Odi's voice had once been enough to rally an army.

Hawkins had felt the warmth of her support, the strength of her kindness and the trust in her words that things would be alright. All of that had been burned away.

He didn't know what had happened to torment the dragon but the quiet confidence of a Scale Shrieker evaporated under the heat of so many judging eyes. And Hawkins was one of them.

They had all gathered underneath the shadow of the broken cross that was left from the former Halls of Mediation, a strange mist rolling in with the sound of gentle rainfall that was no doubt attempting to seek them out. Mantis had one eye on the open on the makeshift stone shelter they had managed to build across from the injured pair of Traited and wolves, unable to move them but still needed to protect them from the rain.

"How? How do we heal her?"

Hawkins' falsely calm voice levelled his mentor into staying silent, the Sand Wraith's insistence in constantly defending her now slowly grating on his nerves no matter how much he valued Hack's input. Whatever rations Cull had scrounged from his days on the streets dwindled by the minute, Hack's attempts to grow healing herbs shrivelled up alongside whatever energy the Sand Wraith had left. Move those pillars in place had taken everything he had.

"Anger can be destructive, difficult and can cloud your judgement in a fight. But not for Cullian." Odi explained in her usual storybook way, the look in her amber eyes becoming far more genuine but Hawkins couldn't trust it.

"Bullshit."

Hawkins couldn't help but choke out a laugh at Cull's response, his Smoke Trait no longer leering dangerously near the untrustworthy dragon. It had become far more hostile than he had ever expected but without Wisp it was better than the Eternal Death. He was tired of worrying about it. But no Traited could help it and neither could he.

"It's not. But you already know that. Heck the only time you did use your anger was that first blast that destroyed Grimmordeals and what happened? You passed out." Hawkins said, trying to throw Odi a bone despite his grievances with her.

"So?"

Mantis shook her head at Cull's stubbornness, a half smile on her face as she forced down the hunger reducing herbs Hack had hastily grown. It was all they could do with everything they had faced. It was a miracle Cull's rations had lasted this far, his gluttonous, hoarding tendencies saving them on more than one occasion.

"So, ever since you got your Triad your flame has been far less erratic but just as powerful." Odi insisted, her dejected face brightening just a touch but Hawkins couldn't help but be soured by the practised expression.

Despite her eyes darting back and forth between the group, Odi's gaze continued to settle on Hack. His absentmindedness irritated Hawkins to no end, the clear refusal of providing him answers forced him to bite down the retort at the hazy reminder of how Sleek had died.

He had known the truth and died for it. He couldn't expect the same from everyone. Heck, he didn't even know if he'd do the same. Damnit, he was too tired for all of this. He wasn't responsible for shattering Odi's confidence but he'd be damned to Hellgrind if he didn't at least give her an olive branch to help Cull. His Smoke Trait wouldn't leave those two kid Enforcers alone. Not anymore.

"But that's all Rin-"

"No, it's not. It's you, Cull. You convinced Mantis to keep going. You saved me from Cricket's Tarragon. Heck, you guided us all here with a grimoire even though you didn't even know how it worked. It's all you."

Axis seemed to agree with his words.

The steady grinding of gears that rumbled softly like the gurgling of a tap suddenly halted in an anxiety inducing lurch, purring softly like the growl of a familiar animal. The strange quiet support for the Fire Traited halted the threatening rain from reaching them, a small plume of heat wafting over them like the smell of freshly baked bread. Insta Rolls.

Dammit he was hungry.

Hawkins looked down at the dusty, dry ground flecked with spots of rain he half expected to turn into a downpour. The hazy shapes that taunted him with images of shadowy figures depicted several Singfall sirens that were caught mid battle, noosed by his own smoke and left dangling much like Cull had been but far more...compromising.

"So what? It didn't stop her from risking her life for me or getting caught by the Warden or going off on her own when I begged her not to! I couldn't even ask my own partner to stay with me and I knew, I knew that keeping them together would get them hurt. Because that's what always happens."

Hawkins shook his head free of the nightmares, his blurry vision finally clearing to see Cull almost close to tears. The hollow feeling in his chest shattered at the sight of the Fire Traited. Cull's destructive flame burned with a ferocity of anger, guilt, grief and pain but its devouring nature refused to resurface and simply cleared away his tears before they hit the ground.

"Doesn't seem that way to me."

Mantis's reassurance fell on deaf ears. Nudging him with her shoulder like pointing out a hot girl to a friend, Hawkins blinked amidst the darkness being lit up by a dull, reddish blue fire. Beneath the crumbling pillars half propped together with uneven slabs of raised earth and packed dirt were two pairs of people and creatures alike. Exactly as they had left them.

Half stunned by the less than light attack on his shoulder, Hawkins peered over in the process of rerighting himself barely able to tell anything from the squall still raging underneath their stone hewn tent. A less than subtle jerk of her head directed the hesitant group towards the unconscious Firestep wolves.

Hawkins flinched at the pile of ashes beside the makeshift medical tent. The Mound loomed over Axis like a shadowy demon, the crudely named pile of ashes dubbed by Mantis giving them the shivers every time they laid eyes on it. They had done what they could to avoid disturbing the ashes of the fallen but Hawkins couldn't help but wretch at the thought of it in his hair and against his skin. No wonder his stomach felt so empty.

"Blaize?"

Cull's voice almost broke at the thought of seeing his dwindling partner awake and healthy once again. Hawkins took a deep breath to stop the lump in his throat from getting worse, looking up at the large expanse of darkness and flickers of crumbling brick and sheer rock face from the Land Above. Not a single Opalian had dared to come down and help them. He hated that no one was surprised by that.

A contented sigh startled the group into silence, the gentle flick of Blaize's tail swept away the ash clinging to her broken claws. Hawkins blinked, barely able to notice the difference in the darkness. Cull slowly began to creep forwards, craning his head just a little as if it would help him see better in the dark. He could've imagined it.

"That feels nice, little candle. Really nice."

The low vibrato of a familiar growl sounded disjointed from her usual harsh voice, no longer grating and fierce but calm and almost...happy. Hazard's deep amber fur clashed with her much dirtier one, his much larger paws catching her already torn ear with a whimper.

Blaize sneezed, snuggling up to her brother in an attempt to comfort him, the heartbreaking whines hiding his shivering form. They all felt cold without the glow of a makeshift fire. Any materials they could have burned had been washed away in the landslide or destroyed by the treacherous windstorms Mantis had summoned. Not that he regretted her admirable attempt to outmanoeuvre the tricky siren.

Ever so gently, Cull's Infernal grimoire hovered over them in an attempt to provide what little warmth and light it could. Hawkins could barely see the rise and fall of Hazard's chest, letting out an anxious breath of his own even as his smoke trailed down the sealed over scars connecting Hazard's jaw together. At least his breathing was stronger than earlier. He couldn't say the same about Cricket.

Hawkins took a breath and tried to calm down.

His sluggish mind slowly began to clear, like the light from a dark cave, the slight tremor in Hawkins hands began to lessen, the nervous tick he'd seemed to have forever stilled under the comforting warmth that pushed back the drifting rainstorm. A chill that had crept between his eyes and temple that lingered long before Hack had driven back Cricket for a third time, began to drift away.

The ominous sounds of clicking insects became a quiet buzz of mindless noise that seemed to settle his already on edge nerves. The constant shivering that had accompanied the loss of his father's jacket long before Reina's deluge faded away like a hot meal on a winter's night.

With every breath Hawkins muscles relaxed a little more, the nicks and bruises he had collectively gathered over the last few hours sealed over with the heat of his Fire Trait. He glanced over at the group and then towards the strange, burning Triad weaving its way through the Mound and settled on Cull's lap, the weight of his fatigue was far less than he had initially thought. Until his eyes met Odi's and finally he understood.

Cull's Trait wasn't powered by anger. It was empathy.

A protective ember that burrowed itself deep within the ground, barely noticeable like a crackling campfire in a maelstrom or a single candle in an expansive darkness. It had been mistaken for a raging inferno, a stifling desert Caldorian wind, a dangerous thing to avoid just as his own flame had been.

But much like Hawkins' own Trait, his latent ability to heal along with his self worth restricting everything...he regretted ever placing the once brutish Enforcer in the same box. Like constantly holding a burning torch with his bare hands Cull felt so much, so often that everything felt...frustratingly angry all the time. Cull's anger didn't feel so...bad. It just felt...like a lot for one person.

"Odi is right. We're all exhausted but somehow we kept going. Your Trait helps keep people going. It might not heal the way I do or normal healers do but it does restore stamina just enough to feel...content."

Cull couldn't look him in the eyes.

Hawkins couldn't blame him, after all he had spent so long thinking his Trait was useless it was still difficult to produce a spark at times, let alone anything conductive to work with it. Being the firepower of the group was an easy role to fit into when surrounded by fellow muscle bound Earth Traited or tricky, thieving Air Traited.

But it wouldn't help his grimoire. The more the cover darkened and pages blackened the less control he would have over his Trait and eventually himself. As for whether or not it would turn Cull into a demon he didn't know but Hawkins didn't exactly want to find out. So he'd help. Or at least he'd try to change Cull's mind.

"Makes sense. I shouldn't feel as strong as I do but..."

"Certainly helps with your anxiety, right boyo?"

Hawkins stumbled over himself, the dig of Hack's elbow knocking him into the dirt without the equilibrium of having less than eight hours sleep consistently. The polite laughter turned raucous at his expense but instead of being embarrassed Hawkins couldn't help but join in, just to try and ease the tension in his shoulders.

"So stop trying to be Rin, OK? She knows who she is. You can see it in her notes."

Hack half chucked the badly damaged notebook at the young Fire Traited, just like he had done to his twin sister for what felt like minutes, expecting him to at least catch it but it slumped into his lap instead. With the grace of his over arm throw, his exhaustion turned into pratfall, the Smoke Traited just about righting himself to catch the end of the conversation.

"I'll try." Cull muttered, his voice barely audible over the sound of Mantis' laughter at Hawkins expense

He smiled wanly, too aware of the rainstorm growing ever more violent. Hawkins shivered, still baffled at how Hack had used his Trait or even his necromancy to prevent Reina from finding them but part of him was just too tired to ask.

Odi shuffled from claw to claw, too antsy to say much as Cull pocketed the barely kept together notebook. Hawkins could barely recall where he got it, the feeling of annoyance over someone else using it now a distant memory that almost felt like an entirely new person.

The tight knit group was a far cry from the bickering strangers; they had been children the first time Mantis had led the charge on the attack on Grimmordeals.

Hawkins couldn't believe that a few days ago, he had to fight to get Mantis to agree to anything. Who knew that saving someone's life multiple times could lead to such a change. He almost missed the constant stream of insults to keep him on his toes. Almost.

"So, Odiphilis. What's your grand secret for teaching these newbs how to really heal?"

Odi's chuckle turned into a growl of irritation at being stuck in an enclosed space, flicking her tail in an attempt to dissuade any droplets from coming too near with her natural heat emanating from her scales. She lowered her head awkwardly, embarrassed by her outburst even if it hadn't been intended for Mantis.

A weakened Blaize had settled between a quietly chatting Mantis, resting her head against her lap while both of them taking turns to keep watch on their respective family without so much as a glance to confirm.

"It's...just like with Cull. It's no different to what you've been doing but...you need to work from the ground up. Not the...grimoire, Mediator." Odi added, attempting to make eye contact with everyone and not just Mantis.

Hawkins resisted the urge to flinch, the weight of the dragon's gaze felt like they would catch fire at any moment, her once calming, confident tone now reduced to a quiet, stuttering shell that he knew quite well. Himself.

"What's that supposed to..."

Cull's sour expression warped into an angry flash of a fight, reflected back at the Fire Traited by his twin sister even as natural heat rose from ground below. Whatever connection Cull had with Axis was keeping them warm within the storm box, strangely different but familiar from the first storm he had been caught in. The mention of a Stormkeeper and Hack's earlier conversation with Reina refused to leave his mind.

"Distract him. Tell him a story."

Hawkins barely caught Odi's tail gesture towards him, her scales eerily similar to the Flame Overtaken even without the chalk like texture. It's...Creed's lack of eyes still haunted Hawkins like a waking nightmare, the thundering steps of its shifting form burned its way into his memory even as the rain pelted down around him. He could almost sense Reina's involvement in their current predicament, constantly watching, waiting just like Memoriam continued to do so. But something between the two seemed...different. Far less, imposing.

When Cricket had ambushed them the Flame Overtaken had obediently followed commands as if locked in place by the Bewitcher's Trait. But now, Reina hadn't been visibly frustrated towards him. Which meant...Reina was feigning control and that was far more terrifying than he had ever imagined.

"Why? I don't..."

"You're from Neridia, right? Surely they have storytellers?"

"Nightspinners, actually."

Hawkins blinked, the strange but familiar word broke him out of Memoriam's clutches thanks to the familiar back and forth between Mantis and Hack attempting to gently coax the half elf into embracing more of her Neridian side.

"What's that have to do with-"

Hawkins began but a stinging sensation clung to his hazy vision that aggravated him far more than the Sand Wraith's attempts to force Mantis back into her clearly traumatic experience with her homeland.

"Just trust me. OK? I can't...I can't tell you with that thing attached to your grimoire like some kind of leech, alright?" Odi snapped, her lip curling in far more disdain than he expected.

Hawkins had almost forgotten he was face to face with a dragon. The snap of her head that came from the angry recoil of her jaws spat at them, the narrowing of her eyes felt more like prey meeting predator and had Cricket not whimpered in that very moment Hawkins had no doubt the group would've heard his own. They all instinctively looked towards the restless pair of injured Traited, almost ready to pounce if so much as a wisp of green dared to show its face. But nothing did.

"I'm, I'm sorry. I'm just really fucking tired."

Odi's frustrated sigh brought them back into conversation, the stress of the last few days bubbled into nervous laughter until Hawkins couldn't even stop himself. Whatever it was about the Scale Shrieker's prudent nature turning crass made him chuckle until it was the only thing he could think about until everything else came crashing down around them.

..........

"Sorry, Odi. It's just every time you swear it's like no one else could even come close to your level."

Mantis' derisive snort echoed into a series of strangled laughs in an attempt to hold back the sheer stupidity of his comment. But it was too late to worry about hiding their location. Everyone breathed it in like a drug and much like trying to herd dragons into a tight space they were all in very unflattering positions pissing themselves laughing at the last few chaotic days. Including, at last...Odi.

Her mouth split into a smile like she hadn't been happy in days, the restraints on what little hold her self control had over her like she was trying so hard to

internalise everything only to fail every time. Her eyes crinkled into laugh lines that made her look so tired it physically hurt, Odi's earlier leadership skills now fading towards assisting Hack and completely reversing any earlier misconceptions of how their partnership actually worked.

With Hack's expectant gaze and gentle gesture of encouragement Odi continued her place within the group, her slow shuffle of her tail betraying just how good the Scale Shrieker dragon was at reading people even without her kin's truth detection. But the rattling of a single phrase still refused to leave his mind. Hawkins didn't know whether it was lack of sleep or his long cultivated Mediator instinct that tugged the word free from the haze of conversation. Leech.

That was the first time Odi had described the dreaded black grimoire as anything but ambiguous. He sighed mournfully, attempting to hide it with his hand only to look down at the ash staining his fingers and the black book that would inevitably fall snugly into his lap. Despite owning a grimoire of his own, he never knew where it fully disappeared to but much like a manacle around his neck it would never leave his thoughts.

"Cull?"

Odi's attempt to call the deadpan Fire Traited fell on deaf ears.

The sheer number of sappy bullshit speeches must've short circuited the Fire Traited into automatic mode or perhaps staying silent was Cull's way of coping with the revolution of not needing to rely on his false bravado persona anymore. It was a sobering thought, like a pane of glass reflecting back at you that would eventually come crashing down.

Hawkins couldn't help but be reminded of a certain stubborn half elf that was now stroking a sentient manifestation of her own achievements despite every protest under the sun. Not that there was much of a sun in the Undercity. The Hanging Sun wouldn't be seen for a few hours yet.

"Cullian?"

No response. He refused to make eye contact, the brief anxiety of thinking he was dead was cut short by the rise and fall of his chest, his slow blinking betraying the fact he was undeniably ignoring them. Awkwardly, the Scale Shrieker tried to continue the small talk with Thea and Mantis but they too couldn't shake the feeling something was wrong.

"It's OK. You can tell them. They're not Hornetta. They won't use it against you."

Her firm tone reminded Hawkins of the once violent, trigger happy Air Traited immediately changed her attitude from one of threats to genuine concern, no longer needing to yell but still raising her voice to remind her companion she would not let this go. Stubbornness could easily be misinterpreted as anger and if it was anger they needed to decipher then there was no better person than Cull to understand it.

Cull's subdued expression flashed with pain at the reminder of what Mantis' words entailed. Hawkins' eyes locked with his for a fraction of a second before Cullian clenched them shut, too afraid and wrapped up in his own thoughts to speak or even acknowledge Mantis' words.

It was a bitter pill to swallow knowing that he hadn't done enough for him, as a Traited or a Mediator. It felt...like there was something he was missing. There was always something missing. The flicker of familiar grey began to seep through Hawkins eyes, turning everything monochrome in shades of grey.

He could no longer see the bright flare of Cull's burning Triad, now tinged in a permanent greyscale that chilled him even with the fire burning a halo of smokeless heat around them. Hawkins steady breathing clashed with the rapid heartbeat pounding in his ears despite it not being his own, the sound of strangled breaths barely escaping a sea of smoke drowned his thoughts, his body frozen with terror that everything was an act, that everything was his fault and that everything they had lived through would falter in the end.

Through the frosted haze of glassy memories a dreary fog seemed to cling to the edges of every building, the only source of light was the dwindling fire still attempting to burn despite the piles of ash surrounding it. The gaunt faced young woman stared out the vacant window despite the hive of activity around her. Like creatures preserved for study, a small army of officials and nobles clustered around her beneath the haze of Memoriam's gaze, Hawkins only noting the large manacles around her wrist and ankles against the rickety, old furniture.

Hawkins' smoke had conjured the bare bones of a courtroom within the confines of the Undercity, a small, square box of a room eerily similar to his own trial decorated in the familiar noble scarlet colours of Chimera. Had he not known this was a memory he would've lashed out at the opposition leering over them. Captain Ashicari. The woman who had accused him of Oathed collusion.

Hawkins tried to look away from the scene, latching eyes with the very dragon who was now uncomfortably coiled around her master's neck. Rippledawn.

Compared to the gaunt faced woman in chains, she was decorated in gold, her long black hair pulled back in a scarlet knot that dared to remind those within the vicinity that the prisoner before her was leagues apart from anything a Chimeran should be. Sisters or not.

Hawkins' mouth tweaked at the quiet defiance of the former Chimeran noble bolted to the table, the reminder of Ashicari's fate far clearer than the slight differences between the two sisters. Mimicari, the accused had a much longer face, thinner from clear malnourishment but Ashicari's sharper expression came from years of practice and a chin that could be mistaken for a Copperback dragon's hide. At least her face was still intact in this memory.

The small table, constantly rattling every time they passed it due to the uneven flooring and mis-sized table legs revealed the crack of a trapdoor and a pair of eyes that barely peaked above the gap. Hawkins would've gasped if he could. There, hidden beneath the sawdust and cobwebs was a set of loose planks, a trapdoor to observe the proceedings. For Cull, it had been the last chance to see his mother.

Hawkins stomach gave an uncomfortable twist, his own autonomy was limited to an observer within Memoriam's domain, difficult but the fact he had gotten used to it felt both comforting and fucking terrifying. Until Rin herself was brought into the room. Whatever hatred he had for the Chimeran official tripled under the urge to vomit, the penny finally dropping as to what this memory truly was.

A child auction.

An earlier throwaway comment from Mantis repeated over and over again in his head, the reaction from Rin slotting into place like having a puzzle right in front of him but unable to find the last piece. It seems even a rumour could have a damning truth to it. Chimera really did sell their own children for profit and no one stopped it.

Not Opalis, not the Mediators, not his mother, heck probably his mother herself had let them do it. She was the hero of the Burning Wall. Hawkins immediately felt every symptom of vertigo in a matter of milliseconds, his head spinning the moment the memory rushed into a series of clip shows much like it had done before but far more ...violent.

He wanted to cry out in pain and slam his head against a brick wall but with every lurch of anxiety induced nausea and dread Memoriam continued on its warpath until everything...stopped.

He shouldn't have been surprised. This was the Undercity, the lowest of the low, tucked out of sight in Beggars End even as he clawed his way to basic civilisation. But every time he tried to gleam some good out of the worst of the worst, people in power continued to prove him right.

"If they do..."

The sound of cracking knuckles made him flinch.

Mantis' threat warped reality into memory at the sight of a much younger version of their current group, being led by a tall, well built Fire Traited with a coiling whip that wasn't just there for show. Hawkins didn't have to put two and two together to guess the single line of prisoners and their threatening leader. A slave ring.

Hawkins scanned around to find a way to break the bubble of Memoriam but the line continued to trudge along through familiar Undercity streets that were desolate from demon attacks and far worse. There, at Cull's side was a pair of Firestep wolves that would eventually become the twins' lifelines. But, for some reason there was no sign of their boss Hornet.

"Alright, Manny. I get the point." Cull said, his nervous laugh betraying his unsurity, the tone far higher than usual.

Mantis' hand gently hovered near his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him but even as Cull shrank away, the Air Traited slowly waited with her hands in her lap until Cull was comfortable. Much like a scared rabbit, Cull nodded until Mantis rested her hand against his shoulder and wordlessly offered him August to try and settle his nerves. He had never seen the boy smile so wide.

Hell's teeth. He must've been tired if he couldn't recognise a panic attack. He'd had plenty of them himself.

A ghost of a smile flickered across Cull's face with the same hesitancy that Odi had shown earlier, August's calming presence slowly helping Cull's worried expression to soften into a quiet confidence the moment he lifted his head. At least Cull liked birds.

Despite his guilt, Hawkins couldn't help but feel a warm glow of pride for Mantis, recognising Cull's severe issues with touch far quicker than he ever did. She respected his boundaries and gave him her support and quiet courage while he had seen his tough act but was annoyed by it and never guessed it was hiding this degree of insecurity. Well, at least he didn't punch the kid in the face.

"I can read Rin's emotions, most people's actually. It's kinda like Gizmo's heat signature with his Craft but...different. It's not just that she's just...afraid. They've both been hurt by too much Fire Trait and if I use mine...it could cause them to regress, even make things much worse than they already are."

Cull's hands clung to the earth, relaxing just a touch even as a small plume of steam rose up like the heated flooring Hawkins had heard rumours about within Opalian palaces. Hawkins found the gesture interesting, attempting to remember why he too had been recommended to do the same but it was on the tip of his tongue and refused to resurface.

The only theory he had was that Cullian had some kind of latent Earth Traited ancestry but it was about as fragile as his connection to Axis' gears. Stopping himself from theorising further, the familiar ring of a Mediator rule cooled his head long enough for Hack's words to resonate. Curiosity, not judgement. He had to listen first.

"I know Thea would heal if she could and heck, Mantis could give it a go...I just...I don't even know if I'm doing this right...I'm not an Earth Traited. Working from the ground up just...makes no sense to me."

Even next to a barely ageing Mantis, he didn't even look the eighteen he claimed. His attempt at sounding far older than he actually was made Cull's voice crack more, the usual technique of heating the air now abandoned for something Hawkins couldn't completely explain. It felt like...the Drifting from earlier. It felt...like something more.

"Well, then. That makes two of us. Besides, you're already an expert at something I'm not. I'm clearly shit at reading people." Hawkins admitted, the wafting smell of cooked bread lingering with every second that ticked by.

A laugh tickled at the edge of his throat, his doubt spiral breaking at the sight of Cull¡an's regression but he didn't have to do this on his own. He could bicker and complain and whine all he wanted, heck he could fling fireballs at him for all Hawkins cared as long as he tried. It was the first time Hawkins saw the Fire Traited for the kid he truly was.

The Inferno Triad lingered ominously close to the two patients, somehow still attached despite half of its owner's current state. It had been the same when Cull was badly hurt and was the only indication they could go off to prove she was still alive. Convincing Cull that he wasn't simply a murderous weapon would be harder than they thought. But it would be worth it.

"He's right, y'know? You don't just need to heal her....you need to connect with her. Her breathing, her Trait...her memories, her feelings, her...tempo of sorts. You've got one half, Hawky has the other. Match it." Odi said, her awkward speech darting around in a dance that could only be orchestrated by the Lockbind.

With every practised placement of the dragon's words, Odi's unsure tone burned to the forefront like the robotic reciting of a script still stuck in dress rehearsal. Hawkins didn't need the flame's guidance to recognise the faint silver of constricting chains around her neck but the comforting addition of his Fire Trait turned sour at the thought of why he hadn't seen it before now. At least it was another tool in his arsenal. Perhaps he had gleaned more from the Tinker Mole than he thought.

"Why don't you do it?"

Cull's angry voice made him wince, the cloak of quick rage doing nothing to hide his nervousness, his eyes never leaving his twin.

"I just...I don't...I don't think Hack or I could help with everything that Cricket has done. We've fought with her too much to be anything but...angry. She needs to be healed by someone who is impartial. Indifferent. Someone who...despite everything, wants to help."

The ringing truth of Odi's words hit a loud, clanging lie that rang in Hawkins head like a temple bell, the Halls of Mediation long forbidden practice only aiding in attracting demons and the like. Odi was the Arbiter: the keeper of all knowledge before and after the age of necromancy that Hack held so tightly within his grasp. The information that the Scale Shrieker refused to share. The Drifting that had gotten him trapped.

"Well that's basically, Hawkins job description."

Cull's attempt at lightening the mood fell on deaf ears, Hawkins hearing still buzzing alongside the sounds of the night, winds still whipping anxiously around the oblivious Windspell elf, picking at the grit between her fingers. The dread at being encased in such a spell clung like bile in his throat, the resentful side of him flaring with every side along glance he dared to make. Hell's teeth, Gizmo seemed more truthful than Odi right now.

"Nope. I couldn't do what you just did but...it's no wonder you're so angry all the time with everyone else's feelings in the way. You couldn't help but react to them as your own." Hawkins said, trying to match Cull's more positive tone but instead mimicked Hack's gruffness beat for beat.

Beat.

Tempo.

No. Tempo...wasn't the word he expected Odi to use.

It felt...shameful, wrong like a bad word being blurted out by a child, like mispronouncing someone's name on purpose like...she was trying to read from a thesaurus to find something to fit. Perhaps Odi meant heartbeat or essence or...Pulse. Hawkins' hazy memory surged to life like a Flickerwick candle, the clouded memory of all of those Trollians being guided by Sleek's memorial...Memoriam.

He clamped his hand over his mouth.

Ash fell from his lips, the sour taste of forbidden knowledge burned the back of his throat as if his Fire Trait had bloomed to life underneath his tongue. His body froze far more than any Drifting ever could, wide eyed he tried to wordlessly catch Hack's attention but to no use.

"Besides, there's no one you care for more than your sister, right?" Odi interrupted, her impeccable timing even more eerie than her sharp eyed gaze.

Odi nodded at him.

The ash stopped.

Sister.

She hadn't looked at Cull when she said that.

Rin's dark hair and solemn expression became bold and confident, a bright smile leading to laugh lines around her eyes that made her look much older than she was. No. He was remembering someone else. Her red hair burned fiery hot against her green eyes, warping back and forth into the fog of Cricket's blind gaze, much older and younger all at once until the fragment of memory faded into a blaze of heat that sent his body wracked with chills.

Tears welled in Hawkins eyes but he turned away from the group, feigning a bit of grit in his eyes he fought to understand why he felt so...sad? Odi had seen everything. She silently did nothing because that was all she could do when everything she had been taught was...gone. Everything was so confusing and every time Hawkins grasped a small piece of it....it disappeared.

He was left with only a name. A name that was meant to be an obituary but for him...it was a memory. It was time lost. Promises broken. A name he didn't know. A name that always led with a lie. A name he had seen so long ago when he first met the black dragon of Grimmordials. A name that arrived on the wings of a black phoenix.

Ixis.

"So necromancy, your version of it isn't some kind of curse? How is this storytelling supposed to help anyways? They don't have much time..."

Mantis' plea was cut prematurely short, eyes glazed with history Hawkins could only guess at. Until she looked up. Rain. If you could even call it that, it felt so light it was barely noticeable, caught between a spluttering downpour and a brief squall jerked like a broken faucet and paused...in mid air.

"We have time. Just about."

The quiet nighttime sounds of steady breathing and quiet, wolf-like growls returned to the empty cluster of broken and rearranged rock, Hack's boon to the Timekeeper still rushing around like water in Hawkin's head. The aura of warmth from Cull's Triad was tinged with strength and a brittle chill that could only be Reina's doing whether it was her dabbling in necromancy or something...else.

Indigo flashed for barely a moment, Hack's scales reflecting his uncertainty despite Odi's insistence that they had the time to rest and plan. Again. Hawkins couldn't deny the constant pattern of fight and retreat, frustrated despite the fact he was the one who suggested it. Was pausing rain really so important to Reina that it was worth all of this? He didn't even know if protecting this elusive Stormkeeper was even worth it.

"Look, we...we can't say anything more but...you'll need a distraction. I focus on my plants. Some people recite poems, scripture, sing, hum or heck perform bloody aerial acrobats when they use it. Others get people to tell them stories..." Hack insisted, faltering under all of the defeated faces in the group.

Hawkins bit his tongue, still tasting acrid ash from before and tried to find the right words but the sickening feeling in his stomach lurched at the reminder of the last time he spoke without thinking. It could have been hunger, it could have been exhaustion but the lack of urgency to do something and the lack of awareness in the first place grated on him far more than his mother's words ever had. Well, at least a little bit.

"It's weird I know but-"

Odi's growl outmatched Blaize's earlier wolven one without even trying, visibly annoyed at Hack disrespecting their methods.

"It'll give you something to concentrate on besides Memoriam's bullshit." Odi said, swearing viciously as if expecting a gout of fire to erupt from her dragonic maw now hiding the curve of a smile.

Her eyes narrowed at the Sand Wraith, awkwardly coughing to avert his attention to the two Tinker Mole's quietly performing what sounded like Rites from before. Hawkins jaw clenched, the sight of Sleek's gaunt face turning to ash never leaving his memory.

Breathing deeply through his nose, he focused on how caring Gidget had been in providing someone he barely knew with a place to rest despite the arduous task of being a Miner Crafter. Clearly, Gizmo cared enough to want to help his nephew. It was a shame they couldn't do the same for anyone else.

"Mantis? What do you think?"

Like a jolt of lightning, the half elf bolted upright and glared at the Smoke Traited despite not doing anything wrong, Cull mimicking her movements as if looking to someone to guide him.

"I don't..." Cull's voice cracked, his confidence fading away like the Hanging Sun above.

Hawkins tried not to berate himself, continuously reminding himself that there were two, skittish, brazen teenagers who were far more nervous than he. Mantis analysed the surroundings for any subtle changes, her eyes settling on anyone except the three sleeping bodies huddled together. Hazard had rolled between the two Traited in the night, Cricket's long, scraggly hair still sporting earlier burns somehow healed over with fresh skin.

Hawkins winced, looking away from the semi unconscious Rin giving himself a few seconds to recollect himself and mull over the details they had discussed. But not actually agreed on. Gizmo and Gidget would remain on silent watch, the rain's movements making more than just him a little wary while Odi and Hack reassured them they would be adequate backup. Just like before. But this time, instead of summoning the Infernal Triad...they were going to use it.

"Well? I'm willing to try if you are."

Feigning confidence that his voice would hold, Hawkins stared up at the broken sky etched in the first light of the Hanging Sun as if waiting for their decision to finish their hour-long cycle of sunlight. If they were going to use Cull's heat to their advantage with his own it needed to be now.

Hawkins' eyes met with Odi's. The anger he had felt towards her lies still burned beneath his temple, the dragon flinching ever so slightly as if a hot poker stuck her damaged wings. He didn't need to search for the black grimoire anymore. He knew it was still at his side. But that didn't matter right now.

Breathing in the first light of a new day, Hawkins rolled up his already ripped sleeves and stretched. His sluggish mind settled into a familiar summarisation of adding it to the pile, already resigned to the craziness of the group he had found himself in. Cull crossed his legs to avoid tapping them nervously, everyone anxiously waiting for the final go ahead from their most vocal member.

Mantis rolled her eyes at them all and spat into the ground.

"Arrgh. Fine. Fine. I guess...I'll tell you a fuckin story."