you are only pretentious if you are not sincere.

to darius , hair isn’t just a look ? it’s memory . the cornrows are the same style his mother used to braid for him , even when she was sick , even when it demanded strength she didn’t have . it was one of the only quiet things in his childhood . steady hands , soft moments , nothing loud , nothing breaking … keeping it now is his way of holding onto that .

it’s control , too !! in a way his powers will never be . having his hair done / doing his hair takes time , patience , precision ? it can’t be rushed , can’t be forced . for someone who lives on the edge of reaction / fight rather than flight , of burning hot and fast ! this process grounds him . it makes him sit still . breathe . exist , without needing to fight something .

red lantern. she's more familiar with green, by reputation at least. red signifies—what?

<< WRATH. >>

if she weren't hovering three hundred feet in midair, she would shiver. it sounds biblical. funny word, for a looney tunes acme gag.

scarab wants her to get closer to the tech, to scan it for more information—to see if it's still functional, to fly in guns blazing, to attack the lantern before he attacks them.

scarab, i can't understand you when you blare multiple alerts at me at once! and she can't deal with it right now. can't, or won't. as the ringing in her ears from the tech's crash dims, her heart rises back up into her throat. shit, shit, shit—she flies to the windows she shattered. the office space inside looks like a bomb blasted inward.

alice tries to shake off her shock.

"is anyone hurt?"

she'll just—she'll—she'll carry them down to the street one at a time, if she has to, and hope that gets them to the emts faster. all right. she's not the only one here anymore, though. if the red lantern can make an anvil, could he lift them down in a lifeboat big enough to hold everyone?

"help!" she shouts to be heard. "i need help over here!"

the shout never reached him . not as words , anyway . just another disturbance in the chaos below : falling glass , shifting debris , movement where there shouldn’t be any . darius caught it in passing , his gaze flicking sideways in time to see the armoured figure veer back into the shattered building instead of away from it . his expression tightened faintly , irritation threading through the steady burn behind his eyes . “ … brilliant , ” he muttered under his breath .

not a civilian──── too controlled , too fast … and still choosing THAT moment to dive into a collapsing structure while the thing in the street was actively trying to rebuild itself . of course they did .

he exhaled through his nose , sharp and quiet , and dragged his attention back down . the crater answered with a deep , grinding groan . the anvil shuddered where it pinned the machine , its edges flickering as pressure built beneath it──── then it moved , with a cold , mechanical intent . panels split and unfolded into bracing limbs , forcing space , redistributing the force pressing down on it . the street cracked further under the strain .

darius’ jaw set . “ oh , for fucks … ” the irritation settled in properly now──── dense , focused . not explosive . worse than that . the red glow around him deepened , bleeding outward in thin , volatile strands as he lowered slightly in the air , one hand lifting , fingers spreading as he felt the resistance through the construct . “ stay . down . ” his hand closed , and the anvil slammed again ; harder , reinforced with raw force . asphalt collapsed further , dust erupting upward in a choking burst .

BY AZAR . . . Raven was hitting one obstacle after another. This feeling lodged hard in the back of her throat. It was choking her no matter how hard she tried to hack it up. The memory burned red, a searing iron branding itself onto her passive thoughts. She made her way through the hallways, sticking to the shadows through the turns and straight paths.

Collaborations with new members, Titans or otherwise, were always a test. Regulation during meditation were a given. Low-hanging fruit. A challenge posed at her self-control didn't intimidate her. Until now. She closed her eyes and his face awaited her. Rage settled deep in every line on his face. It felt familiar enough to resemble an unsettling comfort that recognition and nostalgia could only offer. That suffocating emotion reminder her of her father.

Raven determined drawing that line of similarity even inadvertently was a huge injustice to the red lantern. She sought him out, cape shrouding over her body and hood drawn over her head, without a plan in place. Apologies? Interrogations? Neither felt exactly right but an encounter felt like an empty promise that she'd be released from thinking about him.

the med bay hummed low and steady──── a sterile quiet that never quite settled in his chest . everything felt too clean , too bright ; polished metal , stark white light , the sharp edge of antiseptic clinging to the air , trying to disguise what the room was really for . damage . aftermath . it had never suited him .

darius hadn’t taken a bed . instead , he leaned against a steel counter , weight angled forward as if sitting might imply something he refused to admit . his boots remained planted , ready────always ready────even now . his shirt lay discarded somewhere behind him , leaving the wound exposed beneath the unforgiving lights . it wasn’t clean . a shallow tear stretched along his side , jagged enough to reopen if he moved wrong . dark blood clung stubbornly to the edges , resisting rather than flowing . red lantern blood , acidic , corrosive even . made medical intervention near impossible .

his grip tightened around a small bottle──── saline ? or something close enough … before he tilted it . a quiet hiss broke the silence as the liquid bit into the wound , reacting as though it were correcting something unnatural . faint steam curled upward and vanished . it didn’t look like cleaning . it looked like conflict . his jaw set , but he didn’t stop , pouring again with measured control . the sting deepened , catching his breath for a moment before he forced it steady again , reducing pain to something manageable .

rarely was anyone truly at her eye level, and she preferred it that way. the quickest way to command a room was to stand tall with confidence after all, and what kind of performer was she if she didn’t add in a few extra inches to her costuming?

but from their few encounters, she noticed he was not like that.

for a man of his stature, he shied away from space ──── shrank into it. even now as he laid on the cot did he seem small. but it was a man like this who stood  firm  not  too  unlike  a  tree  rooted  in  place when coming to her aid & it was a man like this who had gotten a targaryen to rescind his accusations.

smaller when it came to himself, taller when it came to others.

on the crimson soaked field, she first met his eyes before the blow. he stood tall ──── like he did when he came into the performance tent swinging ──── sitting ’pon his horse, a spitting image of a fairy tale knight.   it  juxtaposed  the  awkward  image  of  his  lanky  height  next  to  his  tiny  squire  the  small  prince  from  all  the  times  before.   here,   his  eyes  were  a  piercing  blue,   pinning  down  the  nobles  and  peasants  alike;   she  was  not  the  target  of  his  pleading,   but  the  tide  pulls  her  in  regardless.   the  second  time  was  after  the  crowd  was  so  certain  that  death  had  come  for  him.   had  her  hand  not  been  injured,   it  would’ve  been  balled  up  with  her  knuckles  tightly  wound.

the  memory  hurts,   but  does  her  no  harm ──── and yet,  yet  … 

“ i  hope  you  saw  the  good,  and  turned  away  for  the  bad  … ” but  there  was  no  curtains  drawn  for  his  performance.   NO  TRICKS   ／   NO GIMMICKS:   only  the  honest,   brutal  violence  a  trial  could  bring.  a  raven’s  cry  carried  overtop  the  held  breath  of  the  crowd,   and  part  of  her  thought  him  a  good  thespian.   their  attention,  her attention,  was  solely  monopolized  by  him. to  look  away  would  be  to  ignore  injustice.   they  had  already  done  it  once  with  her,   and  tanselle  would  be  no better  than  them if  she  did  the  same  to  him.   and  so  she  watched. no  matter  the  amount  of  strikes,   no  matter  the  battering,   he  never  yielded.   his  figure  tremored  under  the  force  of  his  own  blows;  an  angered  bull  denied  its  charge,  all  forward  and  no  grace.   the  cracks  of  bone  heard  even  from  the  back  of  the  crowd.

“ my  finger?  you  ought  to  worry  about  yourself  first,  ser. ”   footsteps  as  quaint  as  a  tomcat’s,   she  closed  the  distance  with  little  hesitance  now.   she  did  not  pull  away,  and  from  here,   she  could  see  the  firelight  flicker  orange  across  his  bruised  face,   across  the  tightness  in  his  jaw,   across  fingers  that  looked  not  all  too  dissimilar  to  her  own.

his  voice  was  rough,   and  his  concern  was  heard  the  way  one  hears  the  cracked  string  of  a  lute  ────  not  loud,   but  unmistakable.   “ i  told  myself, ”  she  began,   voice  low,   steady,   as  though  she  was  placing  something  fragile  between  them.   “ just  one  look.   one  glance.   i  needed  to  see  you  before  i──  …  i  left.   i  could  not  walk  to  dorne  with  your  sentencing  looming  over  my  mind. ”   a  shift  &  her  fingers  curl  around  his  this  time,   fabric  slipping  away  from  him  and  replaced  by  flesh,   deliberate  &  warm.

violence  did  not  look  comfortable  on  him,   he  did  not  carry  it  with  the  same  arrogance  other  knights  did.   she  recognized  it  though.   recognized  the  way  survival,   when  repeated  too  often,  begins  to  look  like  guilt.   had  it  been  any  other  knight  of  the  realm,   tanselle  was  sure  the  first  words  from  their  mouths  would  not  be  so  selfless  like  his.   she’d  be  pushed  to  compensate,   to  pay  back  for  the  righteous  deed.

but  he  only  asked  if  she  was  well.

“ i  am  fine,   thankfully  only  one  broke. ”   her  throat  felt  dry,   and  words  were  left  unspoken.   it  broke  by  the  joint,    on  her  good  hand  too.   she  wouldn’t  be  able  to  man  her  puppets  or  paint  or  so  much  as  step  on  stage  until  it  heals.  her  finger  did  not  hurt  as  much  as  her  pride.   “ gods,   they  broke  you  to  pieces. ”  her  free  hand  reached  down,   gently  cupping  the  side  of  his  face  as  her  thumb  traced  under  the  dagger  cut  eye.

all  men  are  fools,   and  all  men  are  knights. so  where  does  that  leave  her?

words had a way of cutting deeper than steel when a man had no guard left to raise against it . [ i should leave before they come back . ] the meaning settled in him slow and heavy , like something sinking through water . the tent seemed to draw in around it . smaller . tighter . as though her absence had already begun to take shape in the space she stood in . dunk felt his breath falter where the bindings crossed his ribs . just a hitch──── small . stubborn … the sort that scraped on the inside and would not pass clean . his chest rose shallow after it , wary of the next pull of air . the hand she held gave a faint twitch in hers , only answering something in him that had heard the leaving before the rest of him could catch up to it .

his eye stayed on her . he did not look to the tent flap behind her . did not look to the dark where she would vanish into . if he did , he thought he might see it happen before it did , and that would be worse . his throat worked . dry . stiff . the words came up against it and lodged there , tangled . he swallowed once , and it dragged . twice , and it hurt . his mouth parted anyway .

“ … tanselle . ”

it came out low . rough . thinner than he meant it to be . her name sat strange on his tongue , as though it had been kept too long behind his teeth and gone stiff for want of use . he had more to say . he knew he did . he could feel it there , pressing , crowding up against his ribs worse than the bindings [ stay , a bit longer ... ]────only until the quiet did not press so hard against his ears . only until the memory of baelor in his arms lost some of its heat . his fingers shifted against hers . slow . uncertain . they curled just enough to feel the shape of her hand proper , to remind himself she was not some trick of a battered skull . the wanting of it rose in him sudden and sharp enough to steal what little breath he had . not a grand want . not a selfish one , he would have told himself . only a man asking not to be left alone with ghosts . only──── … his hand loosened . the effort of it showed in the set of his jaw , in the way the cords stood briefly along his neck before easing again . he drew in a breath too shallow to ease him , held it a moment , then let it go slow through his nose as though it might take the wanting with it .

“ you──── you … ought to go , ” he managed after a moment , the words catching once halfway through , forced out around the tightness in his chest . they came quiet . near a whisper , but not for want of meaning . “ yer right , ” he paused , breath hitching again , ribs protesting the strain of it . he waited it out , jaw set , before finishing , softer still , “ i won’t risk you … not agai——— … ” he did not finish that either . he had not the breath to spare for all that had happened . his gaze dipped then , not away from her entirely but to where her hand rested in his . smaller . warmer . hurt where he had failed to be quick enough . his thumb moved once along the edge of her palm , light as he could make it .

“ i’d not have them trouble you more , ” he went on , voice roughening as it wore thin . “ not fer me . ” he tried to shift then , to sit a little straighter as if to prove the truth of it , as if he were whole enough to be left . the cot gave a low creak beneath him . pain answered quick and bright , biting deep under the bindings . it stole the next breath from him entirely . his shoulders tensed hard against it , a sharp inhale cut short in his throat before he could stop it . for a moment he went still with it , eyes closing tight as he rode it out in silence .

when it eased , it left him weaker for it . he settled back the inch he had gained , breath coming thin through parted lips before he forced it quiet again . “ did anyone see you come ? ” he asked after a beat , grasping for something steadier , something he could hold to without slipping . “ egg said he’d watch , but … he’s a boy yet . boys miss things . ” a faint swallow . “ and knights … ” his mouth bent a fraction , tired more than bitter . “ knights see what suits ’em most times . ” his eye flicked again to her wrapped hand . “ that finger … you’ll … you’ll not manage a────uh , a puppet easy with it so . ” he drew in another careful breath , slower this time , measured . “ hopeful you’ll heal , dorne’s a long way … enough to put “ [ me ] “ all this behind . ”

his gaze lifted back to her face . steadier now , if only because he held it there by will . “ keep your hood low .” his brow pulled faintly , the motion tugging at the bruised skin there . “ stay near yer folk──── you ,.. you know all this . sorry . ” so much he wanted to say , so short the leash he’d put on .  he fell quiet then . the tent breathed around them , canvas shifting soft in the wind . somewhere beyond , a murmur of distant voices . far enough . not yet a threat . the air inside felt close . thick with iron and herbs and all the things left unsaid between them . “ i sent the poppy away , ” he said after a long stretch , the words low enough they might have been meant for the space between them rather than for her .

his hand stilled entirely in hers .

I CAN HELP . . . Elly could finally release that breath she held onto like a lifeline. She wasn't blessed with brute strength, but she had just enough to keep herself together when she needed to. Whatever she had in the reserve tank was both gasoline and glue. She was used to stretching it as thin as she needed to and going at it alone. Even now, putting one foot in front of the other required all of her focus poured into every step.

"Thank you," she said in return. Once she could lean on Kai, she could see a truth she hadn't discovered on her on before. Taking inventory of her injuries became a lot easier when all of her energy wasn't poured into keeping the rest of her upright. The calcified fatigue ran deeper than the fresh wounds. She'd been tired for so long prior to finding someone this eager to help her. People like them shone like mirror fragments reflecting each other's compassion. Their compassion built over old scars, callousing until it resembled armor to wear. All she knew was that he showed up every time fear struck her heart. That fear was never just being trampled at the race track or killed by the giants. Above all, she feared being alone.

"It's so soon after the last breach too," she noted. She gagged over memory of their slain foes as if their scent was still lodged in the back of her mouth. After clearing her throat, she also loosened her grip on his shirt. It was easier to find her center of balance with him by her side. The tallest tree of the forest no longer sang at night, but its presence was welcomed nonetheless. The time it took to walk back might've rivaled the trek out with her limping dragging him down. If the circumstances were better, she would've preferred this night stroll because of the company.

something in him slipped out of alignment──── just as he forced himself to remain whole , to stand solid … a wall where there could be no weakness . that was what elly needed , what he had promised to be . the thought curdled now , bitter in the back of his mind . his body , traitorous and titanic , failed him in quiet ways … yet answered too readily when violence was called for . he hated that contradiction , the way it exposed something in him he did not want named . his breathing went first ; thin , catching . then it deepened too late , like a misdelivered signal . his chest followed , rising out of step , the rhythm fractured somewhere between thought and motion . his heart ; heavy , slow , struck unevenly against his ribs . each beat lagging behind the last . nothing aligned . nothing moved together . he felt assembled wrong .

kai did not answer at once . his gaze held to the path ahead , fixed on pale strips of sunlight across uneven ground . roots pressed up through the earth like something restless beneath the surface . he placed each step with careful precision──── one , then the next … too particular to be natural . the ground shifted softly beneath his boots , and he watched it with strange detachment . a low sound left him , indistinct . “ mm . ” his hand adjusted at her shoulder . not by decision , but because it did . his fingers tightened briefly , then eased , settling into a hold that supported without pressing . the contact felt distant , like pressure remembered . “ lucky it was so far from camp , … ” he said after a moment , his voice steadier than the rest of him . “ i can take it . ” the words sounded right . they did not settle . he despised the simplicity of it──── … the way it reduced him to something functional . but beside her injuries , any protest felt indulgent . she was hurt . he was hurt too , but less . the thought pressed in . [ why did i bring her ? of all days … ] his gaze dipped slightly , enough to bring his hand into view .

THE NIGHT BREEZE PASSED through the spaces between the trees with wail-like creaks. Hearing their sounds of lamenting almost took the remaining breath out of Elly. The link between her and the forest stayed perpetually open. The overwhelmed emotions she held back bled over to them in the same manner that night's shroud began covering the sky. Specks of fireflies illuminated the spaces around the demi-god and demi-titan, ignoring the traces of the passing battle that took place. The earth remained impartial to the end despite what transpired on its surface. That perspective didn't help Elly recover from feeling like her world stopped when that last giant's breath cut short. Sympathy and guilt shared the same color when all she saw around her was blood.

The blossoming bruises dragged across all parts of her body with each step she took. The adrenaline finally ran its course like removing ear plugs and allowing the aching muscles and cuts to scream. "Kai," she said again. A name was a reminder. Identity, lineage, and ambitions all rolled into one. Kai, the painter, the carpenter, the woodcarver. The molds he forged his existence to fit within never carried an ounce of malicious intent. Her stomach churned, thinking about him participating in this fight to protect her.

"I know. . ." She summed up, because even drawing in air to speak squeezed her ribs in a weird way. "He egged it out of you. Baited you."

Katydids and crickets started up their symphony. They covered up her noisy breaths that she tried her best to hold back. She repeatedly convinced herself she could hold out until she got back to camp. She couldn't wait for whatever horrors awaited her after getting healed from top to bottom this time. The ankle and mild concussion last time made her weary of ambrosia ever since. She imagined Apollo's brand of healing wouldn't be any more gentle.

"You didn't do anything." Elly drew in another breath. "I would've taken him out anyway. Just for attacking you. Us." Exhale.

elly’s words reached him , but they did not settle cleanly … they lingered beneath thought , like sound carried through water . around him the forest had already begun its quiet repair . wind moved through the branches in low breaths , insects resumed their steady rhythm , and the clearing slowly closed around what had happened . kai stood within it , unmoving , as though the world had shifted a fraction out of place and he had yet to follow . his breath came late . uneven at first , shallow , before deepening as his chest remembered what to do with it . his hand lifted without thought , drawn into his line of sight as though it belonged to someone else . the skin across his knuckles had split in thin lines , darkened with drying blood . beneath one of them , pale and wrong , something showed through──── not fully exposed , but enough to feel unfamiliar . he flexed his fingers once , slowly , watching the motion more than feeling it . the absence of pain unsettled him more than pain would have . [ monster . ]

his shoulder carried a dull weight . the ache had already begun to settle deep beneath the surface , something that would darken by morning . the rest of him felt distant , slightly removed , as though his body had stepped half a pace away and had not yet returned . he had known hurt that made sense──── clean slips of tools , the honest strain of shaping something into form . this was not that . his gaze drifted back toward the giant . only long enough for the memory of the strike to return , the impact , the give of something that should not have yielded . something tightened low in his chest . he turned away before it could settle deeper . elly . the thought came slower than it should have , but once it formed it held .

kai moved then . the ground shifted softly beneath his boots as he crossed the space between them . as he drew nearer , the details of her became clearer──── the careful placement of her weight , the tension held through her frame , the breath she tried and failed to quiet . it narrowed his focus , gave it direction . " oh──okay , okay , okay … " his voice came low , steadier now . he stopped just within reach , his hand lifting with a brief pause before settling gently at her shoulder . there was no force in it , only something offered . his eyes moved over her quickly , taking in enough to understand . " i'll … i'll help , i──i can help " [ was he trying to convince himself ? ]

THE TRUMPETS OF VICTORY did not sound off. The whip of thunder breaking through the forest played out like a dirge. There was a sight present in a split second, as fragile as first snow in the palm. The giant's belligerence and his hunger melted away. He was no longer a sworn enemy of the gods. Fear touches his eyes and made him more mortal than Elly ever seen from any being. Tendrils of vines and roots traveled through punctured routes and sprouted from every orifice of his skull. The light disappeared from his eyes. He had stopped moving.

Was this victory bestowed upon her by Nike? Was there wisdom that Athena could reveal to her in this moment? Every body returned to the earth eventually. She never expected to be the one who pulled the trigger. Her shoulders slumped forward. Gut instincts told her to say a prayer for him—How ridiculous. None of her words would reach anybody who would show him mercy in collecting his soul. Nobody would remove this guilt over her head for extending an ounce of empathy. The worst part was she still wanted to try.

She looked over her shoulder back at Kai. All that guilt twisted upon itself and contorted into a new shape. Something warmer budding from the silt death ground she created. Protecting him didn't cauterize the wound she felt, but the relief from seeing him still standing was an anesthetic of sorts.

The thuds of the giant's footsteps deflated into the sound of his heels scraping against the ground. The drawn out pace fell out of rhythm with his ragged wheezing. His breath was now mixed with fresh copper, an imminent death stacked on top of decay. The swings of his fist lacked coordination and went wide. He was fighting from the memories his muscles accumulated instead of conscious precision.

Elly watched him thinking . . . This was how you watch someone die before life actually leaves them. There came a time where every harvest had to be cut so the soil could rest. His pain registered across his bellows, shattering at every point like glass. If putting him to his rest would sit as heavily as the other death did, she had to carry that burden so Kai wouldn't have to. She pointed a hand at the giant's sternum, dead center. She closed her fist. This time not in anger or in fear. The thickets of branches coiled into a single spear and flew through his chest.

Bones and muscles created resistance that she had to push through every rip and tear. The vibrations traveled down to the roots and back to her. It was the swiftest ending she could've provided him. He sighed one last time and closed his eyes. A luxury his partner didn't have.

kai did not answer her at once ──── the forest seemed to hold its breath with him . the giant before him had not yet fallen , though its body moved like something already halfway returned to the earth . its enormous frame wavered on uncertain legs , each ragged inhale dragging through its chest with a wet rattle that carried through the clearing . the arm he had struck hung from its shoulder like a branch broken in a storm , twisted wrong , the joint swollen around the place where bone had given way . each small movement sent another quiet grind through the ruined socket . kai could not pull his eyes from it . slowly , he lowered his arm to his side .

the ache followed like a delayed echo . it bloomed through his knuckles and travelled up his forearm until it settled beneath the shoulder . adrenaline was leaving him now , draining quietly from his blood , and the memory of the strike returned with uncomfortable clarity . kai flexed his fingers once . the small motion made the giant flinch . that reaction struck kai harder than the fight itself ──── ...fear had reached the creature’s eyes now , not anger . fear .

he took a step back . loose soil sighed beneath his boots as his weight shifted away from the creature . another step followed , distance growing between them like water retreating from a shore . the giant swayed where it stood , breath dragging through its chest while its body struggled to understand the damage within it . behind him the forest settled with a quiet shudder of branches . kai turned his head over his shoulder . through the dim weave of trunks and tangled roots he found elly standing among the restless growth she had called to her side . the other giant lay where the forest had taken it . vines threaded through its limbs and across its chest , the earth already reclaiming what had fallen . the creature’s stillness left no doubt . no breath stirred the leaves around it .

something in kai’s chest tightened .

relief should have come first . relief that elly still stood . instead there was only the quiet recognition of how close he had come to leaving the same silence behind him . his gaze lingered there before drifting back to the wounded giant in front of him . it was still trying to stand . its good arm twitched now and then , driven by fading instinct buried deep in muscle . the ruined shoulder sagged each time with a dull shift of bone , the body refusing its own command . kai watched the struggle with a tired heaviness in his expression . kai’s hands had not been meant for this . for years he had trained them to shape rather than shatter . clay had passed between those fingers . wood had yielded beneath careful tools . he had learned the patience it took to make something instead of breaking it .

yet when danger came , something older had answered instead . kai hated how naturally it had surfaced .

he stepped back once more , until the giant’s shadow no longer reached his feet . distance did little to lighten the moment . it only made the shape of it clearer : death behind him , suffering before him , and the knowledge that his own hands had helped write both . for a while he simply stood there between them . then elly’s voice returned through the quiet …

kai , are you hurt ?

as she pelts down the street, energy cannons blazing, alice cusses more than she's ever cussed in her life.

"get out of the fucking way!"

okay, so it's not that helpful. nothing she does seems to help.

she'd love to know what she's fighting. scarab has confirmed that it's a tech unit, gears and wires through a through, not a person in a suit. but who programmed it, and whether it's doing exactly as intended or not? she can't get a fix on it. even the shape of it—when she got here, it was a hulking tank plowing through streets at ground-level. now, like a transformer or something, it's flowered open into a figure recognizably person-ish. chromatic, at least a foot taller than anyone she knows, but with a recognizable head and arms and legs.

whether it sees and hears out of the head, or feels, or thinks, she can't tell.

and she's lost sight of it again—crazy, for something so big. she hit it. she knows she did. but the buildings are too close and the people don't stop coming. she can't keep track of them all. when scarab tries, the stream of data makes her brain feel like it's frying.

<< SUGGESTION //: BIRD'S EYE VIEW? >>

fine. fuck it. bracing herself, alice lets scarab's wings extend. her stomach lurches as they take off above the chaos, and the nausea lingers as they stabilize at a hover. scarab scans the crowd below for the tech—

<< IDENTIFIED. >>

—just a moment too late to do anything before it jets into them at full flying speed. they clash in midair.

scarab, what the hell? alice demands. could it fly before?

she knocks herself free with a blast to its torso, goes spinning out, and narrowly misses the side of a building before the wings catch her. she unleashes another, but that one doesn't push it as far back. so on instinct, she goes bigger, firing off faster. more power behind the cannons running up her arms.

the tech unit redirects an attack that should have hit, or maybe absorbs it into itself. it happens so fast. the shock wave impacts the building behind it instead. glass ripples and shatters. screaming joins the harsh buzz of mechanical wings and the blood pounding in alice's ears.

it's learning. they're the dataset.

<< ALERT //: ALERT //: ALERT >>

i know. i saw.

a red wound tore across the sky .

it ripped through the cloud cover in a furious streak , carving a jagged path through the grey ceiling above the city . the blazing line condensed into a single descending shape . a man dropped out of it at lethal speed . he angled his body in the final pre──impact , drawing his shoulder forward as he drove straight into the machine waiting beneath him . the impact came like a cannon shot when he struck the robot's torso with the full force of the descent behind it . red plasma erupted outward in a violent flash that flooded the street with light for half a heartbeat . the machine left the ground instantly , torn free of the pavement as the blow launched it skyward .

darius hung in the air where the collision happened , the fading glow of plasma trailing from his shoulders as he steadied himself above the road . his eyes followed the machine as it climbed , watching the heavy frame sail upward before it slowed near the peak of its arc . after a moment he lifted two fingers and tapped the metal earpiece resting against his ear . " dick , " he said flatly , whther he was talking informally to nightwing or calling him one was yet to be seen . " this thing's twice the size of the report you sent me . thought you said localised nuisance . "

he reply crackled through the comm . darius listened without speaking , gaze still fixed on the robot above him . whatever explanation he received clearly didn't help . " … right , " he muttered . " lock the fuck in next time before you send me halfway across the country . " he lowered his hand from the earpiece .

far above him the robot stalled before gravity dragged it back down . its shadow stretched across the broken asphalt as it began descending toward the street again . darius raised his arm , palm turning upward toward the falling machine . red light gathered instantly in his hand , condensing into a violent point of brightness .

the blast was ready to fire … then movement cut through the edge of his vision . darius glanced sideways long enough to catch another figure slicing across the sky . humanoid ? armoured . wings of mechanical light flared behind them as they glided through the air .

the silhouette was familiar ? he exhaled through his nose and lowered the angle of the shot slightly . " mint , " he muttered . when his attention returned to the robot something else had changed . the armour plating across its body shifted , panels sliding across one another in a mechanical ripple . sections expanded outward as the machine grew broader during the fall .

darius stared . " … fuck . " the glow in his palm faded as he abandoned the beam entirely . instead he drifted sideways through the air , clearing the widening shadow beneath the falling mass . red plasma coiled around his hand again as energy gathered above the descending machine . it condensed . a massive construct formed overhead as crimson energy hardened into a brutal slab of force .

a hefty anvil .

darius tilted his head slightly . his fingers snapped shut . the construct dropped instantly . the anvil slammed into the robot with a deafening metallic crack that echoed down the block . the machine was driven into the street with crushing force as asphalt caved beneath the impact . dust surged upward from the wreckage .

THE SOIL BENEATH HIS STEPS buckled with a reverence to a force deeper and primordial than Elly could understand. As she picked herself up from the ground, her vision remained frayed around the edges. A shadow fell over her with the golden light of the setting sun. There was a part of her that processed the overlapping images of Kai faster than her brain. She felt the surge of hope before she could put a name to the figure. That hope fractured when the blow came down on his shoulder.

"Kai," Elly yelled out. Blades of grass stood straight to match her alertness. Adrenaline and concern left her senses sharpened. There was an energy within him, unyielding. The vibrations deep under the surface hummed in tune with him. Her curiosity got the better of her, allowing her to miss the second giant plucking himself from the tree until he got closer. Close enough to leave little room for deliberation. His trajectory spelled out his role as reinforcement to his friend.

Elly's eyes fixated on the spaces preceding each footstep. Anticipating the right spot took precision and a small window to act. She held both arms out and quickly pulled them back. A sliver of top soil and grass flew off as if someone yanked a rug clean from under the giant. His stance, less solid, less coordinated than before, presented itself as an obstacle for him to regain his balance.

A ringing in her ear remained from the drop. Her first step nearly toppled over the weight she placed on top. Hesitation was the third adversary on the field. Elly hadn’t acted quick enough or decisive enough. She teetered between wanting to protect and not wanting to do too much—as if someone would give her permission or guidance to do the right thing. Whether it’d be her father, her siblings, or the other adults at camp, none were here to replace the voice of doubt in her head.

The setting sun sank deeper into the horizon. Shadows cut harsh contours around their faces, soon to consume them whole. She broke into a sprint to stop burning what little daylight was left. The sound of a low grunt and something heavy hurling through the air made her stomach lurch. Speed was not her friend unless she was on horseback. If she took the time to look at what was flying at her, she’d only get caught in the impact.

Long branches overhead rustled and crackled under her command to form a barrier around her. A thick barricade encircled her in time for a crash of wood on wood collision. The giant threw an entire log her way, accurately projecting her position with her pace. Luring him away from the other two was already the plan she had in place, but seeing the shrapnel of the broken log left her frozen in fear. That was far too close but she’d have to endure a closer contact for the sake of being bait.

the giant studied him for a long moment before deciding it had seen enough . irritation dragged slowly across its broad features , the expression settling in like weather over stone . kai could feel the change in it the way a tree feels the wind shift──── … subtle at first , then undeniable . the creature’s gaze slid past him , attention sharpening on the deeper shadows behind . somewhere beyond kai’s shoulder the forest had begun to sound different . not the rustle of leaves or the quiet sigh of branches . something wetter lived there now . vines tightening . bark splitting . the muffled struggle of something enormous learning that roots did not care how strong you were . the giant’s nostrils flared once as it listened . then it smiled . " … ah . " the word dragged up from its chest like gravel grinding together . " so that’s the real trouble . " kai didn’t turn to look . he didn’t need to . elly’s presence behind him lived in the small sounds──── the uneven pull of breath , the restless stir of plants answering her call . the woods were moving with her now . hungry . determined . and the giant in front of him had noticed . its weight rolled forward with sudden purpose , shoulders dipping as the creature gathered itself . the motion was different this time . not a testing swing . not a casual strike meant to swat aside an annoyance . this was direction . one enormous arm reached past kai’s narrow frame , already angling toward the forest behind him ... toward the girl the giant had finally realised was the ' real ' danger .

kai stepped forward . there was no burst of speed in it . no flourish . the movement was simple in the way weight was simple ; inevitable once it had begun . his body shifted half a pace into the giant’s path , weight settling deeper into the ground as though the earth itself had drawn him down a fraction further . the creature’s arm swept past his shoulder , thick fingers stretching forward toward the shadows behind him . kai’s own arm rose only slightly . his fist travelled a short , quiet line through the air and met the giant’s shoulder just beneath the collar .

for a heartbeat nothing happened ... then the bone gave way .

the sound cracked through the forest like a tree trunk splitting under winter frost ; sharp && deep . kai felt it travel through his knuckles as the giant’s shoulder collapsed beneath the weight behind the strike . the joint folded inward with a wet , splintering crunch that turned the creature’s forward momentum crooked in an instant . its reaching arm dropped as though the strings holding it up had been cut . muscle sagged uselessly around the broken joint while the giant stumbled sideways , confusion washing across its face as the message of pain finally reached whatever slow machinery passed for its thoughts . kai lowered his hand again . the ground beneath his boots compressed quietly , soil sinking just a little deeper where his weight had settled through the strike . a thin crease spread through the dirt between his heels as the force finished bleeding out of him and into the earth . in front of him the giant tried to lift its arm again . the limb twitched once . then the ruined shoulder shifted with a nauseating grind of bone that made the creature choke out a startled grunt . the arm hung there afterwards , wrong in a way even the giant seemed to recognise .

kai let out a slow breath through his nose . he hadn’t meant for it to────break────the thought dissolved before it finished forming .

She had made a better job of it than he could ever have hoped for. Even by lantern light, the sunset colors were rich and bright, the tree tall and strong and noble. The falling star was a bright slash of paint across the oaken sky.

THE COLLISION between demi-titan and giant rippled through the forest ground. The waves from the force knocked Elly back a few steps. With arms spread wide to regain her balance, in the same breath she quelled the soil below. This was the same person whose body seemed calibrated to sustain injuries that healed before her hands even cleaned them up. Seeing him absorb impact like he was built for it felt like a punchline to a cruel joke. The campers had no idea of the strength of his restraint and how much they benefited from his temperance.

The last breath stored in the sap of the split tree waned and she felt it all as if it was spilling out of her own chest. At its core, the heartwood sang out to her. Daughter of Demeter. Do it. Protect. Like granting a dying wish, she held her hands out aimed right at the giant jammed between the trunk. As her slender fingers curled inward, the splintered tree parts were set in motion, closing in towards the center. The sounds of bone and bark crunching blended together. Rough hands caught the inner parts of the trunk, trying to pry it apart.

Elly dug her heels into the ground to maintain her grasp. She had successfully created it. A guillotine ready for the pine needles from above to fall in one go. This old forest spirit's sacrifice wasn't going to go to waste. As she spread her hand out, the purchase her soles had disappeared completely. The connection she had to the tree was like a rope pulled straight from her hands. Once again she was weightless in bullet time with a lingering glance of Kai. A sick sense of deja vu crept up because she knew what was waiting on the other side of this.

Her body slammed into the dirt so fast pain didn't register until she opened her eyes again. The second giant loomed over her, admiring his own strength for yanking her through the air and breaking her concentration. A laugh bellowed from his gut. Stale breath hung in the air like a cloud of death. "Did I hurt your play thing?" The bite of the rhetorical question wasn't meant for her. She was dazed but she knew that for certain.

"Your humanity keeps you weak. Stop embarrassing yourself or this will be your fate too," the deep voice warned. The irony of it all when leather-rough hand grabbed her by the very ankle that recently healed from before. She was suspended in the air as an ornament. Bait, to be more accurate.

the giant’s laughter rolled through the trees just as the last fibres of the shattered oak finished splintering apart . the sound dragged low through the forest──── cavernous . the kind that seemed to shake loose dust from bark and needles alike . kai turned toward it a fraction too late . by the time his eyes found the movement , elly was already in the air . for a suspended moment he simply watched her swing . her body hung inverted from the giant’s grip , ankle caught in a fist big enough to close around it twice . against the grey light filtering through the canopy she looked almost weightless , a pendulum of linen and hair drifting through space . the illusion shattered when the briars erupted .

they burst from the berry thickets with a furious snap of stems and thorns . vine after vine lashed outward , coiling around the giant’s crown , throat , and shoulders , tightening with a living rage that pulled its head back . leaves tore loose and scattered through the air like startled birds . the giant’s laugh broke into a rough grunt as the cords of green dragged against it .

elly dropped .

kai was already moving .

there was no decision in it , no heroic thought that rose up in his chest . his body simply went where it needed to be , long strides carrying him across the torn ground before the moment could finish happening . the soil was still trembling from the earlier collision , split in thin cracks beneath his boots as he crossed it . elly struck the earth with a dull , breath──stealing thud . before the dust could settle , kai’s shadow had already reached her . he didn’t crouch to check her injuries or ask if she could stand . instead , he stepped forward and over her in one quiet motion , placing himself between her and the giant .

from the outside it looked almost absurd . kai wasn’t a skilled warrior , wasn’t built like the sort of hero the camp seemed keen on pumping out . he still carried the long , lean awkwardness of someone who hadn’t quite grown into his frame . but when his weight settled , the ground beneath his boots compressed as if something far heavier had stepped there . the soil creaked softly under the pressure , roots bending beneath it . behind him he could hear elly breathing . uneven , but there . the sound of it settled something quiet in the back of his mind .

the giant tore one arm free from the briars with a violent wrench . stems snapped apart with wet cracks , thorned lengths of vine recoiling across the forest floor . it looked down at the boy now occupying the space between them , its brow lowering slowly as it took in the unimpressive shape standing there .

‘ still playin’ hero , … ‘ the giant rumbled . its voice sounded like stones grinding together beneath a riverbed . the words carried a kind of lazy contempt , as though the creature couldn’t quite decide whether the scene in front of it was irritating or amusing .

" … i really wasn’t planning to fight you , " he said quietly . the giant answered by leaning forward . the creature’s shoulders rolled as it advanced , confident in the sort of strength that had never needed to question itself .

THEY WERE BULLS in a china shop. Elly could feel the severed heartbeat of the dry grass beneath their feet. Words escaped her entirely. If she had the courage to put her fears to words, then that would make them tangible. Trees in their old age screamed under the flames that climbed up their bark. She held an arm out, reaching back for him. The swirling thoughts hadn't organized themselves well enough for the gesture to be clearly defined as a protective instinct or need to stabilize herself. She just needed to know he was there.

The wind carried the foul odor of decay to greet them. Wafts of atrophied flesh and wet fur attacked her senses. The giants' presence was a harbinger of something inevitable. There was a typical softness around the way Kai's voice formed her name but this time it sounded fragile and small. Two descriptors she wouldn't have ever associated with him. "Move," she said as soon as she felt the giant's weight sending a stinging vibration through the network of roots beneath the loam.

Anticipating the charge afforded them a few precious seconds, just enough to clear the fist swung right at them. Elly threw her whole weight down just to dodge the second massive swing that nearly blindsided her. She couldn't make out where Kai was anymore through the wall of bodies blocking her view. Their guttural growls snapped her senses back to her own survival. Her fingers splayed against the cold, damp forest floor commanding it to life.

Her eyes were stained with the color of moss. She was tapped into the forest's nervous system. Thick roots didn't just grow but lashed through the earth. They shot at the giant that reached them at the treehouse first, trying to anchor his ankles. The force of him kicking his feet to free himself stretched and strained the hold she had on him.

Another set of clawed hands coming from her peripheral swiped down at her to grab her. She relinquished her tug-of-war on the other guy immediately. The lack of a counterweight sent him off balance with a gruff roar, but not enough to make him fall. A sharp, jagged breath fell from her lips as she scrambled to dodge out of the way. His grasp got her bag, ripping it off her body right as she slipped out of the strap. Light-colored grains she saved as a snack for the walk scattered the ground.

kai did not remember deciding to move──── … one moment elly’s heel struck earth and wheat tore upward in violent gold ; the next the second giant was bearing down on her , its shadow swallowing the forest floor whole . its arm swung wide , filthy digits spread to seize and close and end . his body answered before thought could interfere . he stepped between them . kai did not look built for interception . boney shoulders beneath worn fabric , limbs more lean than imposing . even now , standing before something that could uproot pines with idle irritation , he seemed slight by comparison .

the giant committed its weight , unbraced , confident in the inevitability of impact . kai lifted his hand at the last possible second──── not a fist , not a strike . an open palm . contact . heat and old blood met his skin through fabric . muscle coiled with the destined for ruin despite the boy's best wishes . he pushed , not explosively but all the same ; forward . the air compressed with a blunt , concussive thud that never quite became sound . soil split beneath his boots , a clean fracture racing through loam as redirected force drove downward instead of back . he did not slide . he did not shift … the giant did .

it had not braced . the surprise was immediate and physical . its knee buckled with a violent jolt , joint bending a fraction too far────threatening fracture────as its mass met resistance it had not accounted for . the expression that tore across its brutal features was not pain but shock ... a recalculation forced mid──motion . its heel tore a deep trough through damp earth as it lurched backward to recover . roots snapped under its weight . bark shuddered where its shoulder clipped a pine , needles cascading in a thin , indifferent rain .

kai felt the impact travel into him and disappear , swallowed somewhere behind his ribs . he was heavier than he looked ; in flesh , in density .still , the giant shoved back instinctively , testing . the force met him and rippled thickly , like all that force had to go thorugh unseen layers of weight within him . his boots carved backward through soil , the force did not strike and stop . still , the demi──titan gave ground . the giant felt the difference immediately . its mouth twisted , displeasure settling into a heavy scowl . that had been a test … and the answer had not satisfied . a roar tore from its chest , raw and cavernous , timber shivering loose from the pelt worn proud on its hairy back . it lowered its head and charged again , this time with intent . kai blinked , dazed by the echo of it . he had not meant to fight . the instinct to intercept had outrun the boy who preferred not to harm .

AN EXPLORATION IN ... a heart beating with the brilliance of the stars, a listless hero searching the cosmos, a spirit blazing like a fallen sun ──── looking towards a new dawn.

carrd underco.