Destiny Fractured

A tired smile managed to claw its way to her face as relief flushed through her. It had taken him a moment, but Vandrad managed to speak up and respond to her in a coarse voice, joking about how she had yet one more thing to hold over his head. “Are you surprised? You give me so many of those I’ve probably started forgetting some of them already.” Mercury laughed lightly, her thumbs gently caressing his face. To wipe the dirt and blood off of him. He turned his head to try and get a look at the crater where he’d left Mythal, neither him nor Mercury sensing any movement at the moment, though Mercury could still sense that the man’s vitals were active. Vandrad spoke again, bringing up their conversation only a couple hours prior where they had almost opted to leave this quest to those whose duties it was to deal with it. “We can still do that,” Mercury told him, humorous despite the circumstances. “I’m just saying. It’s not too late. There’s still time.”

He asked her to help him get up and Mercury carefully rolled off of him. She slowly helped him up into a sitting position where she could get his arm around her shoulder and one of her own arms around his waist before standing them both up. She didn’t even tease him about needing or asking for help, at least not right now. Maybe later once all this was said and done and they weren’t two breaths away from dying she would have the wherewithal to razz him about it. He asked where Chishan was and Mercury nodded in the direction she’d seen the Master last. “Mythal attacked him with his own shadow. He got hit pretty hard and tossed into the ground, but he’s still alive. Probably just in about as good of shape as you are.”

Vandrad expressed that they should do something to keep Mythal contained just in case. “Good idea. I should be able to help with that. Not sure you noticed the gaping hole in his side or the char on his chest, but apparently he doesn’t take well to my magic. I can probably rig something up.” They started walking slowly toward the crater, Mercury still keeping an eye on the ritual tracker in her mind. It wasn’t looking good on her end, but she also had no idea how much more Zifu and the others had to do before the lacrima was finished. It had looked fairly well inserted but lacrimas weren’t exactly Mercury’s area of expertise.

The prince started to say something else, only for him to suddenly crumble in her hold as though overcome with a great deal of pain and rage. Her heart sank as terror washed over her anew. She didn’t need him to tell her what was happening. They had long ago determined that this rage, whatever it was, only flared in the presence of strong godly or demonic presences, which could only mean one thing. Her sensors started screaming and she looked back to the crater where she could see that the form of Mythal was rising up out of it. Her eyes went wide where they stood stopped in their tracks. “Please, no…” she whispered, her voice saturated with the panic she felt. This could not be happening. This could not still be happening. Vandrad had put every last ounce of his energy into this fight, it had to have been enough.

But it hadn’t. Mythal drifted out of the hole, the marrs on his body healing before their eyes and slowly mending itself back together. He regarded the two of them, gaze setting right on them even as his hand rose to deliver a blow. There was literally no way they cold dodge it, not when Vandrad could barely move, and while Mercury was certainly strong enough to carry him his body would slow her down. The only thing she’d be able to do was throw up a shield. Gripping Vandrad tight and gritting her teeth, she was about to do just that when two great slabs of earth rose from the ground and slapped Mythal between them like a fly between hands. From beneath the ground rose Chishan, flames and rock clung to his arms as he leapt up above the dirt coffin and punched it back down into the crater that Mythal had risen from.

As he roiled the earth in flames, the master came rushing over to them, practically sliding to a halt in the mud at his feet. Chishan told the two of them to get back over toward Mercury’s shield, saying he could hold Mythal off for a bit. Vandrad started to protest as the Xocili expected, but Chishan was having none of it, cutting him off and telling him quite frankly that he was more hindrance than help in his current condition. Mercury felt awful about that. It had to be quite a blow to the prince’s pride, but unfortunately it was true and this was not the time to humor Vandrad otherwise. Chishan instructed her to get her partner to safety and then return to help him hold Mythal back -- a job she was greatly not looking forward to assisting with some more, but there was no helping it.

“Got it,” she said, hefting Vandrad further up on her shoulder so she could start to get him back in the graveyard. Mercury would carry him if she had to. Instead, as she started to walk, she felt him push gently away from her and getting down on his hands and knees. “Hey, come on. What are you doing?” she asked, dropping down into a crouch next to him. “We need to go. I am not leaving you out here unprotected, so don’t--”

He cut her off gently with her name, his tone somehow both alarming and comforting at the same time. She listened quietly as he asked her to promise that whatever happened to him, whatever he transformed into, that she would stay out of his way unless he started going after anyone but Mythal. Her jaw dropped softly as the realization of what he was getting at settled upon her, even as he also asked her to ensure that he didn’t kill his brother, either. Mercury was the only one the prince believed could stop him from going too far over the edge, a feat she’d done only once before. He asked her not to try and talk him out of it, saying his mind was made up. The only thing she could do was get as far from him as possible to make sure that Mythal was the only perceivable threat once his power took over.

This was the kind of situation where, indeed, most partners and friends would jump down his throat very much like Mythal had done to Serilda earlier, vehemently telling him what a stupid idea it was and demanding that he not throw away his life or principles so rashly. However, Mercury was not most people. She knew what it meant to do whatever it took to survive, and so far none of the standard plans had worked. They needed a miracle, and as his partner she didn’t plan on doing anything but supporting him. “You have my word,” she told him without hesitance, her face grim and determined. “I will not let you lose yourself.”

Maybe it was the seriousness of the situation, the existential dread of their impending deaths that washed over her and prodded her into uncharacteristic mannerisms. Or perhaps, she simply needed some sure, concrete way to affirm for him the unwavering faith she had in him. Either way, she took his face in her hands and leaned forward, planting a swift, solid kiss on his lips before pulling back and nodding to him. Then, she let him go and raced off into the woods toward the direction where Chishan was engaging Mythal, her hoverdisc swooping in from behind her as she leaped onto it mid stride and pulled herself back up into the air. She knew what was coming, and she knew it would be bad, but the only thing she could do was keep her promise.

“CHISHAN, PULL BACK!” she roared across the field as she rushed toward him, her tone conferring the immediate and imperative need for him to get the hell out of the way. It was all she could get out before a large beast crafted from darkness exploded into existence before her, forcing her to reel back in the sky so sharply that she may as well have left tracks in the air. It reached out to her with a set of viciously sharp claws. Mercury threw herself from the disc to avoid them, twisting her body around as she stretched her hands toward the guardian. Miniature runes appeared at the tips of each of her fingers before thin beams of prismatic light blasted from them, racing and curving from the digits to come down on the thing from ten different directions, aiming to riddle it full of holes.

As she completed her attack, her legs swung back down below the rest of her body and landed squarely on her disc that had rushed back around to meet her. Mercury didn’t even stop to check and see if it was dead or if she had even dealt it any significant damage, electing instead to continue rushing past it toward her destination to get to Chishan. Vandrad was already there, having found the power to slip past her without her even registering it, holding Mythal’s blade hostage with a single hand as he loomed over the possessed Rune Knight in his fully realized rage mode.

Mercury pulled up to Chishan without bothering to stop and listen to the stand off between the two berserk brothers. “Change in plan,” she told the master, as if he hadn’t already come to that conclusion. “As you can see, Vandrad’s got one more trick up his sleeve and he’s decided to use it. There’s no stopping it now. In fact, the only one who has ever successfully stopped it before was me. I can’t explain what it is because neither of us really know, the only thing we do know is it’s triggered by the power and presence of exceptionally strong gods and demons, and when he is in this form he is indiscriminate about who he attacks. You get in his way, he will try to kill you too.”

She fixed a very serious emerald gaze on him. “Right now, the only thing we can do is stay out of his way and make sure he doesn’t kill Mythal or anyone else. Specifically Ruzatz, because I guarantee that will be his next target. In fact you may want to get over to them and see about setting up some extra precautions. I’ll hang out here and make sure nobody dies. Tell Lux if the shield starts to fail, he should be able to feed it with his own light and keep it going for as long as possible.”

Mercury waited only long enough to confirm what Chishan was going to do before zipping off toward the ongoing fight, whirling around the battling duo from a respectable distance, only keeping close enough to be able to jump in to try and save one or the other as needed.

Chishan didn’t do a whole lot of arguing or questioning of the change, which was just as well because attempting either of those things wouldn’t have done much good. There was no getting Vandrad to pull back now, and no time for Mercury to get into any specifics -- not that she had much more than what she’d already given. Still, he sensed that it was a plan and having a plan was better than flying by the seat of their pants without one. She relayed the danger that Ruzatz was likely in, and the master wasted no further time in rushing toward the shield to give the ritual group a heads up and try to put more shielding up.

Mercury flew around the brothers as they fought, Mercy in pistol mode so that she could engage more readily from a distance for now. Getting mixed up in that melee would not be fun, and she wanted to stay out of the way unless absolutely necessary, conserving her strength so she could be strategic about when and how she used it. The two men went toe to toe with their weapons, Mythal still wielding his extra long sword while Vandrad had summoned the energy scythe he’d attempted to use to kill Louie the last time he’d been in this form in front of Mercury. She watched the battle like a hawk, always hovering nearby but never getting too close or interfering. It was all pretty standard until Vandrad stepped up his game a little.

“I’m sorry, the fuck?” Mercury asked out loud, though more to herself than to either of them. The prince had made a copy of himself and was presently using it to double team Mythal. “Okay, first of all, clones are my thing, you jackass. Second of all, I would appreciate it if you would not make my job here harder than it’s already gonna be!” Talk about some fucking nerve.

Mythal quickly carved up the clone, only for it to burst into a violent explosion of energy. The force of the blast knocked the man clear across the battlefield but Vandrad was already there waiting for him. Mercury continued to stay as close as possible but didn’t trace their paths perfectly, knowing she would only waste more of her strength and time trying to keep pace with them wherever they went. In fact, she only made her way closer to them when Vandrad snatched Mythal out of the air and slammed him right onto her shield, which was a little too close to Ruzatz for her comfort. Mercury hovered over the shield with her weapon trained on Vandrad as she listened to him exchange words with whom the prince seemed to think was actually Faera, rather than Mythal -- and boy was that frightening. She was practically waiting at this point for him to do something stupid, and she wouldn’t have to wait too long.

Unfortunately, Vandrad managed to on up her before she could even get the chance to do anything to stop him by manifesting a clone inside her shield, sending it straight for Ruzatz. “HEY!” she screamed, unable to do anything in time for the clone that she hadn’t been prepared for. For one horrifying moment, the clone bore down on Ruzatz with the intent to kill him and the Sin was forced to break his place in the circle, abandoning the ritual to save his own life. Within a second, Chishan had thrown himself in Ruzatz’s place -- but it had already been enough to shoot the completion of Faera’s spell up quite a bit. The situation was really bad and getting worse by the second, especially since the lacrima still protruded out enough from Mythal’s chest to not be of any comfort.

“ALRIGHT, THAT’S IT YOU FUCKING CHEATER,” Mercury roared at Vandrad, unloading a couple rounds of charged plasma shots from Mercy right at him. At this point, she was more irate than anything else that he’d used such a cheap shot to try and worm his way past her defenses and to keep her from doing her job. She continued to yell at him as she pelted him with gunfire. “STAY FOCUSED ON THE BITCH INSIDE YOUR BROTHER, OR I SWEAR TO THE STARS ABOVE I WILL SHOVE MY FOOT SO FAR UP YOUR ASS YOU’LL BE TASTING MY TOES IN YOUR MOUTH FOR A MONTH!”

Their fight picked back up after that when Mythal used a pulse of dark energy to blow Vandrad back, the two of them beginning their shuffle anew. Mercury stopped firing then, temporarily shifting her attention over to where Ruzatz was more or less toying with the clone. He was clearly fine, so she swapped back to the brothers, still simmering with annoyance. In her head she could see the integrity of her shield pumping back up to full, which told her that Lux had probably elected to pitch in. Unfortunately, the percentage of Faera’s ritual was still quickly rising.

Before she could get a chance to call out the number, the tip of a whip came out of nowhere and cracked both Vandrad and Mythal, catching the attention of both brothers and causing them to focus on the demon lord. Ruzatz seemed quite unruffled by the situation, standing there still clad in little more than the kimono, his whip hung over his shoulder and playing with a knife in his freehand. He teased them both about how it had been a while since he’d taken on two other men at once, flirting with them and asking them to play nice with him while he got back into the groove of exercising in a way that was completely different from his normal routine. Then, he leaped into the fray, the three men going at one another with extreme prejudice toward both of the others present, though Ruzatz seemed to be enjoying himself the most.

Well, that sure wasn’t going to make her life any easier. At this point, Mercury had two choices: Either continue to sit back and watch and wait like a jackass, or hop in and do what she could to help make sure as much of the fighting as possible was aimed at Mythal over anyone else. With a growl that promised Vandrad all sorts of trouble later if they made it through this, she raised her freehand toward the air around the threeway battle and summoned a series of prismatic colored plates in a loose circle around them. The plates were smooth as glass, circular in shape, and angled slightly down toward the group below.

Diving down toward them, she shot a blast of primordial lightning at one of the plates and it reflected the bolt down into the fight toward Mythal’s back from behind him. Then, she slid right up into the battle, shifting Mercy back into its blade form and getting in on the melee action. Her strategy was to be as much of a nuisance as possible to Vandrad when it came to attacking Ruzatz, doing what she could to get in the prince’s way and keep him from focusing too much on the demon. Likewise, she continued to shoot out blasts of electricity from either her weapon or her freehand, shooting the bolts at the reflective plates around them and always ensuring that the attacks came in at odd and unexpected angles to keep Mythal -- Faera? -- on her toes and hopefully as thrown off as possible. And she was so caught up in the fight that she didn’t even notice the ritual sensors until it started screeching at her in her head.

“NINETY-NINE PERCENT!!”

“DON’T YOU GIVE ME THAT LOOK, YOU CHEAPSKATE,” Mercury shot at Vandrad as he glared at her over the blaster fire. “YOU LITERALLY ASKED FOR THIS, SUNSHINE, SO BUCKLE UP!”

Ruzatz came zipping back moments later to playfully taunt both men, looking more than a little excited over the prospect of a fight. The three moved so quickly against one another that Mercury honestly had no idea how she was going to make room for herself. Then again, she already did that earlier in a completely separate threesome, so if she could do it then surely she could do it now. She just wanted to make sure she wasn’t in Ruzatz’s way but the more she watched the battle the more Mercury was certain that the Sin was easily going to be able to work around her no matter what she did. He was clearly toying with them right now.

She saw her opening when Ruzatz kicked Vandrad back a few feet, giving her the perfect gap to insert herself. Up went her plates that she utilized to zip lightning around in a circle before it would zap Mythal from behind, keeping him on his toes and semi distracted. The first successful strike allowed Ruzatz an opening to rid Mythal of his deadly longblade. Vandrad tried to use that as a means to get at both men, but Mercury was right there in his face, her sword in his way to keep him pushed back. Mercury had wholly been expecting him to try to simply knock her out of the way or try to kill her too, but instead he merely tried to slip past her. She wouldn’t allow him to, of course, but it was odd that he simply tried to avoid her rather than engage her in his mindless state.

The prince suddenly teleported behind her and she whipped around with her gun ready only to find that he had stopped Mythal from striking her back. Apparently, this snapped version of Vandrad was more protective of her than anything else, which was odd to say the least, but she wasn’t going to argue with it. It certainly made her job a little easier. Now he was focused on his brother, gaining the upper hand and bashing his head in with his own, but there was a moment of Vandrad clearly going for a killing strike and that was a big no. Mercury once again put herself in the way of that, blasting the prince with a stunning shot that wouldn’t necessarily be all too painful but would certainly be annoying and distracting, especially at such a close distance.

It gave Ruzatz enough time to yoink Mythal back, removing him from Vandrad’s direct fury and leaving Mercury there for a moment or two continuing to annoy and distract the prince, getting in his way at every turn. Ruzatz picked up the same oddity she had, but took it a step further to find a solution where Mercury was willing to overlook until a later time. It was enough to drop his guard though as Mythal swooped in, rearmed with his sword, and sent the Prime Sin flying across the yard. Suddenly, a number of lights were streaking down from the sky in a circle around them, down into the soil where they began to build a charge. Before the Silver Wolf mage could do anything about it, Vandrad grabbed her firmly by the wrist and tossed her outside the range of the spell.

She skidded to a halt in the mud, grumbling to herself about his action to spare her from the attack having no bearing on him still being in trouble after all this was over. Once more the brothers squared off, with Vandrad managing to get a solid sucker punch in before Ruzatz reappeared, flicking a knife in Vandrad’s direction and cutting him lightly across the cheek. The demon lord told Mercury to watch Vandrad while he dealt with Mythal. It was an odd request, but one she didn’t question to oblige, throwing herself in front of the prince with the barrel of her pistol aimed right at the center of his chest.

And despite the fact that Vandrad clearly wanted to continue fighting, and even moved to do so, causing her to squeeze the trigger just a hair in preparation to fire, he simply stopped and stood there for a moment. Mercury frowned as he gasped and stumbled back a little, as though some great and concerning revelation had overwhelmed him. “...Vandrad?” she asked him cautiously. He didn’t reply. Indeed, she wasn’t even sure that he heard her. She was starting to lower her guard a little when he suddenly roared, his magic erupting from his body and causing her to quickly snap right back into defensive mode as the force of it shoved her a couple steps away. Mercury growled, gritting her teeth and refusing to be so easily overpowered as she forced her way back forward, gun steady on her target despite the fact that he was clearly having some kind of internal battle. Was he trying to wrest control back to his true self?

His empowered form shifted to blue, the same form that he’d pushed himself to the day she’d gotten hurt and he discovered the truth about who she was. Mercury hadn’t seen the form since then, and wasn’t entirely sure what to make of it now. In a snap, his rage was quelled and his aura relaxed. He still bore the strange mark on his forehead, and the odd shadows around his eyes, but the eyes themselves were… more focused. Still, she held her stance, unwilling to stand down or hesitate without some kind of concrete proof that he had managed to sort himself out. And luckily, he provided that for her fairly quickly, looking up at her and meeting her gaze for a brief moment that was somehow both tense and tender, until he slowly reached up and set a hand on her shoulder.

He sighed in relief, expressing his desire for reassurance that he wasn’t in some kind of dream. Before she could even say anything, he sobered back up, knowing there was still work to be done. The prince admitted understanding she was angry and granting that she’d have time later to get her verbal shots in, but the more important thing was that they needed to help Ruzatz. No matter what, even with the ritual one percent away from failing, they weren’t going to stop. And oddly, it seemed to be hovering at ninety-nine percent. She considered Vandrad briefly before lowering her gun and giving him an impish smirk. “Please, don’t insult me. I am perfectly capable of multitasking. I can give you shit and help fight at the same time.”

With that, they jumped back into the fray, this time a fully cohesive unit of three to Mythal’s one. Or well, two if you counted the goddess trying to take him over. They sided up by Ruzatz, Vandrad thanking him for his assistance in helping the prince overcome the rage and gain control, however he’d managed to do that. Still looking as cheeky as ever, the demon classily brushed it off before returning to the situation at hand, reiterating Mercury’s update on the ritual and remarking that they were about to lose. Vandrad insisted it wasn’t over yet, and he had no intentions on giving up.

Ruzatz flirted with the prince over his commanding nature, turning to Mercury with a grin and voicing his understanding on why she let him be all bossy. Mercury grinned back. “Oh yeah, Vandaddy gets me all sorts of worked up when he’s like this. Why do you think I pick on him so much? Anyway, I think Gren and Serilda are still holding her back,” Mercury added. “The ritual may be at ninety nine but at the rate it was going it should have hit one hundred already. It’s stuck. Whatever they’re doing in there may be a final stand but it’s still buying us time and giving us a chance.”

Conversation wrapped up, they launched forward once more to engage Mythal in battle. Mercury and Vandrad were already quite adept at working around one another wordlessly, and Ruzatz was impressively quick on the uptake, so it was almost scary how easily the two of them fell into a seamless pattern of working around one another without getting in each other’s ways, finding ways to get in shots and strikes without putting the others in danger or getting held up. Everything was going surprisingly decent, with the ritual percentages still hovering at the hair raising number, when suddenly a streak of light raced in toward their location and buried itself into the suddenly illuminated lacrima on Mythal’s chest. Mercury knew without a doubt it had been Lux. She could sense the Seal rather easily given her own propensity for light, and it seemed he felt as though he was needed for the internal battle. Whether that was a good sign or a bad one was anyone’s guess, all they could do was keep up until something changed.

And it did change, almost immediately. Mythal lurched backward, dropping his weapon. It was the perfect opening and Mercury moved to open up a rain of blaster fire, but stopped when Vandrad silently called her off. They watched as Mythal attempted to pry the lacrima from his chest, only for it to fully sink below the surface even as they watched. Mercury could only watch dumbly, not entirely sure what to make of it. Had they won? Did they somehow manage to beat Faera, despite how close she had gotten? Even his eyes seemed to shift, no longer green but a violet hue that still wasn’t normal but not necessarily alarming.

But after a brief roar, one eye returned to emerald, the goddess within throwing out a hail mary that was sure to be more dangerous than anything she’d tried so far -- as were all such actions on the parts of defeated foes. He disappeared and materialized up in the sky above their heads, the goddess screaming at the top of her lungs that they would all pay with their lives for interfering with her plans. The sky split in a way that never should have been possible, Mercury gulping at the sight as she quickly had to come to terms with trying to comprehend an alternate plane of existence that existed outside of the material world. From it, two large comets managed to squeeze through the space, hurling toward the surface with a speed and size that was sure to be catastrophic.

Mythal lost consciousness shortly after and began to fall, with Chishan snatching him out of the air. Mercury was busy trying to calculate what, if anything, they could do to deal with meteors this size only to find Vandrad calling for her as he started to fuel a heavily charged attack in his hand. It was unlike anything she’d seen him use before, but would it be enough? Apparently, not without her help. He insisted that she fuel his power with her own, stating that together their strength would be enough. Not wasting any time to think about it, she slapped Mercy into its holster and took a braced stance, her hands stretched toward his as a prismatic rune hovered before them. The colorful beam of light burst from the rune in a steady stream as she funnelled every last drop of magic that she’d been reserving into his attack, knowing it was do or die. Thankfully, all things considered, she hadn’t used too much of her magic during the battle up until this point, and given how much damage she could deal out when she really wanted to, she knew that if anyone would be able to help him get the kind of destructive force that was needed for this, it would be herself.

It was a great deal of energy, even for the energy monarch himself. He visibly winced in effort to keep the blast contained long enough to fire it, and when it loosed into the sky it was quite the brilliant display. It streaked up to the spot between both comets before detonating with all the force of a nuclear bomb, the blindingly bright blast swallowing up both comets, obliterating everything so completely that not even any dust remained to fall back down to the earth. All that remained by the time to chaotic force died down was a smoky cloud in the sky.

And then, it was quiet.

Vandrad took a knee with a soft smile, the empowerment and the enraged form disappearing. Mercury gulped and stumbled a little where she stood, more overcome by emotional weariness than anything else. Her body was shaking heavily, though she was still too much in shock to even put thought to the millions of emotions racing through her body and brain in that moment. Chishan returned with Mythal, who was still unconscious but finally looking like himself again. The master nodded at the pair of Titans, even as the rest of the ritual group stirred somewhere back behind the barrier.

The demon lord approached Vandrad and clapped him friendly on the shoulder, complimenting how attractive the prince was when he was angry. Despite her shaken state, Mercury was already laughing tiredly before Vandrad even commented that he had received such commentary before, casting a poignant glance at herself. She merely grinned like the pest she was at the two men. The prince gave her a thumbs up, and she casually flipped him the bird in response. “Yeah yeah, revel in it while it lasts. You’re still in trouble, killer. Don’t think I’m gonna let you forget about it.” Smirking, she winked at him playfully, unable to find it in herself to be angry anymore, not when they’d just cheated death by incalculable odds.

The battle may have finally been over, but they still wouldn’t get the chance to celebrate for very long. Agatha’s voice pierced the sky, calling for her husband’s name with a great deal of urgency. Mercury frowned and glanced over in the direction of her shield where the redhead was bent over Gren, pouring white energy into his beaten body. A wash of panic rolled over Mercury for a second as she first thought that the Hand’s concern was over Gren, whose vitals weren’t promising. But before she could even get the chance to worry about Vandrad already losing the father he’d waited so long to meet, Mercury noticed that the older man’s body was responding quickly to Agatha’s magic and soon he was quickly making his way out of the red. Instead, Mercury followed Agatha’s gaze to Serilda where she saw the noble woman openly weeping, her tattered clothing not really doing enough to cover her body as she tried to curl in upon herself. Overall, Serilda seemed as though she hadn’t really sustained much physical damage. Her life signs were fairly high. But something had clearly happened to her, and it had hurt her in an emotional sense rather than a physical one.

Mercury nodded to Ruzatz as he looked to them, her silent way of saying they’d be right behind him. As he took off, she holstered Mercy and offered a free hand to Vandrad to help him stand again. Despite the joviality they’d shared only a moment before, the Silver Wolf’s expression was more sober now. The battle was over and they had achieved at least their main goal, but there was still a fallout to deal with. They needed to rejoin the rest of the group. While Mercury didn’t really care about eighty percent of the people present with them, and wanted nothing more than to just focus on the prince and making sure he was okay, she knew he wouldn’t appreciate being mothered over in front of a group of mostly strangers. That, and aside from appearing to be a bit physically weak from the battle and the expenditure of energy, she could read that he wasn’t in any danger of dying. He just needed some healing and some rest.

If he needed it, she would put his arm over her shoulder and help him walk as she’d done before, the two of them the last ones to rejoin the rest of the group, which had gotten slightly bigger than the last time they’d stood calmly together. There was an older woman standing with them now, hair as white as Serilda’s but with significantly more wrinkles. She wore studded leather armor of the finest make, adorned with thick, durable metal plating on her legs and arms. In her hand was a peculiar axe atop a long polearm, and her golden eyes watched the rest of the scene calmly. One had merely to look at this strange woman to know that she was the most dangerous person standing among them. She practically resonated with a regality and confidence that far outshone that of Zifu or even Serilda -- fitting, given the conspicuously crown shaped circlet upon her brow. But as much as Mercury wanted to study and analyze the woman, she was too busy staring at Wanda, who was somehow still alive with her head reattached to her body. The woman’s continued existence defied all logic and science, and thus the Xocili was left speechless as she fought for a way to comprehend the situation.

Wanda gave Ruzatz her coat when asked, and the Prime Sin used it to better cover up Serilda. Agatha was crying softly as she tried to focus more on Gren than anything else, but it was obvious her heart was broken at the sight of the noblewoman. Despite this, she gave Vandrad and Mythal’s father a brave smile that shone gently through her sadness as he called her a life saver.

Zifu drew everyone’s attention to herself and then to the new woman among them, demanding an answer to who the mysterious figure was. The armor clad woman merely raised a single, condescending brow at the queen as though unimpressed with her tone. While Serilda was bound by the confines of mortal decorum, Victoria was not. The Seal respected her host and treated her with relative deference because Serilda had proven herself worthy to her, but Zifu had not. Not entirely, at least. There was no anger in Victoria’s gaze as she locked eyes steadily with the dark skinned queen. In fact, there was little in her gaze at all aside from studious patience and cool indifference that betrayed she wasn’t simply going to answer Zifu’s question merely because the queen had demanded the information.

Then, Victoria turned her gaze calmly to Wanda as the woman spoke her name and title. The doctor was still looking at Serilda as though trying to deduce what was wrong with her. Victoria looked mildly surprised. After all, no mortals had yet to recognize either herself or Lux since their most recent emergence. Then again, these mortals were far from ordinary when it came to their knowledge of the supernatural. The woman finally looked up at Victoria, seeking confirmation on her claim. “Yes. You are correct, child,” the Seal told her. Despite her choice in moniker, there was no condescension in her voice as she addressed Wanda. While her tone was as stoic as it ever was, she seemed to be speaking to the doctor with kindness. Or at least, respect. But her own eyes trailed down to the Voidwalker. When she spoke again her voice was still even and stern, but there was a slight softness to it. “She will be okay,” Victoria assured the doctor. “She merely needs time to collect herself.”

It was the most compassionate Victoria had ever been, not that anyone present would be capable of recognizing it. The Seal had all but forgotten Zifu when Gren spoke up, pleading with the queen not to start some kind of altercation at that moment. Victoria looked back over to see the other woman fuming at her as though about to burst with anger and indignation at Victoria’s mere presence, and likely at the fact that the Conquoress had been there the entire time and not made herself known. Her anger was hardly worth Victoria’s time or interest. Her gaze barely lingered on Zifu for longer than a second or two before looking away and disregarding her entirely. With the simple wave of a hand, her poleaxe disappeared into the ether, and she glanced down at Serilda and Mythal. The darkness slayer had stirred, suddenly finding consciousness and speaking his lover’s name and holding her hand. Somehow, he found the strength to turn himself over and pull Serilda against him.

Mercury had watched the entire exchange in silence, keeping track of everyone and making mental notes of things. She had been more than a little surprised to discover that Serilda was in possession of a Seal, same as Mythal. She was a bit unnerved at the knowledge of how many illogically powerful beings she was coming into contact with in a short period of time, but at this point she was too tired and overstimulated to freak out over it. Instead, she merely did what she did best: hung out in the background and observed quietly, letting everyone else make noise while she faded into an afterthought and soaked in all the information available to her. Not that she would get much time to do so. Once the two of them had joined up with the others and the conversations had more or less been settled, Zifu transported them all out of the graveyard.

She had expected them to come back to the same base they’d left. Mercury’s droids were already finished with their work, so she wouldn’t have foreseen any issues with returning. The vast majority of them had been put to the task of collecting information rather than analysing it, having once more focused on the gathering of as much intelligence as possible for her to simply review later. However, their destination was a new place, one that was a bit more homey -- if still quite large. Chishan explained that this was another base that was meant to serve as more of a place to rest and relax than anything else. There were beds and a kitchen, and Wanda was available to tend to the wounded. The mention of the doctor brought up a question from Monica that Mercury herself was dying to know: how in the hell Wanda was even still alive.

There was a moment of silence as the master explained that Wanda had abilities that protected her, but the details of their explanation weren’t his to reveal. Wanda herself seemed uninclined to answer the question, at least for the time being, advising everyone that she was going to set up a medical area in a different room. By this time, Agatha had finished her work on Gren, having healed him enough to ensure his stability and to mute at least the worst of his pain. The redhead watched the woman go, looking like she was thinking about following her, only to decide against it. At least for now. “I can help with healing as well,” she told everyone, turning to look back at them. “I may not be as potent as I usually am, but I do still have some power left so I can assist Doctor Wanda with making sure everyone has received proper treatment. I know we’re all exhausted, but please hang out for a few more minutes until I can figure out how Wanda wants to proceed.”

The smaller woman stood then, after giving Gren a kind and gentle kiss on the forehead, and followed after Wanda to see what kind of help she could be. Mercury took the time to look internally, registering her own wounds. They weren’t great. She had a concerning amount of internal bleeding, though nothing that would kill her. Her body was already fast at work in stopping the leaks, as well as slowly repairing the broken bones in her ribs. While Mercury looked more or less find on the outside save for a few large, dark bruises, she had taken an immense beating from Mythal and Faera. Her body ached like it was on fire, and she winced as she slowly eased herself to sit on the floor, closing her eyes and finally taking a moment to just rest. The knowledge that she’d revealed herself as a mage loomed over her head like a dark cloud, but it was nothing in comparison to how she’d be feeling if she’d been cut open and exposed for what she was in front of everyone. That secret was safe for now. The rest she could deal with as it came. All she wanted was to be dismissed by the healers to go sleep for a bit.

It was only the fact that she was surrounded by so many people she didn’t really know that kept her from falling asleep where she sat on the floor. That, and she wasn’t about to pass out before knowing that Vandrad had been seen to. He had arguably taken the biggest beating out of all who had fought Mythal. Mercury was right behind him in that regard, but unlike Vandrad her body would heal itself pretty quickly of its own accord. So, while she certainly took a moment to sit and rest, she was still quite alert and paying attention to everything going on around her. The prince wandered off to talk to his dad, who was quite jovial despite the damage he’d sustained. But through his banter, neither of them missed the reality he’d admitted: That they’d failed to kill Faera, if barely.

A pit formed in Mercury’s stomach. The battle had been awful enough and they hadn’t even fought the fully realized version of the goddess. Not only that, but if Faera survived she would surely be looking into the rest of those who opposed her, and Mercury could only deduce that she and Vandrad would be toward the top of that list. The Xocili had only just come to understand the horrifying truth of what gods really were mere hours ago, and now she had already painted herself as a target. Once this was over, she was going to have to talk to Jadus to see what he suggested or if there was anything he could do to help her.

Mercury was one of the few to respond a bit more viscerally when the newcomer arrived. She hadn’t been paying attention to the rest of the building after they’d arrived, stupidly letting her guard down and assuming they were safe merely because they had been brought here by the Order, who had acted as allies thus far. But she did sense him rushing down the hallway and was immediately back up on her feet, Mercy in hand and aimed steadily at the man the second he landed in view. And what a view it was. Either she was a bit more slow than she typically was due to how tired she was, or she was caught entirely off guard by his attire. Probably both. She didn’t pull the trigger, but rather stood there in bewilderment as he single handedly taunted the entire group, clad only in a thin golden strap that was barely enough to cover his genitals. He also continued the concerning trend of highly attractive people bursting into her life.

“What is actually happening?” she asked herself as she stared at him, her voice low but not so low that anyone with good hearing wouldn’t pick up on it. And it was clear by the way she looked at him that her comment had nothing to do with his dramatic entrance nor his outfit, but rather how handsome he was. He started off quite strong but cut himself off the moment his eyes found Chishan and Zifu. Then, he relaxed and apologized rather profusely for mistaking the group for vagabonds. Mercury had already lowered Mercy by the time Chishan asked everyone to calmed down, introducing Dorian as another agent of the Order. One that was apparently supposed to be on a joint mission with another Lusty Titan member.

Apparently, he had been. He and a woman that Ruzatz called Garnet had apparently already finished and had retreated to this bunker to rest.. In a manner of speaking. The Guildmaster was impressed since Garnet was apparently one of his more conservative members. That was how Dorian realized who he was in the presence of and he quickly apologized again for apparently speaking so boldly of the woman, though this time he did so with a bit more mirth. He asked if everyone else were members of the Titans as well. Vandrad immediately scorned the notion, clearly disgusted by the idea of being part of a sex guild. Mercury, on the other hand, was only a beat behind the prince with her own answer. “Not yet,” she told him, still not having stopped looking him over. Her trademark cheshire grin was back on her face and it was clear to everyone around that, unlike her companion, she was far more interested in what Lusty Titans had to offer.

It was only a beat later that Wanda and Agatha returned with a plan of action on the medical front. Dorian was asked to vacate the master bedroom so Serilda and Mythal could occupy it during their recovery. Since Agatha knew them better than Wanda did, the guildmaster’s first wife would see to them. She then stated that another bedroom would be set aside for Gren, Vandrad, and Mercury, where Wanda would provide them medical attention. Everyone else could fill up the remaining rooms as they saw fit and the two healers would see them once the more injured individuals had been attended to. Dorian set out at once to do as he’d been asked, adding that he would get to preparing some food for everyone once he was done. Mercury tilted her head as she watched him go, taking in his shapely ass before shooting Monica an impish look.

Back Mercy went into its holster, and soon she was set up at least temporarily in a room with the two Ragnos men and the doctor. Allowing Gren to have full use of the bed so as not to be in the way, Mercury wandered over to a low standing dresser and took a seat on top of it, leaning back against the wall lazily and trying to get as comfortable as possible. From there, she watched the other three interact with one another without interruption. Despite his wounds, Gren was as much of a sight to behold as she and Monica had expected. He was quite chiseled, perhaps more so even than Vandrad, and his ripped up clothing left very little to the imagination. Wanda offered him a new set of clothing but he declined for the moment, preferring the chance to rest over maintaining his modesty. Well, Mercury certainly wasn’t going to complain about that.

It seemed Gren’s state was quite well after the healing he’d received from Agatha, though Mercury had deduced as much on her own. The doctor turned to Vandrad to offer him some assistance with speeding up his own recovery process, to which Vandrad merely shrugged and left it up to her own medical expertise as to what would be appropriate. Of course, he took the moment to remark upon Wanda’s own recovery. It was an awkward moment that Mercury watched with even curiosity, but once more Wanda elected not to offer any information. This was no surprise. There was a way to get information out of people, and passive aggressively commenting on it wasn’t going to work. At least, not with someone as guarded as Wanda. That would take a bit more coercion and gentle encouragement, Mercury imagined. And while the Xocili planned on trying to coax Wanda into giving up her secret, it would do no good to ask her now that Vandrad had set her on edge about the subject again so Mercury would have to wait.

It was quite amusing to observe the prince and the doctor dance around having to acknowledge the physical touch between them as Wanda set to healing Vandrad. To avoid the awkwardness, the younger Ragnos man turned to Mercury and asked if she was okay. Gren spoke up before Mercury could with a flirty comment about how she looked better than Vandrad, giving her a playful wink. The Silver Wolf Ace grinned wide, clearly more than a little pleased. “Now, I wouldn’t quite go that far,” she countered. “He’s practically a carbon copy of you, and in case you haven’t looked in a mirror lately that’s nothing to scoff at. But yeah, don’t worry about me, killer.” Mercury turned her attention back to Vandrad with her cocky smirk, the confidence on her face a perfect mask to cover the amount of physical pain he would know she was actually feeling. “As much as I would love to take my turn at having the sexy doctor put her hands all over my chest, the only thing I need is a hot shower and a bed. Or even a couch. Stars, I’d take a spot on the floor at this point. I’m fuckin’ tired.”

Vandrad would probably see through her smooth and confident lie -- he seemed to have a knack for doing so. However, he also knew that she had her own means of recovery, and she was not willing to let anyone treat her lest they learn things about her she didn’t wish to share. With any luck it would be enough to fool the doctor and Gren. Or at the very least, they wouldn’t try to force the issue. Vandrad used the opportunity to pester his old man a bit, more than used to his family members flirting with Mercury at this point. The banter ultimately fell back upon Wanda, whose death and resurrection were once again brought up. At this point, Mercury didn’t think she was going to get the chance to get an answer properly out of the woman. But, surprisingly, the gruff prince turned a more sincere look toward the quiet doctor and assured her that he didn’t care what she was, only that she had been there to at least try to rescue his father and his future sister-in-law. She had been brave in a terrifying situation, and he even took the time to apologize for having clearly misjudged her.

Mercury looked visibly surprised, being the only one in the room that would know how hard apologies from Vandrad were to come by. At this point, the Xocili had figured she was the only person in his life to really ever be at the receiving end of similar words. The Silver Wolf Mage watched in careful observation and study briefly over the awkward growth on Vandrad’s end before Wanda quietly spoke up to admit that she felt Gren’s and Serilda’s lives had been her responsibility due to having been the reason they were defenseless in the first place. She hadn’t wanted anyone to be hurt or killed because of what she perceived to be her own mistake.

“A noble gesture, one that I think everyone here appreciates,” Mercury said, her tone matter of fact but not unkind. “However, no offense, your mindset on it is wrong. If they had died, that wouldn’t have been on you. Seri and big daddy here both knew what they were getting into and the risk they were taking. From the things they said, it sounds like they knew what was ahead of them more than the rest of us did. You didn’t do anything that they didn’t agree to or ask for, and clearly none of us had any clue that Faera would come at us through Mythal the way she did. I think we all get where you’re coming from and would probably feel similar in your shoes, but if something had happened to them the accountability for it wouldn’t have been on you. So don’t beat yourself up over what could have happened. All you can do is what the rest of us are: Taking what you can learn from all this to be more prepared in the future, and being grateful that we all beat the odds and lived to fight another day.”

It was a plain and sober view point, one that was more.... Realistic than necessarily optimistic, but no less poignant or meaningful. It had been an awful night for everyone, but considering what they’d been up against it could have been -- and almost was -- much, much worse. Mercury had been at war her entire life, and it showed in the pragmatic, almost emotionless way that she broached her opinion on the subject. But, her words weren’t without care, and there was wisdom and experience in what she had to say, despite the fact that she was by far the youngest of the entire group.

Shortly after that, there was a small but firm knock on the door. Given that she was the only one not bed ridden or currently in the process of being healed, Mercury hopped down from the dresser and went to answer, expecting to find Agatha. Instead, when she opened the door it was Victoria standing there. Her hands rested casually at the small of her back, much in the same manner that Serilda often carried herself, and she gave Mercury a curious and considering glance that was difficult to read. Mercury raised a brow. “What’s up? Everything alright with Seri?” The only reason the Silver Wolf mage could think that this woman would be here was to relay information regarding her host or Mythal.

Apparently, that wasn’t the case. “She is as good as can be expected. Serilda suffered more from emotional strife than physical, but I will leave it to her to decide what she deems appropriate to share with everyone else. I am giving her privacy with Mythal for the time being. Seeing as how my brother has elected to stay out of sight for the time being, I figured I’d come see how Gren is progressing. I’m sure he wishes to rest after the doctor is done, so I’ll only be a moment.” Victoria certainly seemed to hold herself with a great deal of confidence and dignity. She was clearly the type of individual that was used to having her way and going where she pleased, but it was worth noting that, at least for the moment, she wasn’t trying to be commanding or expecting to be catered to. Mercury turned back to glance at Gren and, presuming he said it was fine, she would shrug and move out of the doorway to let Victoria in and return to her perch on the dresser.

Victoria shut the door behind her and took careful stock of the room, openly studying each individual where they stood or sat, before slowly working her way over to stand beside the bed where Gren laid. The nephilim peered down at him, her expression as even as it had been since she’d shown herself, though there was a pensiveness to her gaze. Finally, she cracked a tiny smirk. “I’ll admit, for a while there I thought you weren’t actually going to need my help after all. You defended yourself against Faera quite intelligently, mortal. I’m impressed.”

She crossed her arms casually over her chest and her smirk widened a hair. It wasn’t often that mortals caught her attention, but clearly Gren had made a good impression on her. “You seem to be well on your way to recovery. I do hope my surprise appearance didn’t throw you too off your game back there.”

Thankfully, no one fought her on her insistence that she did not require medical attention, not even the doctor. Then again, Wanda seemed to be a bit… detached? They wouldn’t really know how accurate that was until a few moments later, but the scantily clad woman seemed not to have noticed Mercury’s rather open flirtation. However, Mercury was more than willing to let that slip given the next words out of Gren’s mouth. The older man pointed toward a door in the room that supposedly led toward a bathroom, followed by an open invitation to join him in the bed. Of course there was no insinuation in his words, but that didn’t stop her from grinning like the cheeky little devil she was, nor did it stop Vandrad from warning Gren to be careful what he asked for. Gren insisted that he was merely trying to be gentlemanly, to which Vandrad retorted that he was quite sure Mercury wouldn’t hesitate to capitalize on his father’s accommodating nature. He even managed to smirk at her.

““I’m nothing if not giving,” the Silver Wolf Mage replied merrily. ““Better watch out, your highness. Your dad is all sorts of charming. I might wind up leaving you for him. My ‘mommy’ shirt is gonna take on a whole new meaning.” She shot a wink at the prince, all too pleased with herself and the way this conversation was going.

And then it got derailed by Wanda speaking up to inquire who Mercury had been talking about when she’d referred to a ‘sexy doctor’. The Xocili blinked at the woman even as Vandrad stammered to inform her that Mercury had been talking about Wanda herself. This came as a great surprise to the doctor, who was visibly overcome by clarity before asking for a rather academic confirmation that she was sexy. Mercury was already giggling like mad as a blush flooded Vandrad’s cheeks, the prince struggling to answer a question he very much did not want to answer. He barely found a way through the affirmation, putting all the accountability for it on Mercury, before demanding an end to the conversation and for Wanda to simply keep doing her thing. ““Aw, come on, Vandaddy. Don’t be such a stiff. You can admit you think she’s attractive, too.” She grinned at Gren, her emerald eyes bright with mischief from the sheer delight she took in teasing Vandrad.

Wanda spoke up with her thoughts regarding her perceived responsibilities with Gren and Serilda’s lives, and Mercury voiced her own opinion on the matter. Whatever could have happened, it was never worth blaming one’s self for consequences that came as a result from other people’s choices. No one would have held her accountable if Gren and Serilda had died, so neither should she. Wanda listened with studious interest and gave Mercury’s words some thought before nodding and expressing her understanding and how thankful she was for Mercury to have given her perspective. She even let out a joke about losing her head, which earned her a short but enthusiastic laugh from Mercury, who was obviously very entertained by the rather dark quip.

Once that moment had passed, Gren took a moment to reflect upon Mercury’s decided nickname for him. He was much more amiable to it than Vandrad had been to his own. The prince expressed his exasperation at Mercury’s humor, and how the men in his family all apparently earned some similar title. ““Okay first of all, that makes me sound much more unoriginal than I actually am. Give me some credit. Second of all, I’ll have you know that my pet names for Simon, Dudley, and Bartrand don’t have ‘daddy’ in them, or anything close to it. That one was reserved especially for you, and now for your hunky pops here.” She smirked through the entire retort, entirely unashamed to admit in front of everyone present that she did, in fact, have pet names for his other family members.

Gren invited her to continue calling him the one she’d given him, giving her a grin that Mercury did not hesitate to mirror. Vandrad practically pleaded with his father not to encourage her, especially in light of how the rest of his family acted around her. Mercury was giggling all over again at his choice of wording, which Gren took a moment to teasingly point out as being poor. ““I mean… it’s not incorrect,” she stated, a shit eating grin wrapping it’s way around her face, thoroughly amused at the irony of how accurate the wording actually was. Maybe someday Vandrad would put it together that his mom and uncle had already gotten their hands on her, but he’d yet to express any suspicions and for the moment she was content to let him live in blissful ignorance.

Shortly after that, Victoria made her unexpected appearance, requesting a short audience with Gren. The older man gave permission to let her in, referring to her as a former roommate. Mercury shrugged and let the Seal in, returning to her spot on the dresser. Everyone observed Victoria about as much as she did them, and Mercury’s sensors indicated a flux in Wanda’s pulse that indicated some type of nervousness, particularly as Victoria stepped passed her. Mercury eyed the older woman attentively as she spoke to Gren, complimenting how he’d handled himself in their fight. Ever the humble one, Gren chalked it up to years of attentive study, lamenting how he’d probably have done better if he were younger. It was true that Victoria didn’t understand aging from a first hand point of view, but there was a recognition in her eyes that betrayed she did understand what he was saying, and that its weight wasn’t lost on her.

Gren admitted his surprise at her appearance in Mythal’s head, apparently having thought that Victoria had been some trick on Faera’s part. It was difficult to ascertain what they were referencing, but Mercury took as many mental notes as she could, particularly about how Victoria apparently had a way to communicate with Gren telepathically. Still, according to Vandrad’s father, he would have died without Victoria’s help. He thanked her and expressed his gratitude for her help, even if he knew the rest of the Order would have a rather strong opinion about her presence. “It was my sincere pleasure, Gren Ragnos. You are a commendable warrior, and you deserve a better death than the one she attempted to give you. When you are feeling well enough and have some time, I think I would rather enjoy a friendly spar, if you’d be interested. Maybe we can find some ways to make you an even bigger pain in Faera’s side for the next time she decides to show her face.”

The thought was visibly amusing to the Seal, her smirk deepening at the thought of the goddess of love being put to her wits end over a group of mortals. If Lux had been there, he probably would have been a little impressed by her offer as Victoria had rarely expressed an interest in training with any mortal outside of the hosts she’d had over the eons -- that was more Mars’ schtick, after all. But she knew a worthy fighter when she saw one, and if she could do anything to boost him further, she would be happy to oblige in this case.

Wanda finished healing Vandrad, pulling her hands away and expressing that there was little more she could do to help Vandrad that his own body wasn’t already taking care of. She calculated that he would have been back up to full speed within an hour, even without her help, due to the rate at which his body collected ethernano. Vandrad confirmed that his power was already replenished, taking a moment to activate his golden form by means of physical evidence. It truly never took Vandrad long to recover. In fact, he was faster at it than even Mercury was. The two carried a quick conversation from there, with Wanda voicing what she knew of his type of magic and inquiring as to what had prompted him to choose his empowerment forms as the way of manifesting the different level of his power.

Now that was a curious question. Mercury frowned as though she’d never thought to ask that before, casting a quizzical look toward her partner as she awaited his answer. She knew very little of magic in general, and while she had learned much more upon joining Silver Wolf and being given access to their endless archives, Vandrad’s magic was rare enough that she still didn’t fully have a grounded approach to observe it at times. It took the prince a moment to answer, seemingly caught off guard, and the answer was far more innocent than Mercury would have expected. It seemed as a child there was a book either Simon or Dudley used to read to him that spoke of warriors who absorbed energy and used it to alter their appearance in accordance with their victories on the battlefield. The idea had struck the young prince, and so Themesycia believed the tales had ultimately gone on to influence how Vandrad used his own magic. “Now that’s just cute,” Mercury quipped, simultaneously teasing her partner over the purity of his magic’s origins as well as being genuinely intrigued by his answer.

A smile appeared on the doctor’s face, a new expression that she’d yet to show. At least, as far as Mercury had observed. Wanda thanked Vandrad for being willing to explain his magic to her, particularly when it was obvious he wasn’t the type to open up. She paused briefly before stating that she needed to continue along to see to the others, suggesting they all get some rest and reiterating that there was, in fact, a shower in the next room that could be utilized. Mercury looked longingly in the bathroom’s direction with an expression that only Vandrad would properly be able to appreciate, given his intimate knowledge of how much she detested being dirty. It was a wonder she hadn’t already gotten started. “I think I’ll get on that right now. Thanks, doc.”

Mercury was making to hop down from the dresser a second time when Vandrad weirdly stopped Wanda from leaving, suggesting that he speak with Dorian about staying focused on making food rather than other things. When prompted by the doctor for the meaning of his words, Vandrad awkwardly explained that he could sense the agent down the hall with Monica, and apparently she was giving Dorian a blow job. He hadn’t said so in so many words, but his wording was obvious. At least, to everyone but Wanda, who unsurprisingly wasn’t adept at innuendos. Mercury sputtered a laugh at the knowledge that Monica had wasted no time in trying to charm the handsome man out of his oversized thong. Even Victoria chuckled with a dignified but wicked sense of amusement. Wanda advised that she would ask Chishan or Zifu to talk to him and then finally made her exit.

“Alright, hold up,” Mercury said once Wanda was gone, crossing her arms over her chest and fixing Vandrad with a bemused but suspicious look. “Since when can you just sense people having sex? You can’t just withhold that kind of information from me. That’s now how our relationship works. How dare you rob me of opportunities to be entertained at your expense. It’s like you don’t care about me at all.”

Her humor was quite genuine, but she also couldn’t help but feel a little concerned over this apparent development. She was certain he had no idea that she’d slept with Simon and his mother, since Simon’s time manipulation magic would have robbed Vandrad of the chance to sense it. That, and given that a literal orgy had been going on around them at the time, he’d probably have been hard pressed to pin down individuals in that atmosphere. But had he sensed her earlier with the Lusty Titans leaders, she wondered? He hadn’t said anything to her yet or given her any looks, but how could he not have? She hadn’t been that far away. In fact, she had probably been closer to him than Monica and Dorian were to them now. Maybe he just hadn’t cared? Still, it was unlike Vandrad to not take the chance to chastise her over such things, and she was more than a little perplexed. Depending on his answer, she’d have to be more mindful in the future of what she did behind closed doors when he was around.

Once he had given his answer, whatever it was, she’d keep her gaze narrowed on him for a moment longer before letting the matter drop. While she was perfectly fine teasing him in front of his father and strangers such as Victoria, she would only go so far. While she definitely planned on interrogating him further on the matter, she would do so in private where he wouldn’t feel so pressured to put his abilities on display for a crowd. Finally, she slipped off the dresser and wandered over to the bathroom. “Alright, that’s enough chit chat for me. Time to go make love to a steady flow of boiling water and some bottles of soap.”

As she shut herself up in the bathroom, Victoria watched her go with an amused look before returning her attention to the men in the room with her. “I shall take my leave as well. I do not wish to keep you from your rest, and I am sure both of you desire further privacy with one another. Thank you for humoring my curiosity. We will have more time to chat once everyone has reconvened.” Turning, she gave Vandrad a nod in acknowledgement and farewell, and then made her way out of the room, leaving father and son alone for the time being.

In the bathroom, Mercury shut the door behind her and stripped down, though her jovial demeanor had all but washed away the second she was out of eyesight. She turned the water on and let it heat up, but when she stepped inside rather than start washing she sat upon the floor and pulled her knees up to her chest, resting her head against them wearily as she gave herself a moment to let the events of the evening sink in now that no one was looking. Tonight had been an absolute nightmare, on nearly every level. She still hadn’t caught up to understanding everything that had happened, her mind stuck in a near stasis that refused to process a great deal of what had occurred. It didn’t help that she was in a great deal of physical pain. Several of her ribs had been broken, and her insides were twisting in agony despite the numbing agents her body had released some time ago in an effort to combat the pain. It had been a while since she’d been so thoroughly abused, and it was bringing back… rather unpleasant memories.

She struggled for several long minutes to get herself settled emotionally, letting the water drown out everything but her own morose and confused thoughts. Eventually, she was able to spur herself into standing up and putting actual effort into washing, meticulously scrubbing the grime and dirt out of her hair and off her skin. Once she was done, Mercury dried off with an available towel and searched around the bathroom to see if there was anything she could cover up with that wasn’t the dirty clothes she’d just gotten out of. To her luck, there was a small closet in the bathroom that held an array of robes and pajamas, much like one might find at a hotel. She selected a pair of the latter in her size, the sweatpants and tank top more than adequate for the time being. Drying her hair with the heat from her light magic, she ultimately made her way back into the bedroom.

Gren had already managed to crawl under the covers and fallen asleep. Vandrad was up against a wall, leaning against it with his eyes closed. At first Mercury thought he’d stayed awake to wait for her to come out, but her sensors quickly indicated that he had somehow managed to fall asleep standing up. As amusing and impressive as that was, she felt he’d earned the right to be at least a little more comfortable. Glancing around the room, she turned on her x-ray vision and looked through the dressers in the room. Most of them were empty, but one had some spare blankets in one of its drawers. She cast a quick glance at Gren to assure herself that he was fast asleep before carefully retrieving a blanket from the dresser and one of the pillows from the bed. Moving over to Vandrad, Mercury silently woke him by placing a gentle hand on his shoulder and giving him a light shake. She said nothing, but from the way she locked a somewhat soft gaze on him and held up the comforts in her hand, it was clear she was suggesting he at least lay down. There was plenty of floor space, something both of them were more than accustomed to having to utilize thanks to their histories with war.

Presuming he took the items and got himself better situated, Mercury took the previously offered free space on the other side of the bed from Gren, crawling under the blankets and doing her best to get comfortable. Despite her exhaustion, it would take her a few minutes to embrace the sweet respite of sleep, her head still twisting with stray, worrisome thoughts and replaying some of the rather unsavory memories from the night. She was tired enough not to remember any of her dreams, but that didn’t stop her from having a few nightmares that occasionally caused her to twitch lightly in her sleep, her face scrunched from time to time with emotion. While she certainly had a bit more energy by the time Vandrad woke her, the Xocili didn’t feel entirely well rested. She allowed herself to be coaxed out of bed a little easier than usual, but only because Gren was there.

As grumbly and irritable as she always was upon waking up, she shuffled her way after the men toward the kitchen, bypassing any and all people and food to go straight for the nearest coffee pot. Most everyone seemed to be present, and many of them -- particularly Dorian -- were far too cheery for her still groggy state. Even Serilda and Mythal were already up. Without a word, she poured herself a cup in the tallest mug she could find, stirring in a bit of creamer and slipping into the first open chair she could find, irregardless of who was already sitting next to the open space. A lot of her physical pain had subsided at least, though she was still intensely sore. Without looking at really anyone in the room, she sat in her chair slightly huddled with the coffee clutched possessively against her chest, letting its delicious scent waft into her nostrils until it had cooled enough to drink without burning her mouth.