A few hours before the sea of fog’

“Riiinnnngg”, “Riiinnngggg”, “riiinnngggg”

Ogda diamond eye was locked on the device that could contact someone from afar, smitten by the simple, cubic design and ornate button combinations. He gazed at it with awe and fanatical interest. “Fascinating, is it human design? Or something in-house? What’s used to connect with the other line?” He muttered all of his questions silently, humming as a stealthy wisp; not that it mattered, as the room was trampled on by Giol’s excessive back and forth pacing; The emerald lancer neck felt dry as a desert, while sweat dripped between his chitin armor. It’s been a while since he’s been this nervous.

Giol- “ And why aren’t you as terrified as I am? What if we find out that Dubnos sucks even more than we imagine?!”, he pointed accusatorily towards his liquid buddy, who was still stuck in a shelf of questions. “Ah, you’re right”, continued Giol as if replied-” after all,is it that big of a deal for us?”

Ogda was still diving in his queries.

Giol- “ Of course, I know I should calm myself, but what if…what if we’ve got horrible disease from Dubnos; or we’re not real - puppets of an evil overlord? What if -” before he could finish his thoughts, Brigit scooped a bucket of water from Ogda’s body and threw it in Giol's face. 

Brigit- “ You done? Are you sure you don't me to spoil some things for you?”

Giol- “ No, no, thanks. I think it would be better to hear from a…another from our world.”

A second later, the person on the other side answered. Only her voice, the device still wasn’t at a video stage yet. 

Firebird- “ Yeah, this is-”

Brigit- “ Hi mom, it’s-”

Firebird- “ BRIGIT! Hi babygirl, it’s so nice to hear yourvoice, howyouvebeenareyoueat-”

Brigit put a finger in front of her pink lips, having dealt with her mother’s explosive questions for a while and learning a single counter to them: to let her tire herself out.

Firebird- “ -seeyousoon!”

Brigit- “ Good on all fronts mom, hope to see you as well. Listen, I’ve actually wanted to ask for your help with something.”

After explaining Ogda’s and Giol’s situation, an eerie silence fell on the other side of the call. The firebird barely made a beep, only some muffled sounds as if she was holding tight to a cracking table. Once back, her voice went through a complete metamorphosis, becoming rougher, slower and somewhat crueler. 

Firebird- “ I got your description from my husband…but I want to hear it from you, young ones, how would you describe yourself.”

Brigit- “ What? Mom, I can vouch for them, they aren’t dangerous.”

Firebird- “ It took me, the ambassadors and that little one, Zinc, months to build our trust, sweetie. It's based on your vouch that I’m even proposing this, instead of demanding for both to be locked away.”

Both were caught a bit off-guard, a bit scared now by the sudden change in tone and her request. A test, more than likely. Ogda paralyzed himself, racking his head for a correct answer, especially since all the clues he gathered so far about himself show that, even for a Dubnos firbolg, he was something different. 

Giol, on the other hand, felt liberated by the question. His worries dropped to the ground like a pair of steel chains. “I’m…”, he said, taking a step forward. “ I’m a firbolg that's a brother to a human.” He felt shivers bobble his head, and his anxieties shaken off. 

Giol- “ My cocoon was found at the top of a skyscraper-in-build. Gran…the manager on site brought me to the authorities; From what I’m told, they spent a year doing tests on my cocoon, and another year after I enclosed, I was kept under supervision-”

Firebird- “ Ah, you too? Those were the times - sweetie, do you remember that time, in the dungeon, when-” Brigit forced a cough, and waved for Giol to keep going. A bit confused by the interjection, he decided to box it for now and, after staggering a bit, continued.

GIol- “Yeah, so as I was saying, my first year was spent kept locked in a, jar? Yeah, let’s call it a jar. What saved me was the construction manager kept coming to visit, even bringing her grandson after a while. She spoke to me, making sounds I couldn’t comprehend, while the boy kept tapping on my cage.”

…

Inside the Clover Arena, Tommen felt a weird tingle at the back of his neck, which interfered with the preparations for his duel. 

Firbolg artist- “ You good, son? Feeling sick or something?”

Tommen- “ I’m fine, just fine. Probably just tired. Kinda sucks that it’s on such an important day when I'll FINALLY KICK THE PADRE’S ASS”, he yelled out loud, making sure that his opponent heard him.

????- “ Child of destructive technology, I can hear even without you needing to hurt your vocal cords”, replied the metallic sculptor, who was in the middle of stirring his mix of bright yellow melted metals. “ Today I’ll create a pillar for my congregation, one final piece before we gain power much more advanced than human industry.”

Firbolg artist- “ Eh, whatever father, I’ve heard your barks for years now.” The firbolg then got in whisper range to Tommen. “ Listen, I know you improved your line work, nice job. But try not to embarrass the guy too much, he and his followers are doing a good job maintaining the Clover, ok?”

The Preacher- “ Our work is nominal, yes. But don’t worry, we would still be doing, as it’s a perfect learning ground for any new follower…should we begin, human?”

….

Giol -” We played a lot, mostly charade through images. Tommen showed me his drawings, I would use the dirt in the cage as a canvas…but it was fun. And then, one day, I started to glow….”

Firebird- “ Fascinating… I can guess what happened next. So, you went through an inspired growth in the human land?”

Ogda, who followed the conversation with the hope that he’ll be forgotten, still couldn’t help himself to intervene- “ Your colleague, Goidel, once said to me that firbolgs go through stages, transformations in life, spurred by inspiration. So far I’ve gathered that it’s a mix of natural age and, somehow, energy gathered by experiences. But that’s different for Dubnos firbolgs?”

Caught a bit by the topic, the Firebird replied, forgetting for a moment about her conditions- “ Nooo…and yes. In order to understand..our people, there’s something you need to know-”

She took a deep breath, in and out.” Dubnos is a land covered in a murky, dead ocean and a few specks of land, also mostly dead. Vegetation is sparse, and whatever you can find will mostly also kill you. So, it’s filled with fights and strife, but the top beings have already been chosen. The aristocracy.”

Giol- “ Weird name.”

Firebird- “ It makes them feel above warlord. Anyway, most of them now control parts of whatever land there is…for millennials. Most of them fight over and over as kingdoms and nations…as a matter of entertainment. That’s the daily life on the ground. Above, since time immemorial, dawning over this place is a white, speckless sky. It’s not even bright, just expandless. So-”

Ogda- “ So if you want to keep your eyesight and sanity, you always look at the ground. Or-”

Firebird- “ Or at the bottom of the dark embrace of the ocean. “

It slipped through the cracks, but from the bits and pieces of Dubnos the two got, they started to get a picture of what their homeland was. And neither felt homesick anymore. “Feth knows about this…right?” crossed through Ogda’s mind, as if it didn’t make sense for the librarian to be this loyal to their home world.

The awkward silence grabbed Giol by the hand, as if it begged him to continue his tale. Out of the blue, he continued speaking. “ Right. I transformed from a larva to a small bug covered in chitin armor. Barely big enough to reach Brigit’s ankles. Since I wasn’t the only Firbolg living in the human world, and deemed safe, their authorities allowed the manager to adopt me. And ever since, I’ve been living with them…as a family. They even got me official papers.”

Giol needed a moment to stifle his emotions. It’s been a while since he thought about his early days. Some memories flickered back, like that time he and Tommen played in a forest and the firbolg found out about his berries' allergy. Or how he, his brother and grandma had their first water fight at a river. 

Firebird- “ Ah, deja vu”, to which Brigit rolled her eyes and smiled. The Firebird’s voice mellowed out a bit, and they could hear go down memory lane as well. “ I like you, bug boy, I think I can trust you. Now, to water boy…” Her voice got raspy and threatening once again.

Ogda- “ I…don’t remember that much. All I knew, since waking up in that desert, was that I care about Lian, and to protect her with my life. But…”

Firebird- “But?”

Ogda- “ While my feelings haven’t changed, I fear that they aren’t mine. Tell me, my lady, is there anything, or anyone in Dubnos that can create life?” Both Giol and Brigit shared concerned looks, as neither knew of this concern, or fear of his. 

The voice on the other side thought long and hard about this question. Without an answer in sight. “Weird question, little elemental. Life is…sparse, especially in Dubnos. Whatever little there is, it’s mostly formed by carnivores from ancient times…or stragglers from this, other, world. Even I, someone who clutched who knows when, and feasted on others to grow my chances of survival…until I was mighty enough to serve in their conquering wars. And never, ever, have I heard of anything being able to create life in Dubnos.”

It dwelled on the Ogda that Feth’s words spoke of them not as born creatures, but constructs. “What of…golems? Copies?”

Before the Firebird could grasp the meaning of his thoughts, an alarm started to scream out; over the entire city. A mass of fog has started to spread rapidly from the clover arena, rising way above the two stories buildings, leaving only a few straggling towers left above. 

Masso burst in, trying to warn them of the sudden spread, but as soon as he opened the door, the black and gray gas rushed as a tidal wave right behind him . The communication device was swapped by the Union leader before it could be damaged, while the sentient mist circled the people inside the room. Masso tried to cover and shield his daughter from it, and in a sudden flash of realization, Ogda stretched himself and managed to cover Giol. 

Two green, small eyes popped through the mass, and a smirk soon followed. 

Feth- “ Found you”, was all the librarian said before grabbing on to his elemental equal and dragging him through open doors, windows, crashing through narrow spaces, destroying everything in its path of getting rid of Ogda.

It only took a few seconds for Ogda and Giol to find themselves thrown at the border of the city, right where the mist magically stopped spreading. 

Feth- “ We will both finish our tasks soon enough, Middle One”, was all he said before disappearing and effectively shutting down Caer Sidi.