[Redd]

“Fireballs. That’s some serious business.” Leona’s head bobbed in a serious, contemplative nod, trying to ignore the soft snickering behind her. Gods, it was really hard keeping a straight face. “What else do we need to know about ‘Engferth’ here?”

“I really don’t think-” ‘Engferth’ winced, gaze frantically flicking between the talkers.

“Oh!” An old Island Aumaua perked up at this question, though she seemed more sceptical than the rest. “Apparently ‘Engferth’ here had a tragic past. Parents died in a fire. Then he was taken in by a rich aunt -”

“- who also died in a fire!”

“This isn’t as interesting as you might-” ‘Engferth’ again shot Leona a pleading glance.

[Redd]

“That’s a lot of people dying in a fire.” Leona ignored the kicked puppy look she was now being subjected to, especially if her assumptions were correct and she was one of those fiery deaths. “Could say that’s a bit of bad luck.” She paused, for effect and she could practically see him deflating from here. “What do you say, Edér?”

“Hmm?” Edér raised an eyebrow and gave 'Engferth' the most serious, scrutinising look he was capable of. He paused, taking a moment to relight his pipe before taking a deep breath of it. “I dunno boss, he seems a bit on the scrawny side. Eh, why not.”

Leona turned back to the party and gave a small nod. “Well, that settles it, we’ll take him.” she finally stated, giving him a small wave over. He immediately complied, striding over and settling into his usual place beside her - the same way it had been 5 years ago, like nothing had changed. She frowned, except it had changed.

[Redd]

With a soft thanks and a wave, Leona led their party of three away from the encampment to stand at the entrance of the bowels of the ruin. Once she was sure that no one could hear them, she whirled on the Animancer, scowling and hands balled into fists. “Your ‘rich aunt’ Aloth, really?” she growled, regarding him with some amount of scorn. “I understand the struggle of trying to appeal to a woman to get in their bed, but you didn’t have to bring me into it.”

“What, no! That wasn’t it. Benessa and I- it was nothing, it couldn’t be.” Aloth winced and gave a strained smile. “That aside it… was a convenient story? It seemed like it anyway, at the time. You’ve got one of the oldest souls that I know.”

[Redd]

“And then I died in a fire. That’s just embarrassing.” Leona snorted and rolled her eyes, taking a mild offense at the story, but she knew she had no right to be. It’s not like she’d ever divulged her personal history with these two. “Who dies in a fire?”

“Your keep did burn down though. After it got crushed.” Edér dryly reminded her, nodding sagely all the while. She deflated and needled him with an annoyed glance.

“I… crushed? Did I miss something?” Aloth worriedly glanced between the two of them. Then he sighed and massaged his temples. “Of course, the titan. You wouldn’t be here just for the change of scenery. I… oh. That wasn’t like that before.”

[Redd]

The three, carried by their conversation, had traversed the ruins and stood in front of a massive pillar of Adra. The green rock towered over them but something was wrong. She flexed her Watcher senses, expecting to feel soul energy dancing just beneath the surface but… it was empty.

“Hey look, we got another husk here.” Edér called out, waving them over. “He’s got something in his hand.”

“That’s Oderisi.” Aloth stated sadly, reaching out to touch the hand and pulling back as the husk crumbled away into nothingness. “Looks like the titan got to him too.”

[Redd]

“Eothas you mean.” Leona stated, reaching down to pluck the notes out of the ashen remains. As she straightened back up, she felt a prickle in the back of her mind. ‘Touch it’, a voice commanded. ‘Reach in and find yourself.’ She glanced up and felt a soft tug from the adra pillar that wasn’t there before.

Then, the room was gone. She felt her body go slack and heard a yelp in the distance, but she pushed forward through the haze to find a golden tether. This place… she knew it well. She’d spent a month here, drifting, no more than a collection of thoughts and memories, fighting for the will to survive. And yet, the golden cord was new, as was the great green adra titan, who’s body was decorated with inlaid golden patterns, spots and swirls. The titan that slept beneath Caed Nua, the one who stepped on her and took her soul.

[Redd]

“Eothas!” She pushed past her fear and called out, venom dripping in her voice as she yelled, no, demanded to be heard.

The Green Titan paused, inclining his head back to her - almost surprised, she could feel. “Watcher?” He considered her presence for a second, like she was some kind of peculiar insect before he shook his head. “You are brave to come to the In-Between, Watcher. But I implore you not to follow.” There was more but she could barely hear it as he reached behind them and pulled the tether out of his back.

[Redd]

Immediately, the world flashed back and all she saw was five fingers wiggling in front of her face. “Nope. She’s gone. Hey Aloth, you got a pillow or somethin’ we might be here a while.” Eder pulled his hand back and drew back up to full height.

“No? Will you please tell me what’s going-” Aloth indignantly snapped back, losing track of his sentence as the dull green pillar suddenly flared back to life, soul energy dancing and flitting between the surface.

“I’m alive, gods. Chill out the both of you.” Leona coughed and stood up with a little more wobbling than she usually liked.

[Redd]

She tried to take a step and fumbled it, her ankle giving away underneath and she made something of a squeaking noise as she threw her hands out, bracing to hit the cold stone. Except, she never did. She pried her eyes open and looked up at Eder who’d darted forward to catch her, worry in his eyes. “Hey look, I keep saying this but we just gotcha back. Try not to die on us again.” he gently chided, helping set her upright.

Leona grimaced and leant on him, feeling a great weariness in her body. In her periphery, she could see Aloth fidgeting nervously and something between envy and worry in his eyes. She sighed and inclined her head in his direction. “I can feel you fret from here Aloth.” she commented wryly, enjoying the wince and small cough as he straightened himself up and tried to put on some semblance of dignity. He really had changed in some ways and not in others. The scar on his brow was new too, she noted, stowing that away to ask for another time.

[Redd]

“I am sorry, but I thought I heard Eder say you died?” He pressed, looking between them. “And Caed Nua is...gone?”

Leona grimaced and nodded her head sharply. Guilt immediately welled, both on his face and in his ambient thoughts. “Yeah. Eothas decided to inhabit that big statue beneath Caed Nua, then he stepped on my castle, reaped the souls of everyone in the surrounding area, only got a piece of mine, but it was enough to put me in a coma for a month, or well, until I pledged my soul to a god. But… hey, I’m alive now. Just… my soul’s indebted to Berath so I… just need to stop Eothas so I don’t fade away back to nothing.” She rattled off the events of the last month and a bit like she was discussing the weather, noting each line of worry on his face seemed to grow the more she added to the list.

“So no big, right? You in or not?”

[Crystal Synthesis Complete]