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“Cyrus, darling, would you care to accompany me on another trip to Blackthorne?” Oh? Did they track down that lantern?
Cyr grins as he looks up from his book. “Another Hezenquest?” He watches Em’s expression change in a moment. “Count me in!” He spies Kos coming around the corner at that moment, a smile on his face as he tries not to laugh.
“I’d appreciate it if you’d take this seriously, dearest.”
“Can I come on the Hezenquest, too?” Kos asks, attempting to keep a straight face. Cyr finds every single bit of it adorable.
Em sighs, “Yes, you can both come.” Em might be exasperated, but there’s still a spark of adoration in those eyes. “I hope to leave within the hour as the situation is becoming quite urgent.”
“Sure.” It won’t take Cyr long to change and gather his weapons, and he doubts Kos is any less proficient. “Meet you downstairs in ten?”
Cyr stays a few steps behind his boyfriends as they stroll up to the nifty Necromancer’s manor that clearly sounds like it’s hosting a party even from out here. Jim vibrates slightly against his skin. There’s something going on with the veil, then.
“We’ll need a way in.” Kos mumbles. Cyr spies a ladder on the balcony.
“Be right back.” He’s off, scrambling up the side in moments. Kos’ gaze follows him all the way up. Cyr turns, triumphant in his quest as he sees Manfred rush off. Wonder where he’s going.
Kos’ horns are the first thing to crest the balcony once he’s freed the ladder from it’s place. Cyr’s attention gets drawn to something below them. Something so achingly familiar that it rings of home and safety. Strange. What’s that doing here?
“You guys have any idea why it the air feels so buzzy here?” It’s not uncomfortable, not yet, but there’s something in his gut that really doesn’t like it.
“Well, I can sense a large amount of magic.” Kos mentions as he turns to help Em up the remaining few steps of the ladder. “I don’t… Notice a buzz, though I’m not exactly a necromancy expert yet.”
Em dusts himself off as he joins them. “There is a disturbance of the etheric matrix, no doubt partially do with the missing part of the Necropolis you’ve sensed below. We shall have to investigate further.” No. Cyr knows how that feels. This isn’t the same thing. If Em can’t feel it, then whatever this is is targeting Cyr specifically.
“Manfred!” He can at least make things seem normal. “How’s it feel to be on your first mission? You excited?” The skeleton hisses happily as he comes up beside them. If he’s not mistaken there was something different about that hiss. “So! What’s our first step? The party? The library?”
He trails off. Why are they staring at him? “What?”
“Dearest. Perhaps some focus would be advisable?” Em chides. Kos seems to agree.
"Lead the way." Cyr motions deeper into the mansion. "Then I can focus on two very handsome men while we figure out where we’re going."
His boyfriend’s give him that look but lead on. Cyr gives himself a chance to try to take his mind off things. It doesn’t work , but at least he has a fantastic view.
Stopping in front of the big main door of the party, his boyfriends start up again. “So we’re sending him in alone? I’m not sure I like this.”
“We must, Dearest. He will be the most inconspicuous of the four of us.” Em insists quietly. “I’m not fond of this idea either, but it’s our only option.”
Kos pats Manfred’s shoulder, “Please be safe, Dalen…” That strange not-quite-hiss sounds in affirmation.
He feels as though his entire body was being pricked gently by every sort of pin or needle. He knows his feet are moving, and he knows there’s something going on around him, but none of that seems important right now.
“Cyrus? Darling. Is everything alright?” He blinks, finding a pair of concerned expressions looking back at him.
“Fine? I’m fine…” How would they believe him if Cyr doesn’t even believe himself right now? “Sorry, what’s going on?” When did they get on the balcony overlooking the party?
“We need you here with us, Cyr.” His hand is in Kos’. His boyfriend squeezes his warmly. “We need to keep an eye on Hezenkoss. And Manfred.”
Cyr squeezes back. Kos is helping ground him more than he’d expected. “Al—alright.” His grip may be tighter than strictly necessary, but Kos doesn’t seem to mind.
Jim pulls his attention to one of the guests. Cyr cna't quiet hear what he's saying, but Jim has no such issue. "Haunted tome." Jim doesn't sound right. Something's definitly going on. Cyr finds the closest set of eyes to stare into. Kos is right there to keep him steady.
"A haunted tome, of course! It could lead us to the family shrine." Em leads the way confidently, focused on the task ahead. Kos pulls him along, keeping his hand firmly in Kos’ larger one. Cyr doesn’t pay much attention to Em’s explanation.
The further they get from that party, the more the buzz lessons. Jim nuzzles against his cheek, chirping in their shared language to express his concern.
"I know, but we have things to do." Cyr mumbles. Jim chirps more insistently. "You don't have to tell me that. I know."
"Know what?"
Cyr hesitates. Jim swims around him, demanding he tell them. "Let's find this tome and get going. I get the feeling we want to hurry." He can feel Kos watching him, concern washing over every spot those pretty grey eyes observe. Kos knows something’s up.
It doesn’t stop them from making their way down to the library to poke around. That unpleasant sensation lessons.
Kos picks up a book before jumping back. “This book just… Growled at me?” Cyr returns to his boyfriend’s side.
"Good!" Em applauds, "We've found it. Now it should be a simple matter of handing it off to Manfred so that it might be delivered to the proper party."
"We're going back?" Cyr regrets saying that the moment it came out.
"Darling? Is there something going on we should know about? You're never this hesitant."
"... Fine. Just... Just distracted." He can see they don't believe him.
"Cyr... do we need to stay back for the moment? Let Em handle this part?" Kos asks, gently handing the book to Em before closing the gap between. Kos gently cups his face, studying him closely.
Backed against the wall as he is, Cyr can't find a reason to refuse. Not when those pretty eyes and soothing touch have him locked in place. "I... I'm not sure..." He swallow roughly.
"What do you know?"
He tries to find his words. "That buzz--" Man, those eyes are distracting this close. "It digs deeper and deeper the closer I get to Hezenkoss. It's..." Why does Kos have to look at him like that? "Concerning and I don't know why."
Kos hums thoughtfully before glancing to Em for a moment. "Em... do you mind if we hang back a bit while you give Manfred the book?" Cyr doesn’t like being treated like something fragile, something that’s going to break with the slightest touch, but he knows his boyfriends just want the best for him.
"I'd prefer you weren't too far, dearests." Apprehension filled his features for a moment. "I wouldn't put it past her to try and separate us."
"A fair point..." Kos conceds. He turns back to Cyr. "If it gets worse let me know... alright love? And we'll stay nearby but away from the balcony as much as we can."
Cyr nods. He knows its the best they can do right now, but something still feels off about the situation and Cyr doesn't like it. "Okay." He may wrap himself around Kos' arm, but neither of them mention it.
Kos checks on him every so often as they make their way back to the balcony and Manfred. Em glances back to ensure they're still there.
They don't even get back to the balcony before that prickling sensation digs into him again. Jim chirps in his ears, frantic and upset. Kos pulls him in closer as he senses Cyr’s tension, backing away from the balcony as much as he dares. Still, they remain within sight of Em.
Cyr can’t keep staying near to this thing. He can feel something deep inside him starting to shift and it’s not a good thing. They need to leave.
Em appears a few feet from them, speaking with Kos. Manfred’s gotten them what they were looking for: The location of the family shrine.
"We're... Going down?" Cyr mumbles. He doesn't need an answer to know they're going to head towards that piece of the Necropolis he can feel somewhere below him.
Still, it's easier to focus the further away they get from that stupid party. Cyr manages to catch a few things here and there as they descend, but it's not until they find the corpse from the Stone Age that anything's particularly clear.
"Yes!" Manfred hisses. Cyr finds himself blinking in surprise. He was right. There was something weird about the hisses earlier.
Kos and Em stare in wonder beside him. It takes Em a few moments to return to discovering the location they need. The corpse is much more willing to give them the answer after Manfred’s little show. As Em lays the soul back to rest her turns excitedly to them. "Did you hear that?! Manfred spoke!"
"I know, Em." Kos smiles brightly, his eyes alight with excitement. "As much as I'd love to celebrate we still have to stop Hezenkoss." Kos glances back at him, the excitement flickering back to concern. "As quickly as possible."
"I'm okay Kos. It's... Better, this far from the party." He can tell the qunari doesn’t trust him, but there’s just enough hesitation that Cyr’s able to pull away and head deeper into the crypt.
That fragment of the Necropolis almost seems to hum below him... It... Is it humming in sync with his heartbeat? Doesn't it have a will of his own. Jim's suspiciously quiet. Weird. He's never this quiet.
Kos and Emmrich follow him deeper into the manor, quietly murmuring in concern for him with intermittent breaks of elation at Manfred's progress.
Then they hit the dead end. Kos stares at the wall for a long moment. "It's a door. Just... Well hidden. But I don't see a way to open it from this side..."
Cyr blinks, looking around. There’s plenty of bones here. He could probably wrench it open if he needs to. Then again, that would be disrespectful to the bones to damage them like that. He’ll keep in it mind as a backup plan if they can’t figure something else out.
“Manfred.” Em calls. “Would you mind squeezing through to the other side to look for a switch?”
“Yes!” It only takes a few moments before the door creaks open.
Cyr catches that bright smile on Kos' face. “Thank you, Dalen.” The softness in that tone is almost enough to make him forget all that’s been wrong since they got here. It’s enough to make Manfred hiss in delight as they continue on their way.
There’s a rickety old lift that Cyr very much does not want to go down. There’s something distinctly wrong down there that makes Cyr certain that something down there is going to hurt. Badly.
“Cyrus?” Em’s in front of him with concern in those caring eyes. “Is it sensation getting worse? Do we need to stop for a moment?” Kos’ hand lands on his back, steadying him.
“I’ll be okay… It’s just a bad feeling. Not a prickly one.”
“If you’re certain.” None of them are convinced. A running theme today, it seems. Even still, Cyr drags himself over to the lift so they can continue on this path. The lift freezes in place just as it clips past the door way for their stop. They have to crawl out.
Catacombs filled with undead span out before them. That damned lantern screams at him, demanding his attention as it makes it’s best attempt to latch on to his soul. He hates it here.
“Em? Kos?” His voice is barely there. Legs feel of jelly.
“Cyr?!”
“Cyrus?!”
That buzzing sinks deep into his bones. “I don’t like it here.” It’s unpleasant, like that time he got attacked by the three separate wasp nests shortly after leaving the Necropolis for the first time.
Biting his lip, Cyr steels himself and forces his path forward. It’s the only way out of this. They have to go this way no matter how much Jim whines or how bad Cyr feels. A few undead and spirits aren’t going to stop them.
Cyr doesn’t know what hits him first once the spirits were dispatched. Was it the pain of all the spirits in this area? The shrieks of those already affected by the lantern? Or was it the tingly, numb, ripping, tearing feeling rushing through every muscle and nerve fiber in his body as he became convinced in that single moment that he was physically and spiritually being torn apart? There‘s no way to tell for sure when the latter decides to take up all of his bandwidth.
“K-kos—“ He’s surprised it came out at all, actually, given that he’s not even sure he can repeat the feat. The room’s spinning, and his vision darkens even as Cyr tries his hardest to see his Qunari boyfriend.
He blinks, and he’s suddenly looking at the ceiling with a very worried Kos staring down at him. Those soft lips are moving, but Cyr can’t hear anything over the agony his body has decided to put him through. It’s all Cyr can do to lie there and focus on his pretty eyes. He hurts so much that he can barely think, but at least he has such a sight to keep him company in his agony.
A pitiful whine rips from his throat as his vision whites and every sensation grows that much worse. Whatever’s happening might actually tear him apart with enough of Cyr’s rapidly dwindling time. They’ve already survived one unlikely scenario, it’s unlikely Cyr’s lucky enough to survive this time.
He tries for a smile and to mouth the word ‘sorry’, but it’s impossible to tell if either of those made it through. He’s going to die here. It may hurt more than he has the words for, but at least it’s peaceful enough in the embrace of his boyfriend. A shame Em’s not here to hold him, too.
It’s a shame he won’t be reaching the ultimate state of existence, but this is good enough for him.
A cool familiarity spreads from his legs to over his body. “Kadan! Hold on, please!” His wonderful, handsome Kos has never used Kadan before. It warms something in him, soothing the innumerable hurts in his body enough for Cyr to fall into the bliss of unconsciousness.
Too much was happening. They can’t attack Johanna because of the lantern. They can’t do anything for Cyrus because of the giant creature Johanna’s controlling. And they can’t do anything about the soul-siphoning going on because of the aforementioned lantern and giant metallic skeleton.
“Emmrich!” Kostara’s frantic voice calls, breaking through the haze of worry and frustration demanding to swallow Emmrich whole. “We need to do something. Cyr’s getting worse by the moment!” He looks to see that handsome face being swallowed up and hidden behind Jim’s face, even as pain furrows Cyrus’ brow.
He doesn’t understand why Johanna’s ritual is affecting their dearest more than everyone else. There’s no reason Emmrich can think of for Cyrus to be so affected when he and Kostara are still managing alright.
They need to get that lantern. “I help!” Manfred!? No! He can’t let Manfred go!
“Manfred!” Emmrich calls, reaching for the curious spirit even though he’s long passed Emmrich’s reach. He’s left to watch as time seems to slow. There’s no way for Emmrich to move fast enough to retrieve him.
Manfred moves swiftly, climbing up to pry the lantern from its spot with ease before he slips and falls to the floor. He hesitates for just a moment before tossing the lantern to Emmrich as the creatures giant hand comes to swipe at the skeleton. He catches it, only to look at the pair of men he’s come to think of as his beloved.
Kos gives him a determined look. “You can do this.” He can. He just has to get to work. It may hurt to pull all the angry, wounded spirits from their prison inside the lantern, but he’s certain it’s nothing compared to what his dear Cyrus is feeling at this moment. He’s fine. He can handle it.
“Volkarin you fool! Do you have any idea what you—“ A scream breaks out as he watches Johanna’s body fall and disintegrate under the assault of the spirits she’s tortured to get this far. A pity she wouldn’t see reason, but this does make it easier to deal with her.
“Kostara, dearest? Would you be alright carrying dear Cyrus? I fear we must take Manfred back to the Necropolis.” The Qunari nods solemnly, collecting the elf in his arms and adjusting until he’s comfortable.
There’s something distinctly wrong with Cyrus, but no matter how familiar it feels he can’t put his finger on it.
Emmrich sighs, exhausted and weary, but far too worried about Cyrus to get any real rest. It’s been weeks! And all they’ve learned after checking in with Vorgoth and the Necropolis is that dear Cyrus has a lot more going on than Emmrich would have ever dreamed!
Soul fragments! Who would have thought! He knew the Necropolis had been less inclined to shuffle about its rooms for the past two decades or so, but he would have never thought it aligned with Cyrus coalescing into this world!
Emmrich had sensed that Cyrus wasn’t nearly as elven as most he’d met, but to be more spirit than man? Fascinating. To think! Their Cyrus has the same—
A thought occurs to Emmrich as a yawn rips from his throat. The Necropolis wisps are simply smaller fragments whereas Cyr, and by relation Jim, are much larger, more complex ones. Hezenkoss knew this, and thus decided to try to steal at least part of Cyrus’ soul by ripping his souls fragments apart and usurping a few for herself. Which means that much like the wisps in the Necropolis, Cyrus’ is out of alignment…
“Emmrich?” Kos asks tiredly. “You look like you figured something out?”
“We need to realign his fragments… If this was a wisp… But no, we can’t— But what about— Kostara, dearest. How familiar are you with the various receptacles we use in the Necropolis to help the wisps?”
Kostara blinks at him. “… Why?”
“If we understand the enchantments we use with the wisps, we could then use them as a base to create an enchantment to help our dearest.” Kostara’s exhaustion heavy eyes widen as a few half formed thoughts spill from his mouth.
“Let me see what I can get down, and we can go from there?” Emmrich smiles at him. “While I’m doing this, take a nap?” And here he was going to recommend the same for him.
Emmrich strolls over to pick up Kostara’s hand, kissing his knuckles. “Only if you follow me once you’ve gotten that written down. Else, I might just have to wait here to ensure you get some rest.” In other circumstances, Emmrich would have intervened sooner, but he’d be a hypocrite to chastise Kostara for doing the same thing he is.
Kostara turns that little extra bit of grey blue, clearly affected by the loving gesture. “Fine. I’ll finish this, then let you drag me off to bed.” It’s a fair enough compromise. Neither of them wants to waste time sleeping while Cyrus deteriorates a little more each day, but they desperately need sleep if they are to continue functioning.
While he waits, Emmrich proceeds with stripping down to his sleep clothes. He may truly be exhausted from avoiding sleep for who knows how long, but it would be improper to sleep in the clothes he’s been wearing for days.
It’s a simple matter to slip back in to keep an eye on Kostara. His dearest will continue working if Emmrich goes to bed without him. The Qunari clearly sees him reenter, shakes his head slightly, and puts his pencil down.
“Fine. I’m done for now.” Kostara stands, sends a concerned glance to their Cyrus, and decides to plant a kiss on the unconscious man’s forehead before joining Emmrich. “Lead on.”
“I do hope you’re planning on changing before getting into bed with me.” Kostara sighs, heading off to do that much, if nothing else. It’s a few moments before Kostara is ready, and they stumble their way over to their bed.
“I’ve got something!” Kostara grins. “I think it’ll work!” Emmrich starts from where he was plotting his own spell.
“Excellent! Shall we test it?” His dearest hesitates for a moment before nodding. “I’ll be right here the entire time, Kostara. If something goes wrong, I’ll be able to shut it down or redirect the magic before it hurts Cyrus.”
His dear is cautious, but Emmrich has faith that whatever he’s come up with will be enough to help their love. He watches as Kostara takes a deep breath, then pulls at his magic. He watches as magic flows around them and over to Cyrus, and as Kostara’s newer green horn replacement glows slightly with the effort.
The door opens, though Emmrich pays it little mind even as Francesca lurks at the edges of the room, waiting and watching. Instead, he’s more focused on Kostara’s spell and the effect it’s having on dear Cyrus.
Jim slides away just enough to reveal Cyrus’ face. Those heterochromatic eyes crack open just enough to show off. If Emmrich’s not mistaken, Cyrus’ eyes are glowing slightly.
“Kadan!” Kostara whispers. Emmrich can feel the magic around Cyrus shifting back into its place. There’s something unsteady about it, however. Emmrich focuses on the way the magic shifts and how it’s interacting. The threads that make up all of Cyrus’ little pieces slip past each other, only a few catching where they should.
“Give it a little more.” His dear Kostara adds a bit more magic into the mix. Emmrich studies the effect, noting the threads starting to weave together slowly. It will work, then. It’ll just take enough exposure. “Think you can hold it for a few minutes?” His qunari paramor nods.
Those threads continue their progress for every moment Dearest Kostara continues his spell. It’s impressive how steady his darling is. There’s not many mages capable of holding such a complex spell for this long, let alone ones with a limited knowledge of necromancy. It’s easy to see how Kostara’s captured their hearts when he’s focused like this.
“I’m at my limit.” Kostara states.
“It’s alright, darling. You can let it go.” Emmrich keeps an eye on the threads holding their dearest Cyrus together. A sour taste invades his mouth as he’s forced to watch those same threads unravel faster than they reconnected. “We’ve confirmed this spell will work. That’s a start. The next step would be to make a more permanent version.”
Francesca finally slips from the shadows. “How?”
Emmrich considers the question. “Ideally, with an enchantment on something he’s not going to take off. Semi-permanant would be best, but--”
“Jewlery, then.” Francesca mentions. “A ring? Bracelet? Choker? Something you Watchers wouldn’t take off much.”
Kostara’s hesitant voice breaks through. “Earrings.” His lover turns to him, gaze harder. “I know you’re uncomfortable doing something to him without asking, but do we really have many choices?”
“He’s got a point.” He’s not so sure. “Cyr can be mad about it when he’s recovered enough to be mad. Until then, he doesn’t get a choice.”
Emmrich sighs. “Fine. I’ll relent. Now, we need to acquire the materials—“
“I’ll be back.” Francesca slips out without another word.
His dearest Kostara comes to stand in front of him, wrapping his arms around Emmrich’s waist and touching his forhead to his. “I know this is hard for you, Kadan. But this is what’s best for Cyr.”
“I’m not comfortable with altering someone else’s body when they’re not able to consent to it.” He knows they don’t have many choices and even fewer resources.
“I know.” Kostara’s lips brush against his forehead. “But the alternative is letting Cyr get worse until he eventually dies. I’m not saying you can’t be uncomfortable with this, I am, too. But I’m not willing to lose him because my own feelings got in the way.”
His darling Kostara’s correct. “Alright.” He earns a small smile, then a warm, needy kiss.
“No, not like that.” Ches states. “Cyr is more of a stud guy, not a hoop guy.”
“You think? I think they’d still look good on him.” Kos’ face might be a little warm, but that’s hardly relevant.
“Trust me.” Ches takes his pen, doodling another design. “Besides, wouldn’t using this configuration make the enchantment a bit more stable since it has more anchors?” Three little black studs on each of Cyr’s ears would be attractive.
“…Fine. Help me shape these.” Ches smirks, handing him a bracelet that Ches just happened to have.
Cyr blinks awake, tired and exhausted, but distracted by something he can’t quite place. There’s… Something off. What is it?
“Kadan! You’re awake!” That’s… Kos, to his side. Cyr’s gaze flicks over to his boyfriend and… What… What color is that? He doesn’t know, but Kos’ eyes are so pretty.
Tears prick at his eyes before he’s even fully processed what he’s seeing. “Vhenan? What’s wrong?” Cyr brings a heavy arm up to cup Kos’ cheek, taking in his features hungrily. There’s… Color. So much that he’s never seen before. He doesn’t even know what they are, but he doesn’t want to look away.
He smiles. “Your eyes are so pretty.” His handsome, beautiful Kos grows a bit darker at his words. “What color are they?” Kos struggles to find his words for the longest moment before finally managing to stammer something out.
“O-orange…” Cyr smiles. That might be his favorite color so far, even if he’s only seen a few.
“Ah! Cyrus, darling! You’re awake!” He turns to his other boyfriend, finding even more colors he’s never seen before. “How do you feel? Is anything amiss?” Emmrich’s so covered in color that it’s starting to give Cyr a headache, but he refuses to look away.
“I feel fine.” He manages easily enough, pushing himself up into a sitting position. Jim merps at him before adjusting into a more comfortable position in his lap. “Though, apparently, I can see in color now.” He pauses, taking in his surroundings even as he catches Em’s eyes twinkle with amusement. “What happened?”
The air shifts to something more solemn as he becomes aware of a slight sting in his ears. Rubbing at them, he finds three small, enchanted stones on each ear. Piercings. But why are they enchanted?
“About that… We need to talk.” Kos never sounds like that. Clearly, something important’s come up that’s vital for Cyr to know.
“Okay.” He agrees. “But first, I’d like a drink.”
Kos smiles at him, soft and sweet and so relieved that Cyr has a moment of doubt.”Sure. Whatever you say, Cyr.” Kos squeezes him tightly, planting a few warm kisses before regretfully pulling away to retrieve refreshments. In his place, Em sits much closer then strictly necessary, reveling in his presence.
“You worried us, Dearest.” Em laces his fingers with Cyr’s even though Cyr knows he wants nothing more than to repeat Kos’ loving assault.
“I know. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been so insistant on moving forward like that.” Leaning into the older man, Cyr’s pleased to find Em wrapping an arm around his shoulder, planting a singular soft kiss to the top of his head.
Peaking out from behind the door, Ches shoot him a relieved glance with a promise to meet up with him later. Cyr has every intention to keep that promise.