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It’s been a year since the events of Story and Song. The Tres Horny Boys set off doing their own stuff: Merle started Extreme Teen Adventures with Mookie and Mavis, Magnus started a dog training school, and Taako created an academy of his own along with his new friend, Ren. As for the Bureau of Balance, it became an humanitarian organization that helps cities get back on their feet, now known as the Bureau of Benevolence under the guidance of Lucretia.
Lucretia, now sitting in her office, stares intensely at the group photo of the IPRE on her desk. She reminiscences on the times they fought the Hunger through an almost endless cycle. The worlds they saved and the ones they lost to the Hunger. Now the fight is almost over for her, but one thought lingers. A familiar voice echoes through her mind.
“You fucking took everything from me!”
The sheer impact of that statement causes her to tremble, making her drop the photo on the ground, the glass shattering upon landing. She kneels to the ground and tries to retrieve the pieces on the floor. Gently she picks up the frame and the picture that still remained within, though coming loose from its confinement, and moves it out of the way onto her desk. The picture is still intact, for that she is happy, but just like her family the glass is broken seemingly beyond repair.
With a sigh and tears welling up fresh in her eyes, she goes to work picking up the fragments of glass before she forgets and someone gets injured. As she reaches for one of the larger pieces a light knock on her office door distracts her and, rather than grabbing the glass, her hand slid across its edge, cutting a thin line across the length of her hand. Lightly swearing under her breath as she stands and moves to her chair, holding her hand to her chest as she addresses the individual on the other side of the door.
“Yes, come in.” She calls as she looks for the first aid she knows she keeps in her office, as she searches her office door opens, revealing Robbie holding a can of Pringles. The halfling, at first confident, becomes unsure when he sees Lucretia searching through her desk drawers clutching a hand that was clearly bleeding to her chest.
“Uh, you okay?” He asks taking a couple of steps into the office as Lucretia straightened in her seat, having located some clean rolls of bandages in the back of one of her desk drawers that she saved in case something like this happened.
“Oh, Pri- I mean Robbie. Is there something you need?” She is shocked by her mistake, even if she did catch it, she just hoped Robbie didn’t catch it.
“Uh..sorry ma’am, I just had the next few requests from… uh, are you okay?” He asks, taking another step forward only to stop when Lucretia holds up her uninjured hand.
“Wait, Robbie be careful, I broke some glass and haven’t been able to pick it all up yet.” Robbie then looked down and finally takes note of the glass fragments that remain.
“Do you need some help?” Robbie asks, and kneels down even before she gives him an answer and continues picking up the glass where she left off. As Robbie finishes picking up the shards, Lucretia manages to finish bandaging her hand. The halfling stands, glass held carefully in his hands as he turns to discard them onto the desk where they could be brushed into a container later.
Robbie turns to the frame that Lucretia had placed on the corner of her desk. He takes a good look at the picture that had hung behind her desk for so long but now displays its true image. “Seems you’ve got an awesome squad.” He says, finding five faces that he recognizes and two that he doesn’t.
“Yes, they were a good group.” Lucretia says, as Robbie takes out a thick stack of papers bound tightly with a strong twine. “Anyway, here are those request from planetside.” Lucretia grabs the stack with her good hand as Robbie turns to leave. “Thank you, Robbie.” Lucretia calls after the halfling as the door closes behind him.
With Robbie gone and the door closed, Lucretia is once again by herself. Her thoughts start circling on her once again.
She tries to channel the last bit of the Light of Creation under the protection from her semi-transparent bubble. The owner of the voice, Taako points the Umbra Staff, the object in which his sister who she made him forget, at Lucretia. Taako starts his count down the moment he finishes remembering. She tries to calm him down but another person, Magnus, who at this point, also remembers the 100 years she made them forget, points a blade wreathed in flames at her, its tip far extending past the reach of the Umbra Staff. Before they could get any further, Merle cautiously interrupted to ask what they were doing.
“Five.” Taako’s countdown continues.
“The chance to explain yourself was... mmm about a dozen memories ago,” Magnus cuts into Taako’s countdown. The elven wizard looks at the fighter, tears flowing down his cheeks before he turns back to Lucretia, a fire in his eyes.
“And honestly, 7 seconds ago, I’m doing this cool countdown. You fucking took everything from me!”
Tears start to fall upon her desk. She thought she could fix everything, to relieve her friends of the pain, the suffering, by making them forget. But she did not know the consequences of her actions. She thought she could help Taako, who after Lup disappeared, thought he was all alone in this world. Ripping his sister out of his memories only managed to make it worse. This thought was hard to bear. Even though Lup came back, that thought remains, what she had done was cruel.
She paces back and forth in her office thinking of what to do to make it up to Taako. Is there a truce that they could agree upon? Could they talk about it over coffee or could she call him to her office to discuss the situation? She evaluates every option available to her, except the one involving the Voidfish. Fisher and Junior are long gone from this world, and even if they weren’t it’s because of her previous use of them that brought about this dilemma.
Wanting to resolve the conflict she had brought upon herself, she gets the Stone of Farspeech from her desk and tries to contact Taako. Instead of Taako’s familiar voice, a feminine voice echoes through the stone.
“Hello? Who is this?” It’s jovial and kind, and completely unfamiliar to her.
“Hello, this is uh, Lucretia, director of the Bureau of Benevolence. Who am... Who am I speaking to?” Lucretia introduces herself, never truly comfortable doing it in means that weren’t face to face.
“Oh, hi! This is Ren!” The voice introduces herself. “Taako’s assistant! Seems he forgot his stone again, he’s out with Kravitz today. How may I help you?”
“Oh, I...” Lucretia pauses, should she really tell a stranger what she wants? She shakes away the uncertainty as this is important. “I just wanted to speak with him.”
“I can relay your message back to him when he gets back, what do you want me to say?” Ren offers almost as though she passes on messages to Taako on a daily basis.
“If you are able, just tell him Lucretia wanted to discuss something important.”
“Oh alrighty, I will! Thanks for calling.” Ren says as she ends the call.
“Thank you.” Lucretia says, even though Ren is no longer on the other side.
***
The next day goes by in a flash and before she realizes it, her clock is already reading 11:45. Meetings with the Overseers about the situation in Neverwinter had exhausted her to the point of frustration. She just needed a few minutes alone in her office, once there it took no more than a few moments before she was sleeping. Some time later, still asleep with her head cradled in her arms, a loud knock is heard from the door interrupting her rest as she jolted and almost fell from her chair. She steadies herself and wipes the drool that had accumulated off her face and arm as she heads to the door and opens it.
She’s then face to face with a tall tiefling female, face slender and eyes sharp with a kind smile.“Mails here.” She says as she draw Lucretia’s eyes to her outstretched hand holding a decent stack of envelopes.
Lucretia returns the tiefling’s smile with one of her own as she retrieves the stack. “Thank you, Reverence.” She says even as her mind is elsewhere.
The tiefling smiles a final time as she turns to get back to her other tasks, Lucretia closing the door after watching her retreating back for a few more moments. Returning to her desk, Lucretia turns to the stack in her hands and sets about opening the one on top. Upon opening it it reveals a postcard saying “Greetings from Goldcliff!” She turns the postcard around, revealing a message:
Hey Lucretia,
I hope you’re doing well. How is the Bureau of Benevolence doing?
Ever since Goldcliff reopened to the public, the sunsets on the golden buildings have been one of the most beautiful things I’ve laid my eyes upon. I’d also watched the Battle Wagon Race, it was a thrilling time. I’d wish you came with me to this trip.
Don’t overwork yourself, make sure you take a vacation some time.
I hope to see you again soon.
Joyfully yours,
Davenport
A smile appears on her face. Seeing Davenport enjoy his traveling life brings her such happiness in dire times, from a determined captain to a relaxing traveller, gives her the perspective that you can find enjoyment in anything. Moments later, her Stone of Farspeech starts to ring. She picks it up, and a familiar male voice echoes through.
“Hey uh, Lucretia, you there?” She pauses, surprised he actually called her.
“Yes! Yes. It’s me.” She says as she starts pacing the length of her office.
“Um, Ren said you… she said you wanted to talk about something important.” Taako said as the sound of movement was heard from the other end of the connection.
“I was thinking that perhaps we could talk about it over lunch.”
There is a pause on the other end and after a few moments, Lucretia worries that he had ended the call on her. Her pacing paused as she contemplated asking if he was still there. “Sounds good to me, where are we meeting up?” Taako said calming her thoughts that had moments before been running rampant now that she knew he hadn’t ended the call on her.
“I was thinking that you could surprise me, you are the chef after all.” Lucretia said, hoping that if he picked the meeting spot it would make it easier for him.
“Alright, uh... we can just meet up in the Bureau.” Taako said, voice unsure which was completely unlike him.
“Of course, I’ll meet you here.” Lucretia said as Taako ended the call and she was left in silence, feeling drained of all her energy after a simple call. She moved to her seat and collapsed head falling to rest in her hands as she questioned herself on how she was going to survive actually talking to Taako in person.
The next day, Lucretia stands in the middle of the courtyard, waiting for Taako’s arrival. She sits down on the grass and observes the scene. She sees the trees that once held the lever that revealed the Starblaster, and she recalls the time that Magnus comforted her with an embrace. Then an Elven male figure appears before her.
“Hey Lucretia, you ready to head out?” Taako says as a way of greeting, shifting from one foot to the other where he stands.
“Of course, where did you decide to go?” She asked, hoping to keep the conversation casual for the time being.
“I was thinking Goldcliff, they might have some good food.” Taako said, never meeting her eyes as he looked around the Bureau quad.
“Did you get the postcard from Davenport?”
“Yeah, he seems like he’s having a good time. You know I learnt this new spell. It’s called Dimension Door. Helps me go places.” Taako said still avoiding her gaze.
“That’s great, I’m happy to see that you’re still working on your magic.” Lucretia said, already sensing that the atmosphere around them was getting tense.
Taako turned towards the Bureau’s hanger. “Wanna ride in that glass sphere that me and the boys used to ride in?” He said taking a step away from her and towards the hanger.
Lucretia thought about it for a second. She was never truly comfortable riding in the large glass spheres, she turns to Taako and gently shakes her head. “I never did enjoy riding the glass spheres, perhaps Levitate would work better.”
Taako stares at her for a second, right eyebrow quirked up, before he shrugs. “Alrighty.” Was all he said before he was leading the way towards the edge of the artificial moon base, walking straight off the edge and disappearing from view.
She walked to the edge and looked to see Taako falling towards the earth below at a decreased rate. She followed his example and starts descending towards the ground below and only cast levitate after she managed to catch up to Taako’s form. As they fall, she could see Goldcliff and could tell that after they landed there’d be a short trek to the city before they could begin their search for a place for lunch.
The trek towards Goldcliff was quiet, Taako walking at a pace to keep himself in front of her while she was just unsure of what to say in order to break the silence. Once they got into the city Taako slows down his pace, allowing Lucretia to catch up and walk beside him but there was still a distance between them, even if it wasn’t a physical distance she could almost feel the barrier Taako had put up between them.
It wasn’t long before they found a restaurant that Taako seemed excited to enter, speaking to Lucretia for the first time since they left the Bureau to tell her that he and Kravitz had a date here a few weeks back and the food was to die for. Upon walking into the restaurant Lucretia could note that it seemed to be a very popular one and neither of them realized that as they entered, the patrons inside stared at them.
“Hey, it’s those heroes who saved us in Story and Song!” A half-elven female broke the silence. Pointing out Lucretia and Taako as more murmurs broke out before the entire restaurant erupted with applause. Some of the patrons approach them requesting an autograph, a request that Taako couldn’t refuse. Lucretia on the other hand is hesitant at first, but in the end she manages to sign a few. After the crowd disperses an employee appears and leads them to a table out on the restaurant’s patio. About a minute passes before a waiter approaches them, wide smile on their face as they wait to take their orders. A few more minutes pass before an extravagant meal is placed in front of Taako while Lucretia receives her far simpler meal.
“Spending as much time at the base as I have I honestly forgot how popular we were.” Lucretia says in the hopes of starting a conversation. “I’ve been so busy with the Bureau, it’s easy to forget-” She pauses as Taako gives her a harsh look over his food. “I apologize, that was a poor choice of words there, that our work here gave us such recognition.”
Taako’s expression softens a little as he laughs. “Honestly I’ve been smothered with letters, merch, and stuff like that since I rebranded.” Taako said, waving his hand in a vague gesture as he returned to his meal.
They fall into a silence again, this one not as tense, before Lucretia paused, folk held loosely in her hand as she turned to Taako, “What you doing again for your new brand?” She asked Taako.
Taako finished the food he was chewing before leaning over the table towards her, almost as though he were telling a dark secret. “I started a School of Magic, with my friend Ren, the one that you spoke to.”
Lucretia nodded, remembering the conversation she has with Ren the other day. “Ah yes. Do you know how the other two are doing?”
Taako leaned back in his chair, eyes closed in thought. “Well, Magnus is fulfilling his dreams of training dogs, y’know how he is.” Taako said as he took a bite of food. “We meet up every once in awhile to catch up.. As for Merle, I haven’t gotten in contact with him. Every time we try to ring him up, he just won’t answer. I bet he put his Stone of Farspeech on silence or something.” Taako pauses for a second, chewing his food. “Y’know, this isn’t as good as the food in Tesseralia. Plus, everything still taste like key-lime GoGurt.” He made a face of disgust before pushing his plate and leftovers to the side.
Lucretia chuckles. “I’ve been meaning to ask how that happened.” She says between small laughs.
“Fucked up one of my spells.” He says with a shrug, as though it was a daily occurrence.
The scene fell silent for a period of time again as Taako and Lucretia continued eating their meal, though at this point Taako was really just pushing what he had left around the plate.
“So...why did you actually call me here, Lucretia?” Taako said, placing his fork to the side as he folded his hands and rested his head on them.
Lucretia’s hands started sweating, falling to her lap where the wrung at the fabric of her outfit, she didn’t know how to deliver this apology even after all the times she practiced in front of a mirror. Taako stares at her, waiting for her to speak, gaze harsh. She takes a deep breath and tries to collect herself.
“Well...you see...I wanted to address the elephant in the room….” She paused taking a deep breath. “I am so sorry for what I did to you.”
Taako tries to decipher her statement before it hits him. Then his expression darkens in a second.
“Oh.” Taako says, tone flat. He sees Lucretia bring her hands back up from under the table fingers wrung together. “So, you wanted to talk about that.”
“I just wanted the suffering to stop, I couldn’t watch as you, my friends, my family, destroy yourselves watching the world collapsing on itself because of our creations!”
“But did you have to erase my sister from me?” Taako yelled, causing the entire restaurant to fall silent. “ I suffered alone right after that, trying to find support for myself.” He paused a cruel smile spreading on his face. He then leaned over the table and whispered, “You know, I thought I killed a whole town,” tears welled up in his eyes as he stared at her before falling back to his seat “I had to hide from everyone. I’ve never felt so alone in my entire life!” Taako accentuates his words with a swipe of his arm across the table sending his plate to the ground, the glass crashing into pieces as it makes contact with the ceramic tiles. He immediately stands up right after, tears no longer being held back as they fell freely and flowed down his cheeks.
“Taako, please! I was myopic about my decision. Please listen to what I have to say.” Lucretia extends her arm to him, begging him to stay.
“No!” Taako swats her hands away. “Taako’s good out here!” He cast Blink, and he disappears right in front of her.
Lucretia brings her head to the table and sighs.
“I fucked up big time.” The waiter enters the patio to see a broken plate and Lucretia sitting alone, head on the table.
“Ma’am?”
Lucretia extends her hand with her index finger pointing up. “I’ll pay for it.” She takes out 25 gold out of her pocket and puts it on the table. She stands up and whispers to the waiter while she leaves. “Keep the tip.”
***
The same line echoes through her mind. “You fucking took everything from me!” She suddenly wakes up in her quarters as if she woke up from a nightmare. Feeling groggy, she heads to the newly opened cafeteria to grab some flapjacks and coffee. Moments after grabbing a plate filled with flapjacks and a mug of coffee, she sees Killian and Carey approaching her and watches with a smile as they join her, sitting at the other side of the table.
The group engage in conversation as they ate their breakfast.
“Hey Madame Director!” said Killian.
Lucretia laughs lightly, “Please Lucretia is fine.” she said she takes a slice of the flapjack and eats it. The two laugh lightheartedly as Carey says between chuckles. “Yeah I guess we are passed that point huh?” Lucretia smiled and nodded then noticed as the two exchanged a glance and turned back to her.
“So, we got some exciting news!” Carey said, almost jumping from her seat in the unspoken excitement.
“What is it?” Lucretia asked, intrigued.
Carey calms down for a moment and shows Lucretia her right hand, revealing a ring, simplistic in design but going well with the natural blue coloring of her scales.
“We’re getting married! And we would like to invite you to it!” Killian slides the invitation card in her direction. Lucretia looks down to the paper that’s decorated in a fine writing where the letters end in delicate curls, with the upper right and lower left corners decorated in a simple flower design.
“I’m so happy for you two. I’ll be sure to make it. Afterwards you can tell me a weekend so I can give you off for your honeymoon.”
The newly engaged couple squee in excitement. “Thank you, Madame!” Then they look at each other then back to Lucretia embarrassed smiles worn on their faces before Killian spoke “Sorry, we meant to say Lucretia.”
After breakfast, Lucretia made her way back to her office and tried to reach Taako on his Stone of Farspeech and just like all her earlier tries there is no answer. Minutes later, she attempts again but with no success. There was no way to track him because Taako took off his bracer after the events of Story and Song. Who could she possibly contact to get a hold of Taako? Lup! But where could she possibly be? Last time she heard from Lup is when they met up with each other with Barry and Kravitz about their new job as reapers. But first, she goes visits Magnus at his dog training school for some advice and a possibility of getting a hold of Lup.
She levitates down to Raven’s Roost, the home she found for Magnus years ago that she only heard was destroyed long after the event. The current Raven’s Roost though is a city slowly picking itself up with the help of Magnus’s craftsmanship and the Bureau of Benevolence. The Craftsman Column that was destroyed in Kalen’s attack was currently being rebuilt and individuals who had long ago lost their homes would one day be able to return. From what she’s heard from Magnus and around the Bureau was that the restoration on Raven’s Roost is well under way and that one day it would be thriving and once again be a place renowned for its craftsmanship. She’s not heading to the Craftsman Column though, rather her destination is a column that houses two buildings, one small and the other large.
As she lands, she sees a sign saying “Hammer and Tails [A Dog’s School].” She heads towards it to see Magnus walking a Scottish Deerhound in the courtyard. She faintly hears him telling the dog commands and the appraisal from him. Lucretia smiles at the scene of that. Then, Magnus sees her from the distance and rushes towards her with the dog right beside him and his arms right open. She also extends her arms wide open and both of them embrace at impact.
“Lucretia, it’s so good to see you.”
“It’s good to see you too, Magnus.” She sheds a tear of happiness. “I see you still have the bracer, huh.”
They release each other from the embrace, the dog barks repeatedly.
“Indeed I do.” Magnus said as he raises his arm to proudly display the bracer. “It’s a free bracer.”
Lucretia chuckles at his comment then turns to the dog that’s been barking excitedly from Magnus’ side since she arrived. “I see you finally got that dog you’ve always wanted.”
Magnus turns down to the dog in question and pats its head affectionately “Yup he’s a good one.” His expression gets a little downcast as he turned back to Lucretia. “I named him Johann.”
Lucretia feels tears well up though she turns to look into Magnus’ eyes and smiles. “I greatly miss Johann. He was a good man. At least we remember his song as an inspiration to all.”
Magnus smiles and begins petting his hand through the dog’s rough fur. “Yeah, I miss the ol’ guy. You know he thought he wasn’t gonna be remembered at all.” Lucretia’s eyes went wide, asking herself if there were other members of the Bureau of Balance that had shared Johann’s fear. Then Magnus spoke again. “Guess he proved himself wrong.”
“Oh did he?” She asked as they started walking towards the smaller of the two buildings.
“Yeah.”
They continued walking through the courtyard while talking.
“So, what brings you here Lucretia?” Magnus asks as he opens the door, moving to allow Lucretia room to enter his house first.
Lucretia sighs. “It’s Taako. I’d try talking it out with him about, y’know, when I fed Junior the journal and that stuff, but he stormed out and now I can’t get in contact with him. I don’t know how to get in contact with Lup, so I came to you for advice.”
“I mean I can kinda understand Taako’s reasoning, I understand you did what you thought was right and you still helped us fix it.” Magnus sighs as he leads Lucretia into the living room and sits down in a large chair. “He’s never been one for expressing his feelings. I mean it took him months after our mission to get the Chalice before he even shared a glimpse into what it showed him.” Magnus leaned towards Lucretia, elbows on his knees. “Even remembering now I still struggle with reading his body language and emotions so I would definitely say it’d be best to talk to Lup, she ought to know how to talk to him.” Magnus sat back in his chair and Johann rested his chin on Magnus’ lap, the fighter’s hand unconsciously moving to stroke the dog’s muzzle.
“...As for contacting Lup, I’ll see what I can do. I do hang out with Taako sometimes, I’ll try to convince him to bring Lup to you somehow. Hopefully Merle doesn’t use Zone of Truth on me.”
Lucretia nodded standing with slight difficulty, the effects of her visit to Wonderland so many years ago hitting her hard. “Thanks Magnus. And if you manage to get Lup, tell her to meet up at the Academy of the Arcane Sciences. She knows.”
Magnus follows Lucretia’s lead and stands, moving over to her for one final hug before she left.“Alrighty, no problem, Luc.” He says with a smile as he pulls her closer, A familiar and comfortable presence that was welcomed in this time of struggle for Lucretia.
Lucretia pushed her face into Magnus’ chest at the old nickname and muttered “Please don’t call me that.”
“Kay.” She could almost hear the smile in his voice as he lightly released his hold and she left with a final farewell towards her friend before she pressed the button on her bracer, hating the fact that whenever she went planetside she couldn’t escape the fact that to return to the Bureau she had no choice but to ride in one of the spheres.
The next day, Lucretia awaits the call from Magnus to confirm that he got a hold of Lup. She paces back and forth with nervousness as this call can determine if she can settle this with Taako. Suddenly a loud tone rings from her stone and she eagerly answers it.
“Magnus here! I’ve managed to get Lup. Took a bit of negotiating and lying but I still got her. She’ll be available tomorrow!” The male voice announces to Lucretia over the stone.
“That’s great. Thank you so much Magnus.”
“No problem, Luc!”
“I told you already, please don’t call me that.”
“Kay. Well, I’ll be at the Bureau of Benevolence today since Killian and Carey wanted me to give input on how to rebuild Raven’s Roost.”
“Okay, thank you again Magnus” Lucretia said before the connection was cut though she added. “I’ll see you later Magnus.”
As the day goes by, Lucretia goes through several meetings with the Overseers and finds time to meet with Magnus, Carey and Killian to listen to their plans for rebuilding Raven’s Roost. During the discussion Leon arrived and discussed his plans for the funding of this massive project, and Avi goes over settlement concerns since the city has been in ruins because of Governor Kalen’s destruction. After the meeting, Magnus remains in the meeting room to talk with Lucretia. He closes the door as the last person exits and leans on the door behind him, folding his arms.
“So, I talked with Taako and Merle yesterday. Merle seemed pretty chill, he talked about how Lord Artemis Sterling offered him a job to lead Bottlenose Cove, but as for Taako, it seemed you struck a nerve with him. He seems pretty upset, he almost set the bar on fire.”
“Yeah, I shouldn’t have brought the topic up now, but it would come up either sooner or later regardless.”
Magnus released a heavy sigh shoulders slouching forward. “Like I said yesterday, I completely understand why you did that Lucretia. It’s just different with Taako. My scenario is completely different than his, I lost Julia years after you’ve fed Junior, but for him, you’ve erased his sister right after you fed them.” Magnus pauses for a bit. “To be honest Lucretia, I don’t know how you’re gonna work it out with him, but I got Lup for you.” Magnus looks concerned.
“I understand. Thanks Mags.”
“No problem.” Magnus hugs Lucretia as he sees Lucretia on the verge of tears.
“You know. I always loved your hugs. They’re so...comforting.” Lucretia starts to cry a bit.
“I get that a lot. Especially from Julia.”
“To be honest...I don’t know how I can do this.”
“I’m sure you’ll figure it out. After all, you survived and essentially saved us from persecution all those years ago.” Magnus tries to instill confidence in her. She looks up to him.
“Hopefully.”
They continue embracing each other for a minute or so and when it feels as though Magnus is going to let go she tightens her hold around his center.
“I don’t want to let go, Magnus.” She mumbles into the loose shirt that he switched his armor for.
“I know Lucretia.” The fighter said as he gives her another tight embrace, not mentioning the growing tear stain that’s appeared on his shirt. “But I have to go now, those dogs aren’t gonna train themselves.” Magnus releases Lucretia from the embrace and heads towards the door.
“Okay.” She watches as Magnus opens the door, the urge to run back to him for another comforting embrace overpowering. She remains where she is though, distancing herself like she did during the years when they were apart and settles for a gentle smile. “Thank you, Magnus... for getting her for me.”
Magnus nods and exits the room where Killian and Carey accompany him to the glass sphere. As for Lucretia, she sees them walking and chatting while she walks back to the chair and sits, trying to calm herself down as she continue to tear up. The conversation she had with Taako two days ago pierced through her mind, how he struggled alone after the events of feeding the voidfish their memories. She did not subdue Taako’s suffering, but only made it worse of him, and that’s what broke Lucretia. Her plan only caused more suffering to her family and that did not sit well with her. She grasps the paper next to her and bangs her fist on the table.
“How...am I...so...stupid!” She wipes a tear from her face. “I’ve only manage to hurt them even more.” She bangs her hand on the table and cradled her arms around it. “I wish I could forget.” She wipes another tear off. “I...want to forget.”
She heads to the room where once Junior resided. She sat on the grass trying to relax, but all she had in mind is regretting the poor decisions she made during that day. She could not forget the mistakes she made and there was no way to undo. Taako’s voice ringed inside her again once more, “I’ve never felt so alone in my entire life!”. She instantly stands up and rushes towards the empty glass tank. “I can’t take this guilt anymore!” She bangs on the tank tearfully with each word, hoping that her suffering will go away at some point. The feeling of heartbreak sets into her. She wishes Junior was here so she can feed them that memory. “I just want to forget!” She leans on the glass tank with her back and slides down into sitting position as she continues sobbing. She puts her head down to her knees as she cries. A few minutes later, she heads back to her main office once more looking at the broken frame containing the group photo of the IPRE. “I’m so sorry.” She pauses for a bit, trying to contain her emotions. “I loved you all,” Lucretia said as she lays down the photo. “I’m sorry for letting you all forget. Especially you, Taako,” She lays a finger on Taako’s face in the photo. “I shouldn’t have erased Lup from you. I just...I just ask for forgiveness.”
***
The next day, Lucretia heads to the Academy of the Arcane Sciences and heads to the kitchen located in the west wing of the building. When she arrives, she sees a hooded elven female with a red jacket with the badge saying IPRE. The elven female turns around to see Lucretia sitting 50 feet in front of her on a chair. She takes off her hood to revealing her face.
“Yo, Lucretia.” Lup, the elven female said as she finger guns her.
“Hey Lup.” Lucretia waves at her.
“Lup, would you like to join me?” Lucretia offers, gesturing to the chair next to her own.
“Would be nice.” Lup says as she’s already making her way over to the chair next to Lucretia’s grabbing it by the back and turning it around so the back faced Lucretia before sitting down on it facing her friend.
Lup looks around the kitchen they’re seated in and smiles. “I gotta tell ya, you picked a funny place to meet.” She turns back to Lucretia, smile still present “Though I do stop by every once in awhile to surprise Lil’ Ango whenever we get the chance to pop by when liches escape to this place.”
Lucretia nods, happy to hear of Lup’s current life. “How has Angus been doing recently?”
Lup beams, as starts bragging as though Angus were her own son. “He’s awesome. One of the brightest kids here.” She chuckles as she remembers something then leans closer to Lucretia over the back of her chair. “You know, when I was still in that Umbra Staff, I accidentally ruined his macarons,” She shrugs as she continues. “I was trying to get Taako’s attention, but it didn’t seem to work. So to make it up to the kid, I stop by here and make him a little snack, not without a little scare of course.”
Lucretia chuckles. “Angus always has been observant.”
“As much as I’d love to continue catching up, Magnus told me you wanted to talk about something?” Lup looks at her with slight concern.
Lucretia sighs.
“Yeah, and you may not like it.” She said with a worried expression.
“Spill the beans, hun.”
“You remember in Legato Conservatory when we fed art to those strange jellyfishes and how Magnus and I took one with us?”
“Yeah, what about it?”
“Well we discovered that the ‘voidfish’, that’s what we called it, can either broadcast this information or erase it from one’s memories unless you are inoculated.”
“And?”
“You know when you left to retrieve the Phoenix Fire Gauntlet? I…” She stutters for a bit. “I couldn’t watch everyone suffer anymore. So I…” She started wringing her hands, staring at them instead of at Lup. “I fed the voidfish’s child our memories, making us forget, and in doing so. I make a terrible mistake...I made your brother forget you existed. I know this sounds cruel and I was stupid. I wasn’t thinking clearly that day. I’m so sorry...” She starts sobbing. “...I couldn’t bear seeing everyone so miserable. Please, I ask for your forgiveness.”
During Lucretia’s confession Lup was silent, she had a guess as to what Lucretia wanted to discuss when Magnus said she wanted to meet with her. Barry had filled her in on everything she missed during her time in the Umbra Staff, including what Lucretia had done with the Voidfish. Then there was the day that Taako got back from meeting with her he was furious and though he didn’t give all the details he gave enough that Lup was aware of what Lucretia was trying to do. Though hearing her brother rant and rave, and sitting in front of Lucretia as she bared her soul were two completely different things and Lup at first was at a loss for words.
“Lucretia, I understand….” Lup reaches out a hand and takes one of Lucretia’s. “You did what you thought was right, though in the end there were consequences.” Lup’s grip tightens on Lucretia’s hand as she smiles. “One time someone said something like this to me and not a day goes by that I don’t repeat it to myself.” There is a pause as Lucretia meets Lup’s eyes, “There are no right or wrong decisions….. Just decisions that someone makes.” Lucretia and Lup share a smile that is interrupted by the sound of footsteps approaching from down the hall.
Moments later Taako walks in with Angus, having a conversation about the job offer he gave to him days ago, then he sees Lucretia and Lup sitting across from one another in the kitchen within moments of entering.
“Oh hell no, Taako’s good out here!” He turns to leave the kitchen with Angus only to be interrupted by Lup’s hand gripping his wrist.
“Koko, please come back. Lucretia just wants to talk.”
Taako makes no move to remove his sister’s hand, though he also doesn’t turn around to face his sister or Lucretia, though his shoulders slump in defeat. “Ugh. Fine.” He turns to Angus who had yet to move from his side. “Agnes, just head back to class, it’s gonna be awhile.”
“Did you just call m-” Angus said as he notices Taako’s hand gesturing him to go now. “Okay, sir. Hello ma’ams.” The ladies wave back at Angus and Lup ruffles his hair before he heads off.
Now, it was just the three of them in the kitchen sitting in total silence and they look to each other, waiting for someone to speak up.
“Taako, please I’m so, so sorry!” Lucretia broke the silence first, reaching out to grab Taako’s hand.
Taako stood and pulled back, eyes fierce with a look that could. “Sorry, Lucretia, means nothing to me right now. You had no right to feed that stupid voidfish.” Taako said, voice quiet and angry, towards Lucretia.
“I know! But, Taako, I didn’t know what else to do!” Lucretia tried to defend herself, tried to give her reasoning but now her words sounded hollow, even to herself.
“You had no right to meddle with our memories without consulting us first.” Taako said, brushing away his sister’s hand when she reached out to comfort him. Then he turned away, back towards Lucretia as he whispered. “Back when we were first forgetting Barry asked me to kill him, and I did, I blasted him right off the ship with a quick blast of magic. At the time I didn’t even know who he was and I watched as he fell from the deck of the ship and when I looked around I couldn’t even remember where I was.”
Lup looked to her brother, having heard about any of this from him and her gaze was pained.
“You did what?” She asked.
“He was panicking as we started forgetting.” Taako said, gaze going distant as he looked on a scene that only he could see. “He must’ve realized what was going on and didn’t want to forget you, Lup, so he asked me to kill him.”
“I never knew, neither you nor Barry ever told me.” Lup said expression pained due to the new information.
“As for you, Lucretia,” Taako started, finally turning towards her. “Did you ever consider a third option?”
“What third option was there? As far as I knew, there was no third option!”
Taako took a step in her direction. “Than you need to at least think about your actions before you perform them.” Taako accused stopping just a few inches in front of her chair.
“The Hunger was upon us!” Lucretia stood, standing over Taako at her full height. “What was I supposed to do, Taako? I didn’t expect any of you to understand!”
“So what?” Taako accused, tone now flat and no longer harsh.
“Besides, what would you’ve done?!” Lucretia demanded. “You always act like you know everything and that the world revolves around you so what would you have done?!”
Taako’s eyes narrowed. “So, what, you think you can just turn this on me?” He paused, looking away for a second before turning his eyes back to her, arms crossing in front of him. “You know what Lucretia? I had enough of your bullshit.” Then quick as a flash he pulled out his wand and brought it level with Lucretia’s chest.
Lucretia took a step back under his gaze before composing herself and returning his glare with one of her own. “Honestly, I tried my best to apologize to you and each time you push it into the dirt.” Lucretia stated regaining her ground as she closed the gap between them. “Though I should’ve expected as much since stubbornness is a main character trait of yours.” All space between she and Taako is gone as they meet each other with glares of their own. “Honestly, I’ve had enough, I try to apologize but not once have you ever listened to anything that I’ve tried to say.” Lucretia followed Taako’s example and pulled her own wand from her rode’s sleeves and leveled it towards Taako.
Lup stared between the two, eyes wide with horror, she jump to her feet, moving to stand between the two of them and extends both of her arms on each side.
“You guy need to chill! One of us is gonna get killed and it definitely won’t be me, even if it was me, I’d just become a lich again. And don’t think for a second that we’d use the Starblaster just to revive you guys after your stupid duel.” Lup put her hands down, placing them loosely at her sides as she looked between the two. “Now, both of you put your wands down and start acting like adults!” Lup said to the both of them angrily.
It takes a moment for the two to lower their wands but one last look at Lup and they knew she was serious. It didn’t take much convincing for Lucretia to lower her wand, but Taako sent one last heated glare, though not as intense, in Lucretia’s direction before bringing his own wand down. Once both wands were pointed away from one another Lup who crosses both of her arms in front of herself and turns to Taako, gaze just fierce. “Now Taako, just let Lucretia talk, no interruptions, no anger, just let… her… talk.”
She turns to Lucretia, gaze no longer harsh. “Now, Lucretia, talk.” She commands Lucretia. Lucretia takes a deep breath.
“Listen Taako. I did not mean ill intentions when I fed the voidfish. I only wanted to let you live lives without having to bear the guilt over what we brought upon this world with our destructive creations. Even though we made these to distract the Hunger and bring an end to the continuous cycle, I was still stupidly nearsighted and unable to see the consequences of my rash decisions. I hope you understand my perspective on this issue and forgive me of my wrongdoing.”
Taako is silent while Lucretia explains her reasoning. His serious expression is difficult to read from Lucretia’s point of view, not knowing how he took the apology. The room fell silent for a moment as Lucretia finishes talking. Lup examines the situation, although nervous because she knows how Taako can act in certain situations like this, but also slightly optimistic that forgiveness can be given since she is there to reason with him. She reaches her hands to Taako and nods to him.
“Koko. you can talk now.”
Taako sighs.
“Well, I listened, and I still don’t agree with the direction you took, but I suppose I won’t be as….” Taako turned to Lup hesitation deep. “I can’t say I accept your apology. Just….” Taako fpaused and turned to his sister. Lup said nothing and just gestured for Taako to continue. “Just, promise not to do something stupid like that again.”Lucretia gave a small smile and a weak nod, not saying anything more for fear that she’d ruin the moment between them.
“Well, that wasn’t too hard, aside for you two almost killing each other.” Behind her the sound of the fabric between planes was ripped and within moments Barry and Kravitz step out and into the kitchen. She turns at the sound of the rip in between planes she turns and sees Barry and Kravitz approaching her, once reaching her Barry leaned over and whispered into her ear and then gestures back to the rift that was still open.
Lup nods, gives Barry a quick peck and then turns back to address Lucretia and Taako. “Well I’m glad we managed to get that settled cause duty calls!” She follows Kravitz and Barry to the rip between planes and half way through turns back to the two still standing in the schools large kitchen. “You two be good now, I don’t want to hear anything about you two possibly killing each other after I leave.” Before the rift closes behind the three reapers, Kravitz manages to blows a kiss at Taako which the elf returns confidently with a wink. Then the rift closes and the three reapers are gone and only Taako and Lucretia remain.
The two stand in silence for a few moments before Lucretia signs and turns to leave the room. Then a sudden grip around her wrist stops her in her tracks and she turns to find Taako staring at her with his expression now more serious than what it was seconds ago.
“Hey. Listen to me.”
Lucretia tentatively turns around to face Taako one more time, unsure what harsh words she was going to be faced with now that Lup was no longer there to monitor him. Though looking at him now, Taako seemed anything but hostile and instead appeared completely uncertain.
“Listen, even though I forgive you right now, I want to let you know, you’ve hurt me deeply.” Taako turns away and releases a heavy sigh. “This isn’t something that just goes away.” Taako says tone flat. “I’ve lived a hard life trying to find support for myself for 20 or 30 years before I found out my sister existed. We’ve lost so many years without each other, all because of that stupid voidfish.” His voice starts cracking as he tries to fight off his tears. “I guess what I’m trying to say is that it’s gonna take some time before I even have the thought to fully forgive your actions.”
Lucretia gives Taako a small reassuring smile, her gaze soft. “Taako, I understand,” she said as she pulled her wrist lightly from Taako’s grasp, only to grab his hand in a light grip of her own. “I’m happy though that you are willing to try, that’s all I really want.”
They stay like that for a few moments, before Taako pulls his hand from her grip and gives her a small, easy smile. “Well, Luc, I’m glad we had this chat but I hafta locate Ango and talk to him about his future.” Taako says as he moves past her, making his way to the door. Lucretia watches him go, watches as he places his hand on the door handle, then comes to a realization.
“Taako, wait.” Taako stops, door half way open and turns towards her.
“Yeah Luc?” he asks, his usual easy tone once again present in his voice.
“Have you visited Magnus lately? He’s the only one to call me Luc.” Taako smiles, a mischievous hint to it.
“You would want to know wouldn’t you?” He asks before exiting through the open door, leaving Lucretia alone once again with her thoughts.
As she watches the door close behind Taako, sinks back into one of the chairs that they had sat in minutes ago quietly sobbing as the feeling of a weight lifted minutely from her shoulders. The deep pain that had resided in her heart over her broken family mended itself if only just a little and a thought hits her. Maybe just like the pain in her heart, her family can be mended as well. No longer beyond repair.