Chapter Text
When the world rights itself again, Taako is in in the astral plane. Thick, black tendrils stretch across this world, darkening everything in front of him. It’s a sight he’s seen too many times before to not recognize. The Hunger is here, and this plane is being consumed. In the few moments he takes to orient himself, the inky blackness has already begun slithering up his ankles. Guess I don’t float here, he thinks, and acts on instinct. He pulls the Krebstar out and blasts a powerful fireball at his feet. The blackness recedes, for now.
All right. If this is the astral plane, he must be here for Kravitz. He thinks - when, when in the timeline did this happen? His memories fall into place quickly - Wonderland, saving Magnus, the portal to the astral plane. Ah. He knows where he is, now. At least he’s not fighting a new enemy. He shakes the residual blackness from his shoes - red soles absolutely ruined, now, thanks, Raven Queen, and turns toward the Eternal Stockade.
The waters surrounding the prison have all gone dark. They crash against the island, tumultuous and threatening. The building itself is barely standing. A massive black tendril has stabbed its way through the main entrance and begun to splinter, pouring through the stone and steel. The right half of the building is completely caved in, and from within it, Taako can see thousands of souls pouring out.
“Well. That sucks extremely badly,” Taako says, watching as the spirits escape. Kravitz is going to have his work cut out for him. Oh, yeah. Kravitz. He’s in there, somewhere. Taako begins to run. The bridge leading up to the prison has been entirely collapsed, wood fractured and falling into the swirling abyss below. If he had the umbrastaff, there’s a possibility he could float along. As it stands, there’s only one way he can think of to cross. He closes his eyes and casts a spell.
Materializing in front of him, Garyl stands, mouth half-full of phantom oats. The binicorn takes a single look around, then fixes Taako with an incredulous look.
“Aw, come on, man,” Garyl says. “Here? Seriously? This sucks.”
“Yeah. You know what sucks even more? Kravitz is in there,” Taako says, climbing onto his back.
“The handsome dude? With the skeleton face?”
“The very same,” Taako says, steadying himself.
“Well shit, let’s ride,” Garyl says, and takes off at a running leap.
“Wait!” Taako cries, but Garyl is already jumping. “There’s nowhere for you to land, my dude!”
Garyl snorts a laugh. Just as his hooves are about to hit the violently splashing water, the binicorn rights himself, and begins to run. From behind him, Taako screams.
“I’m a phantom steed, baby,” Garyl says, whinnying.
“You can float? What the fuck! Why didn’t you tell me?”
“What are you, my dad?”
“I guess? Kind of - holy shit!” A column of blackness shoots up from below the water directly in front of them, blocking their path. Garyl makes a hard left to avoid it, Taako clinging tightly to his neck. The raging waters buffet against them, the back splash soaking Taako to the bone.
“Oh cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, this is FINE!” Taako says, sputtering a mouthful of black water. “Don’t worry about me!”
Garyl runs at a gallop, nimbly dodging The Hunger as it rises from the water. Little black tendrils like grasping fingers spring fourth and attempt to grab hold of them both, only to be crushed moments later underneath Garyl’s hooves. They’re about halfway across when the sound of rushing water intensifies. Taako looks to his left just in time to see a giant wave of dark water crest.
“Oh shit, oh shit, oh shi-” He’s cut off by the force of the wave slamming into him, knocking him from Garyl and into the water below. Beneath the current, his eyes try to adjust to the darkness, but it’s no use. There’s only the infinite black, stretching out as far as he can see. He’s immersed, body being tossed wildly in the waves. He feels Garyl dematerialize as he loses his concentration. The Krebstar nearly gets wrenched away from him in the chaos, and he pulls it tight to his chest like a lifeline. He knows he’s running out of time and that he doesn’t have many options. Closing his eyes, he casts Shapechange.
He can’t see it, though he can feel the moment the spell takes hold. It isn’t painful, but the sensation of his legs and hips clicking out of place and threading back together to support a tail is very, very weird. He feels gills erupt on either side of his torso, and is conscious that his lower half has several more fins than it normally does. He takes a much needed breath, which helps to clear his head and focus him. He’s surprised to find that when he opens his eyes, he can see a few inches in front of him. He looks down and sees a tail where his legs were a moment ago - green and purple scales shine through the darkness, and his skin has turned a pale shade of blue. His hair whips around him in the water, seafoam green instead of blonde. It’s definitely, for sure, a Look, and he’s feeling it.
God, I look so good right now. It is criminal that no one can see me. They are MISSING OUT.
He takes off swimming in the direction he thinks the Stockade is. The Hunger reaches for him but in his new form he’s able to dodge it’s attacks. It turns out being a Flip Wizard transfers really well to being a Mermaid. He spins in the water, feinting left and right, pirouetting off a tendril that narrowly misses stabbing into his side. This could be a show - in fact, it should be a show. See that, Raven Queen? He does a backflip into a front flip into a second front flip, perfectly avoiding a set of The Hunger’s tentacles. He could do this all day. If Kravitz didn’t need him so badly, he just might.
Instead, he surges forward, closer and closer to the edge of the water. When he finally breaks the surface, his hair is first. It travels up and behind him in a perfect arc as he flips it backwards. It looks so fucking cool and effortless, natch. He can see the broken bridge of the Stockade just above him.
“Pour one out for my sick ass Mermaid form,” He says, before changing back and casting Levitate. He rises to the end of the broken bridge and climbs on, soaked. “Swimming sucks. Jot that the fuck down.” He rings the excess water from his hair and tosses it over his shoulder with a huff. At least he’s almost to the Stockade, now. The building is barely standing, being rended apart by souls and tendrils alike. The souls are too focused on their newfound freedom to pay him any mind, and the Hunger’s attacks seem half-hearted. Like it, too, is distracted by something.
He sprints into the Stockade through it’s broken door, splintered wood barely hanging on its hinges. A spirit passes through him on its way to freedom. Oh, that’s what it feels like? Disgusting. A shiver travels down his spine. He’s barely made it into the Stockade when he sees the pool the Hunger has made of the floor. His eyes scan the room and for a single second, his heart stops.
Kravitz is kneeling on the ground, in his Reaper form, and The Hunger has him trapped. Black tendrils have slithered up his legs, his wrists, anchoring him to the floor. It is actively making an effort to consume him, slowly but steadily rising. He can’t tell if Kravitz is moving. On instinct Taako blasts a Fireball that even Lup would be proud of, incinerating The Hunger in a massive blaze. It cracks and sizzles, dissipating into ash. The tendrils restraining Kravitz recede.
“Kravitz!” Taako is already running by the time he starts to speak, he barely waited for the Fireball to run its course. He makes it across the room in three massive strides, skidding to a stop in front of Kravitz. “Kravitz, babe, love of my life, are you Undead or just Dead?”
Kravitz raises his face from the ground for the first time, and Taako swears he’s smiling. Sure, it’s just a skull at the moment, but he’d know that grin anywhere.
“Taako? What are you - how did you - you’re here.”
“Well yeah, I had to come save you, obviously,” Taako says, extending a hand to help him up. “The big bad Grim Reaper couldn’t fight off a little sludge?”
Kravitz fixes him with a look. “I’ll have you know my magic isn’t working. There wasn’t a lot I could do. I think staying alive for so long should be to my credit.”
“Well color me impressed, handsome,” Taako says, and winks. “But seriously. Can you even see this stuff? Do you have any idea what’s going on?”
“No,” Kravitz says, adjusting his cloak. “The whole plane just started falling apart. I tried to take refuge here, our most defensible building. But it didn’t matter. My Goddess didn’t answer my call. That’s the first time that’s ever happened.”
Taako frowns. He knows what’s going on, but how can he explain that to Kravitz? He’ll start speaking in static and everything will just get even more complicated. So he takes Kravitz hands in his own, and then he pulls him into a hug, his chin resting on his shoulder.
“Do you trust me?”
“Yes, of course -“
“Okay, good. Because the things I’m about to say are going to sound crazy, but they’re true. If you hear static, you tell me. Okay?”
“What? Taako? Static?”
“Kravitz.”
“Yeah, okay.”
“There’s this big...evil...thing. You know how there’s tons of different planes? This thing is like...Hungry Hungry Hippos, but with different planes. It’s massive. It’s searching for something really, really powerful. And that something is...on my plane. So it’s here, absolutely wrecking shit, because it’s getting closer to the thing it wants. And it’s going to eat as many worlds as possible to get it.”
“An enemy so large it can consume entire planes? Taako, I don’t know, that seems...incredible. Terrifying. Impossible.”
“Look around you, my man, it’s already happening.” Taako feels Kravitz’ chin move against his shoulder as he takes in the room. And then he feels him sigh very deeply.
“All right. What about my magic? Does whatever it is being here have something to do with that?”
Taako chews his lower lip for a second. He really really wishes he didn’t have to tell Kravitz this next part. “Well, The Raven Queen, and all the other Gods, they live on the Celestial plane primarily, right?”
“Yes, but-“
“Kravitz. There’s a possibility that that plane is...gone.” He feels Kravitz go very, very still in his arms. He tightens the embrace.
“Truly?” Kravitz’ voice is so soft that his heart breaks a little to hear it. He gathers Kravitz’ pointy skeleton face in both of his hands and looks him dead in the eye sockets.
“Yes. But we’re going to fight this, and we’re going to win. We’ll save this plane, and many others. We’ll save The Raven Queen. We’ll save the whole universe. Trust me.”
Taako knows he’s won because he can see the impossible smile on Kravitz’ face. He pulls him close and kisses him on the forehead...bone? That definitely was a little weird. But if there’s anyone who deserves forehead kisses as a skeleton, it’s Kravitz.
“I’m with you, Taako. Just tell me what I need to do.”