#nellraiser

They’d managed to find a way out of the poisoned world. It was the bare minimum Nell and Adam could have asked for, not dying via something they couldn’t even see let alone begin to fight against as their bodies had begun to deteriorate. They’d broken free of the realm, but not without its consequences. Nell’s own darkened veins had begun to spider across her skin before they’d found a way out, and her breaths were still shallow and labored, no doubt some form of lasting damage having been dealt to her lungs. Still— at least they’d found a world who’s predators were easier to avoid, even if the attacks had still been numerous. But she’d been right about the hope Adam’s presence provided, had managed to gain back the beginnings of her magic and heal over some of their more dastardly injuries with it. It was still low, but it was there, and that was far better off than she’d been before. Against all odds the smallest shred of optimism had begun to spring in Nell. She didn’t know how she’d thank Adam for all he’d done, for saving her life, but at least she knew she’d have a better chance of even getting the opportunity now that they were together.

They were walking across a seemingly endless, windless, and strangely soundless plain nestled against the side of a raging and amethyst-colored ocean when she felt it, a familiar tug in her gut. For a moment she’d thought it was her reaction to seeing a flipper the size of a skyscraper jut out from the crystalline waves of the water, but it called to her once more, and she knew she’d been right to recognize it. “Adam-” she breathed in apprehension as she reached a hand out to grip his arm, almost daring to call it excitement. “Adam- they’re doing it. They’re using the sigil- I can feel it.” Her sisters were calling her home, their magic as familiar as their voices would be. As if to confirm her words, Nell's childhood and fireproofed necklace began to shudder against Adam’s chest in its place next to the adder stone, the dolorphage bone he’d brought matching its frequency. In answer a rip began to jut out above the endless abyss of this world, a tear in the universe beginning to form no more than a centimeter wide. “Just a little longer. Just a little longer, alright?” She could practically feel Earth’s sweet air already against her skin.

Bea’s hand was cool in hers, but Luce’s magic was warm enough for the two of them. For the three of them, hopefully. This was the fourth large ritual she’d performed in the last year, but no amount of practice and preparation could ever make her feel truly secure in her understanding of how they worked. She had followed Bea’s instructions, uttered the words necessary to guide Adam home, carefully poured her magic into the ritual. Her flames obeyed her, and she thanked the stars and moon for that. If anything happened, if her magic flickered and dimmed and it cost them Nell? She didn’t know how she could live with that. Sweat was rolling down the side of her face as she kept an iron grip on her magic, controlling the flow of power. She couldn’t overload the spell, she couldn’t flood it with power. More power wouldn’t make this easier, wouldn’t make the magic work better-- she needed control, precision.

As she continued to fuel the ritual, Luce gasped as she felt something shift in the magic. A familiar presence. Nell. She could feel her sister’s magic rippling through the ritual, through the portal that was meant to guide her and Adam home. She could feel her. She could feel them both. “That’s them, that’s got to be them.” She said, breathless from the effort.

Bea, admittedly, tended to do ritual magic alone. Most of her necromantic work was best done with only her own magic supplying it, but that didn’t mean she was unfamiliar with group work. Her magic wove with Luce’s easily, their sisterhood, their bloodbond making this work easier than it would be for others. And while this was easier for them than it was for other’s, it was by no means a walk in the park. Tension held Bea’s jaw tight as she focused on how much of her magic she poured into this, she had seen what happened to her sisters and Winston when they hadn’t been careful enough. Her own gasp mirrored Luce’s as she felt the first thread of Nell’s magic join them. Each Vural had a different texture to their magic, each a distinct flavor and color. Bea knew her sisters’ magics, even at its weakest.  “He’s with her then,” After all their preparation, Adam had made it to her. They would get her back.

The eldest Vural dared to look up for a moment, staring at the car that was parked just at the edge of her vision. Nisa sat within there, waiting for her daughter to come tumbling through a portal, waiting to help them again. Bea wished they didn’t need her here. She would have to learn the art of healing to keep them safe. They might have come to an agreement of sorts here but Bea hated having to go back to her in need.

Adam reached up to clasp a hand over Nell’s. Trekking through dimension after dimension would have killed him already if not for coming in prepared with talismans from the Vurals, the best equipment his own family could provide, and cheating with mutant physiology. But wounds, toxins, and exhaustion were making him feel dangerously featherlight as nerves died and fuzzy blurs seemed to crawl across his eyes. Desperation and hope had kept him going past where his body should’ve given out, but borrowed time was running out.

He’d promised Luce he would get Nell to Earth. Adam tried to focus on that instead of the chill slithering through his veins.  

Adam tried to swallow but there was no moisture beyond the sickly taste of his own throat bleeding. “Yeah, just a little bit longer,” he affirmed in a soft rap.

They were close. They were so close, as they stood there waiting for the rift to widen, to just give them a large enough gap to slide through. Nell waited none too patiently, a disbelieving laugh of relief finding it’s way past her lips while she shot Adam a weak and shaky smile. They were gonna make it. Against all the odds in the universe- in the multiple universes they’d trekked through they were going to escape, to be free of this literally hellish existence.

The tear grew longer, stretched far enough that Nell was certain her lithe arm could fit through it. Faster. Faster, it needed to go faster so that they could return to Earth, and Nell could tote herself and Adam straight to her mother’s front door, both of them in desperate need of healing. Leading Adam by the hand she stepped closer to the portal, heart in her throat as a familiar picture came into view on the other side of it. Bea. Luce. Her sisters.

“Adam- I can see them!” The wave of Nell’s relief bubbled into a near desperate cry, the hitch in her breath having nothing to do with her straining lungs this time around. “We did it,” she breathed, and her eyes would have glazed over if her body’d had any water to spare. “You did it,” she turned back towards her hunter, the man who’d earned the title of hero a million times over only to prove once more that she’d been right to fight alongside him since the beginning. He’d deserved to be saved just as he’d saved countless others, to realize in his own time that his life was his to have, not something to be thrown under the knife for humankind or anything else unless he and he alone was making the choice.

But it wouldn’t have been a hellscape if all hell didn’t break loose, and just was Nell was taking her first step through the portal towards the rest of her home with Adam’s hand in her’s, towards her sisters, a crack brok over the plain, the dusty ground splitting into two halves where the portal had touched down. “That’s alright- that’s okay-” Nell began, refusing to let something so little steal this moment from them. “We’ll just-” Her words were eaten by the inhuman screams of something crawling it’s way out of the fissure at their feet, and suddenly the slaugh she’d thought herself free of was appearing over her shoulder.

Luce could practically feel each exhausted, weary step that Nell was taking towards them. But, as she grew closer, she could feel the energy of her little sister’s magic growing stronger and stronger. She was coming home. They were bringing her home. Adam had found her, he was bringing her back. Luce spared a glance through the rift they had created and her blood ran cold. Nell was… dragging Adam. Leading him. Not the other way around. Was something wrong? Had something happened? Maybe it was that brief lapse in focus, maybe it was just the world roiling back against the unnatural state of being connected another dimension. Whatever it was, screams ripped through the air and something dark and cursed slithered from the portal.

“Don’t you fucking touch her!” Luce shouted. She wanted to let loose the flames and let them burn the portal clean. To purge it of the horrors that lay within. But she couldn’t. She had to hold steady. She had to keep her head and heart clear, to let the magic work. Every fiber of her being screamed at her to lash out at the things that tried to keep her sister from her. But, if she did… the portal could collapse. She couldn’t put them in danger. She couldn’t risk Nell, she couldn’t risk Bea. She couldn’t risk it. “Adam, Nell, get out of there!”

Adam drew the gore-caked remains of once state-of-the-art tactical knives that’d been eroded into rusty shadows of their former selves by the atmosphere and acids of distant worlds. The Hunter slashed out at the Slaugh that’d winked into existence beside Nell, the realization settling in like lead that the only reason why they could see the cadaverous spirits of rotting sinews was the swift approach of death.

They were so close. The vertiginous flicker of hope was almost as painful as the ache of his fading body.

The ground yawned open with a sound like an oil tanker being beached on a reef. The inside of the earth wasn’t soil. Adam looked down into a widening chasm of flesh, complete with oozing subcutaneous layers, cysts of pus, and meaty strands that slithered from one side of the opening of the other. Things stirred into the fissure and began long climbs up its sides, pouring out from hollows in the organic depths like maggots dislodged from a corpse.

At the bottom of the bleeding crevice Adam mistook a pale outcropping with precisely set holes for an enormous skull until he squinted to see a keyhole of bone.

The coral key grew uncomfortably hot against his skin.

Terror crept up Bea’s arms, burrowing her chest before she even had a chance to breathe in. She did not have to reach out with her magic to know what was with Nell and Adam was involved with death. She felt it, as goosebumps broke across her skin, and felt its connection to death. For a moment, she was sure she could control it, if she hadn’t been tethered to the portal. Her eyes darted back to the car and pride threatened to suffocate her, it’s greedy fingers going to drag down the words she needed to say. Bea swallowed and took a deep breath. “Nisa!” They would need her. They needed her. No matter where they were, what they were doing, it seemed that they would always need their mother.

“Mom!” She cried, hoping that the car door would open, praying that her voice carried enough. Death was creeping upon Nell again, Nisa wouldn’t let it take hold, Bea knew this. She wouldn’t let her daughters be taken again.

Nisa could feel the waves of magic coming from her daughters before she heard her eldest’s voice, and despite herself she couldn’t help but feel a twinge of pride. Her daughters were powerful, a force to be reckoned just as most Vural and Akçam women had been in their primes. There was no doubt about that as they ripped the world apart to save their baby sister. The proud feeling in her chest was accompanied by a spark of happiness to see her daughters working together, restoring themselves to three just as they were always meant to be, but the two positive emotions were stolen from her as she heard Bea’s voice ring out. Something was wrong.

Her car door was ripping open in the blink of an eye, and she strode towards the spell-site, the spitting picture of Beatrice Vural approaching the magic give or take the thirty years that had formed an older and more mature picture of her oldest daughter. Wordlessly, she joined her magic with Lucinda’s and Beatrice’s, sliding in as effortlessly as a puzzle piece slotting into its proper place. “I’m here, sweetie.” She could see Penelope through the portal, could also make out the picture of the man who’d gone into hell for her daughter. Adam Walker. It must be. She’d only ever spoken to him online, but he had the build of a hunter, and the look of one as well despite his ravaged state. The two of them were nearly spent, and with the eye of an experienced healer she didn’t need a slaugh to tell her as much. Their lives were flickering like candles in the wind, leaving her to wonder whether this next gust of air would be the one to blow them out. “Get out, and we’ll deal with whatever comes with you!” she commanded, as if her determination alone could pull them from certain death. She couldn’t heal them until they were here. She’d let Beatrice die while she’d been away, had missed the shattering of her daughter’s life and she wouldn’t be witness to another. She wouldn’t let the Walker boy slip through her hands, either. Not when she hadn’t even gotten to invite him for dinner as of yet.

“Come on! Come we gotta- we gotta go through!” Nell urged desperately while the slaugh hissed away from Adam’s knife, regrouping now that its surprise attack had been foiled. “We can kill it over there! I’ll close the portal and-” And they’d be safe. They’d be sound on the other side, and finally free of this place, finally free to simply exist with each other rather than be forced to fight for their lives. They were so close.

An enormous and spider-like leg clawed its way from the break in the ground, stabbing out in an attempt to impale the couple. It’s aim was true, forcing Nell to separate herself from Adam so that she might make a faulty dodge of the attack. Her bad leg gave out with the move, sending her sprawling to the ground as she scrambled to recover. It wasn’t the practiced and careful movements of the Ring fighter or bounty hunter, but the death throes of a girl desperate to live. Her movements had brought her closer to the portal, with almost a clear shot out...but she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t leave after all the times Adam had refused to leave her. Wouldn’t have wanted to when he was as close to being her everything as she’d let a person get. “Please-” And so began the first of her begging. She couldn’t recall a time she’d ever pleaded, having never done it before when it came to her own life, not even as Montgomery had lowered his blade for the kill, but she was more than willing to beg for Adam’s.

Adam carved his way through the giant spider leg but more hungry things scrambled up over the ridge, forcing the Hunter to retreat a few spaces back as he tried to fend off the growing river of chimeric predators separating him from Nell.

A searing heat against his chest made Adam reach beneath the tattered rags of what’d once been his shirt and pulled out a key made of veiny red coral. It was shining so intensely that Adam couldn’t look at it directly. As soon as Adam’s skin had brushed the living coral, the Hunter simply knew that it was responding to the keyhole down there. It wasn't an idea he came up with, but rather an exterior certainty that seemingly dropped into his brain from the key itself.

Adam’s bloodshot brown eyes looked down into the abyss crawling with roiling hordes of demons and then back up to the portal.

Adam had promised to bring Nell back home.

Just a moment longer and this waking nightmare could finally be over. The physical therapy he’d need to recover from slogging through these Hells might take years, but Adam’d retire his blades longer than that if it meant he could just live and love with Nell.

But Adam had also sworn to protect White Crest, to keep Earth safe from the Hellmouths and the hungry things of the void. There was no way they could get this deep into the Hells a second time. Could Adam really pass this by and just let the rifts tear White Crest’s apart?

Adam glanced to the sky where storms of coruscating energy raged with nameless colors that didn’t exist on Earth. Prismatic lightning continuously arched down from the eternal storm. Each blast of primal magic warped the landscape into new bizarre terraforms, raising up mountain ranges of crystal in an instant, blinking gelatinous oceans into being, sowing tropical forests of neon webbing, and even more otherworldly forms of terrain as the entire dimension boiled in a constant state of primordial flux.

Soul deep exhaustion throbbed rawly in Adam’s bones as he longed to scream Fuck You to this final tug of duty, a last command to charge into the valley of death for the sake of people who’d never even know his name.

There was a dark thought that slithered into the back of Adam’s head unbidden. Maybe all the people who’d talked down to him as a delusional zealot and monster might have to finally get their myopic asses off the soapbox when the ravenous hordes of the abyss showed up in their backyard?

Adam snorted at the clumsy attempt at telepathic influence. He spun around and sank both knives deep into a dragonfly-winged nautilus covered in multi-tongued mouths that’d apparently thought Adam was in low enough place to just let his homeworld get invaded out of petulance. “Yeah fuck off nice try,” the Hunter spat before tearing both blades outward in a waterfall of gory purple ichor.

Everyone back home deserved to be safe from this, even if they never knew they’d ever been in danger. That’s what made a true Hunter different, they didn’t make the hard choices so they could get praised in the headlines. A Hunter's reward was newspapers blissfully complaining about trivial things and “just another day” with no idea of how close everything had come to ruin.

Everything in Adam wanted to reject the call to be a Hunter one last time, but how could he live in peace with Nell after denying that safety to everyone else?

“Nell,” Adam said as he lifted up the incandescent key on its string like a lantern, its ruby light answered by a similar glow from the bottom of the swarming demon pit. “I ...have to help close the Rifts in town,” he said slowly, eyes beseeching her understanding as he asked for yet another unfair demand.

“I’m sorry.”

Adam had warned Nell that this day would come. Had made sure the witch had known it well the moment she’d chastised him for being reckless and shoving his arm down the maw of a lamia. So she’d known there was no avoiding it. But even an end that was inevitable was one that could seldom be prepared for. Just because she’d known that his duty might one day claim his life, it didn’t mean facing that day was any easier. This was what she’d agreed to all those months ago. Maybe she’d told herself that they had time to put it off, time to figure out how to prevent this before Adam had to make the choice to forfeit his own life for the ones in White Crest or more. A part of her had always been well aware that it was a silly thought. Adam didn’t solely save people because it was his duty, he did it because it was the right thing to do, because he didn’t know how to turn his back on the people that needed him. She knew it— had known it from the day he’d helped free the tortured souls in the Ring despite half of them being what he’d considered to be monsters. He wouldn’t have been the man she’d grown to love if he’d done anything else as he readied the key.

Nell looked from the glow of the key to the matching light in the depths of the fissure, and things began to click into place. Today was the day. They were out of time. Her bottom lip quivered despite her desire to stay strong, to not make this any harder for Adam than it needed to be, unable to fully muster her iron-clad determination when the hellscape had nearly stripped her of it. “It’s okay, Adam,” she barely managed to say, wondering if he could even hear the words over the whipping winds of the portal and gnashing of the hell-creature’s teeth. “But I’m going with you. I’m not- I can’t let you do it alone.” She knew what it was to lose someone, had learned it intimately when Bea had died, and if there was any single thing she could do to prevent another death she wouldn’t hesitate to take the chance. “Just let me- I’ll make sure you don’t fall.”

So she fought her way back to the side of the drop off, one last surge of adrenaline barely managing to get her to the edge of the crevasse as she hacked through prying tentacles and claws. It looked hungry. That was all she could think as she reached for the fragile magic she’d managed to recharge. Taking his hand in hers she couldn’t help but remember the last time they’d done magic together, sitting under the full moon and wondering what their future would hold after they’d been bitten by the wolf with gold eyes. She used the very tip of her knife to spill what little was left of their precious blood, letting their life run together for another time as she poured pure love and her desperate desire to still have Adam into her spell— letting herself feel the feeble energy of his life- the life that’d been the brighter part of her last year and a half before letting it go.

A glowing thread appeared between their chests, no wider than a hair but refusing to give way as she gave it a hearty tug. “That’ll hold you.” She would hold him as he dived into the depths. There was no more time. The creatures were still tripping over one another in an attempt to have whatever part of delicious human flesh they could manage to get a hold of. Again she found herself saying the words like a prayer, not knowing how to say an actual goodbye. “I love you, Adam.” She was speaking them for only a second time, and even her first declaration of them hadn’t been given in joy so much as desperation, though both utterings of the three words were just as sincere as if they’d been said to him while he was walking through the door after a successful hunt with Nell greeting him back into a home they shared, a dream Nell hadn’t even let herself hope for all that often, but hoped for nonetheless.

She wouldn’t ask him to come back. Not this time.

“No matter what happens,” Adam promised as she wove the binding magic. “I will always love you Nell.” He drew Nell close, drinking the last comfort of her human touch before the predators bearing down forced them to part or get impaled.

Two rusted knives and two pistols with very little ammo left. Adam grimaced at the irony of having first entered the Hells loaded with enough equipment to fight a guerilla war, only to be caught poorly prepared in the final stretch that could’ve used overwhelming firepower the most. World by world, Adam’s state of the art rifles, armor, explosives, and alloyed blades had been eroded and been spent in the toxic alien environments. Until now he was looking down into a chasm full of writhing masses of hungry with armaments he wouldn't even trust on graveyard patrol.

Well, thems the breaks.

Adam looked back at Nell one last time, bruised and bloody face breaking to a sunshine grin as if they were simply flirting across the college commons, just letting her fill his vision and thoughts for every second that Hell allowed.

Time ran out. Adam reloaded his pistols, gripped the lucent key and sprinted towards the great chasm’s edge, launching himself down into the hell pit.

Adam plummeted down into the horde of maws and tendrils like a thunderbolt of bullets and blades, the key’s scarlet brilliance evoking a red comet hurling into a dark sea.

That bright red star seemed to cut a swath through the hungry ocean of oily aberrant things, growing steadily smaller as Adam descended ever deeper into the canyon whose fleshy walls quavered with rasping breaths and bled black ichor. Soon that spotlight of red had become just a distant pinpoint as Adam carved and shot his way too far down into the abyssal murk for sight to follow.

But the tide of otherworldly predators just kept crawling and squirming out of the canyon like a corpse disgorging worms from its rotting meat. The masses slithering over each other in a ravenous frenzy toward the siren call of a mortal soul. The pinprick of ruby light at the canyon’s nadir began to flicker as living tidal waves of eldritch things broke against the perimeter of Adam’s circle of death.

Inch by deadly inch that that red radiance was eclipsed by roiling shadows as the sheer weight of bodies bore down.

The depths darkened as that light snuffed out. There was only the sound of the walls breathing and prismatic cracking overhead.

Minutes dragged until there was a mechanical whisper that was soft, but yet drowned out of the storm with the sound of a key turning in a lock.

The ground shuddered and groaned in tectonic agony as if some colossal machinery had been set in motion. A choir of unearthly shrieks wailed from the pit as a wellspring of vermilion light erupted from the depths. The nameless colors of the storm paled and were downed out in a red dawn that bloomed like a wildfire across the sky.

Nell’s own smile had no choice but to answer Adam’s, doing her best to pretend like he wasn’t diving to his nearly assured death, like they were simply parting for an evening or so, and that she’d see that smile again when he rose from the depths of this final mission. Because after years of fighting for their lives, of fighting to be together, they at least deserved a split moment of pretending like they’d win those fights. That all of this had been for something, and they’d be granted the peace they needed. She held him until the world forced them apart, hell and its compatriots caring little for something as inconsequential and mundanely human as borrowed time. He leapt into the abyss, and a part of Nell went with him, already knowing she’d never get the piece of her that Adam held back. It was hers to give, and his to keep.

Nell saw the flash of red grow so bright that she could barely stand to look at it any longer, but she forced her burning eyes to watch Adam as far as her gaze would go, too afraid to look away, to accept what a part of her already knew was coming. Then it disappeared altogether. There was no seeing him anymore unless she too launched herself into the darkness below, and he was going where she couldn’t follow.

The red broke over the horizon, and the hellbeasts scattered. Nell didn’t see the slaugh anymore. Her lips began to whisper the second half of her spell of their own accord, reeling the line that connected her to Adam in like a fishing wire, wondering if the bait on the end of it had been taken or if…

He came back over the edge with a revolting thump, his body sliding across the dirt like a ragdoll while Nell’s breaths threatened to overtake her, coming fast and shallow. She’d done her best to be brave, done all she could to take this in stride, and she couldn’t lose it now. They still needed to get back to Earth. Adam had to make good one his promise to bring Nell back, too.

In a move that was sickeningly familiar she used her limited magic to bring a blanket into existence before rolling Adam onto it, knowing there was no hope of carrying him. Nell didn’t have enough magic to carry him back. She hadn’t been able to carry Bea, either. But she remembered the way Nic had switched Bea’s tarp for a blanket, something warm and soft and as a last gift. Adam deserved a blanket, too. More than that he’d deserved to live.

The journey to the portal was made of nothing but sheer determination, Nell’s grunts and gasps of pain the soundtrack to their homecoming, Adam’s labored and barely there breathing providing the downbeat. She stumbled through the tear in the world, her back turned on her family as she dragged him along. Familiar arms reached around her, and for a quick moment she thought about pushing them off, some strange part of her thinking that Adam’s last embrace would be erased by this new one, as if it would wash away her last pieces of him.

Nisa’s voice broke through the silence, and with it chaos began anew. “I’ve got you, baby,” the matriarch grunted as she tugged her daughter from the hells, and Nell tugged Adam, and Adam made it all possible by saving Nell in the first place, by saving them all. She laid them alongside one another, her hands already bursting with magic as she hovered over the pair of them, knowing there was only so much she could do.

Nell’s begging began anew, too. She’d tried to convince herself that she was ready for Adam to go, that she was in control of this choice as he was. But no human could ever be truly ready for death. “Please- please mom-” her broken and childlike cries made her shoulders shake. “Please save him, mommy- please.”

Nisa’s hands began work on her daughter, selfishly beginning on Nell’s more fatal injuries as she ignored her daughter’s pleas. “I can’t honey- I can’t- I’m sorry.” Her own voice broke, wondering if this was how Bea had looked when she’d been dying. She wouldn’t let another daughter die. Nell was certain it was one of the only times she’d heard her mother apologize, and she refused to accept it. “No!” she yelled, shifting to place her own hands on Adam’s body that was more blood than flesh. “I’ll do it- I’ll fix it.” She poured her magic into him, knowing too late that she couldn’t do this, couldn’t face the loss of another. The witch pushed past the point of her meager magic reservoir, pouring what little was left of her own life into the hunter.

“Penelope!” Nisa jerked her daughter out of the magic, already knowing how this would pan out if she was allowed to have her way. “You can’t, darling. You can’t save him. He’s gone, honey- there’s not enough life in you or me to save him.” She’d seen it countless times before as a healer, the one’s whose lives were already lost despite the breath they still held.

Nell’s hands came up to cradle her hunter’s face, pressing her forehead to his as she reminded herself that she’d been strong for Adam, that she wanted to make this as painless as possible, let his last moments be the peace he wouldn’t get. “I love him,” she told her mom, told the universe as if she were hoping it might hear her words and take pity. “I love him- I love you.” The world closed in on just her and Adam as the portal faded from existence, as all the portals in town did. “You saved me. You closed the portals- you did it. You can rest. You can rest now, alright?”

The spark of transferred life opened Adam’s eyes. His gaze was unfocused as dark spots and flares of light swam in his vision. They drifted over the Vural family and the familiar signs of Earth. Amongst them were other faces. Whether the dearly departed were merely hallucinations evocative as neural currents ceased or spirits who’d become visible as he teetered at the veil’s edge, Adam was well beyond the point worrying about. His bloodstained lips broke into a smile for Bea, Luce, Winn, James, Celeste, and Nisa.

Everyone was here, Nell assured him. Safe. Finally. 

He tried to thank Bea and Luce for everything they'd done, for treating him like family with their love and power, knowing how much those bonds meant to them. But only a soft sigh could leave his lips and a nod was all Adam could manage to the women who made this final mercy possible.

A tawny-haired man with a killer’s scarred muscularity but gentle brown eyes stepped unseen from among those gathered. He seemed suffused with the pure radiance of the hallowed dead, a single dog-tag hanging from his neck. Uri Walker took a knee beside Nell and his son.

Adam clung to Nell with what feeble strength remained in his shredded body, but pain was giving way to numbness. The agony of anything he’d suffered in the abyss yielded to a sepulchral peace that was worse than the suffering. Adam felt featherlight and his fingers lost the strength to grasp Nell’s hand. All Adam wanted was to stay here with Nell just a little while longer, but the undertow of quietus seemed to be ripping him away from her.

At last Adam looked up into father’s face and mouthed a question to empty air.  

Uri’s answering grin was like a sunset, a moment of radiance that beckoned toward darkness. He nodded. “You did good kid,” he affirmed gently, “mission’s over, everybody’s home.”

Adam nodded to no one and looked back into Nell’s eyes. He drew close with that last flicker of strength in him to whisper in her ear.

They were private words Adam wished he had a lifetime to show Nell day by day, but a moment was all they had.

The departed Hunter placed a firm hand on Adam’s bloody shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “Time to go, son.”  

Adam grasped his father’s hand and let himself get pulled up to his feet and into Uri’s embrace.

Adam Walker’s eyes closed.

While Bea was connected to death, she had never seen it up close like this. Experiencing her own had not been as intense in the moment. It had finished in a moment, a glint of metal before she was gone. This was longer, if only by a few moments. Adam had done so much for her and her family in the last year. He had helped her defeat the Fext, yes, but his actions past that were far more impactful. It didn’t take a genius to look at her sister and know she had experienced love. That this man before her would do whatever he could to grant Nell happiness. He had done whatever he did for her sister. Adam Walker in so many ways was an honorable man, but here in this moment, he was the best man she had ever met. He had become something of a younger sibling to her. She looked forward to his messages, as random and strange as they could be. There would be no more messages.

Grief she had found, with herself, was as if someone sold the house they had always lived in and moved away. You could pass by that house everyday, but it would never be the same. You could have memorized every corner and hidden spot in that house, but that did not mean you could access them any longer. All you had were memories of who lived there and a wish that they were back. How would Nell survive that? She had too many people who lost their lives in front of her.

“Mom, Luce, take Nell.” Her voice cracked. “I’ll take care of Adam.” She would make sure he went home. Just like Nell had with her.

The portals had closed, Adam and Nell had returned to the world-- if life was a fairytale, it would have ended there. The monsters having been defeated and portals having been shut, would have thrown in the towel. Her sister would not be clinging to the lifeless body of the young man who had given everything to this undeserving town. Luce would not be watching the light fade from his eyes and his bloodied, weary limbs go limp into that final slumber. If life was a storybook, Adam and Nell would cheat death. They would defy the odds. They would get a cliche happily ever after.

But life in White Crest was no fairytale. And there was no cheating death this time.

Luce sank to her knees next to her sister, joining Nisa at Nell’s side. What could she possibly say? What could she possibly do? If she could have turned back time, if she could have strengthened the enchantments, if she could have created more wards-- If. If. If. But the reality of the world lay in front of her. And there was nothing any of them could do about it. Adam was gone. Adam was dead. The stupid, jock-y frat boy who had done nothing but serve the town, who had done nothing but save the undeserving people of this fucking town, was dead. She put a hand gently on Nell’s shoulder, hoping to provide some… tiny amount of comfort. A reminder that she wasn’t alone. “Nellie, we need to get you healed up. Bea, she’ll take care of him. She’ll be here with him.” She said quietly, her voice as even as she could make it. “I’m sorry, Nell. I’m so sorry.” Her voice broke and she shook her head.

The glowing thread of magic still connecting Nell to the man she loved faded from sight, and with it went Adam. She felt his life wink from existence as their blood magic died, felt whatever soul or spirit that had been inhabiting his body go with it, and she was left with only a body. Adam was gone, and it meant that she didn’t have to hold herself together anymore, she didn’t have to pretend like death was peaceful and beautiful and that the living weren’t left to pick up their broken pieces. “No,” she managed to croak in response to her sisters, the word beginning to turn into a sob. She wouldn’t leave him, couldn’t leave him even when he was no longer here. “It should be me- I want to-” Let her take care of him, let taking care of his loved ones be the last gift she gave to Adam, the last action of love she could make.

“I have to- I’m going to help.” With another ricochet of pain making its way through her chest she realized there was nothing left to fix, nothing to distract her from her new reality. After losing Bea, after getting her back...it had taken Nell more than a year to learn that some things couldn’t be fixed. Some things would always be cracked and broken and surprise you with anger or tears when you least expected it. This would be one of those things. And though the holes the departed left couldn’t be filled, they could at least be managed, and their darkness didn’t diminish the thousand shining lights of the happier memories. “I don’t want to leave him- I can’t.”

Nell wasn’t sure the words were actually discernible through the wetness on her cheeks, the blackness that was also beginning to close in on her own vision. Her mother laid a hand over her eyes, shushing her with quiet words that she couldn’t make out as the blanket of Nisa’s magic wrapped around her, putting her into a sleep that was long overdue. The last thing she saw before the darkness enveloped her was the smile Adam had shot her before he’d dived to his death, blurring into the one he’d given her as they joked and memed outside her greenhouse about semi-satanic rituals, readying to finish the amulet that would be the keystone of their first mission together— the blueprint to everything that would come after.

It had been a moment since Penelope has come to a Coffee Plus since it was fairly close to campus, and she didn’t really have a reason to be near the campus in the first place. But sometimes she just really wanted the chocolate muffins they had here in particular, even if their desserts weren’t as popular as their beverages. Nevertheless, she was hunkered down over her muffin and mocha, all too eager to dig in when she saw a familiar face pop into the shop. Damn it, she really should have left her Amphisbaena jacket at home today, especially after it had struck Hideki’s interest the last time he saw it. But with all these karkinoids roaming around and...raining fish- she’d figured it was best to be protected. 

The cold had never bothered Hideki much. What did bother him was the slush that just loved appearing to ruin his favorite shoes after the snow melted a little. He knew he should have just worn his snow boots to work today. He sighed as he tugged the door open to Coffee Plus a little stronger than he needed to. The baristas took one look at him and immediately started making his usual drink - proof that he came far too often. He went through the motions of paying for his drink and making small talk, but didn’t bother to address the feeling that someone was watching him until his americano was solidly in-hand. When he realized it was Penelope staring at him, though, he suddenly felt a surge of energy that could only come from the need to antagonize the poor soul in front of him. “Afternoon, Penelope.” He said her name with an unnecessary amount of entertainment as he slid into the seat across from her without permission. He raised a meticulously groomed eyebrow at the spread in front of her. “I never imagined you’d be one for sweets.” Hideki reached across and plucked the muffin from in front of her, though he took care to keep his fingers on the muffin liner so as not to dirty his fingers with the sweet. “Tell me… how does a girl like you get a jacket like that?”

Nell nearly groaned as Hideki slid into the chair across from her, her eyes narrowing in his direction. Though...it was mostly all in good fun. After all, it was amusing to try and ruffle his feathers in return whenever he decided to make his attempts to prey on her. “Old man, Hideki,” she commented back in as neutral a tone as possible, as if greeting an age old, but respected adversary. “Why not?” she asked, figuring there was no other choice but to take that bait if it was indeed bait. But the moment he took her muffin her eyes bugged out. Normally- she managed to pretend like she wasn’t as bothered by him, but this was crossing a line. Messing with Penelope was one thing, but messing with her food? Unacceptable. “Get your own muffin. That’s a great way to lose a finger,” she said gruffly as she reached across the table to make her attempt to snatch her muffin back. “A girl like me?” she replied indignantly. “What’s that supposed to mean? How’s an old man like you get out of bed every morning to terrorize the youth of this coffee shop? Don’t your bones creak? Nearly break when you force their tired selves out into the world?”

The girl’s ceaseless teasing had always been a bit of a treat for Hideki. He looked to be in his early thirties at the latest, but only he knew he had lived long enough for the average human lifespan already. He chuckled and let her snatch the muffin from his clutch. He rubbed the pads of his fingers with his thumb, trying to remove any remaining crumbs before crossing his arms and resting them on the table, leaning into her onslaught of questions with a perfectly amicable smile. “With such a fiery personality, I always assumed you wouldn’t have much of a sweet tooth,” he admitted with a slight shrug. “But you are absolutely correct, Penelope. My bones nearly break with every step I take in this harsh, cold world. The only warmth and joy I can ever find in my boring old man life is to steal nourishment from youths such as yourselves in this very coffee shop. It’s your own fault, really. You should have known better than to come to my hunting grounds.” 

Obviously Nell knew Hideki couldn’t be much older than Bea at most, but still— it was amusing to make fun of the way he acted like he was an old man in a younger one’s body, saying the strangest things and proving himself time and time again to only have more traits she’d expect of someone much older. But as she regained her muffin she hummed pleasantly, easily placated by the re-acquirement of the little pastry. But her lips pursed in the slightest at the mention of fiery. It seemed her personality was the only part of her family’s legacy she’d inherited. Though she’d made a name for herself without the connecting link to their fire elemental tendencies, it still wasn’t exactly fun to be the odd one out. “Yeah well- human beings are very complex creatures, Hideki,” she said with the element of a tease back in her tone. Despite her attempts to always seem unamused by him, her lips still tilted up at the corners in a small grin. “I can’t imagine how hard that must be for you. Maybe you should just spare us all, and stop hunting for the sake of your rapidly decaying body.” But she snickered at the mention of hunting grounds. “Not a very good hunter when you return the food.”

Hideki snorted and leaned back in the seat of the booth, finally letting himself take the first sip of his americano. It had been far too long since he’d last had an adequate amount of caffeine coursing through his veins so it took a shameful amount of self-restraint to keep himself from downing the entire thing in front of… present company. “You have no idea how complex…” he muttered around the rim of his cup, eyes glittering with entertainment. He would always wonder at how rash young humans could be despite how delicate they were. Although, he still questioned what the woman sitting in front of him was. His eyes shamelessly scanned the details of her jacket, his recent obsession. “Well, that’s quite a good proposition to make. Perhaps, since you like bantering so much, you might be inclined to study political science at the local college. Our debate team is quite good from what I hear. I’m sure you’d have a great deal of fun as a lawyer.”

A little frown crossed over Nell’s lips, never sure what Hideki meant when he said such cryptid things. Maybe he was just being weird. Who knew? Nevertheless, she fixed him with a disapproving look as she noticed him focus in on her jacket, and she subconsciously gripped the edges of it, pulling it closer to her body in a somewhat defensive maneuver. How could he know what it was made of? He’d have to be supernatural himself. Or perhaps a Scribe? A Scribe seemed more likely, and much more Hideki’s speed. “Mmm you know it’s funny you mention that. I have considered applying recently.” She dangled the carrot for a moment, wondering if he would bite. “Would you like to know why?”

Hideki couldn’t help but lean forward on his elbows a bit, eager to hear whatever tale the young lady had decided to weave up for him this time. “Oh, please do enlighten me.” He had to resist being sarcastic, just in case she was genuine, even for a single second. That second’s pause was interrupted by the sound of shattering glass. Hideki cursed in Japanese under his breath and dove under the booth table to shield himself. He tugged not-so-gently on Nell’s arm to try and drag her under the makeshift barrier with him. “What in God’s name…?” he hissed, eyes going wide as the tiled restaurant floor echoed with the sound of strange clicks that could be heard around the other patrons’ panicked whispers.

For a moment, Nell felt the smallest bit guilty about possibly teasing Hideki. It really did seem that he was at least partially genuinely excited at the prospect of her going to college. And she didn’t need to disappoint more people in her life. So she hesitated, that pause made longer by the sudden outburst of the broken windows, and a clicking sound she thought was vaguely familiar, but couldn’t quite place. “Hey!” she exclaimed as Hideki tugged her downwards, hiding certainly never being her first instinct when it came to danger. Though...she supposed it was nice of Hideki to think of her. Still, she wasted no time in straightening herself to sneak a peek over the top of the table, a rather passionate curse of, “Fuck, god dammit,” falling from her lips as she recognized the karkinoids. “It’s the kar- the giant lobsters.” Fiddling with her clothes, she pulled out a dagger from who knew where, readying herself to fight. “Uh- just- stay here,” she told Hideki, not wanting him to get hurt.

Hideki felt his hands starting to shake despite his best attempts to keep calm. He was not ready for this. The thought that there were other people - that Nell was there - was a good reminder that he needed to figure out how to handle the situation. At least, that was what he had been telling himself until he realized that Nell had pulled out a dagger. “Woah!” He grabbed her shoulder to stop her, only just then realizing she had almost said the word ‘karkinoid’. “What the hell are you doing?” He hissed, cautiously leaning his head around the booth. “There’s… at least six of those…” He paused, scanning her expression and only found reassurance that she knew exactly what she was doing, so he resigned himself to slipping out of his guise. “There’s six karkinoids. Whatever experience you may have, you’ll need some back up.” 

Nell frowned at being pulled back by Hideki, though she should be very used to people holding her back when she was constantly attempting to dive head first into situations. “I’m gonna kick their ass!” she said restlessly, annoyance coloring her words that she was having to wait to make sure these little shits didn’t hurt anyone in the shop. But then he uttered the word karkinoid, the very one she’d done her best not to say, and she the small suspicions she’d had were at least somewhat confirmed. Unless...Hideki was simply very into the mythology he was responsible for teaching. But he didn’t seem unfazed that apparent mythology could come to life. Her pride made her say, “You don’t know how capable I am or not.” But now wasn’t the time for pride. “The longer I wait, the more likely people are going to get hurt! So unless you have a bazooka hiding under that cardigan-” She let her words cut off, her impatient look cutting into him.

The kitsune sighed as she argued with him. Though, she was right; he had no idea what she was. For all he knew, she was a 600 year-old-vampire who just liked acting like an absolute child at the most inopportune moments… He doubted it. Hideki grumbled under his breath as he pulled off the aforementioned cardigan to protect it; it was $300 dollars. And really soft. “Alright, kid. Let’s see what you can do.” He tossed a smile her way and slid out from beneath the table, just in time to see a karkinoid descending on one of the baristas who’d been brave enough to try to fight them off with a broom. With a flick of his wrist, a carefully aimed burst of fire engulfed the creature. Thank God the windows were broken, though. The stench...

Nell’s impatience turned momentarily to confusion as she watched him take the cardigan off. What the fuck was he doing? But her confusion quickly turned to intrigue as he seemingly put out a challenge. He was...encouraging her now? The surprise one her face only grew as she watched him throw himself into the battle, and fire sprouted from his hand in a similar fashion to the methods her family of fire elementals had used all their lives. But...she didn’t feel any magic in the air as he did it. Nevertheless, she let out a delighted bark of a laugh as he torched the karkinoid, her hands flying straight into the air in triumphant fists. “Haha! Yes, old man! Yes!!” And then she wasted no more time in launching herself into the fray, grabbing the brave barista by the arm, tossing her towards the door, and telling her to “Get the hell out of here!” And then relaying it to anyone else who was in the shop by yelling it over the mess of a shop. In another moment, she was jumping onto the counter, overlooking the field as the karkinoids went in search of whatever food they were trying to find. Picking the first overgrown lobster she saw, she dove from the top of the counter onto it’s back, quickly pinning it’s fatal claws to the floor as she grabbed one of it’s legs nearest it’s middle and yanked it off. “Hideki, I got us dinner!” she yelled after tossing the leg aside. Then she promptly drove her knife into the weak spot she’d created, and the thing’s struggles began to wan. 

Hideki rolled his eyes at her encouragement, but was unable to deny the genuine smile that was creeping onto his face. It had been a long time since he’d felt so excited. Hideki was quick to spring to action though as patrons began flooding out of their hiding spaces to run. “Go through the backdoor! Quick!” He shouted, holding open the kitchen door as he ushered everyone to safety. When he turned around to see Nell practically tackle a Karkinoid, it was all he could do to keep from laughing. “Dinner, you say?” He caught the leg and set it ablaze. “Seems as though we’ll be having fire roasted lobster tonight.” He chuckled, but only then realized his mistake in getting distracted. A Karkinoid was coming to the aid of its friend and was dangerously close to Nell. Fearing he might burn her if he were to use his fire, he quickly unbuttoned his pants and shifted. With a vicious snarl, the kitsune tackled the bottom feeder, fangs ripping deep into its exoskeleton.

Another bright laugh fell from her as he ‘prepared’ their dinner, and she finished off her first karkinoid, driving the knife into the weak bit of flesh she’d created again and again. “I’ll have to pick up some butter on the way home.” The hair on the back of her neck suddenly stood on end, battle instinct kicking in as she whipped her head around and saw another karkinoid coming her way. Magic gathered at her fingertips as she got ready to blast it into oblivion, but instead out of the corner of her eye she saw Hideki...taking off his pants? What the fuck. But it all became clear as he shifted, and she barely even blinked as he took out the karkinoid. “Are you shitting me?! A fucking kitsune?!” It was a mix of shock and excitement. She’d met a few of them when she’d been travelling in Japan during her five-year-long attempt to see the world and all it had to hold. “You’ve been holding out on me, jerk!” Then she joked once more in the midst of battle. “Also rude of you to take the one I wanted.” Speaking of ones she wanted it seemed that the rest of the karkinoids were quickly pegging Nell and Hideki as the threats to be most worried about at the moment, and were gathering their forces as the advanced on the pair. In a flash, she’d run her knife down the side of her arm, letting that glorious river of red blood run free as she felt its power flow through her veins, and she dropped it onto a bit of glass on the floor. In another moment, the glass that had shattered in perfectly sharpened bits began to hover in place. Normally, they wouldn’t be enough to make a karkinoid flinch, but if she summoned them to her all in conjunction, and with a lot of muscle behind them. Well...they’d see whether it worked or not. The only problem was at the center of this circle was Nell and Hideki. “When I say jump- jump. After three.” Then she began the countdown. “1...2…3...Jump!” The glass shot inwards as her feet left the ground, doing its best to imaple anything that was in its path.

Hideki only rolled his eyes as the woman cursed at him. Well, at the very least she seemed to know her stuff. At this point he’d believe she was a hunter with the way that she handled that dagger… which was a terrifying thought he didn’t dare to think that much harder on; the massive lobster in his mouth did not want to die. He was forced to let go of the creature as a massive claw clamped down where he had been standing on it just a second ago. Instead, he took a few paces back as the side of it that was the furthest from Nell burst into flames. Just in time for him to see her rip into her own arm. He let out at alarmed yip and ran towards her. Had the girl lost her mind? Things were dire, but not that dire! He was about to try and pull the dagger from her when he realized the glass was floating. Magic? Well… he had asked to see what she could do. Still, his ears pressed nervously to the back of his head as he circled anxiously, waiting on her count. On her command, he leaped, delicately tucking his tail to avoid any injury as the glass rushed forward. All he knew was that he did not want to be those karkinoids at the moment. 

Generally, Nell wouldn’t have resorted to magic if she could help it when in public, and in front of a man she didn’t know all that well— but he’d shown his so it didn’t seem all that bad to show her’s. Besides, she knew he wasn’t a witch hunter...right? She’d never heard of a shifter being a witch-hunter. Well- it was too late now. This was much faster than dispatching them individually, anyway. She jumped on her own command along with Hideki, and the glass pieces impaled anything in their path, driving deep into the karkinoids. Her feet touched ground once more as the pieces of glass came to settle, the ones that hadn’t come into contact with anything crunching under her shoes. The karkinoids had been considerably slowed, some of them dead in their tracks, though a couple still managed to crawl towards her and Hideki. “One last one for you, and one for me?” she asked, a blood-thirsty grin on her face as she looked at the carnage of the overgrown lobsters they’d wrought, and delicious adrenaline pumped through her veins. 

Hideki landed delicately on his feet, doing his best to ignore the small shards of glass piercing his paws. The small pads on his feet had grown rough from long summer adventures in the mountains where he’d grown up in, but glass was a new sensation that he didn’t ever want to experience again. Still, there were karkinoids to be grilled. He let out a tiny huff in response to her proposition. He took a step forward as though to launch himself at the remaining karkinoid he’d chosen, but let out a small whine as more glass stood in his way. He growled in indignation and set the whole damn creature on fire - perhaps a bit hotter than he’d intended. Still, the sound of sizzling karkinoid was confirmation enough that his part of the job was accomplished.

It took a moment for Nell to realize what was desparinging Hideki, but a little flash of guilt ran through her as she realized the problem. His paws. Sure, she had shoes to protect her feet, but he was working with just the skin of his feet. But it had occurred to her too late, and he was already dispatching his karkinoid, glass be damned. Meanwhile, she approached her own opponent. It had a couple shards of glass sticking out of its shell, but still seemed determined to fight until its last breath. Or at least...get to whatever food it had come here for to begin with. It was easy enough to dispatch the thing, and she did so by magicking one of the heavy looking trash cans over to it, before unceremoniously dropping it on top of the overgrown lobster with a loud crunch. “Well...I guess we can’t eat that one.” Finally- there was silence in the shop, and she remembered Hideki’s dilemma. “Are your um- feet alright? Sorry.”

Hideki jumped a little as the sound of the trash can landing on the karkinoid echoed around the once packed coffee shop. He sighed as he picked his way through the glass and back towards his discarded pants. He dragged them behind the counter, where he could shift without ‘injuring her delicate nature’. He slid his pants on with a quiet grunt, ignoring his bare chest for the time being as he pulled himself onto the coffee counter to examine his feet. “It’s alright. Considering how dangerous karkinoids can be, a little glass means nothing.” He tried to give her a reassuring smile but was keenly aware of the blood dripping from his hands and feet. “Do you ah… Would you please get me some paper towels? And a first aid kit? They must have one here somewhere.”

Nell was going to tell him to stay put, and to just let her clear the glass before he went wading through it, but it seemed she was too late as he disappeared behind the counter, and for a moment there was confusion on her face. Was he....hiding? But his emergence along with the pants made it easy enough to put two and two together. Still- perhaps it would have been better if she hadn’t been staring when he came out from where he’d gone. She might call him old man but...lack of shirt considered— Hideki was decidedly...not old. In a moment she looked away, a bit embarrassed simply because she felt intrusive when he obviously hadn’t meant to end up shirtless in a coffee shop. But her frown came back once more when he answered her, and she didn’t hesitate to step closer, holding out an open and upturned palm that was demanding his hand. “Let me see. I’m not the best healer, but I can get by usually. At least make it stop bleeding and keep you from dying of infection.”

The Kitsune blinked at her outstretched hand. He supposed after what they’d just been through, a little truce was more than due. He placed his hand in hers, allowing her to examine at will with a soft smile on his face. “That is… a relief. Most of my family were healers. It had become a bit of a tradition, so everyone was rather surprised when I was useless when it came to injuries. The fire comes in handy though.” He chuckled a little and nodded towards the burnt husks of the karkinoids. He was silent a moment as he deliberated. “Penelope… What was that back there?”

Nell knew that this was a bit...out of the ordinary for them, and it was rather strange to think that not fifteen minutes ago she’d just thought of Hideki as some stuffy, college professor who lived to shame her about college and steal her muffins. But her brow furrowed as she worked, not in the nature of letting people suffer around her unless they deserved it as her small hands traced the air above his injuries. It was true what she’d said about healing, and her work was slow as she did her best to patch up his hands. Though at the same time...blood injuries had always behaved well for her, it being easier for her to will the red droplets to cease, and bring those platelets together to scab over. The part that consisted of turning those scabs into new flesh was where she often ran into trouble. She couldn’t help but pick up on his phrasing, and asked before she could think not to. “Were healers?” Nevertheless, the corner of her mouth turned upwards, certainly being able to relate to not holding up family traditions. “My family’s just the opposite. A bunch of fire elementals and I can’t even make a puff of smoke.” She looked up from her paused work when she heard her name, even if she was still a little thrown that he tended to use her full one. “What was...what? The karkinoids? You said their name?” He’d known what they were, hadn’t he?

Well, Hideki had always admired Nell for her quick wit, though this was one of the few times he wished she hadn’t caught on so easily to his slipping up. He continued to stare at her hands as she worked - it was a good distraction from the memories and emotions bubbling up. “Were healers,” was his simple response. He hoped that was enough to satisfy her and, thankfully, her slight joke was quick to bring his smile back, even if it was only a small one. “No, not the karkinoids. Your abilities. I hate to assume things, but you are quite skilled and most certainly not a regular human. Call it… an old man’s curiosity.”

For the moment, it seemed that Nell had forgotten her own arm that she’d cut open during the fight for her magical purposes, rather intent on fixing Hideki. Besides, she was used to parts of her bleeding, and as far as injuries went it wasn’t that bad. But Nell knew a dismissal when she heard one, or rather— the shutting of a book Hideki didn’t necessarily want her reading when it came to his family. She was curious, but she wouldn't pry at the moment. It was probably easier, anyway. Nell didn’t think she was particularly good at helping people sort through emotions. “Oh-” Despite herself, her pride granted her a bit of a smile as he called her skilled, and that grin widened as he took it upon himself to claim his ‘old man’ title. “I’m a witch,” she shrugged, as if it was everyday news. “A spellcaster, if that’s easier for an old man to grasp. And you’re...a kitsune?”

“A witch?” Hideki echoed, gears turning in his mind. That made the most sense, but he was admittedly still wary of her. What kind of witch had knife skills like that? And blood magic? Clearly, its healing abilities had done him some good, but, as far as he understood it, blood magic was generally… disapproved of. He’d need to do more research on the subject to be sure. Most concerning of all, was that he wasn’t entirely convinced she wasn’t a hunter. He did his best to keep his face calm as he weighed his options but mainly kept his gaze downcast. “A+, little witch,” the subtle insult made him chuckle as he finally met her eyes, his own glittering mischievously. “I am what is known as a Kasai - or Fire - Kitsune.” His Japanese accent slipped a little as the words from his native tongue rolled past his lips. 

Nell wasn’t sure what to make of his tone, feeling like something was shifting back into the territory they normally inhabited of tit for tat, and sizing one another up. Perhaps their momentary little truce was over? “Yep,” she simply said, confused what other answer he might be looking for. “Black cat and all. Pointy little hat for sure.” Well...the black cat comment wasn’t entirely wrong. And then she was back to her impassioned outbursts as he hit just the right button. “Well we can’t all be freakish giants!” But then she was coming down a little once more. “And your A+ isn’t going to get me to enroll.” Kasai, she knew she’d heard the word before when she’d been talking with her kitsune friends she’d met in Japan, but she hadn’t stayed long enough to know all the types of kitsune and their names. “Funnily enough- I might have guessed the fire bit from the whole barbecue shrimp act. At least we’ll eat well tonight, right?” She’d finished with his hands, and pointed to a nearby counter, indicating he should sit on it. “Alright, feet.”

Getting the desired rise out of her made him laugh. It wasn’t his fault he was over a foot taller than her. Hideki shrugged his shoulders as she refused to enroll yet again. “Perhaps one day you will change your mind and prove to the rest of the professors that you could be a fantastic student.” He wiggled his eyebrows at her, knowing full well how ‘cringey’ it may be. His students taught him that word the other day. He nodded, in agreement and slowly shifted a long leg up on the counter so she could have better access. “We might as well open up a seafood restaurant. A one night, lobster-only buffet. It could be quite profitable if we play our cards right.”

Nell’s nose scrunched in her disapproval as she pushed out a hand to shove him lightly in the shoulder. “Stop laughing! Short is normal!” But her face quickly shifted to entirely nonplussed, looking mildly concerned and perhaps disturbed at such movement of his eyebrows. “What was that?” But then her next reaction was to laugh a bit. “That was terrifying. You should have done that at the karkinoids!” Her amusement was kindled by talk of a restaurant as she bent a bit to begin work on his feet. “One-night while supplies last. We could be rich. We’ve already got the place and the health code...grade thingy,” she finished while pointing towards the window where the paper was posted. 

“Oh yes, I’m quite certain my eyebrows would have stopped the karkinoids in their tracks,” Hideki mused, as he leaned back a bit, examining their surroundings. “I suppose… we really should donate any profits to the owners, though,” he said with a soft sigh. “I do hope the repairs to this building don’t take too terribly long.” Hideki’s apartment was only two blocks away and he stopped into Coffee Plus on his walks to school each morning. He knew he was fully capable of making his own coffee, but the mere thought of such inconvenience. Which reminded him… “Whatever happened to your muffin?”

“You never know. Have you tried it?” As he leaned back her gaze shifted upwards for a moment to make sure he wasn’t falling or something, and she was once again reminded of his lack of shirt. In a moment, she was floating his discarded cardigan towards them, it landing just beside him on the counter. “Yeah...probably. This kind of thing isn’t exactly uncommon here, though- you know?” Now that she thought about it, she realized she hadn’t the faintest idea how long Hideki had lived in White Crest. “Are you upset for the owner, or your loss of coffee?” she teased. But at the very mention of her muffin, her eyes widened in the slightest, her lips uttering a mournful cry of, “My muffin.” She didn’t spare a second to summon that too, though her pout only strengthened as it came into view. It was in miserable shape, and was there a....bit of karkinoid shell sticking out of it? “My muffin,” she repeated again, this time it being more of an acceptance of the poor thing’s fate. “I guess...would you like a bit of it now? I might be able to share.”

Any kind of response was lost on him as his precious cardigan came floating into view. Sure, he was rather accustomed to magic considering his upbringing, but making things float was not something his family members were generally capable of. He watched like a fascinated child until it finally came to land beside him. “Thank you,” he muttered as he pulled his sweater back on. Hideki purposefully refused to answer her question, though; he was definitely only upset about the coffee, but he wasn’t about to genuinely admit that. The muffin floating still surprised him and he watched as she examined it. “Share?” Bewildered, he stared at her for a moment before laughing. “No, I think we should leave it as inspiration for our dessert menu instead.” With his hands and feet nearly cared for, he finally stopped joking around and leaned forward. “However, I think we should focus our priorities on your arm instead of our faux restaurant. Are you… able to heal yourself? Would you like me to fetch you some bandages?”

Nell watched with some amusement as he seemed to be all too eager to have his cardigan back, though she did not more than shrug in response to his thanks. A small, non-verbal motion that simply meant ‘don’t mention it’. But she also wasn’t going to let him get away that easy with avoiding her teasing question. “Hmm, your silence is awfully telling. Don’t you think?” She wouldn’t judge though. At least not right now. Her own chuckle peppered through the air as he seemed mystified by the muffin. “Oh- come on. I’m being so generous, and this is the thanks I get?” As he shifted his posture, again she looked up, surprised to find that he was closer than before. “I- what?” Oh her arm. “Oh, don’t worry about it. It kinda comes with the territory.” Nevertheless, this time a small pile of bandages appeared from seemingly thin air on the counter, Nell having magicked them here from home. Suddenly, she was hit with a small wave of fatigue. Perhaps she’d done one too many spells in quick succession after the glass stunt, but she brushed it off. After all, healing generally took more out of her than other magics. “I’ll just put them on in a bit. Magical healing isn’t always as prudent for me.” She’d healed her sacrificial wounds before, the ones she made in exchange for power, but sometimes doing so had...unexpected consequences. It seemed that something in magic didn’t always approve of healing something that was meant to be freely given in exchange for power so quickly. Perhaps it felt cheated. “Thank you, though,” she said, remembering her manners at the last moment. After all, it was nice of him to ask.

“When you get to be my age, you learn quickly where your loyalties lie. Mine just so happen to belong to a caffeine addiction,” Hideki finally admitted with a quiet but knowing laugh. Nell was right in that things like this just… happened in White Crest. He’d been there about a year and a half and had learned that lesson quite quickly. The sudden appearance of the bandages on the counter startled him, making him jump. He scrutinized them as though they might come alive, and then he scrutinized her calm demeanor. She wasn’t acting as though anything were out of place… so it must’ve been her doing. He relaxed and turned his gaze to his palms, where he experimentally made a fist. The scabbing would restrict a bit of his movements, but he figured his fine motor skills weren’t too impaired. “Come now, little witch. No need to be stubborn over a simple fix.” He leaned forward - proving himself to be quite flexible - as he gently took her by the elbow of the injured arm and led her towards him for better access. He examined the gash and plucked the bandages off the counter. “I may not have the magical ability to heal, but I’ve cleaned my fair share of wounds.”

Nell’s head tilted to the side, realizing that along with him being a kitsune, she really didn’t know how old he was. “Are you admitting to being an old man, in the same breath as being willing to do anything for coffee?” She was teasing, but also genuinely curious about an answer to her first question. Trying to remember back to the rush of the fight...she couldn’t recall staring at any tails he may or may not have, but she didn’t think there’d been a plethora. Nell shouldn’t have been amused by startling him with the bandages, but another small grin slipped over her lips nonetheless. She’d have to warn him next time. “How’s it feel?” she asked, craning her head a bit to try and get a look at his hands. Be careful though, I don’t want you to open up the scabs.” She grumbled a bit over her apparent new nickname that he’d settled on. Apparently he was determined to make it stick. But her barbs were lowered for a moment when she realized what he was doing, and let herself be brought closer. Still, she was uncertain, mind still decently confused about how they’d gotten from swiping muffins to this. “I- um- alright.” Perhaps the first time she hadn’t fought him on something. “Thanks.”

Hideki made a soft humming sound as he contemplated his answer. “By human standards, I am very much an ‘old man’, but, in the eyes of the ancient ones, I am still a baby.” He winked knowingly and set about the task of cleaning and bandaging up her arm. His touch was gentle, but a bit clumsy with how he couldn’t fully bend his fingers. It didn’t help that his hands were shaking again. He frowned as he realized he hadn’t eaten anything… again. When was his last meal? He’d had… a bowl of rice for dinner two nights ago? No wonder. His brow furrowed as he concentrated, willing his muscles to comply until he could scavenge something up. “They’re a little stiff, but I should be just fine, thank you.” Despite his shaking fingers, he tied off the bandages with a practiced ease. With his immediate concern appropriately addressed, he finally noticed the scarring that undoubtedly came from her magic. He made a mental note but decided it would be best if he simply… didn’t ask. “Now then… I vote we find my shoes and get out of here,” he muttered as he wiggled his feet, testing their new flexibility too.

Nell let out a hum of amusement before she simply said, “Baby, old man,” still having no qualms with poking some fun at him. “That explains a decent amount, though.” Like why he literally sounded like he’d come out of a different century at times. But she stilled as he went about his work, watching curiously as he did what he promised. She couldn’t...entirely remember the last time she’d let someone help this way. It seemed different than letting the healers at the Ring heal her, and she didn’t even always let them do their work. Her frown joined his as she watched his hands tremor, and she didn’t waste time to ask, “You’re sure you’re alright?” Yes, shoes would be a good idea. Despite her wave of fatigue earlier, she didn’t hesitate to call the shoes to them, as she was fairly certain she could at least handle this one other thing for the moment. “Should we see if it fits, Cinderella?” she asked, presenting them to him. 

The Kitsune only nodded in response to her question, not wanting to have her worry over him. While he undoubtedly enjoyed her presence, there were some things he still needed to work out about her - such as whether or not she might be a genuine threat. He was slowly getting accustomed to things just floating towards him, but it didn’t stop his eyes from going wide as he watched. “Ah yes, my good prince. Let us see,” he laughed and held up his foot, but the laughter died in his throat as the sound of distant sirens started getting closer. Hideki paled as he looked around the destroyed coffee shop. Of course, the police would be on their way. His eyes met Nell’s for a beat and he opened his mouth, but the words refused to come out. All he could communicate was panic. He snatched the shoes and slid across the counter, bolting through the kitchen door and out of the emergency exit as fast as his legs could carry him. He didn’t even bother to pull his hair from his face as he sprinted down the block, completely bypassing his apartment and heading for the woods. For familiar territory. For safety.