happy secret samol!!! i had so much fun working on @wunderwirker’s prompt about lyke and aterika’kaal. you can read the whole fic on AO3 or check out some contextless ephemera below!
Day 1:
I think it likes the jar. Or likes it well enough, anyway. I keep taking it out to check on the little guy whenever I have a chance, just making sure it’s alright in there. It always skitters around when I do, pressing up against the glass, waving its little spider-legs at me. I mean, come on, how could something like that be evil? I can be the one to give Aterika’Kaal a fresh start. Teach it how to be a god of the people again, like it used to be.
I didn’t tell the others. I don’t think I’m going to. It’s not a secret, it’s just that I know they wouldn’t understand, and Aterika’Kaal is so tiny right now. If they tried to stop me, tried to kill it, then that’s all my cards gone. No rematch. I can’t let that happen, so it’s easier not to take the chance. Even if I explained my plan, they don’t know magic like I do. They won’t get it. Better to do it first, then clue them in once I’ve made more progress. I know I can do this. How many times have I fixed them up when they’re all broken? This is no different.
Day 16:
All goes and in going, goes well. It’s getting bigger. I’m looking into options for “repotting,” so to speak. No leads as of yet on tackling the whole blood problem, so for now my modus operandi shall be simple: confinement. Not permanently! Just for now, to keep everyone safe, and to keep old Kaaly safe too. I’ve been thinking about the Conclave, gods, and doors to gods. Everything that opens can be shut, right? If I can figure that, then all I need’s a key.
Day 33:
The sanctum plan seems good. I’ve dug up some runes that can start building the foundations of a domain, I think I’d like it to be a garden. I need to get working on it soon—Kaaly’s getting impatient, I can tell. I feel it moving around in my pack sometimes. It’s getting heavy enough to shift the jar on its own, poor guy. Everything will be better once it’s out of there. Then the real work begins.
Day 34:
I knew it. I knew they wouldn’t understand. Duvall thinks he’s so smart, with his pessimism and his accusations—like he’s not being puppeted by a bunch of sentient bugs himself! Whatever. Kaaly had enough of the jar. It’s out with me now and in some ways it’s better like this. It’s nice to have around. I think it likes me. It stays close, anyway, and not just during feeding times. I wish we could communicate better. I’m sure it has a lot to say about the rudeness of our supposed friends too!
Getting closer on the sanctum. The growth from Pledge’s Oratorio seems to be helping, if anything.
Day 37:
Look how far we’ve come! Aterika’kaal has its own domain now. I’m so proud I could shed a tear, but there’s more to do yet. My binding work is complete, if tenuous. That’s not the final goal in any case—now’s the time to push for rehabilitation. I don’t think I’m exaggerating to think we’ve made some progress there, though maybe I’m looking at things through rose colored lenses. (Hah!) Still, Kaaly isn’t just not attacking me, it’s helping me. I can feel its power and when I reach for it, it reaches back. Like it’s eager, searching for something. Sometimes I think it might be lonely.
Day 55:
I know it’s hungry. I can feel it. I hoped the Beast would keep it satisfied for a while, but maybe it wasn’t flesh enough to have what Aterika’kaal needs, or maybe—maybe it just keeps getting hungrier. It’s not fair, is it? It needs blood to live, just like everything else. Maybe I can convince it to feed on the already dead or dying, become a scavenger instead of a hunter. That’s not too big of an ask. Surely it would at least listen, at least give it a try. You know, for me.
It’s strange to have my connection to one god be so much stronger than my tie to any other. I’ve never done much worship, never really got how that felt, whatever pushes zealots to extremes. I know this is different, more like a relationship. Sometimes you have to sacrifice a little in order to get what you want. And I can do that, I can sacrifice. It just needs a little blood, just a little bit of flesh. I can feel it. Its hunger, so deep and burning. It’s been alone for centuries. Alone and starving.
Day 68:
It’s gone. After all that, it’s really gone.
HAPPY SECRET SAMOL EVERYONE! This is my gift to @lie-lichen, their prompt was "Pickman trapped in a coffee shop AU" and it's genuinely one of the best prompts I've ever gotten.
