Work Text:
Surrounded by the astral sea, the demon spreads its arms. ‘To hell if I let this fucker kill these people and I without a fight.’ And Kearo throws his javelin at Eater of Hope.
Devotion pulls back the feathery purple robe, showing the mark on his chest, the same mark the other four at the table have. His brain offers the unhelpful thoughts of ‘just got paid’ and ‘at a brothel’ as Kearo tears his eyes away from the bare skin of the handsome man. ‘Gods give me strength, there are more important things to worry about than the last time I fucked.’ He scolds himself.
The five of them are standing in front of Robert. “Last night something crazy happened. I have an anti-magic bubble around here, and something lit up around a lot of places, five different places.” Kearo pulls his shirt back to reveal the mark they shared, but his mind runs. He was not in the kingdom when he had the dream. Does that mean Robert can detect the lingering effect of the enchantment? And the chances of summoning the exact five who were involved at the same time? But Robert has been good to them. Given him and Agadall a place to lay low. Questioning him now would lead to nothing good.
“A gift, for sharing your food.” Kearo watches as Tifka places a glyph of Agis on Devotion. Kearo’s heart aches when Tifka explains the protection spell, asking for consent before touching him. And when the rune fades and they go to part ways, Kearo finds himself lingering. ‘He has talent. They would want to see it, and he could learn much. My own mistakes should not get in the way of others' progress.’ So Kearo tells them to visit the Oasis. Should they learn about Kearo’s past there, well, they aren’t traveling with him.
Blood magic. A chill runs down Kearo’s spine as he watches the magic slip from Basil’s fingertips, puppeting the corpse in a cruel imitation of life, manipulating it to strike down its former compatriot. Kearo has long since become accustomed to death, but the sight brings a foul taste as he thinks of Miara, of Thiago, of those he cared about and couldn’t protect. The way Basil plays with life as if it is nothing. He has no protests when Basil and Agadall decide to travel ahead with the sand sail, though part of him can’t help but feel betrayed by Agadall.
“I trust you more than any of these rich fuckers.” Cici says as she hands Kearo her gun. He nods as he safely tucks it away, being sure to show her where it is. Though he keeps his face serious, he can’t help but think of the irony. ‘I could have been considered a rich fucker at one point too, huh?’
He has seen Agadall in some rough states, but seeing him now, after two days of torture from Stevonius Darzo… His mind is swirling with emotions. Worry for Agadall, yes, but also anger at Basil for letting Agadall be taken, anger at Stevonius for the torture, anger at Agadall for not being able to stay out of trouble. The beginnings of respect for Basil for the contract deal. But more than anything, relief that Agadall is okay. ‘We need him to find out what is connecting the five of us. And he’s my boss. That’s it.’ He tells himself.
“Us nerds can tell who each other are. You might be beefy, but I can tell you’re well read.” Russel and his research were fascinating. ‘If only he knew just how well read I was.’ Kearo muses. He had forgotten just how refreshing it was to speak to a fellow researcher.
Agadall has tasked Kearo with teaching Devotion “everything”. He’s rusty, but he has experience teaching. He’s probing, trying to get an idea of where to begin, when Devotion responds in a way that cuts off his thoughts. “I’ve never been asked what I wanted before.” They have barely known each other for two weeks, but in this moment, Kearo is filled with injustice and anger. ‘Devotion deserves so much better than this.’ So he does what he can. The lessons are more risque than he would’ve done back at the oasis, but Devotion does learn, and Kearo takes pride in that.
He and Agadall? Together? Romantically? He’s barely had time to process before the words are slipping out of his mouth. “No, I do not like to mix work and pleasure.” Agadall is attractive, yes, but the thought of having something more… He had been grieving when they met. ‘It wouldn’t be fair to pursue that kind of relationship with anyone. Much less the man I work for.’
Two times. Two times on this damned island he’s re-lived Miara’s death. It’s almost a relief when Basil turns into Eater of Hope. It gives him something else to focus on. And when they survive the fight, there are endless questions to be answered. The mistakes of the past, well, he’ll continue to shove that guilt down.
They are at the Alexion Reserve. It’s not much compared to what he is used to, but it’s better than nothing. It makes sense that information on fate weavers is not made public, he should have expected that. Should have been prepared when asked who he was affiliated with. He curses himself as he moves onto research rifts instead. Old habits die hard.
Kearo is in the Alexion Valley, purchasing flares for their upcoming heist, and his eyes land on a spool of copper wire. He hesitates. He hasn’t done magic in a long time. ‘It’s just a message spell. A cantrip. One of the first things you learned. It may help your new friends.’ He buys it and shoves it deep, deep into his bag.
‘Fate has a cruel sense of humor.’ He is the Hippo’s Eye, freshly commandeered by Agadall. There is a nothic below deck, and he’s learning how to do boat stuff. A month ago, he couldn’t have envisioned this, yet here he was.
“I know you distrust magic, but hold onto this for me and promise to us it if you need it.” Kearo stares at the wild magic card left in the note from Devotion. His head is filled with thoughts, but one in particular floats to the front of his mind. ‘I didn’t get to teach him to dance.’
“Just ignore it.” Agadall commands. For a moment, Kearo does, staring right past the towering column of smoke, ignoring the wreckage. ‘...I cannot let an innocent life pass because of my inaction.’ So he ignores orders and looks. Sees an elf. Begs Agadall to allow him on board. It may not be a great fate for the poor soul, but the chance for life… That is not a choice that should be decided for you.
He was intrigued by the iron sphere. By the choice of command word. Kearo has so many questions, but Mutt trusts him. Prying into the specifics would damage that.
Agadall splits from the group to board the ship. Kearo couldn’t just let him go alone and get killed. They’ve saved each other so many times, had each other’s backs. He couldn’t just abandon Agadall now.
Pain is muted when he goes into his focused rage. He can take a few more hits if it means gaining an advantage over his opponent. He was used to that, used to the pain. Nothing could have prepared him for this. The blade cutting into the flesh of his arm, continuing through the bone, until his arm hit the boards beneath him, the thud of the limb echoing, the only thing Kearo could hear, could think of as Agadall teleported them away. They are greeted by the sight of Mutt going feral. Kearo didn’t think his stomach could drop further. He stumbles towards the abandoned bag, throwing the ball. Watching it fail, and Agadall knocking the lycanthrope unconscious. Overwhelmed with the feeling of failure.
Again, Kearo cannot help but think of how cruel fate is. Knowing that he must return home to learn the information they need looms over him the entire journey to Pangru. ‘We need this information. I need to tell them, even if they do not forgive me.’ And telling them about Miara hurt. He hadn’t spoken about the events out loud before. He had betrayed his family. He couldn’t betray his friends, he had to tell them the truth, no matter how much it hurt or what would happen to him. His own fate didn’t matter.
He distracts himself from the dread of returning home by focusing on the puzzle that is Mutt. The drow’s past raises many questions, and Kearo wants to unravel that mystery. It’s better than contemplating what may occur as the oasis, and perhaps it is his love for puzzles, but Kearo finds himself drawn to Mutt.
‘We will be traveling through the desert. This is not something any of them are used to. Having magical shelter would be extremely beneficial.' He knew he had the capabilities of learning the spell. He took the lesson with Leo, and fell back into the rhythm of research and learning. Focusing on the bead, casting the hut, dispelling it, and repeating the process. It was going excellently. Until it wasn’t. ‘You were fine casting other magic too, but you still killed Miara. She trusted you. It’s your fault. Just one mistake is all it takes. You killed her.’ The thoughts swell and his stomach rolls until he is emptying the contents of his stomach, retching until there is nothing left. No one seems to notice when the spell takes longer than strictly necessary to be cast the first few nights after that.
“Just modify my memory.” Mutt insists. For him to be willing to take that burden… At this moment, Kearo doesn’t care about unraveling Mutt’s past, doesn’t care about his own hesitance on the magic. ‘I will not let him be alone in this. No matter what he thinks, this isn’t okay. This is a burden he does not need to bear.’ So they agree to Mabel’s original terms. And when the magic washes over him, he dimly observes that he doesn’t flinch as much as he did a few months ago.
It is a strange feeling, fighting alongside his uncle. ‘Is this the sort of stuff he refused to tell us about when we were children?’ There were a lot of questions to be asked, and a lot of questions to be answered.
‘She knew the entire time.’ The feeling of guilt washes over him as Kearo looks at the orbs representing him and his siblings. It is followed by the overwhelming question of ‘Why?’. But they must continue on.
He stares at the potion he was handed, confused. Is it to be drunk by him? Applied to his blade as a poison? Thrown?? Tio, as always, leaving much to be assumed. ‘Please let this be what I am meant to do.’ Kearo silently prays as he bites the cork off the bottle and chugs the liquid.
‘How do you even keep something like that a secret?? Wait, is that why that dragon on cracked shell talked to me like that?’ His mind is flooded with questions, but those all fade as he watches the crystals melt away and he sees his family for the first time in over 30 years. There will be time for explanations later.