stay awake, to not let himself black out—but he figured with Merle coming it didn’t really matter, there was no sense in letting him suffer if he didn’t need to.
“I wonder if he got charmed or something,” Barry mused.
“Elves have fey ancestry,” Davenport clarified. “They can’t be charmed. Whatever it is, hopefully it’s nothing our cleric can’t fix.”
Barry looked over the twins’ wounds a little closer.
“Whatever this was really did a number on them,” he said quietly. “This is…really bad.”
“Yeah, Merle better have spell slots left or we’re fucked.”
Both Taako and Lup were incredibly powerful wizards—but for the life of them, neither could take a hit. It usually wasn’t a problem, as they would tend to strike first and knock things out in one hit, or Magnus or would throw himself in front of them before they got hit. Whenever they went off on their own, it was always a gamble. Still, Barry wasn’t sure he had ever seen them hurt quite this badly before. He hoped they wouldn’t die in the time it would take Merle to catch up.
They waited anxiously in silence for a little while before the captain spoke again.
“Shit, shit, shit, shit,” Davenport chanted in a panic, suddenly placing both hands over Lup’s heart. “C’mon, Lup, hang in there. Just a few more minutes.”
Barry felt his blood run cold, but was relieved to hear the cluttered sound of footsteps approaching.
“Merle, thank god, quickly—” Davenport ordered, backing off from Lup.
Merle hurried forward and practically slid on his knees into Lup without hesitation. He pulled out his holy symbol and spoke an incantation as Lucretia and Magnus trailed behind him. Their own injuries were apparently slowing them down now, but they were still standing. Merle continued to speak and motioned with his head for them to come closer.
White light bloomed from Merle’s book and curled around the room, spreading out into the hearts of all seven of them. The light warmed Barry and felt invigorating, but he hadn’t been hurt so it didn’t do much else for him.
He looked over his shoulder, relieved to see Lup stir as the gashes all over her body began to knit themselves closed.
Barry felt Taako’s head move slightly in his lap, so he brought his attention back to him.
Taako’s eyelids clenched tighter before slowly opening—his eyes still clouded with something. They closed again briefly as his injuries healed, and when they reopened they were back to normal, cleared of whatever magic had been there.
Taako draped his arm over his face, and buried his eyes its crook.
Barry wanted to say something, but could tell both twins were still in immense pain. He gave them a few moments to collect themselves.
“I’ll cast another,” Merle assured. “I just need a few minutes to prepare it.”
“Thanks,” Lup murmured. “Ah…fuck…that hurt.”
Taako’s wounds were still gruesome. Barry brought the cloth back and resumed putting pressure on his chest injury. Taako winced at the sensation, but to Barry’s surprise he did not protest. He did not have the energy.
Barry gave him a few more moments to adjust before speaking.
“Hey, Taako,” he said quietly. “Can you, uh…can you understand me?”
Taako peaked out from under his arm, taken aback and dazed.
“Yeah?” He said incredulously. “Why wouldn’t I?”
Barry breathed a sigh of relief, and gave a little smile in spite of his worry.
“You were speaking Elvish before you passed out,” Davenport said. “It didn’t seem like you understood Common at all, actually.”
Taako tore his eyes away from Barry, looking down in confusion.
“I don’t—really? That’s…weird.”
“You got hit with Feeblemind, broski,” Lup muttered. “Right before I beefed it.”
Barry’s eyes widened in shock, his jaw dropped.
“Feeblemind?” Magnus repeated, fishing for clarification.
“It’s a crazy powerful spell,” Davenport explained. “I thought elves can’t be charmed?”
“’S not a charm,” Lup slurred. “S’an enchantment…ugh, fuck…works different.”
“But—you’re not supposed to be able to communicate at all if you get hit with that,” Barry said.
“Taako’s a pretty smart guy,” Lucretia noted. “He probably would have saved if he hadn’t been hurt so badly. You got lucky. That could have been a lot worse.”
“How you feeling, buddy?” Merle asked, charging up a spell with his bible.
“Not…great…m’dude.” Taako’s voice was hoarse, and his speech quickly gave way to another coughing fit. Barry moved his hand off of Taako’s chest to give him some space, but bit his lip when he saw that his friend had coughed out blood again. Taako’s hand dropped from his mouth and rested on his chest, his eyes closed and his head fell slightly to the side.
“Hey, hey, Taako,” Barry pleaded as calmly as he could. He gently placed a hand on his head. “Still with us?”
Taako didn’t answer. His ragged breaths had become steadier—if Barry didn’t know it was impossible, he would have thought Taako was sleeping.
Lucretia pursed her lips and drew in closer, lowering herself down next to them.
“A spell that strong would take a lot of healing, even if his body didn’t take any damage.” Lucretia said.
“He’ll be alright,” Merle said. “Let him rest for now. I’m almost charged up.”
“It’s really incredible he was still able to speak under Feeblemind,” Lucretia mused. “Could he get full sentences out? Or just words?”
“Uh…well neither of us speak Elvish,” Davenport admitted. “I think it was just words. I caught…prestad?”
Lup’s ears perked, her brow furrowed in thought.
“Prestad?” Lucretia repeated. “Means ‘trouble.’”
“Makes sense,” Davenport said. “He was really worried about Lup. He calmed down when we said Merle was coming, so I guess he understood that part. Could have been a little more worried about himself, though. Looks like you’re both equally bad off.”
“This one’s the worst,” Barry pointed at the wound in Taako’s chest. “Looks like it barely missed his heart. Must have got a lung, though. He keeps coughing out blood.”
“These guys were…not fucking around,” Lup stammered, her condition worsening again as her remaining wounds continued to bleed. “Arcane Sword…we were back to back…it ran through both of us.” She weakly lifted her hand and placed it over a wound on her chest that mirrored Taako’s. “We…didn’t kill them…” As she spoke, she evidently began to remember events of the battle, and she grew panicked. “Prestad! Fuck, we…we can’t stay here. We…didn’t kill them.”
Davenport rose and pulled out his wand, facing down the tunnel with determination.
“Do they have the Light?” He asked.
“Yeah,” Lup replied, weary.
“Fightin’s not a good idea right now, Cap’n,” Merle warned. “We’ve all used a lotta spell slots already. And I don’t think I can get them back to good health without using the rest of mine.”
Davenport nodded.
“Just get them up and moving and we’ll get out of here,” Davenport commanded. “We’ll come back another day. All together.”
Merle spoke another incantation and healing magic again flowed into Taako’s and Lup’s bodies. Their wounds closed more, and though they still looked grisly they were no longer in danger of dying.
Taako sat up, cradling his head in his hands. Lup, too, brought herself to her knees and sat back on them, rubbing her eyes.
Now that he was up, Barry could see that the stab wound on Taako’s chest did in fact go all the way through his body—the injury was smaller in diameter now but very much still open, blood seeped slowly into his torn shirt slowly from the exit wound on his back.
“Take a second to breathe,” Magnus said. “But then we gotta go. We’re definitely gonna be in trouble if we run into anyone.”
Taako shook his head slightly, then said: “Lup?”
“Yeah?”
“…Nothing.”
Lup smiled and tried to stand. Magnus went over and helped her up, then kept her steady with his arm wrapped around her.
“How are you feeling?” Lucretia questioned Taako.
“…Fuzzy,” Taako muttered.
“I bet,” Lucretia replied.
“That should go away once you get a good rest in,” Merle said. “Bear with it, for now. I don’t wanna cast anything else until we’re definitely safe.”
Barry stood and offered Taako a hand. He helped him to his feet, then slung Taako’s arm over his shoulder to support him. Taako leaned into him more than he ever had on the rare occasion when Barry had to help him walk—Barry felt his friend’s body trembling, and he wondered if he was really okay to travel. He looked back at Lup, supported by Magnus, and saw that her condition was now only slightly better than her brother’s.
As the team walked, Barry tried to keep Taako talking—but his answers were one-worded and slurred.
They made it out of the dungeon without encountering the warlocks. Once they were a safe distance from the cave, Lup tried to lighten the mood in spite of her pain.
“Not really. Dwarvish, Halfling, and Infernal. I know a couple of Elvish words, but—”
“Barry Bluejeans, you do not speak fucking Infernal.”
“I do.”
Lup laughed, cringing slightly as she did. “Of course you do,” she shook her head, amused. “Well…we’ve got nothing but time on our hands. We can teach you Elvish, if you want.”
Barry blushed slightly, happy to take any opportunity to spend more time with Lup.
“Yeah, that…that sounds nice,” Barry smiled. “Y’know, it sounds silly but I didn’t even think about you guys speaking Elvish. Do you use it when we’re not around?”
“Not really,” Taako mumbled.
“Now and then,” Lup replied, out of breath. “But even when we were kids…ow, fuck…we mostly spoke Common.”
Lup paused a moment to press down on a gash on her abdomen, closing her eyes in pain. Magnus stopped for a moment to allow her to take a short breather before they continued.
“Mmph…I don’t think either of us would just revert to Elvish randomly…that was all Feeblemind.”
“Again, you got lucky,” Lucretia said. “Hanging in there, Taako?”
“…M’fine.”
Barry got a good look at Taako’s face and saw that he was still fighting to just stay conscious.
Lup’s façade of cheer faltered briefly. She shook her head.
“Gods. That was scary,” she admitted, voice quivering. “That was…definitely the closest we’ve ever come to kicking it.”
Barry felt Taako’s body tense.
“I guess it doesn’t really matter anymore if we die or not,” Lup reflected. “Silly to be scared, huh?”
“Not silly at all,” Davenport reassured.
“We’re almost home,” Merle said. “We’ll get you back on the ship, I’ll heal you up real good, and then you can take a good long rest.”
The rest of the walk was spent in silence.
When they arrived back on the ship, Merle used the last of his spell slots to heal Lup and Taako more—but their condition was still less than ideal. Barry and Lucretia helped them to dress the rest of their wounds, then guided them back to their cabins to rest.
When Taako realized that they were being led in different directions, he froze and looked back at Lup with something Barry could not quite place—something along the lines of reluctance and desperation.
Lup took the hint, equally wary to separate. “Actually, we’ll, uh…I’m gonna chill in Taako’s room.”
So Lucretia brought her into Taako’s room with him and helped her sit down on the bed before heading off. Barry guided Taako to his place, but hesitated to leave.
Taako fished for Lup’s hand, then laid back on the bed and closed his eyes without a word. Lup gave him a sympathetic glance before locking eyes with Barry, concerned.
It was very unlike Taako to be so vulnerable in front of others. He had grown closer to Barry, yes, but even in front of him this was very out of the ordinary. Feeblemind had clearly done a number on him.
“We’ll be alright, Barr,” Lup promised. “See you in the morning.”
Barry nodded. “I’m gonna check in on you later,” he said. “Don’t mind me. But, uh, speak up if you need anything.”
Lup nodded and leaned back, and instantly Taako cuddled in closer to her. She pet his hair before giving one last look at Barry, a sad but reassuring smile to confirm he should give them some space.
With that, Barry flicked off the light switch and went back to his own room.
The next morning, it was almost as if nothing had happened. Both Taako and Lup were back to their spunky, snarky selves. They didn’t bring up their battle again, and no one pressed them for details. Lup did, however, remind Barry that he was welcome to Elvish lessons whenever he wanted—much to Barry’s delight.
-----------------------------
Elvish phrases translated, roughly:
Boe de nestad- She needs healing
Nîdh- Ouch/ow/it hurts
Prestad- Trouble/danger
De nathahog - please help her
Ú-bedin edhellen- I don't speak Elvish
Man cerig- what are you doing?
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Lup and Taako are in serious danger; the IPRE crew goes out on a search-and-rescue mission, only to find the twins in critical condition--and Taako unable to communicate.
Desidirium (noun) : an ardent desire or longing, especially a feeling of loss or grief for something lost
--
Everything had been perfect. Magnus had been so happy. He had lived in absolute bliss—Lucretia couldn’t have dreamed of a better happily ever after for her dear friend.
But that was gone now.
She watched from afar as Magnus collapsed near the ruins of Raven’s Roost. Debris from the support column and the colony that had been atop it were piled in a broken mess where the Craftmen’s Corridor had once stood, pieces of cabins and chunks of stone were scattered below at the base of the cliff.
He was wailing.
Her heart panged with sympathy as she watched him keen with an unparalleled grief. Suffering that she had never seen from him in their hundred years together. Torment she had never seen in her entire life.
It was unbearable.
She had to fix it.
“Lucretia.”
A deep, chilling voice beckoned from behind her. She recognized it instantly, and was immediately filled with both joy and dread.
She turned around to see the dark phantasmal form of her friend and rival, Barry Bluejeans.
Any shred of hope that had sparked within her upon hearing his voice died out, as she felt the unmistakable sensation of someone prying into her thoughts. She tried to push him out of her mind, but his lich form was too powerful. But as quickly as he had come in, he relinquished. Barry held his skeletal arm outstretched threateningly and aimed point-blank at her. Crackles of red energy flashed around it, ready to fire.
“Barry,” Lucretia began. “I—”
“I won’t let you do this, Lucretia. This is where I draw the line. You’ve taken our family’s bonds. You’ve taken our Captain’s very soul. You have taken their memories and their pasts. I will not let you take his future, too.”
His words stuck in her like a knife.
“The relics would have destroyed this world,” Lucretia explained. “And they destroyed our chance of happiness. I’m giving us that chance back.”
“You can’t. I don’t want to fight you, Lucretia, but I will. Magnus found love. I won’t let you take that away from him. I won’t let you make him forget about his wife like you tried to make me forget about mine.”
As he spoke his last few words he struggled, his spectral form flickered as the red electricity of his lich power charged around him.
Lucretia desperately, angrily motioned back towards Magnus.
“Is this happiness, Barry?! Is this peace?!”
“No. But it is part of life. Grief is necessary. You have not erased their pain, Lucretia. You have only buried it. And by doing so, you have condemned them to suffering.”
“How can you say that?! Magnus was happy. Merle has a child. He’s on the beach where he always wanted to be. Taako is on tour, he’s far happier than I ever dreamed he could be without his sister. And Davenport…I know how it seems, but he’s okay—this is only temporary—I wouldn’t let him go on like that if he wasn’t at least at peace, I promise—I know it looks bad but as soon as I have the Relics and I’ve put everything right—”
“You are wrong, Lucretia.” Barry’s form quivered briefly. “You can’t possibly begin to understand how that constant sensation of presque-vu torments them. It is torture. It is why I cannot bear to be in my body.”
Lucretia swallowed her guilt. She held her tongue and let him speak.
“Merle grew listless with monotony and ruined his marriage,” Barry began. “He has abandoned his home, his child. And Taako—he knows something is missing. I see it. He is tormented. He pours two glasses of wine at a time and doesn’t understand why. He leaves space for her when he rests at night. He leaves space for her, and he doesn’t even know who she is. He doesn’t even know she ever existed.”
He floated closer, and Lucretia took a step back.
“I watched someone ask him about his childhood, and he said “we”. And he could not grasp why he had said that. Because he believes he’s been alone his whole life. Lucretia. To have a bond as strong as theirs, only to have that bond ripped away—torn from his memories and from very existence itself—it leaves an empty space. And that space has made him bitter and cold.”
He grew closer still, his spectral form popping and fizzling slightly, so Lucretia reached for her staff.
“And as for Magnus—he was plagued with nightmares he could not see or explain. He had Julia to comfort him, but now…”
“Barry, you’re losing yourself,” she warned. “Your voice, your manner of speech, you—you don’t sound like yourself. Work with me. Please. We can find the relics and end this. We can look for Lup together.”
“You know I can’t do that, Lucretia,” He replied sternly. “You need to stop this. Your shield will break all the bonds of this world. It will suffocate.”
“Surely that’s better than being completely consumed by the Hunger,” Lucretia insisted.
“We have had this argument often enough for me to know I cannot convince you to stop,” Barry said. “I came here for one reason only: to protect Magnus from you.”
Barry raised his arm again, red static energy building up around it.
“Do not take his love from him. He will be nothing but a shell. He will be consumed with grief from empty spaces he cannot make sense of. He is already suffering enough, I won’t let you augment that suffering with desiderium.”
Lucretia balled her hands into fists, clenching her teeth as she spat, “You really want me to just leave him like this?”
“It is not your decision to make, Lucretia. None of this has ever been your decision to make.”
“I did what I had to do, Barry. To keep this world safe. We promised Lup—”
“Don’t talk about Lup. Wherever she is, she never would have wanted this,” Barry shouted, his lich form sputtering again, much more so than the last time. Barry nearly lost control—Lucretia quickly threw up a Shield of Faith in front of herself as a bolt of red energy shot off of him and hit a nearby tree, scorching it.
Barry took a moment to collect himself, then quietly continued. “Promise me you won’t erase Raven’s Roost. Promise me you won’t erase Julia Burnsides.”
Lucretia dissolved her shield with a heavy exhale.
“Promise me.”
Her throat felt tight, and her voice trembled as she spoke: “If that’s what you want, Barry—fine. I am not giving up my quest to restore the Light of Creation, but I promise you. I won’t erase anything more from our family’s lives. No matter how bad things get for them.”
Hearing this, Barry vanished into thin air—but Lucretia continued to hear his voice as she turned and scanned the area for any sign of him.
“I don’t want to hurt you, Lucretia, but know this,” Barry’s voice echoed around her. “If you break that promise. I will kill you.”
She gripped her Bulwark Staff tighter, her heart heavy.
Before his voice faded out completely, he left her with one last quiet plea. This time, his speech sounded a little more like his own—it still was a harsh whisper of a lich, but it rang with the distinctive compassion and deep baritone voice of Barry Bluejeans.
“Please don’t make me do that. In spite of everything, I want to believe…I have to believe…we can all be together again someday.”
She could no longer feel his presence, the intense arcane power of his lich form gone.
She took a deep breath and looked back over her shoulder off into the distance, to see Magnus still doubled over on the ground near the ruins of Raven’s Roost, weeping loudly.
“I’m sorry, old friend,” she whispered.
Barry was right. She could not just erase any and every hardship that came to her family. A line had to be drawn somewhere. A life without pain was no life at all. They had worked so hard, and suffered for so long—they deserved normalcy. She simply could not prevent her loved ones from feeling pain forever.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Lucretia watches from afar as Magnus returns to the ruins of Raven's Roost; Barry confronts her about her actions and pleads with her to let Magnus grieve.
Desidirium (noun) : an ardent desire or longing, especially a feeling of loss or grief for something lost
Lup doesn’t even see it happen and that’s both a blessing and a curse. For the rest of the cycle the questions will plague her. If she’d been looking that way, could she have prevented it? If she’d seen, could she have warned him?
But if she’d seen it happen then those images would have stayed with her, would have haunted her when she tried to trance, would have woken her when she fell into an exhausted sleep.
So she doesn’t have those terrible pictures in her head of it happening, just the image of him when she turns and sees him crumpled on the ground, the dirt soaking up his blood.
Merle’s gone, turning to smoke in parley weeks ago. There’s no one to call for. Davenport and Lucretia are miles away. Taako and Magnus are on the ship. And what could any of them do? Not even Merle’s healing magic could have reversed this.
His own spell, though too late to save him, had stopped the creature so she doesn’t even have that satisfaction. The monster that has brought him his death has preceded him there.
He reaches for her and her shock breaks. She scrambles to his side, crouches beside him, and takes his trembling hand.
“Sorry,” he says and she wants to scream that even as he lays dying, his first thought is that he’s leaving her, to apologize for that.
Tears drip onto the ground between them as she leans over and kisses his head. “No, babe, no apologies. Just tell me you love me and I’ll see you soon.”
“I love you,” he says, voice weak. “I love you and I’ll see you soon.”
She stares into his eyes, trying to absorb all the love in them, the love that outshines even the pain. Pushing the hair back off of his forehead, it’s her hand that’s trembling now.
He’s gone.
“I love you,” she says, voice shaking harder than her hand. “I love you and I’ll see you soon.”
