Chapter Text
The waters sparkled against the light and the cavern that tucked the Blue Lake away was doused in the blue light.
Revek floated idly by the shoreline, gazing into the water silently. It was nice to escape the constant chaos and just be alone with his thoughts. His nail was set aside and Revek closed his eyes with a content sigh. Silence reigned.
Revek didn’t open his eyes when he heard movement next to him. He felt the other shuffle up to him. They placed a hand on his arm. “Guess who?”
Revek smiled. “Hm… well, you sound happy, and we both know that alone eliminates several others. You sound young but haven’t shouted or cried, so I’m going with Marmu.”
“You know me!” Marmu was smiling when Revek looked. She beamed up at him. “Look, Revek! I found something pretty today!”
Revek smiled. “Oh yeah? Can I see?”
Marmu giggled, taking his hand. “You gotta promise, though! Promise you won’t tell!”
Revek patted her head. “I won’t tell anyone, Marmu. I promise.”
A giggle came from Marmu. She knew Revek would never break a promise. “Ok! Come!” She scrambled for the entrance, still holding Revek’s hand. Revek was forced to follow, opting to leave his nail on the shore.
Marmu pointed up to a small opening near the ceiling. “Through there!” She looked back at Revek as she floated up. “Come, come!”
“I’m coming, Marmu,” Revek told the young ghost as he followed. The two floated past the charmlover’s shop. Marmu stopped him at the village. Revek felt his eyes widen.
Orange blobs of weird goop dotted the village. Revek remembered his brief time out of the Glade where he had seen the color.
The sentry was stronger than most. It knew how to block with its shield, it knew how to parry and it knew when to swing. The red armor has the city crest etched into it. The sentry's eyes were orange. It had backed Revek into a corner, nail raised above its head.
“Revek?”
The worried voice of Marmu broke the memory. Revek blinked and looked down at the younger ghost, who stared at him in worry. “...Yes?”
“Are you ok…?”
Revek looked back at the blobs of orange. He nodded. It felt wrong, lying to Marmu, but he didn’t want to upset her with the truth- he wasn’t ok in the slightest.
Revek took Marmu’s hand. “Come, Marmu. Let us be off.”
“Where are we going? Can we show this to the others?” Hope filled her voice as she followed.
Revek didn’t answer, trying to block out more memories as he returned to the Lake, gripping his nail tighter as he tried to protect Marmu from nothing.
-
“Oh, this. This isn’t good,” Xero commented quietly.
“No kidding.” Markoth folded his arms as he stared out at the Forgotten Crossroads. The main part was worse than the village. Revek was silent next to them, scarily silent at the moment.
Xero looked at Markoth. “What do we do about it?” He couldn’t stop the slight tremble in his voice. Sure, he was dead and the Infection probably couldn’t hurt him anymore, but he didn’t want to take the risk.
Markoth was quiet. He wasn’t all too sure what to do. He sighed, half to himself. “For now, nothing.”
“Nothing? Nothing? We can’t just do nothing!”
“Well, it’s all we can do at the moment.” Markoth turned away from the crossroads. “Let’s just hope it stays put. It hasn’t reached Greenpath or the Gardens yet, as far as we know.”
Xero sighed reluctantly. He followed Markoth as the other floated back to the entrance of Greenpath. Xero stopped, looking back at Revek, who was idle. “Coming?”
Revek had to force himself to turn away with a sullen nod. He followed Xero silently as they returned to Greenpath.
-
Marmu wasn’t an idiot. She could read other bugs like a tablet. She knew when they were acting odd or secretive.
Revek was avoiding her. It hurt to even see the former guardian. Marmu would catch glimpses of him, but he’d always vanish when she’d go to greet him. Occasionally, the two would cross paths, and each time, Revek would be hesitant to make conversation.
Marmu was determined today. She would march up to Revek, demand him to tell her what was going on! Marmu waited patiently by the entrance to Greenpath. He should be returning any moment now.
As she predicted, Revek showed himself soon enough. He stopped when he saw Marmu.
“Marmu… I can’t talk right now.” Revek’s voice was soft and his discomfort was obvious.
Marmu placed her paws on her hips. “No, we need to talk.”
“Later.” Revek gently pushed her aside.
Marmu grabbed his cloak. “You’re doing it again! Talk to me!”
Revek turned on her. “I said later!” His nail nicked the side of her head as he bought in an upward swipe.
For a moment, there was shocked silence. Marmu felt tears well up in her eyes as she stared at Revek. He looked equally as shocked, his nail dropping as he floated back.
Before Marmu could say anything, he was gone. Marmu wiped her eyes as she picked up Revek’s nail, carrying it close as she went to find someone to comfort her.