-Lux-

“Oh my!” She spun down-outward-through, focusing on her young follower. “Poor Celio!”

Her husband followed her gaze. Scowled.

Their two followers, paladin Ira and priest Celio, were retreating fast from an irate dungeon. Ira had Celio under his gangly arms, dragging him with all her strength as she pushed [Dark Step IV] to its limits.

The poor boy had wounds all over his mind—his system fortifications nearly entirely shredded. Lux reached through-long and ran a soothing hand over him, but it would take time. Even with the help of a goddess, Celio would never be truly the same.

Nox had pulled up the record. Seemed to know the details, now, and was still scowling. “That was entirely uncalled for.” He said.

“Hm?” Lux was still focused on her priest. She’d started with his mind, pulling in any lost memories and carefully returning them.

Her husband shook his head. “Just focus, love. I’ll speak with the child who caused this.”

Normally, she would have pressed for details, but Celio’s wounds were too urgent. Doing one last sweep around the dungeon, she grasped the last of the spilled memories and slotted them into place. His mind was throbbing—even his body on edge, now. Lux took a moment to stabilize his brain.

Ira had him back at the church, now. Lux breathed a sigh of relief and let Aurora take care of the boy’s body.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Turning back to his mind, she took a long moment to settle the memories. They weren’t in the same order as before, that was impossible, but she made sure they were comfortable ordered. That they wouldn’t do damage to his personality, at least.

The deep cuts that had allowed the memory-bleed were trying to heal themselves. Lux cooled them with a hand. A rushed job would heal wrong.

Slowly, slowly, she began to stitch back together the fabric of Celio’s self. It would take time.

Lux had time.

-Nox-

Entirely unstable.

There was nothing else to describe the child. Nox sat back and watched him writhe in the corner of the core. In agony simply because his girl had touched another person, had decided their safety was more important than him.

Nox clicked his tongue.

The boy froze.

“Kepler.” Nox said, keeping his tone even. Patience was something he asked of his followers, and it would have been hypocritical to not be patient himself.

Shivering, the child stared at him, overwhelmed with unstable emotions.

Nox felt a spike of anger at whoever had created Kepler. They clearly did not have the child’s interests at heart. He kept the emotion away from his avatar, though. It wasn’t Kepler’s fault.

The core was a limited place, all tangled up in the girl, too. Nox took a step back and opened a door. It went to a favorite Space of his, dark and comfortable.

“You can make a kind of avatar, no?” Nox said.

Kepler stared. “The… mind-space self.”

“That’s right. Leave your roots here. We need to talk.”

The child shuddered, dark limbs stretching frantically. “No, Clare—”

“She will be fine.”

Kepler snarled; fangs forming in his half-dissolved conscious mind. “She won’t!”

Nox exerted his Will. Perhaps a bit too much, as the boy passed out.

Frowning, the god balled up the symbiote’s conscious form and carried him into the Space. Set him down in a quiet not-corner. The property of darkness poured over both of them, like the sound of water, like the taste of honey.

It would take time for Kepler to awake.

Nox had time.