RP:The Power Of Love

From HollowWiki

Part of the Dissonance Theory Arc


Part of the On Stranger Tides Arc


Part of the Lies Within Us Arc


This is a Mage's Guild RP.

This is a Necromancer's Guild RP.

This is a Warrior's Guild RP.


Summary: Quintessa seeks out Khitti in an attempt to apologize about attacking two of the three Holy Trees and betraying her trust.

♫ It's strong and it's sudden and it's cruel sometimes, but it might just save your life. That's the power of love. ♫ - Huey Lewis and The News

The Apartment Above The Bakery, Cenril

Khitti || The date of the mission was creeping ever closer and Khitti needed some “me time”. Some time where she didn’t have to take care of Dominic. Some time where there was a possibility that she and Brand didn’t get into an argument over some silly thing (and she was much too stressed out for their lovely intimate bedroom moments). Some time where she didn’t have to worry about whether or not the bakery was well staffed, or if someone needed to be brought into one of the many guilds she was in, or if she had orders that needed to be carried out. Khitti was not in the mood to give a frak right now. Her peppermint tea did little to calm her nerves and she took to staring at it instead, swirling it about every now and then to watch the leaves dance around in the tea. She was even too exhausted to drink whiskey. So she sat there on the couch. For longer than someone should probably sit there, staring at tea leaves and wondering if everything was over yet. Maybe if she wished really hard, Cyris would hear her? He was the god of freedom after all… and she so very much wanted to be free of all of this. As much as she could be, anyway.


Quintessa walks a lonely road, and in more than one way this road was the only one the changeling had even known. She doesn’t know where it goes, but somehow it was home to her and upon it she walked alone. Her shadow-magic no longer walked beside her, yet she was content that her shallow heart kept beating. This meant that someone could still find the dark fae and she wouldn’t have to walk alone anymore. Artistic metaphors aside, Quintessa had a very real empty street to walk as she drew closer to Khitti’s bakery to beg her for forgiveness. The hexblade had never begged anyone for anything before, and she wasn’t confident that someone who used to be known as ‘The Templar of Retribution’ could be asked to forgive someone as wretched as ‘Quintessa the Betrayer’ but she had to try something. The world was crumbling apart, the changeling had foolishly saw to that herself, but she knew deep down she could help put it back together; Quintessa knew her ambition and intelligence could be used for all of Lithyrdel and not just for herself. With a silvery key lingering just outside of the lock to the door, the odd girl hesitates. Would this key even work anymore? Should she knock? Would Khitti drive the Tenbatsu Kaji through her chest like she should have during the Night of the Living Dead Girls? Quintessa’s confidence was evaporating now, and it took everything in her to not turn and run away. “You can do this,” she whispers to herself, “Just knock or open the door- do something!”


Khitti || By now, Khitti and Brand had come to learn the sound of certain people’s footsteps as they came up the stairs. Victoria, Albert, Meri, Lanara, and certain parts of Brand’s crew, like his first mate Dozla--all of them had their own gait, their own way of climbing the staircase just inside the bakery’s backdoor. This one, however, was different. There was an air of hesitance to it and Khitti really couldn’t place it at all. She sighed and rubbed her face with her hands. “If you’re here for some attempt on my life, I’ve quite had enough of everything lately. Come back when I actually give a damn,” she called to the mystery person on the other side of the door. The former templar didn’t wait to listen for retreating steps, instead picking up her half-full tea cup and the teap pot and wandered from the living room, to the dining room, and finally on into the kitchen. The leftover water in the pot is set aside for now, to be used again later, but the cup is emptied out into the sink and deposited into its basin, the clinking of the porcelain much clearer for Quintessa on the other side of that door than Khitti’s shouting had been. She stood there for a moment or two longer, staring down into the sink before looking towards the door. The key would’ve worked still for Quintessa, but she wouldn’t get that far. Instead, Khitti went to the door, swung it open, and… “I said lea--.” The redhead would not get to finish her command. She’d find the changeling there and stared at her for what seemed like forever, her skin turning as white as a sheet. Khitti felt sick as all those emotions bubbled up again, like a geyser in the pit of her stomach, and she forced herself to turn away, and walk away, back to the couch, and didn’t even bother to say a word to Quintessa. She didn’t shut the door either, however. She didn’t even have the energy to threaten her and kick her out.


Quintessa remained frozen like a little mouse when she heard the voice call out, the key to the door clenched tightly in her palm as the fact that Khitti was at the apartment today was confirmed. A part of the dark fae wished that she was at the Tranquility so she could prolong this apology but she was out of time. There would be no more procrastination on her behalf. Still, Quintessa wasn’t ready to come face-to-face with her (former) mentor so soon, and as the door swung open the changeling shrinks just a little, expecting some kind of beating like she would have gotten from her father. Not quite a flinch, Quintessa’s arms and shoulders tense as mismatched eyes of sapphire and topaz lock onto emerald, very animallike emotions clearly written within them. Fear, pain, guilt, it was all mixed together in a toxic cocktail. No words pass her lips even when the strike she expected doesn’t come, and even when a slow footstep brought her inside to close the door behind her. The dark fae draws this out as long as she can, measured movements bringing the woman before Khitti as her gaze now falls to the floor. Should she speak now or wait for the mistress of shadows to begin? “I-” Quintessa wants to stop but the lump in her throat doesn’t make that easy. “I’ve really frakked up this time.” An understatement.


Khitti || Quite suddenly, Khitti wished she still had her tea to stare at. Or a book so that she could pretend she was busy. Or a Dominic that she could perhaps coax him into throwing a fit so that Khitti could say to Quintessa ‘Sorry! Can’t talk right now! Kid’s not happy!’. But no. There wasn’t anything and Khitti just stared at the coffee table instead. “Oh?” It’s all she could bring herself to say at the moment as tears welled up in her eyes. Khitti had hoped that singing at the Whaler’s had gotten it all out of her system, but apparently not. She fidgeted with her hands, wringing one inside the other and winced as she tensed her muscles in an attempt to sit mostly still. She wasn’t bandaged up anymore, and some of the smaller cuts and bruises had healed. There were still others though, ones that were more visible in the light once they’d gotten into the living room. The places on her right thigh and left shoulder where she’d taken hits from the undeads’ arrows were also there, mostly healed, but left out in the open. “Why are you here?” Eventually, Khitti sighed, her body leaning back against the cushions of the couch, olive-green eyes settling on Quintessa again.

Quintessa visibly deflates as her shoulders relax, the simple question cutting through her like a dagger. What started as a lump was now a strangling grip around her throat, one that even made inhaling a hard task as she pivoted to turn away. “Because…” That was actually a fair question. Why was Quintessa here? What did she think could be gained from this? “I don’t know, because I’m sorry? Maybe I hoped you’d give me an easy out and just kill me like you promised you’d do. Isn’t that what I deserve?” Even if Quintessa could look at Khitti from under her black eyelashes, her form would be obscured by hot tears. “Why didn’t you finish me off? You could have killed me in Xalious…”


Khitti shifted her line of sight away from the changeling again as the girl spoke. “I could ask you the same thing. But, it’s obvious it was never -really- your intention to hurt people, I suppose. Otherwise, you would’ve forgotten about the tree entirely and went after Gevurah. Our allies in the Mage’s Guild have been blamed for this, you know. And apparently more child kidnapping, according to Karasu. Somehow, by some miracle, I was forgotten. Which is kind of hilarious when you think about it because besides you, I was the only other one of us there.” She wasn’t laughing though. Sigh. “I can’t kill you, Quintessa. Maybe if it really came down to it. -Really-. But, I could not that night. And I’m far too exhausted to do it now. If you frak up this mission though, with what you did to those trees and what it’s going to do to people’s magic…” The fact that Brand’s magic may fail him out there haunted Khitti. The former templar shook her head and sighed again. She didn’t say it. She didn’t have to. At the very least, there’d be another long bout of silence between the two of them. If they even made it out alive from the Demon Archipelago anyway. “I’m not even going to ask why you did it. Obviously, I already know. But there are other ways to deal with things, Quintessa. And they do not necessarily have to be sparkling rays of sunshine levels of good.”


Quintessa brings the back of her delicate hand up to wipe the tears from her face, icy blue and warm hazel optics barely visible through her overgrown bangs. “Of course I don’t care about that silly tree- I thought its importance was just a myth! The only reason I did any of this to start with was to get back at Gevurah for trying to kill Kasyr, for trying to kill a member of the Mage’s Guild that I was so loyal to- And now look! My actions have completely frakked everything I was working on up. All those students…. The spellblades…” Quintessa sinks to the floor like a glob of molasses, utterly defeated. “I was taking down Gevurah… I was supposed to be the good guy… You’re such a stupid girl, Quintessa…” The dark fae is silent for a long moment before she looks up to Khitti, a small nod in confirmation. “I want to fix it, whatever I’ve done. I researched those Holy Trees for months trying to figure out the best way to attack them- at this point I’m an expert, but Krice…” Quintessa’s expression turns grim. “Even if he survives what I did to him, the effects that necrotic sap will have on an animal subject is unknown… Please, let me help undo what I’ve done, that’s all I ask. I’ve ruined too many things already as it is. Give me a chance to fix it.”


Khitti smirked somewhat at the comparison of Krice to an animal. “Krice is not as much of a loner as he seems. Him and Lanara’s sister, Talyara, have been inseparable for some time. Even if her or anyone else doesn’t cure it right off the bat, he’s at the very least likely being taken care of. But… with that in mind, I obviously won’t be putting you two on the same ship to the archipelago.” Quintessa stayed slumped on the floor and Khitti could only frown. After a moment or two, the redhead got up and held out her hand to the girl, and if Quintessa obliged, Khitti would help her up and pull her over to the couch to sit next to her. Regardless, room would be made on the couch for her. “I understand why you want to kill Gevurah… and honestly, she probably should be off’d at some point. But, she does have her uses. Her and I have made trades several times, so long as the two of us have benefitted from it. Her connection to Vakmatharas is stronger than mine for now and I have been of need of it every now and then.” There’s a shrug as her attention moved to Quintessa’s back, “As for the guild, it sounds like they were waiting for anything they could get their hands on to blame us. If it wasn’t you, then it would be someone else.” Pause. “How… is your back?”


Quintessa seems somewhat relieved. “Talyara the witch? Yes, Krice is in good hands; I have a lot of respect for the holistic practices of witchery… but will this affect the mission?” The teenager accepts Khitti’s hand and crawls next to her on the couch, wrapping her arms around herself as she shifts into the corner between the armrest and back. “Even if we aren’t on the same boat I should avoid him; he’s going to kill me for what I did to him- I just know it. And since you hit me with that light spell my bloodline powers have been severed from me. I won’t be able to defend myself from him.” The conversation shifts away from Krice and Quintessa is thankful, even if it meant bringing up Gevurah again. “I’m not even mad at her anymore- Kasyr probably deserved what she and Lanlan did to him. I bet he started it or something, and I’ve just been a starry-eyed waif defending him no matter what- well frak that. This feud between the Drow and myself has dragged on for too long. I’m done with it.” Her mismatched eyes flicker over to Khitti in surprise. “M-my back?” She shrugs, “I’m healing… slowly. I’ve been more human than hag these last few days, and my dwarfed healing has shown.”


Khitti || “From the little I’ve seen of Kasyr since he joined the Warrior’s Guild and the Devout’s… he probably did deserve it,” Khitti said with a smirk. “And if Krice feels he can go on the mission the way he is, that is up to him. We have had many trips like this with and without him.” Krice was a big boy and could make his own decisions. Khitti didn’t know fully of what the grey-haired warrior was, but she had not forgotten how strange he smelled in comparison to regular humans, when she was a vampire. He had survived many things and hardly ever seemed to get a scratch on him, so Khitti was hopeful, somewhat, that he’d be fine. For now. Who knows how long they’ve got before the sap’s effects take hold fully. Still hesitant, Khitti frowned, olive-green eyes meeting with Quintessa’s own heterochromic ones. “Turn around… Let me see. I promise, no light magic.” In theory, if the light magic harmed her that much… then perhaps the dark could make things better again?


Quintessa hesitates for a moment before she removes her cloak, hanging it over the side of the armrest as she turns her back to her teacher. Slowly, she slides the black sundress she wore down her shoulders to allow her back to be exposed. The burns the holy light left were still healing, but the salve Quintessa had applied to the wounds at least kept them from getting infected. “I trust you…” she says, a hazel eye peeking over her left shoulder as she peeks back at Khitti. “If I had to guess, I’d say that your divine magic purified my arcane circuits. Kasyr did it to me once but I recovered a lot sooner than this. I’m not certain what’s different this time… Maybe it’s because of the trees?”


Khitti frowned at the burns, a hand going up to lightly touch it. “I really did not want to do that… I meant what I said before I did it. But I didn’t know how else to make you stop. You were not to be deterred, heh.” Khitti could understand that, at least. She’d been like that far too many times with too many things. “My magic has changed. Tenbatsu Kaji is gone. Turns out you were right. It was holding me back. Still can’t cast both magicks at once though. So, perhaps it’s different from Kasyr’s too. Different gods; different magic, I guess.” She summoned up a wisp of shadow as she spoke, willing it to become more corporeal, like she had with that bone construct in Vailkrin’s cemetery or with Emilia’s hand. Both hands were held on either side of it, the shadows floating in between her palms. The fingers on each of her hands met together as she pulled the shadows like it was taffy, stretching it wide enough to cover the damage she’d done with its light counterpart. “This… might hurt.” Unlike the ball of light, however, Khitti covered Quintessa’s back with the sheet of shadows, laying it against her skin like a patch. “I suppose Karasu is in trouble now too… She asked me to help her with her “birthmark”.” She pressed the shadows lightly, letting its magic seek out remnants of Quintessa’s to bind itself too. If this was anything like when Khitti had her own magic removed, it was likely still there and just had to be reconnected again.


Quintessa || “That explains why you didn’t use it again me… Well, good, the Tenbatsu Kaji didn’t suit you. Too axiomatic.” The changeling flinches as the slight pain the dark magic caused as it twisted around something inside her core, the dark whispers of things she’d rather forget about rising to the surface to clutter her mind. Pale hands come up to cover her ears but that cannot stop the noise that comes from within, and she clenches her eyes tightly shut as the whispers become a crescendo of crosstalk. “Stop-stop, give me a second, she says as she opens her eyes and reaches for Khitti’s wrist. “It’s too much… Now, what did you say about Karasu’s birthmark? I’m almost certain it’s not something she was born with- it looks too closely to the necromantic sigil for bonding a soul to an object. I’ve been trying to help her for months but you know how it is- Karasu hides it from me because she doesn’t want me to worry. But you? She might actually let you do something… and if you did I would be in your debt- more so than I already am.”



Khitti wanted so badly to gloat about throwing that damn sword in the ocean, but it’s cut off before she could start. She watched Quintessa cringe and cover her ears, the sheet of shadow quickly pulled away from her to give her some time without it. Deja vu washed over the former templar as she took in whatever was afflicting the girl, her wrist grabbed during her distraction. “She mentioned Vakmatharas specifically… I suppose it’s starting to get around that I don’t exactly think he’s evil. But, regardless of whether or not the magic was truly his, it was worked by someone else. It can be broken just like the curse I had Gevurah put on me. I hope she takes comfort in that. I told her she has to wait until after this mission is over. We’re just going to have to hope it’s not activated again while we’re all gone. There won’t be anyone to watch over her.” If Quintessa wished for it again, she’d put the shadows against her back once more, otherwise she’d let the magical patch float beside them. “What was that just now…?” Khitti was hesitant to ask. “That was not the kind of pain I was expecting from this…”


Quintessa pulls her dress back up during the break, leaning back as the dark magic slowly swam through her body, reconnecting the lost circuits that Khitti had blown before. It hurt but it was also a relief to feel the familiar darkness stir within her. “ I mean, magic is magic to me, be it from Xalious, Vakmarathas, or the Great Insectoid. Why do you think I was so willing to harm the trees? It’s not much different than the systemic murder that he asks for in Larket- so I might have spread the word to her… I hope she’ll be okay while we’re gone…” Quinessa wraps her arms around her body once more. “The whispers.” she answers cryptically, “Whispers from Mother. Whispers from Gospel. Whispers from Arh’Nuk and whatever other dark things that are out that want to use me like all of the rest. They never leave me alone…”


Khitti || “So, you’re going to believe Macon… The guy that burned Valrae Baines and killed many other witches, arrested you and Kasyr, wanted a full-on war with Mage’s Guild, usurped the throne, and is generally a terrible person besides all of that? You’re going to believe him and his spoiled brat of a wife? You know what they don’t tell you? There were other curses plaguing Lithrydel at the time. Larket had the aging problem. Rynvale’s people were cursed with endless thirst. People disappeared without a trace in Cenril. Frostmaw had people that could not seem to get better from something that looked like the common cold. All of those curses fizzled out around the same time, including Larket’s. They just used it as an aim to blame the witches again.” With her shadow work done for now, Khitti stood up from the couch and took a few steps towards the window that overlooked the street in front of the bakery, “Death is not evil, Quintessa. Death is a part of life. There cannot be one without the other, just like there cannot be shadows without light. If Lanara was still here, she would tell you the same. It’s the people that use the magic given to them for murder that’s the evil ones. I don’t exactly use mine for good either, but I’m damn well not like the rest of them.” She sighed, a hand coming to her face to rub her eyes, “What do these voices say to you? This is the second time in a week someone’s told me they hear voices. In your case, however, it’s probably not clairvoyance.”


Quintessa wanted to argue with Khitti, to disagree that death had to be part of life. To the changeling death stood as the final challenge to be overcome. The Gods overcame it. Liches and vampires overcame it. Why not Quintessa too? “I don’t believe anything,” is all she manages to say about it. “I just know that it is his name they invoke when they murder, so those deaths are on Vakmatharas. He doesn’t care about us- the living. All of us are mere chattel to be slaughtered.” Quintessa rubs her temples slightly. “Well, it depends. When I was first chosen by Ark’Nuh it was a promise. They said that I was meant to learn great and powerful abilities. I would have the power to carve out a place for myself like I always wanted. I would be the greatest swordswoman of all Lithyrdel- but then on my last birthday Mother’s voice got louder. She instructed me on how to kill my father originally, but now she just puts me down. Calls me weak. Claims that I lack the courage to do what I have to- that my value in things like ‘friends’, ‘family’, and ‘morality’ are what’s holding me back. Even now she tells me I should have brought the Jubaku no Kijo and killed you while you are without my bane the Tenbatsu Kaji… And Gospel…” Quinte shudders. “Promises from the Great Serpent of the Carmine Moon as best ignored. He offers me cursed weapons for his dominance. Offers me power for Kasyr’s head.”


Khitti threw her hands up and shrugged irritatedly at Quintessa, “And you know? You’d say something similar if the gods meddled as much as you think they do. If you don’t believe in the gods, then don’t blame them. That insect you’re working for? This serpent that wants you to kill Kasyr? -They- are not gods, Quintessa, and don’t deserve to be treated as such. I cannot stress enough to you that I would not even be here right now if not for Vakmatharas, Delisha, and Cyris. Their power took away my vampirism and brought me back from the dead. You know what I don’t believe in? I don’t believe that curse Gevurah put on me was anything from him. Because otherwise, it wouldn’t have been so easily manipulated by a high priest in the Shadow Plane. I have seen the Void, Quintessa. I have died.” She pointed in the direction of Cenril’s gate. “I burned as I fell from the bridge you crossed to get into Cenril. Vakmatharas grabbed my soul and pulled me out of the darkness and shoved me back into a new body. If he wanted systemic murder for all those souls, there would not be souls around us now. There would not be souls stranded in the Shadow Plane. There would not be souls at all those shipwrecks between here and Rynvale. Or the ones on the western side of Frostmaw. If he were as greedy for souls as people think, there would be no spirit summoners or soulbinders, because there wouldn’t be any here to do anything with!” Somehow, this was more frustrating for Khitti than arguing with Brand and Lionel about the gods. Maybe because on some level, they -do- acknowledge their existence, even if they don’t want to. “Your mother sounds like a bitch, much like my own,” she said at length, after taking a moment to calm down. “Have you tried looking for her? Is there even a way to find her? Because, at the moment, she seems to be the easiest one to deal with. Can’t exactly go to the friggan moon, if that’s where this serpent is.”


Quintessa meets Khitti’s gaze and sighs as her words wash over her. The former templar was probably right. “I don’t understand the gods,” she admits, “I can’t tell the difference between giant snakes and mysterious reapers that tell their priests to sacrifice children with one hand and then with the other guides your soul to a new body. It’s not a system I put any faith in, but I honestly believe that the only reason Vakmatharas hasn’t destroyed all the souls yet is because the other gods won’t let him. I mean Caluss the Insect is stronger than your god, I’ve experienced this personally; I’ve thwarted Vakmatharas’ power more than once with Its influence, so clearly he’s not as strong as you give him credit for- ugh…” Quintessa’s eyes close as a wave of pain stabs her mind. Speaking Caluss’ name made him aware of her existence again. “I don’t know where my mother is, the Realm of Dreams is my first guess, however. Gospel left Arh’Nuk and returned to Hollow, and the Great Insectoid will likely be looking for a new patsey to strike out against the last tree unless we stop It first. The rest of the voices are personal demons I’m not sure I’ll ever be free of.”


Khitti || “If Vakmatharas himself did not personally come down from that higher plane of existence that him and the rest of the gods are on, then I don’t believe it. That power is only as strong as the person wielding it.” Khitti shook her head, eyeing the window again. “I’ll kill this Caluss myself if I have to. Everyone thinks they’re all powerful until they realize they’re not. There’s a weakness. There’s always one.” The gears in her head were turning and she was starting to consider talking to Gevurah. The drow matron might not speak to Quintessa about it at this point, but perhaps the two had enough rapport that Khitti could ask. Now, the question was, does she just stroll right on into the Trist’oth? Or send Gevurah a friendly letter and invite her to the bakery for tea and cookies? “What -is- Gospel?” Her feelings about Caluss were already made clear. That bug freak had to die.


Quintessa finally finds the words of protest she wanted to speak before. “If Vakmatharas gives powers to someone and they use these powers to kill innocents, then Vakmatharas has deemed these actions worthy, otherwise he’d just take those powers away- is that how divinity works? If I give a group of thugs weapons and they go on a killing spree, does this not make me equally as guilty? This is why I don’t understand this god stuff. What is the difference between killing someone directly and killing someone indirectly by empowering those who are bloodthirsty?” Quintessa, however, does eventually nod her head at Khitti’s word. “Yes, everything has a weakness, even gods and godlets.” When the conversation shifts back to Gospel the dark fae girl curls up uncomfortably. “Gospel is a sentient weapon- a sword that can change its shape into that of a colossal snake. He wants to be a god, even demands worship. Cultists who call themselves The Coiled follow his whispers closely, but only a handful will ever maintain his attention for long. Gospel has preyed upon my lust since I was 17, urged me to seduce Kasyr so I could murder him… But then Gospel’s powers failed me, so I destroyed his altar.” Quintessa wants to spit on the floor but she doesn’t. “Demigods, gods, godlets, eldritch monsters and old ones. They are all hopelessly the same. All liars and cowards that make regular people into game pieces for their chess match… I just wish they’d leave me alone. I don’t need any of them.”


Khitti rolled her eyes at Quintessa. She didn’t even try to hide it. There was no getting through to the girl right now. Or possibly ever. She wasn’t trying to force her to follow these gods. Khitti couldn’t care less about that. She just wanted her to understand. But it wasn’t going to happen. “There’s plenty of mortals that can be called the same thing. You. Me. Regular people turn other regular people into pawns too. Brand was swept off the streets of Catal as a kid. Some clan out there forced him to learn magic and turned him into an assassin. The things he saw… The things he did. That was for “regular people”. It wasn’t for gods. It wasn’t for demigods. He didn’t have a choice. And after that was over with? His mind was so schismed from the things he went through, his consciousness literally split in two. You think those whispers in your head are bad? Try having a whole other version of yourself. One who didn’t want to use magic because it was forced onto him. Wanted a “normal” life that was never going to happen.” As Khitti spoke about the first Dominic, Brand’s previous other half, tears returned. It had been the first time she’d told anyone about Dominic in a long time, even if she didn’t go into full detail about it, and the wound from it all ripped back open just enough to let the guilt pour through again. ““Regular people” tortured me, and put an entire other being’s soul inside of me. Turned me into a weapon just like that clan in Catal did to Brand.” Khitti sniffled a little, angrily wiping the tears from her eyes, “Regular people are liars and cowards and make pawns out of each other too. We are all that way at some point in life whether we want it or not. It’s just life. Whether the gods are a part of it or not. I would rather deal with the gods than regular people.”


Quintessa listens for a moment and her expression becomes solemn. Yes, it was true that the changeling’s defensiveness about this subject closed her off to logical discussion, but the story about Brand having another half was a good tactic to reach Quintessa. “Yeah, that makes sense. Ordinary people are garbage too, but if I had the powers a god does I would hold myself to a higher standard I would hope, it’s just…” The fae girl sighs again, leaning back to rest her head against the back of the couch, her mismatched optics staring at the ceiling. “I guess the gods are just like regular people. Flawed. Misunderstood. But I feel the exact opposite; I’d rather deal with normal folk than the divine beings who are strong enough to make a difference but decide not to. I can at least respect people for doing awful things out of desperation or ignorance, but when the Gods make mistakes it’s inexcusable. It’s unfair, sure, but I don’t care. The gods weren’t very fair to me either.”


Khitti || “If the gods hated us that much, they could wipe us out entirely. If we’re all that worthless, they would be rid of us in an instant,” Khitti said with a frown. “People will do bad things, yes, but the gods trust us enough to know that not everyone is like that. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t loan us their power. They trust us enough to know that people like us will stop things like Gospel and Caluss. We might lose people doing it, but we almost always succeed. Good and evil will always duke it out for the rest of eternity and there’s people like you and I and Brand and everyone else we know that’s caught in the middle of it all. And we either deal with it. Or we don’t.” Sigh. “And no, -fate- wasn’t fair to you. It’s not always fair to anyone. If it was, my kid wouldn’t have two different kinds of magic to plague me with.” She tried to bring a bit of levity to the conversation, the joke bringing a slight smirk to the surface. “So, you don’t have powers from a god. Or a demigod. You can still hold yourself to a higher standard anyway. And doing that means working with people you don’t really care for sometimes… Which means I think we should go talk to Gevurah about getting this bug freak taken care of for good. But, for now--” Khitti stopped, the frown returning somewhat, “--I think you should go find Karasu. Before this mission happens. If she’s easily findable, I guess. I was not joking when I said this place sounds bad...” There was a huge chance that literally none of them would come back. She didn’t know about Quintessa and the half-feline’s fight, of course, but it was still something that had to be said. “Do your best not to leave her the way I had to leave Brand when I died. Both him, and Lionel, and Meri… they were broken for a long time. If something happens and we don’t come back from this, you need to make sure you say goodbye to her. Between the things with Mage’s Guild and this mark of hers, I do not foresee good things for her if you die.”


Quintessa nods her head again, letting out a long breath as Khitti’s words resonate with her. “I suppose that’s true. Just like us there are good gods and bad gods, it’s up to us to figure out which ones fit within our worldview.” A smirk is offered back to the redhead. “I mean, I still like Delisha. I have no idea what ideals she holds dear but the parties sure are fun.” The smirk fades away at the mention of her lover, Karasu, and she nods her head again. “Yes… Karasu and I have much to talk about… I almost don’t want to leave her on the mainland but after the way I’ve acted the last couple of months I -need- to make some kind of personal sacrifice. Finding Lionel, killing the giant potato, and getting rid of transdimensional cockroaches is the least I need to do to make up for what I’ve done.”


Khitti grinned, “Well, it’s gonna get even better once the Sirens start holding concerts at her temple. My little way of saying ‘frak you’ to the monarchy in Larket.” The mention of a “giant potato” temporarily needing to be killed brought temporary confusion to Khitti’s features, but it was soon wiped away when her stomach growled. “I sure could murder a potato right now, to be honest… Time for me to go back to the ship I guess. Some idiot decided not to go to the market today to buy food in favor of staring at her lovely wallpaper and trying not to have a mental breakdown. For once, none of this Warrior’s Guild stuff is my fault and I’m gonna blame Lionel for it. He can have his damn job back or I’ll shove it down his throat, somehow.” She sighed and shook her head. “That aside, there’s something you can do before you go.” Both arms outstretched, awaiting Quintessa for a hug. “I also meant that other thing I said, at the tree. I do care about you and I do love you. And that birth mother of yours can take a hike because you’ve got me now and honestly, I’m a bad enough influence on you as it is.”


Quintessa moves in to accept the hug much too quickly than one would expect her too, the action making the changeling appear much more childlike than she truly was. She grips Khitti tightly, happy she at least had one mother figure to look up to while her birth mother continued to avoid her. “I-” Quintessa hides her face against Khitti’s shoulder, “I love you too… or else I’d probably be praying to that Bug for the last shot of cursed sap… But here I am.” She pulls away from the hug, a genuine smile on her face. “I never meant to disappoint you… I’m sorry. Now go, get something to eat… Do you mind if I stay here tonight? I’ve been avoiding the Xalious Mountains and the Sage Forest, and I’m not ready to go back to Vailkrin and the stack of paperwork that’s waiting for me.”


Khitti lightly patted her lovely tsundere-yandere daughter on the head once she pulled away, despite the fact that the girl was several inches taller than she was. “Yes, you can stay here. Just make sure to lock up when you leave. Your key still works.” Khitti only just now realized that she was indeed taller--to the point that when she started to pull her hand away, she briefly moved it towards her head to compare. Quintessa was almost as tall as Brand. Rude. Too bad she’s clumsy as hell or else she’d invest in some nice spike-heeled boots like Quintessa has. “You can grab food on your way out too. Albert’s starting something new tomorrow: jelly-filled donuts. The custard one’s a recipe from my homeland.” Her stomach growled again and she made a face at it, “Okay bye. If you decide to go stab the last tree, at least tell me first. And if you see Krice, don’t fight him. Just -run-.” And with that, Khitti does her own running out the door to sate her sudden potato craving, leaving Quintessa to do as she wished.