“Grizzizzik is a fallen prince of the crime king Akshi, Torraq’s right-hand man. Akshi rules the crime of the city of Osvoroth, and Grizzizzik knew he was going to take over his father’s business. He already had plans of how to expand it and make it better, with the belief that business would triple within the year.” Nick ventured a glance at Grizzizzik. He was still focused on wiping down the femur bone with a rag coated in whatever was in that bottle. Nick continued. “But Akshi discovered his son’s plans and considered it a threat, thinking Grizzizzik would kill him and take over as soon as possible. Akshi made a show of Grizzizzik’s supposed betrayal, humiliating him in front of his co-workers and friends as an act to show him just how much power he has in the city. How much Akshi owns the criminal underground. Considering Grizzizzik will never be welcomed in pleasant company, it was a way for Akshi to show Grizzizzik his place. Once the humiliation was done, Akshi threw Grizzizzik in the dungeon.”
Again, Nick glanced up, but the rogue remained focused on the bone. Though Nick could detect the slight hardening in his eyes.
“Grizzizzik, trying not to be threatened by the entire thing, used his brain to escape from imprisonment and the city, finding his father relying too much on magic and proud that he could logic his way out of his cell. For years Akshi hunted him, but he made sure his father stumbled on the corpses of those who tried to catch him to send his own message.” Nick cleared his throat again, thinking of this as an exaggerated story.
When he thought of it as a twelve-year-old, he was annoyed at how controlling Walt got. He imagined a situation where it was ten times worse for his character, so Nick could at least feel lucky that he personally didn’t have a father like his rogue character. “Grizzizzik is angry at Akshi, but only when he thinks of him as a father. If he thinks of him as a mortal enemy, he is excited to bring the man down.”
Grizzizzik’s slow, steady wiping down of a femur bone brought goosebumps to Nick’s arms. He glanced down at the final two paragraphs of the backstory.
“Grizzizzik cared little for others before Akshi’s betrayal. And now he has no interest in making friends. He is more interested in taking his place as the rightful king of crime. Before he was willing to wait for Akshi to die of either old age or crime related deaths, but now, if given the opportunity, he wouldn’t hesitate to slit his own father’s throat.” Nick placed the page down, trying to smile as he recited the last paragraph. “Grizzizzik does not attend parties, and if he does, he is no fun at them.”
The rogue finally stopped wiping down the bone and gave Nick a dull look. He set down the bone and rag before standing, holding his hand out to Nick. Despite his better judgement, Nick handed the notebook over to him. Grizzizzik looked at it with curiosity. The curiosity was just a cover. Deep in Nick’s gut, he could tell Grizzizzik felt unsettled that Nick knew the darkest moment of his life. The rogue flipped through the other pages, seeing the drawing of himself made by a twelve-year-old. Some with the gold and black, some with the attempt at more gold than black, before settling on the mostly black with gold. Turning a page, he saw the snake body with an X over it, then a drawing of a more humanoid snake man. There were different pages for facial expressions, and the diagram of how the teeth would elongate when he felt threatened or wanted to intimidate someone else. It had to be so incredibly unnerving to see a drawn picture of himself with colored pencils and smudges.
“How old were you?” Grizzizzik asked.
“Twelve,” Nick said.
He saw the curiosity melt away and the hardness of his eyes return. “You… imagined me into being? At twelve?”
Nick wasn’t sure how to answer that. Grizzizzik was already grumpy and closed off in stressful situations. He didn’t know what an existential crisis would do to him. Nick felt the urge to say something, and with horror, realized his mouth was opening and words tumbled out. “I’m… just as surprised as you are.”
Nick remembered telling Tyler the entirety of Grizzizzik’s background in a private conversation so his game master could weave it into the plot of the overarching story. He expected this older boy to roll his eyes at how dark it all was. Instead, Tyler had a huge smile on his face.
“Rogues, am I right?” Tyler asked before giving Nick a high five. Tyler specifically enjoyed how Nick took something like Akshi, a cannon feature of the game and given it more depth.
It was two years after the creation of this character when he woke up in a hospital bed with policemen all around, asking him questions to determine whether he had parents or if he needed to be put in the system. Some of them wanted to play around the law to get him into a juvenile detention center there because of just how dangerous a gang Eddy was in. They concluded Nick was an unfortunate kid who didn’t have his head on straight. A rebellious teen who wanted to prove himself and wound up in the wrong crowd. They failed to mention that the police really couldn’t do anything anyway, because of how lenient the law was toward minors, but when Walt showed up, he assured every policeman in the room that Nick would never be in trouble with the law again as long as he was under his roof. Nick never wanted to slit his own father’s throat, but he did feel trapped and humiliated in a prison he couldn’t escape.
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Grizzizzik stopped flipping through the notebook, almost shoving it back in Nick’s hand. He was not smiling. Nick kept his eyes on the rogue.
“Who else knows about this?” Grizzizzik asked.
“Everyone in the group,” Nick said.
“That little blonde, too?”
Nick paused, frowning. “You mean my sister?” Grizzizzik didn’t answer, but it was clear that’s who he meant. “Yeah, she knows. When Hraktar hung you upside down and forced you to admit who your father was, everyone else around the table knew, too.”
Grizzizzik’s eyes narrowed. He then turned, sitting back down on the floor. He went back to sharpening the tooth. “There’s something on that paper you haven’t written. Something I feel you already know but haven’t realized it yet. Despite my history and the world I grew up in, killing isn’t the first thing I turn to.” Grizzizzik kept his eyes focused on the tooth. “If a creature is trying to kill me, of course I’d rather kill him first. I’d like to think I am merciful, but in truth I am the guy they send if something needs to happen that the other members of the group are too morally afraid to do. If a plan is effective and it doesn’t need bodies littered around everywhere, then all the better. Despite what everyone else thinks, murder isn’t what I like, but it is something I’ll do in a pinch.” Grizzizzik’s eyes flashed toward Nick. There was such an intensity to it that Nick took a step back as Grizzizzik’s teeth lengthened. “But I will. If I have to. When every other option won’t do the job. If I am unsatisfied.”
The yellow snake eyes were so intense. Nick could almost hear Tyler asking for an intimidation check, but that wouldn’t work, because there was no way Nick was going to roll for an intimidation check on himself. It still caused a chill to go up his spine and for him to think that perhaps he didn’t want Grizzizzik sleeping in the same room as him.
“You can’t hurt me,” Nick said in a whisper.
Grizzizzik smiled, and he realized too late what this was. Grizzizzik pulled a power play over Nick. From the beginning, the rogue was always uncomfortable that he was meeting his creator. Someone out there controlling part of his destiny made him sick. Nick being seventeen didn’t help, and him being created when Nick was twelve made it even worse. Nick had a sneaky suspicion they would always get into a power struggle, because Grizzizzik was always the one to see how far he could push things.
“You’re right. I can’t hurt you. But you might as well know I’m trying to figure out how. Just in case.” Grizzizzik thumbed the sharpened hell hound tooth, taking half a hit point as the blade cut into his finger. The rogue smiled. “I do believe the blade is ready.”
Nick had his arms folded. He was trying to keep himself steady, but the urge to get somewhere safe was a difficult thing to ignore. Much like facing down a hell hound knowing it technically couldn’t maul you. Though it was difficult to imagine that when it was running right at you.
“I’m checking on my sister.”
Grizzizzik said nothing as Nick left. He closed the door, his hands trembling. The rogue hated authority. Nick knew this about his character. It still didn’t prepare him, though. Nick was going to have to figure out a way to get Grizzizzik’s respect. That seemed almost as impossible as getting him back to the Shrouded Domain. A place he once thought was imaginary. He needed to get Grizzizzik home before he figured out how to touch this world.
He found himself at Evelyn’s door and knocked.
“Just a sec!” he heard Evelyn say from within.
Nick had a vague idea of what he wanted to ask her, but he was still rattled after his conversation with Grizzizzik.
The door opened as he heard Enya playing in the background. Nick recoiled. “Oh, god.”
Evelyn had a bathrobe wrapped around her pajamas with something green on her face. It had to be some sort of face mask. She was blowing on her newly painted aqua green fingernails, and her hair was in a towel. “You’re so hilarious.”
“I was just wondering if—” he cut himself off when he saw Clarissa walking into view, with a nearly identical look. The bathrobe, the face mask, and the towel with the painted fingernails. Nick glanced between the two of them. “Are you doing a mani-pedi?”
Evelyn’s face broke into a smile. “Nick, I’m so proud of you for knowing that word. Now we just need to work on your understanding of it. No. We’re not having a mani-pedi. We’re just having a manicure. The mani part of mani-pedi. See, a mani-pedi is if—”
“Evie, I really don’t care,” Nick said, putting all the deadpan he could in his voice.
“You cared enough to learn the word,” she said, still smiling. Evelyn turned behind her, gasping. “Oh my god, we need to do a pedicure next! I’ll see if I can borrow Amber’s foot bath. It’s not nearly as good as if we went to a spa, but I doubt anyone could work on your feet, since they can’t see you.”
“She’s an elf, Evelyn. She doesn’t need any of this. And you’re not even sixteen yet. Your skin is fine,” Nick said.
“You shut that mouth right now, Nick. No one says you should only go to a dentist when your teeth hurt.” She touched the edges of the green goop. “My sixty-year-old self will thank me for this later. I’m going to have the best skin in the nursing home. Besides, manicures and face masks aren’t just for excellent skin and nail health. They are for a time of relaxation from the busy world, and to promote self-confidence.”
Clarissa placed a hand on her hip. “If you look good, you feel good.”
“And you should never forget it!” Evelyn said before giving Clarissa a high five. “Whenever you and Grizzizzik want to join, we’ll have a mani-pedi night.” Evelyn’s smile was as bright as ever.
Nick stared at her. He knew his sister was kidding. She had to be. She did that thing where she assumed everyone was as passionate about skin health as she was. Just the image of him and Grizzizzik painting their toenails was enough to tighten his dead pan look at his sister. “Did they figure out what time we’re having a CCNC sesh on Saturday?” Nick asked.
“Um…” Evelyn walked deeper in her room, turning off the Enya music. She scrolled through the texts, being careful of her still drying fingernails. “Still waiting on Rafael’s schedule to line up. Alejandra’s going to talk to him about it. Make sure he’s there.”
“Did Derek give any other hints as to what this might entail?” Nick asked.
“No. No idea.”
Sometimes Derek gave Evelyn extra texts to relay to Nick in the off case that there was something just Nick needed to know, instead of Walt.
“Great. Thanks.” Nick left, hearing Evelyn turn up the Enya music.