Self-Indulgent Sunday/WIP Share
Idk if this counts as Self-indulgent specifically but lbr ALL of Anamnesis Red is self-indulgent to me...and I've got a lil snippet ready from the upcoming chapter <3 AND I've reworked/cleaned up my plot grid for it so I know exactly where/when it's ending now (before...the follow-up fic happens haha I am insane)
Thank you for the tags @ele-millennial-weirdo @gortashsrighthand @gloura @perpetualmaladaptivedaydream & @gortashsrighthand !
“Last year it was twenty,” Wyll interrupts, his rare scowl pulling to position like a frontline soldier. “You expect me to believe another zero wandered onto the end of the price since then?”
Helsik purses her lips, knocking her head to the side as she reluctantly acknowledges the protest. “Very astute observation,” she counters with acerbic mockery. “Last year, you only asked for a portal to Avernus. Avernus’s price has not changed. Deeper levels are more expensive, naturally.” Clearly agitated over Wyll’s presence, she readily turns her attention back to Gale. “Not to mention, last year the Crown of Karsus was still tucked safely into its vault in Mephistar. Then a certain Bhaalspawn and her tyrant friend used a portal of…unknown origin to infiltrate the stronghold and steal it.”
A knot twists in Gale’s esophagus. He hasn’t heard Tavrin casually referred to as a Bhaalspawn in some time…and it’s been even longer since he’s heard mention of that bastard Gortash. The reminder poisons what little patience has has. “Can you open a portal or not?”
Her head reels back, brows raised in feigned offence that doesn’t reach her eyes. “Let me finish…Since then, Asmodeus has cracked down on security. If any attempts to open a portal deeper than Avernus are detected, they are immediately blocked or met with overwhelming force. Only the known static portals can still reach Cania without hindrance, such as those in the Astral Plane, the Outlands, and the portal in Raphael’s House of Hope…” Her tone drops. “Which you have reported is now shattered.” She shrugs it off, as if that devastating blow were little more than a minor inconvenience. “No doubt Mephistopheles had it destroyed upon learning of his son’s…untimely death.”
The look she gives is that shared, unspoken truth—that half the people in this room are the reason Raphael is dead. Tavrin’s own strategy to steal the hammer and free Orpheus now obstructs Gale’s clearest means of freeing her. The cruel irony digs through his gut like swallowed glass. His hands rest on the counter, fingers curling against the wood, patience worn thin. “I do hope you are about to tell me where your exorbitant services provide a functionality that does not immediately result in a blockade or army.”
“If you would let me finish, yes.” Gods, that smug look on her face sends crackling static through his blood. “The price has gone up to account for the risks involved if my name were to ever reach the wrong ears in relation. It is twenty thousand gold pieces for each level of depth you wish to descend.”
“That adds up to 160,000,” Wyll counters, his trust already severed. “Not two hundred. What is the caveat?”
“Twenty thousand for the materials,” Helsik quips back at Wyll, lips quirked with sardonic disdain. “Twenty for these…and twenty for those your Bhaalspawn friend stole from me last year. Yes, I remember you, Mr. Diversion.”
Wyll’s mouth clamps shut, the lost battle stirring frustration in his good eye.
But Gale doesn’t care about the numbers. His hand smacks the counter just enough to snap her attention back. “How are we to get through without having the portal detected?”
The diabolist shrugs, the only nerves she shows likely regarding a lack of impending payment. “That’s up to you, unfortunately. All I can do is take payment and open the way. Consider it good faith that I have warned you of the complications instead of letting you find out the hard way after I have the money. It would be well within my rights.”
Tagging: @tociminna @fireflyeyes @toomanyfamiliars @faeriiefire @defira85 @cinder-rellish181
