Scamall: [fast asleep, cuddling a giant stuffed animal made from Spéir's essence]

Spéir: [always passed those off to her when he was more anxious, might want to get up and pace, or had reason to not want her clinging to him at night]

Spéir: [and, you know… would just reclaim the magic when it was time to go]

Spéir: [leans back against his tree with both of his legs folded; one's lying sideways on the ground, its foot on the other's ankle, and has his other leg propped up, the knee pointing toward the sky]

[The forest—and its gentle rain—is so much calmer than it was earlier, both during their escape from Kilrey and when Talamhdé Itself had awoken to defend Nova]

Spéir: [scowls, an arm against each of his knees, as he fidgets with a Kilrey Emblem. Alternates between rubbing it between his thumb and forefinger and juggling it between his fingers]

Spéir: [ears lowered and brow furrowed in concentration as he stares at Nova, thinking]

Spéir: … I'll need to ask you what exactly went on between you and Kilrey.

Spéir: [ceases juggling the emblem to shift it into his palm, rubbing it against his hand]

Spéir: I'd hate to put this to waste, but… [glances to Scamall, jaw tensing, before he looks back to Nova] … I can't risk endangering her by pulling the same thing as you, you fucking brat.

Spéir: [oops, suddenly realizes he's snarling—]

Spéir: [hesitates, surprised—]

Spéir: [and forcibly releases a heavy sigh and relaxes his face. At the same time, half-turns to look away and stare almost blankly at a tree]

Spéir: [slowly takes a deep breath, flicking Kilrey's emblem from his right hand to the left—the one sitting on his knee—so he can look down at it]

Spéir: we can do that, huh? Talk to each other through these?

Spéir: [clenches his jaw thoughtfully again, ears tensing back]

Spéir: [—and turns his eyes to Nova again]

Spéir: … I guess that makes sense. Scamall's never noticed—she's never been good at magic stuff—but I'd always sensed their essence within these things…

Spéir: [lets out another slow breath, turning to look down at Kilrey's emblem again]

[The emblem is a brooch of wood carved into a crown of two antlers, both encircling a delicately-painted open book. The entire thing has been carefully carved—or, at least, had its shape manipulated by magic—to have an incredible amount of detail]

[... like most archfaeries' emblems, though their exact designs and what they're made of varies]

Spéir: (to himself) … I guess that'd been their point. It's not the design that matters, but the magic. They reach out to one another to communicate the exact relationships…

Spéir: [takes a short breath, then lets out a long, heavy sigh as he slumps back against the tree behind him. His ears droop as he presses the crown of his head against the tree trunk and stares up at the fake starry-sky above. It was littered by clouds and countless specks of rain that silently clattered against the magically-silenced tarp stretching above them]

Spéir: [has always had such a longing to see a real sky, to feel it… but they'd been trapped within just about every other kind of dominion for all these years]

Spéir: (still thinking, heart twisted] … which means that they probably all have known.

Spéir: [although Scamall also had never noticed… had several archfaeries' emblems tucked within his essence pocket. It was only Kilrey's that he had out for now, while nobody else was awake to see it.]

Spéir: [still staring up at the fake sky, feels for Akas's emblem tucked and hidden within his pocket, the miniscule essence of the archfaerie's within concealed by his own]

Spéir: Akas… have you told the others?

Spéir: is that why they've given me their blessings as well?

Spéir: so I can contact them when it's time? I thought it was just… an empty promise, something none of them expected to actually work out, but…

Spéir: [lets out another slow, strangled sigh as he hesitantly looks down at Kilrey's emblem again]

Spéir:

Spéir: [swallows, then flicks it into his essence to trade it for Akas's]

Spéir: [stares down at her emblem, remembering the first archfaerie who'd had mercy on him, who'd let him go, because she'd seen his potential]

[Akas, the archfaerie who'd put him on the path he was today]

Spéir: [takes in—then releases—a slow, shaky breath]

Spéir: [finally, closes his eyes and leans back into the tree trunk, once again turning his face toward the sky]

Spéir: … it makes more sense, if that's what's been going on. They've had more than just my word… and, well, the others' blessings, but… it didn't come out of nowhere. Akas was first, and the others… well, the more who back me, the more others wanted to do the same, huh? 'Votes of confidence' and all?

Spéir:

Spéir: [slowly opens his eyes again, staring out into the skybox]

Spéir:

Spéir: [once again has to fight the longing to be within a real sky, but…]

Spéir: [swallows, then hesitantly looks down at Scamall again]

Scamall: [still sleeping soundly, drooling slightly with her cheek pressed against the stuffed animal]

Spéir: [heart and face soften, a faint smile coming to his lips]

Spéir: [—though it instantly vanishes for a scowl as his eyes dart to Nova]

Nova: [still passed out, but has managed to move closer to Scamall in their sleep. Instead of curled into a ball, is now sprawled out, their head lolled to the side and limbs haphazardly around them]

[Like before, wild plants and miscellaneous bits of the forest had gravitated toward and half-buried their limbs. Nature and dirt of Talamhdé once again stretched over them as though trying to claim them, but didn't plunge them into the earth. Instead it seemed satisfied just littering itself all over their body]

Spéir: [has half a mind to get up just to drag Nova away from Scamall, but… can't help the flutter of panic that comes at the thought]

Spéir: [instead, a snarl slowly grows over his lips]

Spéir: (darkly) … and then you had to get in the way, didn't you?

Spéir: [ears tensed back in fury, but—]

Spéir: [face twitches, then he forces himself to recollect his expression and take a slow, deep breath]

Spéir: okay. Chill. Chill out, Spéir.

Spéir: [transitions his single deep breath into a series of them. Slowly slumps back against the tree trunk, forcing himself to relax as he looks up at the fake sky]

Spéir: [… and remembers the nightmare scenario that'd unfolded when Talamhdé had shattered around them. How he'd been powerless, how Scamall had been left to struggle alone while he was forced to watch helplessly]

Spéir: [… and how Scamall had survived it]

Spéir: [her compassion had got her through it]

Spéir: [swallows, the familiar feeling of dread and terror settling over his heart]

Spéir: I would have died. God would have killed me. If that were me—if I'd been the one to talk to them instead—

Spéir: [ears tense and lowered from panic, hesitantly looks back to Nova]

Nova: [still visibly asleep, but in the process of pulling their limbs away from the brambles encasing them]

[Except… the brambles easily release them, letting them move freely]

Nova: [snore hiccupping, rolls to the side—and finally bumps into Scamall]

Spéir:

Nova: [sniffles in their sleep. After a moment's hesitation, awkwardly wraps their arms around Scamall and buries their face into her back]

Spéir: [snarls, ears drooping and rage flooding through him—]

Spéir: [until he's hit by the wave of terror at the idea of crossing them]

Spéir: [takes a shuddering, gasping breath before tearing his eyes from them, staring hard at a tree instead]

Spéir: [… remembers all too well the closest thing they had to a 'run-in' with God before. When it'd killed Moyner, the archfaerie that'd enthralled Spéir and Scamall over a decade ago]

Spéir: [never knew exactly what she did to piss God off, but…]

Spéir: [has his suspicions]

[God had instilled an absolute respect for its power in the siblings that day. Scamall respected and admired it for what it did for them, but Spéir…]

[Well, Spéir was bitter.]

Spéir: [hated it for having been so capable of freeing them, but never doing so, until the archfae had slighted it personally. And then, with its vengeance enacted, completely vanishing once again]

Spéir: [lets out a slow, heavy sigh as he finally manages to release the tension in his body]

Spéir: [ears drooping and face subtly twisted, hesitantly looks back to Nova]

Nova: [completely relaxed for once, cuddled into Scamall's back]

Scamall: [turned half to the side to lean into Nova, but still cuddling the stuffed animal Spéir had given her]

Spéir: [returning his eyes to Nova, to himself) … that's almost certainly Dhia, but…

Spéir: [swallows again, dropping his eyes to the leaves littering the ground]

Spéir: … even if they're not… that was God.

Spéir: [can't help but remember the trees that'd warped into long fingers, forming hands and gripping the earth beneath them… which had already shattered]

Spéir: [like, what was even the point? It already had complete control over the world. It'd already scared them shitless. So what was THE POINT!?]

Spéir: (hesitantly) … either way—[slowly looks to Scamall again, then Nova]—we're involved with God now.

Spéir: [gives a weak, broken sound somewhere between a laugh and a sob as he leans back against the tree again, looking up at the fake sky]

[… the fake sky made so by God.]

[God, who kept the world torn apart, who kept them lost, kept everything miserable]

Spéir: (to himself) … so I need to be careful.

Spéir: [eartips drooping against his shoulders, hesitantly looks down at Nova without moving his head]

Nova: [still cuddled against Scamall's back, snoring softly]

Spéir: [eyes dart to Scamall's face]

Scamall: [relaxed, sleeping easily as she most often did… despite the creature clinging to her.]

Spéir: [gives another broken laugh, turning his eyes to the sky again]

Spéir: this is why I've always told you to listen to me, Scamall… I leave you on your own for just a bit, and you get us into this situation…