![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tanadin posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
saladloveChapter list: https://tanadin.dreamwidth.org/650.html
Map of Kaldriel: https://i.gyazo.com/332b0c0172dcc60acb46
Rough map of Hatu: https://i.gyazo.com/ea4f9f51b9dc7b9d8b86
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Lost and Found
Akrar, Kaldriel. November 16, 2277. Time instance 842N.
Nine tapped his fingers anxiously on the table, trying to control his fried nerves and anxious energy. He’d had no news on Tanadin and Talmarian was late, which was very unusual for him. He knew it was pointless to worry and would only cause him stress, but he couldn’t help it, so he tapped. Geluu smiled at him reassuringly and put a hand on his shoulder, the presence oddly calming but not slowing the movement of Nine’s fingers.
Eventually, the sound of three sets of footsteps reached Nine’s ears and he turned to look at the door, an eyebrow already raised when it opened and the second joining it a moment after.
As expected, he could see Talmarian and Shaadhun, but standing in front of them was Geek, who nearly made the air around her hum with power. A crown of black metal rested on top of her head, held in place by her horns, and several gems around its surface burned with green flame.
“Sorry we’re late, but we had a coronation and its aftermath to deal with.” Talmarian grinned.
Geluu’s eyebrows shot up to join Nine’s, probably up near the ceiling. “Please tell me that you’re the Queen of Hell and all of our demon-related issues are over.”
“I wouldn’t say we’ll never have a problem ever again, but we’re more unified.” Geek slid into the chair next to Nine and flashed him a grin, although he could see sparks of nervousness behind her eyes. “I’ve already told the Archdemons, in no uncertain terms, that they are to participate in battle if there’s even a rumor of Archangels out there.”
“And I can guarantee they’ll be there,” Talmarian added, sitting down as well. “Everyone in Heaven and Hell alike knows that there’s a new monarch. The angels are probably shitting themselves as we speak.”
“Difficult for angels,” Nine mused, “but I wouldn’t be surprised.”
“I’ve got demons mobilizing at the portal hub,” Geek continued, “so as soon as we get word of an attack, we can start sending the hordes of Hell through.”
Geluu grinned. “Now that sounds like the Hell the old stories tell about. None of this ‘oh but political nonsense’ or ‘oh but I’m scared what if an angel touches my wing’ bullshit pushback we’ve been getting from the Archdemons.”
“We have very politically weak Archdemons,” Talmarian informed them, startling both Nine and Geluu. They hadn’t heard Talmarian say anything particularly derogatory about any of them- even defending them in arguments- but Geek just nodded.
“Baskon isn’t that bad and Medithia just needs pointing in the right direction, but the others are too unwilling to go into battle. Ixen should come around and Aur’thia is good at keeping Vel’kex in line, but he and Shezrah are… difficult.”
Shaadhun snorted. “If by difficult you mean pains in the ass and that a hellion could be a better Archdemon than them, then yes, they’re difficult.”
“Vel’kex is terrifying in direct combat,” Geluu mumbled, pulling a sheet of paper towards him and starting to scribble on it. “He just doesn’t seem like much of a planner. Am I right?”
“Absolutely.” Geek tilted her head to get a better look at what he was writing. “There’s a reason I’m sending him into the melee the moment I can. He’s unlikely to die, especially if Aur’thia watches his back, and he can devastate the angels.”
Nine leaned back in his seat, letting out a quiet sigh of relief. “I don’t know how the hell you managed to suddenly become Queen, but I’m happy you did.”
Geek grinned sheepishly. “I’m not totally sure either, and I don’t feel prepared, but we’re doing this.”
“We’re making this happen,” Talmarian added, grinning mischievously. Shaadhun lifted her axe in a threat and he just grinned wider, lounging back in his chair.
Geek shot him a withering glance. “I’ve taken the world off your shoulders, haven’t I?”
“Yep. You get all the stress and I do all the thinking. It’s fucking perfect.”
“I hate you.”
“Mhm. I believe that.”
Nine rolled his eyes. “Can we focus? You can’t-”
His phone rang.
Nine reluctantly dug the phone out of his pocket, intending to mute it, but, seeing who it was, he picked up and stood, moving to the side of the room.
“Tanadin! Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m okay. I wasn’t really sure, for awhile there. I kept waking up during the flight over, only to pass out again, and I really thought I was fucked.”
“I’m glad you’re alive.” Nine didn’t bother to keep the relief out of his voice. “How’s everyone else?”
“Surprisingly, not tired. We all just went into the Plane of Fire and hung out until I’d healed- although it took several phoenixes to make that happen in a decent timespan- and that recharged them all.” She paused, a familiar beat of her considering her next words. “I’d have been dead without Everex, I think. I don’t really remember getting attacked too well, but that angel nearly completely destabilized my core with that much light energy in there.”
“I don’t want to think about that.”
“No, I don’t either. What happened after I passed out? What kind of losses did we have?”
“It… it was pretty bad. We lost a lot, but apparently Geek became Queen of Hell so now things with the Archdemons have been completely solved and we won’t have a demon shortage anywhere.”
There was a very, very long pause.
“What the fuck.”
“That’s what I said.”
“No, seriously, what the fuck. Why is Geek Queen? How did this happen?”
“I have no idea.”
“Is she there? Can I ask her?”
“...I mean, yeah, but she and Talmarian are planning with us, so she’s-”
“Oh, shit, I’m sorry. It didn’t occur to me-”
“Tanadin if you did not call me and I found out I would have been pissed as hell. Have you called Emma yet? She’s really worried too. What about Seven? And Shawn?”
Tanadin’s voice carried a note of frustration as she spoke. “Seven’s not picking up, as per usual. Does he even know I was hurt?”
“Yes. I called him. He sent the eight thousand unit.”
“Then could you tell him I’m okay over your cyborgs PMs or whatever it is you have?”
“Yeah, I’ll do that. No worries.”
“Okay, good. I’ll let you get back to your meeting and let Emma and Shawn know that I’m not dead, I just have a few holes in me.”
Nine’s eyes widened. “You still have the-”
“No. Bye, Nine.” She hung up.
Nine growled quietly and shoved his phone back in his pocket. He sat down again, quickly caught everyone up, and slipped back into the conversation, silently shooting Seven a message.
‘Tanadin’s okay.’
He responded, after a moment.
‘Thank you.’
Nine smiled slightly to himself.
That was enough for him.
~~~
Nathan was awfully tired of dying. Reviving was time consuming, annoying, and made him feel stiff for days.
Not to mention he always had to go find his necklace.
After asking around and scaring a few dozen people, he found himself knocking on Tac’s door, hoping that she did have it and that he wouldn’t scare the shit out of her. He knew Shawn probably wouldn’t even react to him looking as he did- after all, Shawn had seen him in his lich form before- but Tac probably wouldn’t take it too well.
Surprisingly, it was neither of them who opened to door. Instead, it was a girl who looked remarkably like Tanadin, with narrowed green eyes and brown hair. She looked him up and down and an eyebrow shot up.
“You look fucking terrible.” She spoke in Dranonic, and Nathan switched languages with ease.
“Thanks. Who are you and where is Tac?”
“I’m Sylondra Hitedramon. I thought people here couldn’t speak what we do.”
“I’m awfully full of surprises. Can I come in?”
Sylondra thought about that for a moment. “No, I don’t think so.”
“Why not?”
“Fuck you. That’s why.” She shut the door.
“Well,” Nathan mumbled, “I can fight back hordes of angels- except invisible ones, obviously, that would be absurd- but I can’t get through a door guarded by a bad-mannered child.”
“I’m twenty!” Sylondra shouted from inside.
“You certainly don’t act like it.”
“Syl!” The door opened to reveal Lucy on the other side. She grinned sheepishly. “Sorry about her. She’s a bitch sometimes.”
“You didn’t switch languages! I can understand you!”
“That was intentional!”
Nathan sighed. “Where is Tac?”
“Upstairs.” Lucy let him in and shut the door behind him, scrambling over to the stairs and switching to English. “Taaaac! Nathan’s here!”
Movement caught Nathan’s attention as Shawn stepped out of a side room, raising an eyebrow. “You look terrible.”
“So I’ve been told,” Nathan muttered dryly. “I left my necklace where I died. I heard Tac has it?”
“I have it,” Tac confirmed, almost slipping on the last step as she scrambled downstairs. She caught herself and looked around, a clear look of ‘you didn’t see that’ on her face, before shaking it off and continuing. She held the necklace out and Nathan took it, sighing in relief when he put it on and his appearance changed to be more presentable.
Sylondra made a face. “You looked better before.”
Kallen swatted her. “Be nice.”
Nathan stretched, hearing several bones click and something crack in a way that would have probably been painful if he’d been a regular human. “What have I missed? How long have I been gone?”
“You’ve been gone four days and Geek’s become Queen of Hell,” Shawn answered, crossing his arms. “Tanadin got stabbed but she’s fine. Also, Emma’s pregnant and Cataclysm’s freaking out about it.”
Nathan blinked a few times. “Good gods. You hang out with these people for five years and nothing happens, then you die for four days and everything happens. Why do you insist upon me missing everything, hmm?”
Shawn shrugged. “Payback for your shitty driving.”
“What are you worried about?”
“Dying, Nathan!”
“You are already dead, Shawn!”
“Fuck you!”
“I’m going back upstairs,” Tac announced. “This is getting weird.”
“I’ll come with,” Kallen muttered. “I think Sylondra and Lucy are going to have another glaring contest and there was ice creeping everywhere last time.”
“I don’t want to witness that,” Nathan decided. “I’ll be going now. I need to go wish the new Queen good luck.”
Shawn snorted. “She’s probably not having fun right now.”
“Oh, definitely not,” Nathan agreed. “But I’m sure Talmarian is having a wonderful time.”
~~~
“You’re sure this will work?” the girl asked, leaning closer to what her companion was working on.
He looked up at her, raising an eyebrow. “I’m never sure about anything, but it doesn’t stop me.”
She groaned quietly. “Can I get some calculations or something?”
“Nope.” He went back to working on the teleporter, leaving her in her own thoughts.
It had been longer than she cared to figure out since her team had fallen apart. Tera was still alive, that was for sure, and she was almost certain that Shatter was as well, and he was with someone based on the tracks that she’d seen leading out into the desert before she and Avery had barricaded themselves in the cave. She hadn’t seen the light of day since the day Eldran had been shot. She hadn’t killed anyone since the day after that, when Kris made his way inside and took her eye in payment for what she did to Jera.
She wasn’t bothered by the fact that she’d killed either of them. It had been necessary. She sat down, resting her chainsaw arm against the ground, and picked up her sewing with her remaining hand. It was difficult to see the color, with how dim the cave was, but her robotic eye spun and focused enough for her to know its rough shade. She picked up the needle with her telekinesis and continued sewing, holding it still with her left hand.
“Kaldra?” Avery’s voice, unsurprisingly. She looked up at where he was working, the twisted metal of the teleporter dull in the darkness but its edges a sharp outline against the distant wall.
“Yes?”
“This thing’s registering that a teleporter elsewhere in the desert was used three times recently, all to the same coordinates.”
“Another teleporter? Why would there be another teleporter?” Kaldra frowned, dropping the needle.
Avery shrugged. “Dunno. I’ll bet that’s Sylondra, Shatter, and Tera leaving, though.”
Kaldra’s fist clenched. “I’m going after Tera.”
“I’ll set the coordinates.” Avery tapped something on the dull screen of the teleporter, tilting his head to see past the cracks in the glass. “That’s outside of the desert. Beyond anything we’ve seen before.”
“What, are you worried?”
“Nah. You know me better than that.” Something in Avery’s robotic arm clicked and another tool swung out to replace the one he put away, allowing him to fiddle with the wires. “Just figured it might worry you.”
“And you know me well enough to know I’m going to chase down Tera and rip her into a million pieces for what she did to us.”
“Mhm.” Avery continued working, allowing them to lapse into silence once more.
Kaldra shut her eyes.
If those three were the only survivors of their team- and she could almost guarantee they were, she’d passed or created so many corpses there couldn’t be more than five or six total survivors, counting her and Avery- then the last two people in the entire desert were about to leave it.
A small smirk pulled itself onto her face.
Soon, she’d get her revenge on Tera.
Her prey would not escape her.
no subject
Date: 2017-03-17 09:48 pm (UTC)Geek now has a bad-ass entourage XD
Nine leaned back in his seat, letting out a quiet sigh of relief. “I don’t know how the hell you managed to suddenly become Queen, but I’m happy you did.”
Geek grinned sheepishly. “I’m not totally sure either, and I don’t feel prepared, but we’re doing this.”
“We’re making this happen,” Talmarian added, grinning mischievously. Shaadhun lifted her axe in a threat and he just grinned wider, lounging back in his chair.
Geek shot him a withering glance. “I’ve taken the world off your shoulders, haven’t I?”
“Yep. You get all the stress and I do all the thinking. It’s fucking perfect.”
“I hate you.”
“Mhm. I believe that.”
Geek and Talmarian make a hell of a team XD
“Okay, good. I’ll let you get back to your meeting and let Emma and Shawn know that I’m not dead, I just have a few holes in me.”
omg XD
Just still slightly stabbed, no worries, it's all good XD
“You look fucking terrible.” She spoke in Dranonic, and Nathan switched languages with ease.
“Thanks. Who are you and where is Tac?”
“I’m Sylondra Hitedramon. I thought people here couldn’t speak what we do.”
“I’m awfully full of surprises. Can I come in?”
Sylondra thought about that for a moment. “No, I don’t think so.”
“Why not?”
“Fuck you. That’s why.” She shut the door.
“Well,” Nathan mumbled, “I can fight back hordes of angels- except invisible ones, obviously, that would be absurd- but I can’t get through a door guarded by a bad-mannered child.”
“I’m twenty!” Sylondra shouted from inside.
“You certainly don’t act like it.”
I feel that Slylondra and Nathan are going to end up being best friends XD
Nathan stretched, hearing several bones click and something crack in a way that would have probably been painful if he’d been a regular human. “What have I missed? How long have I been gone?”
“You’ve been gone four days and Geek’s become Queen of Hell,” Shawn answered, crossing his arms. “Tanadin got stabbed but she’s fine. Also, Emma’s pregnant and Cataclysm’s freaking out about it.”
Nathan blinked a few times. “Good gods. You hang out with these people for five years and nothing happens, then you die for four days and everything happens. Why do you insist upon me missing everything, hmm?”
Shawn shrugged. “Payback for your shitty driving.”
Nathan has a point, nothing happens for 5 years and then everything happens at once XD
Kaldra shut her eyes.
If those three were the only survivors of their team- and she could almost guarantee they were, she’d passed or created so many corpses there couldn’t be more than five or six total survivors, counting her and Avery- then the last two people in the entire desert were about to leave it.
Two more lab kids incoming. Also no one knows that Tera has arrived and she's been keeping her head down, not for very much longer I suspect.
no subject
Date: 2017-03-19 04:21 pm (UTC)Syl gets along with a large number of people if they show they can put up with her being a dick until it wears off.
RIP Nathan
oh yeah Tera's gonna start DOING SHIT soon.
no subject
Date: 2017-03-20 10:01 pm (UTC)So Syl is like Nathan then, as I think that's how Nathan also makes friends.
I'm looking forward with trepidation as to the incoming chaos that Tera is likely going to cause.