As we wrap up, Kinzul comments, “I’d planned on beginning our first offensive on the twenty second of the month. It seems to be well-timed, if you can manage even solely the psychic network by then, I will be impressed beyond reason. Worry not if these other miracles do not manifest. You are still Hero of the Order. You bring hope by being in the vanguard. That is enough.”
Cluing me in more specifically, Kinzul adds, “We will be deploying with the Vivant handling the myriad ground forces at Olashax and Astrid’s command. I suspect we will be facing at the very least, their allies Vanathar and Xinthoz as well. I expect that if there are six or more, you will each gravitate towards where you are strongest, leaving Astridus and any others to me. If we face only the four, you and Sun will strike down Olashax, our Tenith will face Xinthoz alone until our Sun is free, our Muse and Hunter will occupy Vanathar until you are free.”
Kinzul gives me a sad glance, and strokes my cheek in a motherly fashion with her thumb before saying, “This should afford you two dragonforces Schism. I know you are seeking a cure to the rapid deterioration within you, that you need over a dozen dragonforces. Sun refuses to partake in them, and yet he grows stronger regardless, with every endeavor. Tenith will absorb her first, enabling her honoris causa’s first phase. With any luck, your honoris causa may manifest a new phase, but please do not let your hopes be dashed if it does not happen.”
I’m more than a little stunned that Kinzul sheds tears when talking about the deterioration within me. She knows that I am absolutely doomed to die if I go too long without gathering at least fifteen more dragonforces, and even then, at that point, the Sisters only told me my cure might become knowable to me. More or less. I’m further stunned when Kinzul acknowledges my train of thought by kissing my forehead, and then patting it once as she dismisses me.
I flash a sad, teary-eyed smile towards Kinzul over my shoulder as I leave her den. I’m so glad Lil has her for a mother. She’s absolutely wonderful. My best buddy deserves the best, and I could not imagine a more perfect mother for him. I—. I wish she hadn’t had to bear as many hurts as she has over her long life. I’m sorry Lady Kinzul.
I telekinetically surf my way out of sight, and try to keep my mind off of our Lady, so as to offer her peace of mind, by not bringing up her grief, which only ends up sending my mind in one other inevitable direction at the moment. Hell’s bells. I want to see her laugh again. The gentle shake of her chest as she silently tittered with delight was bliss to witness. Her muteness did not stop Errissa from being utterly charming, almost adorable as a conversant. Still, I need to push her out of mind as well. I’m looking for Luni. Lu, where in the world are you?
As if on cue, I’m certain one of two things is going to happen, I’m going to either stumble into Errissa, or Luni’s going to—.
Luni snags my mind telepathically, bringing it into a private thinkspace as her avatar within meekly waves hello. I raise an eyebrow, querying why she’s so distant, and hesitant, but she simply gulps in response. I approach slowly, with arms low and wide.
I call, “Lu? Where are you in meatspace? Are you okay?”
Luni’s telepathic avatar rushes forward into the embrace of my telepathic representation, and simply shakes her head no. I’m terrified that something has happened to her, that she might be hurt somewhere, or—. She cuts me off by shaking her head no to my train of thought as well. I’m glad of that at least. Still, in that case, I imagine it must be the lingering pain of her wishing for Te and me to remember something, that will literally explode our brains if we learn it unnaturally.
Luni nods emphatically. I sense she doesn’t trust herself to speak, worried that she might say a trigger phrase, or a clue that sets my mind into motion towards puzzling out the things we can’t know. Luni’s continued nod breaks my heart.
I mutter, “Lu, please Lu, at least tell me where you are in meatspace? Even if you just want to sit in silence, I’ll do that for you. I’ll do anything you want, my beloved Luni. I promised you alone time tonight. I’m yours, if you’ll have me.”
Luni, sensing my position in relation to her telepathically, mumbles, “Three doors down.”
Her eyes flash wide as my face contorts. Luni realizes something, and her fears come to life in some small sense. She only spoke three words, but something is triggered, something occurs. My brain enters a massive BSOD, a PC’s blue screen of death before promptly rebooting. Three—. Right, one, two, there you are Lu.
Luni floods the mindscape with affection and gratitude, booting me back to meatspace completely. Hopping down from my telepathic surfboard, I rush to swiftly embrace Luni, who clings tightly to my arms and pulls them more tightly around her. She virtually scrabbles for more of a hold on me, trying to drag me ever closer, but we’re already pressed as tightly as two bodies can be, without being inside each—. Erm. Anyway.
Lu blushes, and lets out a soft giggle at my train of thought. I ask, “Lu? Are you going to even be able to go on like this? I love you so much, but if I’m making you miserable, I couldn’t—“
Luni quickly interrupts, pleading, “No, please don’t even, please don’t even think of suggesting you leave, please.”
Trying to lighten her spirits, I joke, “Well no, I was going to suggest you leave.”
Luni snorts a surprised laugh as she slaps me once playfully on my left bicep. I laugh in return, which gets her chuckling, until we’re both reduced to a fit of the giggles. I become aware how uncomfortable my armor and traveling clothes must feel against her at the moment, so I begin divesting. I end up just wearing the Valkyrie under-armor clothing, that we’d so often worn as a family, when it was our only real source of clothing. Luni smiles brightly, and nods appreciatively, as she returns to her efforts to drag me closer than we can even possibly physically get.
I offer up, “Your robes are really pretty Lu, where’d you get them?”
Her smile is so utterly precious, I feel like diving into it. Suddenly, at this very moment, I’m the happiest I’ve ever been as I gaze at her smiling face. The adorable curve of her lips, her rounded features, her shining eyes, all of it can only be described in a singular word. Precious. I mean, figuratively. It could also be described as pure, bliss-inducing, radiant, lovely, and so much more.
Luni giggles and responds to my question that I’d distracted myself from, “These ones I got in the heart. Near the place I like to call tinkertown. Not from the Clocktoks, but—.”
I gasp as another clue falls into place. Tiktik Clocktok, Urban Bountyhunter Extraordinaire was on the trail of a booknapper from Autumn Brook when we’d met her, before the Felgre horde attacked. She said she thought she was trailing a dragon. Astridus was a dragon that we found to be traveling along the Noirdivinhoz area. Astridus has the book. Oh no. Oh no!
Luni’s gaze flashes wide, and she frets nervously for a moment, seemingly waiting to see if my brain explodes, I think. When it doesn’t, she calms down slightly. She’s still apprehensive though, about the book most likely.
I try to explain to Lu what’s going through my mind, “We found a tome, from Yisstendahl’s hoard Lu. Nala was stuck in it, losing time. It conferred one word. Eights. Only, the cover says it's the second one of five, not one of six. It scared me Lu, it makes me feel horrible. I’m not afraid to die, to give myself up for this world, but to leave one of you behind? Or for all of you to leave me behind? The idea is tearing me up inside. The only way I can even go on is to constantly flit from one distraction to another.”
Luni brushes my wild mass of vibrantly red hair out of my face, tucking it behind my ears. She coos, “Shhh, it’s okay. I don’t think you have to worry about that. They might not be for us. Maybe. Right? I mean, what does Eights even mean to you?”
I grump, “He was my dog Lu—. Err, wait, what. No, He was Aces’ dog Lu. Where’d that come from? Anyway, Aces’ had a dark sense of humor. But, I mean, even if the books aren’t intended for us, they’re intended for some probably end of the world scenario right? Probably need a sacrifice of powerful souls? Who else would even do it, *could* even do it? I couldn’t even in good conscience ask someone else.”
Luni pouts and tries to redirect me, “I’m sorry sweety. I think you’ve got it wrong for once, and I think that’s a good thing. It’s making you too anxious, so anxious you’re forgetting to breathe and going red. Breathe Air, breathe.”
Everything stills within me. That phrase again. I glance at Luni, who claps her hands over her mouth as her eyes fly wide. I squint at her slightly, unsure what to make of it. Trying to assuage her fears, I tug gently at her hands with mine, to free her face. When she relents, I lean in, and we share a tender, loving kiss as the world ends around us. Figuratively. Everything else bleeds away, and I’m happily lost in this moment with Luni, My Anchor. She tethers me to this tiny slice of reality, this moment between moments, and I’m left in awe at the stillness, the lack of a universe full of worries.
I accidentally let slip a fraction of my honoris causa, and Luni meeps in surprise, before chuckling, and pressing more firmly against me. Luni guides her hands about my body, massaging my weary, electrokinetically driven muscles, and hits the tender pressure points that indicate where my honoris causa is leaking through. I manage to stifle the expression of my dragonforce, thankfully. Oh no, I can tell the thoughts Luni’s about to have.
Luni waggles her brow almost as suggestively as Teuila is capable of as she teases, “You know, normally when a girl you find cute is rubbing tightly up against someone, it’s not a dragon that pops up. Hehe, though I guess some people might call it that.”
My face could ignite copper, tungsten even. My jaw flops several times uselessly, unable to form words as my breath is caught in my throat. I—. Gulp. Luni titters with evil glee as a malicious, mischievous glint sparkles in her wondrous eyes.
Trying to find anything to break the embarrassment, I retort, “I, I don’ have the biology for that, and you know it. I don’t have the parts. You don’t either. Wait, why do you even—. Humans.”
Luni giggles until she has to hold her belly to keep from laughing any harder, as she tries to tease me further with, “We *could* have that biology, if you wanted.”
I cannot believe she just said that. I can’t believe her. I can’t believe that the idea would cross her mind, or that she’d even joke about it. I think I may have just gone blind from the sheer amount of blood rushing to my head. My vision tunnels away to nothingness.
Luni, commenting on my blush, murmurs, “Such a pretty shade, matches your hair.”
That part I believe her about. My hair’s a fairly vibrant, maybe cherry red. Lu giggles at my train of thought. I struggle to catch my breath, and shake my head incredulously. I tear through my brain to find any shred of braincells left unaffected by the embarrassment, seeking anything to change the topic.
I offer up the first thing that comes to mind, “Did you know your name means June, and also river? Oh hey, we got to Rayileklia in— June.”
Luni squeaks in surprise as I tilt my head at a curious angle, staring at her a bit lifelessly. I blink several times, before continuing, “A river, -the- river was one of the biggest factors in my life, nearly my entire journey on Can’Z’aas. On Rayileklia, there’s a river of endless lightning, and endless acid in the sky. Luni. Tell me seriously. Are you god? A god? The god? Our maker?”
Luni heaves a sigh of relief before chuckling nervously. However, while trying to play it cool, she completely whiffs it by overselling, “Whaaaat? That’s crazy talk. It’s just a crazy random happenstance. A few coincidences.”
More convincingly, Luni offers, “Besides sweety. I don’t ever want to see you hurt. Why would I make a world that would hurt you, again and again? I love you Reggie. Always have, always will.”
I sigh contentedly as I rotate to lean backwards into Luni’s embrace, and stare up at her from the pillow of her chest. I mutter, “Okay Lu. I trust you. Always have, always will. I love you too by the way. Same sentiment, same length. Eternity. A while back, I was talking to Teuila about tomorrows and forevers. I want that with you Lu. Truly.”
Luni sniffles and nods as she agrees, “I know you do sweety, I do too. I do too.”
We begin to reminisce about idyllic times on Can’Z’aas, few though they may have seemed. We talk longer into the night than either of us intend to, especially since I tell Luni I’d like her help tomorrow. We catch up mostly with memories, but as it starts to get closer to involving our Rayileklian journeys, my mind starts to fill with all the moments of affection, or passion I’ve shared with others on Rayileklia, gravitating towards one specific moment, incredibly recently.
Luni’s eyes flash wide as she starts playfully slapping my biceps, grumping, “You butt! We finally have alone time, and first you start thinking at a pillowy Changeling Fae, then an impish hotty, now you’re thinking about making out with a lizard lady in the hallway?”
I pout, defending myself, “Blame Teuila! She whammied me with that whole, precise control over the forces of attraction thing, only not so precise, unless she meant to aim me like a cruise missile at the next new person I met.” I add, pleadingly, “You gotta help me Lu, I don’t know when this will wear off, if ever.”
Luni teases, grumping, “As if, nyeh. Sort it out yourself buster.”
We both can’t keep up the facade as we smirk at each other, and start giggling. I apologize, “I’m really sorry Lu. I don’t mean to. You know how my mind wanders. Hell, you know me best of all, in all the universes. Even more than Te, and Te knows me literally inside and out. But you know me fourth dimensionally, literally.”
Luni jokes, “Darn skippy. But, yeah, I do. I do sweety. I know I bring some of it on myself too, by teasing you, then setting your mind wandering. Can’t help myself sometimes, you can be just so fun, y’know? And, and I just. I want our forever. I want it sooner rather than later, which sounds dumb, but I just want all of the things to be over, so we can just be us. Not heroes, not world savers, not warriors, not muses and dragonslayers and whatever else. I just want you to be my Reggie again, and Te’s too, and I want to be your Lu, and Lil’s too.”
Thinking suddenly about Lil, Luni complains grumpily, somewhat chidingly, with a subtle undertone of exasperated humor, “Ugh, he’s being such a doink lately about Ixeyla. I keep telling him she’s definitely going to reciprocate, but he goes on and on about finding the right time to tell her, even though they’re obviously head over heels for each other. Bluh. What’d Te used to call him back when he identified with they and them pronouns? Doofy Lil Dragbutt? Wasn’t there something about booger though? I can’t remember.”
Luni wears a pouty frown for a moment before she can’t help laughing it off and shaking her head in mock exasperation. I reach up to stroke her cheeks, and to help angle us for a very awkward upside-down kiss, when I realize I can just levitate, so I do. I float myself upwards to face Luni while upside down, and kiss her tenderly, but she can’t stop giggling during the kiss. At first, I assume it’s because my massive mess of wild red hair falls into her lap and across her arms, possibly tickling her. Then I catch something she’s doing while she giggles.
Luni hums a tune, singing under her breath, “Neighbor-san, neighbor-san, friendly neighborhood neighbor-san.”
I drop out of the sky back into her lap, crumpled, folded wrong, and struggle to right myself as my jaw drops. Wearing a shocked expression, I ask Lu, “Did— did you just reference an upside-down alleyway kissing scene, with a redhead, and a superhero, from a movie from Fakeworld cinema?”
Luni can’t stop herself from saying, “Oops.”
My jaw drops further as I ask, “Is that why we started calling him neighbor-san? Him and the eight-legger clan? As a reference to Spi—“
As I struggle to right myself, getting in a more comfortable position, Luni claps a hand over my mouth and pouts at me. I return the pout with an additional furrowed brow, until she removes her hand. She chuckles nervously and shrugs helplessly.
I know that she won’t answer, she’ll deflect. I won’t bother asking her how much she knows about Fakeworld. I sigh, knowing it’s probably for my own benefit that she’ll be evasive. I know it would hurt her if I were upset with her over something like this. Honestly I wish we could bond over it instead.
Luni responds, “Me too, My Hero. Me too.”
We let the sentiment linger. There’s some sort of forever out there, waiting for us, waiting for my memories to stop being a broken, buggy mess. Luni’s waiting on the other side, terrified that I have to run through a minefield with floating shards of broken mirrors to get to her. I feel closer to her than ever, and simultaneously further apart, feeling the gulf, the gap between us.
Luni distracts me by placing a hand on my face, smooshing it around. I chase it away with one of my hands, so her other hand plops on my face. I chase that one away, and this repeats until we’re both giggling. I catch her hands after though, and hold them tenderly, weaving my fingers awkwardly through hers, while laying in her lap, reaching over my head. Luni smiles down at me and murmurs contentedly.
I begin drifting off to sleep, in probably not the most comfortable position for Luni, only just now realizing we’re not in a place that might even be her bedroom. We’re in some sort of art gallery. There are crude paintings that, when you have the context, look a lot like pieces of our Rayileklian journeys, up until around a week ago. Luni sniffles, and nods. This was Aymestu’s art room. Aymestu, Seer, painted with clairvoyance, or precognition. It looks like she stopped about a week ago.
Luni nods, and frowns as she says, “Aims was complaining for most of the last week that her powers weren’t working as well, if at all by the end. I should have, should have done something, been nicer to her, anything. Now I’ll never get the chance. She was so kind, despite my immature envy of her pure heart.”
We both sit in quiet contemplation for the loss of such a young, pure life, and do end up falling asleep in a fairly uncomfortable position. At least we are together, and we can fall asleep in contact for the first time on Rayileklia. Despite all the hardships, I’m finally reunited with Luni. We haven’t been together like this, since before we died. I wear a sad smile as my consciousness fades into sleep.