Garnet on the Astral Plane

TW: mention of death
also includes: strong embarrassment, eavesdropping drivers

Ilias never feared death before. But actually dying... considering he'd experienced it already, well... he was terrified. The thing no one ever has really noticed until they've experienced it, is that pain tolerance does not mean they can take damage and not feel it. Pain tolerance, is feeling the pain, but still doing what needs to be done without curling into a ball of misery.

Now, in the silent car ride, he thought of things he'd never actually paused to think deeply about. Never, had he talked to anyone about his life. The assassin part, specifically. No one knew about it at all, except for two people. But he didn't complain or explain to them. They wouldn't take that, as they'd built him to be as he is now. He kept it to himself.

Then Mari came along. Well, to be more specific, she destroyed his living room, kidnapped him, drugged him, puked on him, threw explosives and vine bombs at him, made him laugh when it hurt to laugh, threw a bread roll at him, forced him to go to the medroom, went to a revolutionary meeting when he said not to, met his parents after riding a storm, got herself kidnapped, then got him kidnapped, tortured, killed, and revived. She has made him realize how much he could care when she had been missing.

And now she was poking his side relentlessly. "Hey. Just before we die. You need to clear your conscience about this."

"Hm?"

"To make it to Loht, you need to cleanse yourself of guilt. So, admit it. Hot dogs are not squaricanized tacos." She was leaning against the back of her seat next to him, staring at the ceiling of the car. Her smile seemed slightly forced, but she was trying.

"Seriously?"

"Yes. Better than the whole silent, tragic, off to the gallows thing we had going on in here."

"I am not admitting to that."

"Then you're doomed, I guess. Don't say I didn't warn you."

"Well, I already know that. Tell me something I don't know."

She was quiet for a moment, then said, "Sure. How about, you mean more to me than you know? More than even I know what to do with? And I'm glad I'll be spending the rest of my life with you, because I can't imagine it with anyone else." She glanced at him briefly from the corner of her eye, then returned her stare to the ceiling, a slight blush coloring her cheeks. "That was cheesy. Wow. Surprised you haven't combusted of secondhand embarrassment."

"Never, had I talked to others about myself. We've gone through a decent amount of stuff, mainly me at the start." She laughed briefly. He smiled. "While there's things I haven't told you, you know a lot more about me than anyone else. I don't know whether to be terrified or not. But like it or not, I don't think I'd choose anyone else to die with either. Words can't express how I feel."

"If only I could explode a garnet right here to show you how I feel," she remarked wryly. "But unleashing a garnet on the astral plane would only hasten our deaths. And, well, being close to anyone is terrifying. There's a vulnerability in sharing your soul with someone. I..." Mari took a breath. "I would've liked to try, anyway, if not for the small fact that we'll be dead by tomorrow."

"I think the driver is going to throw up or die of cringing."

She laughed again, somehow sounding lighter. "Yeah. Well. He'll have good company in Loht, then. He can keep listening to us there and cringe into eternity."

He laughed as well.

The driver chose this moment to inform them that they would not, in fact, be dying today. "Hate to interrupt the soap opera-worthy confessions, but you're actually being recruited, not executed."

"You couldn't tell us earlier? Now I might just want an execution instead."

Mari stared at the back of the driver's head. "Using us as free entertainment? Wow. When I combust from embarrassment, I'll be taking you with me."

"To execute myself or the driver?" He hummed to himself. His cheeks were probably redder than a garnet on the astral plane.

"Neither." She groaned and buried her face in her hands. "I just confessed my feelings to you very clumsily and in a random car with a random driver, didn't I? And I basically opened myself up to vulnerability, which I'll have to go through with now that we're not actually dying. Oh, Darkness."

"Hey, I think I was more cheesy than you. I think I'm an expert on cheesy at this point after 3 movies on it."

"...That is true."

The driver gave a short chuckle, then was silent for the rest of the drive, which wasn't long.

Mari was still mumbling under her breath and shooting annoyed glances at the driver as they pulled up to a nondescript building. It was made of right angles and colored a grey that faintly reflected the dusky light of the astral plane.

Standing right outside the building to greet them was none other than Ikrrr Potash.

She fixed them both with a cool stare as they left the car. "My training dissuades me from simply throwing away useful tools. I hope that you both can be reformed to use your skills for the general good rather than simply for profit." Then she relaxed a fraction. "I am glad to see you alive, Ilias and Mari."

"I'm glad to see you not giving us a murderous glare." Kill the sarcasm for now Ilias. "Thanks Potash. What do we owe you?"

"Many pizzas." She led them inside. "Well, those and your dedication to your new work in a different branch of the government. You'll be focused on security, as the recent breach of the astral plane and the increasingly bold actions of various revolutionary groups have gotten the heads of the ruling families worried."

Ilias followed right behind her. "So, in fancy government words, we'll be sent to get rid of the revolutionary groups."

"Precisely."

"What's with you personally coming here, and the change in heart in general? I'm pretty sure it wasn't just because you wanted to spend our money on every pizza joint in the entire plane."

"That was an important factor." Potash looked absolutely serious, but then she cracked a shadow of a grin. "There were others, however. Your potential use to the government. But, possibly most prominently..." She grew serious again. "I just... couldn't find peace knowing you'd be executed. It's frustrating, for someone whose decisions have nearly always been based in logic. But there nevertheless. And Mid agreed."

"Not all of our decisions were ours to make." Ilias muttered as he turned his head away from Potash, quiet enough Potash wouldn't of heard anything except noise.

Mari, however, leaned against him gently, just enough to let him know that she was there. He smiled at her. Ow. That hurt. She smiled back, then asked Potash, "So, who exactly will we be working for? You and Mid?"

Potash stopped in front of a closed door. "No. This is an entirely different branch of government than the agency Director Mid and I belong to."

"Classified or public?" Ilias inquired.

"Classified, of course. Top secret. Also, everyone thinks you're dead, so get rid of the masks." She pinned them both with a meaningful stare.

"That's one thing I did like." He sighed. "Well, that's hidden back at your agency."

"Good. Mid will retrieve it and destroy it, then."

"Most of my masks are at home, and one is also at the agency."

Potash nodded to Mari. "Same with that one, then. Now, ready to meet your new boss?"

"Good luck finding it. If he doesn't find it, I guess you guys know where to find me."

"Indeed." She knocked on the door.

It opened to reveal the driver from their car. He smiled at them.

Mari gasped. "No... No way. Our boss is the RANDOM DRIVER?! Please excuse me while I combust. Mari should be back with you in.... about ten thousand and one years." She covered her face and toppled forwards to lean against the wall.

No. Well, yes, the driver, but no, not random. He should have noticed when they were in the car. The voice, even the look. He was definitely slacking if he didn't notice that before. It didn't matter how many years it had gone by, the person who initiated the process of tearing him apart and building him back up should be recognizable anywhere on first contact.

Perhaps death hadn't been such a bad option. He kept himself in check, revealing nothing. Well, except a weird, serious, continuous stare. Mari didn't notice, pressed against the wall as she was, and Ikrrr Potash was already speaking again.

"Lavar will be overseeing your operations. I'll leave you to get settled, right after one last thing. Here-- a secure sunstone, for communication with Director Mid and I in times of emergency only."

She dropped sunstones into the hands of Ilias and Mari, who finally peeled herself away from the wall. A few of her bangs were flattened and radiating outwards. She examined the sunstone curiously. Ilias just put the sunstone in his pocket, keeping an eye on "Lavar".

Lavar smiled pleasantly and waved them into the office.

"Can we walk around instead?" Ilias asked. No. Not being in a room with him.

Mari glanced at him curiously, then shrugged. "I'd like to look around as well."

Ilias gave him a you-don't-have-a-choice look.

Lavar stared at them for a moment, then grinned suddenly and stepped out of his office, closing the door behind him. He nodded towards Potash, who excused herself to attend to matters at the agency. "Fine by me."

Ilias nodded, not finding it worth the pain to smile to him.

Lavar rubbed his hands, then led the way down the hallway. The hallways had a bit of a utilitarian feel to them. Mari peered eagerly into the windows they passed, likely looking for a lab. Ilias, while looking around, kept his eye on Lavar.

He didn't seem to show any signs of knowing Ilias. Was it for the benefit of Mari? Or solely to torment him? Lavar walked around, showing them the cafeteria and other offices, all with a small grin on his face. People greeted him in a friendly way. If he needed to get out, he wouldn't be able to rely on people here. He intended to get out ASAP.

Finally, Lavar got down to business, walking backwards with his hands spread in what was probably supposed to be a friendly gesture. "Welcome to Vindeem! Here, your background will be outshone by your current and future actions. We welcome diversity and those from all walks of life, provided they are competent and loyal."

"Mhm." Ilias hummed, not in a suspicious way, just distracted.

"Vindeem? Did you all just chain random letters together?" Mari asked skeptically.

"Of course not! You'd realize once you hear our motto: Vindicate and redeem."

"Ah-ha. I see." Mari still looked slightly skeptical, but shrugged and followed Lavar.

"Good. Here are our training rooms, and on the opposite side is the pool room. You will have access to both, although you'll need to reserve a time."

"So, much the same as at our previous agency," she noted. She glanced at Ilias again. He looked back at her. She raised an eyebrow, silently asking if everything was okay. One corner of his mouth turned down slightly. No, he wasn't.

"Our agency is similar to most other agencies, so you'll recognize a little bit here, a little there."

"Where are your labs?" Mari asked. Want to leave? she tapped against the side of her pants.

Yes. But not now. He tapped back as Lavar was talking about the labs that were at the other end of the building.

She narrowed her eyes briefly at him, then said to Lavar, "Wonderful. Not to be rude, but we have just recently found out that we're not going to die, and that kind of revelation needs to be processed. Is it alright if we take the tour and begin work later, perhaps in a few days?"

"I suppose. I'll make sure someone delivers crystals to your rooms. No one has came here in as bad shape as both of you." Lavar smiled and nodded.

Mari laughed shortly. "If that ain't the Darkness-touched truth. Thank you."

"It's not a problem." Lavar led them to a different hall, with doors on both sides, like a hotel. He handed them their keys and motioned to their doors. "Women are on the right, and men on the left. You have rooms right across from each other."

"Noted." Mari took her key and entered her room. Ilias entered his, making eye contact with Lavar as he was shutting the door. Lavar smiled. Once the door was shut, he looked through the peep hole in the door.

Lavar lingered there for a moment, then dropped the grin and strode away purposefully. Report to Ilias' master, he guessed. Ilias let out his breath, then looked around at his place. Similar to his old one. He of course, started checking for bugs and whatnot. He may not have trusted Potash and Mid in the beginning, he definitely didn't trust Lavar, and never would. He finished his search, and put everything back as it was.

He opened his door cautiously, and seeing no one, he went over and knocked on Mari's door.

After a moment, she opened it. "Squashed a bug. Not going to hold a funeral for it." Her room looked much the same as his in terms of layout.

"Ditto. Do I get to come in?"

"Hmm.... I'm considering charging an entry fee of one large pizza and a drink. But I'll make an exception, just this once." She opened the door wider. He quickly walked in.

As soon as Mari closed the door, she narrowed her eyes at him. "So. You don't like Lavar."

"No. I really don't." He shook his head.

"Any particular reason? I'll admit his clothing ensemble looked rather as if it were trying too hard..."

"When i was seven, one friend I made was called Romario at the time. Around the same age as me. Turns out he was looking for someone who would be fit to become an assassin. Particular enough?" He walked around her place, anxious. He should be sitting down and not moving so much, but he couldn't help it. He looked for bugs, knowing he wouldn't find any.

"So he recruited you." Mari stood by the wall, watching him.

"Well, more like told me we were going one place but we ended up in another."

Mari scowled. "He deceived you. That's awful."

"Yeah. He's also trained, but not by the same guy as me. He just sort of came over to my 'training'," He made air quotes with his fingers. "And that was essentially like a recess for him."

Mari looked like she'd start radiating a cruel, blinding light, like Lightness. "Just how many scum-of-the-planes did you get involved with, Ilias?"

"Lost count."

"So, want me to poison his coffee?"

"I'd prefer to be out and far away from here."

Mari nodded thoughtfully. "I'm sure we can escape once we're fully healed. The main problem will be making a living in a world that (a) hates us, (b) thinks we're dead, and (c) would try to kill us again the moment they find out we're not dead."

Ilias sighed. "Yeah, I've realized that. As far as I know, there's only two people who would know we're alive, but they're also sort of the ones who put us here."

"What about your parents? Or my father? I don't want to burden them with supporting us forever, but maybe just long enough for us to scrape together new identities..."

"My parents are in the spotlight, as for your father...." He hesitated.

"What about my father?"

"Do you have a picture? Or can you find one?"

She frowned briefly, but said, "He teaches literature at a university on the physical plane. You can look up Professor Vélez at Conurba University."

"Could you?" Ilias asked, still in motion.

"Sure." Mari pulled out a sunstone, typed for a moment, then displayed a hologram of her father's staff profile. His Master. This was the one thing he hated being right about the most.

In the hologram, Mari's father smiled at the camera, his dark hair a mess. He gave off a "nerdy professor that occasionally gives cool assignments" vibe.

Mari continued, "He's just a professor. Doesn't even know about my mother running an agency of assassins. Thinks I'm just a chemical engineer. Well-- used to. He'd have seen the trial by now, I suppose."

If she said more, Ilias didn't hear it. He just- wasn't functioning. He felt nauseated, and everything became blobs. He could feel every heartbeat pounding in his skull, and he stumbled over to the blob he was sure was a deep sink, and threw up stomach acid.

Mari was next to him, saying something, but the sounds didn't resolve into words. He tried to stay standing, but gravity was changing. He held onto the sink as his knees buckled, but wasn't strong enough to hold onto it as a dark void swallowed him.

The last thing he felt were arms around him, easing him gently to the floor.

TW: knife simile
Also: Undead corpse on mari's floor, very touching words, sobbing, a drop tower of emotions

Mari gently lowered Ilias's head to the floor, then grabbed a cushion from the couch and placed it under his head. Fainting? She didn't have any salts on her, but maybe he'd revive on his own...

She went over their conversation in her head. She hadn't made any jokes that were funny to the point of passing out, so... Focus, Mari, she chided herself. You can't use distractions to escape things you don't want to think about. The last thing they'd been talking about was Mari's father. He'd asked for a picture. Did they know each other-

Finally, it clicked. The only person she'd heard him mention that could cause a reaction like that would be... his master. Mari sank to the floor next to Ilias.

Oh, Lightness. Blazing Lightness. She stared at him for a moment, feeling as if gravity had flipped around her. Again, for the millionth time.

Her father? Her father had been the one to torture Ilias in the process of shaping him into a ruthless, highly effective assassin? Her father, the mousy professor who cooked dinner for her family and laughed at puns and dad jokes? The one who thought her mother worked a night shift as a museum security guard? How?

Mari knelt there until her knees protested. She went over every interaction she'd had with her father, trying to find hints that this other version of him had always been there. That time he'd joked about killing any boyfriend who didn't appreciate her enough. The times he'd come home late, talking about staying at work to grade papers.

But... still... didn't those all have easy explanations? He was just an overprotective, hardworking dad. Wasn't he?

Maybe... maybe Ilias had fainted from shock at seeing how much of a rat's nest her dad's hair was. The instant she thought that, Mari knew that wasn't true. But she could pretend, for now, just until Ilias woke up. Despite the feeling of reality shattering both around and inside her. Despite the cold certainty that her worst fears would be confirmed as soon as he spoke.

She waited and tried not to join Ilias in unconsciousness. After a couple more minutes, he started waking. He rolled onto his side, still looking nauseated. Mari handed him a trash bag she'd found in a cabinet earlier.

"While I know you're probably eager to get back at me for vomiting on you that first trip into the astral plane, throwing up in a trash bag would be more convenient for all parties involved."

"It would be more useful to protect my clothing." He croaked, clutching the bag.

She breathed an internal sigh of relief. At least he was still talking. "Yep, can't ruin your likely expensive clothing." She smiled slightly. She didn't want to know. She didn't. She didn't- "Is my father your master?" Mari blurted out.

He winced.

And that was all the answer she needed. The world fractured again.

Amidst her assumptions and worldview being upended, Mari tried to take a deep breath. "I... I don't even know what to say."

"Don't say anything. I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry? If anything, I should be. Oh, Lightness. All the pain I and my family have caused you..." She felt like there was a twisting knife in her stomach, stabbing at her along with sharp slivers of guilt. Mari struggled to breathe.

"What your father did isn't your fault. I shouldn't have asked you. But hey, now I can say I've had an entire family after me."

She exhaled an abrupt laugh. "Are you flattered at the attention?" The knife sunk in deeper. What was she doing, joking about all this when she and her family had ruined his life? If not for her father, he would be enjoying his life as a celebrity, free from, if not all the bad things of the world, at least the most dangerous ones.

"I haven't decided yet."

"You shouldn't be," she said quietly. "I know I'm not my father. But regardless, I've hurt you, and those close to me have as well. And just, knowing that my father could act so caring and kind around my family while tormenting you and whatever other assassins he trained? It turns my stomach. And- and I want to stop him, but I'm sorry, because I'll be too weak to kill him." One look in her father's eyes and she'd remember spending her childhood with him. Him patching up her scrapes and bruises, comforting her whenever she had a bad day, laughing and joking with her mother. Mari wouldn't be able to force herself to think logically.

"It was just me. He's also the worst of the worst, and it's tradition that he chooses one, only one to train. You don't have to kill him, but you are not weak. You've done things no one else has." He spoke softly, looking at her in the eyes.

She met his gaze with difficulty. "Yes, well, so have you. I just..." Mari took a deep breath. "I'll do what I can to fix this. It's the least I can do. Are you still in danger from my fath-" She couldn't. "-your master?"

"Always. There's no fixing it. Just gaining vengeance."

Emotions churned in Mari like currents of hot and cold in the astral plane. A tiny part of her clung to the foolish hope that this was all merely a misunderstanding, but the rest of her was coming to terms with reality.

He continued talking. "I may have done things no one else has, but you've done things I can't do at all. You've given me true friendship, given me a better meaning to the word trust, and given me the experience to feel love. Everything you've given is priceless. It outweighs my lifetime of pain by a very long shot. I'd go through all of it again."

And he smiled. Oh, Darkness, he smiled.

Mari sobbed. How was it that, of all the possibilities across the planes and time itself, they had met? And how, regardless of all the pain they had suffered and circumstances they'd lived through, she wouldn't change a thing?

And as she sobbed, he sat up, and hugged her. She held on as if he was the one thing connecting her to solid ground in the middle of an astralstorm.

Finally, her tears stopped, and she pulled back to look at him solemnly. "I would as well. And, Ilias Ravioli, I swear to you that I will do everything in my power to protect you from further harm. If I cannot, I swear I will at least be there, right beside you."

"No dying." He whispered.

She smiled. "No dying," Mari echoed. He gave her a broken smile as a tear rolled down his cheek, and Mari wiped it away.

They hugged each other until their tears faded to silence. Then they were interrupted by a knock.

Mari reluctantly extricated herself from the hug, wiped her eyes again, and called, "Who is it?"

"Mr. Lavar said you needed some crystals?"

She stood up. "Right. Thank you." Mari opened the door a crack, accepted the crystals, then closed the door again. She could probably explain away the tear stains as being from tears of relief at not being dead.

She laid the crystals on the floor in front of Ilias. "Looks like it's some rose quartz for healing."

"Let's move to the couch yeah? I can't feel my butt." He got up, stumbling a bit.

She laughed, and slowly, the shattered pieces of her world fit together again. "Good idea." Mari handed him a couple crystals, then placed the others next to herself as she took a seat on the couch. She felt the burns from being electrocuted in the vents continue to heal. They'd been mostly healed by the time of the trial, but not completely.

Light snoring came from her left. Ilias had miraculously fallen asleep. She glanced at him fondly, then picked up an emergency exit floor plan and a brochure about the agency from the table. Might as well start planning their escape.

(1354 words)

TW: Existence separation

Potash was working through the mountains of paperwork that had yet to shrink when her sunstone went off. The contact was Lavar. Already? This couldn't be good. She answered it.

"You wouldn't have seen Ilias or Mari again after dropping them off, by any chance?" he said smoothly.

"No, why?"

A tinge of annoyance entered his voice, though it was covered by layers of politeness. "Hmm. Well, they appear to have strolled right out of here, wearing disguises meant to be deployed in the field. I was wondering if you knew anything about that."

"That is not my doing. They're under your jurisdiction, and I would not undermine you in such a way."

"Of course. My apologies if I have offended you, Ikrrr Potash."

"I'll contact you if I see them Director Lavar. Have a good day."

"You as well." He hung up. And that's when there was a knock outside her door.

She swam her way through the ocean of paperwork and peeked through the peephole. Nothing. Frowning, she cracked open the door and glanced down the hallway.

Ilias and Mari were crouched to her left, posing like the Thinker, with their heads on their hands and thoughtful expressions on their faces. They remained motionless for a moment. Potash simply stared at them. Ilias got up and slipped into her paper filled office, Mari right behind him.

"What in the planes was that?" Potash asked, baffled.

"An experiment in artistry," Mari said airily. "You could really use a lifeboat in here, Potash. Or at least a paper shredder."

Potash grunted. "Lavar asked about you two."

"Don't tell him we're here." Ilias quickly replied, his eyes holding urgency as he took a step back towards the wall.

Potash pressed her lips together. "I stated that I would contact him if I saw you." She hesitated, then picked up a piece of paper, folded it, and wrapped it around her head as a blindfold. "But now I don't. What I saw in the hallway must clearly have been a hallucination. I mean, dead infamous assassins imitating a famous statue? Seriously."

"Yes, definitely. This hallucination would beg you to kill it rather than call Lavar. Well, it would die anyways, but one would be much better than the other."

Potash sat down. "Explain."

Ilias sighed. "There was a boy assigned to befriend other kids, and find the ideal candidate to be trained to become an assassin. You can guess who that boy was, and who the candidate was."

"Ah. And now he's been tasked with killing you?"

"Yes. In the worst way possible, most likely."

"It is unfortunate that I wasn't made aware of this earlier. Now you're under a different jurisdiction... I'll do what I can, but it may not be enough."

"Well, I didn't know until I saw him, fully aware I was not going to be dying. And well, whatever jurisdiction we're under, it really won't do anything."

Potash frowned. This was beginning to appear to be a problem of greater scope than she could handle alone. "I see. Let me get Director Mid." She lifted the blindfold to make a brief call.

Purple?

Green. Potash sighed. You are officially invited to the Ocean of Paperwork. Please come at your earliest convenience.

Sounds better than the sea of paperwork.

I suspect it'll keep expanding. When can you be here?

Now.

Good. See you soon. She disconnected, then placed the blindfold over her eyes again and settled down to wait. The door opened, and shut.

"What's u-" Mid stopped mid sentence.

"Hey, Mid! Cool hat," Mari said. "I like the way the grass seems to be growing out of it."

"Well, thank you, I guess. Why are you here?"

"There's a director in the other agency that wants me dead, and I've got a long past with him, alright?" Ilias replied.

"Challenge him to a duel of wit and insults. Loser has to die of shame or live a life of only eating the blandest of foods." From the sound of his footsteps, Mid was strolling across the ceiling.

"He already eats that."

"Oh. Yarn it."

Potash heaved another sigh. "I'll bring this up to the higher-ups. Directors shouldn't want to kill their employees. It's practically the definition of hostile relationships in the workplace, plus it's very distracting and not conducive to the efficient achievement of objectives."

"Good luck getting that solved that way in a few days."

"I know. We'll be lucky if it's a few months."

"And either he or I will be dead by then."

"I'll bring tacos to the funeral," Mid commented.

"Thanks."

"I would advise against the killing of anyone within the agency. The most I can help you with is slowing down Lavar in tracking you down."

"And then what? Let him live to continue hunting us?"

"...It would go against my morals to actively encourage this without a proper investigation, but I can turn a blind eye," Potash said reluctantly. Darkness, what was she doing? Was bias clouding her judgement? But if Lavar was still recruiting assassins, that made him a threat to the agencies. She needed more information.

"We did keep you from being executed, so do we get some stories?" Mid asked.

"Full version or condensed summary?" Mari said.

"Full version." Of course, just to stay away from the paperwork. His anyways.

"Well..." Mari took a deep breath. "Many things happened. Some lowlights: I may or may not have been tempted to combust of embarrassment in front of the car driver, which turned out to be Lavar, which makes me want to combust of rage now. And I had quite a disturbing revelation about my family that I don't feel quite like recounting right now."

"That's it?"

"I'm sure Ilias can share more."

"About?" Ilias asked.

"Whatever I don't want to talk about but you do." There was a pause that might have been Mari shrugging.

"Nothing there."

"Okay, that's the full version then."

"I feel cheated," Potash stated.

"Hey, the condensed summary was just going to be, 'We're alive.' Be grateful," Mari said, a smirk in her voice. Ilias laughed.

Potash rolled her eyes, though no one could see it under her blindfold. "Fine. For now, I can provide new identities so you two don't get yourselves killed. I'll look into this in the meantime."

"Us, get ourselves killed?" Ilias asked, sounding like he had a grin on his face.

"Yes. Quite a common thing you two tend to do. Like an every Tuesday morning routine kind of thing."

"That's other people trying to kill us. Us getting ourselves killed is like an 8th day in the week."

Potash dug through a drawer and pulled out two IDs and chunks of smoky quartz that would provide some measure of disguise. It was experimental, but should work decently enough, if one didn't look too closely. "I'm not in the mood for an argument right now. The disguises should last two weeks. Now shoo, I've got paperwork to do."

"Thank you, Potash."

"Oh, wait. One last thing..."

"What? Haven't found our masks yet?"

"No, we haven't."

"Need help?"

"That would be appreciated," Potash conceded.

"Alright come on, learn some assassin knowledge." The door opened.

Potash gave up on her blindfold, dropped it on her desk, and followed. "After the masks, I would like to discuss an idea..."



Tory Lavar paced in his office. It was a simple job, kill the injured Skater. Crystals would take a month to mostly heal him. It would have been easy to get him away from his friend, since they were under his jurisdiction. But no, people couldn't keep an eye on them and they just walked right out the door.

This made his job harder, but much more fun. This was a hunt now. It had been a long time without one. Of course, it was Skater's mentor that always gave the fun assignments. His made him accustomed to bland food, trained him with weapons, and sent him on quick missions no one else wanted to do. Like finding the infamous Painter a successor. He hadn't chosen that celebrity because he saw him fit. He chose him out of spite. Tory found him insufferable, while Tory could have been the perfect candidate. The best of the best. But no, Painter did not kill that boy as Tory wish he would have.

Instead, he made Tory help him shatter, squish, and reshape that bug on the bottom of Darkness' shoe. Years of his master getting paid to give Tory like a piece of equipment to shape someone who would become a useless assassin anyways. Oh, how he'd rejoice as he killed Skater.

He sat down at his desk, and got to watching the cameras. All of them, of his agency, and the rock that Ikrrr Potash was stationed on. People were unreliable, so of course he wasn't going to trust her word, no matter how dedicated she was to her job. Even the most sturdy tree will bend over time.

The sunstone connected to Potash went off.

"Skater and Veilnom dropped by for a visit," she reported. "Mentioned they were heading to Garnet-13 to lay low for a while."

"Alright thank you." He replied shortly.

"Keep me updated, will you? They were under my charge previously."

"As you wish Ikrrr Potash. Have a good day." He hung up. Good. He'd check that out. Which meant packing in as many weapons as he could in his clothes without them being particularly noticable.

Time to begin the hunt.



It would make sense why Skater would return to here to hide. No one else visits the place anyways, which how old and broken it looks. It was practically uninhabited even before the murder of Dr. Ghee, which ensured that everyone else would clear out.

A pomegranite tree drooped to the left. The building in front of Tory looked to be on the brink of collapsing.The ground was melted. This looked about as bad as Tory had always thought it would look.

Now then. Where was Skater? He should know, after all he helped build that boy.

The response to his internal question came in the form of something whizzing to the ground in front of him. Tory jumped back just before it hit the ground and exploded, chunks of the melted metal flying into the air.

Tory whipped out a weapon, narrowed his eyes, and squinted in the direction the explosive had come from. No one. They had already moved. Lightness.

He prowled towards the buildings he thought they might be on. If they were perched there, they'd have a difficult time getting a good angle at him. Of course, they were moving... He had to get higher. He spotted a good, tall building and headed for it stealthily.

Another explosion tore through the air next to him. Tory sprinted inside and took the stairs two at a time, jumping over a section that had crumbled. He emerged onto the rooftop. They weren't there, good. He crawled to the edge, and peeked over the rooftops.

Nothing moved on the streets below. He scanned the other rooftops, shifting to the side.

And then vines exploded from the edge, wrapping around his arms and legs. Then they hardened, keeping him in place. Tory cursed and tried to get his arm at the right angle to slice through the vines, but the vines constricted around him.

Skater walked on the wall of the building, and onto the roof. He stopped in front of Tory, grey eyes watching him from behind the mask. Behind him, Veilnom lurked at the far end of the roof.

"Teaming with a competitor? I thought we taught you better." Tory snarled, grinning madly. "Others are just liabilities." Lightness-touched Fools, all of them.

"I wasn't taught." Skater struck with a knife.

Tory twisted to the side, letting Skater's knife slice through the vines around his right arm before Skater had time to change the trajectory. His grin widened. With one arm free, he leaped across the roof, other cut bits of vine dropping behind him. A small vial flew in the air towards him. Easy trajectory change with a back-handed swat, and he took Veilnom by neck as he jumped.

From her wide eyes, he supposed she hadn't expected him to be this fast. True, he had been concealing his maximum speed when first scoping out the area. But really, did no one recognize his competence? Tsk. They would now.

Next to Tory, the contents of the vial expanded in a sticky mass of strings that landed across Skater's right side, covering his shoulder and upper arm. Tory's aim hadn't been perfect, but it should be enough to handicap Skater. In his surprise, he wasn't able to stabilize against the force of the throw, and he fell over the edge of the building. Tory landed on another building, Veilnom still in his grasp. She struggled, trying to duck out from his chokehold, but her efforts were futile. What a poor choice of company Skater had. Well, that would be his company in Lightness' realm.

She tried smashing another vial into his arm, but Tory knocked it away again. It burst against the ground, which immediately started to sizzle.

"Oooh, acid!" He laughed. "You should know that wouldn't bother me much. Just like our friend. Let's go see how he is, shall we?" She growled.

He dragged her over to the edge, and peeked over the edge. Skater was on the other wall, running up. The sticky stuff was still on his arm. How stubborn, he couldn't just hit the ground. Tory watched at he leaped to the building Tory was standing on, but only made it to the wall, 2 floors down. As for Veilnom in his grasp, he kept her conscious. She continued to struggle, but clearly hadn't had the same quality of training as he had. Seemed more like a wimpy scientist than a trained assassin.

He stepped back from the edge, pulling Veilnom in front of him to be a fleshy shield. In his other hand, he had a knife and pointed it towards her as Skater got onto the roof.

"Seriously? Threatening the life of an innocent to get at your target? What a cliche villain move," she muttered.

"Well it does work. Our friend hasn't attacked, has he?"

"You get negative ten points for lack of style, though."

"No style hm? Why don't I add a touch of my own then?" He grinned at Skater, and showed the knife to him. "This knife is wired with a tourmaline, known for it's ability to affect something's existence. Today, you'll get a demonstration. Actually, you've already had it but here's how it looks to the audience."

Hm.... Where should he strike? The face, a limb... a limb would be better. Start small first, but gradually increase until he backs down. He started with her arm, just a shallow cut. She stiffened, but didn't scream. She'd likely be feeling a stretching sensation as her arm had its existence split between the physical and astral planes. The more cuts, the worse it would be. Skater took a step forward, knife in left hand.

"Ah-ahhhhhh!" Tory sang as he flicked the knife at her other arm. "If you don't surrender yourself weaponless, I'll keep doing it."

Veilnom stifled a gasp. She was feeling it now, eh? He hadn't tested it on himself, but based on the final gasps of his previous victims, he knew she'd feel herself getting pulled further and further apart, like standing with her feet on opposite sides of a chasm that was inexorably growing wider. Skater growled audibly.

Tory grinned, imagining how he'd enjoy finishing off the two of them. And then she spat in his face.

None of his victims had done that before. Tory sputtered for a moment, blinded by the saliva dripping over his eyes. He wiped it away, and the first thing he noticed, was that Skater was gone.

"Perhaps it wasn't a bad idea for you to have a sidekick! Very loyal, very disposable when you need to get away like a coward!" Tory yelled, looking around.

Veilnom scoffed. "Looks like someone's a little lonely."

"Yes. You." He put the knifetip on her cheek, right where the cheekbone would be. He didn't draw blood yet. Slowly, without moving her face much, her lips curved into a small smile.

"Good. A smile is good." He flicked his blade. Oh, the agony she must feel! Currently, her existence would be being pulled between two planes, like a rubber band being stretched until it snapped.

He didn't know what happened first: his knife, or the one in his back. He fell, the feeling leaving his legs. As he fell, he twisted and slashed his knife in the direction of his attacker. He missed. Not only had he missed, he had let go of Veilnom. Skater crouched at his feet.

"You don't deserve mercy." He said with a soul penetrating gaze.

"Fine! You're deserving of your position. Are you happy?" Tory snarled. Oh Darkness, his legs.

"No."

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Veilnom floating out from behind him. She was staring at her arms, which were becoming rather transparent. She fumbled for a vial in her pockets, but her fingers slipped right through.

Skater stomped on his arm, and pried the knife from his hand as Tory yelled out in agony. He stepped off, and inspected the knife. "Skater died already. I'm just a man wearing his mask."

With that he drove the knife into Tory's right leg and walked off. Tory couldn't feel it, but he knew that was a well placed hit, right in the artery. He'd be dead in a minute. So he looked forward, at the vastness of the astral plane. This wasn't a bad way to die. It was beautiful. And then he was gone.

Mari did not particularly enjoy being split between two planes. It was as if one version of her was attempting to extricate itself from another version of her, yet she had no idea which version was really her. Her arms were pretty much incorporeal now, simply faint suggestions of shapes. At least she wasn't falling through the ground.

She watched grimly as Lavar bled out. That weapon... where had he acquired it from? Her thoughts fuzzed for a moment, then she pulled herself together. "You okay?" she asked Ilias.

"Yeah. I'd ask you, but I'm quite sure I know that answer." He replied, cutting off the goo. Once Lavar was gone Ilias had taken the mask off.

"Yes. I think I'd rather prefer not feeling like a strand of spaghetti being stretched out. But I'm not dead, which is always a plus." She winced, but the pain was less agonizing now, and seemed to be getting better.

"A very good one. Let's get back, shall we?" He went back to Lavar's corpse, and took the glove off of his corpse. Then put it on his own hand.

"Right." Mari drifted towards him. Her arms were still translucent. She sincerely hoped there wasn't a pair of arms floating around the physical plane, freaking people out. She didn't think that was how it worked, but to be honest, she didn't know anything about how splitting one's existence worked, so she couldn't say. He held his gloved hand out to her. She took it, her hand not sinking through the special material. He started walking, pulling her along as if she was a balloon. In his other hand he carried his mask so that it could be smelted in the agency.

"So, think we're still employed at Lavar's agency?" she asked. Her voice sounded vaguely wavery to her.

"Hope not." He replied. "I'll fight both Mid and Potash to stay in their agency."

Mari laughed. "That sounds counterintuitive. Wouldn't bribing them with coffee work better? Although Potash might enjoy a fight, actually."

"It'll stop her from destroying at least 11 punching bags."

"So noble of you to think of the poor punching bags." Mari felt herself becoming slightly more solid.

"I wasn't really thinking of them. I was thinking about the agencies bank account." They approached the company car that Lavar had used.

"Even more noble of you. Thinking of donating to the funds from your inherited wealth as well?" Mari reached for a vial, grumbled as her fingers passed through it, then exerted her willpower to solidify her fingers for long enough to drip some acid on the lock and open the door.

"What wealth? Technically I'm dead. That money went to Sammy."

She walked around the car, struggled to pull open the door, then slid into the passenger seat. "Ah. I don't suppose we can pretend to be ghosts and ask him to hide the money where we can use it... hang on. Do I still look translucent?" She still felt the stretching sensation. Mari suppressed the little part of her that was panicking about it possibly being permanent. It was getting better, wasn't it?

"A bit. You should be better once we get back. I think."

"You think," Mari deadpanned.

"Well, I've forgotten the difference of recovery time. But it's not permanent."

Mari breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you." She meant it. The little panicky part of her calmed down and started sipping some tea. "Well, now that we've established it isn't permanent... I feel like I should use this to pull some pranks before it wears off. Or conduct some experiments on the exact relationship between the planes..."

Ilias winced, very subtle, but noticable to Mari.

"What is it?"

"I'm keeping the knife away from you."

She gaped at him. "Surely you aren't implying I'd stab myself in the name of science... Because if you were..." Mari thought for a moment. "You'd be absolutely correct." It really was fascinating. Was there some kind of liminal space between the planes? Could it be visited? Where had the knife come from and who had made it? Time had always been inconsistent between the planes. Could the knife perhaps lead to some answers as to why?

"Exactly. I'd prefer you don't stab yourself. One, you'd be bleeding which is hard to give medical attention when no one can touch you. Two, is it really worth feeling yourself be stretched like raw noodles, just knowing that you could snap at any moment so you refuse to move, the one thing you know you can do in a haze of pain?"

"Uno, there is that glove you stole from a dead man. Dos, it depends on the quality of the information I gain from the experiment." She looked at him, then sighed. "Kidding. Mostly. I'll try not to stab myself."

"Yes, because you can absolutely heal people with a single hand." He took his eyes off of his driving. "You better not stab yourself. If anyone, it's me."

"Why you?" she asked suspiciously. Mari was about to say she'd never stab him, but realized she'd done worse, and was likely to in the future if it was part of saving his life. Darkness, she sincerely hoped it wouldn't come to that again.

"Because I have a higher pain tolerance than anyone else in the plane." He tapped on the steering wheel with a thumbnail.

She paused. "Being able to handle something doesn't mean that you should have to."

"Science doesn't mean you should either."

"...Fine. I was planning to test it on inanimate objects first anyways, and to see if we could find some kind of faster cure before using it on people... In any case, I won't be stabbing you voluntarily from now on."

"It doesn't work on inanimate things. It needs to be living."

"Interesting." What exactly was the difference? How did the knife identify the spark of life? "Do you know where it came from?"

"Watched it get made. My master showed him how to make it."

Mari felt like she'd been grabbed in a chokehold again. "...My father," she said quietly.

He winced, thumbnail digging into the steering wheel. "... Yeah."

Mari was silent for a minute. She still couldn't come to terms with that. Or, more accurately, she didn't want to. But truths had a funny way of knocking persistently at the walls of the boxes you put them in until you let them out again. "Well. I... We'll need to confront him eventually." She stared out the window and up at the dimly-lit sky of the astral plane. "I just..." Her voice grew smaller. "Not now. The research can wait."

Ilias was silent, but put a hand on her shoulder.

She smiled slightly at him, but nudged his hand back to the wheel. "No distracted driving, please. I don't fancy becoming an actual ghost."

He smiled, but it cracked and wavered. "Hey, I can drive with one hand. I just can't attend to a stab wound with a single hand, especially when you're a ghost."

That got a laugh out of Mari. "Apologies for the inconvenience. I'll submit my request to cease becoming a ghost to whatever being controls these things, though I'm afraid it'll take quite a few business days at this rate." She could kind of feel her arms now, and the wounds were starting to hurt. They were shallow cuts, at least. Hopefully a few crystals would fix it up.

They pulled into the garage and parked. Potash and Mid were already there. Ilias hopped out. Mari started humming the Ghostbusters theme song. Her forearm passed through the door accidentally, and Potash leaped back in shock.

"I'm only part-ghost, don't worry," Mari said as she walked up to them. "It's not contagious." She was pretty sure the blood from the cut on her face had dried now, making her look like some kind of Halloween creature. Oh well. She was just celebrating early, she supposed.

"Try not to enhance knives, you will experience what raw noodles feel when they're stretched out thin."

"On the dark side, it might help you gain empathy for noodles, and is a fascinating experience to be studied. On the light, it is rather uncomfortable." Mari grimaced as her arms wavered more severely for a moment, then snapped back into place on the astral plane. Her face fuzzed and re-formed.

Ilias shuddered. "Nope. I'll stick with being persuaded to join the dark side with pop-tarts."

"A wise choice," Mari agreed.

"You two have given me the most bizzare moments in my life." Mid said.

"Why thank you. It is a true honor." Mari curtseyed.

"Not a problem. I could use a nap. We have rooms here?"

"Yes. Don't tell me what happened to Lavar. We are simply providing a safe place after the stress of your trial. If we were to receive news of something having happened to Lavar... We would, of course, welcome you back to this agency rather than leave you in the chaos of both a new agency and a search for a new director."

Ilias sighed in relief. "Thanks Potash."

She nodded sharply, then led the way inside.

"What was your reasons though? You said you couldn't find peace in us being executed. We did kill people you know, mostly me." Ilias asked. "And well, other people."

Potash stopped for a moment, then kept walking. "I'm not entirely certain myself. I'll have to spend some time reflecting on it and provide you with a five-paragraph essay once I figure it out."

"Okay." He raised an eyebrow.

"Perhaps seven paragraphs, if I discover other points to expand upon." Potash stopped in front of a pair of doors. "Here are your rooms. I trust you haven't forgotten where the dining hall, training rooms, etcetera are?"

"No ma'am." Ilias replied, with a funny accent.Then got curious. "Does Sammy or my parents know-?"

"No. Currently, the rest of the planes believe you two are dead."

"What if he sees me in the halls or something?"

"That's what the smoky quartz is for. But you two will be out on missions most of the time, dealing with various revolutionary groups, so the chances of running into Sammy should be low."

"Right." He nodded.

Potash stared at them for a moment. "I was considering asking you two if you'd be ready to accept an assignment tomorrow, but it looks like you are in need of medical attention."

"We look that bad?" Ilias looked to Mari.

She shrugged. Her left arm seemed to be on the verge of disintegrating for a moment, and then she shook it off. "I'm fine. A little stretched, maybe, and could use some band-aids. But it really doesn't hurt as much as that time I cracked a few ribs, and it's no worse than the time I was shoved into a freezer."

"We do look that bad." Ilias decided.

"...Maybe," Mari conceded.

Potash sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I'll get you some crystals. Not sure what to do about Mari's... lack of corporeality situation... Mid? Any thoughts?"

"i've never seen it before." Mid posed like the Thinker.

Give them the knife? Ilias tapped.

Mari stared at Mid for a second, then tapped, Show them.

Ilias pulled the knife out, and held it up for them to see.

Potash frowned at it. "Nothing I've seen before." She hesitated. "If it's absolutely necessary... there is one person I know who studies weapons of all sorts."

"Who?" Ilias demanded.

"She's not someone I enjoy contacting. This is only a last resort." Potash grimaced.

"Who?" Mari echoed Ilias. "Who?"

Mid hooted in an eerily accurate imitation of an owl.

"Arare Churro."

Mari nearly sank through the floor in shock. "Churro? As in head of even the ruling families Churro? As in highly elite, powerful, not-to-be-crossed Churro?"

Potash nodded grimly.

Ilias made a small sigh, one of relief. Curious. Had he expected the contact to be his master, or someone else he knew?

Mari smiled at Potash and said, "I think it's getting better. If we need to, maybe we can find a way to contact her without getting you involved, yeah?" Potash was clearly uncomfortable around the topic of Arare Churro. But now that they had a name, they could work on a plan, at least.

Mid looked at Potash. He knew something they didn't. "We would do that."

Potash nodded at them, seeming to relax slightly. "Now, I'll get you those crystals, and we can work on a schedule for the next few weeks."

All three of them nodded simultaneously. Potash walked off towards the med center, and Mari turned to Mid. "So. What's up between Potash and Arare?"

"Something I refuse to talk about. If Potash wants you to know, she'll let you know."

Mari nodded. That was fair enough. "Anything we missed while we were gone?"

"Nothing much. Just the government telling everyone that you are indeed dead."

"Perfect." That did mean they might need to change their methods so as not to be recognized, but hopefully they wouldn't be hunted anymore. Though she did doubt that Ilias's master would give up so easily...

"Right, just don't get caught for the rest of our lives."

"Piece of brownie. Not quite a piece of cake, but not a piece of toffee either," Mari mused. Well, they'd get through it. One day at a time.

(2236 words)

Klanfvaoir Velez was deeply disappointed. He looked down at the corpse of a fellow assassin's student. Tory Lavar, if he remembered correctly. Klanfvaoir sighed and adjusted his wire-rimmed glasses. What a waste. No marking, but obviously done by his student, Skater. Who also recently has gone rogue. Non-assassin actions.

Everything about this situation was simply a deep disappointment, but Klanfvaoir wasn't one to sit around and mope. He turned on his heel and left the corpse. Let the authorities try to figure out what happened while he tracked down the real killer. Ilias Ravioli was like a patch of mold that had been left to fester for far too long. It was time to ensure his demise.

As for his daughter... yet another disappointment. He'd had high hopes for her, trusting in his spouse to train her, and yet she'd been caught. His sources had investigated and informed him that she'd been working with a government agency as well, with very few signs of it being merely a facade, which was another concern. Perhaps it would be a good idea to remind her of her chosen course in life. He would also need a new successor...

It was truly such a pity that it all had had to come to this.

Sammy sat in the living room of his parent's mansion with well, his parents. Oliver was uncharacteristically solemn as he sat on the couch. He slumped against Maho, staring at the wall. They had tried making pasta as a distraction, but even his father left it untouched.

"So," Oliver whispered. "Do we hold a funeral?"

"It would be just us three, rusty wire." Maho replied.

The familiar nickname nudged a small smile out of him, but it faded as he said, "Still. To honor his... his life, and memory." Oliver took a deep breath and sat up a little straighter. "There's no body, but I doubt they would leave the job unfinished. We do have photographs of Ilias, though not many recent ones, unless you count ones from magazines."

Sammy nodded. "I wish I could have done more for him."

"Me too." Oliver seemed to be on the verge of tears again.

Maho furiously wiped her tears away. "Do you remember when he put your pasta in a taco shell? Ate it just like that."

"Right! I was horrified at first, but honestly, it wasn't bad... And then he added sriracha sauce and completely ruined it." Oliver laughed brokenly.

"Even I was horrified." Maho laughed. Sammy laughed weakly with them.

"And then his arguments... of course, he was on the right side with hot dogs being squaricanized tacos..."

"No, no he was not." She gave Oliver a pointed look. "I may be grieving but I am not agreeing to that."

"Hey, don't disrespect the dead. At least give Ilias the satisfaction of saying 'I told you so' from the grave, yeah?"

"Absolutely not. He should be arguing and living. He doesn't get that satisfaction for dying on us."

"Oh, so we're dragging him back from Loht? Staging a jailbreak from death? A deathbreak?"

"If we could I would."

"When you set your mind to something, I feel sorry for anyone or anything that tries to stand in your way. I think even Death would feel some tremors of fright," Oliver remarked. He smiled slightly, though the pain and grief were still evident in his eyes.

Maho smiled back. Sammy nodded. "I'd help."

"Great! A family quest!" Oliver kept a smile on for another moment, then dropped it again. "I know we hardly saw him these last years, but... I miss him." He turned to Sammy. "Sammy, please don't disappear on us again."

"I won't." He took his father's hands into his own. Oliver nodded. "Never again."

Maho put her own hands, which compared to Sammy and Oliver were small, on top of theirs. Then Oliver started full-on sobbing and pulled them in for a hug. Maho squeaked, but hugged him back, and Sammy joined as well, also sobbing.

They stayed like that for a while, and then Oliver pulled back slightly and said, "Ilias would want us to keep going." He wiped away a tear.

Sammy nodded, gathering his emotions up.

"What about his friend, Mari?" Maho asked. "If we're holding an honorary one for Ilias we can hold one for her too."

"Yes. Sadly, she did not have the right food opinions, but... it seemed like she was there for him when we weren't. I appreciate that."

"I approve of her opinions in food." Maho replied. Sammy let out a sound that was in between a sob and a laugh. Even in the middle of mourning they could be arguing about people's food opinions.

Oliver smiled sadly. "I'll start looking into funeral planning. I doubt funeral planners would help with a funeral for assassins, so we'll have to do it ourselves."

"News travels quickly, and we're already looked down upon in terms of just being parents to an assassin. But who cares what the media thinks? We might be able to get out of the spotlight..." Maho looked to Sammy.

Sammy bit his lip for a moment. "It only worked for me because I was never truly in the spotlight. The media was happy to ignore me as long as it had you three to focus on. And with this added drama, I suspect you two will be pestered by the public eye for a while yet."

"The thing about the media, is that they get bored with a subject very, very quickly."

Sammy shrugged. "Maybe. We can lay low for a bit and see, I guess."

Maho nodded.

"Sounds like a plan." Oliver stood up slowly. "Maybe I'll try making squid ink pasta. If I'm in mourning, my pasta should be too."

Maho hummed. "That sounds good."

Potash did not want to see Arare Churro again. Unfortunately, Arare's conditions for analyzing the weapon involved Potash coming in-person. And so Potash smoothed her hair into a bun, adjusted her suit, and drove herself, Mid, and Mari and Ilias (disguised as generic scientists) to Arare Churro's residence.

It was a power-flaunting behemoth of a building. The mansion was shaped vaguely like a star with the bottom chopped off, with four wings shooting off towards the sky. The dim light of the asteric plane glinted off of its crystalline material. It was an architectural masterpiece. And Potash despised it.

The four of them stood at the steps. "So," Mari remarked, "if I ever try to design a home in the future, do warn me if it begins to look like a dying starfish, like this one."

"If it's our home, definitely."

Mari blinked, then laughed, blushing slightly.

Potash raised an eyebrow as she looked between the two of them. They seemed closer now. Normally she would've picked up on that earlier, but she'd been distracted.

"As for if it's just yours, probably not. If it's mine, most definitely." Ilias added.

Mari made a face. "Well, thanks. I'll be sure to make your house look like an extra dead starfish, then. One that ate something poisonous and is now the opposite of graceful in death."

"Then it would look very unique! No one would even be able to tell it looks like a dead starfish!" Ilias replied gleefully.

"...Yeah, knowing some rich people, they'd just think it was some kind of abstract art and make it a trend," Mari grumbled.

"Of course, and they can influence other people to believe the same."

Mari made another face, and Potash coughed gently to get them back on track.

A butler stood by the metal doors. That man was still alive? She'd remembered Butler Limes when she was much younger. He was old then. He gazed down at them solemnly, then gestured in a formal display of welcome and began to open the doors.

Potash took a deep breath, adjusted her suit again, then led the way inside. The inside was just as extravagant as the outside. The four of them and the butler passed portraits on the walls and gilded chairs and potted plants arranged in tasteful corners. Somehow, the place contained even more barely-subdued extravagance than Potash remembered.

Finally, they approached a set of double doors. The butler opened them.

"Welcome," Arare Churro said. Her curls of hair were arranged on her shoulders artfully, and her back was ramrod straight as she sat on a chair that looked more like a throne.

Ilias waved, acting out a very fascinated scientist role very well. Mari smiled and lifted her borrowed glasses.

Potash gritted her teeth. "Hello, Arare."

Arare stared at her for a few seconds. "Hello, Emily."

Every moment she spent here hurt. "Call me Ikrrr Potash, or Potash if you must." Potash approached Arare's throne and held out the dagger. "What do you know about this weapon?"

"Very well Ikrrr Potash." She took the dagger, and inspected it.

Behind them, the butler subtly kept an eye on them. As if they'd try to harm Arare. Potash might be on the worst of terms with her right now, but she'd never murder someone. Unless it was in self-defense. ...Which it might come to. Hm.

"This is enhanced with tourmaline. It's known for separating, and uniting. However this... this is wired to essentially split someone between planes. Wired with silver, a strong metal. This splits them between the asteric plane and... odd." Arare frowned.

"What is it?" Mari asked. Her arms were hidden by the lab coat she was wearing, and her face had stopped turning translucent. She'd mentioned still feeling the stretching sensation, however.

"It doesn't connect to the physical plane. Another plane?" Arare looked up sharply. "Where did you get this?"

"That's none of your concern," Potash said brusquely. "Thank you for the analysis. Are you able to determine what kind of plane it might connect to?" She'd never heard of another plane other than the physical and asteric planes. But... the universe was full of surprises.

She shook her head. "No. But this knife isn't new. It's been used many times, with this stone wired into it. As for how many have been subjected to it, I have no idea. But I pity them."

"Interesting." What had happened to the other victims?

"Even if a person recovers after that, if injured again by the knife their previous injuries with the knife would also react to that. Let's say they're allowed to recover for a few days. If cut again, even shallowly, those days of recovery would be undone. A knife like this should remain hidden from the public."

Potash grimaced. They'd have to keep it away from Mari, then. "Understood. We'll take care of it." She held her hand out for the dagger.

"Can you and your agency be trusted with such a weapon? You've been infiltrated by 2 parties, assassins and some ridiculous revolutionary group." Arare did not give back the knife.

How did Arare always know the exact words that would get under Potash's skin? She tried her best not to scowl. She probably failed. "Do you think you're any better equipped? We've learned from those incidents. Our security system caught the assassins the second time they tried to escape. Further improvements are in progress."

"In progress, not finished. I am better equipped, actually."

"How?" Potash demanded. Oh, she really wanted a punching bag right now.

"We have proper vaults, with an effective security system that not a single person has gotten by. Not even assassins. You could use those two that your system caught. Oh wait, they're dead. Nevermind,"

Potash arched an eyebrow. "Do tell. How many attempts have there been to breach your vaults? Our agency is a larger target, and we have rebuffed the great majority of attempted attacks. Dagger, please." She held out her hand again.

"Very well Ikrrr Potash. I'll enjoy when I can say 'I told you so'." Arare handed back the dagger, point first.

Potash reached past the point and grabbed the hilt. "Thank you," she said coldly.

"My pleasure." Arare gave her a look just as cold. She said that as if she was imagining how she would tear Potash's heart out. That's how it felt. Well, the feeling was mutual.

Potash spun on her heel and stalked out of the room. The others followed. Once they were in the vehicle and driving off, Ilias spoke. "Okay. That felt very personal."

"That's why I wanted to avoid coming here," Potash growled. "She probably wanted me to come just to throw those barbs at me. Insulting me, fine. Insulting the agency? Now that's crude."

"You're strangling the steering wheel again." Mid noted.

Potash made a conscious effort to relax her fingers. The wheel was still being gripped harder than would be comfortable. If it were a person, it'd have trouble talking.

"I feel bad for the wheel," Mari said.

Potash took a deep breath. It wasn't the wheel's fault. Slowly, her grip returned to normal.

"So what exactly do you intend to do with the knife?" Ilias asked.

"Keep it away from Mari, for one."

"But- but my research!" Mari protested. "I want to decipher its secrets! Surely I'd be a valuable asset on the team investigating it."

"No." Ilias replied sharply.

Mari huffed.

"It's for your safety," Potash explained. "You heard what Arare said. While I might despise her as a person, I trust her in anything regarding weapons. If you get cut with that knife again, even accidentally, your old injuries will return."

"Exactly." Ilias agreed.

"Two on one? Unfair. C'mon Mid, back me up. I'm the one most familiar with the knife's effects. Don't you all think I'd be the most careful with it?"

"You aren't the most familiar one." Ilias replied quickly, before getting a funny look on his face.

Mari narrowed her eyes at him. "Have you been injured with it as well?"

"... Yeah." He turned his head to look out the window.

"Ah." She was quiet for a moment. "Fine. We'll both sit out of the investigation, then. But make sure you keep us updated on every single note or discovery, alright, Potash and Mid?"

"Understood."

Mari nodded. "Now, I think that steering wheel deserves a nice, long vacation."

"I'm not even strangling it now." Potash rolled her eyes, but relaxed her grip on it even further as she pulled into the agency's garage. "Well, while we investigate the knife, how do you two feel about taking down some revolutionary groups?"

"Sounds lovely. We'll need help though. More people than just 2 of us."

"Of course. Mid and I will try to find you some people who aren't as familiar with you, for extra security, in case something happens with the disguises."

"Who, in all the planes, is not familiar with us?"

Potash grimaced. "Surely there have to be some people living under a rock somewhere. If there aren't... we'll find some who don't feel as strongly about you two."

"Good enough." Ilias nodded.

TW: explosions, firearms, blood
Also includes: bad posture, lazy contractions, seat stabbing

Ilias stood in the training room with Mari, wearing a new disguise. It was a generic agent one, so to play the role he had to keep his back straight rather than hunching. Which was something he kept reminding Mari about.

She rolled her eyes as he reminded her yet again. "Not my fault my posture sucks," she muttered. "Blame modern-day devices."

"Well we're going to need to seem like actual agents who have been tasked with a very important task, and apparently we're very serious and boring people. Oh, I think hating each other might of been in there too."

"Oh, fun. Let me just remember your controversial food opinions-- yep, I think I've got the hating you part down." Mari put on her "neutral face" and started talking in a monotone. "Is this better?"

Ilias snickered, before doing his best to put on a straight face. "Better."

"Good. Wait, no. Affirmative. Acceptable?" Mari wrinkled her nose.

"I say acceptable. You say affirmative."

"Affirmative."

He nodded. "How long is it going to take Potash and Mid to bring four people?"

"Well, I think Potash is still in the middle of waging her war against paperwork, and Mid is... Mid."

"They said they'd chosen people to bring over at 10."

"They're going to be very late-"

The door exploded inwards, trailing smoke at its edges. An agent with bright orange hair waltzed in, followed by Mid, Potash, and three others.

"You're two hours late." Ilias said shortly, clasping his hands behind his back.

"S'ry," a lady near the back drawled. She leaned against the wall. "Was nappin'. Name's Creo. Her/she lik'da choc'l't." There was a lock of blue that stood out against her wavy black hair.

"Don't blame us, Mid and Potash took forever to pick us up. I'm Fin, he/him."

"Paperwork and Ikrrr duties," Potash said shortly.

The one who'd exploded the door smiled. "Well, it let us make a dramatic entrance! I'm Curry, she/they, and that door was so satisfying to set on fire." Behind them, the remains of the door smoldered.

The last newcomer was spraying the sad bits of dead door with a fire extinguisher. He waved and said, "I'm Retik. He/they, please. Also, I like shoes."

Ilias glared at Potash and Mid. Of course they'd tell them to be professional, then give them an unprofessional team. Well, behavior wise. He motioned to 4 dummies that were set up against a wall. "Show us what you can do."

Curry tossed something at the first dummy. As expected, it made it explode. Well, at least they had a consistent theme?

Fin took an automatic weapon, and practically pulverized it.

Retik walked up to the dummy, pulled out a tape measure, and began measuring its height, waist and head. Finally, he stepped back a couple paces and shot it.

Creo yawned, and scratched her face. "S'v'in sk'll'f'lt'r."

Mari concentrated for a moment. "...Saving skulls for liters?"

Creo just nodded.

"Wait, no, later. Saving skull for later. Skill."

"Great, you decoded that." He turned to Mid and Potash. Mid was rolling on the ceiling with laughter. Potash looked distinctly unamused, and rather like she was getting a migraine.

"Good luck. I'll be off now. Today will be for team bonding, and your first mission will begin tomorrow." Potash looked at them. "Please try to get along. It means more paperwork if you don't." She shuddered. "Fear the paper..."

Ilias nodded, and looked at Mari. "How does tomorrow sound?"

Mari looked at the others skeptically, but sighed. "We'll make it work. I suspect that with the current turmoil, the sooner we take care of things, the better."

"Agreed." He looked at the agents who were patiently awaiting orders. "Meet in the front tomorrow, armed. Agent Gar and I will come with a vehicle."

Retik saluted. Creo looked like she'd fallen asleep.

"Cool! See you Agent Net!"



Sure enough, all four were out there when Ilias pulled up in the van with Mari. Mari looked at the motley crew, who were slouching (Curry), lying down (Creo), standing ramrod straight (Retik), and sitting on a fake bush (Fin). "Let's hope the revolutionary groups have become complacent after breaking into the asteric plane, because if we're the government's last hope, I think it's doomed," she observed.

"Oh absolutely. I think it's doomed anyways." He replied.

"Quite possibly." Mari sighed, fixed her posture, and strolled over to the other four.

"Hoo-rah! When do we leave?" Fin asked.

"As soon as we're all up to date on the situation." Mari raised an eyebrow at Creo. "If you could at least open your eyes, that'd be very helpful to me not feeling ignored."

"M'pay'n'tn'sn." She hummed.

Ilias was tempted to throw a knife at her.

Mari was silent for a moment as she deciphered the words. "Glad you're paying attention. I'm sure you've heard of the revolutionary groups that breached the asteric plane recently. The area around the astericport has gone on lockdown, keeping them in place, but it won't hold forever. Now, we're being send to capture or kill them."

"Wow. Very straighforward." Fin noted. "So which one are we doing? Capturing or killing?"

"Whichever one is safer for us and more efficient."

"So killing."

"Great, everyone understands what we're doing. We'll get into positions around the main building, and then on either of our orders, strike." Ilias got back into the van. Mari handed out sunstones, then returned to the van as well.

All of the agents got into the van, and Ilias started driving as soon at the doors were closed. There was immediately the sound of a tiny explosion and a yelled "Hey!" from the backseat. Someone started humming.

I'm going to start chucking knives. Ilias tapped.

Not while driving, please Mari tapped back.

Then I'll make sure you take over.

Right, cuz driving from the passenger seat is soooooo comfortable.

It'll be worth it.

Mari darted a glance behind her and winced. ...Yeah, gonna have to agree with you on that. Somehow, the noise level had only increased.

She coughed and said, "If you four could not act like toddlers getting their first taste of ice cream and then fighting over said ice cream, that'd be much appreciated."

Too much. Ilias tapped. Just settle with a nice threat on their lives.

Mari rolled her eyes. "Or else this guy will throw knives at you, and you wouldn't like to both be stabbed and crumpled in a car accident, hmm?"

Better. Ilias replied.

"Y'oudn't'o'at," Creo mumbled. Retik kept humming.

Please... drive faster, Mari tapped.

Two things happened at once. The van came to a very, very quick stop, and there was a knife in the seat in between Creo's legs. She glanced down at it, but made no other motion. "'S'no'ice." Curry reached over and pulled out the knife, then flipped it in the air. At least Retik stopped humming, looking at the knife with wide eyes. Fin oohed.

"The next one hits your artery." Ilias replied, and continued driving.

"Which artery?" Fin asked from the back quietly.

Ilias remained quiet, and for the most part, so did the four in the back. Mari breathed a sigh of relief. She looked back again and whispered, "Creo and Retik are sleeping, and Curry and Fin are minding their own business. Might need to steal the knife back from Curry, though."

He shrugged. "It was one of the agencies. Poorly made."

Mari pursed her lips. "Still, for the safety of the other members... I don't think Curry should be trusted with that."

"Curry already has explosives. They haven't killed each other yet."

"I feel like it's only a matter of time. When are we getting there? I want out of this car."

"When we get there."

"You sound like an annoyed parent."

"I feel like one, just I'll actually kill the kids." He sighed.

"I heard that!" Curry yelled.

"Good, you'll know I'm not kidding." He responded to Curry.

The backseat dissolved into grumbles. Mari groaned. "I would suggest putting on music, but I have a feeling that'd only lead to more arguments and noise." She leaned her head against the window and stared determinedly out at the scenery.

Ilias put sudden pedal to the metal, going speedy.

Mari was pressed back against her seat, but she grinned. "Thank you."

He grinned back. Isles passed by the windows, and currents of hot and cold swirled through the space of the plane like dancing ribbons. He kept that speed until they got close.

From a distance, it looked like the astralport was sparkling. But from up close, the truth of the explosions were revealed. People ran across the isle in squads, intermittently hunkering down and firing or moving position. None of them used crystals. And judging from their clothing, both sides weren't from the upper classes.

Ilias parked them a good distance away from the fighting. They shouldn't be noticed. "Alright, get to high ground. Rooftops. Watch and wait, the two groups are fighting which should make our lives easier."

"Booooo-ring," Curry complained, but she didn't immediately run off to throw explosives at the groups, which was a good sign. Probably.

Mari scanned the once-asteric port, now battlefield. "I suspect the civilians in the asteric port when the breach happened are being held inside the building. When the conflict dies down, we can send some of us to lead them to safety."

"They're most likely locked in a room, hopefully not brainwashed."

Mari shuddered. "Right. Okay, I'm taking that building." She pointed in the direction of a building that was out of the heaviest parts of the conflict, yet not too far from the main building of the port.

"I'll take the building there." He pointed to one closer to the conflict, which was also a little shorter. "The rest of you spread out on the rooftops. Conversations should be fine, just keep it quiet and listen out for sounds near you."

"Yesssssssssssssssssss Sirrrrrrrrr." Fin drawled. "I feel like we're assassins in training."

Ilias laughed.

Creo gave a lazy salute and wandered away, somehow managing to stumble out of the way of bullets just in time.

Curry ran, juggling a knife and two explosives. Retik immediately ran in the other direction.

Mari smiled at Ilias. "See you later, then. Cluck like a chicken if you need me."

"Scream like you're dying if you need me." He smiled back.

"Will do." She jogged off, blending in briefly with one group before melting away towards her chosen building.

Ilias crawled up the wall of his building, and once on the roof he posistioned himself at the edge to watch the conflict.

After a few minutes, he heard something behind him. He turned around, and then was tackled. The force was enough to push him over the edge, but he took the other person with him too. Someone who was much too familiar. They landed on the wall, Ilias twisting them around so his master took the brunt of the fall.

His master slipped out of his grasp in an instant and leapt to his feet again. "Hello, Skater," he sneered.

Ilias got to his feet. "Hello, Painter."

"It's 'Master' to you. Or have you forgotten who spent all those years training you, shaping you into the lethal work of art you are?" His glasses clung to his face, unperturbed by the fight. Perhaps they were superglued onto his ears. Really, it was uncanny how this man, who looked like a soft, middle-aged professor, could navigate fights as skillfully as a taxi driver skirted around currents and isles in the asteric plane.

"Haven't you heard? Skater is dead." He cocked his head.

"He will be." Painter smiled and launched himself at Ilias again, a dagger glittering in his hand.

Ilias pulled out his own dagger, dodging Painter. He leaped to a different building.

Below, the ROMEOs and JULIETs continued to clash, the sound of gunshots cracking through the air like a sharp beat adding a rhythm to their fight. In a brief moment of silence, Painter landed on the new building.

Ilias kept his eye on him. He jumped forward and jabbed with his knife, not getting close enough to Painter, but enough to test his limits.

Painter danced away, leaping to another rooftop further from the conflict. Ilias followed.

Painter surged forwards and struck quickly, but the strike was easily deflectable, and Painter withdrew to another rooftop. The sounds of the conflict below them faded. It was clear: he was getting them alone, together. No external forces affecting the fight. But Ilias couldn't let him walk away to surprise them again, so he followed, with a quick strike that could also be deflected. Just like he'd been taught he realized, that fighting was a dance, an art.

"You were the finest student I'd ever seen," Painter observed. He finally settled on a rooftop nearing the edge of the isle, resting leisurely on the edge for a moment before getting back up to pace.

"Really? I thought I was chosen by Tory just to get at you."

Painter waved a hand. "Yes, your attitude was never great, but in terms of picking up new skills, I couldn't have asked for more. It truly pains me to do this. All that work... wasted. But sometimes one needs to start anew, with a blank canvas." In the space of a second, even before he'd finished speaking, he dropped his relaxed attitude and whipped a small whitish-blue crystal at Ilias.

Ilias couldn't move fast enough, and he was hit square in the chest. The feeling of being stabbed by millions of needles covered his body, as if he was submerged in the same water as the titanic. He stayed standing, and glared at Painter. He flung a knife back at him. It skimmed Painter's chest, and he grinned back at Ilias. The dance was on.



Mari should've noticed Ilias was missing earlier. But she'd been concentrating on the movements of a few groups of people under her, who were getting uncomfortably violent. She'd known the ROMEOs and JULIETs disagreed with each others' methods, but didn't they have the same ultimate goal? Either way, this was all a mess. And now it was an even bigger one.

No response from him on the sunstone. No sign of him on the rooftop. Mari scanned the other rooftops briefly and noted the other members of their team still in position. She informed the others that she was going to track Ilias down, and instruced them to begin taking control of the asteric port if the firefight died down before she returned.

There was a limited number of buildings around the main building of the port and none of them showed people on their rooftops, so she headed outwards, tracing a path from Ilias's building towards the edge of the isle.

Her disguise kept pace with her as she leaped across the gaps between buildings. Where could he have gone? He would've informed the team unless it was something urgent or personal...

Lightness. She had a bad feeling in her bones. She moved faster.



As they fought on a wall, Ilias noticed in a window that his disguise was gone. Neither struck with craftiness, as they would keep dancing to this fast beat, going in circles around each other until one noticed the other slowing, or becoming more clumsy.

Through it all, Painter kept a patronizing smile on his face, dispensing compliments and critiques as if even this, doing his level best to kill Ilias, was yet another lesson. "Good, good. Ah, could've been a little smoother there. Hm, nice response." He pulled out another dagger and wielded both simultaneously, blades flashing in the dim light of the asteric plane.

Two could play that game, and Ilias brought out another. For both of them, the new dagger was longer than the other. Unless Painter was using crystals to sustain his energy, he'd most likely tire faster than Ilias.

Then Painter broke the pattern. He tossed a chip of mica, constructing a screen that interrupted the circular dance and obscured him from Ilias's vision for a moment. But it also blocked Ilias from his view, so Ilias put a balcony in between them as the mica wall went back down.

There was a moment of quiet. Then Painter rounded the side of the balcony and released an assault of both his daggers and a tiger's eye. The tiger's eye exploded in a blast of concussive force. He was thrown backwards, and he landed on the wall a good 10 feet away. He blinked, ears ringing. One knife cut into his shoulder, the other one skimmed his right eyelid. No knives sticking out of him; he couldn't get more lucky than that.

"What a true pity," Painter said, disappointment lacing his voice. He slid another knife from his belt.

And then a mica chip arced between them and formed a screen. From the corner of Ilias's eye, he saw a figure vaulting onto the wall, running towards his side of the screen. Mari?

oh no... His eyes widened. He quickly picked up his own knives.

The mica screen shattered towards Ilias and Mari, revealing Painter. He smiled broadly. "Just who I wanted to see. Hello, Mari."

Mari stopped short. "...Dad?"

TW: blood
Also includes: ~emotions~

Mari stared at her father in horror. She'd known a confrontation would be inevitable, but right here, right now, in the middle of the chaos with the revolutionary groups breaking into the asteric plane and right after the trial... It was too much. She stood there, frozen, silent, thoughts and emotions swirling in her head like an asteric storm. Betrayal. Confusion. Pain.

"No!" Ilias got up, daggers in hand. "Run!"

"Ah, but she'll want to hear what I say next." Her father--Ilias's master--smiled, and Mari was transported back to childhood, seeing that exact same smile as her father announced that he'd baked cookies, and-- she couldn't-- "...my successor."

She blinked. She'd zoned out for a second. "What?"

"I'm naming you my successor instead of dear Skater over here," he said pleasantly. "We can formalize it once the disappointment is taken care of." With that, he retrieved one of his daggers from where it'd fallen to the ground and attacked Ilias anew.

"Over my dead body." Ilias growled, blocking the attack.

"Precisely." Ilias's master ducked to one side and tried another angle, reaching out with his foot at the same time in an attempt to trip Ilias. Ilias twisted away from him.

Mari registered all this dully, still feeling like her thoughts were piglets that had escaped their pen. Her father. Her father was trying to kill Ilias. Her father was telling him, "I suppose you were only a rough draft. My daughter will be the true work of art, shaped into perfection and invincibility."

"Through... through torture?" she asked.

"That is what the short-sighted call it."

She shook her head and cleared her mind slightly. Well, this was proof of what Ilias had said about her father. "What if I refuse?" she said coldly.

"I would be very sad. Because this is what happens to disappointments." Her father advanced on Ilias with a flurry of attacks. No... This was her father no longer. How had she been so blind?

Ilias gritted his teeth, his attacks increasing in skill. She could see why he was called Skater. Why people said he looked like someone who skated on ice. "Not. Her."

His master looked briefly surprised at his surge of energy, exerting more effort as he tried to advance. Suddenly, he was partially disarmed, one dagger clanging to the wall. Ilias kicked it away.

He staggered back a step, towards Mari. Ilias' grey eyes held determination, and so much rage. Not the blind, rash rage. The kind where he was in charge. Dangerous. His master's calm mask faltered. "Int...eresting," he said, deflecting Ilias's attacks using one dagger. He was starting to look slightly winded now. Ilias continued attacking. He scored hits, small cuts here and there.

Mari watched. She tried to sort through her thoughts. What if she just let everything play out? But when she imagined either of them dying... Ugh. Her head hurt.

Ilias's master lunged forwards and landed a shallow slice on Ilias's arm, but at the cost of opening himself up to further attack. Clearly, he hadn't expected the fight to last this long.

Ilias saw his shot and he took it, stabbing her father in the abdomen, and the shoulder. But that also opened a small window for his master to attack one more time. He stabbed Ilias in the side, his expression contorted in outrage, finally something different from his patronizing smile.

Ilias snarled, pushing her father away and he fell onto his back on the wall. Ilias' expression was not unlike a wold snarl. He placed his feet on her father's arms, and pulled out his knives roughly. Then he struck.

And finally, Mari's thoughts snapped into clarity, like feeling a fresh breeze upon stepping outside. She pushed Ilias's wrists aside, changing the trajectory of the blade so it landed on her father's other shoulder instead of his chest, and on the wall instead of in his head. "No," she said softly.

Because as much as she would have liked to pretend otherwise, this was her father. She'd been thinking of it as there being two sides to him: the kind father, and the cruel master. But the truth, as always, was more complicated. He was some twisted combination of both, and she had to accept that.

Ilias looked up at her, his rage like an unstoppable fire consuming the planes. But once he saw the expression on her face, what she was thinking, it died down.

"Thank you," she said. And she meant it as she had never meant it before. "I know... Well. I don't fully know how hard it is for you. But..." she swallowed. "I couldn't live with it." She watched as her father and Ilias's master fell unconscious.

Ilias didn't respond. He took the dagger that missed her father's head, and hit him in the head with the hilt. She nodded. Her father had deserved that, and likely more, and she would do all she could to bring him to justice. It was only the permanence of death that she couldn't live with.

Ilias stood up and pulled out bandages. He tightly wrapped up her father's wounds, and he also used them to essentially tie him up as well. Once he was done he put the bandages away and picked her father up like a sack of potatoes. He started to walk back towards the conflict.

Mari pulled out her own roll of bandages. "I am in a debt of gratitude to you, but don't think that means I'll let you walk away without taking care of your wounds." She caught up to them easily and gestured for him to put her father down.

I'll deal with them once he's on the back of the van. He tapped.

She stared at him levelly, reaching out to take her father's body.

He moved out of her grasp, and continued walking. Oh, Lightness. He still had that fury in him. And rightly so.

He coughed, and wheezed. Blood dripped from his side. This time, Mari didn't ask. She stood in his way, hoisted the body from his arms, set it down, then started binding his wounds. "We need to get you to the med center immediately."

Need to help the others. He tapped.

"The others will be fine." Mari called Retik and asked him to bring the car over. Of the other four, he seemed the most stable. She forced herself to think logically. She could fix things later. But a small voice whispered, could she? Mari ignored it.

Disguise. Fried,

Oh. She hadn't even considered the implications of that during the fight. Mari looked down, noting that hers had worn off as well. "Let's hope we didn't assassinate anyone Retik knows."

Ilias' knees buckled, and he fell to the ground, only stopping himself from faceplanting with an arm. Mari knelt down and tried to support him without jostling his wounds.

Retik pulled up with the car. He stared at them for a moment. "...Agents Gar and Net?"

Mari winced. "Yes. Please ignore what we look like right now. Agent Net is in need of immediate medical attention."

Retik looked at them skeptically, then saw Ilias's wounds and seemed to push away their suspicions for now. They helped Mari get Ilias in the van, then stared at the body. Mari winced again. "That's... uh... an assassin who attacked Agent Net. We're planning to take him in for trial."

"Okay." Retik responded, and helped her get him into the back of the van.

"Thank you. Could you please make sure the other three don't die? I'll get the van back to you all soon."

"Yeah. This is going to be a great story to tell them." He started running back.

Then Mari stepped on the gas.

Mid burst into Potash's office, sending some papers flying into the air. "Come on, let's go."

Potash grabbed the papers out of the air expertly and smoothed them out on her desk. "Where?"

Mid just grabbed her wrist and started marching out of her office, dragging her along whether she liked it or not.

"Is this considered an abuse of power as the director? I'll have to check agency law." Potash kept writing on one piece of paper with a pen as they marched. "At least let your lowly subordinate know the destination."

"Med center." Mid replied, turning down a different hall. "You've got three guesses who's in there right now."

Potash ran through the list of agents currently on active missions. "Ilias," she decided. "Or Mari." She folded up the paper and stowed it away, shoving the pen into her bun.

"Bingo." He walked into the Med center.

Potash scanned the room, until her eyes landed on a curtained off corner. "Over there." She strode towards the corner and entered.

Mari was sitting next to the cot, tapping her fingers. She looked worried and exhausted, but otherwise unharmed.

Ilias on the other hand, had an eyepatch, a bandage around his chest, and one on his shoulder too.

Potash raised an eyebrow. "Ilias, I'd almost think your job description involves nearly dying on a regular basis. Why wasn't your team there to support you? What happened out there?"

"One doesn't normally notice when a silent assassin tackles another off of a roooftop."

"...Yeah. Painter's in the back of the van, by the way. Happy birthday?" Mari added.

"Wow, an infamous assassin for my birthday? Why thank you!" Mid gasped.

"It's a marvelous present," Potash said dryly. "Now, I'm assuming your team will need reinforcements. I'll happily go."

"I'm going with." Ilias replied, standing up.

Mari frowned. "No, you're not."

Potash looked around for a doctor and called Dr. Sprite over.

"I'm going to fight someone, and it can either be a doctor or a so-called revolutionary."

Dr. Sprite blinked slowly, looking sleepy. Potash shrugged. "Well, I'm going to go fight some revolutionaries myself." Much better than doing more paperwork. She waved goodbye.

"I'm. going. With." Ilias walked with Potash.

Mari looked at him in concern, then made the probably-smart decision not to stand in the way of the inevitable wave. "Take crystals with you," she said, standing up as well and shoving rose quartz at him.

He took them in his hand. "I'll be fine."

"If 'fine' means wounded in multiple places, bleeding out, and about one step away from meeting Darkness themself, I'd agree," Mari remarked.

"I've already met Lightness, so Darkness shouldn't be too bad."

Mari sighed deeply and dramatically. "It seems like an improbable joke of the universe that such a stubborn human being as you came into existence." But she didn't protest any longer as they reached the van, unloaded Painter to a few agents who took him to a holding cell, and entered the van.

"Oh I bet there's someone up there cackling at my misery." Ilias eyed Painter as they carried him away.

Potash leaped into the driver's seat. "Update me. Have you engaged with the revolutionary groups?"

"I didn't. I don't know about the rest. Which is why I want to get there as fast as I can." Ilias replied as he got into the passenger seat.

Mari called Retik on her sunstone, then shook her head. "No response. I'm assuming they've been drawn into the fight by now."

Ilias hummed unhappily. It was like a single low note.

"They'll be fine. I'd be more worried for the revolutionary groups, to be honest."

Potash nodded. "We chose those four for a reason. Their personalities are... unique, but their skills are quite real." It had been difficult to find four people who were both skilled and not directly affected by Skater or Veilnom. They'd had to make some concessions in terms of personality.

"True. Also, one of them decided not to kill us so far."

"Ah, that's a good sign." Potash sped up, taking them on the most direct route to the asteric port.

"If anyone tries to kill me for personal reasons I'll try my best to let you know this time."

"Right, you forgot to cluck like a chicken." Mari tsked jokingly, but Potash could tell she was still worried.

"Sorry." He didn't sound sorry.

Mari looked at him for a moment. She seemed about to say something, but they arrived at the asteric port before she could.

Potash surveyed the scene. Curry had cleared the space around a building, and the others were trying to force the revolutionary groups inwards towards the asteric port. They were partially succeeding, though even as Potash watched, they had to back away as a few people opened fire again. "Well, this should be fun."

"Well, they're getting a little more help from us. Is there anyone else you can contact?"

Potash nodded. "We do have agents we could call on, and agents in the other government branches as well." She pulled out her sunstone.

Ilias nodded, getting out of the van. "Don't worry about who. Just get agents. If they see me they see me."

"We'll have new smoky quartz disguises for you two soon." Potash made the calls.

Ilias was already walking towards the fight, Mari shoving even more crystals at him as she left as well. Had she raided the med center's store of rose quartz?

No matter. For the first time in days, Potash could focus on action, and not just the action of her hand moving across a page. She was free.

He knew Mari meant best, but this was too many crystals. Was there such thing as having too much health? Well at this point it would become possible.

He felt ashamed for Mari seeing another side of him. The one he definitely never wanted people to see. The one that would kill without a second thought, that would let nothing ever stop him from achieving his goal. He hated Painter for bringing that out in front of her. But he didn't want anyone to go through what he went through. Years of being sick, poisons doing their best to kill him. Years of agony, skin burning and covered in blood. Being stretched between two planes. Years of numbness and acting, gaining the skills of a cold killer. For someone to go through worse? Especially Mari? No, he'd die slowly and painfully to stop it. Even in death, he wouldn't allow it.

She shoved another crystal at him. I'm sorry, she tapped. I can't begin to imagine the suffering he put you through... And for you to show mercy... Mari looked at the fighting in front of them and took a breath. "We can talk about this later, yeah? Just don't die today."

"You are the last person that should be sorry. Talk later, die much later." He pushed the crystal back at her.

She raised an eyebrow at him, but nodded, even as she refused to accept the crystal. "And you as well. Put the crystal in a pocket if you have to."

"I've already got them full of crystals and weapons. I'm stocked up on enough to ascend to godhood."

"Still," she insisted. "You're in no shape to be fighting again so soon."

"Keep it in case you need it. I don't want you dying on me." He insisted.

Mari frowned. "You're the one who's closer to death. But fine, I'll keep it so I can use it on you later. No more disappearing, got it?"

"I'll do my best. I don't think there's anyone else besides everyone alive who wants to kill me, but they think I'm dead already. That probably wasn't helpful." He winced.

"Yeah, no." She laughed slightly. "There just better not be paparazzi here."

"Maybe some eyes in the sky, but it shouldn't pick us out. If anything there might be a few conspiracies."

"Plot twist, Skater and Veilnom have traveled through Loht and returned from the dead! Look out for the next issue for the full story! Or wait, no, actors are impersonating them, or filming a documentary on the assassins!"

Ilias laughed a little, and that hurt. But he kept it from Mari. "Alright. Let's get this business finished yeah?"

"Yeah."

He walked right into the crowd of revolutionaries. He pulled out his daggers, and worked to move closer to the center. Shouts filled the air. Whatever precise operation had allowed the revolutionaries to enter the plane had clearly fallen apart.

Various clumps were protesting loudly. Some were still shooting wildly, but others were attempting to corner agents and intimidate them. Yet others seemed as if they hadn't anticipated this violence and were trying to find a corner out of the way from the fight.

Ilias continued walking, trying to seem like just another person. He got into a very crowded area, where there was no fresh air or space. He stabbed one person in the gut, then continued moving the best he could. Funny how in a crowd like this you wouldn't even be able to tell who stabbed you. He continued stabbing people as discreetly as he could.

Around him, more agents arrived on the scene. The crowd started to murmur in fear, and they were herded towards a building next to the asteric port.

It could have been minutes or hours until Potash finally established total control over the crowd, looking slightly wild, grinning, with blood on her knuckles and her bun askew. Mid pranced out of the asteric port, leading out the hostages-- travelers who'd happened to be in the port when the breach occurred.

Doctors began to arrive, stabilizing those with the most severe wounds. Other agents started rounding up the revolutionary groups.

Ilias separated himself from them. It would be best not to be seen, so he got up into the rooftops. Those would most likely be checked however, so he only used them as a path to get back to the van. Was that Arare Churro down there? She was wielding a fancy greatsword. Yep, he was glad not to be down there. He scanned below for Mari.

She appeared next to him, tossing a crystal at him. Another rose quartz. "Somehow, we always end up on rooftops," she observed.

"Yeah. I like the height." He caught the crystal in one hand.

She nodded. "I like the view. Being able to see so much more." Mari glanced over the isle. "This feels like a last desperate attempt by the revolutionary groups. So many members..."

"Yeah."

She looked troubled. "And our response..." Mari shook her head. "It'll be okay. Probably." She grimaced, but tried to smile.

"We could try to figure something out." He replied softly.

"Us two? Solving societal unrest and the complex relationships between the government and the people?" Below, most of the members had been escorted into cars, and the agents were beginning to disperse.

"Well, more like just propose an idea to open the asteric plane up to more people. It could be under the guise of them discovering the other plane..." He was brought back to being stretched between planes, seeing into the other one, but also seeing the mortal plane.

Mari winced, apparently remembering the same sensation. She looked mostly solid now, at least. "Mm. Possibly. I never considered that there would be other planes, but I suppose the universe is full of wonders, just as it is full of horrors."

"Yeah."

She stood next to him for a moment, quiet, observing the scene below. "We should get back," she said reluctantly.

"Where?"

"The med center."

"Yeah. Let Potash know? I don't think I can find my sunstone which is at the bottom of some pocket full of rose quartz.

Mari laughed. "On it." She pulled out her sunstone. Soon enough, the van pulled up next to their rooftop. Ilias walked down the side and got into the van. "Thanks."

She got into the van as well. "Get well soon, Stubborn One."

"So for short? Just don't call me Sue."

"Mary Sue." Mari hummed thoughtfully. "I think it suits you."

"I am far from a Mary Sue." As for Marry So.

"And suits aren't made from human flesh," she pointed out. "The best nicknames are slightly different from the person wearing them."

Ilias stared at her, confused. "What?"

She just grinned back. "No fighting until you get better, okay, Mary Sue?"

"I don't see any fighting I'll have to do in my future." He smiled back.

"Good, good."

Once the van pulled into it's parking spot, Ilias got out and headed to the med center. He didn't have much of a choice since Mari was keeping an eye on him.

Oliver nearly spit out his pasta. He stared at the screen. It showed the efforts to subdue the revolutionary groups, and he... he could've sworn he'd seen his son. Ilias. The dead one. "Maho!" he sputtered.

"What?" She called from the kitchen.

Oliver pointed at the screen with a trembling fork, aware she couldn't see him. "I- Ilias! The footage... Come see!"

"What?" A few seconds later she was in the living room, with Sammy behind her. She watched the footage intently.

Oliver moved his fork to point at the upper right corner. "There!" That figure...

Maho continued to watch, not saying a word. She finally stood up, and walked out of the living room. "Let's go."

Oliver scrambled to put his pasta down and pull on a coat. He followed Maho.



The isle was nearly empty by the time they got there. Only a few stragglers were being led away, and construction crews were arriving to fix the damage done to the buildings and streets.

Maho changed direction, walking the walk of I've-spotted-my-target. Oliver peered in that direction and caught sight of a bright blue-purple wizard hat. Ah. He and Sammy veered in that direction as well.

"Director!" Maho called.

Mid jumped and did a perfect 180, landing facing them. He was munching on a banana peel. "Oh, greetings."

"Hello." She smiled. "Would there have been a chance that Ilias was here?"

"I'm afraid Skater is dead." He frowned. "I feel your pain. He was a good coworker and friend."

"If he was, why do you still call him Skater?" She raised an eyebrow.

Mid shrugged, and smiled slightly. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"Well, actually yes, yes there is something." She nodded.

"What is that something?" Mid finished off his banana peel.

"We'll be holding a funeral for him and his friend. We'd like you and the Ikrrr to come. It's nothing particularly extravagant, just at our place."

Mid nodded slowly. "Thank you for the invitation. We'll be there."

"Thank you." She nodded, and looked at Oliver. Oliver smiled. He was glad Mid and Potash would be there. They seemed to have been good friends to his son.

"When is the funeral?"

"In three days."

Mid doffed his wizard hat to them. "See you then."

Sammy sat in the living room with his parents, quietly drinking tea. It was Ravioli custom to only drink tea after someone had passed. Director Midnight and Ikrrr Potash still hadn't arrived, and they hadn't sent word.

"If those two don't show up, I will personally work to make them miserable as long as I am mourning." Maho set down her teacup. Today she had actually bothered to put her hair up in a bun. She didn't put on any make-up though, another tradition from where she used to live before moving to Squarica.

"They'll show up Maho. They're people of their word." Sammy reassured her. As if agreeing with his statement, the doorbell rang. Sammy stood up, smoothing his white shirt. "I'll get the door."

"We're coming with." Oliver stood up and followed Sammy, his wife with him. Sammy opened the door. It was indeed Mid and Potash, wearing the proper white clothing for mourning. Except Mid wore a white wizard hat and white coffin-shaped sunglasses, but you couldn't expect less from him.

"Sorry we're late! We had to do some casket shopping. It's not a proper funeral without." Mid smiled.

"It's all good Director, I didn't quite expect this, thank you. Please, come in." Maho pulled her husband out of the way. Oliver mouthed, "nice glasses" to Mid. Mid grinned and nodded.

Mid entered after Potash, and a crew of four agents in suits and sunglasses with serious expressions came in after them carrying a casket on their shoulders. Two agents came in after them. Probably the backup.

"We have pasta tacos and drinks of every type and color imaginable. Please, help yourselves. All of you."

Sammy headed back to the living room, and sat down with his parents and co-workers.

"This is actually a good taco." Mid took another bite.

"I think some roasted mini crabs would go good in this." Potash nodded.

"Yes, it was Ilias' invention. This was good, until he added sriracha sauce to it." Oliver chuckled.

"That actually doesn't sound bad." One of the agents called out from the kitchen. "Do you have any on hand at the moment?"

"In the cabinet to the right of the microwave. Don't blame me if you find it disgusting." Maho replied, pouring tea into cups for them. The four agents came back in with another casket. "Are those actually-?"

"Yes, we actually brought their bodies. I know you've probably heard it from Director Midnight, but we are sorry for your loss." Potash took her porcelain cup in both hands.

"This is good." The agent in the kitchen replied. Sammy didn't miss Maho's eyeroll, and her shared glance with Oliver.

"What's good Agent Net?" One of the agents asked, the one with brown hair.

"A pasta taco with sriracha sauce. Do you like spice?"

"No thank you, I'm allergic to gluten."

"I am absolutely up for that." The agent with orange hair grabbed the bottle, and loaded it with sriracha sauce. The other agent grinned, meanwhile Sammy's parent's eyes bulged.

Oliver coughed delicately. "Do let us know if you need some alfredo pasta to cool that down." He bit into his own taco, closing his eyes to enjoy it more fully.

"Well, once we finish up our tacos and a cup of tea we can start with speeches. Who's going first?" Maho asked, openning the backdoors for everyone to go out.

Oliver finished his taco and wiped his fingers on a napkin. "I'll go." Once everyone had mostly finished their food and settled into seats outside, he bounded up to the stage and stood at the podium, adjusting the mic upwards to account for his height.

He took a deep breath, glancing over at the caskets, then at his wife, son, and the agents sitting in foldable chairs on the lawn. "Thank you all for coming. Despite his celebrity status, I think a funeral filled with his closest family and friends is what Ilias would have preferred. And so, I am grateful to you all for joining us to celebrate his life and his memory."

He paused for a moment. "Practically everyone knew of Ilias Ravioli. But can anyone truly say that they knew him, and not just of him? Even as his father, I didn't get to spend as much time with or get to know him as well as I would've liked. I'll always regret that, though I am glad that he was able to make good friends near the end of his life to support him when we couldn't. Mid, Potash"--Oliver nodded towards them--"Mari... I regret not getting to know her as well, either. But from what I saw, she seemed kind and centered, and I trust that she will find peace in Loht." Oliver took another moment to compose himself. "And what I did know of Ilias was a joy. We frequently shared the same unconventional food opinions."

There was a cough from out in the crowd. Oliver glanced up briefly, then continued.

"In his creativity and determination, I saw the makings of a better person than I ever could have been. Even as a youth, he persisted in pursuing the path he thought was best. I know that, even in Loht, he'll be making the lives--deaths?--of those around him sparkle like gemstones." Despite his efforts, he was practically in tears now. "I will always, always love and be proud of my son, Ilias Ravioli." He stood there for a second, tears streaming down his face, then nodded and stepped down from the podium.

Maho walked up to the podium. "I do not know what happened in his life to where he would become an assassin. Maybe it was so he could brag about being both famous and infamous. I wish he would have known that he could have talked to us about it and we would have been there for him.

"None the less, he's my son. He did share some unconventional food opinions with his father, but for the few of you today who had sriracha sauce on your tacos I wouldn't argue today since today is Ilias' day and he would of allowed it. If it wasn't for him, I have no idea if we would be with Sammy today, or any of you. This would be a very depressing two person funeral.

"I didn't get to know Marisol much, but I am thankful that she was there for Ilias when we were not. She did destroy our front yard, but it's nothing that we can't fix. I am also thankful to Director Midnight and Ikrrr Potash for being there with him. In a logical way, it is better that he is dead now rather than living with everyone glaring at him as they walk by. So thank you, Midnight and Potash." She said her thanks shortly, and got off of the podium.

Oliver cleared his throat as she said "better that he is dead," but didn't otherwise interrupt.

An agent stood up from the crowd and strode to the podium. She tapped on the mic, then glanced over the crowd. "Ilias is..." she drifted off, looking at the sky as if choosing her words carefully. "...way too stubborn for his own good, lacks a proper sense of self-preservation, and has incorrect opinions on food.

"But, he is also one of the best people I have had the honor to meet. He survives in a world that has not treated him kindly. Instead of fracturing from the stress, he is like a raw gemstone that has been cut away until hard facets remain. And those facets remain. He remains himself, and he chooses to use his abilities for what he thinks is right, and what's more, he has the power and control to decide when to cease to use them. For that, he is remarkable."

She smiled slightly. "And he really should be resting and healing right now." The agent stared into the crowd very pointedly, then commented, "As for Mari, well, she's simply stellar. Super cool scientist. Did you know she discovered a chemical compound to turbocharge plant growth?" But her words were lost as people began to follow her gaze. His mother gasped, and Sammy turned his head to see what it was about. There, in the back row, sat Ilias Ravioli with his insufferable smile. Sammy noted that he wore an eyepatch.

Oliver stood up. He walked to Ilias. He poked his head. "Are you a ghost? Tell me, what was Loht like?"

"Ow." Ilias replied blatantly.

Then Oliver burst into tears again and hugged his son.

"Ow Dad, not so tight, please." Ilias groaned.

Oliver made no response. Finally, after a long moment, he relaxed his hug, shaking his head and laughing softly. "And we went to all the trouble of writing nice speeches and holding a funeral for you."

"Yes, they were quite nice-" Ilias' voice went up an octave at the end of 'nice' as Maho hugged him as well. And then Sammy piled on too.

"Guys one of my lungs were deflated a few days ago." He winced.

Oliver immediately stepped back. "Have more pasta. Pasta solves everything." He twirled away, singing to himself, "My son is alive!" as he navigated through the crowd back to the house.

Maho and Sammy extracted themselves, leaving Ilias to carefully hold the side of his torso as he stood up.

Mari strolled over, crystals at the ready. "Hm. Maybe I should've included a 'no hugging' warning in my speech. But I suspect it would've been ignored."

"Still would have been nice." Ilias replied. Then was slapped across the face by Maho.

"That's for not telling us sooner that you were alive." She snapped.

"I mean, it was dramatic... but yes, it must've been rough on you." Mari nodded sympathetically.

"Yes, and I meant what I said in my speech. Thank you for being there for him Mari." Maho smiled at Mari.

She smiled back. "Of course. Someone's got to try talking sense into him and his food opinions."

"Good luck with that. I haven't been able to change his father so I doubt you'll change him, but go ahead and try." Maho winked, and went inside to go to her husband.

Ilias, Mari, and Sammy were left with Mid, Potash, and the other four agents.

"Alright! Reveal is done! So, do we get to burn the caskets now?" One of the other agents asked, rubbing their hands together.

"Sou'goo't'me," another drawled.

Mari arched an eyebrow at Potash and Mid. "Are there actually bodies inside?"

"Of course." Mid replied while Potash said "No."

Mari opened one casket. Her own face greeted her. She punched it.

"Hey!" The person wearing her face sat up. "I'm a real person!"

She staggered backwards. "Oh. I'm so sorry. I just- saw my face, and-" Mari shuddered. "It was thoroughly freaky."

"Understandable, understandable." The disguise was removed, revealing a grumpy doctor.

"I am not opening mine up. Whoever is in there can suffer." Ilias declared.

His casket's lid flew open by itself. "But I want food!" Another doctor sat up. "I heard there's tacos?" she asked hopefully.

"With pasta and sriracha sauce."

She considered that for a moment. "Sounds interesting."

"It is delicious. Come on. A couch sounds really good right now."

"An edible couch? Now that would also be interesting." Both doctors left their caskets and headed inside along with the others.

"It's not." Ilias replied, looking at Mari, and then Sammy.

"Shall we?" Mari asked, gesturing towards the house as well.

"Shall we?" Ilias echoed to Sammy.

"We shall." Sammy shook his head and laughed. "Stealing the spotlight even in death, dear brother. I wouldn't expect anything less." His life had been quiet for years. Somehow, it had become so dramatic after he'd found Ilias again.

"That's how it should be." He grinned.

"Someone should write a story about us," Mari commented.

"I agree. Our very own." Ilias nodded, "With a movie that's decent and follows at least 90% of the plot correctly."

Mari nodded emphatically. "And I bet there could be an amusement park ride inspired by leaping across rooftops. And an asteric storm."

"Yes." He agreed. "I see a nap in my future."

"Sounds good." They entered the house.

Oliver carried over a large bowl of alfredo pasta. "All rise for the arrival of the honorable pasta!" He set it down on the table. "Now you may all be seated."

Sammy sat down next to his brother. The bowl started to be passed around, but by the time it reached Ilias he was already dozing.

"No matter!" Oliver said cheerfully. "I can always make more. Oh, today is a good day!"

Mari sat on the other side of Ilias and smiled. "Thank you for the pasta."

Oliver bowed with a flourish. "Of course."

Sammy had to agree with his father. Today was a good day.

A few days later

For once, Mari was on the other side of the bars, looking at the prisoner inside. "Hello, mother," she said softly. She remembered the times she'd been imprisoned--upon first arriving on the asteric plane, and later at the agency--and winced at how conditions seemed to be worse for her mother. The cell was barely large enough to lie down in, and the bars were so close together that it would be hard to even pass a pencil between them.

Her mother was silent for a tense moment. Then she muttered, "You killed Syrah, didn't you? Skater would have been too weak. Chasing him down was a lie. I saw you in the courtroom."

"...Yes," Mari admitted. Did she regret it? She couldn't deny that she thought she'd done the right thing in the moment. But also... she could see it from her mother's perspective now. Mari had killed a friend.

Her mother was quiet, and the weight of that silence pressed more heavily on Mari than any verbal tirade would have. Her mother's normally sleek brown hair was knotted and rough now, and her prison outfit was not flattering.

"I won't be like you," Mari said. A little voice said she already was. And this time, she listened. Because she could refute its arguments. Yes, she couldn't deny that she enjoyed--even exulted in--that feeling of power and control, of mastering life and death, when she worked as an assassin. But she could control that very need for control. She was more than her sadistic upbringing, more than killing just because she could, more than mindlessly following.

She looked right into her mother's eyes. "Thank you for birthing me, for introducing me to chemistry, and for nothing else."

Then Mari left.



Next up on Mari's list of difficult conversations that had to be had was one with Ilias. She found him in his room at the agency, with a blueprint in front of him. He wore glasses that magnefied his eyes.

Mari forced herself not to laugh at his bug-like eyes and gave him a grim smile. "So. We need to talk. Well, I need to talk, and you need to respond, because otherwise I'll stew in unpleasant feelings for a while." She took a deep breath. Darkness, why was apologizing so hard? It was like deliberately giving up control and humbling oneself, and it had to be sincere, not just part of a ploy. "I'm sorry for stopping you from getting revenge on your master. I know he's done unspeakable things to you, and more than likely, death is too kind a fate for him. And I robbed you of the chance to stand over your oppressor and end him, knowing that he will at least suffer a fraction of what he made you go through, and more than that, that it is certain that he will not harm others again. Even imprisonment for life pales against the permanence of death, and I cannot guarantee that your master won't cause any more harm."

Mari took a quick breath and forged on before Ilias could respond. "But he is also my father. And something in me screams out that it would not be right for me to allow for the death of my parents. Perhaps it is naive. Perhaps it is a weak reason. But that is how it is." Because, Lightness take it all, she still loved her parents, even as she hated them for what they had done. "Sorry, and thank you." She nodded to him. She would never forget that he had listened to her, even when he had every reason not to.

He took the glasses off, and looked back at her. "You don't need to apologize for that."

Mari raised an eyebrow. "Agree to disagree, then. At the very least, it needed to be said."

"I-" He cut off, closed his eyes for a second, and reopened them with a heavy exhale. "I am glad that you stopped me. When I was going to kill him I would have killed him without being sorry. But killing someone for revenge isn't... right. Killing him wouldn't have been revenge for me. Right now, being imprisoned, that is revenge. But when I fought, I did lose myself. Without you I would have done something that I'd regret for the rest of my life. And family- anyone would do anything for family. In your place I would have done the same."

She looked at him for a long moment. Mari... well, in his place, she wasn't certain she would have chosen mercy. "If something goes wrong with his imprisonment..." She stopped, shaking her head. "I suppose that's speculative."

"If it does, I will kill him if I see him." Ilias replied quietly.

Mari nodded. She hoped that wouldn't happen. Still, speaking with him did make her feel better. "I'm glad you didn't do something you'd regret."

"I'm glad you're the reason why. Before I forget and you leave, I have a question."

She smiled. "Yeah?"

"Seriously horrible timing, but will you marry me?"

Mari stared at him. "Yes." Very slowly, she pinched herself. Ah, it wasn't a dream. "Yesyesyes."

He smiled at her, then got up and hugged her. She hugged him back, so tightly she was surprised they didn't both explode into tiny pieces right then and there. She felt like she was exploding. Happiness, disbelief, confusion, excitement, and a variety of other emotions were having a dance party in her head. But most of all, love for this flawed, wonderful crystal of a person.

When they pulled apart he opened up a drawer of the desk, and pulled a ring out. It had a lapis lazuli in a diamond cut, and the entire frame was made from silver wire that was woven together. He held it out to her.

She accepted it, holding it up to the light and watching it gleam off the gem and wire. "Slowing time. Practical and meaningful." Mari smiled. "It's perfect." She slipped it onto her ring finger.

He smiled back. Someone else cleared their throat. Mari whipped her head towards them. When had another person gotten here?

Mid lowered his camera, then tossed his wizard hat in the air. "Congratulations!" he declared, grinning.

Oh, great. "The whole agency's going to know of this by tomorrow, isn't it?" Mari raised an eyebrow at Mid, but still, she couldn't stop smiling.

"Probably." Ilias reached over and picked up an exacto knife from the table. He pointed it at Mid, still grinning, but now with slight embarrassment. "Begone wizard!"

Mid only beamed wider. "Well, a wizard does know when he's not wanted." He bowed. "May you two enjoy a married life full of healthy communication and delicious apple peels!" Then he strolled out the door, putting on his hat again.

"There's no one else I'd rather be with." Ilias said once Mid was gone.

"You talking about Mid?" Mari joked. He gave her a you-know-what-I-meant look. She smiled wider. "I look forward to spending the rest of my life with you." As an afterthought, she added, "That wasn't sarcastic, although perhaps it'd be more accurate to say I'll enjoy it 99% of the time, with the 1% being whenever one of us is foolish enough to bring up- no, I won't say it."

"Good. Don't."

She laughed and leaned into him, simply being happy, here, in this moment. Who would've thought? "Remember when I kidnapped you..."

"Yes, you did your best to make my life miserable and I was doing the same."

"You and your endless mugs of coffee."

"Oh that's still going to happen.

Mari rolled her eyes, though truthfully, she couldn't be annoyed by anything, not now. "Well, at least I know what to get you for your birthday."

"And I know what to get you. You do also know that becoming a Ravioli is going to have a lot of perks, right? Besides having a cool sounding name."

"Oh? Care to list a few?" Mentally, she tried it out. Mari Ravioli. Huh. She liked it.

"Well, you'll be able to come and go as you wish out of the asteric realm, and you'll have access to the best education and labs. The only thing you'll have to dread are the meetings. Assuming you can't find a way out of them."

Mari was fairly certain she squealed out of excitement. Labs! Research! Resources! Imagine, all the chemical compounds she could try, and learning more about crystals and perhaps even planes? Meetings were an inconsequential price to pay in comparison, like one speck of dirt in the middle of a whole table laden with a feast. "I am never divorcing you," she declared.

He laughed, grinning. "Just don't become a widow a week after marrying me."

Immediately, Mari scowled at him. "Don't die on me, then."

He just grinned wider, and she couldn't help but grin again.

"Maybe I can invent something. Would a spray-on suit of armor be too unwieldy? Or some kind of chemical that enhances the abilities of rose quartz..." The wonderful thing was, even if some of her ideas sounded far-fetched, she could now have the resources to explore them. Though she'd try to use them responsibly, of course.

"Never know until you try."

"Indeed." The possibilities were dizzying and beautiful. Just like her fiancé.

TW: stabbing, poison, death
also: much sadness, endings

Nineteen years later

Mari and Ilias walked on the streets one evening, Mari holding onto Ilias' arm with hers, and Ilias had his hands in his pockets. Both were happy and content. Back home, their eleven-year-old daughter, Rue, was in the care of Ilias's parents and godparents. Currently, she was making pasta.

"Today was a good day." Ilias said, breaking the silence.

Mari smiled fondly at him. "Yes, especially when you absolutely failed at singing badly. Never knew it could be hard to be off-key."

"Hey, I did it for the kid. I have made albums before."

"That you have." They strolled along the street for a while, swirling through the crowd, taking in the fresh air and the chatter of diners at the restaurants to the left and right. Gradually, the streets became more residential.

"You notice all the people? The non-government agents, and non-ruling families? That's our doing." Ilias smiled fondy at his wife. "Well, yours more than mine."

"Why thank you. It's good to be appreciated." She looked around. Indeed, there were people from all sorts of backgrounds. More asteroids had needed to be captured and brought to the asteric plane to account for the influx of people. Now, the air vibrated with chatter in multiple languages and a sense of liveliness. "And they didn't even have to kidnap anyone to get in."

He chuckled.

Then, the patterns of movement changed, subtly. Ilias reached over with his hand, and put it on top of Mari's.

Wrong. He tapped.

She nodded slightly, keeping up the appearance of their leisurely stroll while scanning the crowds around them. Ilias kept a content smile on his face, also watching the crowds. No one made any moves yet.

They moved onto streets lined with mansions, with long stretches of lawn and forest in between. Yet the crowd didn't dissipate.

Rooftop? Mari tapped. If they could get onto a rooftop, they could check if the greater crowds was a pattern everywhere on the isle, or if it was only around the two of them.

Lose first. They couldn't get up there while people watched. Then split.

She nodded. They strolled along for a moment more, then turned a sharp corner and split off, sprinting and weaving through the undergrowth and winding streets of the isle. The crowd's movement adjusted to theirs.

"Stop," a clear voice rang out, echoing off the walls of the mansions. No lights turned on. Most everyone was out to dinner, or had been subtly encouraged to stay away for the evening. "You'll want to see who we have."

Quietly, Ilias climbed up a tree into the cover. He couldn't make it to a mansion, and he wanted to know just who they'd have. Rue was his first thought. Mari squinted at the crowd from her position behind a building.

The crowd parted to reveal Director Mid and Ikrrr Potash, bound and gagged. A woman hoisted them up calmly. "It took us years of careful planning. But we have learned from our mistakes, and now we'll have our revenge." There was hardly any inflection in her voice, only a sense of cool determination. The crowd, however, was not as restrained.

Not just any woman. The one that was with the former Ikrrr was with. Ilias' grip on the tree branch tightened. Mari drew back against the building. Both remained silent.

"I'm sure you two are watching." The woman took out two pieces of celestite. "These have been wired to cause a slow, agonizing death. Thank you for allowing us access to the asteric plane, by the way." She smiled grimly, attached the celestite to Mid and Potash's arms, and activated it.

The two writhed in agony in the woman's grasp. Ilias clenched his jaw, and started moving from tree to tree quietly, but quickly. Beneath him people scattered to search for him and his wife.

They had aged, but their reflexes and speed were still better than average. In a few moments, Mari and Ilias were pushing Mid and Potash away from the woman, ripping away the celestite.

And then they were swarmed, surrounded, overwhelmed by the crowd that pressed in on them in full force. They were pinned to the ground by multiple people, and two members of the group dragged Mid and Potash back, the director and Ikrrr still only semi-conscious due to the pain.

"Good to finally see you in person." The woman smiled.

Mari grunted, trying to twist her arms to free them. She was shoved more roughly to the ground. Ilias growled, freeing himself partially to kick the person who shoved Mari. Which only resulted in his own head getting smacked to the ground.

The woman watched coldly. "Too many attempts at revenge have been ruined by monologues, so I'll make this quick." She unsheathed a wickedly sharp knife and a vial with a murky purple liquid.

The person holding Mari lifted her slightly, and the woman stabbed her efficiently, straight through the heart.

"No!" Ilias roared, breaking free from the people holding him. He grabbed the woman, and took her to the ground, effectively breaking her ribs and possibly her arm in that moment. People swarmed him, and took Ilias back down onto his back. Not without him injuring quite a few on them.

The woman laughed quietly, ignoring the pain, because what could be a better painkiller than the satisfaction of finally achieving revenge that had been delayed for years? "Should've known you'd make a last attempt. But, finally, goodbye." She used her uninjured arm to throw the vial of poison at his face, and her aim was true. It shattered on his face, getting into his eyes, his nose, and mouth, and any cuts created by the glass. He started coughing, his head burning.

The woman stood over them for a moment. Then she left, beckoning for the crowd to follow her. Reluctantly, they did, after aiming a few kicks at the bodies on the ground. Mid and Potash were left where they had fallen when pushed, still woozy from the pain.

"Mari." Ilias croaked. He kept his eyes shut.

"Ilias." Carefully, slowly, she reached a hand out and found his. As blood poured from the wound, she found a small, last reserve of strength to tap, Love yo, the u lost forever as she finally entered Loht and Darkness's embrace.

As her soul left the plane, she found that she was happy with the life she'd lived. It had been full of adventures and people she'd do anything for. And now, finally, perhaps she and her husband could rest.

Ilias sobbed, still alive. He hugged her, and managed to sing softly. "You've done things I've never done. You've given me true friendship, given me a better meaning to the word 'trust', given me the ability to feel love, it's priceless, it outweighs a lifetime of pain. All that pain and suffering, I'd go through hell all over again, just for this to happen..."

He lost the rest of the words, unable to speak further. He just hugged her, until he entered the Loht, where Mari was waiting for him.

It was a realm of quiet peace that felt like a warm blanket on a rainy day. Souls didn't have their familiar bodies here, but he still recognized her.

She smiled. "Together?" she asked, pointing forwards. He smiled and nodded.



Mid worked to untie Potash, his mind still hazy from the pain. His vision blurred from the tears. Once he'd gotten halfway through, Potash snapped the rest of her bonds. She punched the ground.

"Mari. Ilias." Potash's voice was grim as she looked at the bodies. Mid crawled over and checked their pulses. He shook his head, and then just sat there, staring at them. He didn't notice he was trembling.

Potash waited for her mind to stop swimming, then dragged herself over. For once, she felt like she'd rather stitch up a punching bag than decimate it, because how, how could she contribute more destruction to this plane? Gently, she closed their eyelids.

"They're gone." Mid sobbed quietly.

Potash bowed her head. "We'll celebrate their lives and their legacy." And oh, Rue, how could she break the news to her poor goddaughter...

Somehow, they'd continue on. Even if it felt like the plane was shattering around them.



Somewhere in the ether of another plane, a mint plant and a giant robot sobbed.

To be continued...?