Genesis of Apotheosis

[Malon]

When one enters another’s mind, just like Kelly did to Malon, they can usually expect a reflection of that person’s personality. A neat and orderly person may have an immaculate structure with neatly ordered thoughts and memories, whereas an outgoing party animal may have colorful alleyways and disco balls hanging overhead.

What he got to see when linking his consciousness to hers was more like a city designed by a hundred insane architects who had each grown bored after building up one or two districts, then given to a painter high on ten litres of coffee for the finishing touches. A medieval castle stood right next to a roman temple, a small egyptian pyramid was overshadowed by a tower made entirely of black rock and a lake’s worth of water precariously hovered over a tropical forest, just to name a handful. And what was even weirder, each part by itself made complete sense. Above this conglomerate of tiny worlds hung Malon - or rather, the manifestation of her consciousness that Kelly’s mind made to visualize another person’s mind.

Though on the outside the girl looked like she was comatose, not responding to exterior stimuli of any sort, she was very much awake. Her consciousness and senses were completely preoccupied with what looked like millions of photographic film snippets that flew around her like a bubble-shaped storm. Each second dozens of these snippets flew through her body and came out on the other side as memories, forming new buildings and landscapes that added to the hodgepodge beneath. Just when Kelly came closer, an iceberg with half a dozen penguins on it came from her head and flew past him to lodge itself into the floating lake. Kelly frowned and approached.

Even though she should be getting glances at the uninvited guest past the film snippets Malon showed no reaction to Kelly’s presence, no acknowledgement. Perhaps it was due to her mind not being nearly as trained in the ways of Telepathy as him, let alone Tearen, which made the procedure a lot simpler - no fear of the patient trying to interfere. Of course the mind was a filigrane thing and one wrong move may cause Malon to receive damage that not even death and a subsequent respawn could heal. Luckily Kelly knew what he was doing. He reached his hand through the storm of snippets and took Malon’s hand, linking his consciousness to hers.

Immediately his mind was invaded by what Malon was experiencing: some memory that had to be Gamzee’s or Karkat was playing right now, there were a whole bunch of gray-skinned horned people around. Then with no visible prompt the scene switched and he saw something of his own life. As if some madman was flipping through TV channels. Kelly engaged the flood of memory, turning it and himself over and around, recontextualizing until it became something he could control, then reached out and did the same in Malon’s mind. Immediately the storm before him calmed and the snippets of films rearranged themselves into neat movie rolls, seven of them exactly, and they flew down into the buildings to lodge themselves somewhere into Malon’s mind to be stored as memories.

I need not sort all these memories. I know now that they are -all- not mine. Let me store them so that I may return when the time is right. Was it Kelly who placed this thought into Malon’s head or was it Malon herself? Not even the traveler of realities would later be able to tell with absolute certainty. In either case his job was done - and Malon was not out of harm’s way yet. To overstay his welcome may still cause new troubles for both of them.

“If you’re looking for a way out, you should hurry”, a voice behind him said. What was even behind in a place like this? Space had no meaning in a mind. And yet he turned around and saw himself facing several girls, all of which bore a certain resemblance to the Maru that Tearen had introduced them to, and to the Malon that he knew her to really be. The one who had just spoken looked like a Hollywood ninja, shrouded in black and with a cold gaze.

“You have our thanks, Kelly”, said another of the Malons with a friendly voice and a smile. This one looked exactly like Maru. Some of the group stepped to the side and revealed a door floating right there, in the middle of nowhere. “But if you take too long, you’ll suffer the consequences.”

“Is that a threat?” he asked but returned the smile as he reached for the door and turned the knob.

“She means that you should lean back as soon as you step through the door”, the ninja said, sounding rather amused. Those were the parting words that he got before exiting her mind and returning to the physical world.

Malon woke up barely half a second after Kelly and darted into a sitting position - her forehead ended up where Kelly’s face had been that exact half second ago. Had he not leant back, he probably would have earned himself a nosebleed for his troubles. She hyperventilated as her senses readjusted to the real world after having been preoccupied with memories for the last few minutes, but it took her a bit before her eyes focused onto the face of the two men.

“Kelly? Strazio? What…” she asked. “Did something happen?”

“Tearen’s last action left us sharing memories with each other. You were stuck re-experiencing them but we were able to help you process it”, explained Kelly.

“... right, that’s what I was seeing then. Thank you… I don’t think I could’ve escaped that on my own.” Hell, she hadn’t even realized that something was wrong with her. She hadn’t even really been her right then. And though she felt quite grateful for his help, she felt annoyed that yet again someone had saved her. Or rather, it reminded her that she was a far way yet from becoming who she could - and wanted - to be.

“Don’t stand up yet”, he warned her as if he’d read her thoughts. “Take it slowly.”

“Yes, that’s probably… you’re right.” Focusing on herself for a moment, she thought. There was no recollection of what had happened after the chunks of memories had filled her mind, up until now where she had ‘woken up’. There were… vague memories of Strazio telling her something. Ganondorf. And a flood of memory chunks. Her mind spun at the idea that Strazio had shared with her days - weeks? - of memories in the span of a few seconds, followed by the same happening with Kelly’s, Tearen’s, Guu’s, Strazio’s, Gamzee’s, Karkat’s and Dane’s. Judging by how she felt okay though, she decided that there was probably no issue.

To break the awkward silence when she realized that both men were still looming around the couch she spoke up: “So, eh… did the others leave? And what are you going to do now?”

[Strazio Rockwell]

Well now, that was a good question. Strazio glanced at Kelly and then over his shoulder at Gamzee. The high-blood seemed to be lost in his own world, though that was not completely out of character for the troll. Strazio’s thoughts turned back to his business left unfinished in the Pale Moors. There was revenge to be had and Strazio was the one to enact it. An hour ago the hot-headed mageserker wouldn’t have given a second thought to storming off and assaulting Dracula’s castle to settle his vendetta, but now his mind was working with a fresh clarity. Sure the anger and the rage were there, but Tearen’s influence had seemed to temper them into a weapon of precision rather than one of wanton destruction. The Defender shrugged.

“Well, to be honest, I haven’t given it much thought,” Strazio lied, “Gamz and I just tend to ramble from place to place, and I guess Karkat is rambling along with us now too.”

“I see,” Malon answered, pausing a moment to collect her words before speaking again, “you know I’m heading to Camelot, if you guys wanted to you could tag along.”

Strazio looked away. It had been a long time since he had been to Camelot. Memories of the Colosseum and his eventual demise at the hands of Shang Tsung flashed through his mind. A stray smile found itself on his lips as he remembered his fight with a certain club-wielding faygo-drinking troll. Maybe that was what he needed right now, a way to stretch out his newfound powers.

“I-I could cook for you guys,” Malon offered.

“You’ve got a deal,” Strazio said, “it’d be a nice change of pace, the Moors really has a way of getting to ya, y’know?”

Kelly nodded in agreement.

“Well, I’ll go round up the troops, let me know when you’re ready to leave,” Strazio said and turned his back on the two.

Gamzee and Karkat were sitting on a pair of chairs positioned across from each other. They were mumbling something back and forth amongst themselves. Their words carried an almost eerie cadence, like two drunks half-singing pub songs.

“Oi, knuckleheads,” Strazio said, slapping a palm on Gamzee’s shoulder, “don’t tell me your brains are fried, we’ve got some walking to do and I’d rather not carry you two.”

[Kelly MacAryn]

Kelly watched for a moment as Strazio roused the trolls, then turned away and retrieved his staff. 

"I should be leaving as well," he said.

Malon frowned. "You're not going to come with us?" 

The traveler shook his head, offering a her a thin, personable smile. "As appealing as hitting the road might be, and as much as I'd like to spend time getting to know you all better, I have important goals that need tending to. I've been occupied by one time-dilated crisis or another for the better part of a year, and it's left me far behind schedule."  

The shapeshifter was silent for a moment. Another gust of wind billowed through the ravaged pavilion. Malon's first instinct was to try to change Kelly's mind, but in spite of the fact that they'd only just met, in a certain sense she knew him quite well; After all, they had, however briefly, been parts of the same gestalt consciousness, and she owned a duplicate fragment of his memory.


"Well," Malon said, conjuring a rueful grin, "That's a shame. But I guess if you've got other commitments, it can't be helped." 

Kelly's lips twitched. "I'm glad you understand." He bowed his head very slightly, little more than a dip of his stubbled chin. "It's been interesting. Take care of yourself, Ma-... aru. And tell Strazio it was... nice to meet him."

The woman nodded acknowledgement, turning her body to sit with her legs dangling off the edge of the battered sofa. She tugged at her dress, adjusting it for comfort in her new position. "I will. And you too! Thanks again for your help!" 

The traveler turned to go, avoiding debris as he made his way back towards the forest's edge. "Don't mention it," he called, glancing back over his shoulder. He didn't actually need to - she was still well within range of his higher perceptions - but those little elements of body-language were important. "It was the least I could do."

It really was. Besides, I strongly suspect I'll see her again. The woman is a Prime, and Tearen Wover held her in high regard. Depending on how this all goes, I may find it necessary to call on her and Strazio in the final stages of taking Coruscant.

 That will be incredibly dangerous; I can easily see Strazio telling me to go fuck myself, provided  I don't run into him before then and establish a stronger bond. If he's back in Darkshire by the next time I visit, that would be ideal... one trip, maximum benefit.  

...But if it comes to asking, I think Malon would probably agree to help as-is.    

That he was already thinking of ways to use his new acquaintances wasn't a fact Kelly was proud of. Sour memories surged and bubbled, whispering unbidden, a hair's-breadth from the surface. The psychic pushed them down again, leaving a bitter taste of past necessities in his mind. He quickened his pace, boots crunching on broken tile.

Firmly shifting his focus to more imminent  concerns, he left the clearing. There was a subtle, sibilant hiss of leaves scraping against denim and cotton, tickling his bare arms as he slipped through a wet curtain of foliage and fibrous green fronds, into the dense undergrowth of the Tangled Green.

Kelly has left the pavilion, the clearing, and the thread. 

[Gamzee Makara]

~Gamzee~

My head rolls slowly away from Karkat to stare at Strazio, purple pupils boring into him. My face is unreadable, lips not making for a smile or a frown. I open my mouth to speak to Straz, but no sound comes out. The words escape me, my tongue chasing them as they float into silent void. My mentor kinda gives me this strange look before leaning directly into my field of vision. He waves a hand in front of my relatively catatonic face. I couldn't respond, even if I wanted to. My hands absentmindedly play with the doll that Mistress Guu left me. Gently, mind you. Wouldn't want to hurt her.

"The fuck is wrong with you, then?" He mutters, almost to himself. "Did your head really get fucked in all that hazy mess or-"

Karkat, bless his crimson soul, raises a hand to stop Strazio's inquisition. "We're good to go whenever. Please give us a just a moment, and return to us when you have finished your preparations. Thank you."

That may have been the nicest, most polite thing Karkat has said to anyone in the history of anything. This time, it's Strazio's turn to be speechless. He sheepishly scratches the back of his head and stares at us, like we're a couple of crazy homeless folks or somefin'. I'm still gazing at Straz, eyes glazed over as if covered in a cloudy sort of film. Kinda makes it hard to see, really. Karkat did not break line of sight from me once during this exchange, and is still intently staring. I can feel his eyes.

"Rrrriiiight...Well don't be too long. I'm basically done," The mage says, turning to leave. But alas, my words finally get their shit together.

"Where are we going, Strazio?" I ask, the normal tint and lilt to my voice oddly absent.

He stops for a moment before turning to face me once again. His eyes search mine for something I don't think he'll find. "What did you just call me?" He asks, a curious if somewhat worried tone in his voice.

"Strazio. It's your name, isn't it?"

His face screws up slightly in a sort of mixture between frown and grimace, before walking back the way that he came. Dunno what his problem is. Hope he's okay though.

I think I'd cry out right now, if I had the willpower to do so. Well I mean I do, probably, but why waste the energy? I've got all these little bright flashes of lives I ain't ever lived, people I ain't never seen and so, so much more. They swimmin' so violently in my head that the shit feels like a motherfuckin' hot tub, bubbling and boiling and steaming. I want to make sense of it all, but I just...can't. Whenever I try to reach out to a certain memory, like a burning village, or a room filled wall to wall with- um...whaddaya call 'em? The things with the paper and the-

Books. They're called books.

I turn my attention back to Karkat, trying not to get frustrated. I begin, closing my eyes and delving deep into my brain. Metaphorically, though. Feel like that shit would hurt in a literal sense. I dunno, man, it kinda hurts right now. I feel hands on my skull, and Kar's thumbs press gently into my forehead. Don't really know why he's doing this, but it sure is giving me a comfy feeling amidst all this soup-brain. I mean honestly, I ain't in any sort of real pain or anything. It's just a very, very uncomfortable feeling, physically and emotionally. As if someone scraped a chalkboard, or I had just walked in on someone doing something they don't want others to see. The Guu plushie, which is fast becoming my favorite animate object ever, hugs and squeezes my fingers gently.

I take it back. There is an incredibly thin line of pain and sorrow piercing the back of my skull. It doesn't quite reach my face.

-----

-Karkat-

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK.

It's like I'm spectating a movie starring me, the main character, a woefully, terribly oblivious protagonist. And polite? Why in God's name am I being nice? A dull pain buzzes in my left temple. It felt weird to say that word. God. I don't reallu know how I feel about...any of that. Tearan's 'gift' or his 'death'. It all just seems so superfluous, and cruel in an odd way.

Mmm. Cruel isn't the right word. Unfair, maybe? I mean, the guy just sort of dumped all of this everything on us, all of this knowledge and responsibility and each other and-

Then he left. Without a word. Or were there words? I don't recall. I just remember being sucked into Tearan knows what and then being violently expulsed. Expulsed, I say. It wasn't exactly pleasant. And now, I've got oh so many voices in my head other than my own. I'm starting to imagine this is how Gamzee feels regularly - which can only be swell compared to how he's feeling right now.

What just happened? Do we even have a right to know?

Yes. Yes, of course we do. Tearan taught us that much. I'll give the bastard that much.

[Strazio Rockwell]

Strazio stepped outside and looked up towards the sky. The sun had crawled past its apex and began a lazy tumble towards the horizon. He frowned. They had spent more time here then he had expected. Not that he necessarily had anywhere to be or anything urgent to do, he just hated being idle. The mage sniffed the air and was greeted by the faint scent of fresh water and an earthy aroma that he couldn’t quite distinguish. The hair on his skin stood on end and a fuzzy bolt of lightning loped across his body. His father used to say that coastal people had a sixth sense. That because they lived so close to the dangers of the ocean that they had an innate, almost unearthly, prescience of danger that had yet to come. Strazio shivered. Perhaps it was just a breeze. Perhaps not. Regardless the white-haired boy was not one to look towards the nebulous future and turned back inside.

“Hey Malon,” he half-shouted across the room, “and you two hornheads we should get going before it gets dark, I’d rather not spend another night here.”

“Okay,” Malon responded, “I’ll be right there.”

Gamzee and Karkat bumbled past Strazio, their footfalls were identical. Strazio sighed. He couldn’t quite put his finger on why their strange behavior poked at his over sensitive nerves, and were it not for Tearen’s lesson he probably would have never even considered that he should be anything but annoyed with them, but he found himself becoming increasingly weary of their antics. Malon followed behind them shortly after she collected her belongings. The four companions stood at the center of Tearen’s campsite and took a moment to collect themselves and agree on a travel plan. Once their path was decided they spent a few moments in silence. As much as it pained him to admit it, Strazio would miss Wover. Despite the fact that they weren’t especially close and hadn’t known each other for more than a week Strazio’s trust for the man had only been galvanized by the recent events.

“Alright,” Strazio said after a spell, “let’s get going.”

And with that the quartet trudged off into the forest.

As they walked Malon and Strazio hovered towards the front of the pack, while the two trolls lagged behind. Every now and again the rage mage would glance back and bark at them to keep up, but for the most part their trek through the Tangled Green was one of quiet contemplation. After a few hours of walking they stopped to rest. Strazio planted his ass on a fallen tree and drank from his waterskin. Malon stole a glance at him and he raised his eyebrows.

“Something on my face?” he asked.

She shook her head no and looked away.

“If you’ve got something to say, just say it,” Strazio stated flatly, “it’ll just annoy me if you’re trying to hide something.”

“It’s just,” she said, paused, and then continued, “I’ve seen your life before you came here, or at least scraps of it.”

Strazio furrowed his brow and responded, “and?”

“And, well, it’s just, you’ve been through a lot,” Malon said.

Strazio nodded and glanced over at the two trolls. Gamz and Karkat were off in their own world, oblivious to the current conversation. He closed his eyes and remembered the snippets of memories that were not his own. Memories of Lon Lon ranch danced in his head as if they were his own. Memories of the horrible times spent on Alternia plagued his brain.

“We’ve all been through a lot,” Strazio said, standing up as he spoke, “it doesn’t really matter though, what’s happened has happened and can’t be changed.”

There was a moment of silence before Malon spoke again, “you told me that Ganondorf was here in the Omniverse, where is he?”

“Dunno,” the mage replied, “we fought a few times in Dante’s Abyss and then met up in The Town with No Name, never really cared for the pompous prick so we didn’t really stay in contact.”

“Why did you meet up after the Abyss?” she asked.

Strazio shrugged, “well, I’ve been trying to raise a group to kill Dracula, and, at the time, I had no real allies to speak of, I knew Ganon was strong and so I sought him out to form an alliance, didn’t really work out in the long run, but eh, at least I’ve got Gamz now.”

[Malon]

Truth to be told, Malon felt like she was as much in her own world as Gamzee for a while now. While she had regained control of herself thanks to Kelly and Strazio, snippets of memories were still darting through her mind, placing themselves over her current senses. She could see deserts and oceans while knowing that they were in a forest, she could smell flowers and wasn't certain if they were here, in the physical world, or in her dreamland, she spoke languages she had never learned with people she had never met. But at least she knew now that they were memories from other people, so that was a plus.

As Strazio sat on a trunk and took a drink, she followed his example, finding a nice rock to sit on and listen to him.

"Who is this Dracula?" she asked.

"You don't know? He..." he started, then pointed out: "You should know, actually. If you have my memories in your head now."

"I prefer to learn the old-fashioned way", Malon explained while closing her water flask again and putting it away.

"Well, he's a powerful Prime who controls a large part of the Pale Moors verse. He's basically the biggest prick this side of the Underverse."

"Right... and what about Ganondorf? You don't have any idea where he might be?"

"Nope", Strazio said simply. "I could honestly not care less about the bastard.. What exactly is it that happened between you and him, though?"

"I thought you knew?" Malon asked, raising her eyebrow. "After how you told me you know about him and that he's here in the Omniverse."

"I only picked up shards of your memories so far. Mainly your hatred for the guy."

"Right, well... that can go on for a bit." She put her backpack down since it really looked like they were going to stay after all. "Could you summon us something while I tell the story?" She noticed how Gamzee and Karkat were still skipping around, but in closer vicinity to them. They wanted to listen too.

"To give a rough outline", she started, "Ganondorf was... no, is a member of the 'Gerudo' tribe, which lives in the western deserts of Hyrule, my homeland. The Gerudo is an all-female tribe with a man born only once every hundred years - that being Ganondorf in that particular case. That man becomes the leader of the tribe. I understand that Ganondorf then came to Hyrule under the guise of conducting negotiations with the King, but secretely coveted an item held by the royal family, which... uh, to put it short, would function as a key to a realm in which a legendary artefact known as Triforce is hidden." She tugged on her belt, showing Strazio the clasp on the front. "See those three triangles? That is how the people of Hyrule depict the Triforce. It's even part of our flag. The legend has it that this Triforce can grant any wish."

"Sounds like a very powerful item", Strazio remarked.

"Heyyy, but if it can... like, grant wishes, what did that motherfucker wish for?" Gamzee interferred, leaning in so much that Malon reached out before his doubled-over torso could make him fall to the ground.

"I don't know. He somehow found his way into that realm and got the Triforce, but invoked a... I guess you could call it a failsafe." She held up three fingers. "Power, Wisdom and Courage. Those are the three pieces of the Triforce, and to wield it you need to have balance in all three. Ganondorf's Power far outmatched his Wisdom and his Courage and thus he could not wield it. Instead the Triforce split into three and he only kept one - the Power."

"And the other two?" Strazio asked.

"They presumably went to two people whose Wisdom and Courage are strong. I have no idea who."

"So, if Ganondorf had the Power chunk of that Triforce, was he... what did that do for him?"

"It made him very powerful. He was able to dethrone the King, to bring all of Hyrule under his thumb and to corrupt certain areas with his evil will. The entire city around the royal castle turned into a deathzone full of zombies."

Karkat made a disgusted grimace at the mention of zombies while Strazio put down the loaves of bread he had just summoned for the four of them. Malon continued: "I got off... I'm not sure if for the better or the worse, but I wasn't killed. Ganondorf put our stable-hand in charge of my father's ranch. He in turn threatened to injure the animals if I ran away or disobeyed him so I stayed and hoped for rescue."

"And that never came", Strazio said blankly.

"Ohh! Oh, I know how this story ends!" Gamzee exclaimed. "She went and freed all the motherfuckin' animals and ran away!"

"DAMNIT GAMZ, SPOILERS!" Karkat yelled with his hands over his ears, as if that could let him unhear the troll's words.

"Well... I was going to, but that was when I was brought here", Malon pointed out. Her expression, which had shifted from serious to saddened, involuntarily brightened back up. Weird as they may be, Gamzee and Karkat were like an inexhaustible spring of cheerfulness that spreaded all around them. "I waited for almost seven years for someone to rescue me. At some point I realized that it's stupid to do that... that we all can be heroes. And that I should be that one hero that rescues me, not a... not a prince on a white horse."

"Hmmh. That's a nice way to put it", Strazio admitted. "Is that why you followed Tearen's invitation?"

"Among others. I wanted to learn what he had to share. His teachings certainly follow that philosophy. If we are 'God', if we are the universe, that means that there's nobody outside to help with our problems or fix things if we mess up either. It means that we're responsible."

Strazio put down several freshly conjured pieces of fruit that looked like grapefruit-sized blueberries and a large cheese wheel next to the bread. "Hm. It's a troublesome thought. But for now, dinner's served." As they helped each other to the food, he went on to say: "We should reach the gate tomorrow, and from there it's another day or two to Minas Tirith depending on how fast we move."

"That's weird..." remarked Malon. "I remember the gate being way closer when I came here. We should have reached it long ago."
"We're not headed through the Nexus Gate", Strazio explained, "but through the Camelot one. Going your way would be a detour."

"Hmm. I didn't know that the verses are interconnected."

"Just some to each other. We're fortunate to be in one that's linked directly to Camelot so we can skip the Nexus."

From there things moved to more idle chatter, which gradually died down as they sat around a warming campfire, then went to sleep after sorting out the order of night guarding with straws, Malon being the first. She sat into the night for a while, contemplating the night sky and watching out for predators of the animal and human kingdoms, but the night was a quiet one. And she tested out her shapeshifting. Weirdly enough, there was a form in her mind of a black crow that she could take on more easily than the others, almost thoughtlessly so. Something to do with the memories she had absorbed? No idea.

She left it at that. Her head didn't want to think anymore anyway, so she went to wake up Karkat for his turn, then crawled into her sleeping bag and let her mind wander off into the land of dreams.

[Gamzee Makara]

-Karkat-

I'm going through some serious identity crisis bullshit right now. These annoying little thoughts keep popping into my think sponge, and for some ungodly reason I feel absolutely COMPELLED to just blurt it out in a very uncalled for display of cringe. I gingerly poke at the chunks of wood in our fire pit, the dancing flames licking up my jabbin' stick.

I'm not a fan of all this. This memory bullshit, I mean. It's pretty disgusting, really. All these filthy squishy human memories mixing in with mine just makes everything...wrong. The girl stirs in her sleep and upon closer inspection, her ears taper off to a point that peaks through her long mane of hair. My eyes narrow to slits in a peculiar sort of squint. Do all humans have those?

I raise my hand slowly, index digit extended. Very incredibly carefully, I aim for the tip of her ea-
WAIT NO!

I should use the jabbin' stick.

Just as I've about inched the jabbin' stick where it needs to be, a scarred hand shoots out of the shadows and clamps onto it, preventing contact with the pointy point.

"What the fuck are you doing?" hisses a menacing Strazio. I suck in my breath and my gaze snaps down to the stick in my hands.

What was I doing?

I calmly and carefully place the piece of wood back into the pit, and stare at the embers for a moment. Strazio's features are bathed in wavering shadow, but I can practically feel the weight of his gaze as he analyzed me.

"I thought you were fucking Gamzee at first. Only he'd be oblivious enough to do some shit like that," The white haired mage murmurs quietly.

Yeah, tell me about it, I think to myself. The orange light of the flames gave my cherry red eyes a very rusty look.

"Whatever," I say instead.

"What's going on with you two?" Rockwell asks. I had a feeling he knew very well what was wrong with us, and told him just that.

"Okay, yeah, the Tearan thing is pretty out there but it's like you two are totally different people."

"I don't understand how you aren't having the same issue. It's invasive, constantly stealing my memories only to put them right back where they were with even more bullshit. Your bullshit. Her bullshit," I say, gesturing to Malon. "Everyone's bullshit."

"Part of it I think might have to do with me being a Secondary?" I continue, "But I'm not sure. And as much as I hate to admit it, I have a feeling that I'm not sure because Gamzee isn't sure. Ugh, this place makes my fucking head hurt."

"Yeah...I know what you mean." Strazio's gaze falls on Gamzee's unconscious silhouette, identifiable only by his wild mess of hair. And y'know, the fucking horns. "You guys going to be okay?"

"I think so. Gamzee can be a little...susceptible is all."

"Susceptible to what?" he asks.

"Everything."

Strazio snorts, and studies the dark night sky.

"Go to bed," he says. "Your shift is over. Early day tomorrow."

Wordlessly, I lay myself back down with one final glance at Gamzee and the pointy eared-human.

I guess we do.

[Strazio Rockwell]

Night came and went without incident. In the morning Strazio roused his companions. They sat around the smoldering remains of their campfire and ate a simple meal that Malon scraped together. Once everyone was awake and fed they started on the trail again. Strazio led the pack and chose to stay several paces ahead of his friends. They reached the vine-choked gate that led to Camelot.

Strazio stopped just shy of the shimmering pool and turned back to the Greens. Tearen’s training grounds had been swallowed by exotic flora. He knew on some subconscious level that he would more than likely never see the eldritch prime again. A hook tugged as his heart and he scowled. Bittersweet is what Valerie would have called it. Strazio had a debt to repay and he hated that it would be left unsettled. Though, perhaps following Tearen’s will was more than enough payment. Perhaps not. Strazio sighed and stepped through the gate.