As the light leaves the mindflayer's eyes, the darkness obscuring Quan's lifts. Silver liquid pools on the ground, slips into the cracks and crevices of the stone beneath his feet. As the mindflayer's life drains away, so too does the its hold over Quan. He blinks.
"Quan?" He knows that voice. His hand around the creature's throat twitches, relaxes. The mindflayer's body hits the ground with a wet crunch. "Can you hear me? Are you- are you back with us?"
Quan looks around the room, blinking, his eyes struggling to focus on his surroundings. Stone walls and flooring, with a crumbling throne at the head of the room beside him, and balconies overlooking the whole thing. Like a sterile, macabre theatre. His vision expands. Everything is shrinking. He is shrinking. His muscles twitch as the power that previously coursed through him drains away with the silver blood on the floor. Quan takes a breath. His jaw unclenches. His shoulders slump. His whole body aches. Like he's run a marathon or fought battle after battle or-
"Avernus." The voice answers him. He can't put a name to it, but something in the back of his memory knows he knows it. His brow furrows. Its owner approaches him cautiously. Behind them, he sees two other figures, one vaguely familiar while the other is a complete unknown. He returns to the speaker, a dwarven woman, quite literally radiant in her appearance. She removes a dragon-shaped mask to get a better look at him. "Are you back with us, Quan? It's me, Kora. We came to get you."
Kora. He rolls the name around his brain and memories begin to follow behind it. Nights spent around the campfire. Days fighting side by side. Kobald kebabs.
She looks at him hopefully. "Did you get the letter I left you?"
She steps closer. More memories flood in. A burning hag's den and panicked body disposal. Many, many scoldings, though there's warmth behind the smile she barely hides as she chides him. He notices the radiance from her dims and realises she really was glowing a moment ago. So bright she burns, he thinks. Have to keep away from her in a fight, if I want to keep my other ear. Quan nods slowly. "Kora…Yes. We travelled together. We had a mission. We have a mission." He clutches his head, squeezes his eyes shut. So much information at once. Everything hurts. "The dragon. I remember- we died to a white dragon, but then the sword- Bahamut's breath!" His eyes go wide. "I let the sword-"
Quan's eyes snap up. "I attacked you."
Kora nods. "We didn't know what to do. And that…thing said it could help you." They glance at the pile of viscera that was once Quan's jailor. She spits at it. Something inside Quan's chest swells with warmth. "I'm so sorry. I should've known better than to trust it. I didn't mean for any of this to happen. I didn't-"
"It's okay," Quan shushes. "It's okay." Shaky hands reach out for his, hesitant but desperate. He offers one of his, an invitation she eagerly accepts. Kora clings to him. "It's okay. I'm okay. I'm okay."
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