#|| drabble ||

[vin-robles]

"Hi, Dad."

Marok sighed into his glass, tilting it back to sip at the murky liquid as he pressed 'play' on the same recording for probably the hundredth time that week. The little blue hologram on his wrist wavered as it had every other time, exploding into a burst of glowing blue pixels that hurriedly arranged themselves back into the face of his daughter. A face he hadn't seen in months. Not since she'd vanished in the middle of the night, to gods only knew where without so much as a note or a call or...

"I know you're probably worried outta your mind. Not like I had the forethought to tell you I was gonna be kidnapped and dumped on a weird planet with no way of callin' home." The hologram sighed, shoulders - everything- drooping like someone had just turned on the gravity.

"I'm okay. Mostly. Kind of." Vin scowled, glancing off to the side and brushing a few stray dreads back over her shoulder. "It kind of sucked at first, being here. I won't freak you out with the details, but I met some people. Some locals. From Mido. There's a lot of em here, actually. Dunno how they got here but it's been almost like home. If you replaced all the trees with concrete and LEDs, I guess.

"This old lady, Nena- she's been lookin' after me. I dunno, maybe you know her? She said she was from one of the tree villages but who knows which one." Vin sniffled. The sound came across sharp, staticky and loud, a knife to a worried father's gut. "She makes me miss Gran. Even knits me sweaters just like Gran did even though I don't really need em here. Weather's too hot most of the time."

Vin's arms predictably crossed, and she glanced to the side, away from the camera. It was hard to see them through the interference, but she was fighting back tears, clamping down hard on her lower lip with her teeth just to try and keep them from seeping out.

"I miss everyone else too. And you. I miss you guys. So damn much." She swiped a hand across her face, her features twisting, fury and anguish. "I met so many good people here but I wanna come home and I don't know how. I don't have the cash. I don't have the connections. I've been workin' but it's so slow..."

Another loud, distorted sniffle cut through the air, a mess of tears cascading down the face of a woman who suddenly looked so much more like a child. "Dammit, I miss you. I miss you, Da-"

The recording cut out, at the same point as every other time, sinking the room back into darkness. And just like every other time, Marok felt his gut lurch, his hand squeezing around his glass, very near to breaking it before his fingers loosened again, and he let himself slump helplessly into his chair again, too buzzed to do anything more than bury his face into his hand and sob.

[mortau]

Alastor played it through his head, over and over again. His defeat at the hands of Adam. The microphone in his hands... snapped in two by a single attack. How was he, one of the strongest beings in Hell, left in such a state?

This new radio tower wasn't the same as the old one, but it was safer. Put together. A place to think. Think about how he was trapped by the infernal deal, by that smile. How was he supposed to get out of it? No doubt that it would be more difficult to get close enough to Charlie in service of that goal... Especially now that Lucifer, her father, her protector, was here.

A sigh.

The show must go on either way... Every plan had a few kinks to be worked out. He would deal with this the way he always had.

Watching. And waiting.

[mortau]

It was another family gathering in Fueur. Erdenheim, it was the capitol city where many of my father’s side of the family lived. The Roses, descendants of Aagro, God of War. They were always so stuffy, so I ran off with one of my cousins to take a break in one of the bedrooms. Because my family, the Khasturavi clan, were descended from the sun… it always followed me, and even now at night, it shone brightly through the windows. 

  Still, it let me see Konstantin clearly. It’d been a few years since we saw each other last, and we both grew in that time. “You let your hair grow out, huh?” I asked. She’d always been insecure about how light it was… The rest of her immediate family had brown hair, but she took after her father more. A human merchant from Glinovsky named Grigori Halvorstin. The fact that she looked like him had only invited shame, at least from what I saw in her interactions with the other Roses. It was just proof her side of the bloodline was so weak that they didn’t care who her mother married anymore. The only thing tying her to the descendants of Aagro was her red eyes.

  She was here as a courtesy, just like me, but they didn’t really consider her family. Just another political bargaining chip.

  And not even a good one.

  She rolled over to face me, from where we were both laying on the floor.“No point in trying to hide it, aha. I figure, you know, if we’re all gonna die before we’re even a century old… No point in being ashamed. I mean, I can’t just turn it off overnight, but… I can wear my hair with pride!” 

  I frown. Even though she was smiling when she said that, there was something melancholy about it. The apocalypse timer… She was talking about that. 

  But it was wrong. 

  “Don’t say that.” I propped myself up on one elbow. “I won’t let it happen.”

  Her smile faltered, and I could tell my words somehow made her feel worse.

  I looked away. 

  “I don’t care how it has to happen… If I can keep our world from dying, I will.”

  She placed a hand on my arm, gesturing for me to lay back down on the ground. “Henri… Don’t put that on yourself. You’re just a kid.”

I puffed my cheeks out, sending a half-hearted glare in her direction. “Am not!”   

  She flicked my nose, before pulling me back down. “You are fourteen.”

  “That’s not that young!”

  “Little baby.”

  I rolled over, grabbing a pillow that was on the floor, before rolling back again and hitting her in the face with it. Immediately, she began to laugh, taking the pillow out of my hands to hit me back with it. “See! So immature!” 

  “At least I’m not thirty!” I yelled, sticking my tongue out at her. No way was I a kid! I even had a fiancee already and everything!

  I mean, I dumped her. But still!

  “Hey! Thirty isn’t old!” She snorts. “Not for us, anyway. Besides, I’m not thirty, i’m twenty-nine.” “Old lady.” She smacks me with the pillow again.

  We both erupt into a fit of giggles, though it doesn’t last long. 

  What if she’s right?

  I gulped. 

  “....Hey… Konnie?”

  “Yeah?”

  “What if I don’t… What if I don’t make it to thirty?”

  We’re both quiet. And the silence is deafening, stretching out seemingly for hours. She rolls back over on her back, staring at the ceiling. When she finally speaks again, she’s quiet. 

  “I won’t let you die young, Henri. I won’t let die if you won’t let me die. It’s a promise, okay?”

  “...It’s a promise.”

      I set the picture down on the desk. It’d been fourty years since that memory. I wondered how she was doing in Tremaine. It was about time she sent a letter… She missed last week. 

  “Henri, there’s a letter for you.”

  It was Irina.

  Immediately, my ears perked up. “Is it from Konstantin?” I asked, hurriedly making my way over. But something about her expression slows me down. She looks concerned for me, and I can only frown. “Irina… Is it from Konstantin?”

  “It’s from Mr. Kamal.” 

  …The keeper of the dead projects there. My heart sank to the bottom of my stomach. Had Sylvester died? Had Damian? “...What does it say?”

  She bites her lip, taking the letter out and unfolding it. I hold my breath in anticipation. 

  “Two weeks ago as of receiving this letter, Dr. Konstantin Halvorstin was killed in an attack by subject C-014.” 

  Tears well up in my eyes. So… Sylvester had… 

  “...Henri?”

  “I need to be alone for a moment.”

  With a polite nod, she exits the room. Wordlessly, I sit back at the desk, hand over my mouth as tears fell down my cheeks. Two, six, ten… I had broken our promise. I let her die. 

“Konnie, I’m so sorry…”

[mortau]

Knock knock knock knock.

The pattern was familiar, but she almost didn't believe it. Konstantin was dead... But the Gods were also gone. And Henri killed himself. And the Adhocs ripped her to pieces.

So maybe it was really Connie.

Hesitantly, she walked towards the door, hand over the gun at her side. "Who's there?"

A sigh of relief - the address was right. And there was Krisha, as cautious as always. "Konstantin," she called back, before speaking in Fueuran. "Here's proof it's me - is there anyone else here who speaks this language?"

A pause, and Krisha cracks the door open to peek out. Forest green eyes stared for a moment, just to confirm it was Konstantin, before she closed it and unlatched the bolt lock.

"Konstantin! It's so good to see you again!" She reaches over to give her friend a hug, squeezing tightly. "I'm so glad you're here... Did you see what happened the other day?! Dad, he- he was setting buildings on fire!"

"Aha, yeah, I didn't see it, but... I heard him." Konstantin frowned, pulling away. Those agonized screams of his... They wouldn't leave her head. "That's actually why I'm here. Henri's missing."

"...You're shitting me? I didn't even know he was here and the minute I find out, he's gone?"

"Hey, um... we're looking for him. But, I'm here because he left a hole when he disappeared. Are you familiar with Kisaragi Pharmaceuticals?"

"...Vaguely."

"Henri's been working there."

"I take it he hasn't exactly been making medicine."

"Aha... No. No, he hasn't."

Konstantin runs a hand through her hair. "We've got people looking for him. Good people, skilled people. And there's already been a hit on his location. Will you work with us? And wait with us until he comes back?"

Krisha frowns, brows furrowed. "...I'll think about it. Let's talk about this over some drinks, eh? Maybe tomorrow night."

"..Sure. I'll see you then."

[mortau]

It was three in the morning, the witching hour and the perfect time to commune with Urmi. In its short search, it had found two shards of her in this area alone - one in the pacific ocean off the coast of O'ahu, and the second here on the uninhabited island of Lehua. Having found two tourists to wear the respective objects that Urmi had been turned into - a necklace with a magic seashell and an aquamarine ring - it could finally commune with its sister god.

"Thank you, thank you for joining me here tonight, Urmi~! I see your 'love' aspect is nowhere to be seen?"

"What trouble are you getting yourself into now, Tennd'hera?" It crossed its arms in front of its chest, seashell resting against its vessel's skin.

"I saw that black sky, you know. This isn't Ordos - do you want to get the Silver Mother's attention?"

"Or the Golden Father's?" The expression on both of its vessels were stern, staring at the rickety skeleton in displeasure.

Tennd'hera looked away, waving off their concerns. "Well, that's why I'm coming to you, dear sister, and not mother." Father was nowhere to be seen... So Tennd'hera entirely discarded the thought of contacting Mortau for this. He'd be far angrier than Vita anyway.

"I... Messed up something."

"I can tell. It looks like you took one of Father's servants and put it through the wringer." It tapped its ringed finger on its other arm.

"Don't tell me you got dragged into something through your penchant for games?"

"Hmmmm, I did." It took a brief moment to explain the situation, and the more detail it went into, the more exasperated the two-thirds of its sister god seemed.

It spoke of how Henri had provoked it by burning the shrine it was residing in. How it made a deal that it was going to eat him and Kanou both if they couldn't provide an adequate vessel. How it temporarily invaded Olivia and the artificial night it unleashed ended up getting Henri scarred on his very soul.

It omitted how it bit off Kanou's hand. 

"...And you expect me to fix the rakshesamat you cracked? Is that what I'm getting out of this?"

"Father might be able to, but I'm not sure if I can."

It reaches out and grabs the hands of the magic aspect - if it could emote, it would plead. "Pleeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaase? Can you just try?"

The two Urmis look at each other.

"I make no promises." Still, the magic aspect wrestled its hands out of Tennd'hera's grasp, before grabbing both sides of its skull. Slowly, softly, it breathed out. The ocean wind blew over the three, as Urmi uttered a command:

"Voyudd: I command thee, unlock your memories of the life known as 'Henri'."

The ocean wind blew in, sand kicking up around Voyudd...

And when it settled, Tennd'hera took the form of 'Henri' once more. But... different. Part of his face was still skeletal, as were his hands. His usual clothes were gone, and the white cloak of Voyudd remained.

"Ah... much better. Still odd feeling, however."

"It will take some time for his body to reach some sort of equilibrium. Months, maybe even years."

"Years... ugh. Fine, whatever. So, you two wanna hit Maui while we wait, then?"

Tennd'hera, however, did not wait for their reply... The three were enveloped in shadow and taken to the other island.

[mortau]

Egraine shivered in her cell. This world was freezing - even more so now she was naked. Her clothes had been ripped when she turned at nightfall, and now that day had broken… Well. 

A police officer walked over to her cell - blonde, with black roots in her hair. Green eyes looked over at Egraine, before slowly her form twisted into someone more… Familiar. Black roots extended until there was blonde no more, curly midnight locks forming on top of ‘her’ head. The officer’s legs grew longer, chest flatter, skin darker. Green turned to ice and Egraine scowled when she realized who it was. 

“...So you’re a rakshesamat now, Henri? Color me shocked.” She scoffed, covering herself up. Of all the people to become one, that was the last person she expected. She thought they were harmless… Weak. Maybe that was misguided, considering her brother’s mysterious death after his assassination attempt on them. “You’ve come to laugh at me, haven’t you?”

Henri chuckled, hands in the pockets of their blue police uniform. “Do you truly think so lowly of me, High Priestess? On the contrary… I’ve come to get you out.” They take the key to the cell out of their pocket, unlock the door and walk inside with her, shifting back into Kubo.

…She didn’t trust it. Why weren’t they angry? Surely they hated her and her family for trying to invade Morstika. Unlike Orbis, it was a failure for Mirknicht. So why did they have such a calm smile on their face?

Perhaps they remembered her incompetency.

“You seem surprisingly cheery to see me, Your Excellency.”

‘Kubo’ paused, and looked up at Egraine. Truly, seeing her face had them seeing red. But as a descendant of Tennd’hera, she could be useful in summoning it. And if she wasn’t, well, her DNA would be useful for their projects with Kanou. They could put their grudge aside over that. For now. “Ordos is gone, the past is the past. There’s no point in holding on to bitterness.” There was a click, and her handcuffs fell to the floor. “Now… Come with me. I know somewhere safe to take you.”

[mortau]

What once was a proud and glorious building had now been reduced to ruin. Even after the city was rebuilt, the prison remained the same as it had been since September. Destroyed, surrounded by flowers from Henri's homeland.

He wasn't here to admire them, however. No, he was here to collect.

Henri had been going through his section of the grimoire, looking over his notes to see what could be improved upon in the adhocs... before he came across an experiment he had completely forgotten about.

Artificial souls.

More specifically, the theory of soul catalysts. If given a nucleus to form around, a soul could be made artificially. Hypothetically. He had created artificial ghosts, but.. he'd never put them in a body. Didn't have the time or resources for it back home... And with Adhoc 51 nearly complete, this would be the perfect time to attempt it.

He had already collected the collective memories of the fire to form into a nucleus for a soul. And with a simple spell, he calmly collected the memories into a ball and stored them inside of his chest.

Only this time, when he opened it, another soul zipped out.

"DAMIAN-!"

A bright light zoomed into the ruins, settling somewhere in the rubble. With a sigh, Henri headed in after it, frown on his face.

"Damian..."

He knelt next to the spirit, before sitting down fully on a large piece of rubble. "You haven't had a working body in millenia. Don't you want to wait until it's done?"

The spirit glowed - Henri could hear the response, but no one else could.

"I know, i know you just want your funeral rites. But at least with your new body, you can die a natural and non-violent death, right? And then I'll do your rites. But you must be patient, okay?"

Another glow, this time somewhat violently.

"No, you can't have both right now. When this one dies, you'll get your funeral. But only if you don't hurt yourself to get it, alright?"

The light in the spirit dimmed.

"Good." He heard some rubble moving around, frantically looking between Damian's soul and the source of the noise.

"Come here." He reached out, taking Damian's spirit in his hands. He hadn't yet managed to collect him again when the same little girl who had broken into the labs appeared.

Her expression was etched into permanent neutrality, and she pointed at the soul Henri held. "Can I have that?"

His smile was tight, almost annoyed, but he couldn't fault one of his own for doing her job. "No, sorry. I'm already collecting this one."

She looked downward, stepping closer and then sitting on the rock next to Henri. "Oh... I thought death wasn't doing anything in this world anymore. Mom was really annoyed about it."

...He needed to see if Kanou had any progress on preventing this little girl from coming here again. For now, though, he would humor her and hopefully this would keep her from coming back to the area for a while. "Well, you can let your mom know that a much more experienced and responsible reaper has the Tokyo area covered, okay?"

He placed Damian into his chest, before patting Rocky on the head. "Now, it's late. You should go back home to your mother, okay?"

She nodded, before once again looking directly at Henri. "Before I go, can I ask you something, mister Keshav?"

"...Yes?"

"Can you buy me a whopper?"

...He couldn't help but laugh.

How simple. Innocent. Clearly she was telling the truth when she said she was made, not turned. She wasn't a sinner like him and Sapira.

She was just a kid.

"Fine, fine. I'll get you a whopper."