Cyra was like a dream, just a few days here already and I didn’t want to leave.
I was beginning to get the feeling that this wasn’t the place I was meant to head for though, for what it was worth- which wasn’t much- I figured Tiamat would have said something about whether I was at the place where I could fulfil her prophecy or whatever you’d call it.
So I was turning my mind to a further journey into the Almond Plains and even Maláka if things came to that.
I’d like to say Lappe was rearing to go with me and continue down the continent, but he’d made it very clear to me that he wouldn’t follow if I left Cyra. It was already too hot for him where we were now so he didn’t want to go someplace worse, in his own words-
“If I wanted to melt I’d sleep in the firepit.”
“No you’re fine, I don’t want to drag you around for something I don’t really even understand- let alone cook you alive in the desert.” My reply came and the man nodded his head.
“So what happened with that demon woman?” He asked changing the topic with a brow arched.
“Oh uh- I don’t know, I haven’t seen her since we parted.” He kept his brow arched.
“What, so you didn’t deepen your harem?” He joked with a smirk.
“What? No!” Somehow my voice cracked.
Howling a laugh my grey haired friend leaned back in the chair wiping tears from his eyes with a grin on his face.
Sighing “That’s your favourite new joke isn’t it?”
“It’s true though isn’t it? So what’s the harm?” He held his smirk as our food arrived a moment later and we thanked the waitress.
We were at the same restaurant we visited on our first day, it was a pretty good way to start our fourth day.
“I don’t think you ever actually told me what this woman you’re looking for is like?” Lappe prompted as we ate, it was a fair question he couldn’t really help me if he didn’t know and I’d not really made an effort to inform him.
“She’s… she’s kinda like the sun, always keeps the horizon bright but no matter how far you chase after her you’ll never catch up- she would get this glint in her eye from time to time, it embarrassed her that I started calling it ‘The kings eye’ because she’s named after a famous king who marched across countries always heading toward something greater- A-anyway she would get this look in her eye and when she did it would mean one of two things, she’d either never give up and try as hard as she could and more to achieve her goal or as she liked to put it…” my voice petered off as I realised I was rambling stopping myself short of finishing the thought.
Closing my eyes with a sigh I jumped when I opened them and a new voice scared me.
“Sounds like an interesting woman.” Raiga’s deep voice broke into our conversation, the heavy sound of her plopping her muscled form down on a spare seat at our table following it.
“Marduk’s new wife- it’s good to meet you, I'm Lappe!” My friend held out his hand to the red skinned woman with a bright smile on his lips.
Accepting his handshake the demon arched her brow and blue eyes looked to me for answers as she repeated the words. “Marduk’s new wife?”
“Yeah” Lappe nodded solemnly. “He’s become quite the tramp, building a harem of beast women- you’re just the latest in a long line of them.” he shook his head with a faux disappointed expression.
Raiga didn’t seem to take his words too seriously or maybe she did- it was hard to tell and her response wasn’t any better.
“Oh? Adventurous. You didn’t mention that when we were speaking last?” She questioned and Lappe grinned.
‘I’ll kill you, and I’ll make it look like a bloody accident’ I quoted internally with a dry tone.
“He’s making a Hydra’s nest of a titanoboa burrow.” Shaking my head I tried to deflect his jokes but the translated Saurian saying didn’t quite come out right and they just looked at me funny.
“I- so this woman you were fawning over when I arrived?” The demon woman changed the subject as the silence drew on.
“Another of his lays, degenerates these lizardfolks are.” He shook his head with a solemn expression again before breaking into a laugh when I replied.
“You don’t know the half of it.” Sighing again I turned to the woman and answered her question. “Someone I’m looking for, an old god told me how to find her but I don’t really know if I’m any closer than I was before she’d given me the line she did.”
‘Not all things are to be revealed so soon, Child of Mine’ Tiamats voice spoke into my mind, almost making me jump in fright for a second time.
“How did you lose her? Was she sold into slavery?” Raiga asked, a curious voice and sympathetic look reminding me of what she said about her friend.
“It's a long story I don’t really know if I can explain.” My attempts to brush my reasons aside were unsuccessful
“You make it sound like we don't have all the time we could want.” Lappe responded with his brow raised.
Am I allowed to talk about my reincarnation into this world?
I decided to turn to Tiamat if she was already listening.
‘I cannot stop you from forming words, however I would warn against such courses.’
Deciding not to share my reasons in full detail I gave a joke answer which I probably should have assumed they would take seriously but for some reason I didn't.
“It came to me in a dream.”
“Like a vision?” Lappe asked with a bemused expression.
“No- I uh… don't worry about it- hey uh so why are you here Raiga?” Both of them laughed at my awkwardness.
“I hoped to continue our conversation, though this talk of great women and harems has me interested.” quirking her brow and wearing a smirk for a moment Alex's face imposed itself over her face in my vision.
A pang of guilt and sorrow filtering through my mind as it did.
I should be looking for her… but how?
Unconsciously I touched the Hydras brand on my chest and the primordial voice filled my mind.
‘Perhaps you ought to open your eyes to that of which is before you, mortals often cannot see what is in front of them until it is gone.’
The age old advice delivered to me, it took a moment for it to settle.
You- I- She’s alex?
I asked, receiving no answer.
When you befriend the branded and his word is law, you will descend to the warmth of what you seek.
The words she’d told me in Atohl repeated into my thoughts.
My mind raced as it tried to piece it all together.
I found myself staring at the blue eyed red demon woman.
Feeling a stupor overwhelm me I wordlessly stood up and left the restaurant hearing Lappe call after me.
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“The thing about dreams is that whether they're good or bad nobody likes being woken from one.” I quoted into the wind, it was something I was always rather fond of.
I had climbed atop the roof of the place Lappe and I had been staying at. Tracking the harpies of the town as they flew over it going about their business or contributing to the postal service they had a large hand in.
It was fun, bird watching, that is, it was a lot like train watching. Something entertaining in the base act of seeing the mechanics of the motion. Might as well have been the closest thing I have to watching T.v. to pass time and take my mind off things.
I don’t think I really expected her to be here, that I’d ever see her again, that it was the fanciful web spun to me by a being calling itself god to placate my sorrow at never being able to see her again.
I know part of me had already resigned itself to returning to the Nikkal and accepting Siduri's proposal.
My hand moved to rest on the dagger she had sent-
“What the hell?!” My hand grasped at nothing where the hilt of the priest's dagger ought to have been.
My eyes went wide as I looked around the rooftop for it, panic settling in as I realised it was gone.
“crap” I cursed smacking my thigh.
Standing I made my way down from the roof and began my search for the ritual weapon.
First I looked through the room we were staying in, there wasn't anything but Lappes spare clothes and whatever else we didn't want to carry around all day. Second I turned to the restaurant and asked the staff if they seen or heard anything about the knife- it's not exactly as though it blends in with its refractive obsidian blade.
They hadn't however so I spent the rest of the day asking around about it not only some of the soldiers but merchants and even some courtesan's, or at least I think they were anyway, they were dressed up colourfully with lots of thigh and breast showing as they tried to direct people into a rather flowery looking establishment.
Though a lot of people avoided me when I approached them I was at least able to convince ten or so people to keep an eye out for me and send a message or leave one at the place I was staying.
After about four hours of searching and turning up nothing couldn’t help but make a comparison between myself and a headless chicken running around looking for a spec of something -
“Why am I even doing this? Do I even care?” I asked myself out loud as I broke off from a main street into one of the many alleys throughout Cyra.
Dragging my hand down the underside of the jaw I breathed a sigh of resignation.
Leaning against the wall of the building on my right I closed my eyes.
“Fuck” I cursed smashing my fist against the wall.
“Fuck” spitting I hit the wall again.
Why am I so god damn scared that it's really her?! Why the hell do I care so much about that damn dagger?!
The weight of everything crashed down on me
Emotions welled in my chest and stung my heart.
I hadn’t felt such strong emotions in years at this point, it was like something unscrewed the cork on them after they’d been buried for so long. The suddenness of them only made what I felt intensify tenfold.
I would have struck the building again in an outburst if not for a voice stopping me.
“What the fuck are you doing to my wall?!” Turning my head to the side I saw large Ox headed man with easily two foot long horns growing out of the sides of his head.
Black dusty fur coated him and his arms were like tree trunks bulging with muscle even as he stood still, his hands had a strong wear to them that only came from being a particularly intense labourer. With his torso loosely covered by a thick apron and his waist wrapped up in a linen skirt held by a heavy duty tool belt it wasn't hard to guess his occupation.
His pissed off tone and expression immediately pulled me back down to earth from my episode, without more warning the man stepped toward me. Huffing hot breath as he stalked toward me I wasn’t really sure what to do and froze up when he grabbed my wrist pulling me away from it.
He went to say something but stopped himself as he eyed my sword. “The blade is dull- follow me.” The Minotaur’s gruff baritone voice ordered as he changed demeanors letting go of me and turning to leave.
“Gregori.” The harsh toned man said unprompted as before I decided to follow along.
“Marduk” I replied with my own name and he grunted something indiscernible.
----------------------------------------
The crackle of flittering open flames, clanging and clanking of metal hammering away, exerted grunts and the hiss of sweat turning to mist as it kissed hot metal filled the home of Gregori. Or perhaps it was more accurate to call it a workshop with a bed? ninety percent of the home was converted into forge space, workbenches, tool racks and storage for his work with the other ten being a small pantry and hay covered cot on which he slept.
After we were in the door he stopped and his dark brow creased before he lowered his gaze to my Sukkal sword again.
“Give it here.” He stated flatly holding out a hand.
Wordlessly doing as he said I parted with my sword.
“Swords scar as easily as any man, nicks chips and cracks. They tell a story far clearer than words, yours is no different, odd as this crystal is.” His eyes glimmered as he held it in front of his face examining every millimetre.
“How much will that cost?” The man shook his head in response.
Taking a seat I watched while he sharpened the edge of the obsidian blade.
“All ’ve need for in my life is flame and ore- malleable, wrought and distastefully dull they serve me well.'' Continuing away on my blade.
I watched on, enamoured by the simplicity of his craft.
“Flame, dear flame…” He cooed under his breath to the harsh orange belting out waves of intense heat from the forge next to where he smoothed over the edge of the sword with flattening stone.
It was only when my eyelids lurched open, heavy as they could ever get that I realised I had fallen asleep watching the man, the warmth of the forge covering my scales like a blanket in winter- even though we were in a desert.
Blinking the tired away I noticed the room was dull with an ember of light compared to before, still hunched over was the Smith banging away at a piece of metal while. I noticed next to me my sword was glimmering with an edge that looked like I’d cut myself just being in its vicinity, picking it up I eyed it for a bit before realising there was also a leather sheath to cover it next to me as well.
The sword was precious to me so it was nice to see it looking brand new. I still remember the day it was presented to me for being a Sukkal, It was one memory that stuck out even amongst the haze of those first nine years of my life here.
In all that time though I’d never had a proper cover for it so I was grateful for that.
Holding the hydra bone hilt of the sword I felt a small smile or what could account for one tug at the corners of my mouth.
I was reminded of my siblings in this world again, then back around to the Mushens' dagger and why I’d been in the alley in the first place.
I hope my brothers and sisters are doing well.
I hope Siduri is safe from the conflict Guivre started.
and most of all I hope Alex can forgive me for running away from the truth, for being too scared to face the music- or lack thereof.
Then again she's forgiven me for much worse than this, though I don't think she knows it's me anyway. Only reason I know after all is the voice in my head telling me as much. She was always smarter than me though so I'd also be surprised if she hadn't already realised it and it was why she approached me in the first place to wait and see how long it took for me to realise it was her.
Before long I was pulled from my thoughts.
“You can leave now, your sword is sharp and your anger abated- just refrain from trying to knock my walls down again would you?” The gruff Minotaur in no uncertain terms told me to piss off so I did, thanking him for my sword despite his wishes otherwise.
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I found my way back to the shoreline again and stood looking out over the water in the hot sun as it blanketed my scales. It was morning again so I hoped Lappe was following our routine of having breakfast at that same restaurant so I could meet back up with him there.
“Marduk! There you are! You dropped this yesterday when you left-” Raiga’s deep voice interrupted me as I was thinking about heading to the restaurant sooner rather than later.
Turning toward her, I saw she was holding Mushen’s dagger, offering it to me.
A memory from a long time ago filtered through my vision lapping with my reality for a moment as I accepted the ritual knife from her.
[Matt you idiot! Stop walking away! I’m trying to tell you something!]
[Huh? What’s going on? What do you need to say?]
She snatched my hand from my side and forced a golden band over my ring finger and held up her own hand showing off the one she wore now, I’d never seen her with it before.
[See! Now we’re matching!] She smiled brightly, strawberry blonde locks flowing in the gentle breeze. [Since you’re a moron this is my proposal to get married.]
I stood flabbergasted and lost, not fully comprehending what she said, but I wasn’t given time to either when she snatched my wrist again and dragged me behind her.
[W-wait Alex! Where are we going?!]
She looked back with a wide warm smile on her face, she looked an angel in that moment, a beauty unmatched.
[To iceland! We’re gonna pack our bags and set off before you can make up an excuse!]
…
Silence purveyed for a few seconds after I held the dagger in my palm.
“Since you’re a moron, this is my acceptance of your proposal to get married.” I said looking the red skinned demon woman in the blue eyes.
A strong confused irritation blemished her expression for a moment before realisation settled and her mouth hung open in shock. Mouth agape she opened and closed it a few times before finally finding the words.
“Y-y-you Fucking Idiot!” I saw stars as a red fist connected with my jaw.
“Achk!” Spitting saliva my vision was filled with the blue of the desert sky.
I laid on my back dumbfounded as I continued to stare at the sky.
It was only when I heard the hitching of her voice and the crack that was followed by tears that I moved to sit up seeing the white haired demon sobbing as she attempted to wipe them from her face rubbing her eyes in the process.
“Alexandra.” I said her name aloud for the first time since being reborn.
Setting the dagger aside I barely had a chance to react to her pouncing on me, her arms wrapped around me and I received the most bone breaking hug of either of my lives as I genuinely felt and heard something crack in the process.
“W-who-o’s calling w-who a moron?” She asked through a sob, I put my arm around the woman and patted her back best I could.
It was usually her consoling me, not the other way around so I was a little worried I wouldn’t be any good at it.
Getting a look around us I noticed we’d caused something of a scene for those who were around at that moment and a small crowd of onlookers waited to find out what the context of our spat was.
“Hey- uh Alex we’re causing a scene…” I tried to get her to release me so we could take it elsewhere but she just clutched me tighter.
“And? I haven’t seen you in a hundred years and you want to let some stupid people get in the way?” If I had a brow it would have twitched when she said that.
“A hundred years?” I questioned and she pulled back, arms around my neck as her eyes met mine expression showing the confusion I felt.
“Yeah a hundred years… how long have you been here?” She queried.
“Uh… nine?”
“N-nine hundred!?” Alex sputtered out her response.
“I- what? No! Nine years!” I corrected her and watched as she let go completely and stood up stepping back.
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“Nine?” Alex repeated, her face twitched.
“A hundred…” I replied looking at the muscle toned demon woman. “Wait Alex you’ve been here for a hundred years?” My question was answered with silence.
…
Standing in the quiet that hung in the air like a thick fog I stared at her waiting for something, anything to come from her.
Almost five minutes passed before she moved, her hand latched onto my wrist and I was dragged off.
Alex didn't stop dragging me along until we reached some inn she'd been staying at or I assumed as much when it was the only place whose workers didn't actively avoid us when we approached. Heading up the stairs on the outside of the adobe building we went along a short balcony of sorts to a door marked with a 10 in blue paint.
Inside was a fairly decent sized living space with a large bed, duchess vanity unit and coat rack. Against the wall opposite the entrance was a window with its wooden shutters currently closed.
It was at that point Alex let me go only to crush me in another hug before stepping back again.
With a heavy sigh she spoke. “I lied when I called myself Raiga, my new name is Raizel. You must have learned by now that names have power here right?”
I immediately thought back to the contract the twins had been locked into with Count Fel because he knew their true names.
“Yea… so Raizel? It does kind of sound like some kind of demon name.” I commented with a nod.
“Is your name actually Marduk now or was that one you picked out for yourself?” She asked with an arched brow as we sat on the large bed.
“Ah no, that is my birth name here.” I replied feeling an odd sense to defend that it was a good name when she seemed unimpressed by it.
…
“so you're a lizardman?” She asked curiously, raising a brow and leaning toward me.
“Saurian of the Ahkula tribe.” I corrected with what amounted to a Saurian smile.
“I'm an Ogre, there isn't really a tribe” Something of a depressed exacerbated breath escaped her.
“how did you lose your arm Matt?” She couldn't help but ask, eyeing my stump.
“oh yeah… I think you’ll be really proud of me for this-” I went on to spend the next hour or so retelling the past year and a half of my life here in the world outside the swamps of Ahkula.
She reacted about as well as I assumed to my haze driven lizard brained self getting into the pants of the priestess and Lamia. She found it unbelievable at first but came around to it being the funniest thing she'd ever heard as I went on.
I noticed throughout the conversation that she was far more subdued and quiet than I remembered which brought me back around to what she said.
She's been here for ninety-one years longer than me…
It was an honestly insane prospect, but I suppose I did have to grapple with the fact that Saurians lived for a hundred and fifty years so it wasn't out of the realm of possibilities.
I couldn’t help myself but ask about it again.
“Alex… have you really been here for a hundred years?” she turned away from me, holding her breath for a moment.
“I- don’t call me that anymore…” her deep voice so unlike how it was, trailed off. “I’m… I’m not her anymore, just call me Raizel and I’ll call you Marduk- those other two died, I bet you don’t even remember what I looked like.”
“Of course I do!” I defended instantly, easily recalling the way she looked in that dream of our final day. “Beautiful strawberry blonde hair, bluish-green eyes, pale skin and you were tall and athletic- not nearly as much as you are now obviously.”
Almost as soon as I’d finished recanting her visage she barked a sordid laugh with a creased face that was almost distorted with disgust.
Did I get it wrong? I know for a fact she looked like that right?
She put her face in her hand, eyes peering through her fingers into nothingness.
“Is that really so?” she said under her breath, a crazed look in her blue eyes.
Retreating from the crazed expression she turned to me with a blank face and asked if I remembered what I looked like.
“N- no I don’t.” I replied quietly after realising I couldn’t recall my own appearance.
Quiet hung between us for a while.
“You know… I thought I found you… three times I thought I’d finally- stilicho, the friend I mentioned on the shore when I approached you… I- he- I was so convinced he was you I spent years trying to make him realise he was-” Tears flowed from Raizel’s eyes again for the second time today and a pang of sorrow melted through my chest as I listened to her.
“He killed himself- in front of my eyes! I saved him! And he ripped his own throat out in front of me!” Her deep toned voice cracked and croaked pain oozing through her words unable to hold it in any longer.
Her red arms latched around me for support.
I tried my best to offer what I could, but I would never really understand how it had been, what it was like to live for a hundred years and in all that time be searching for something. To search and on three occasions be dead sure of it only to realise you’d tricked yourself again, I don’t know if I’d be able to handle that. I’ve barely been searching for a year and even then I’ve had help from a Dragon and a Hydra.
Worst of all, at heart, for all the truths I tried to ignore. I couldn’t really feel anything.
For all my senses, for all my memories returned to me.
I am still Saurian
So I tried my best to imitate the emotions I felt like I would have had.
Wrapped in each other's embrace for almost five minutes I broke the silence.
“You’re right, I’m not Matthew anymore.” My harsh crocodilian voice sounded foreign to me once again. “Marduk of Ahkula, that’s who I am now.”
I think I didn’t want to accept that I wasn’t human anymore.
“Raizel from Amazonite.” My Ogre partner introduced herself.
“Amazonite?” I asked as we parted our embrace.
“It’s a continent to the far east, a lot of Ogres are born there.” Raizel explained.
“You’re telling me, that there’s a continent with Amazon in the name where tall muscled ‘demonic’ women are born?” I questioned jokingly shifting the conversation somewhere more lighthearted.
Thankfully she laughed and we started on something less dour.
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Part 2: Slice of Heaven
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“You got swallowed by a Hydra who you are pretty sure is a primordial god and when you woke up you remembered everything about who you were?” Raizel asked with an incredulous tone and expression.
“Well when you put it like that it sounds stupid.” I deflated, halting my retelling of how I got the brand tattooed on my chest.
“I think you might have eaten something funny when you arrived in Atohl.” She replied and I couldn’t really defend myself at that point because it had been long enough that I couldn’t remember all the details.
I wasn’t exactly some super camera that photographed every inch of my memory, that and a lot has happened since.
“Anyway I can talk to her any time I wish now, Tiamat even said she’d send her children Lahmu and Lahamu to protect and fight for me if I asked.” The caught the Ogre woman’s attention.
“How can you talk to her? Did you learn magic somewhere along the line?” Her question immediately drew me to my stump arm and meeting Medea in Zaros.
“No… I’d probably die if I ever tried learning magic. The brand acts as a link to her and we can talk through a mental link if I place a hand on it and call out to her basically- though a few times she has just outright responded to something I’m doing which makes me wonder if she’s constantly watching.” The last part wasn’t really something I wanted answered.
‘It would be a shortsighted fault of a mother not to watch her errant newborn, Child of Mine.’
Speak of the devil.
Ignoring the comment of the Hydra I closed my eyes and envisioned my time in Zaros again, short as it was, celebrated as I was, awful as it was fighting the Cockatrice I felt a deep sense of satisfaction with how things turned out. Some part of me, the Saurian most likely, wanted for that intense fear and rush of adrenaline I got from fighting again. The same feeling that cemented the fight or spar or whatever with Blair into my memory.
It was odd how things like that stuck but the fight with the Mushroom person and later attempted seduction by the dryad or whatever slipped almost completely from my mind. Then again Minerva’s betrayal of my trust constantly permeated my mind, almost making me forget she had even died.
“-rduk”
“Mar-duk!” A deep voice brought me from my thoughts as I realised my shoulders were being shaken.
“Ah right sorry- what were you saying?” I asked and a white eyebrow arched at me.
“You just went silent after talking about the Hydra listening to everything you do- she didn’t interrupt and get into a conversation or something did she?” Her quizzical look scanned my own face for any sort of answer.
“No I just.. I remembered something and someone.” I breathed a sigh slumping in the seat I dragged into her room from somewhere outside.
“The Lamia you were travelling and sleeping with?” She asked with a tentative tone making me feel a little more at ease about the subject.
We’d been together for almost two weeks now, but one of those first things I talked about was Minerva and our short relationship. Raizel had easily figured out how much it played on my mind and made an effort to assuage my thoughts from revelling in the sadness I felt for what happened.
Something we’d made a great effort to avoid as we retold our stories and whatnot was offloading too much at once, slowly working our ways through what happened not just to understand it ourselves but so the other could take it all in properly. Which might sound silly, but not when there was so much to tell in her case and the density with which even the past year and a half has been for me.
“You said that the dagger was part of a Saurian ritual for marriage right? Does that mean you have a suitor I’m getting in the way of?” She asked changing the topic slightly with a more jovial tone.
Mushen’s dagger was idly sitting atop the duchess in the room where Raizel had placed it after I told her to hold onto it.
In my first retelling of my leaving Ahkula I didn’t mention the exacts of what happened in Ur-Nikkal, just that I talked with a friend ended up at the temple, spoke with a priestess who I hit it off with when we realised I had helped her father and gotten in contact with Adalgard to take me out of the Basin. So for the moment she didn’t actually know about what had transpired with Siduri.
“Yeah… I- uh- Siduri sent it along with that Aes Sidhe I told you about who wanted to learn about my people. Apparently she gave it to him to give to me when he saw me next.” My explanation clearly made her think there was more to it somehow and she prompted me to continue.
“I can see it in your eyes, same old signs Mat- er- Marduk. There’s more to this, don’t tell me you got this hot lizard priestess pregnant?” She fumbled my name and then laughed at her own joke suggestion only to go silent when she noticed I was sinking into my chair.
“Holy shit you got another woman pregnant.” Raizel said with a baffled expression, mouth hanging open as she wasn’t sure what to say.
“It- it wasn’t like I meant for it… Saurians get pregnant easier than humans do- wait that sounds really bad doesn’t it? It's not like I was in control, it was the other me! The lizard one!” I poorly attempted to defend the actions of the lizard brain Marduk.
This just caused a raucous bout of laughter to erupt from Raizel, her deep voice and harsh laughing sounding more like a drowning Hyena than anything I’d heard in my previous life. Her belting cackles died down after a while, wiping a tear from her eye as she did and releasing a sigh of relief.
Thankfully for me she steered the conversation elsewhere so I didn’t have to acknowledge it for a little bit longer.
“So have you thought about going back to The Great Basin?” She asked, giving an aura of majesty to the name of my homeland in this world.
“I have,”
“So?” She posed but I wasn’t sure what she was getting at.
“So what?”
“When are we leaving for it? Ogre’s don’t actually have homes or places to return to, so it would be nice to have one.”
“Oh uh…” My voice trailed off.
Guivre was currently ruling over the Ahkula so I wasn’t sure how that would work out.
“I don’t know how safe it will be, the tribes are warring at the moment.” I said after a moment in thought.
“Warring? You don’t think I haven’t lived through a few at this point?” She joked and I realised I hadn’t really thought about it.
It wasn’t as though my journey had been without fighting and to that I’d found I enjoyed it, or the Saurian part of me liked it.
“Why don’t we spar? You managed to fight a cockatrice and you’re all god-kin’d up with those eyes of yours, you must be able to throw a punch now right?” She prodded and poked my chest with her sharp nail, her lips pulled into a wide grin.
Sadly for her we would never manage to find a place to do any sort of mock fighting, the only way would have been to leave the walls and we didn’t really want to do that just to mess about.
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A few more days passed, then a couple more, then a week and before I knew it we’d been staying in Cyra for almost two months. I wasn’t sure if it was because I liked the sun on my scales or if it was because I didn’t want to leave, but despite the lazy efforts of Raizel we’d not parted for the Great Basin yet.
I call them lazy efforts because she’d not really made much of an argument and seemed to be distracted by something, or well it felt like she was.
A hundred years was a long time and I think it had worn her personality thin and made living as we used to a lot harder, not to mention she’d occasionally asked about what she had been like before we died. Clearly not sure of how she was supposed to act for me as though putting on the front of the person she once was would be more interesting and attractive to me than just being who she was now, but then again I didn’t really know much of who she was now was real.
Not to say I think she was lying to me, just that I think while her heart is in the right place, she might be stuck in putting on appearances.
It was because of this that I’d decided a journey home was in order.
I was worried about getting back without harm or anything but at the same time it would give us a chance to be ourselves and not be burdened by the town around us, one which actively admonished her for the demonic appearance.
Packing our things and having brought a large amount of food supplies for the trip to the next town I sprung the trip on her when she returned from breakfast at a human owned, run and staffed bakery of sorts.
At this point Lappe had already headed back to Zaros with a merchant family that had been heading that way to make money on things they’d brought in the desert town. So it was just Raizel and I traveling alone.
“I- what?” She said in confusion, a dumbfounded expression on her face.
“We’re leaving for Ahkula in an Hour.” I stated in my hoarse flat voice.
She stood silently, mouth slightly agape as she tried to reconcile with what I’d said.
“I don’t remember you being so assertive and wanting for adventure.” She eventually commented, nodding her head to herself. “I think I like it.”
I was about to say something when she cut me off-
“Are we travelling by mounts or have you arranged a carriage?” Her question caused me to shake my head.
“We’re walking.” I answered and she gave me an arched brow that said ‘Say that again, I double fucking dare you’
“How about… you carry me?” She asked with a grin and before I could question her about it she morphed and shape changed into a human woman in front of me.
A silky black haired woman with olive tanned skin and green eyes stared back with a smile on her face, it might have been cool if I’d not not burst into laughter. As it turned out, whatever magic let her change didn’t alter her clothing and she stood naked, pouting at me. She laughed too after a moment before taking the now oversized clothing and fixing it into something more wearable for her.
Thankfully her undergarments were just strips of fabric that could be made to fit however she needed so after binding her breasts and loins and looking like a rather attractive cave woman we found she was able to use the tiger pelt that had been her skirt as a cloak of sorts. I wasn’t really sure what she wanted to do with that club of hers but she showed that she was still very much able to wield it with ease so she slung it over her back like one of those bags with the cord straps.
While we were fiddling with her clothing to make something presentable I asked about her ability.
“So are you able to turn into anything?” Raizel shook her head.
“Only copy people I’ve met, I struggle with scales and fur though, I guess because it's foreign enough to my mind that it doesn’t want to comply with it- for some reason I can do Chitin fine though…” Her voice trailed off and I shuddered.
“Just don’t go turning into an Arachne.” I asked and she laughed at me.
“Still afraid of spiders? That’s good to hear, I know just how to prank you now.” Her deep voice had been replaced with a rather mild toned haughty voice.
“Please don’t” I pleaded before asking another question. “So if you can only copy people, who are you now?”
“Mahra, she’s a woman I met in a city near Chrysanthe- oh you probably don’t know where that is-” She began to say when I cut her off.
“I do. I met Medea, the Witch Chrysanthe. Or that’s what she called herself anyway.” My reply made her furrow her brow and stare at me intensely.
“You didn’t try to fuck her to did you?” She asked with a smirk trying to hold back a laugh but failed.
“No” I sighed and realised this joke was probably going to continue for quite some time. “She’s the witch I told you about, that I helped fight the cockatrice- she also just about had a breakdown about me losing my arm and tried to come up with a bunch of ways to fix it but in the end I kind of just ditched the town before she could.”
“Oh right yeah I think I remember that now.” She affirmed nodding her head before returning to fitting the pelt to her.
It took us almost an hour to faff about with her clothes and chat as we did so.
“So are you ready to go now?” I asked when we were done and she nodded her head.
With that he left.
----------------------------------------
The journey home didn’t take me nine and a half months this time thanks to not stopping off in Bailey or any other places I’d come across when first setting out, or rather I should say: We avoided all the places I’d caused a ruckus in and around along the way back to the Basin.
Arriving in Sabine two months after we set off from the gates of Cyra made me feel strange to be back, they’d shored up their defences quite a lot with a large log wall erected around it that I couldn’t remember being there, though it probably was and I was just forgetting.
We were greeted by Blair when I approached the settlement, the golden haired woman eyeing us suspiciously when she did.
“What happened to your arm?” Was the first thing out of her mouth.
“A cock bit it off.” I answered and the demigod cackled.
“Okay, next: What happened to your eyes, I’m pretty sure I distinctly remember telling you to avoid red eyed godkin.” She stated more than asked.
“My mother got rid of a curse?” I replied with a sceptical tone unsure of the phrasing even if it was true.
“Hrmm…” She grumbled something indecipherable before saying “Well that explains the new air about you- you’re almost a completely different person…” she sighed.
“Gods. What can you do?” She complained with a knowing look and shook her head before inviting us to come catch up with the people of Sabine.
The day ended up being much longer than I’d expected it to be as for whatever reason the town decided to make a celebration of my return though I suspected it was something to do with Blair rushing off to chat with Bruce and Grizel before showing us around again.
As the night droned on and everyone was getting drunk and having fun I managed to find a moment to myself and slunk away into the shadows, heading off to find where they’d buried Minerva so I could talk with her. Which was how I found myself sitting next to her grave speaking in Suran to a mental apparition of her, telling you about what had happened and apologising for what I did that ended up getting her killed.
I stayed there for quite some time even after this and just enjoyed the sounds of the Lyre Woods or whatever they were called.
We would end up staying in Sabine for nearly two weeks, using that time to lend a hand and mostly because Aodh said he’d kill me if I left without letting him thank me properly for saving his life.
The final stretch of our journey is… well stealing a boat, so we could travel along the Azul by our lonesome and not have to return it somehow. This also mostly because no one wanted to travel into the Basin with the war going on having reached the ears of Logos and by the sounds of it had been greatly exaggerated but I could understand not wanting to ride your boat into hell.
In the days it took to ride along the Azul by Ochre’s Pass which the Dragon herself wasn’t present at for some reason, I found myself remembering a song from a lifetime ago, one Raizel and I shared a joy in singing as we passed down the river.
It was a song her father loved a lot and often said was the unofficial national anthem of his home country.
“Her love shines over my horizon, she's a slice of heaven~!” We sang it out of key, with raw throats and hearts full of joy- just as Alex’s dad would have loved.
I couldn’t possibly tell you about how we’d started singing but something about the Basin reminded Alex of the times she’d visited her fathers home country.
“Warm moonlight over my horizon, she's a slice of heaven~” We went on like this for nearly an hour bellowing out the chorus in some insane bout of fun.