THE COUCH, THEN

"Charity?" Skids pulled away from me on the couch. "You're about to say something big, aren't you?"

I nodded. It was a small and jerky movement. "Yes." My mouth felt dry. I wanted to get up and pour myself some water. Anything to avoid completing this admission. "Skögul. The messenger who carried me here," I said, as tentative as a child first attempting to walk.

Skids waited for me to continue, saying nothing audibly. Sa's tense attention was loud enough.

"Skögul said..." I paused, hunting for words.

"Said? Said what?" Skids leaned in close again, looking into my eye.

I moved away, unable to stand sa's undeserved concern. "You were birthed from the Titans." There. I'd said it. The words were free to cause whatever damage they might.

Skids' breath grew louder. I glanced back to look. Sa was looking away into the distance, motionless. Seconds passed. Every little sound and movement suddenly seemed much greater.

"Skids?"

Skids stood and turned away. "I'm going to my room." The words were a harsh whisper, barely controlled.

"I..."

"Later." The word cut off our communication as sharply as slamming a door.

I remained on the couch, merely existing.

----------------------------------------

THE CHROMA DOME, NOW

"Congratulations to our prize pack winner, Slirm She! Your explanation of the intricacies of the penalty shot rule and how it affects scoring and knockouts was absolutely correct! We on the commentary team hope you enjoy your prize pack, sponsored by Hops MagShoes. And now, back to the game! Chain, how's it looking on the field?"

"Thanks, Junok. The Shadow Runners and Glorious Feint are trying their utmost to score, not particularly caring which team as thall already have the 'around the field' bonus. As soon as one is ahead, that team will try to lock down the other's ball, while trying to knock out any other team using other balls. Baking Time is the top target, as thall are well behind and can't get the bonus. Cheesy Goodness is a team to watch out for, as a five point bonus is likely to launch thall into the lead position, securing a win at the next knockout. Any team that's behind will help guard any other team from knockout, while trying to score points of their own. The potential of knocking out another team while behind puts some limits on who Baking Time can score against, and will limit CG if the top team pulls too far ahead."

"The trailing teams may also try to tempt the leaders into foul moves, resulting in penalty shots and thus point reduction for the offender," Hornn put in. "There's already been multiple fouls by the Runners and Feint against the Honks, and the Honks have fouled four times, which is how those teams are under ten points even with the bonus."

"Great point there," Junok said before Hornn could bring the energy too low. "So far there's been no overt moves, just opponents sizing each other up. Peeps and Meeps of the Honks are passing back and forth again, trying to fake out the competition into committing too much attention. The octoling has Baking's ball, but it's beeing harassed from above by Feint's hovering demon."

"That's quite amazing to watch," Chain put in. "Both Loopy and Matrik have done solid work on hall's mascots. That sort of behaviour is the fruit of a solid year of advanced hexing. Such fluid arm movement from the octoling, but the hoverer responds just fast enough every time it strikes."

"Shove Dro is making a run for Baking's goal! Ruins Sa is close to... No, dro passed to Blood who passed to Ibolt! Wait, that's not Feint's bal at all, Leada has it! Leada bounces off Punnt's back to the Cheesy... What a save from Broth!" Juno yelled as the game heated up.

"All of Cheesy Goodness have great reaction times tonight, with an extra assist from their armour," Chain said while there was a brief lull. "Thall have shown some amazing accuracy too. I would normally put that down to hexwork, but Drift He is nowhere near Loopy's league, with no known experience in gear control and definitely no time for advanced mascot movement."

"Right," Hornn agreed. "The Cheesy mascot has been a near non-entity all game. Unlike Byter's quill-pug, which has blocked several charges and right now is facing down both Crimp Dro and Scaff Jur. Those players from Baking and Cheesy are competing for middle territory and trying to stay open for passes, but neither wants to get a quill to the le—"

Junok cut in wildly. "Patch Ra just snuck past the defences and lobbed ra's ball at Feint's goal! Oh! Ruins out of nowhere! Point to the Shadow Runners! Thall are now one step closer to taking the win! And remember, the winner will challenge each other hive's top team next month in the Rainbow Rage event!"

"There's a scuffle around Feint's goal as Blood Ra is sitting on the Runners' ball," Chain said. "Meanwhile the Honks are fighting past a knot of Cheesy and Baking players."

"Ttttt broke free with the ball! Sa is running for Cheesy's goal and Swipe has passed to Skids! Skids is aiming at— Amazing, Tttt ducked just in time to avoid a ball to the shoulder!" Junok yelled wildly.

"Baking Time's Loafr, Dalan and Crimp just made a big push at the Runners' goal but it was pushed back and Crimp's been spiked badly!" Chain rapidly interjected.

Junok resumed where Sa left off. "Ttttt is still heading after Cheesy and— Oh! Are you see this?"

Hornn was seeing it and quickly gave a description. "Skids has tackled Ttttt and Broth has cleared the ball over somewhere near the Runners' goal, but Skids isn't letting sarm up! The Honk caster has thrown Skids away with a magical blast but Skids has responded with a spike through the leg! Ttttt is pinned!"

"Baking Time just made a perfect arc shot setup from Loafr to Crimp who punched it right into the Glorious Feint goal! That puts GC one step closer to knockout..." Junok started to explain, but stopped at a roar from the crowd. "What just happened?"

"Foul by Cheesy Goodness against the Mighty Honks!" Hornn reported. "Ttttt shouted a rather pointed insult and Skids kicked sarm while sa was down! That means Ttttt has to be let up to make the penalty kick, which is a clever strategy."

"Skids' teammates are looking rather displeased, as thall had avoided fouls until now. The coach Swipe She and hexer Drift are looking especially upset," Chain observed.

"Yes, I believe Drift He was the target of Ttttt's insult," Hornn added.

"Skids is on goal now and Ttttt is taking position to shoot," Junok said, hyping up the crowd for a big moment. "Literally, in this case. Cheesy Goodness cannot afford to lose a point right now, as that will make it so much harder to overtake the leads. But if Skids blocks the shot, that ball will do a lot of damage."

"Ttttt isn't even trying to aim around Skids in this caster versus caster facedown! The veteran is aiming right for the rising star's head! Can Skids even dodge that?" Chain asked dramatically.

Stolen novel; please report.

"Skids is digging in sa's heels and yelling a taunt! Sa broadcasted on the field-wide ventril! Let's play it back!" Junok said with even more excitement at the rare player interaction.

"Bring it, duckling! Honk up or shut up!" came a tinny copy of Skids' voice, for all the audience to hear, both in the stands around the dome and those watching live over their scryers.

"Ttttt is adding more magic! This could be a lethal shot! Here's the shot countdown in three, two..."

----------------------------------------

THE COUCH, THEN

I had overcompensated for my various failings by raiding our chilled storage for leftovers and belatedly assembling an extravagent meal to deliver to Slink. She was working quietly in she's room, and Broth was out with some carer friends. I set a portion aside for Skids, not wanting to intrude on sa's space. As for myself, I had lost all appetite.

After singlehandedly washing the dishes — a task I took some pride in completing well — flopped onto the couch on my back and stared up at our white ceiling. I had not seen the sky in months. I could have taken a quick trip to the surface, and I'd wanted to, but every time I'd considered it I had decided to stay in the deep. I must find my place beneath the ground now, not under the sun. From my cushioned vantage point, I could imagine the ceiling was as far out of reach as the sky. But beyond the ceiling was more houses. I could visit them if I chose. Beyond the sky was nothing. Was there really any benefit to having a wide open nothing to look up to all day?

Recognising that my mind was drifting aimlessly, I reached over to a side table and retrieved my scryer. Whatever happened with Skids, I would make my project succeed. All I had to do was find the correct keywords to search for, in a language I didn't really know. Or perfectly create the most complex hex I could imagine by hand without guidance. The latter daunting task made the former seem slightly more feasible. But there might be a better approach. If I could isolate and view more reproductions of people talking, I might be able to learn more of the language. Or if I was exceptionally blessed, I might find instructional material for teaching the prehistoric equivalent of hexmages.

"I'm more likely to win the big chroma championship than find something like that," I muttered out loud. "What did Skids call it again? Rainbow something, named after the role colours." I looked up to make sure Skids hadn't quietly walked in and heard me talking to myself. Sa had not. "But there's no point in finding data for moving pictures if I don't have the hex to show them to me. Which means I need to find hexes and determine their purpose, which is practically impossible. But I remember some of the words the relic showed, so that gives me something to search for inside the hexes. Alright, let's see if I can put together a hex that will use my search hex to find those words within a hex. But would that hex even work on a scryer? And I still need a way to locate and assemble... uh, the magical equivalent of film reels. Do they have recognisable magic numbers? Ugh, that's a problem for later."

The hex I needed was quite basic relative to my massive project, now called Project Hexplexer. It was also made almost entirely out of pieces I already had. I was quite handy at working out the logical function of a hex, so the design work was completed quickly. The process of assembling it was an utter nuisance, which was why I wanted to abolish that step. Time passed around me in a blur as I gave my scryer every scrap of my attention. Some hours later, it was complete and potentially functional. I set it to work on a copy of the relic data, not wanting to risk accidentally destroying or corrupting the original.

With the hex underway, I looked up from my scryer and became aware once more of my surroundings.

Skids was sitting backwards on a dining chair, watching me.

"Hi," I said.

"Hi," Skids replied, giving no clues about sa's temperament.

"I left you some... oh, you're eating it. Good. Uh..." I didn't know whether to make a further obvious statement or ask an obvious question. Instead I waited for Skids to reply at sa's leisure.

Skids took a bite out of the seafood and considered me for another minute while chewing. "So I'm a Titan."

I almost jumped at the quiet words. "Yeah."

"Huh. So that's a thing about me."

"Right."

"Now I know where to look next." Skids was still using a completely casual tone.

"Yeahhh..." I braced myself for a change.

Skids put down sa's fork and looked directly at my face. "And I could have known that many months ago."

I studied the floor.

"Care to explain why?" Skids used only the slightest hint of aggression, but I felt it deep in my bones.

"Uh..." All my reasons seemed very small and pitiful. They always had. "There was so much going on when I found out. You had so much going on getting me settled and changing role, and I knew telling you would be a lot and I didn't want to overwhelm you. And then there was never a good time to bring it up."

"Really, Charity? There was never a good time? There have been a lot of nights just like tonight. You waited until this one because now you want something."

I examined my socks. "It's not like that. I knew being a Titan wasn't the news you wanted to hear. You'd be happier not knowing. So I gave you as much time as I could. But tonight I couldn't keep it from you any longer. I couldn't tell you I want to go to the Titans without saying that's where your search should lead you."

"Charity, stop. No more excuses. It wasn't your decision to make. It's my past, my identity. My burden to carry. Not yours. It's not up to you to protect me. I can handle knowing. And if it's too much, I have you to lean on. If I choose to."

"But you were already doing so much for me and I felt I owed you some peace!"

"You owe me nothing but the truth, Charity. And the truth is..."

"Is what?"

"I'm not so sure I want you on the team."

My voice squeaked as I repeated, "You don't want me on the team?"

"That's not what I said. I said I'm not as sure as I was. I'll have to think about it some more. I need time to think about a lot of things, yeah?"

"Yeah." That was an understatement. "So... do you want me to train with the team?" I asked, daring to hope.

"That's... acceptable. But you're not a sure thing, understand? I've got another possibility lined up. I'll have you both work with the team and we'll see what works. Maybe you'll find you can't handle the workload given all your extra hexing exercises and your ridiculously ambitious project."

"I guess we'll see," I said warmly, pleased to have a solid chance. "So there's someone else?"

"Yeah, a hexmage answered one of my job ads. Sounds like a genuine diamond. He promises to do up the magical actuators in our uniforms so we can't miss a penalty block even if we tried! That's what you're up against."

"Wow," I said, suddenly much less secure. I had no idea how any of that worked. "I've got a lot of work ahead of me."

Skids stepped over to the couch and slapped me on the shoulder. "You sure do, but I believe you can handle it. But please do the same for me, yeah? I'm tough."

"You are," I admitted. "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I should have told you right away. But I was afraid of changing too many things too fast. Maybe... I was afraid for myself, not for you."

"Well then you need to remember that you're tough too. You need to be to do everything you've done. And you'll need to be just to stand under the chrome dome when the balls are flying. But I'll be there too, and we can face a sea of demons together."

"We can," I agreed. "So I better not let this other hexmage best me. I don't want you going out there alone."

"We'll see about that." Skids returned to sa's chair and resumed munching on the meal I'd made. "How's the project coming along? You looked really busy there."

I nodded, looking down at my scryer. "I'm trying to find the hex for viewing those ancient moving pictures. It's got to be somewhere in all that information you duplicated from the relic."

"Oh, that reminds me!"

"Hmm?"

"I found another separate data chunk from the relic that I forgot to send over. It's labelled 'inodetable'. Any idea what that means?"

I shrugged. "Could be anything, but if it's just one isolated thing rather than a whole lot of stuff thrown together, it might be useful."

"I'll send it across to your scryer. And then I'll try to get some sleep. You should too. It's late."

"Do you really think you can sleep after what I told you?"

"Nah. But I should try."

----------------------------------------

THE CHROMA DOME, NOW

"Goal! That was almost too fast to see!" Junok was barely audible over the wild crowd.

"It appears that the ball barely brushed by the side of Skids' helmet. A few millimetres to the left and that could have been a nasty concussion for the Cheesy caster," Hornn observed clinically.

"There's some drama under the dome!" Junok continued. "It looks like Skids did not intend to let that ball through. Let's see if we can hear what thall are saying. The coach is talking now."

"...we can still come back from this," Swipe was saying. "Nothing's broken, that's what matters."

"Nothing's broken? My armatures malfunctioned! They were supposed to block with my arms, not jink me out of the way!"

"That probably would have broken both your arms," Swipe countered.

"So? I can still play with broken arms! And that shouldn't be a factor! Drift's hex is set to prioritise blocking."

"Uhhh..."

Skids whipped away from Swipe. "What did you do, Drift?"

"Um... at the last moment I might have switched it to prioritise occupant," I admitted.