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It was as cold a day as any was for the fallen city of Aeor, mountains of ice encasing the once aloft and intact Mageocracy, frozen now in time. Deserted of any humanoid life for centuries and it’s experiments left to wander alone.
Or at least, they were, but now inside the derelict streets of the Genesis Ward there were fresh footsteps were none had tread before, as a once dead thing from Aeor's past now walked away from the crater that had led to the cities fall -smited by the gods for their transgressions against divinity.
Within this crater, there was life.
And it was falling towards secrets untouched for near millennia.
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The Nein were falling, scrambled by Aeorian abominations, they dropped down into the awaiting abyss of the colossal hole. Devexian said it would be at least three levels down, the place that the remaining Tombtakers, Cree and Lucien sought; a gateway to the astral sea, and the awaiting Somnovem.
“Keep track of the floors everyone, we’re looking for the ninth floor down.” Fjord called out as he adjusted a slowly falling Caduceus closer to the group. Satisfied then, that he and everyone else were close enough together, he drifted back towards Jester, the two locking hands and sharing a brief, reassuring glance to each other before scanning the side they’d dropped from, monitoring the ruined walls of the subterranean rooms that slowly passed them.
Beau couldn’t help but smile at the brief display, happy to see her two friends being close after so much dancing around each other; It was a long time coming.
And speaking of… Beau turned away from the pair, scanning with eyes that seemed to have adjusted to the dim light quickly finding their target, Yasha. Drifting down a few feet from her, Beau’s Aasimar girlfriend watched, bemused, as the two wizards of the party drifted- no, they were definitely showboating, around the group. Yasha wandering eyes soon met Beau’s, the heterochromia eyes seemingly lighting up as her face broke into a wide smile.
She’d been through the wringer in that last fight. Though bright eyed for Beau, she could see the exhaustion from the fight on her features, beaten and bloodied from the last fight with one of the increasingly stupid monsters in this fucked up place, the innate rage she could wield had kept the edge off, but Beau hoped they could stop for a rest once they landed, for her sake.
“I’m alright babe, nothing I can’t handle.” Yasha mouthed reassuring, likely noticing the monk looking her over with concern.
Beau silently cursed, her worries noticed - but of course they were noticed by her though, Yasha had always watched her, she’d said so herself in the letter and even back before then, before things got a little rough between them; outside of either of their control.
Yes, Yasha had always seen Beau, but in the silent descent further into the unknowns, there was something else Yasha hadn’t ever mentioned she’d always done - likely because it wasn't really something she should brag about probably, but she was always there to catch her when she was fell…
—1— Hupperdook :-
It was over, thank fuck for that. Beau sighed, looking towards the death ball that’d nearly killed her -there was a lot of things that were doing that right now, but she was way too tired to lament on that just now as she rested her head on the equally bloodied Zemnian man’s shoulder; freshly returned from magic checking.
She was just about to drift off again to a pleasant enough nap when the irritant that was Mollymauk spoke up. “Alright, come on you two, let’s get up and out' a here.” The lavender Tiefling said, holding out a hand for the both of them.
Grumbling reluctantly, she allowed herself to be pulled up back onto her feet, deciding now to lean on the wall as Mollymauk and Yasha moved to the door, calling out for the guards to come back in. A minute of annoyingly heavy rattling later and the room was filled with prison guards ogling the torn remains of the ‘Cogwarden’.
“Well alright them, let’s get you back up to see the warden.” One of the Gnome guards excitedly announced after a quick inspection of the wreck.
Fuck, that meant it was time to move around again, Beau lamented, slowly drifting now from the wall to shuffle closer to the rest of the group, preparing to move back up. A stray idea clung to her mind as she neared Yasha, the Barbarians hands were empty, sword stowed away, as she quietly watched the Human approach.
-and boy, did they look inviting right about now.
Dumb idea decided on, she shifted her gait closer towards the other women -only partially faking the light staggers as she drifted close, “Phew, that- that took a lot out us.” She panted, before letting herself fall back beside Yasha; ‘fainting’ towards her free arms.
A thought struck her in the second she let herself fall, her partially dreary mind suddenly acutely aware that Yasha might not even bother to catch her -letting her partial act fall along with the Monk. Rather than cold stone meeting her however, she felt herself connect with those familiar strong arms.
“Okay…” Yasha sighed as Beau draped completely into her arms.
“Yasha, you have to carry me.” She persisted, looking up into the Barbarians face.
Yasha face softened partially, Beau almost catching the faintest smile from the women, “I got you, I got you.” She assured, shifting the Human in her arms into a more comfortable position before her hands suddenly glowed warmly.
Beau shivered, feeling the sudden pulse of healing magic from the ‘not quite human women’ close and soothe some of the Monks battle wounds, “You make me feel so warm inside” she found herself mumbling out, cringing a little inside at her own words. She could hear Molly in the background snort loudly at the display but decidedly paid him no mind.
Yasha for her part chuckled, lifting up Beau to fireman’s carry her instead; nestled around her neck, Beau wrapped her arms around Yasha’s neck as the Nein followed the guards back to their boss.
The Barbarian probably wouldn’t mind just now if she took another quick nap, Beau decided, eyes drifting shut once again.
—2— Nicodranas :-
If Beau was being honest, she’d found herself really liking the ocean in the less than a day she’d known it personally. But now. Now she was starting to understand Nott’s viewpoint as she struggled, enlarged by Caleb’s spell but still helpless within the summoned Water Elemental’s giant form.
The confrontation against Algar had really turned sour quick and now a bloody fight had broken out.
And so here she was, now restrained within the crushing form; swirling and tumbling, fighting to hold her breath as around her, the Nein fought to survive.
Yasha too fought alongside them again, and after a month to her grief, Beau couldn't help but feel a little guilty at dragging her now into this clusterfuck.
Still spinning away inside, their eyes met briefly in the chaos and Yasha spun into action; dodging a watery tendril with the blade of Magicians Judge, turning with the strikes momentum to, with a yell of her rage, plunge the blade into the water-slick stone floor. Anchoring into the space between the stones in the floor, Yasha reached into the vacuous form to grab for Beau, the Monk adjusting herself as well as possible until she felt the arm lock under her arm pit.
Then with a mighty yank, she was wrenched from the body of the Elemental, her now larger form unceremoniously splatting onto the wet floor.
Beau gasped for air as she flipped over to face the Aasimar. “Thanks.” She croaked out from the ground, her voice deeper than usual.
“You’re welcome.” Yasha replied simply, refocusing now on the entity before her that was recoiling from having Beau yanked from within it, pulling out the Judge from its anchoring.
Now free from the watery death spiral, the Human sprang back into action as well, windmilling herself back up to go into a rapid series of -now magically imbued- blows at her captor, striking onto the torrential surface as Yasha moved into a flanking position to aid her, readying to re-join in the attack.
Beau couldn't help the grin forming on her face as the two harried the elemental, happy to have the other sentinel back with them.
—3— Rexxentrum :-
A lot happened today, they stopped a devil, got back a friend and Beau had nearly died twice -Gods, was this becoming a regular occurrence.
It was time to finally get some proper rest after everything that happened, it was going to be a new day of an entirely different circumstance tomorrow; preparing to bring peace to two nations!? A Beau of even four months ago wouldn’t of believed she’d be involved in something like this.
But that was for the Beau of tomorrow, as the Beau of tonight stood in front of the cottage rooms mirror, hand tracing over the vicious new scar Yasha had -unwillingly- given her. The Aasimar hadn’t yet come into the room, washing herself up once again before what would be her first night’s sleep of her own free will since Bazzoxan.
So right now, that just left her and Jester in the room for now, the blue Tiefling idly watching her from the bed as Beau reached behind to feel for the exit scar.
“I’m super glad you didn’t die, Beau. That would of been terrible for Yasha.” Jester said, breaking the monks attention from the self-inspection.
Beau turned to frown at the women, who was now pulling out her sketchbook to quickly doodle, likely something related to today’s ordeal that'd popped into her head, Beau expected.
“I mean, it would of been terrible for me too, Jes.” She deadpanned.
“Yeah -obviously it would of been bad for you too, but if you’d died down in the chamber -after we'd just got Yasha back and after she'd then tried to get you to safety, I don’t want to think about what would of happened to the both of you - she'd of been distraught.”
That surprised her, she wasn’t too sure who’d gotten her over to the entryway after she’d fallen unconscious, she probably should have assumed it was Yasha, but still, “Yasha got me out of there?” Beau enquired, curious to know the details of what'd happened at the end of the fight.
Jester looked up again from her sketchbook, the initial doodles of a pudding-like form hinting to what she was working on. Her tail gave a small excited wag as she beamed at Beau.
“Yeah, after you went down, Yasha rushed over to you and cause me and Caduceus weren’t close around you she ended up just dragging you away from the gloopy Obann instead, she shielded you from its attack as she moved you away from its body.” Jester explained, showing the basic sketching, she could now make out two stick figures moving away from it, one squiggle from the pudding hitting the carriers back.
Okay, she could see the logic there, but was a bit unconvinced. “Okay, but I don’t think a single blow there would have bled me out, Jester -and I’m pretty sure I wasn’t out very long before Cad got us up, I wouldn’t of bled out.”
“No! It wasn’t that, It did another one of those ‘air-biting’ things right after you got out of there, it just grazed you as a result.” Jester revealed, gesturing wildly in the air to mimic the vicious necrotic attack.
Fuck. Yeah, that would of done the trick. Beau thought, remembering the damage that’d done to her when she was conscious and at least able to attempt to mitigate the attack.
Jester, seeing Beau processing her very close brush with death, grinned triumphantly, “she totally saved your life, Beau. She totally cares a lot about you.”
“Bwah -What, J-Jester,” Beau spluttered, taken aback, a blush forming at her friends antics. “I’m sure she’d of done that for any of us - I just went down first. She was probably just still feeling guilty about the sword.”) she deflected, turning to hide her face.
Jester simply giggled in response before the Aasimar in question wandered into the room, door jingling with the attached bell.
Conversation mercifully cut short, the trio prepared for bed. Beau pointedly avoiding Jesters occasional looks as they settled into their beds.
Internally though -Inside herself, Beau felt the withered flowers of something she’d locked away back in Xhorhas and not long later, had left to die, begin to grow once again.
—4— Kamordah :-
Coming here was a mistake.
They were outside the hags hut; that very same hag that was entirely responsible for everything shitty that led Beau to where she was now; damn her father for making a deal with this bitch, and for following it through at her expense.
And yet, now she was no better, having walked out of this hags hut to immediately tell Nott to do the exact same thing as her, probe and probably -inevitably, make her own offer.
“What did you offer, Beau?” The Halfling turned Goblin ask again as all eyes are looking at her once more, barely shifting from her as Nott fully confesses her offer; to reignite the war.
And now, hearing what Nott had offered she -the Nein, would do, she can’t accept that, a risk to the world again, to Nott and her family. And to Her family. No this is right.
“I think TJ; my little brother, and Luc could be best friends.” She begins, her voice hoarse in her throat as she reveals her own offer, the weight of it settling within her.
“What do you mean?” Notts ask hesitant
The Human takes a moment, she needs to steady herself if she wants to explain this right to the women. “I’m going to be a loner. I’m used to it. I’m comfortable there."
“What does that mean, you’d be isolated of something?” she asks again,
All good things come to an end. It’s the one truth Beau knows well enough, and the end was coming here too; she could see it.
Better to get it over and done with.
“The things we’ve done together, I’m never going to top that. A-and you’re right, we have to fix you, because you have a son. You have a little boy to raise,” she pauses, glancing around to the faces of her friends, expressions ranging from quizzical to neutral and worried. Their eyes are all glancing between each other -except Yasha's. Yasha's eyes are looking right at hers, as if trying to search within Beau for that boat of truth inside her sea of words.
“-And all of us are eventually going to find our own way, It’s not going to last forever.”
She's probably just rambling now, making threadbare connections of coincidences but what is fate but just that...
“And, you know. Maybe. Maybe this was what it was all leading too, Molly’s lessons, what they taught me and this weird connection between me and you and this fucking hag and- “
“-What the fuck are you taking about. Are you saying you’re going to kill yourself?! Jester hisses, interrupting her explanation, if she could call it that. Beside her, Yasha’s searching eyes harden in silent realisation; she’s found that boat.
“Are you saying- are you saying...” Jester begins again.
“-she’s saying she’ll leave all this.” Yasha answers for her, there’s a sad understanding in her eyes, as well as something else too she can’t place.
But there's little time to decipher that right now, as she’s about three seconds away from complete tears at this point as Jesters gapes, eyes widening in horror. “You’re going to leave us?”
Stay strong, Lionett, they have to understand it’s for the best. “Y’all are the greatest family I could ever ask for,” she looks around the assembled faces, a sad but hopefully reassuring smile on her own face, “I can’t, I can’t top this, you know.”
“Then don’t offer that.” Jester is trying to dissuade her again -of course she is.
But her minds made up, it’s for the best, “but, but think about it.” She begins, Notts slowly nodding in understanding, she’s glad at least she can accept Beau accepting the fall for her.
“I’m walking in.” Yasha announces.
Caduceus cringes a little, but he and no one else objects -it will at least keep the Monk from going back in to accept her deal. Beau’s watery eyes meet her gaze, there’s that look again she doesn’t recognise from the Aasimar, but now there’s a determination within it too as she marches unopposed towards the open door, taking the travel pack from her back.
The door slams shut behind her, and Beau feels her resolve crumble just a little more.
—5— Rumblecusp :-
“YASHA, CATCH ME!”
Beau leapt, not for the first time trusting for Yasha to catch her again, she was definitely making an unhealthy habit of this.
But of course, she trusted Yasha.
Yasha, who’d rushed to her side after her less than stellar meeting with a wandering creature from the Shadowfen left her drained and unconscious on the rotten ground.
Yasha, who’d doted on her after the battle and carried her away afterwards to rest in her arms as they trekked on.
Yasha, who stayed close to Beau after the fight with Vokodo, healed her burning skin, even as her own did the same - lamenting that she hadn’t been able to do more for the group or Beau in the fight.
And now, here was the Aasimar in a surprise twist of events, rising up slightly to meet Beau in the pool with radiant feathered wings. Beau connected with her arms with an ‘Oof’ as the two dropped a foot, just shy of the water, the monk held bridal style in the strong arms as the rest of the Nein gathered by the water’s edge, chattering excitedly at the new development.
“You’re an Angel, Yasha.” Jester exclaimed happily, gesturing to her back. Technically, she was like maybe half an angel, but Beau certainly wasn't going to spoil this moment as the new wings silently flapped behind her in open invitation for more, Yasha taking notice after the rapid bombardment of questions that she was still hovering just above the water.
Grinning giddily to Beau in her arms, she gave the wings a quick experimental beat, raising the pair up an inch further into the air -a silent question.
Fuck yes -it was definitely the easiest question she'd ever been asked, sitting up to wrap her arms around Yasha’s neck in silent answer. Then, they were rising up; steadily higher and higher as the Barbarian flew them back up and over the cliff side to, the incredulous laughter from below barely audible near the rushing water they were now racing into the sky.
“This is incredible. You’re incredible.” Beau breathed in awe, still working on processing what was happening these last few minutes, and not quite noticing the glowing feathers vanishing away, the pair now up a ways into the sky.
Yasha noticed however, as a minute after the different feeling of casting out the now radiant wings, the feeling was disappearing along with them. “Uh oh, oh. It’s going away, it’s going away now.” she announced to the Human
“Oh.” Was about all Beau managed, a bit disappointed, as gravity then took back control over the pairs moment.
Until once again, Beau was falling -but now, at least Yasha was falling with her.
——— Aeor :-
“That’s it. We’re here!”
Beau was taking out of her expanding thoughts by an announcement.
“Ninth floor; come on guys.” Jester called out, gesticulating wildly; trying to swim her way over to the new opening, a flowing waterfall marking it. Fjord was quickly at her side, holding caduceus in one hand, her drifted the pair over toward the open maw.
A hand lightly grabbed her shoulders, recognising Caleb’s sleeve and in a familiar gesture at this point between the pair, she grabbed onto the hand and allowed herself to be drifted with him towards Yasha, the Aasimar grabbing the offered hand from Caleb before quickly swinging herself around him to hold onto Beau’s other hand; lightly squeezing it.
Muttering something under his breath in Zemnian that Beau couldn’t quite make out but could probably guess at, Caleb nevertheless pushed them both towards the rest of the group now gathered by the stream of rushing water coming from further inside.
Landing down at the same time as Essek shepherding Veth and Caduceus, Beau took the moments before landing to peer ahead.
Those two were somewhere in there; them or at the very least their goal was further in. She thought she felt the skin on her left hand, chest and neck crawl slightly at the revelation and to her side, Caleb shivered, rolling his shoulder and glancing at her -guess he had a similar reaction then.
A gloved hand touched her shoulder and now Yasha was standing between them, Beau could guessed the other hand was on Caleb’s 'good' shoulder. “We’ll all be alright. We’re going to stop this.” She said, turning to look at each of them but lingering her gaze on Beau, heterochromia eyes steady in conviction as they met Beau’s blue one.
“I promise.”
And despite the fear of what was to come - what Lucian and the Somnovem could potentially do to her and Caleb, she could believe her - that they would be alright.
Because even if Beau were to fall, Yasha would be there to catch her.